The price for South Coast Collection was reported by a news division of Newport Beach-based Green Street.

The buyer was Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corp.

“South Coast Collection is the only shopping venue of its kind in an extensive, high net worth trade area,” stated Josh Dinstein, a senior vice president at CRC. “The asset’s institutional quality and strong value-add potential, plus its location in the heart of Orange County, make SoCo the perfect acquisition for our entry into the southern California marketplace.”

The 292,000-square-foot retail center sits on 20 acres not far from IKEA and the new Anduril headquarters in the previous LA Times printing plant. The shopping center is known for its high-end home furnishing brands and the dining hub known as The Mix.

Tenants at 3303-3323 Hyland Ave. include COCO Republic, Design Within Reach, Roche Bobois, Pirch and Paul Mitchell the School, Natuzzi Italia and Room & Board. Restaurants include Arc Food and Libations, Butcher’s House, Greenleaf Kitchen & Cocktails, Moulin, Paragon and Portola Coffee.

In 2015, the White Plains, New York-based Rockwood bought the 405 freeway-adjacent property from Burnham Ward Properties for $120 million . Joel Mayer, a managing director at Rockwood, said at the time that the firm was looking forward “to enhancing the property to create an environment that is among the preeminent lifestyle centers in Southern California.”

Burnham USA Equities, a sister company to the developer of the property, Burnham Ward Properties, was managing the center for Rockwood and also will run it for the new owner.

Eastdil Secured LLC represented Rockwood Capital in the sale.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the seller of SoCo.

More small apartments trade hands

The investor thirst for small apartment complexes continues in Orange County.

In recent weeks, a beach-adjacent building with eight apartments in Laguna Beach sold for $3.075 million or $384,375 per studio unit, according to CBRE.

The 66-year-old apartment building at 525 Catalina is a few blocks from Laguna’s Main Beach and downtown village. Built in 1957, the two-story, 3,388-square-foot complex is made up of eight studio units.

CBRE said it was the first time the property has been available for sale in “over five decades.”

To the north in Garden Grove, CBRE also sold a 10-unit property at 11821 Stuart Drive for $2.875 million or $287,500 per unit.

It was another first-time sale for the property since it was built back in 1958.

The two-story, 8,601-square-foot building completed in 1958 has a mix of three one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom units. The building comes with a community pool, on-site laundry and garage parking.

The previous owner had recently completed improvements to the property that included new paint, a new sprinkler system, updated gas lines and new garage doors.

The new owner could increase rents by 25% for “an approximate cap rate of 6.25% through a renovation plan.” said Andrew Boukather, a senior associate at CBRE.

The CBRE team represented the unidentified seller and buyer, both of whom live in Orange County.

Buchanan breaks into Northern California with storage buy

Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners recently bought a self-storage facility in Auburn for $21 million.

The 116,500-square-foot facility includes 825 self-storage units and 40 RV parking spaces.

The purchase marked the fourth self-storage property Buchanan has bought in California in recent years.

“The Auburn transaction represented a unique opportunity for us to acquire a high-quality stabilized self-storage property near replacement cost and with plenty of upside potential through professional third-party property management,” said Feerooz Yacoobi, a vice president at the firm.  “I’m excited for Buchanan Street to break into the northern California market.”

On the move

Donald “Don” Kennedy is the president of the American Land Title Association for the 2023-2024 year. He is a Santa Ana local and the managing director for First American Title Insurance Co.’s Agency Division. Kennedy is a third-generation ALTA president, following his father’s, Parker S. Kennedy, presidency in 1993-1994 and his grandfather’s, Donald P. Kennedy, presidency in 1983-1984.

Newport Beach-based The Saywitz Co. has made two new hires. Ariana Bolin is the new director of support services, assisting executives as well as marketing, communications and back-office operations. Sabrina O’Brien is working in client relations, helping the company’s commercial and multifamily management operations.

Milestones

MVE + Partners, an architecture, planning, and interior firm based in Irvine, received three awards from the American Institute of Architects from both the Orange County (AIAOC) and Utah chapters for its work on three different projects.

Those projects included the Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills (Best Multifamily Mixed-Use Development), and Silo Park and Post District Residences in Salt Lake City (Best Multifamily Mixed-Use Development and Merit Award, respectively).

The awards come as the firm approaches its 50th anniversary in 2024.

Real estate transactions, leases and new projects, industry hires, new ventures and upcoming events are compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin. Submit items and high-resolution photos via email to Business Editor Samantha Gowen at sgowen@scng.com. Please allow at least a week for publication. All items are subject to editing for clarity and length.

