Increased transparency across its supply chain and a higher greenhouse gas reduction target are just two of the features that have appeared in PVH Corp’s corporate responsibility report for 2017, as the apparel giant doubles down on its efforts to become more sustainable.

After months of forecasts suggesting 2017/18 is set to see a fall in cotton prices, a revised assessment now points to uncertainty in the year ahead.

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety says that during the month of July, a further 26 Alliance-affiliated factories completed all material components outlined in their Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), bringing the total number of completions to 118.

Apparel maker Gildan Activewear has confirmed its full-year earnings guidance at the high end of its range after what it called a “strong” second-quarter that saw both earnings and revenue rise.

Huntington Beach High School students Lauren Skinner and Laura Nguyen co-founded the club Charitee to spotlight underappreciated artists by selling T-shirts emblazoned with the artists’ work.

The group’s beginning was inspired by artist Brandon Vosika, whose illustrations they thought would look fantastic on a T-shirt. The girls wanted to mass-produce the shirts but knew they didn’t want to make a profit off Vosika’s artwork. Their solution was to donate to proceeds to local charities.

“(Charitee) serves two central purposes: garnering attention for under-appreciated artists and providing the funds necessary for a specific charity or organization to operate,” Nguyen says.

The club currently sells 15 different shirts featuring the work of nine artists, all used with permission and found on Instagram. Their current cause is Robyne’s Nest, an organization that provides support for homeless, at-risk or unaccompanied students in Huntington Beach.

T-shirts can be purchased at artcharitee.com.

Name: Laura Nguyen (LN) and Lauren Skinner (LS)

Q: How did you get involved in the arts?

A: (LN) It wasn’t until we were 15 that we became keen about the various major forms of artistic expression that manifest in paintings, sketches, sculpture, media and the like. Our interest in art really started with regular trips to museums like LACMA and the Broad, combined with an awareness of the increasing social media presence of artists.

Q: Who have been your influences? Did you have a mentor in your development as an artist? If so, how did they help you?

A: (LN) We have to thank our AP art history teacher, Ms. Melany Aiken, for showing us the unparalleled power of art to connect with human beings. Ms. Aiken never directly mentored us or helped us develop Charitee, but being in her class was enough to convince us that art can incite change.

Q: What inspires you?

A: (LN) People inspire me. There’s something about individual experiences, emotions, and collective togetherness that motivates me for a particular cause. For better or for worse, we are all part of the global community. We are all responsible.

A: (LS) Beauty inspires me. I think that our generation is undergoing a massive revolution in what we define as beautiful. With artists paving the way for individuals to create and express their own beauty, I think that now is a more important time than ever to support them.

Q: Other than visual arts, are you involved in any other activities?  If yes, what are they?

A: (LN) I am the current salutatorian at Huntington Beach High School, where I participate as an under secretary general for the Model United Nations program. I have a job at Popbar. I am also part of the Huntington Beach Academy of Performing Arts … in the orchestra with a focus on the piano.

A: (LS) I’m currently finishing my Girl Scout Gold Award, in which I created a head lice removal protocol and traveled to a clinic in Costa Rica, where head lice is quite common and resources to treat it are scarce, to implement the program. Other than that I also have a job at In-N-Out, which I love, and am also involved at the Model United Nations program at my school.

Q: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

A: (LN) People would probably be surprised to know that I’m a huge film junkie. A lot of people tend to forget movies are an art form as well. I keep a notebook so I can jot down brief reviews for the films that I watch, and I rather religiously update my personal “top films of all time” list.

A: (LS) I love to laugh. I’ve been told by a lot of people that my resting face looks quite angry and that they’ve received quite a shock upon seeing me crack a smile or chuckle at something. Those who are close to me like to tease me about how much I laugh because when I start, it’s hard for me to contain my joy. Not everything is what you see.

Q: The next challenge I want to take on is …

A: (LN) … combining my love for film with my dedication to Charitee. It would be amazing if we could create a kind of mini-documentary about (our work) and the charity we work with, Robyne’s Nest. It would (create) some background on us, of course, but we would really focus on the great work that Robyne’s Nest does for financially unstable teens.

