By The Associated Press

Peak sunshine has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere — the summer solstice.

Friday is the longest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical summer. It’s the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the shortest day of the year and winter will start.

The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words “sol” for sun and “stitium” which can mean “pause” or “stop.” The solstice is the end of the sun’s annual march higher in the sky, when it makes its longest, highest arc. The bad news for sun lovers: It then starts retreating and days will get a little shorter every day until late December.

People have marked solstices for eons with celebrations and monuments, including Stonehenge, which was designed to align with the sun’s paths at the solstices. But what is happening in the heavens? Here’s what to know about the Earth’s orbit.

Solstices are when days and nights are at their most extreme

As the Earth travels around the sun, it does so at an angle relative to the sun. For most of the year, the Earth’s axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun. That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet.

The solstices mark the times during the year when this tilt is at its most extreme, and days and nights are at their most unequal.

During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice, the upper half of the earth is tilted toward the sun, creating the longest day and shortest night of the year. This solstice falls between June 20 and 22.

Meanwhile, at the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is leaning away from the sun — leading to the shortest day and longest night of the year. The winter solstice falls between December 20 and 23.

The equinox is when there is an equal amount of day and night

During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight.

The word equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night. That’s because on the equinox, day and night last almost the same amount of time — though one may get a few extra minutes, depending on where you are on the planet.

The Northern Hemisphere’s spring — or vernal — equinox can land between March 19 and 21, depending on the year. Its fall – or autumnal — equinox can land between Sept. 21 and 24.

On the equator, the sun will be directly overhead at noon. Equinoxes are the only time when both the north and south poles are lit by sunshine at the same time.

What’s the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons?

These are just two different ways to carve up the year.

While astronomical seasons depend on how the Earth moves around the sun, meteorological seasons are defined by the weather. They break down the year into three-month seasons based on annual temperature cycles. By that calendar, spring starts on March 1, summer on June 1, fall on Sept. 1 and winter on Dec. 1.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Q: Driving on the westbound 91 Express Lanes through Corona at sunset, or eastbound during sunrise, is very challenging due to the lane markings being obscured by tire tracks in the concrete. Apparently, someone drove in these lanes when the cement was new and it’s bad for a few miles — many tire tracks cross the lane lines and it’s hard to tell where to go at times. Are there any plans to correct this? Seems to be a fairly prominent hazard.

– David Fickes, Irvine

A: David, please thank your wife for (while a passenger) taking a nice photo of what you are talking about.

It’s unclear what those markings are — Honk would bet at least some are skid marks, which can be quite visible on concrete lanes. If he learns more from the Riverside County Transportation Commission about them, he will pass that along.

But a complaint that gets tossed into Honk’s electronic mailbag every now and then is about the lane markings themselves on various highways.

The ol’ Honkmobile has often found itself headed into the sun’s glare on a Southern California highway while cruising along concrete lanes that, well, aren’t very pretty and don’t contrast a lot with white lane markings.

In the long haul, concrete can make more sense than eye-pleasing asphalt because it requires less maintenance over the years, saving tax dollars.

“Thank you for bringing this question to our attention,” said Ariel Alcon Tapia, a spokesperson for the commission, which operates the 91 Express Lanes in Riverside County, where the 91 Freeway and the tollway have lanes of concrete.

“(It) does not provide the same contrast as asphalt does,” Tapia said. “We have added black paint around the striping in some areas to make the lane stripes stand out more. We will evaluate adding the same technique in that area the reader mentioned on the Express Lanes.”

Those added touches of black are called shadow markings, in traffic-engineer parlance, and are often used on concrete lanes and faded asphalt.

Honk asked Tapia to keep him informed so he could pass along updates to Honkland, and he said he would.

HONKIN’ FACT: Those happening to take a highway run by the North Texas Tollway Authority who have an account with the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) in Orange County can now get charged for their Texas jaunts on their TCA bills.

TCA officials say this accord makes it easier on their customers. During a recent 10-day stretch, 8,100 Texas trips were charged on TCA bills, said Michele Miller, a spokesperson for the agency that manages the 241 and the 73 in OC.

Be careful — other California tollways have similar transponders that are not synced with the Texas authority.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk

By SAM MEDNICK, JON GAMBRELL and DAVID RISING

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel and Iran exchanged strikes a week into their war Friday as President Donald Trump weighed U.S. military involvement and new diplomatic efforts got underway.

Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. He said he’ll decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the war given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to be en route to Geneva for meetings with the European Union’s top diplomat and counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany. A plane with his usual call sign took off from the Turkish city of Van, near the Iranian border, flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed. Iran typically acknowledges his departure hours afterward.

