Kevin Lien hasn’t started sleeping with his windows open again, and he doubts he ever will. But, the 19 air purifiers that the Orchard Hills resident spent tens of thousands of dollars on now sit largely unused. And, he no longer feels the need to open his front door a crack and sniff the outside air before taking his dogs for their walk.   The November closure of the All American Asphalt plant in North Irvine — the result of a remarkable deal among the plant’s owners, the City and the Irvine Company — was literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air for long-suffering residents nearb ..read more

(Left to right) Ed McNew in the Army in the 1950s and in Irvine at age 91 It is with deep sadness that Irvine Community News & Views (ICNV) reports the passing of longtime Irvine resident and volunteer extraordinaire, Ed McNew. After graduating with a BA degree in Economics from a college in his home state of Ohio, Ed served in the U.S. Army. While stationed in Tokyo during the 1950s, he met a fellow soldier who became a lifelong friend and would later introduce Ed to the love of his life, Louise. Ed & Louise spent 60 wonderful years together, and raised two children. They settled in ..read more

As we commemorate Earth Day on April 22nd, elected officials will no doubt talk about their bold leadership in addressing climate change. But what substantive actions have these elected officials actually taken? Let’s look at the records of the two members of the current Irvine City Council who are now running for Mayor. (Both call themselves environmentalists.) Vice Mayor Larry Agran has an impressive record of environmental accomplishments, dating back decades. As Mayor of Irvine in 1989, Agran partnered with scientists at UCI to have the City become the first in the nation to ban chloroflu ..read more

According to a recently published study, our City’s residents are among the happiest in the nation. In fact, Irvine earned the No. 5 spot in WalletHub’s Happiest Cities in America ranking. Analysts from WalletHub examined 29 key indicators of happiness — ranging from the depression rate to the income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day — among residents in more than 180 cities across the country. The study found that the majority of Irvine residents have a remarkably positive mental state, good physical health, low divorce rate, longer life expectancy, strong social connections ..read more

(Left to Right): State Senator Dave Min, Mayor Farrah Khan, and Vice Mayor Larry Agran at the JOST Bridge Groundbreaking With the recent groundbreaking on the Jeffrey Open Space Trail (JOST) bridge over the I-5 Freeway, the City has embarked on the last step — or last pedal — in the creation of a bicycle and pedestrian trail system linking the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ana Mountains.   On March 28th, a group of City officials led by Mayor Farrah Khan and Vice Mayor Larry Agran — joined by State Senator Dave Min and contractor representatives — put their ceremonial shovels to use to of ..read more

There is a renaissance underway at Irvine Valley College (IVC) with the recent opening of the new $61 million IVC Arts Village, bringing all arts programs together into a single complex next to the school’s Performing Arts Center. Grand opening ceremony of the new IVC Arts Village The Arts Village’s three buildings — totaling some 62,000 square feet — are set around a central courtyard and feature state-of-the-art facilities for music, dance, visual arts and fine arts as well as performance and exhibition spaces.   The largest building is devoted to Music & Dance and includes classr ..read more

Councilmembers Kim & Treseder at the March 26th Council meeting Yet another Irvine City Council meeting was cut short by the walkout of two Councilmembers opposed to hearing public comments regarding the violence in the Mideast.   This time, however, Councilmembers Tammy Kim and Kathleen Tresder bizarrely walked out to stymie discussion of two measures placed on the Council agenda by Treseder herself. As has happened twice in the past two months, with Councilmmember Mike Carroll out sick, Mayor Farrah Khan had to adjourn the official Council meeting for lack of a quorum after Cou ..read more

Image obtained from the City of Irvine Gateway Preserve video It’s the deal that keeps on giving. Last year’s agreement among the City, Irvine Company and All American Asphalt has already resulted in the closure of the noxious plant that was making life miserable for thousands of North Irvine residents. Now that deal, brokered by Vice Mayor Larry Agran with Council support, is on the verge of also putting hundreds of millions of dollars into the City’s coffers. It works like this: Last year’s deal had All American Asphalt agreeing to sell its North Irvine plant and property to the City. Th ..read more

Ironically, OCPA touts their non-existent “wind” energy on their website If windmills are not producing electric power — and no one notices — can OCPA still claim credit for the non-existent wind energy?  Unbelievably, the answer is yes. It’s the oldest trick in the renewable energy bag, and it’s hidden on Orange County Power Authority’s (OCPA) Power Content Label, which is used to disguise reliance on filthy, fossil-fuel electricity generators (brown power).  This is unacceptable behavior considering Community Choice Energy (CCE) agencies like OCPA were created to outperform South ..read more

The new Irvine CONNECT shuttle and Mayor Farrah Khan — who has championed the program —taking a test ride on the shuttle. On Monday (April 1st), the City of Irvine will launch Irvine CONNECT, which is a free shuttle service that will connect residents to parks, schools, hospitals, and shopping centers. The shuttle service will operate on weekdays from 6am until 8pm; and on weekends from 8am until 10pm. Shuttle frequency will be every 20 minutes. (Passengers will be able to track the shuttle in real-time by clicking here.) There will be more than 70 stops, including these destinations: Sie ..read more