January 27, 2021

Orange County

OC Register: Orange County’s coronavirus case rate dives after New Year highs

The county, however, is still deep in the most-restrictive purple tier of the state’s four-tier pandemic tracking system, which has been used since August to determine which business and public sectors can safely reopen, and at what capacity, as the Coronavirus continues to spread.

 

Voice of OC: Special supervisor election heats up as GOP condemns two Republican challengers

Just as the filing deadline for candidates closed this week on a hotly contested, coastal county supervisors’ seat, local GOP leaders went on the attack against two Republican candidates in the race, calling them selfish and ego-driven.

 

Voice of OC: Irvine City Council changes budget policies following mailer spending controversy

The city manager’s office will still maintain oversight of the funds for staff and ensure council members do not exceed the set budget limits, along with retaining a small portion of the funds for additional supplies.

 

Voice of OC: Newport Beach to use $300K in county funds to bolster small businesses

More money will be coming to hundreds of small businesses in Newport Beach struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic through grants with funds courtesy of the County of Orange

 

OC Register: OC officials ask for fixes to $1.2 million vaccine app they say is ‘a mess’

County supervisors said they’ve heard from constituents about issues with scheduling appointments, a lack of language choices other than English and not being able to get a live person to answer the hotline set up to help users through their problems with the app.

 

Daily Pilot: Orange County reflects on death of Kobe Bryant, others lost in helicopter crash

The one-year anniversary of the helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others arrived on Tuesday.

 

LA Times: Orange County federal judge dismisses criminal cases over lack of jury trials

Judge Cormac Carney is among a minority who believe trials should continue, as is happening in other courts, including Orange County Superior Court, and since September he’s been trying to summon jury pools for trials only to be rejected by the Central District’s chief judge, Philip Gutierrez.

 

Labor

Capital & Main: Uber and Lyft sponsored law under attack

Critics of Prop. 22 say the gig-work companies bought their way out of standard labor law, setting a dangerous precedent. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and other gig-economy companies that rely upon contract drivers raised $203 million for the proposition, making it the most expensive ballot measure in California history.

 

Publication Date: January 27, 2021