There’s a regional frustration that OC’s air quality regulators have shifted the weight of their own jobs to the very communities being harmed.
Author Archives: Brandon Pho
As a Voice of OC reporter, Brandon Pho covered north/central Orange County, as well as broader regional issues around law enforcement, transportation, the environment, the OC Fair and Little Saigon.
He joined in 2018 as an intern, shedding light on turmoil and corruption claims in Westminster and uncovering a now-fired OC Fair executive’s suspect fundraising relationship with a nearby, private Christian college that the Fair had sponsored with public money.
Later, he published a number of investigative stories on local law enforcement agencies; detailed political jockeying around a controversial seawater desalting plant proposal in Huntington Beach; narrated a racial reckoning inside one of the county’s largest school districts; and tracked various quality of life issues across the region.
Before Voice of OC, Brandon worked as a reporter and editor at Cal State Fullerton’s independent student newspaper, the Daily Titan, and won a number of accolades for his reporting in 2018, including a 1st and 2nd place Los Angeles Press Club award and 1st place national College Media Association award.
While at Voice of OC, Brandon was a member of Report for America, a national network of local reporters committed to bolstering democracy throughout the U.S.
Posted inALL TOP STORIES
Orange County Tallied 722 Total Homeless Kids Last Year, Real Number May Be 30,000
It’s an issue that Orange County Grand Jurors say fuels a multi-generational cycle of homelessness across the region’s 28 school districts.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Nearly 200,000 Orange County Residents Could Lose Public Health Coverage
The return of eligibility checks for people on public health plans might also spell issues for OC’s community health clinic network.
Posted inALL TOP STORIES
Irvine and Santa Ana Improve in Nationwide Park Rankings as Anaheim Stumbles
The importance of parks to your local City Council can determine how many miles you’ll have to walk to access open space – and the difference of park acreage between low and high income neighborhoods.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Will OC’s Homeless Prevention Workers Need Homeless Services Themselves?
County supervisors approved nearly $22 million in homeless prevention service contracts, but there are questions about whether the proposed wages for frontline workers might qualify them for the same help.
Posted inEducation
Santa Ana School District Struggles With How to Teach Palestinian & Israeli History
Santa Ana Unified School District officials promise to revise ethnic studies materials on Palestine and Israel amidst backlash from Jewish groups. Arab American leaders question whether the district will erase Palestinian history.
Posted inEducation
Will Santa Ana Kids Go Without Crossing Guards Over A Funding Spat?
Students of up to 41 schools might have to maneuver the streets on their own come August, unless local leaders find a solution by June 20.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Is OC’s Most Progressive City Set to Challenge State Housing Goals?
The notion had AG Rob Bonta’s office on instant alert on Tuesday.
Posted inSanta Ana
Santa Ana Leaders Look At Balancing Their City Budget While Staring Down a Financial Cliff
A budget deficit expected to come by the turn of the decade is challenging Santa Ana leaders to fund services over the specter of financial uncertainty.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Researchers Arm Santa Ana Residents With Data to Fight Pollution
Inside the effort by a team of UCI researchers to equip polluted Santa Ana communities with information they can act on.