Named after Don Miguel Gonzalez and Dona Teresa Reynoso de Gonzalez, the husband-wife duo who founded Northgate Markets in 1980, the food hall will feature more than 20 food stalls, live music, shopping galore and a fine-dining restaurant. Unlike traditional supermarkets where one must zig-zag through parallel aisles while hunting for shelved food, this new food hall will allow for a more freeing shopping experience where patrons can saunter around the open and airy bazaar, grab a quick bite, and hit up local vendors, butchers, cheesemongers, tortillerias, and other specialty shops for day-to-day shopping.

A few highlights will include Aguas Frescas, a full service liquoria carrying imported beers, wines, tequilas and mescal; La Gonzalez Tortilleria serving birria, menudo and freshly-made tortillas; and sweet treats care of Pasteleria La Gonzalez and Dulces Artesanos. The food stands will also host Mexico City churreria El Moro serving churros and seven types of hot chocolate, tortas from Chiva Torta, tacos care of Los Guichos and carnitas by Don Miguel.

In addition to quotidian shopping, Mercado Gonzalez will also feature a couple of sit-down, destination-worthy spots: Maizano, from Jorge Salim and Javier Hernandez Pons, the duo who created LA Cha Cha Chá and Loreto in Los Angeles, will feature a menu that, as its name suggests, focuses on Mexican heirloom corn. Diners can look forward to dishes like mole, sopa de Lima, and sundry of memelas and tetelas. Salim and Pons will also open Entre Nos, a 6,000-square-foot outdoor bar adorned with tropical flora, which will offer a variety of libations including micheladas, mezcal, tequila and Mexican beers.

Mercado Gonzalez will also operate a commissary kitchen that will work with street vendors and budding culinary entrepreneurs that will, in addition to providing a space to prepare food, will help guide them with issues like food-safety certificates, costing out items and support with overall success.

The food hall, which will showcase murals by Claudio Limón, is part of the Northgate Markets family-run empire that has more than 40 locations throughout Southern California.

Opening day is Friday, Nov. 17. Hours will run from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.

Find it: 2300 Harbor Blvd. (at Wilson), Costa Mesa

Here is a list of some (but not all) bakeries and markets in Orange County where you can get your hands on pan de muertos for the annual holiday, which falls on Wednesday, Nov 1 and Thursday, Nov. 2.

Anaheim: Brizuela’s Bakery (1721 W. Katella Ave., suite R), La Reina Market (508 N. East St., Anaheim), Max’s Baked Goods (3414 W. Ball Road, suite J), Northgate Market (929 S. Euclid St.), Panaderia La Pequena (888 W. Lincoln Ave.), Panaderia Los Volcanes (2659 W. Lincoln Ave.)

Buena Park: Panaderia Indio (8204 Commonwealth Ave.), Porto’s Bakery (7640 Beach Blvd.), Northgate Market (1120 S. Bristol St.)

Costa Mesa: La Espiga De Oro (805 W. 19th St.), Panificadora Bakery (2200 Harbor Blvd., suite E120)

Dana Point: Buena Vista Market (34065 La Plaza)

Fullerton: Panaderia Y Pasteleria (2230 W. Orangethorpe Ave.)

Garden Grove: Estrella De Mexicali (12859 Chapman Ave.)

Huntington Beach: Chelos Panaderia (18029 Beach Blvd.)

La Habra: La Central Bakery (764 W. La Habra Blvd.), My Bakery (350 N. Harbor Blvd.), Northgate Market (1305 W. Whittier Blvd.), Panaderia y Pasteleria la Mexicana (1951 E. La Habra Blvd., suite 1A)

Lake Forest: Efren’s Bakery (24601 Raymond Way, #7), El Molino de Oro (23532 El Toro Road)

Orange: El Molino De Oro (728 N. Tustin St.), La Espiga De Oro Panaderia Carniceria (East Wilson Avenue), La Reina Market (909 N. Tustin St.), La Poblana (604 W. Chapman Ave.)

Placentia: Mil Hojas (642 W. Chapman Ave.)

San Juan Capistrano: El Molino De Oro (31886 Plaza Drive), Mercado El Rey (32252 Camino Capistrano) and El Campeon Bakery (31921 Camino Capistrano, #14)

Santa Ana: Cafe Cultura (324 W. Fourth St.), El Gallo Giro (1442 S. Bristol St., #1A), El Metate Panaderia (1338 W. First St.), El Panadero (1818 S. Standard Ave.), La Rancherita Bakery (2709 Westminster Ave., suite B), Northgate Market (230 N. Harbor Blvd., 1120 S. Bristol Street, 1010 South Main St.), Panaderia La Mejor (1331 E. First St.), Panaderia Paloza (1701 E. McFadden Ave.), Rosas Pasteleria Y Panaderia (1009 S. Fairview St.), Tlaxcala Bakery Panaderia (1208 S. Standard Ave.), Soy Concha Bakery (709 N. Bristol St., suite J)

Stanton: Leobardo’s Bakery (11841 Beach Blvd.), Panaderia Cortez (7506 Cerritos Ave.)

