Philip Day, the owner of retailer Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) is understood to be considering a bid for struggling British fashion chains Coast, Oasis and Warehouse, which were put up for sale by their Icelandic owner last year.
It is proving too costly to build a road to a planned water tower in the eastern-most hills of Anaheim, so the city will instead improve the reliability of pumps for bringing water to 80 homes in that area.
City officials planned to spend about $10 million on the 1.6-million-gallon Windy Ridge water storage tank, which, besides serving those homes, would have acted as backed up in that area in case of an emergency. The tank would have worked on gravity if electricity went out.
But grading for a road up through the hills above Blue Sky Road would cost at least $300,000 more than originally expected, officials said, putting the total tab at $10.3 million or more.
So the city has canceled the construction contract for the water tank.
Instead, for about $1.2 million, an alternative backup power source will be installed for the water pumping station that will work on a different electric circuit and shouldn’t lose power at the same time as the main system, city spokesman Mike Lyster said.
And city officials are coming up with a plan for portable pumps to serve the homes in an emergency, he said.
The water tank idea isn’t being abandoned completely, Lyster said. It will remain on the books if more funding becomes available.
The cramming is complete, the pop quizzes done. The Rams have three more days to show Coach Sean McVay that they’re quick learners before they head out for summer vacation.
It’s a short one. In approximately seven weeks, the Rams will reconvene in Irvine for the start of training camp, but first they will complete the final phase of their offseason program with a mini-camp Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.
All players — veterans and rookies, healthy and injured — are expected to at least show up for the mini-camp, and those who don’t face a fine of approximately $80,000.
The Rams had good attendance during their optional practices throughout May and June. The outlier was star defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who didn’t attend any of the 10 OTA practices because of contract issues. Top cornerback Trumaine Johnson also missed three practices.
This is an important time for the Rams, who under first-year coach McVay are installing new offensive and defensive schemes. The Rams have been able to meet and practice, on and off, for the past two months, but the absences don’t help the overall learning curve.
Receiver Tavon Austin is recovering from wrist surgery and missed all of OTAs. Donald is a huge part of the Rams’ defense, so the Rams haven’t had much time to put their full team on the field and show how much they’ve perfected the new schemes.
“As a coach, you’re always going to want the guys here,” McVay said recently, “but you understand the framework of the way that some of this stuff is set up in the offseason program. I think the guys have really done a good job of kind of understanding, ‘If I’m not here because of some other things that do come up, let’s let it be known.’
“All things being equal, you’d love to say, ‘Let’s get everybody here so that you can get all of the work that you want and guys aren’t missing out on information that’s given.’”
McVay remained supportive of Donald throughout the OTA absence and praised Donald’s communication level and his commitment when he attended earlier offseason work.
The Rams wouldn’t publicly say whether they expect Donald to attend the mini-camp, and Donald’s agent did not respond to an interview request. NFL network reported Monday, in an anonymous-source report, that Donald was “considering” skipping the mini-camp.
General Manager Les Snead acknowledged that Donald’s absence from OTAs was due to contract talks. Donald is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2018 season.
The Rams remain optimistic they can get a deal done, perhaps before the start of training camp in late July, but it’s a big one, with league-wide ramifications.
In the past two years, defensive tackles have signed huge multi-year contracts. Miami’s Ndamukong Suh signed for an average of $19 million, followed by Buffalo’s Marcell Dareus ($18 million) and, in April, Carolina’s Kawann Short ($16 million).
Donald is quite a catch. He recently turned 26 but already is a three-time Pro Bowl selection with 28 sacks in 48 regular-season games.
That’s a world-class combination. The good news is that the Rams have plenty of salary-cap room beyond this season. The bad news is, almost none of their defensive linemen or defensive backs are locked up long term, and that includes Johnson.
Shortly after the mini-camp, the Rams are expected to renew contract negotiations with Johnson’s agent. They have until July 15 to reach a new deal, or Johnson will make $17.4 million in 2017 then be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next March.

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Mama Tieu’s pho shop opened in April in Garden Grove. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG).
