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Voice of OC
Mission Viejo Council Rejects DMV Branch After Resident Complaints Over Safety
At a time when south Orange County residents are already seeing an influx in construction-related congestion and traffic along the 5 freeway, Mission Viejo residents successfully fought off a DMV branch that would have been placed in the heart of town. While the end is in sight for a series...
Who Will Be Orange County’s Next Superintendent of School?
Orange County is getting its first new superintendent of schools in over a decade. On Tuesday, the OC Board of Education will decide on appointing a new superintendent to run the county’s department of education which handles payroll, legal and fiscal guidance for school districts and helping several smaller student populations, including continuation schools.
Visual Voices Photo Exhibition Showcases Community and Culture in Santa Ana
Family, lowriders, urban farms and architecture in downtown. These are a few of many parts of Santa Ana photographed by ten young Orange County residents and over 50 Santa Ana residents that offered a view of their local reality as part of a visual art exhibition on June 8. The...
More than Books, Anaheim Library Explores Culture Through Events
Anaheim Haskett librarians are making their free event programming one that fits the diverse makeup of Orange County. Editor’s note: This is an occasional series where Voice of OC works with local community photographers to offer residents a first-hand look at the local sites and scenes of Orange County.
OC Equestrian Center Rent Hikes Start This Week as Tension Mounts
With rental rates set to start increasing this Saturday, equestrians continue fighting to keep boarding rates for their horses affordable at the OC Fairgrounds Equestrian Center in Costa Mesa. The phased increase, which will ultimately hike rents by 50% in 2025, comes after OC Fair Board officials had to re-cast...
OC Library Visits Climb as Irvine Looks to Leave County Library Network
All over Orange County, more and more people are visiting county libraries. Selina Orozco visits the Westminster Public Library a few times a month, enjoying both the ease of wirelessly printing her paperwork and the delight her young son finds in the branch’s children’s events like storytime. Orozco...
Where to Celebrate Juneteenth Across OC
Across the county, libraries and cities are championing Black heritage and culture this week in celebration of Juneteenth. Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, is a cultural celebration commemorating the day that slavery came to an end in the United States – June 19, 1865. [Read: Orange County Gears Up For...
Lamirande: If It Wants to Meet Industry Standards, the OC Animal Shelter Needs More Frontline Staff
OC Animal Care, the county shelter in Tustin, has wonderful adoptable animals in need of homes. But who meets the animals’ daily needs until they can be adopted? Who cleans kennels? Who feeds the animals? Who gets dogs out of their kennels for short walks or yard time? Who documents animal behavior? Who handles adoption visits? The dedicated and hard-working Animal Care Attendants (ACAs) try to do all of that, but the OC shelter is woefully understaffed. Shelter managers find money for everything except what matters most: Frontline staff.
City of Orange Marches Closer to Sales Tax Increase to Patch Bleeding Budget
Voters living in the City of Orange may decide in November whether or not they want to pay more sales tax in an effort to keep the city’s budget from cratering. It comes as city officials stare down the barrel of a $19 million deficit. On Tuesday, City Council...
A Push For More Housing & Transparency in Orange County’s Budget
A couple dozen Orange County residents called on county supervisors to prioritize spending on housing as homelessness increases throughout the region and called on officials to let people give more input on the $9.5 billion budget. Housing wasn’t the only thing residents pushed for at Tuesday morning’s public hearing on...
Why Do OC Police Departments Use Drones Blacklisted by Federal Government?
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is looking to purchase drones from a company blacklisted by the federal government over concerns the drones can be used for spying by the Chinese government. And they’re not the only law enforcement agency in the county using those drones. A Voice of...
Anaheim Officials Consider More Oversight For Their Controversial Tourism Promotion Agency
Anaheim officials are expected to keep a closer eye on how tourism tax dollars – meant to market and promote the Disneyland resort district – are being spent after state auditors alleged the money was being used to lobby elected officials. In a report published earlier this year,...
Jailhouse Snitches: A Rare Conversation on The Ethics of a Former High Level Prosecutor
It’s one of the biggest yet most obscure scandals that has engulfed OC sheriff deputies and local prosecutors over the past decade – one that has been called out by federal investigators with the Department of Justice and has complicated a host of convictions in Orange County. Using...
McDonald: Sky-High Rents Fuel Homelessness in Orange County. We Must Expand Rent Control
It shouldn’t be surprising: Orange County’s homeless population has increased by 28 percent, according to a new, federally mandated report. At the same time, Orange County continues to be Southern California’s most expensive rental market, with average rent at $2,657. Sky-high rents, in other words, equal more...
How Political Are Santa Ana City Council Aides?
Santa Ana city staff say they’ve received complaints that the city council’s political aides have campaigned for their bosses on the taxpayers’ dime and pushed the council to overhaul the program. But some city council members say their aides aren’t political after two aides volunteered against recall...
Does Orange County Spend Enough on Building Housing?
As homelessness continues to rise in Orange County, senior county staff and elected county supervisors have blamed the problem on a lack of housing to send people to once they arrive in a shelter. While the county earmarked $350 million for housing, some city officials say it’s time for the...
What’s With All the Construction on the I-5 Freeway Across South OC?
South Orange County residents will spend most of this year continuing to confront occasional construction-related congestion and late-night freeway segment closures along the I-5 in areas like Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills and Lake Forest. But the end is in sight for the series of freeway construction efforts that...
Santana: The Little Newsroom That Could
It was 15 years ago this week that I defiantly walked out of the Orange County Register newsroom as a lead investigative reporter with a one-year old son, leading a coalition of local residents to create a civically-minded, tough local nonprofit newsroom. This newsroom would get in the way in...
OC Pickleball Courts Swell to Meet Demand
Huntington Beach resident Shelley Wong has grown from a pickleball newcomer to a passionate coach within a few years, sharing the love of the game she’s found with beginners. Like many others, Wong turned to pickleball during the pandemic as a fun way to keep active. Now, in a...
Free Things To Do This Weekend Across OC
Consider starting your weekend this Saturday by attending an outdoor art program in Santa Ana, or by attending a food preservation demonstration at the George Key Ranch Historic Park. On Sunday, consider a morning fitness hike through Weir Canyon, or learn about home organizing techniques at the Irvine University Park...
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