The 90 pieces on display are housed in huge cases and have QR codes attached explaining more about the artwork and the 60 artists who created them. The codes also direct people to websites for the famed art show and the Pageant of the Masters, both of which have a rich history in Laguna Beach and Southern California.

Festival officials said they wanted the greater traveling public to also become familiar with the shows and they hope the artwork inspires visitors to consider next year’s events as a destination when coming to the area.

“We thought the airport would create a diverse population for the exhibit,” said Tom Lamb, a photographer and member of the festival’s board. “Many people are used to seeing public art collections around the world. We figured many people arrive by air and sometimes may wonder, “What can I do here?”

The Festival of Arts, which has a 1,000-piece permanent collection, celebrated its 91st year this summer. Juried painters, sculptors, jewelers and mixed-media artists win slots each summer to set up booths and show off their art at the Festival of Arts grounds on Laguna Canyon Road.

This summer’s art show drew about a quarter of a million people, but Lamb said the numbers remain down compared to before the pandemic.

The exhibition at the airport includes early Laguna Beach artists such as Joseph Kleitsch and Edgar Payne and contemporary artists such as Stillman Sawyer and Thomas Waddelow.

It was curated by Pat Sparkuhl, an artist and longtime festival exhibitor. He was hired by the festival board to bring the collection up to date so it could be exhibited. It took about a year for him to get the show together.

“It’s very diverse and interesting,” Lamb said, encouraging people to take the time to walk through each of the three terminals. “It’s a huge opportunity for the festival to be given this show.”

Lamb said he’s been to the airport at least 15 times since the exhibit debuted. Each time, he found people fascinated by what they were seeing, he said.

Introducing himself, Lamb has asked people what they think, he said. Some told him they had been to the pageant and the festival previously and now want to go back. In one case, a woman asked about purchasing a piece. While nothing can be purchased from the collection, Lamb connected the woman with the artist.

While the pieces are on display near the gates, locals who still want to take a look before it closes Wednesday, Nov. 1, can take advantage of the airport’s OC Air Pass. The pass is available to anyone who wants to tour the show, but requires driver’s license identification and passing through TSA security. The pass is available at a kiosk in the airport’s baggage areas and is good for one-day access.

Heather Bowling, the airport’s art curator, said about 1 million travelers come through the airport a month and have had an opportunity to see the collection. Responses, she said, have been very positive and she appreciates the variety that the festival’s exhibit has provided.

“People asked questions and will ask about the artists and origins of the work,” she said, adding that many locals have also taken the opportunity to visit with the air pass. “They can look at the art, watch planes and grab a bite. It’s interesting to be in the airport without the chaos of travel.”

The Braves (9-1, 5-0) got off to a fast start with three early touchdown passes by Sanchez — 51 yards to Chauncey Sylvester Jr., 5 yards to Cameron Jones and 31 yards to Daniel Odom.

“It felt really good,” Sanchez said. “OLu was stuffing the box on us with the run so we had to pass and a lot of things were open.

“I just had to get the ball to my playmakers and they made plays for me.”

However, that did not mean the Braves would not be in for a fight against Orange Lutheran (5-5, 2-3) in their quest to win the program’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018.

“It’s super gratifying,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. “We play in the toughest league in America and to be able to go 5-0 in this league is not easy to do.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the kids for grinding it out through this 10-week season. It hasn’t been easy. We’ve been all over the country and having to play five weeks in a row against that type of competition and level of coaching is not easy to do. We did a really good job and I could not be happier to go through that undefeated.”

St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro is fired up about his team’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018. Coach Negro is also fired up about his opinion that the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs should be a 16 team bracket. @boscofootball’s coach also broke… pic.twitter.com/dcIHCCl7ZL

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023

In the five-year span between Trinity League titles, Bosco won two national championships in 2019 and 2022. Negro said that is a testament to how hard the level of play is against Mater Dei, JSerra, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita, and Servite has been in recent years.

“When you have talent up and down, all six teams are very talented and very well coached so for us, we just have to do the best job that we can to prepare each and every week and treat them like isolated events,” Negro explained. “That’s what our kids were able to do this year and I can’t give them enough credit.”