Britain’s foreign secretary said he met at the White House with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the potential for a deal that could cool the conflict.

Before his flight, Araghchi said on Iranian state television that his country was “not seeking negotiations with anyone” as long as Israel’s attacks continued, underscoring the diplomatic challenges ahead. He also accused the U.S. of collaborating with Israel, noting that Trump regularly used “we” in social media posts and interviews talking about the attacks on Iran.

“It is the Americans who want talks,” he said in comments Thursday that were broadcast Friday. “They’ve sent messages several times — very serious ones — but we made it explicitly clear to them that as long as this aggression and invasion continue, there is absolutely no room for talk or diplomacy. We are engaged in legitimate self-defense, and this defense will not stop under any circumstances.”

He added that he expected the Switzerland talks to focus only on Iran’s nuclear program, and that Iran’s missile capabilities were “for defending the country” and not up for discussion.

French President Emmanuel Macron said top European diplomats in Geneva will make a “comprehensive, diplomatic and technical offer of negotiation” to Iran, as a key response to the “threat” represented by Iran’s nuclear program.

“No one can seriously believe that this threat can be met with (Israel’s) current operations alone,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, saying some plants are heavily fortified and nobody knows exactly where all uranium enrichment is taking place.

“We need to regain control on (Iran’s nuclear) program through technical expertise and negotiation.”

Iran had previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors in to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief and other provisions.

After Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal during his last term, however, Iran began enriching uranium to higher levels and limiting access to its facilities.

Israel says air campaign will target more sites

Israel said it conducted airstrikes into Friday morning in Iran with more than 60 aircraft hitting what it said were industrial sites to manufacture missiles. It did not elaborate on the locations. It also said it hit the headquarters of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its acronym in Farsi, SPND. The U.S. in the past has linked that agency to alleged Iranian research and testing tied to the possible development of nuclear explosive devices.

It also carried out airstrikes targeting the areas around Kermanshah and Tabriz in western Iran, where the military said 25 fighter jets struck “missile storage and launch infrastructure components” Friday morning. There had been reports of anti-aircraft fire in the areas.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the losses, and has not discussed the damage done so far to its military in the weeklong war.

“We are strengthening our air control in the region and advancing our air offensive,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters.

“We have more sites to strike in Tehran, western Iran and other places.”

Israeli airstrikes also reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported. The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, southwest of the city’s downtown. But with Iran’s internet shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people could see the message.

Damage from missiles in southern Israel

In Israel, the paramedic service Magen David Adom said Iranian missiles struck a residential area in southern Israel causing damage to buildings, including one six-story building. They have provided medical treatment to five people with minor injuries such as bruises, smoke inhalation, and anxiety, it said.

Later Friday, as Araghchi’s plane approached Geneva, Israel’s military warned of more incoming Iranian missiles and air raid sirens blared in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, at least 80 patients and medical workers were wounded in a strike on the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba.

After that attack, Israel’s defense minister threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the Iranian missile crashed into the hospital. Israel’s military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would “do what’s best for America.” Speaking from the rubble and shattered glass around the hospital, he added: “I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot.”

The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.

Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program but has never acknowledged it.

The Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict.

Gambrell and Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

A city charter could be placed in front of Fullerton voters as soon as November 2026.

A divided City Council has chosen the more expedient of two options to get a charter on a ballot. An option that also gives the council more control over writing the charter.

Councilmembers Shana Charles and Ahmad Zahra, outspoken critics of the chartering initiative since Mayor Fred Jung raised the idea earlier this year, voted against proceeding.

However, Jung and councilmembers Nick Dunlap and Jamie Valencia outnumbered them and the council voted to create an ad hoc committee to which each councilmember will soon appoint members to help them write a charter for voters to consider.

The council rejected an alternative to hold a city election where voters would have had the chance to elect 15 representatives to write the charter instead of the council and their appointees.

“For me, it’s really a no-brainer,” Dunlap said about moving the chartering process ahead. “I support moving this item forward, and I support continued discussion.”

His vote doesn’t commit him to accepting a charter down the road, and the council can later decide not to put a charter on the ballot.

“I think that we can form a committee where we can get, I think, a lot of good feedback from across our community to work on something that ultimately can really be good for our city for years to come,” Dunlap said.

About a quarter of cities in California have charters. These legal documents, essentially city constitutions, enable municipalities to retain greater control over some local concerns related to the city police force, city administration, city elections and bidding processes for public contracts.

