July 8, 2020 Media Brief
Orange County
Voice of OC: As OC Coronavirus hospitalizations soar, questions about handling the spike surface
“You need more than just potential [intensive care unit] beds, you need staffing for those beds. You need ventilators,” said Dr. Saahir Khan in a Tuesday phone interview. Khan, who’s an infectious disease professor at UC Irvine, cares for coronavirus patients in the UCI Medical Center in Orange.
OC Register: Skipped rent payments rise as tenants face financial cliff ahead
The National Multifamily Housing Council’s found 77.4% of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by July 6 in its survey of 11.4 million units in apartment complexes nationwide. That payment pace is down from 80.8% who had paid a month earlier and 79.7% a year ago.
Daily Pilot: Orange County leaves it up to restaurants to alert customers about coronavirus cases
Restaurants are required to follow County health department guidelines about safety protocols to guard against the virus and must contact health officials if an employee tests positive. But in the absence of a public database, it’s up to individual restaurants to inform customers about positive tests among staff members.
Voice of OC: Santa Ana increases PD spending but reallocates some money after protests
Council members in a 6-1 vote approved a budget during a meeting marked by hours of public commenters who called for no police spending increases at all, if not a total defunding of the department in the wake of national and local protests against police violence and law enforcement’s role in public safety.
Voice of OC: Westminster could have first Vietnamese American city manager – along with controversy
City Hall observers have voiced concern over an ongoing lawsuit Chu Thai’s engaged in with his former employer, the City of Monterey Park, which fired him in 2017 over allegations he abused public resources during his time there as Management Services Director.
Labor
Labor 411: Teachers Union: ‘I double dog dare the President to sit with 39 sixth graders and breathe that air
The president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union hit back at the Administration after demands that schools resume in-person classes this fall, saying reopening cannot take place without guaranteeing the safety of students and staff.
California
Voice of OC: Newsom restores funding to OC veterans cemetery in final budget, next steps unclear
The Irvine City Council is conflicted over where the project should go next: After approving the hangar site in May, the panel deadlocked over a decision to look into investing city funds in the plan.
Publication Date: July 8, 2020