Meanwhile, Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman wanted to see his team’s best effort against Bosco.

“Fight, fiery, intensity,” Sherman said pregame. “We didn’t start very well last week against Mater Dei. We got down early. We anticipate starting better tonight.”

Sherman’s team gave up a safety on their first offensive play but he began to see the passion he was looking for in the second quarter.

Orange Lutheran football head coach Rod Sherman wants to see his team ‘fight’ against St. John Bosco in Week 10 before the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. @ocvarsity @OLuFootball pic.twitter.com/w2gTUSHRaK

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023

The Lancers found themselves down 23-0 late in the first half. However, they scored 15 unanswered points before halftime on two touchdown passes by junior quarterback TJ Lateef, who finished with 186 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Lateef threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Chris Flores Jr. with 1:16 to go.

Sophomore cornerback Marcellous Ryan intercepted Sanchez’s pass with 37 seconds to go. Lateef took advantage of Bosco’s mistake and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Nico Bland with 15 seconds to go before halftime. Flores successfully converted a 2-point conversion.

Bosco led 23-15 at halftime.

“That’s what you get out of teams that are in this league, these guys are talented football players,” Negro continued. “They’re really well coached. There’s a lot of pride and tradition in all of these programs and they’re not going to back down.

“They’re not going to quit. They’re going to continue to fight hard, continue to do the things that they need to do to improve their football team, and get ready to compete the entire year.”

Down eight points, Orange Lutheran received the ball first in the second half but their drive stalled out and they punted with 8:44 left in the third.

The Braves responded with an 80-yard scoring drive, which was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Sylvester, which extended Bosco’s lead to 30-15 with 7:05 left in the third. Sylvester finished with two receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns. He had 12 yards rushing on four carries.

“Any way I can make the team better,” Sylvester said about his all-around performance. “So I’ll go out and catch the ball, run the ball but my boy Caleb gave me the ball over the top, so I’m going to make it happen.”

Orange Lutheran responded with a 4-yard touchdown run by junior running back Steve Chavez, cutting Bosco’s lead to 30-22 with 3:42 left in the third.

Sanchez added a 45-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Owen Tomich and a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Stacy Dobbins.

The Braves led 44-22 with 11:52 left in the fourth.

“I thought (Sanchez) played extremely well,” Negro said. “He understands the game plan.  He understands what we’re trying to do.

“We have a lot of weapons around him and (Friday night) we didn’t run the ball real well because OLu is so good up front but for us, we have to lean on Caleb, that four-year guy that’s waited his time. I could not be happier for a young man who has really done a phenomenal job putting himself in a position to be the starter quarterback of St. John Bosco, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, top 3 in the country. That kid is a stud. I’m just so blessed that we have him as a part of our program.”

Meanwhile, Sanchez and Sylvester, both four-year student-athletes at Bosco, are excited to help lead their team into the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

“Obviously, we’re probably the No. 1 seed now so that feels good but that doesn’t really matter because the playoffs coach talked about it, it’s a timer,” Sanchez continued. “Every week, every Friday, you can restart the timer or it’s over for your team so we have to just focus on each opponent one week at a time, and if we do that and focus on ourselves and eliminating mistakes then we’ll be good.”

“I know it could all be over in one game so I just put it all on the line every game,” Sylvester added. “We’re going to be prepared.”

2024 RB Chauncey Sylvester Jr. and 2024 QB Caleb Sanchez on St. John Bosco’s 44-24 win against Orange Lutheran to secure @boscofootball’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018. @BoogieSylvester @calebbsanchez are four-year student-athletes for @sjbathletics. pic.twitter.com/WBdBcyg1lO

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023

Negro said he did not want to leave any doubt that Bosco should be the No. 1 seed in the CIF-SS D1 playoffs and he does not want a first-round bye.

“No, do not want a bye,” Negro said pregame. “This bracket should be 16 teams. I’ve voiced that.

“My kids earned and deserve every round of the playoffs just like everybody else in the other 13 divisions. To isolate us and make us only play 8, 10 or 12 teams and have a bye and then we have a bye before the regional if you’re lucky enough to get to the state game, it’s just not fair. You talk about competitive equity, you talk about equity as a whole, well how about having equitable playoff divisions and that’s what I’m looking for and I’m going to continue to call for it as long as I’m coaching in this until we somehow figure it out and get people to play at a higher level. That’s what our goal should be, not trying to creatively create tighter ball games. Let’s make people better.”

