One San Juan Capistrano man’s efforts to convince Orange County to lay off using herbicides to keep flood control channels clear has garnered a lot of attention on social media in recent weeks, according to this March 1 story published by the Los Angeles Times, written by staff writer Ian James, with photographs by Sandy Huffaker.
As the article relates it, concern grew after 41-year-old Brent Linas saw the once-lush vegetation lining the San Juan and Trabuco creeks turn brown. He launched the Creek Team OC Instagram account to bring the the situation to the attention of others. He told The Times he felt he had been brushed aside when he’d reached out to county officials.
The crux of the issue is that where many consider the creeks to be exactly that, places teeming with wildlife and plants, the county sees them as necessary “facilities,” as OC Public Works describes them “that are designed to handle water flow from storm drains and other runoff and “channel” the water into the bay or ocean.”
The county is responsible for inspecting and cleaning its nearly 400 miles of channels so as to prevent flooding communities. That means there are times when plant life has to be cleared out.
“Vegetation management in flood control channels is conducted to maintain flood protection capacity and protect public safety,” Dave Ahern, a spokesperson for the agency, told The Times in an email. “When chemical treatments are used, they are applied in a limited and targeted manner, consistent with applicable regulations.”
And that is the reason the creeks Linas passes on his runs are brown, lifeless.
“Documents obtained by the Creek Team detail chemicals used in 2024 to ‘eradicate nuisance weeds’ in flood control channels, or ‘washes,’ as many Southern Californians know them. They also show the county plans to spray herbicides on more than 2,000 acres in dozens of channels and basins this year, among them the Santa Ana River and Aliso Creek,” The Times reported.
“We want an end to the use of herbicides in our creeks,” Linas told the reporter. “This idea that we’re just going to spray, hose down these creeks and leave them dead is unacceptable.”
Judging by the 4,600 followers Linas gained over three weeks via his social media posts, he is in good company.
The reporter interviewed County Supervisor Katrina Foley, whose district includes San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and the flood control channels of San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek. She said she wants the county “to try to find every possible way that we can avoid using chemicals.”
She also said that about a year ago, when she learned the county had used the controversial herbicide Roundup in San Juan Creek, she raised a complaint. Since that time, she said, the product had not been used in the San Juan and Trabuco flood channels.
However, she said, “the purpose of the channel is not to hold habitat. The purpose of the channel is to accommodate water during a flood.”
Foley convened a town hall meeting in Dana Point earlier this week for stakeholders such as Linas “to discuss maintenance plans with OC Agricultural Commissioner, our OC Public Works team and OC Health Care Agency,” according to a post to her Facebook post.
How everything was hashed out during that meeting has not been reported, but perhaps the officials took heed of Linas’ hope that if the county is going to continue to use the herbicides, which he maintains is “killing this entire ecosystem,” they could at least notify the public before spraying them.
MORE NEWS 
A close-up view of a Culex tarsalis mosquito resting on human skin.
(James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Mosquitoes are bedeviling people already this year, The Times reports. Orange County Vector Control District spokesperson Brian Brannon told the reporter that during the first two months of this year, O.C. “saw five times as many mosquitoes here over the five-year average.”
• Activist group 805 Patriots held a “Disneyland MAGA Invasion” Saturday, with its members encouraged to wear red MAGA hats and “Make Disney Great Again” attire, The Times reported. This event was countered that morning by a ““Disneyland Raza Invasion” outside the park, with protesters marching on Harbor Boulevard.
• When Mexican soldiers killed drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” last month, a vacuum was left at the head of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. According to this article in The Times, Oseguera’s stepson, Santa Ana native Juan Carlos Valencia González, could emerge as its leader. A $5-million reward for information leading to Valencia’s arrest has been offered by the U.S. State Department.
• TimesOC’s Gabriel San Román continued this past week with another investigative report on the scandalous behaviors surrounding Anaheim in 2020-21, a period city officials are trying to put behind them. The latest article, produced after the reporter got his hands on a ledger and related emails, is an eye-opening look at the influence peddling taking place behind the scenes.
