TimesOC: Angry parents protest indoor mask rules as first day of school draws near

Good morning and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter.

It’s Friday, Aug. 20. I’m Ben Brazil, bringing you the latest roundup of Orange County news and events.

If there’s one rule to the pandemic that seems enduring and unbreakable, it’s that we will never get away from the mask debate.

For many, wearing a mask is a way to keep themselves and others safe from a deadly virus. For others, masks are fake news and mask mandates encroach on personal liberty. Science, data and the medical field support the former. This week in Orange County, many angry parents supported the latter — loudly.

With classes beginning Monday, Newport-Mesa Unified is divided on the state’s mask mandate. During a meeting of the school district’s trustees this week, a group of parents protested the statewide order requiring students to mask up indoors.

“Let Them Breathe” rallies have been occurring all over Orange County since the July 9 indoor-masking order, which was made amid a rise in cases due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. Reporter Sara Cardine wrote that while the state has mandated facial coverings, it has left it up to school districts to determine how to deal with non-compliant students.

Newport-Mesa district officials said some students are being offered medical exemptions from wearing masks. But the district has not said how it will deal with students who refuse to wear masks.

Meanwhile, the Huntington Beach City School District this week contended with more angry parents objecting to requiring their children to wear masks indoors. As reporter Matt Szabo wrote, the meeting showed that little has changed since the pandemic began 17 months ago.

One woman in attendance held up a sign that read “COVID is a Scam.”

All of this comes as Orange County contends with its third surge, largely fueled by the Delta variant.

County health officials provided updates on the local response to the pandemic during two virtual news conferences this week organized by county Supervisor Katrina Foley.

Orange County health officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said the county should be peaking about now in terms of cases, which means hospitalizations should peak in the first couple weeks of September due to a weeks-long delay between cases and hospitalizations.

“So we’re not out of the woods yet, and people really need to be very careful in the next coming weeks,” Chinsio-Kwong said.

Chinsio-Kwong also said the current surge more closely mirrors last year’s summer surge, which peaked at about 700 hospitalizations, while the winter surge had over 2,000 hospitalizations. As of Thursday, there were 571 hospitalizations in Orange County.

The county saw a steep increase in cases on Wednesday with 1,213 daily reported cases, nearly double the 668 cases posted on Tuesday. Another 572 positive cases were reported Thursday.

Chinsio-Kwong said the cases in past surges were seen largely in older populations. However, the cases in the current surge are predominately among younger people, who have received fewer vaccinations than the older population. The case rate in children and teens is highest among 15- to 18-year-olds, she said.

The O.C. Health Care Agency is currently tracking the case counts in schools and providing that data online.

“We do have a lot more work to do on the youth in our community in terms of helping to encourage them to get vaccinated, ” Foley said.

A woman expresses her displeasure with the Huntington Beach City School District during Tuesday night’s board meeting.

(Matt Szabo)

NEWS

As California begins exploring ways to become carbon neutral by 2035, cities are faced with quickly finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Two more Orange County cities this week began looking into joining community choice energy programs to increase local use of renewable energy and potentially lower rates for residents. Community choice energy, or CCE, is at the forefront of a California energy revolution. More than 200 cities have adopted a CCE program as climate change continues to devastate with wildfires, drought and high temperatures. TimesOC

The O.C. Sheriff’s Department has arrested two suspects in a string of burglaries in Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano and Rancho Santa Margarita. The pair were caught this week while allegedly burglarizing a home in Newport Beach’s Back Bay. They attempted to flee in a vehicle, allegedly hitting a patrol vehicle, before being arrested. Sheriff’s investigators are continuing to look into other possibly related incidents and suspects. Daily Pilot

As the effects of climate change continue to rear their head, the California National Guard is studying the environmental impacts of installing 99 acres of solar panels at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos to reduce its carbon footprint. Keeping in mind that climate change is also increasing the likelihood of natural disasters, the base is installing the panels to ensure a resilient energy source in their wake. With large parts of California on fire, the base is also hosting a helitanker that’s capable of dropping up to 3,000 gallons of water in a single pass. TimesOC

A WW1-era cannon in front of a Costa Mesa police station has some residents concerned that it sends the wrong message following the national movement against police violence after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The gun was originally donated by the American Legion Post 291 in 1948 to the Veterans Memorial Hall, then was moved to the front of the police station when the hall was torn down. Daily Pilot

LIFE & LEISURE

The varying self-published and handmade zines of Orange County find a home at the Anaheim Central Library. Zine makers are invited to drop their zines off at a donation box in a corner of the library to be added to the library’s collection. The library also hosts the annual Orange County Zine Fest every summer. The event has been held virtually the last two years, an adaptation to the pandemic. But the event has still been successful, as zine creators took hold of the library’s Instagram for tutorials and talks. The library also offered an online zine directory. TimesOC

SPORTS

Bally Sports Detroit broadcaster Jack Morris has been suspended after making a racist comment about Angels star Shohei Ohtani during the team’s win over the Detroit Tigers this week. Morris said the Tigers should “be very, very careful,” of Ohtani as he came to the plate, using an apparently fake Asian accent. The clip was shared across social media and Morris ended up making an on-air apology during the game. Ohtani is from Japan. L.A. Times

The guidance of Mike Trout and other Angels veterans are helping promising prospects grow. While the Angels 2021 season has been hampered by injuries and substandard play, manager Joe Maddon believes the team can build on this growth for a better future. Young players like outfielders Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh and pitchers Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez and Reid Detmers, has showed how young players are improving with the help of team veterans. L.A. Times

The Orange County Soccer Club will be moving on from head coach Braeden Cloutier as the team contends with a rough start to the 2021 season. Assistant coach Richard Chaplow has been named interim head coach as the team still has 13 regular-season games remaining. During his three-year tenure as head coach, Cloutier’s teams made two playoff appearances. Daily Pilot

OPINION

Columnist Patrice Apodaca wrote about how Orange County has not been spared from the opioid epidemic. Apodaca said that the opioid epidemic is so widespread that it touches somebody in nearly everyone’s life. A Hoag Newport Beach addiction specialist told Apodaca that they see overdoses all the time. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of unintentional deaths in the U.S., surpassing car accidents. In Orange County, the death count from opioid overdoses rose from 272 in 2019 to 500 last year. Daily Pilot

Question of the Week

Orange County is a big, diverse community with a bustling entertainment and tourist industry. Yet the county has major hurdles to overcome — homelessness, climate change, political corruption and law enforcement misconduct. Oh, and a pandemic. We want to hear your opinions on these subjects!

Each week, we’ll ask you a new question and post some of the answers in the following newsletter.

Last week, we asked you: With the new COVID-19 surge, do you plan on going back into quarantine mode? Why or why not? What other precautions will you be taking?

Here are some of the responses we got:

“Despite being fully vaccinated, I never stopped being cautious, avoiding crowds, wearing a mask indoors, using hand sanitizer often, etc. I thought they were moving too fast in reopening and this latest surge proves it. People who refuse to get the vaccine continue to cause everyone grief.” — Kathy Hanson

Now for this week’s question (please keep your answer to 75 words or less):

Should children be required to wear masks at school? Why or why not?

Send your answer to Ben at benjamin.brazil@latimes.com.

Stay in Touch

If you have a memory or story about Orange County, we would love to read it (please keep your story to 100 words or less).

We want your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Send any tips or comments to benjamin.brazil@latimes.com or carol.cormaci@latimes.com.

Keep up with community news on our Orange County page. Follow us on Twitter at @timesocofficial.

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