“Play 16 team brackets, all 14 divisions, and let us go compete,” he later reiterated in a post-game interview. “I think that’s what kids want, that’s what coaches want and ultimately, that’s what the fans of the CIF Southern Section want, so let’s get it done and make it 16.”

St. John Bosco football head coach Jason Negro wants 16 teams in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. @boscofootball does not want a first round bye. pic.twitter.com/674VaPYzc4

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023

Eighty-four positions were eliminated at Boardriders Wholesale LLC Inc.- the umbrella company that owned Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA and a handful of other action-sports brands. The layoffs follow the September sale of the action-sports company to New York-based Authentic Brands Group.

The layoffs, which started in September and will continue through October, are happening in the Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa offices. They will be completed by Oct. 31, according to a letter the company sent to the state Employment Development Department.

In the letter, the company called the permanent layoffs “necessary but difficult measures,” with 72 positions cut at the Huntington Beach headquarters, 19 in Costa Mesa, one in Mira Loma and another at Universal City.

The eliminated jobs ranged from the top level down, from CEO to several vice presidents, jobs in the art, design, marketing, sales departments and beyond.

While Authentic Brand Group did not respond to requests for comment, industry insiders said the downsizing marks a turbulent time for the legacy brands, all of which have a rich history in Southern California and have played a pivotal role in the evolution and growth of surfing culture here and around the world.

Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association, said the long transition of the sale left a sense of uncertainty within the company for the past year.

“There were a lot of people uncertain if they were going to have a job,” he said. “That’s what has affected some of the uncertainty and maybe even the morale within the brands.”

Layoffs, unfortunately, are typically standard when brands are purchased, he said.

Some people were rehired by the licensee, he said, while others have landed at other brands within the tight-knit industry.

Following the sale, which also included DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper and Honolua, Authentic Brands Group announced Liberated Brands as its licensee and operating partner, the same group used for Costa Mesa-based Volcom and Spyder, a ski and snow brand.

Liberated will become the retail and e-commerce operator for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua and Boardriders in the US and Canada. It also will be the licensing partner and wholesale distributor in the US and Canada for Billabong, RVCA and Honolua adult sportswear, activewear, swimwear, outerwear, headwear and base layer products.

In 2018, a sale to Oaktree Capital that combined two longtime rivals, Billabong and Quiksilver, shocked the surf world when the legacy brands were brought together under the Boardriders portfolio.

That company had already made deep cuts throughout the company with 170 jobs — 110 in the U.S. and 60 in Asia — eliminated in 2022, according to surf industry tracker shop-eat-surf.com. 

Most everyday consumers don’t know, or care about, who is licensing the brands, Desai noted. It’s more about who their favorite athletes ride for, or what events the brands sponsor.

“I don’t think they care who owns what,” Desai said. “It’s only the people who follow it or want to talk negatively about what is happening because something they love is being disrupted.”’

He warns, however, of potential “brand erosion.”

“The consumer will make that choice at the end of the day,” he said.

Hurley, sold to financial group Bluestar Alliance in 2019, is another brand being licensed out that has seen its business-model change in recent years.

Its products — once sold exclusively at core surf shops — now are popping up at discount retailers, ranging from tweezers, face care and pool toys. A Hurley-branded sweater collection was recently spotted at Costco selling for $14.99.

Throughout the surf industry’s history, there have been several brand growths and business-model changes, Desai noted.

At one point, Hang Ten was the largest surf brand with a $12 million annual revenue. Then, that brand disappeared and OP stepped in and grew to $300 million. Then Gotcha, Quiksilver and Billabong took the top spots.

Both Billabong and Quiksilver were born in Australia, and brought to Southern California as North American licenses.

Bob McKnight, a business student at the University of Southern California, and pro surfer Jeff Hakman bought the license to sell in the U.S. in the 70s from the brand’s Australia founder Alan Green, building up the brand from a Newport Beach bedroom, selling boardshorts to surf shops out of McKnight’s VW bus.

Billabong, also originally created in Australia, was introduced to the U.S. market by Bob Hurley. He bought the licensing rights and built into a $100 million business, and 16 years later in 1999 created his own brand, Hurley, which was later sold to Nike and in 2019 sold to Bluestar Alliance.

With the biggest surf brands being run by financial groups outside of the surf industry, will they be able to maintain authenticity in the surf world?

“I think that does pose a challenge for these brands in how they navigate authenticity,” Desai said. “I think it is a concern that a lot of people in the industry share.”

There’s room for legacy brands to grow outside of the industry to a wider audience, while still staying core, he said. The hope is they employ people who have credibility in the surf industry.