A: (LS) I’ve always been really passionate about both business and philanthropy, so expanding Charitee by collaborating with more businesses and organizations so that we can give Robyne’s Nest and charities (like it) the support they deserve is my next big step.

Q: How do the arts figure in to your long-term goals?

A: (LN) Lauren and I want to keep Charitee operating for as long as possible, until life gets too much in the way. We’ve put a lot of thought and hard work into what we’ve made so far. This is only just the beginning.

A: (LS) Upon personally witnessing the rise of STEM in public education and the subsequent fall of arts programs via budget cuts, supporting budding artists will forever be a passion of mine. While Charitee is just one way I love to remind people of the beauty that artists create, my ultimate goal is to get people out there buying art and supporting local artists in whatever way they can.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: (LN) Go after solving a problem that you have. Something you’re really passionate about, and that matters to you. Along the way, when things get really tough, if you’re just chasing a random opportunity, it’s going to be nearly impossible to maintain the dedication to stay with it.

A: (LS) My mom has always been a big believer in the power of the mind, and one of the core values she taught me growing up was that if you manifest positive change in the world, then you will get it back.

Q: I hope my legacy as an artist will be …

A: (LN) … showing people that art is so much more than just something pretty or nice to look at. It’s important that people notice art because we live in a visual world. Understanding and thinking about the things images communicate is fundamental to being alive today.

A: (LS) … to remind people to look past their initial shock of seeing unusual art and to try to find the beauty in the artist’s vision. It’s important for people to subject themselves to new images and ideas, even if it makes them uncomfortable at first.

CONTACT VARSITY ARTS: 714-796-2258 or varsityarts@ocregister.com

A student painting that depicts the Statue of Liberty wearing a Muslim hijab, displayed in congressman Lou Correa’s Santa Ana office, is being attacked as an unpatriotic violation of the separation of church and state by members of We the People Rising, a Claremont-based activist group that advocates stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

The group, which includes several Orange County participants, has asked without success that Correa remove the painting, which hangs with other finalists from the Democratic congressman’s annual student art competition.

Because of the complaint, Correa said he asked the House Office of Legislative Counsel for advice and was told there was no legal issue. That has not appeased the activists, who are tentatively planning a Sept. 11 protest at Correa’s district office.

“It’s a bad example for our congressman,” said Orange resident Mike McGertrick, an activist with We the People Rising. “He shouldn’t have anything religious in his office. … I would like to see our Congress people be right-down-the-line patriotic.”

McGertick went farther in his condemnation during a July 3 meeting with Correa’s district director, Claudio Gallegos, calling the hanging of the painting in the office “reprehensible and disrespectful.”

“In this day and age, we want to see that our elected officials are the utmost of patriotism,” McGertick says in a video the group recorded and posted on YouTube.

Correa sees nothing objectionable in the painting, which comes at a time of controversy over Donald Trump’s efforts to ban the entry to the U.S. of people from Muslim countries and about the treatment of Muslims in this country.

“You take it in the context of a lady, probably a Muslim American — with all that’s going on, she’s a proud American,” Correa said by phone from Jerusalem, where he was attending meetings as part of a congressional information-gathering trip. “That’s what it says to me.”

Correa said it was important to not remove the painting because of a few complaints.

“This is an art competition for our high school students,” he said. “I want out students to express themselves through art. To take it down would signal that this is not welcome and that would send the wrong message.”

Nearly all House members hold the competition in their districts, with the winners displayed in a Capitol Building corridor. Correa’s district winner, selected by his staff and local artists, was a photograph of a mural featuring Mexican American veterans from WWII. The Statue of Liberty painting finished fourth.

The freshman congressman noted that activists from We the People Rising attended a May 30 town hall he held to provide information to immigrants concerned about being deported. A disruption resulted in the event being stopped for a while and three people were arrested for assault or suspicion of assault, two of whom were fighting each other. It’s unclear whether any of those arrested were part of the activist group or part of a pro-Trump group that was also on hand.

McGertick and Robin Hvidston, executive director for We the People Rising, both said that their complaint was not anti-Muslim — that they would have had the same concerns if the Statue of Liberty had been depicted with a cross or a Star of David.