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Mama Tieu’s in Garden Grove. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Fatty brisket pho at Mama Tieu’s. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Banh mi with grilled marinated pork at Mama Tieu’s in Garden Grove. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG).
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Yet another pho shop has opened in Garden Grove, this one in April. Mama Tieu’s is at the corner of Brookhurst Street and Garden Grove Boulevard, in the same shopping center as Butaton Ramen (featured in my Top 10 Ramen story) and Oc & Lao (highlighted in my guide to LIttle Saigon).
The dining room is bright and airy, almost sparkly clean, with banquettes along two walls and a tall communal table running down the middle of the room. The Vietnamese noodle soup choices include beef, chicken, shrimp and even tofu and vegetables. You can customize the pho however you want it, including a choice of thin or flat noodles. The beef broth is superb, and the quality of the rare filet mignon is top-notch. That said, the fatty brisket is my favorite.
Sadly, the chicken pho isn’t good. As I wrote last week, chicken noodle soup has always been difficult to find in Little Saigon, and this place doesn’t improve that conundrum. But stick with the beef pho (or Mama Tieu’s combo), and you will be very, very happy here.
And while this is first and foremost a pho shop, that’s not all they serve. The kitchen makes a very good banh mi sandwich. They start with a delightfully crusty French baguette and stuff it with grilled marinated pork and pickled vegetables along with fresh jalapeños and a flavored mayonnaise that tastes a lot like Sriracha. That same crusty baguette is served alongside a classic rendition of banh mi bo kho, a French-inspired beef stew with carrots, a popular comfort food in Vietnam.
Mama Tieu’s is just a few weeks old, so it’s still relatively undiscovered. That said, there’s always an interminably long line for tables at the snail specialist Oc & Lao, just a couple of doors down, and some of that crowd is already overflowing into Mama Tieu’s instead. If that continues, this place won’t have many empty seats for long.
Mama Tieu’s
Where: 10130 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove
When: Lunch and dinner daily
Phone: 714-590-8748
Battery report: June 9. 12:38 a.m. 3300 block Punta Alta. Caller said a woman told her she was pushed and punched by a neighbor.
Citizen assist: June 8. 6:54 p.m. 0 block Avenida Castilla. Caller said a locksmith tried to pry her door open, she thinks he is a felon and has keys to all of the residences in her neighborhood.
Hit and run parked car: June 8. 12:39 p.m. 24300 block El Toro Rd. Caller said her white Honda was hit by a silver Volkswagon while she was parked.
Traffic accident-non injury: 24300 block El Toro Rd. Caller said a disoriented elderly man in a Toyota hit a handicap pole.
Suspicious person/circumstance: June 7. 8:22 p.m. 23000 block Via Campo Verde. Caller said she wants a deputy to escort her home because someone is trying to murder her.
Disturbance: June 7. 6:55 p.m. 24100 block El Toro Road. Caller said there were five to six homeless people in the parking lot harassing customers.
Suspicious person in vehicle: June 6. 6:38 p.m. 24300 block El Toro Road. Caller said a gray Hyundai occupied by a man and woman wearing hoodies keeps cruising the parking lot and going behind the store.
Disturbance: June 6. 9:17 a.m. 5500 block Paseo del Lago. Caller said a woman who was kicked out by another resident three days ago is parked in front and refusing to leave.
Suspicious person in vehicle: June 5. 1:12 a.m. 2100 block Via Mariposa. Caller said an older pickup truck, occupied by a young woman driver and someone else, was parked but took off when told Security would be called.
The blotter is compiled by Pat Bicoy from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website. The outcome of calls often differs from what was initially reported. No assumption of guilt or criminal association should be drawn from the information provided. More crime news: ws.ocsd.org/blotter
Creative director Natasa Cagalj said she wanted to examine all elements of travel for resort.
“We wanted to explore not only specific locations,” said Cagalj, “but also new experiences, fresh ideas and new horizons. We wanted to translate that enjoyment of travel into dressing. At the end, we wanted it to be not so serious.”
