Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/voiceofoc/)
Costa Mesa has approved an ordinance loosening restrictions on sidewalk vending, becoming the latest Orange County city to regulate merchants in alignment with a state law that went into effect last year.
Planning officials are considering a proposal to build high-density workforce apartments in an industrial zone in downtown Brea, reserving a portion of those units for those who work in the city and offering more affordable housing.
Voice of OC Publisher Norberto Santana, Jr., talks with Orange County election experts Fred Smoller and Mike Moodian from the national seats down to the local level.
On Sunday, a host of community members came out to the Theo Lacy jail facility in Orange to support judicial restraint of a new policy by Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes to shackle inmates while they are transported to court and while they await court hearings in holding cells. Sheriff Barnes appealed the decision, arguing restraints are safer for inmates being transported to court. An appellate court decision is expected next month.
In the face of growing concern over the rising homeless population in Newport Beach officials are trying to establish a new homeless shelter. Dozens of residents protested outside City Hall during a council meeting earlier this month, expressing concerns about the locations under consideration.
Irvine City Council members are expected to tighten smoking laws to prohibit smoking in all public areas and regulate e-cigarettes, vaporizers, and marijuana products.
Other cities such as Dana Point and Laguna Beach have passed smoking laws in the last two years that prevent smoking and vaping in public places.
An Orange County grand jury took a look at how OC disaster alert systems work earlier this year. They weren’t impressed. County and city officials are falling behind in making the recommended improvements.
An inside look at the jails that housed detainees in Orange County, one man’s story of trying to get home, and the policies that got us here.
The speakers visited Chapman University as part of the “La Frontera/The Border” series presented by the Peace Studies Department, aimed at engaging students and faculty in an ongoing discussion and analysis of the events happening at the U.S.-Mexico border.