October 6, 2021 Media Brief

Orange County

Voice of OC: Spill cleanup facing lack of workers as lines of oil continue to wash ashore

Some spill cleanup workers who spoke to Voice of OC on Wednesday at various beaches say they’re being spread too thin due to a lack of response personnel.

Voice of OC: Newport Beach, Laguna latest agencies to declare local emergencies as oil spill moves south

Laguna Beach Councilman George Weiss said in a phone interview Wednesday that the city authorized their emergency declaration at their council meeting on Tuesday night.

Voice of OC: Oil spill officials readying to train cleanup volunteers while trying to ramp up response efforts

Currently, they have 328 paid oil spill cleanup workers on the beach, with goals to increase responders in the near future to 1,500 according to Gov. Gavin Newsom during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Voice of OC: Pipeline operator waited over 3 hours to shut down oil leak, six hours to report it, feds say

Voice of OC: Two cities face fallout from police killing of a Santa Ana councilman’s cousin

In both cities, the Anaheim and Santa Ana police departments both face serious questions from varying top officials and residents about their judgement calls the night of Brandon Lopez’s killing.

OC Register: Coronavirus: Orange County reported 384 new cases and seven more deaths, Oct. 6

There were 224 people with confirmed cases of the coronavirus reported in OC hospitals on Wednesday, of whom 60 needed to be in intensive care units. There were seven more deaths reported on Wednesday, increasing the count of those who have died from the virus in Orange County to 5,454

Labor

OC Register: Kaiser Permanente suspends at least 2,000 employees who shunned vaccine

In one of the first signs of an escalating showdown between healthcare providers and vaccine-resistant employees, Kaiser Permanente has suspended more than 2,000 workers who have chosen not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Nation

Associated Press: 1st trial in college admissions bribe scheme to head to jury

Prosecutors played jurors a slew of secretly recorded phone calls between “consultant” Rick Singer and the parents with the goal of proving that the parents not only knew their payments were bribes but were eager participants in the fraud.

Associated Press: Ban on negotiating Medicare drug prices under pressure

Known as the “noninterference clause,” the ban has been unbendable. That’s the way the pharmaceutical industry wants to keep it.

Publication Date: October 6, 2021