Tri Ta and Tony Strickland Move to Keep Chemical Leak Payments Tax-Free
Assemblyman Tri Ta introduced AB 760 to exempt Garden Grove chemical leak compensation from California income taxes, with Senator Tony Strickland signed on as co-author.
Assemblyman Tri Ta introduced AB 760 to exempt Garden Grove chemical leak compensation from California income taxes, with Senator Tony Strickland signed on as co-author.
Council Member Rachel Strong Carnahan's proposal to add an Indigenous peoples' land acknowledgment to Cypress council meetings failed to get a second from any colleague this week.
When a Garden Grove chemical emergency forced thousands from their homes, OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen's constituent email directed residents to her own social media accounts first and actual emergency channels second.
A Chinese coffee company sponsored the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego. Two weeks after a Taiwanese barista won, "Taiwan" quietly disappeared from the records. Assemblyman Tri Ta noticed.
Westminster installed Charlie Kirk Way signs in late April. Within days, TikTok videos showed visitors from across Southern California climbing the poles. Police have responded five times with no arrests.
The draft EIR for Cypress's Los Alamitos Race Course housing project says traffic impacts are "significant and unavoidable" even after mitigation — and public comments are due April 30.
Shopoff Realty Investments held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for Bolsa Pacific at Westminster, marking the beginning of redevelopment on the abandoned Westminster Mall site, which has seen over 400 police calls for service and widespread vandalism since closing in October 2025.
Fountain Valley is considering eliminating on-street parking along a stretch of Euclid Street to add a southbound traffic lane. The city approved more than 1,000 new housing units on the same road after its own traffic data showed Euclid was already operating at a failing level of service. The developers behind the projects declined to pay for the fix.
Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen directed city staff to cut the microphone while Councilmember Amy Phan West spoke at the city's official Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony on Sunday. The program listed the Westminster City Council as speakers. Phan West is on the Westminster City Council. She delivered her remarks without amplification. Several veterans refused to shake the mayor's hand afterward.
Cypress has three major development efforts underway at the same time: a 1,926-unit housing buildout on the former Los Alamitos Race Course property, a 450-acre business park overhaul that bans truck-heavy logistics, and a housing element pushing toward 3,936 total new homes by 2029. Shannon DeLong starts as the city's new — and first female — city manager on March 30.
The Huntington Beach City Council approved a $4.5 million sewer infrastructure contract, declared February 22 as USA Hockey Day, and heard a city manager's preview of coming refuse rate adjustments at its March 17 regular meeting.
The Republican Party of Orange County named Auditor-Controller Andrew Hamilton its County Elected Official of the Year, citing his record on taxpayer protection, financial transparency, and a new unclaimed property portal that has helped return millions to county residents.
The Republican Party of Orange County named Assemblyman Tri Ta its Legislator of the Year at its annual awards reception Thursday, citing his work on gun sentencing, gas tax relief, and genetic privacy legislation.
Congressional candidate Tom Vo sent Westminster a formal letter urging an ordinance to ban the Communist Government of Vietnam from city property. Six days later, Councilmember Amy Phan West moved to agendize it. Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen consulted the city attorney, heard lawsuit risk, and said no — even though he has shown no hesitation using the city as a legal weapon against the very council members sitting next to him.
The Commission on Judicial Performance issued a public censure and bar against former Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro on Monday, formally closing the disciplinary case that followed his guilty plea to federal mail fraud charges in January.
State Senator Tony Strickland's bill to temporarily suspend California's gas tax and Low Carbon Fuel Standard fees died in committee last week, as drivers in Orange County pay roughly $5.53 a gallon — about $1.57 more than the national average.
The Westminster City Council meets Tuesday evening to vote on a major zoning and general plan update, two construction contracts totaling $1.77 million, and a Planning Commission appointment by Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen.
Troy Edgar, the former Los Alamitos mayor who rose through the Trump administration to become Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, may be staying in that post. National Review reports exclusively that incoming DHS Secretary nominee Markwayne Mullin wants Edgar as his deputy — weeks after Edgar sat before the Senate for an ambassador hearing.
Fountain Valley is sitting on $9.4 million in housing funds it cannot spend on anything but affordable housing. After a contentious two-hour study session, the council sent staff back to find a different location.
Vietnamese American community groups plan to rally outside the Vietnam-U.S. Innovation and Investment Forum at the Anaheim Convention Center on Tuesday, backed by Assemblyman Tri Ta’s formal letter to Mayor Aitken urging cancellation.
The Stanton Planning Commission meets Wednesday to consider a mixed-use project that would put 159 townhomes and nearly 16,000 square feet of commercial space on parcels that include the longtime ORCO Block manufacturing site at Beach Boulevard and Katella Avenue.
Assemblyman Tri Ta sent a formal letter to Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken on March 13 urging the city to cancel a Vietnamese government-backed innovation forum scheduled for the Anaheim Convention Center on March 17 -- days before it was set to begin.
Months after a federal judge ordered former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do to pay $250,000 in restitution for his corruption scheme, the payment has not arrived — and Do transferred his $2.2 million family home to his wife the day after the order was issued.
The Chinese Consulate contacted Assemblyman Tri Ta's office to complain about a photo he posted with Taiwan's Director General. Ta's response: California elected officials do not take orders from the Chinese Communist Party.
The Orange County Grand Jury called the supervisors secret pay raise a breach of public trust. This week, the board voted 3-1-1 to formally disagree and Supervisor Janet Nguyen voted yes without saying a word.
The Westminster City Council approved spending $35,000 to survey residents on two new potential tax measures — a cannabis sales tax and a hotel tax hike — continuing a years-long pattern of tax increases that Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen has supported, even as previous hikes were sold as solutions to the city's budget woes.
Hellman Ranch wants to install 56 solar tables on its oil and gas production facility next to the Los Cerritos Wetlands. After two council deadlocks and a city website outage that forced a continuance, the matter returned for a final hearing in February. Environmental groups are demanding a full environmental impact report.
Loan Nguyen has entered the race for Westminster City Council District 4, challenging incumbent NamQuan Nguyen. But a visit to her campaign website raises questions about how ready for prime time this challenger really is.
Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen cast the deciding vote to bar Councilmember Amy Phan West from speaking at city events. He is also running against her for Congress in California's 45th District. The motion was led by Carlos Manzo — the same colleague she once filed a police report against. And the third vote was cast by the Mayor's own brother-in-law.
In a unanimous 6-0 vote, the Huntington Beach City Council approved relocating the city's surf museum into the Main Street Branch Library for $500 a month — a deal critics are calling a giveaway of public space.
Federal authorities have officially recovered $3.73 million in taxpayer money from a corruption scheme involving former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do. Now, the O.C. Board of Supervisors is debating whether the funds should be returned to Do's former district or used to address broader county-wide needs.
The Garden Grove City Council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance banning nitrous oxide sales at the February 24 meeting, while also opening discussions on adding a bilingual 'Freedom Way / Tự Do / Libertad' designation to a city street.
Council Member Glenn Grandis reported at the February 3 city council meeting that Fountain Valley lost a potential $1.5 million payment from the Orange County Sanitation District after fellow council member Ted Bui refused to support the city's case — and then actively argued against it before the OCSD board.