Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/scustodio/page/2/)
Spencer Custodio joined Voice of OC as a full-time reporter covering south Orange County and Fullerton in August 2017. Previously, he worked as one of Voice of OC’s first interns starting in 2010, covering Fullerton and general assignment stories. During his time with Voice of OC, Custodio covered the Joe Felz election night car crash that lead to him being charged with a DUI (the case is ongoing). He also has been covering the Irvine Veteran’s Cemetery, a first for Orange County, that led to a land swap with a developer that divided many veterans and residents. Recently, he covered the sudden resignation of former Laguna Niguel Mayor Jerry Slusiewicz over claims of bullying and intimidation that started when Slusiewicz found a tree trimming contract that was overpaid by $410,000. Custodio graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with extensive education in Constitutional law, public policy, economics and international law. He worked as the news editor at the student newspaper, The Daily Titan, during his last semester. Languages spoken: English Areas of expertise: Voter registration and turnout, data analysis, homelessness, Irvine and Fullerton.
Grocery workers are demanding increased safety and sanitation measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in their stores while they endure waves of customers filling the store and panic buying.
With OC jails experiencing a novel coronavirus outbreak, County officials are beginning to early release about scores of prisoners early and workers are getting apprehensive. Meanwhile, a group of criminal defense attorneys are asking a federal judge to clear out the jails.
The Anaheim City Council voted on a $15 million relief package, with $6.5 million of it going to advertise for the resort industry — which is shut down indefinitely. Another $2 million goes to the Anaheim Community Foundation to provide direct assistance to residents and community nonprofits. And up to $6 million will be directed to homeless services and housing assistance for residents.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal blocked an Orange County Superior Court judge’s publishing gag leveled against Fullerton residents and bloggers Joshua Ferguson and David Curlee for publishing secret city hall documents. The two residents are appealing the entire City of Fullerton lawsuit against them.
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, tonight, will propose a $15 million economic recovery package, including $6.5 million to help advertise for the Disneyland-area resort industry, coming from the city’s reserve funds.
Orange County officials found the first case of the novel coronavirus hitting their jails after a man tested positive among the scores of inmates currently locked up. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes will address the virus case which came from the Men’s Central Jail at the 1:30 p.m. news conference today.
The goal, county health officials said, is for people to be able to enjoy beaches and trails for their physical and mental wellbeing, while keeping at least a six-foot distance to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Cities across Orange County cities are adopting bans on evictions due to the economic fallout from the state’s stay home order. To date, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Costa Mesa have adopted bans while cities like Irvine and Garden Grove have adopted softer consumer protections. Meanwhile, questions mount about what the bans will do to smaller property owners.
Nearly all of Orange County’s incumbent state legislators will be advancing to November, except for Republican Assemblymen Bill Brough and Tyler Diep. In addition, finalists for a central county supervisors seat and numerous congressional elections are now set for November, following the final tally of results from the March Primary, finalized on Monday by the OC Registrar of Voters.
Anaheim City Councilmembers will decide on temporarily banning evictions as scores of workers lose jobs due to the state-mandated closure of large sections of the economy.