It looks like a series of retail shops, manufacturing businesses and warehouses in OC will be reopen for business Friday, said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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 inREGIONS
City Beaches Get State’s OK to Reopen, Other Beaches Remain Closed
The cities of Laguna Beach, Seal Beach, San Clemente, Dana Point, and Huntington Beach were allowed to reopen after their reopening plans were approved by the state.
Posted inREGIONS
Santa Ana City Council Resists Efforts to Reverse Rent Freeze
The potential repeal of the rent freeze — which lasts through May 31 — prompted uproar across Santa Ana as soon as it was scheduled for a discussion.
Posted inREGIONS
Anaheim Police To Go After Criminals With Facial Recognition Software
After more than a year-long trial phase, Anaheim police are set to get an annual subscription to a facial recognition software that compares images of unknown individuals suspected of crimes against known offender databases consisting of booking mugshots of those arrested and booked for criminal offenses.
Posted inREGIONS
Landlord Groups Want Santa Ana to Repeal Its Emergency Rent Increase Freeze
Santa Ana City Council members could vote to rescind or affirm the rent hike restriction — enacted last month by City Manager Kristine Ridge through an executive order that’s currently in effect until May 31 — at their Tuesday meeting.
Posted inREGIONS
Los Alamitos’ Anti-Sanctuary City Fight Fizzles Out
City Council members through a virtual meeting unanimously repealed an ordinance passed in April 2018, which claimed to exempt the city from the California Values Act, a state law passed in 2017 prohibiting local law enforcement from regularly cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Posted inNEWS
Officials Vote to Close Perry Elementary Despite Opposition, Possible Legal Action Ahead
The Huntington Beach City School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close Joseph R. Perry Elementary school — a move critics said would impact working parents while supporters said the school has seen little enrollment.
Posted inREGIONS
Huntington Beach Parents On Edge as School Officials Near Decision on Perry Elementary Closure
The district’s Board of Trustees is set to meet at 5:00 p.m., through the virtual meeting platform Zoom, to vote on whether or not to close the school as a cost-saving measure for the district’s financial woes.
Posted inNEWS
Orange County Fair Cancelled This Year Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
The cancellation — expected for weeks as the 150-acre fairgrounds property had all but closed its facilities to the public and other county fairs up and down the state already cancelled theirs — was made official by the OC Fair and Events Center Board of Directors at their Monday special meeting.
Posted inOutdoors
Warm Weather Crowds Prompt OC Cities to Rethink Varying Beach Closure Policies During Coronavirus Crisis
Images of large, warm weather crowds in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach made the rounds on social media over the weekend, bringing fears of inadequate social distancing and risk of further spreading the coronavirus throughout OC. Now cities like Laguna Beach and Newport Beach are rethinking their coastal access policies going into another week of heat.
