May 6, 2021 Media Brief

Orange County

Voice of OC: County officials will close vaccine super sites, switch to neighborhood clinics

Orange County officials will close all four vaccination supersites spread throughout the county after what they say is a huge drop in people getting their shots at the sites.

 

Voice of OC: Herd immunity might not hit before June reopening due misinformation say officials

County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau has also expressed concerns that herd immunity — at least 70% of OC’s residents are vaccinated — won’t be hit by the time the state nixes nearly all pandemic restrictions except masks.

 

OC Register: Orange County reported 38 new cases and 13 new deaths as of May 6

The OC Health Care Agency reported 38 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, May 6, increasing the cumulative total in the county to 254,201 cases since tracking began.

 

Voice of OC: County officials back-up on secret contracts after public response

At the urging of Chairman Andrew Do, existing multi-million-dollar projects can still be secretly extended and expanded by county CEO Frank Kim, without their text ever appearing on the supervisors’ public agendas.

 

Daily Pilot: Retail cannabis gets the green light in Costa Mesa as council passes new law

Six months after Costa Mesa voters resoundingly approved Measure Q — a move to legalize retail cannabis sales and delivery — city officials on Tuesday adopted legislation intended to regulate such businesses while weeding out bad actors.

 

Voice of OC: City effort to sell off historic Santa Ana fire station stokes community backlash

The Cypress Fire Station — also known as Fire Station #4 — may be the first and oldest fire station in the city, located in the underserved Eastside/Pacific Park neighborhood. It’s one of the last remaining publicly-owned buildings in the area, residents say.

 

Labor

Voice of OC: Fountain Valley hospital workers protest low wages following scathing state report last year

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital employees are railing against the parent company, Tenet Healthcare, for failing to directly hire certain staff and instead outsourcing workers who say that leads to subpar health insurance and low wages.

 

OC Register: Kaiser just laid off hundreds. Are more cuts coming to health care industry?

More than a year into a deadly pandemic that has pushed health care workers to the brink, Kaiser Permanente announced last week it was laying off more than 200 workers. Earlier this year, Sutter Health made similar reductions.

 

Voice of Register: How companies rip off poor employees and get away with it

When a recession hits, U.S. companies are more likely to stiff their lowest-wage workers. These businesses often pay less than the minimum wage, make employees work off the clock, or refuse to pay overtime rates. In the most egregious cases, bosses don’t pay their employees at all.

 

Publication Date: May 6, 2021