“Let them lead your brand, these are people who have grown up in the industry, in the culture,” Desai said. “They understand the ecosystem of the industry and how to navigate the waters of retail, the athletes… Let these folks take charge, instead of trying to run it from a 20-story office building.”

It’s also an opportune time for small and mid-size brands to grow, he noted.

Surfside Sports co-owner Duke Edukas, who has long run the Costa Mesa surf and snow retail shop, said it’s too early to tell how the recent sale or layoffs may impact sales.

Many longtime reps, who have become friends through the years, have lost their jobs.

“I know most of them and I trust all of them,” he said, noting he will miss their weekly meetings.  “But let’s face it, no one knows where this is going to go.”

It will be the consumer that dictates what he should do on the sales floor. RVCA, for example, is the number one men’s seller and he doesn’t envision that changing anytime soon.

When Volcom was bought by Authentic a few years ago, people worried about the future of that brand. But today, it remains one of the top-selling men’s brands, as well as a strong player in the snow category, he said.

“The worst thing retailers can do is overreact,” he said.

So long as the top legacy brands are still selling, the big surf names will remain on the sales floor, he said.

“My eyes will be wide open to those numbers,” he said. “Those numbers will dictate what we do.”

Enjoy them now, because most of these league rivalries are very unlikely to be around next season.

They could continue as nonleague games, but it’s more fun when a playoff berth or a league championship is at stake.

Orange County high schools agreed this past spring to reassemble its football leagues and conferences after this season. With the exception of the Trinity League teams, all of the Orange County 11-player football teams will placed into one basket. CalPreps’ ratings will be used to place teams into leagues. This is a football-only plan. League and conference memberships will be different for other sports.

If the 2023 football season was over, what would the leagues look like in 2024?

Let’s do this … but first a couple of items to know …

Again, the Trinity League is excluded. The four football teams with the top ratings by CalPreps will be in one league, then there will be 10 six-team leagues, and the bottom five teams in one league.

The league names have not been finalized, so the working titles are Orange County Football Conference A (OCFC A) and Orange County Football Conference B (OCFC B),etc. For this exercise, we’re going with “leagues.”

The previous two years of ratings will be used to place teams into leagues, weighted at 65 percent for the 2023 season and 35 percent weighted for the 2022 season.

Going into this week’s games, with rounded-off ratings totals, here are what the leagues would look like in 2024 (league members listed in alphabetical order):

League A: Edison, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, San Clemente.

League B: Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, San Juan Hills, Tesoro, Villa Park, Yorba Linda.

League C: Capistrano Valley, Cypress, El Modena, Trabuco Hills, Tustin, Western.

League D: El Dorado, Foothill, Huntington Beach, La Habra, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills.

League E: Crean Lutheran, Dana Hills, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Northwood, Orange.

League F: Aliso Niguel, Canyon, El Toro, Santa Ana, St. Margaret’s, Troy.

League G: Brea Olinda, Esperanza, Kennedy, Segerstrom, Sonora, Sunny Hills.

League H: Beckman, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Marina, Valencia, Westminster.

League I: Buena Park, Calvary Chapel, Pacifica, Portola, University, Woodbridge.

League J: Estancia; Katella, Los Amigos, Ocean View, Rancho Alamitos, Santa Ana Valley.

League K: Anaheim, Bolsa Grande, Costa Mesa, La Quinta, Loara, Santiago.

League L: Century, Godinez Magnolia, Saddleback, Savanna.

The margins could be tight when teams are placed into football leagues for the 2024 season. Through eight games of this season, using the Calpreps ratings, Irvine’s rating is 4.79 and Aliso Niguel’s is 4.78. So if the 2023 season was over now, Irvine would be the bottom team in League E and Aliso Niguel would be the top team in League F.

NOTES

CIF-SS football playoff brackets will be released Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. The 8-man football playoff brackets will be released Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. …

Yes, Orange County has 8-man football. Sage Hill, in Newport Beach, is in the Prep League and is 4-2 overall and 0-1 in league and averages 48 points a game. Vista Meridian, in Santa Ana, plays a freelance schedule and is 1-4. …

The CIF-SS Division 1 football championship game will be played at the Coliseum on Nov. 24. The first CIF championship football game played at the Coliseum was in 1923 when Long Beach Poly defeated Glendale 15-8. The most recent CIF final at the Coliseum was in 1997 when Long Beach Poly beat Mater Dei 28-25. …

It looks like the Pacific Coast Conference schools will present a proposal at Monday’s releaguing meeting that would exclude Rosary from its group. This past spring Orange County schools included Rosary in the Pacific Coast group in the approved releaguing plan for all sports outside of football. The Freeway League, which would be broken up in the passed proposal, has indicated that it would present a proposal that would keep its membership intact. …