Several Orange County cities operate under a charter, including its largest three — Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana — as well as Buena Park, Cypress, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Placentia and Seal Beach.

Some proponents of a charter have argued that adopting one would give Fullerton more leeway to push back against the state housing mandate, with which the city has struggled to comply.

But that point is fallible. Huntington Beach has tried that argument in unsuccessful lawsuits against the state.

Zahra argued that adopting a charter would carry risks, such as making it easier for Fullerton officials to dole out contracts to associates or to vendors who do not pay the state’s prevailing wage.

His colleagues did not answer him when he pressed them to give specific reasons for why the city should adopt the charter.

Valencia, the newest member of the council, having been elected last fall, said her support for a charter is rooted in her lack of faith in the status quo.

“I’m excited to see what a charter can do for our city and to change it up and get things going in a different trajectory than it has been for all of these years,” she said.

Anaheim has a new $2.4 billion budget the City Council approved Tuesday, relying on stop-gap funding to maintain services before the city sees a massive influx of freed-up cash in a few years.

“This proposed budget upholds funding for all we do for our community,” City Manager Jim Vanderpool said. “It funds the most extensive services of any Orange County city. We are proud of that, but there are some very real challenges we continue to face.”

The city has had difficult budgets to balance in recent years, but those problems won’t last forever. More than $120 million will become available once 1990s resort bonds are paid off by 2027.

That should put an end to a structural deficit in Anaheim’s budget that city officials have used borrowed money to balance lately.

There aren’t any concrete plans set for how Anaheim could use the more than $120 million a year it expects. Refilling the city’s reserves that will get low and paying off other debt are likely a part of the plan, but Mayor Ashleigh Aitken indicated Tuesday that the funds also need to be used on “something transformative” for residents.

“I feel like it’s a chance for us to do something big, bold and transformative for this city,” Aitken said. “We won’t be able to do what Anaheim does best, which is think big, if we’ve spent it times over before we even receive it. So I want to make sure that we don’t lose sight of what a unique opportunity having those funds is, whether it’s transportation, whether it’s economic development, housing, parks.”

In the meantime, the city’s general fund budget was approved at $671 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The general fund represents more malleable parts of the budget the city can more easily adjust and excludes things such as public utilities and the city’s stadium and arena.

But projected revenue fell short by $63 million. So to balance the budget, the city is using hotel tax bonds it issued in 2021, funds it had from selling a parking garage near the convention center last year and money previously set aside to pay off debt.

Vanderpool said the city has been challenged by hotel tax revenue coming in lower than expected lately. Hotel tax revenues represent 39% of the city’s general fund and is the largest source.

Councilmembers expressed concerns about leaning so heavily on one-time borrowed money for balancing the budget.

“In my years of public service, I have learned recurring expenses should be matched with recurring revenue,” Councilmember Ryan Balius said. “If we are plugging budget gaps with temporary fixes, we may be facing a deeper structural issue that needs to be confronted head-on.”

In the new fiscal year budget, the city will have a record number of 430 sworn police officers. The city plans to hire three new homeless assistance liaison officers and another school resource officer. There will also be 248 sworn firefighters and paramedics.

Other budget challenges that haven’t been fully realized include higher costs through new contracts with the city’s labor unions and any loss in federal funding. Fears of a recession also loom, said Finance Director Debbie Moreno, and sometimes those fears become self-fulfilling.

Next year, officials expect to draw the city’s reserves down to the minimum level that Moreno said the city should feel comfortable with. The pandemic taught the city that having robust reserves is important since Anaheim relies heavily on tourism, Moreno said

“We are pushing the limits — that is a concern to me,” Councilmember Natalie Meeks said. “There’s not a lot of wiggle room in this budget.”

Budget notes

• Many of the city fees it charges to residents and businesses will go up slightly in line with the annual consumer price index at around 3%. The monthly solid waste fee for a single-family home was raised to $29.47 a month.

• Greens fees and membership dues are going up at the city’s two golf courses, Dad Miller and Anaheim Hills. Golf continues to grow in popularity, according to city officials.

• Anaheim has now paid off the debt it took on to build the ARTIC train station, according to Tom Morton, the city’s head of convention, sports and entertainment.

• Fifteen new positions between the public works, fire and planning departments will be fully funded by Disney as part of the DisneylandForward agreement, totaling $3.1 million. These positions are to support the development, review and inspection of DisneylandForward.

• John Wayne Airport has seen a 10% decrease in usage, another concerning trend for the city as hotel stays remain lower than previously projected.