August 3, 2021 Media Brief
Orange County
OC Register: Face mask mandate in schools raises ire, praise and confusion in Orange County
With schools about to re-open and face-to-face instruction set to resume, school officials throughout Orange County are hearing from parents who hold opposing views about a state mandate that requires most students, teachers and staff to wear masks when indoors at a California public school.
OC Register: Coronavirus: Orange County recorded 1,996 new cases and two new deaths over the weekend
There have been 6,787 new infections reported in the last 14 days. On Monday, 322 people with confirmed cases of the coronavirus were reported in Orange County hospitals, 68 of whom needed to be in an intensive care unit.
Voice of OC: Residents challenge priority for access to OC’s coast
The redevelopment of Dana Point Harbor, hotel remodels in Laguna Beach, and a proposed rail project along the vanishing Capistrano Beach are fueling concerns that such access may face increasing threats in the coming years.
Voice of OC: Newport Beach questions Banning Ranch Park preservation in favor of housing
Millions of dollars in state grants and budget provisions have propelled local efforts to turn Newport Beach’s 384 acres of Banning Ranch into a protected, coastal public park — but city officials say they need some of that land for housing.
OC Register: Santa Ana to host virtual forum on police oversight
Santa Ana officials are exploring what kind of police oversight commission or board would work best in the city, and they want to hear from residents.
Voice of OC: Garden Grove residents protest spiked trash bills
Garden Grove City Council members decided it’s time to create a better process for residents to dispute trash bills with the city’s contracted waste hauler, Republic Services, after two people told officials last week they were improperly billed for hundreds of dollars.
OC Register: Park memorials: Politics; money can matter as much as yesterday’s hero
Over the past six weeks, the Westminster City Council has devoted three long meetings to arguments about the installation of yet another Vietnam War monument at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park. Meanwhile, the city’s budget crisis has been ignored.
Labor
OC Register: Blizzard chief is out amid #MeToo revolt at Irvine gaming publisher
J. Allen Brack's departure came in a letter from Activision Blizzard President and COO Daniel Alegre to employees. The ouster comes just a week after workers staged a walkout after allegations of harassment and discrimination.
Labor 411: NLRB officer recommends new Amazon union election due to company’s anti-union tactics
A federal labor official has found that Amazon’s anti-union tactics tainted this spring’s election sufficiently to scrap its results, according to the union that sought to represent the workers. The official is recommending a do-over of the unionization vote, the union said in a release.
Publication Date: August 3, 2021