Cagalj fused its playful ethos with a more carefree spirit and worked outerwear, dresses, blouses and trousers into its eccentric lineup done in bold colors, pastel hues with plaid and floral prints. She let pattern and color speak for themselves in her lineup filled with utilitarian silhouettes, which she subverted with whimsical and decorative elements.
Separates such as outerwear, shirting and pants were key for Cagalj.
There was a long lightweight belted coat done in a denim-like woolen cotton fabric, which was trimmed with selvedge details, while tailored suiting done in a Japanese wool came in light blue, pastel green, a salmon pink and bright pink.
Patterns were prevalent as a madras print was utilized on a silk blouse or a floral cotton jumpsuit in blue and green hues. A blue plaid print was cast onto the front of a white button-down blouse with the sleeves smattered with blue polka
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Read More…A good sports reference never gets old. And Michiko Koshino’s went as far back as Forties Japan, when baseball became one of the most popular sports in the country and mesmerized her as a little girl. The designer drew on those childhood memories to conjure a spirited collection, which struck a delightfully quirky balance between vintage and contemporary sportswear.
Koshino did so mixing fabrics that were not a natural match at first sight, but that blended on closer inspection: Cue tartan wools next to reflective nylon and noble pinstripes juxtaposed by heavy athletic jersey, channeling the season’s highbrow-lowbrow attitude. As is often the case with an attire as ubiquitous as sportswear, it was the little details that proved a game changer: A cozy sweatshirt came with a standup collar, precision layering made a modern baseball jersey look like a new genre of outerwear underneath an elongated hooded vest, while the designer’s signature inflatable pants telegraphed relaxed chic via carefully administered side pleats and subtle ribbon details.
In the end it was the silhouettes that left a lasting impression, as Koshino brought the might of her pattern-making skills to the fore. Among the standouts was a pair of roomy knickerbockers, artfully gathered at
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Read More…Dipsy, the Teletubby, in all his lime green plush glory, complete with twitching nose and kawai blinking eyes was the star attraction that closed Bobby Abley’s show, skipping and prancing adorably around the catwalk.
Last season it was the Power Rangers, this season Teletubbies. A non-sequitur, sure, and some cynics might raise an eyebrow at the principles behind the pairing and wonder if Abley is treading a line perilously close to selling out, but it was fun and looked good, so who cares? A guy’s gotta eat, and there was plenty to like in Abley’s treatment of the children’s characters.
The Teletubbies appeared in backpacks and printed on Ts with long streams spouting from their bellies, while Abley’s signature bear logo was worn on belts, transformed into 3-D and wearing mini bondage harnesses. Christina Aguilera, the designer’s other, enduring obsession, was printed in black and white onto black T-shirts.
Abley’s signature use of sporting codes was nicely put to use in a pair of blue silk boxing shorts, trimmed with baby pink and patterned with blotchy white stars that came with a matching shirt, and in the cropped oxblood hoodie emblazoned with a golden e-passport logo — a nifty little comment on the current
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Read More…Architectural shapes mixed in with holiday romanticism and bits of seaside references pretty much sum up Yigal Azrouël’s resort formula. For starters, the designer introduced a liquid metallic burnout fabric that lent itself nicely for soft suiting and fluid maxidresses — a nice contrast to his more structured signature dresses and skirts, which Azrouël finished in scalloped edges. Elsewhere, he built upon the seaside theme more literally via a coral shape fil coupe and lace with studded details bodice which he showed in a pleated column gown and short dress version.
“The woman I am always inspired by is confident, she does not follow the trends, she prefers timeless yet unique fashion that suits her lifestyle,” he said in his collections notes. In the lineup, a blush crepe wrap pant paired with a red silk blouse and a pleated back blazer reflected just that.
See More From the 2018 Resort Collections:
Sandy Liang Resort 2018: The overall tone was noticeably quieter, more relaxed, but retained that playful dose of subversion to keep things modern.
Brock Collection Resort 2018: Laura Vassar and Kristopher Brock brought fairytale romance into modern reality.
Pamella Roland Resort 2018: Pamella Roland’s starting point for her newest collection took place in her own backyard.
Redemption Resort 2018: The inspiration
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