Holly Barker of Trabuco Hills and Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, so far, are making it easy to select the Orange County boys and girls cross country athletes of the year by winning or finishing high in just about every race they enter. Barker won last weekend’s Orange County Championships and earlier finished first in the Central Park Invitational. Noonan finished first in the Orange County Championships, the Woodbridge Classic and was third in the Clovis Invitational. …

The CIF-SS Division 1 girls volleyball playoffs started Wednesday. Mater Dei swept Palos Verdes in three sets (the first was a tough one, 27-25), Los Alamitos lost to Mira Costa in three sets and Huntington Beach swept Alemany (and another tough first set there, with the Oilers winning 28-26). Division 1 pool play resumes Tuesday with Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach beat Los Alamitos in their two Surf League matches. …

Newport Harbor’s girls flag football team had its closest win of the season Wednesday, a 14-12 victory over Edison. Newport Harbor is 21-1, with the loss to Woodbridge, which Newport Harbor defeated a couple of weeks later.

The State Bar of California took the disciplinary action Sept. 30 after Jackie P. Ferrari, 41, failed to respond to a hearing notice stemming from her 2019 conviction in U.S. District Court, where she pleaded guilty to one count of illegally distributing the powerful painkiller.

According to court documents, Ferrari sold a law enforcement informant 50 oxycodone pills for $1,200 in 2019 outside the Beverly Hills law firm where she purportedly worked. She was arrested about a week later after agreeing to sell the informant another 180 pills for $4,100.

Ferrari could not be reached for comment. However, a man who answered a call Tuesday, Oct. 17, placed to her number identified himself as her father and questioned why the disbarment remains newsworthy.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigation involving Ferrari began after a 22-year-old woman died in August 2018 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.

The DEA initially believed text messages on the woman’s cellphone indicated she may have purchased the narcotics from a drug trafficker associated with Ferrari.

While federal investigators were unable to link Ferrari to the woman’s death, they opened an investigation based on evidence that she was a large-scale trafficker in opiates on Craigslist, along with information from the Costa Mesa and Cypress police departments tying her to illegal drug activities in late 2017.

Ferrari made more than 100 posts on Craigslist advertising a variety of narcotics for sale, including oxycodone, fentanyl, heroin, ecstasy and Adderall, as well as paraphernalia that turns powder cocaine into crack, according to investigators.

Ferrari attempted to disguise the drugs by using code words in the ads, such as “roxy dolls” for Roxicodone, “Chinese White Rice”  for powder heroin cut with fentanyl imported from China, and “Black Rice” for black tar heroin.

In her plea agreement, Ferrari admitted to informing first-time customers they would be required to ingest an oxycodone pill in her presence to verify they were not law enforcement officers.

“First time we meet, I will ask you to take one in front of me,” Ferrari wrote in a Craigslist post to potential customers. “Any method is acceptable. If you won’t do this, I cannot (be) selling to you. No exceptions. This allows you to find out that they’re real from pharm and, hopefully, I can feel rest assured that you’re not 5-0. Sound good?”

In 2017, an undercover Cypress Police Department detective responded to a Craigslist ad for the sale of controlled drugs and spoke by phone with a woman who identified herself as Jackie, according to court records. However, the detective did not go forward with the purchase because Ferrari demanded that the investigator take one of the pills in front of her, according to court records.

Investigators also identified Ferrari’s name and phone number through non-drug-related ads on Craigslist, including one advertising a private room for rent at her home in Downey. In the ad, Ferrari described herself as an attorney considering an “alternative career,” according to court records.

An individual arrested by Costa Mesa police in December 2017 for allegedly running a pill counterfeiting scheme named Ferrari as a trafficker, authorities said.

DEA agents and Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators kept Ferrari under surveillance for five months, observing what appeared to be multiple drug transactions outside her home and in the parking lot of a nearby Ralphs grocery store on Lakewood Boulevard. Occasionally, she was spotted allegedly making cash deposits at a Chase Bank in Pico Rivera.

The chain, which previously said it might close 500 stores, wrote that at least 154 stores would close.

The troubled retail pharmacy chain is facing slumping sales and several opioid-related lawsuits. To make ends meet, the company is looking to reduce its debt while resolving “litigation claims in an equitable manner,” Rite Aid reps said Sunday.

At least 10 stores will close across Los Angeles County. Another six will shutter in Orange County and just two in the Inland Empire. Only one, a store on South Archibald Avenue in Ontario appears to have closed already.

