I read with interest your story published April 12, 2024, titled “Irvine Launches New Shuttle System as OC Bus Service Continues Shrinking” and was disappointed by the misleading headline and mischaracterization throughout. OC Bus service, run by the Orange County Transportation Authority, has a more than 50-year history serving Orange County, and it continues to grow and thrive – not shrink. Over the past decade, OCTA has made painstaking efforts to evaluate and reshape the OC Bus system to better serve the county.  It’s true to say some routes have been scaled back or eliminated but hi ..read more

Anna L. Piercy, a longtime Anaheim Union High School District Trustee and former Cypress mayor, died Monday after a battle with cancer leaving a vacant seat on the school board. Board President Annemarie Randle-Trejo announced her passing at Tuesday’s board meeting and staff and trustees took time to remember her and share their condolences with her family. Randle-Trejo said at the meeting that Anna was a force on the dais. “When she believed in something she let us know, She was never afraid,” she said. “She listened to each and every one of us up here on this dais and to everyone out there ..read more

Consider starting your weekend this Saturday by taking the kids to make crafts at an Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event at Newhope Library, or by attending a collaborative paint program for seniors. Weather permitting, consider starting Sunday with a hike in Weir Canyon, or by attending a talk on gardening or the  Sunday Musicale at the Newport Beach Central Library. This is just a handful of the many free events and activities happening throughout Orange County — funded by public tax dollars.   CHECK OUT OUR FULL CALENDAR HERE Every week, Voice of OC reporters wor ..read more

There are more people living on the streets of Orange County than there were two years ago, according to a new report published by county leaders dubbed the Point in Time Count.  The federally mandated biennial count, conducted at the end of January this year, highlighted a nearly 2,000-person increase in Orange County’s homeless population, which county officials claimed was still at a much lower percentage than surrounding counties and the state average.  To view the report, click here.  Doug Brecht, director of the county’s Office of Care Coordination, highlighted how the i ..read more

Huntington Beach city leaders are facing a new legal threat looking to force the city to switch to district voting for its city council elections.  In a lawsuit filed last Friday, Surf City resident Victor Valladeres alleges the city’s current at-large election system disenfranchises minority voters and city council candidates.  The new lawsuit comes as the city is already wrapped up in a series of other legal battles, including a case with Attorney General Rob Bonta arguing the city has the right to implement voter ID in its local elections.  [Read: CA Attorney General Sues Hu ..read more

The Las Vegas Raiders NFL football team will host a pre-season training camp this summer at Costa Mesa’s Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex and pay for upgrades at the facility’s public sports fields. City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison said she estimates the move will bring in $1.3 million in sales and hotel tax revenue.  “The Raiders being here in town and staying at local hotels, visiting our restaurants – there’s an estimated $1.3 million revenue generation from that activity and so we’re really, really happy to have that economic benefit to the overall city and to our businesses,” Ha ..read more

OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer says his office hasn’t improperly convicted anyone in the last three years after reviewing over 200 cases. The reviews came from the Conviction Integrity Unit, a new office established by Spitzer after he was elected in 2018 to review cases where prosecutors were accused of improperly convicting people, a finding that was backed up by the federal Department of Justice.  Spitzer says that era is over in the DA’s office.  “The best cure of darkness and corruption is sunlight,” Spitzer said at his inauguration in 2019.”I pledge to bring an era of trans ..read more

The affordable housing crisis is an existential threat to our way of life in California. It is also a literal threat to hundreds of people in Orange County. The most recent OC Point in Time count found 5,718 people are unsheltered. According to the Sheriff’s Department, the number of deaths among people experiencing homelessness more than tripled between 2012 and 2021. Voice of OC reports 511 homeless people died in 2023. The current situation is unsustainable. Housing is sucking up much too much of our income and is impoverishing millions. We need balance. There ..read more

Next month, people across Orange County and the U.S. will come together with music, food and games to celebrate freedom and Juneteenth – the day slavery actually came to an end for all Black Americans more than 160 years ago. A host of cities in OC and organizing groups are already planning events at local parks to celebrate the day together and reflect on the past and what it means to be free. Dwayne Shipp, President of the OC Heritage Council, said in a phone interview Friday, that the day teaches people about the importance of maintaining unity and equality for everyone. “Juneteenth is mor ..read more

Placentia City Council members will vote on awarding a $3 million on-call contract for construction projects throughout the city on Tuesday, after some officials called the move a “blank check” to vendors.   Mayor Jeremy Yamaguchi said the move would diminish transparency by not having individual projects come back before the dais for public discussion. The contract is slated to come before the council at their 7 p.m. meeting tonight, which can be live streamed on the city’s website.  The $3 million contract will provide the city with a “bench” of six construction management co ..read more