The board of the Orange County Employees Retirement System is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to dock the pension benefits of former county public works executive Carlos Bustamente because of his sex crimes.
Author Archives: Tracy Wood
Tracy Wood oversaw Voice of OC’s civics reporting, including county and city government, the Orange County Transportation Authority, CalOptima, Anaheim, Santa Ana and other community coverage.
Tracy was a government reporter, foreign correspondent in Asia, California investigative reporter and editor. She covered the California legislature and governor’s office for both United Press International and the Los Angeles Times. As a UPI reporter, she was one of the few women combat correspondents during the Vietnam War. She joined the Los Angeles Times in California where she was an investigative reporter for 17 years, covering political and government corruption. Later she became the Orange County Register’s Investigations Editor, leading the paper’s investigations team when it broke the story of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s ties to Nationwide Auction Systems founder and former Assistant Sheriff Donald G. Haidl.
She won numerous awards for investigative reporting and in 2001 was named Los Angeles Print Journalist of the Year by Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalism association.
Wood and eight other women reporters from Vietnam co-authored “War Torn, Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam” (2002 Random House). She was also part of the Los Angeles Times staff team that won the 1993 Pulitzer for coverage of the Rodney King riots. The Pulitzer was for spot news coverage for balanced, comprehensive, penetrating coverage under deadline pressure of the second, most destructive day of the Los Angeles riots.
Posted inCountywide, News Briefs, Top Stories
Thousands Urge Knott’s to Reopen Controversial Halloween Show
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, 3,791 people had signed a change.org petition asking Knott’s Berry Farm to reverse its decision Tuesday to close a virtual reality scare show featuring patients in a mental institution.
Posted inCountywide, Top Stories
Knott’s Shuts Down Attraction Denounced by Mental Health Advocates
Less than a week after it opened, Knott’s Berry Farm Tuesday shuttered a Halloween attraction criticized by mental health advocates for perpetuating the social stigma of mental illness.
Posted inDana Point, Government, Investigative, News Briefs, Top Stories
High-Ranking County Executive Prepares for Abrupt Departure
Mark Denny, a former political aide who has served as Orange County’s chief operating officer since 2013, is leaving his county job on Thursday to take a position with the city of Dana Point, according to county officials.
Posted inBuena Park, Countywide, Health & Wellness, Top Stories
Mental Health Advocates Express ‘Outrage’ Over New Knott’s Attraction
A new Halloween horror attraction that opened last week at Knott’s Berry Farm has drawn criticism from advocates who say it includes offensive and dehumanizing depictions of mental health patients.
Posted inAnaheim, Countywide, Fullerton, Housing & Homelessness, News Briefs, Top Stories
Mercy House to Run the County’s Permanent Homeless Center
The 200-bed facility is scheduled to open in Anaheim at the end of 2017 and replace the existing winter shelter at the National Guard Armory in Fullerton.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Donations on Behalf of Supervisors Topped $100k This Summer
County supervisors are increasingly taking advantage of a state law that allows lobbyists and wealthy contributors to give money and in-kind donations requested by elected officials for their favored charities or government-sponsored events.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Health & Wellness, Housing & Homelessness, News Briefs, Santa Ana, Top Stories
Supervisors to Santa Ana: ‘Put Up or Shut Up’ on Civic Center Homeless Crisis
The county Board of Supervisors during a special meeting Tuesday challenged Santa Ana leaders to decide before Election Day whether they will join with the county in an effort to address the homelessness crisis at the downtown Civic Center.
Posted inCountywide, Economy, Government, News Briefs, Top Stories
County Supervisors Approve New Contract for Deputy Sheriffs
The three-year contract, approved by board members unanimously and without discussion, will cost taxpayers an additional $62.2 million between now and 2019.
Posted inFullerton, News Briefs
Soccer Club Repays Fullerton for Coach’s Private Lessons on Public Fields
The city will get back the approximately $38,000 in rental fees that the former coach, James Obleda, ran up over about four years or roughly 900 hours of private coaching.