“Many of the stores on this list have already closed and received ample notice of the closure, while some will close in the coming weeks,” Rite Aid said via email Tuesday.

Here are the list of stores Rite Aid has marked for closure in California. The store number precedes each address:

LA County

5448 — 4044 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles

6288 — 959 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles

5457 — 4046 South Centinela Ave., Los Angeles

5466 — 7859 Firestone Blvd., Downey

5521 — 4402 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach

5571 — 935 North Hollywood Way, Burbank

5585 — 139 North Grand Ave., Covina

5593 — 13905 Amar Road, La Puente

5611 — 920 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra

6333 — 15800 Imperial Highway, La Mirada

Orange County

5735 — 24829 Del Prado, Dana Point

6717 — 8509 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine

5753 — 30222 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel

5757 — 19701 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda

5760 — 1406 West Edinger Ave., Santa Ana

6213 — 3029 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa

Inland Empire

6318 — 3000 South Archibald Ave., Ontario (marked closed on Yelp)

5730 — 25906 Newport Road, Menifee

North of LA

5772 — 2738 East Thompson Blvd., Ventura (marked closed on Yelp)

5780 — 720 North Ventura Road, Oxnard

San Diego County

5635 — 3813 Plaza Drive, Oceanside

5638 — 1670 Main St., Ramona

5657 — 6505 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego

5661 — 8985 Mira Mesa Blvd., San Diego (marked closed on Yelp)

Northern California

5967 — 20572 Homestead Road, Cupertino

5976 — 2620 El Camino Real, Santa Clara

5979 — 901 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz

6001 — 571 Bellevue Road, Atwater

6045 — 5409 Sunrise Boulevard, Citrus Heights

6080 — 1309 Fulton Ave., Sacramento

6769 — 499 Alvarado St., Monterey

The 60-year-old Rite Aid operates 2,100 stores in the U.S., mostly in coastal states, and has posted annual losses for several years. The company reported that its revenue fell to $5.7 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended June 3, down from $6.0 billion a year earlier, logging a net loss of $306.7 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A handful of culinary highlights will include katsu chicken from Kagura, which has locations in Costa Mesa, Torrance and Gardena; Kuramoto Shavery, which creates Japanese-style shaved ice made with Kuramoto Ice; Tamuken’s Japanese barbecue bowls; noodles by Tokyo Yakisoba; Big and Long Potato Swirl frying up eponymous potato snacks; Rated R Ramen Burger, whose ramen-sandwiched burgers are made with wagyu beef; and ube cinnamon rolls from Ubenabon.

Beer and sake will also be on hand to quench any 21-and-over thirst, with boba teas and matcha drinks available for all ages. OC Japan Fair’s 2023 food roster is as follows:

• Sukiyuki LA
• Big Takoyaki
• Big and Long Potato Swirl
• Miniyaki Cheese Taco
• Ajaj Cafe
• Mr. Bully
• Kagura
• Got Corn?
• Yakitoriyado
• Yakitori Yado Matcha Latte
• Gong Su Gan
• Nikuman-Ya
• Lobsterdamus
• Ubenabon
• Egghasuted
• Otafuku
• Rated R Ramen Burger
• Kuramoto Shavery
• Gluten Free Meister
• Kanto Filipino Street Food
• Takouaki Yamachan
• Mochill Mochil Crepe
• Boba Bestie
• All Dat Dumpling
• Iwate Wagyu
• Aki Takoyaki
• Gindaco USA
• SVR BBQ
• Amami-Ya
• Waffleland
• Japadog
• Hot Bamboo
• Tokyo Yakisoba
• Hawaiian Honey Cones
• Wagyu Street
• RE&S
• Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori
• Kuramoto Shavery
• Aoki No Chuuka
• La Musubi
• Lucky Ball Korean BBQ
• Mr. Teddy Baker
• Midoh
• Daikokuya
• Tokyo Style Food Truck
• Okamoto
• Tamuken
• Arcance Cafe

The fair will also have a live blue tuna-cutting demonstration, in which a sushi chef slices a Maguro fish on stage, as well as sushi galore available for eating.

In addition to the many food offerings, guests can look forward to the “Oiran Dochu,” (which translates into “alluring procession”), a recreation of the procession done by Yoshiwara courtesans during the Edo Period; taiko drum performances, an appearance by comedian Mr. Yasumura, aka Tonikaku, who appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent” in June (the clip of his performance has since accrued 7 million views); and more.

When: 5-11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27; Noon-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29

Where: OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Tickets: General admission is $10 for adults; free admission for children 6 and under and seniors over 65; parking is $10