TimesOC: Edison High reels from loss of 2 teens — brothers — in crash
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 9. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
In an awful traffic crash Monday morning that’s still reverberating in the halls of Huntington Beach’s Edison High School, teenage brothers Josh and Jeremy Page were mortally wounded, with Josh dying that morning and Jeremy following his brother in death several hours later.
It was the unthinkable outcome of an accident between the pickup truck carrying the Pages and a Chevy Silverado owned by the city of Huntington Beach.
Josh and Jeremy, like their older brother Jovanni, had been valued members of Edison’s football team and well-liked among those who knew them. A vigil was held Monday night on the Edison campus for the two young men.
“The Page brothers, all three of them ... they treat people the way they wanted to be treated, and they’re just special, special guys,” their coach Jeff Grady told my colleague Matt Szabo.
We can only imagine how the teens’ parents, John and Shaya Page, are coping. There remain unanswered questions as to the cause of the crash, which we are told is being investigated by Irvine police, since a Huntington Beach city vehicle was involved.
A makeshift memorial for Josh and Jeremy has been growing at the intersection of Yorktown Avenue and Newland Street, where the accident occurred. A photographer who visited the scene yesterday found flowers, candles and even a football on which someone had written “Love you Josh” that had been left by community members grieving their loss.
To lend some support to the Page family, a GoFundMe has been set up by Edison High wrestling club president Ed LaLonde. As of around 6 p.m. yesterday more than $127,000 had been raised toward a $200,000 goal.
MORE NEWS
— In another somber story, thousands of mourners filed into Honda Center arena in Anaheim Tuesday morning to remember the life of Nicholas Vella, an officer with the Huntington Beach Police Department who perished in a Feb. 19 crash in Newport Beach of the police helicopter he was aboard. Daily Pilot reporters Matt Szabo and Andrew Turner jointly covered the service. They report that Vella, who was 44, was remembered for his fine reputation as a law enforcement officer, his broad smile and his kindness toward others. “He could disarm anyone with his smile and friendships,” said his brother, John. “Sometimes in our family we would joke that while on the beat as an officer, Nick could probably get any suspect to surrender simply with a smile and an offer of friendship.”
— An Orange County Superior Court jury ruled in favor of the officers involved in a 2017 Huntington Beach shooting that resulted in the death of 29-year-old Steven Schiltz. The verdict put an end to a legal battle that began with a $20-million federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Schiltz’s mother, Angela Hernandez, in which she alleged negligence, battery, wrongful death, excessive force and inadequate training of the police officers involved in her son’s death.
— The OC Fair & Event Center board of directors has authorized staff to review its Cannabis Event Policy and determine whether its prohibitions against selling cannabis-related products on the fairgrounds might be adjusted. Committee member Sandra Cervantes explained in a Feb. 24 board meeting attitudes and trends around marijuana products have shifted since the policy was adopted.
— The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, a saltwater marsh home to sea creatures and breeding grounds for birds, is in need of significant restoration in order to maintain and preserve its sensitive ecology, according to a recent study.
— In last Wednesday’s newsletter I described the news story written by our colleague Cindy Carcamo about a Costa Mesa couple, Jessie and Jacob Boeckmann who barely escaped the impending war in Ukraine with their newborn daughter after she was born four days earlier to a surrogate. This week, Carcamo follows up the story with a look at what’s happening now to the surrogate, Lilya, whose village has been heavily shelled by Russian forces. Although the Boeckmanns have offered to be whatever help they can be to Lilya, including offering room for her family here, she so far wants to stay in her homeland.
LIFE & LEISURE
— The Sherman Library and Gardens’ Ikebana show held over the weekend in Corona del Mar showcased the work of Sangetsu School of Ikebana, which was founded in 1972 by Mokichi Okada. Visitors to the gardens were given the opportunity to learn the history of Ikebana and create miniature arrangements themselves.
— A motorcade and marchers proceeded down Laguna Beach’s Forest Avenue for the 55th annual Patriots Parade on Saturday, a celebration that returned after a pandemic interruption last year. This year’s parade theme, “Toward Community and Unity,” was selected to foster a spirit of coming together in a time of adversity.
— Disney California Adventure is hosting its annual Food & Wine Festival through April 26, with a dozen Festival Marketplaces throughout the park serving sips and snacks that celebrate California flavor. Read all the delectable details here.
SPORTS
— A few area girls’ high school water polo players have found themselves in Peru this week, having been included on the Team USA roster for the FINA International Cup play. Newport Harbor High seniors Morgan Netherton and Taylor Smith, along with Laguna Beach residents Ava Knepper and Genoa Rossi, were asked to join the USA team for which Laguna Beach High coach Ethan Damato is serving as the head coach.
— Retief Goosen outplayed the field by three strokes in the final round, finishing at 15 under par to win the Hoag Classic on Sunday at Newport Beach Country Club. Ernie Els, the defending Hoag Classic champion, entered Sunday with a one-shot lead, but four bogeys in eight holes to begin the day helped supply ample breathing room for Goosen, his fellow South African countryman.
STAY IN TOUCH
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