March 1, 2021

Orange County

OC Register: Orange County plans to open multiple vaccination sites for school employees

Asked if the county will post on its agenda the $220 million-plus in coronavirus contracts that have not yet been on a public agenda, CEO Frank Kim told Voice of OC he will consider it.

 

Voice of OC: Huntington Beach to vote on issuing bonds to tackle regional pension costs

The proposal comes as the state’s public employee retirement system — CalPERS — has changed the way it calculates the amount of money cities must pay into the agency over the last few years, so it can administer pensions and benefits to those cities’ retired employees.

 

Voice of OC: How many cities will remain in Orange County’s new renewable energy agency?

Lake Forest and Buena Park — cities who for decades acquired their energy from Southern California Edison — joined the newly minted regional agency in charge of the program, Orange County Power Authority, in December one day prior to the agency’s inaugural meeting.

 

Daily Pilot: Orange County reports 12 deaths due to COVID-19

Additionally, there were 16,684 tests for the virus reported within the last day, which brings the number of tests administered in the county to 3,035,335. The healthcare agency estimates that 230,569 people in the county have made a recovery after contracting the virus.

 

California

OC Register: Newsom, lawmakers forge deal – with $6.6 billion in financial incentives – to get schools open

Since schools nationwide and around the world began reopening last fall, evidence has grown that they can operate safely with measures such as face masks, physical distancing and ventilation to reduce virus transmission. There is also growing evidence that students are falling behind with remote online-only “distance learning.”

 

Nation

Forbes: House passes $1.9 trillion stimulus package—now it’s up to the senate

All Senate Democrats and at least one Republican will have to vote in favor of the stimulus bill in order for it to avoid a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.

 

OC Register: Mall values plunge 60% after reappraisals triggered by bad debt

About $4 billion in value was erased from 118 retail-anchored properties with commercial mortgage-backed securities debt after reappraisals triggered by payment delinquencies, defaults or foreclosures, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Publication Date: March 1, 2021