May 8, 2020 Media Brief
Coronavirus
Voice of OC: OC public servants speak out about workplace safety – Charles Barfield
More than 44 percent of surveyed workers do NOT feel safe in the workplace and more than 40 percent say they do not have adequate access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and shields.
Voice of OC: Local farm purchases surplus produce to donate for community care packages
Tanaka Farms, known for their strawberry harvest in the spring, has been giving away a dozen free community care packages, give or take a few, almost daily for the past month. This giveaway ramps it up to a whole other level.
OC Register: County operated beaches to open, with restrictions
South Laguna Beach, Salt Creek, Strands Beach and Capistrano Beach — the last stretches of beach that remained closed this week — got the nod Thursday, May 7, from the state to reopen their beaches.
OC Register: Knott’s Berry Farm owner rolls out post-COVID-19 plan for reopening
Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman laid out a health and safety plan for when the company’s theme parks reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daily Pilot: Ronald Birtcher, who helped create today’s OC, dies at 89
Ron Birtcher was part of a generation of real estate giants that included Henry Segerstrom, Donald Bren, John Lusk, Donald Koll and William Lyon. These men took advantage of the tremendous growth of Orange County in the 1960s.
OC Register: Souplantation to permanently close all restaurants amid coronavirus
Souplantation, a buffet specialist in salads and soups, is permanently closing all of its locations due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Labor
AP News: US unemployment spikes to Depression-level era 14.7%
The U.S. unemployment rate rocketed to 14.7% in April, a level last seen during the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record — stark evidence of how the coronavirus has brought the economy to its knees.
California
KTLA: Regulators waive $200 million fine PG&E was supposed to pay for causing NorCal wildfires
California regulators on Thursday suspended a $200 million fine against Pacific Gas & Electric as punishment for the utility’s neglect of electrical equipment that ignited a series of deadly wildfires in Northern California.
KTLA: California begins to reopen economy, fears of second virus surge rise
Reopening California’s devastated economy is increasingly looking to be a slow, deliberative process in many parts of the state as Gov. Gavin Newsom issued strict protocols that communities must satisfy to speed reopening and health experts warned of the risks of a surge if social distancing is abandoned too early.
Nation
KTLA: Judge grants request to delay start of prison sentence for former Rep. Ducan Hunter
A federal judge on Thursday granted a request by the federal government and a lawyer for former Rep. Duncan Hunter to move his date to surrender for his prison sentence until as late as Jan. 4, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Publication Date: May 8, 2020