Hvidston said the idea to hold a protest on Sept. 11, the day memorializing the Twin Tower terrorist attacks of 2001, came from The Remembrance Project, a group that bills itself as “A Voice for Victims Killed by Illegal Aliens.”

Correa’s office would not release the name or school of the female artist responsible for the painting, citing unspecified threats made to his office that are being investigated by the Capitol Police and a request by the police not to release information that could jeopardize the artist’s safety.

Hvidston condemned the threats and said that her group’s issue was not with the painting itself, but with its placement in a congressional office.

“We have absolutely nothing against this young lady,” Hvidston said. “She’s obviously very talented and we wish her the best.”

Brea police were investigating a burglary Thursday afternoon, Aug. 3, where a resident struggled with a suspect and a gun went off.

It was unclear if anyone was injured but Brea police Lt. Santo Porto said a resident confronted a suspect in the garage of a home at 580 N. Brea Blvd.

He said there was a gun in the garage which the two struggled over.

“The victim confronted the suspect, they fought over a gun and it went off,” Porto said of the incident which happened at about 1:40 p.m.

The suspect fled but it was unclear if he was hit by gunfire. The victim was uninjured.

Details about the incident were not immediately available.

AUGUST 1

Disturbance: 7:55 a.m. 25700 block of Carlson Court

Suspicious person/circumstances: 4:39 a.m. 25200 block of La Paz Road

Disturbance – music or party: 1:17 a.m. 25200 block of Stockport St.

Indecent exposure: 1:03 a.m. Alicia Parkway and Moulton Parkway

JULY 31

Patrol check: 5:38 p.m. 25700 block of La Paz Road

Assist outside agency: 4:21 p.m. 25200 block of Paseo de Alicia

Citizen assist: 12:28 p.m. Alicia Parkway and Paseo de Valencia

Disturbance – music or party: 11:20 a.m. 25000 block of Acacia Lane

Missing adult: 10:59 a.m. 23000 block of Avenida de la Carlota

Disturbance: 10:38 a.m. 25500 block of Paseo de Valencia

Suspicious person/circumstances: 10:25 a.m. Paseo de Valencia and El Toro Road

Burglary report: 7:43 a.m. 24000 block of Calle de la Plata

Welfare check: 7:32 a.m. 24700 block of Alicia Parkway

Suspicious person in a vehicle: 2:34 a.m. Santa Vittoria Drive and Bassano

Disturbance: 1:56 a.m. 22200 block of Caminito Tiburon

Patrol check: 12:21 a.m. 25400 block of Paseo de Valencia

JULY 30

Suspicious person/circumstances: 11:53 p.m. 25200 block of Stockport St.

Patrol check: 11:23 p.m. 24000 block of El Toro Road

Citizen assist: 10:33 p.m. 24000 block of El Toro Road

Assist outside agency: 9:18 p.m. 25100 block of Barents

Suspicious person in a vehicle: 8:57 p.m. Mackenzie St. and La Paz Road

Disturbance: 5:36 p.m. 23400 block of Caminito Juanico

Citizen assist: 3:22 p.m. 25200 block of Empty Saddle Drive

Grand theft report: 1:54 p.m. 25700 block of Dillon Road

Burglary report: 11:23 a.m. 26000 block of Moulton Parkway

Stolen vehicle: 9:57 a.m. 24500 block of Los Alisos Blvd.

Trespassing: 6:11 a.m. 24400 block of Health Center Drive

JULY 29

Suspicious person in a vehicle: 11:48 p.m. Hidden Trail Road and Stageline Drive

Disturbance – music or party: 11:30 p.m. 25200 block of York Circle

Burglary report: 11:14 p.m. 25700 block of Via Lomas

Patrol check: 10:58 p.m. 26700 block of Quail Creek

Disturbance – family dispute: 10:48 p.m. 25000 block of Barents

Trespassing: 10:37 p.m. 25500 block of Alicia Parkway

Welfare check: 8:10 p.m. 25300 block of Cadillac Drive

Assist outside agency: 5:34 p.m. 25600 block of Alicia Parkway

Battery report: 4:57 p.m. 24400 block of Health Center Drive

ID theft: 4:04 p.m. 25900 block of Terra Bella Ave.

