July 1, 2021 Media Brief
Orange County
Voice of OC: Hate crimes increase throughout California and OC says new state report
Hate crime offenses — involving murder, rape, robbery, assault, theft, arson, intimidation and vandalism — have increased by 23.9%. “If you follow the media, we see that there has been an increase of hate activity throughout the country,” said Norma Lopez, director of the OC Human Relations Commission in a Wednesday interview.
Voice of OC: How did Irvine fail to build a Veterans Cemetery after nearly a decade
Depending on who you ask, there are different answers on why the cemetery never got built. But everyone agrees on one thing: the project ran in circles for way too long. Veterans groups and Irvine City Council members are now calling for the cemetery to be built elsewhere after nearly a decade of efforts to build one at the old El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
Voice of OC: Four waste hauling companies fight for Santa Ana’s massive trash collection contract
The competition was on full display at a special City Council meeting last week, where council members were presented with a marathon of qualification videos from each bidding company that, at times, got theatrical with the background music and editing.
County of Orange: OC reaches COVID vaccination milestone, health officials urge caution over 4th of July weekend
As the Fourth of July is upon us, we want to remind the public that new strains of the virus, called variants, also pose a threat to our ability to contain the spread of COVID-19, according to Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, Deputy County Health Officer.
OC Register: LAPD investigating why its truck made for detonations didn’t handle blast that rocked South L.A.
The blast, around 7:35 p.m. on 27th Street just east of San Pedro Street, severely damaged the Los Angeles Police Department’s containment vehicle – a truck with an iron chamber designed to safely detonate up to 15 pounds of total charges, officials said.
California
OC Register: Clean California initiative would direct $1.5 billion toward cleaning roadways, education campaign
Caltrans officials see a $1.5 billion beautification initiative proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as the sweeping approach needed to clean up long-troubled state roadways, but also convince Californians that keeping streets trash-free is a group effort.
OC Register: California renters locked out of 7,677 homes despite eviction ban
From July 2020 through March 2021, sheriff’s departments across the state-enforced lockouts of at least 7,677 households, according to data obtained through public records requests from all but two of California’s 58 counties.
Publication Date: July 1, 2021
