May 17, 2017
Orange County
Voice of OC: OCTA audit finds problems With software contract
The audit found “several irregularities” in the bidding process. Among the irregularities, staff issued the contract at just under the $250,000 threshold that would require OCTA board approval. They later amended the contract twice, and ultimately, with board approval, paid the company a total of $409,500.
OC Register: Everyone agrees: The Santa Ana River trail is no place to raise homeless children
On a recent visit to the spot where she lived with her mom and siblings along the Santa Ana River trail, 11-year-old Alyssa Clark almost sounds nostalgic about the six months they spent there and across the way. Her family—mom and dad, older brother and sister—was together.
Voice of OC: OC Press Club honors Voice of OC with three awards
Voice of OC took home three awards from the OC Press Club awards contest held May 15.
OC Register: UC Irvine law dean Erwin Chemerinsky named dean of Berkeley’s law school, will start 7/1.
Erwin Chemerinsky, the founding dean of UC Irvine’s School of Law, becomes dean of UC Berkeley’s law school, ending his nine-year tenure in Orange County during which he has taught courses on the First Amendment, published books and law review articles and argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
California
Mercury News: Big shift for California community colleges
The reforms seem to be working; more students are going straight into classes where they can earn credit, which advocates say will improve their chances of earning an associate’s degree or transferring to a four-year university. And they’re succeeding at the same levels as their peers not marked for remedial classes.
Nation
Associated Press: US households owe record amount, topping pre-recession peak
U.S. household debt reached a record high in the first three months of this year, topping the previous peak reached in 2008, when the financial crisis plunged the economy into a deep recession.
Publication Date: May 17, 2017