JULY 28

Citizen assist: 4:57 p.m. 24000 block of El Toro Road

Assist outside agency: 4:10 p.m. 24300 block of Hillsdale Ave.

Petty theft report: 3:47 p.m. 26700 block of Quail Creek

Drunken driving: 2:47 p.m. La Paz Road and I-5

Burglary report: 1:22 p.m. 25000 block of Sutter Drive

Welfare check: 1:05 p.m. Paseo de Valencia and El Toro Road

ID theft: 12:32 p.m. 24800 block of Grissom Road

Reckless driving: 10:23 a.m. Moulton Parkway and Nellie Gail Road

Pedestrian check: 8:04 a.m. Paseo de Valencia and Calle de los Caballeros

Unknown trouble: 1:38 a.m. La Paz Road and Moulton Parkway

JULY 27

Drunken driving: 5:54 p.m. Cabot Road and Oso Parkway

Missing child: 5:41 p.m. 27500 block of Fargo Road

Petty theft: 5:14 p.m. Avenida de la Carlota and El Toro Road

ID theft:  4:50 p.m. 23900 block of Calle de la Magdalena

Citizen assist: 1:46 p.m. 24000 block of El Toro Road

Petty theft report: 1:28 p.m. 24000 block of El Toro Road

Disturbance: 1:25 p.m. 25500 block of Alicia Parkway

Welfare check: 12:49 p.m. 24300 block of Hillsdale Ave.

Suspicious person/circumstances: 12:02 p.m. Cabot Road and La Paz Road

Disturbance: 12:40 a.m. 24500 block of Los Alisos Blvd.

JULY 26

Petty theft report: 4:11 p.m. 23800 block of Willows Drive

Found property: 3:46 p.m. 25700 block of Pecos Road

Suspicious person/circumstances: 3:28 p.m. 25500 block of Alicia Parkway

Property for destruction: 3:23 p.m. 25100 block of De Salle St.

Burglary report: 1:56 p.m. 23800 block of Willows Drive

Welfare check: 9:42 a.m. 24700 block of Alicia Parkway

Disturbance: 9:01 a.m. 25600 block of Paseo de Valencia

Stolen vehicle: 8:41 a.m. 24500 block of Los Alisos Blvd.

Assist outside agency: 8:31 a.m. 23000 block of Lake Forest Drive

Vandalism in progress: 8:28 a.m. 25900 block of Glen Canyon Drive

Investigate dead body: 5:07 a.m. 24400 block of Health Center Drive

The blotter is compiled by Magda Liszewska and consists of selected items from the O.C. Sheriff’s Department website, ocsd.org. The true nature of an incident often differs from what is initially reported.

FULLERTON – The North Justice Center was closed to the public Thursday after a power outage at the courthouse.

Court officials are expecting to re-open the courthouse, located at 1275 N. Berkeley Ave. in Fullerton, on Friday morning.

The outage was caused by a failed electrical transformer, Orange County Superior Court spokeswoman Gwen Vieau said. Workers were installing a temporary generator on Thursday afternoon.

Those scheduled to appear at the North Justice Center on Thursday were advised to still show up in order to get instructions on where their legal matter will be heard, Vieau added.

Citizen Watch is teaming with tennis legend Billie Jean King.
The former world number-one women’s player and 12-time Grand Slam champion is the subject of the forthcoming feature film “Battle of the Sexes,” starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
Citizen, this year marking its 25th year as the official timekeeper for the U.S. Open, has pledged itself as the “exclusive timepiece sponsor” for the film. The movie is due in theaters on Sept. 22.
As such, Citizen has also pledged involvement with King’s Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which looks to engage younger generations in the game of tennis and promote gender equality.
Ellen Seckler, Citizen’s executive vice president for marketing, said of the brand’s new partnership: “It was a natural choice for us to partner with such an inspiring individual, such as Billie Jean King, who holds true many of the same ideals as Citizen. King’s nonstop initiatives to bring equality and fairness to the world, sports and beyond, mirrors Citizen’s existing efforts to empower and support our younger generations.”
King said Citizen “over the years has distinguished itself by supporting causes focused on equality. Together with Citizen and the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, we will present many exciting programs and amplify the messages

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