• This newsletter recently mentioned the ban on large beach canopies under consideration by the Laguna Beach City Council. Last week, Newport Beach officials tightened rules to the same effect ahead of the upcoming spring break season.
• Cypress has a new city manager. Shannon DeLong, who most recently served as assistant city manager in Whittier, was named to the post last week. She is the first woman to hold the city’s top job.
PUBLIC SAFETY 
Glenn Canyon Childers of Los Alamitos, a local DJ who performs at children’s parties has been charged with raping a 17-year-old girl while she was unconscious and possession of hundreds of images of child pornography.
(Orange County district attorney’s office)
• Los Alamitos resident Glenn Canyon Childers, 32, is free on $100,000 bail after being arrested on suspicion of multiple charges of rape and possession of child pornography. Childers works as a DJ for children’s parties.
• The O.C. district attorney’s office announced Thursday that investigators have determined that Fullerton Police Cpl. Nicholas Jarvis was justified in his use of force that killed Alejandro Campos Rios, 50, on March 6, 2024.
• A 21-year-old who had been celebrating his birthday was fatally struck down by an alleged DUI driver in Newport Beach at around 2 a.m. Saturday.
• Yesterday morning a woman whose name has not yet been released by police was also fatally hit by a vehicle when she was on foot near the 7-Eleven on Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.
• A days-long search of an Irvine home where a teen had reportedly been mixing chemicals in a homemade science lab ensued last week after a landlord called authorities to report suspicious activity. The call triggered a massive federal response involving the FBI and a hazmat team.
• Three suspects in a Costa Mesa warehouse burglary Sunday morning were arrested the same day following a police pursuit.
SPORTS 
Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) signs autographs for fans during spring training in Diablo Stadium, Tempe, Ariz. on Feb. 20.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
• Loyal Angels shortstop Zach Neto should be given a long-term contract, Bill Shaikin opines in this column for The Times. The 25-year-old Neto is, Shaikin writes, the team’s best player.
Newport Harbor girls’ water polo senior goalkeeper Sunny Brown.
(Matt Szabo)
• One senior member of the girls’ water polo team at Newport Harbor High, Sunny Brown, has stood out among her coaches and peers for her resilience after having recently lost her mom to cancer. My colleague Matt Szabo interviewed Brown for this feature story.
Chadrack Mpoyi saw the Crean Lutheran community support him before he was ever able to play in an official game for the Saints.
(Diamond Leung / For The Times)
• Another teen athlete who also lost his mother yet continues to be a key member of his basketball team is Crean Lutheran’s 6-foot-11 Chadrack Mpoyi. Mpoyi came to O.C. from Congo two years ago and has blended into the community “beautifully,” Stacy Jones, the mom of his host family told The Times for this feature.
LIFE & LEISURE
Melvin Livingston turned 106 on Sunday. The Laguna Hills resident says luck has been on his side his whole life.
(Don Leach/Daily Pilot)
• WWII vet Mel Livingston of Laguna Hills turned 106 Sunday and he’s going strong. To what does he contribute his longevity? Having luck on his side throughout his life.
• To celebrate its 60th year and the success of a recent capital campaign, Sherman Library & Gardens held a ceremonial ground-breaking event last Thursday for a $17-million revitalization of the botanical showplace in Corona del Mar.
• Top of the V, located on the 12th floor of Viv Hotel in Anaheim, has reopened after being reimagined as a Spanish-inspired steakhouse, according to this TimesOC interview with excecutive chef Jayro Martinez .
CALENDAR 
Dana Point Harbor celebrates the Annual Dana Point Festival of Whales this weekend.
(Courtesy of Dana Point Harbor Partners)
• It’s time again for the annual Festival of Whales in Dana Point, which opens with a carnival this Friday night and continues through the weekend. The full schedule of events can be found here.
• The Pacific Coast Sportsfishing Show will take place this Thursday through Sunday at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. General admission is $20. To see a list of vendors, check out the show’s website.
• Go fly a kite — or watch others do it — this Saturday and Sunday in Huntington Beach when the Kite Connection on the Huntington Beach Pier hosts its 22nd annual Kite Party. If you want to participate with your own kite, you must be experienced and register ahead of time here.
KEEP IN TOUCH
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