Yusra Farzan
Local news in Orange County has my heart: All those long meetings — city council, school boards, power authorities, housing commissions, planning departments — play a huge role in our everyday lives. So I take the time to synthesize how decisions in Orange County’s 34 cities affect your electricity bill, how your taxes are funding the next big project and the resources available at your child's school.
Even though I got my break in entertainment reporting, the pieces I am most proud of spotlight everyday people: teachers in Orange County, the duo who started a school for Ukrainian refugees, the women behind Ramadan markets and the teenager who invented a cancer-detecting toothbrush.
Ask me about the small liquor store in Garden Grove that also carries Sri Lankan snacks, the best places to get Arab food in Anaheim and why the drive to Laguna Beach is worth it for those warm, summer days.
I grew up in the Middle East, but I am of Sri Lankan descent. I used to live in Irvine, and I still have one foot in O.C. But now I also call Rancho Palos Verdes home — it’s also why I am so invested in covering the land movement here.
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Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was one of the state’s highest elected Vietnamese American politicians. He resigned on Tuesday. -
La medida enmendaría los estatutos de la ciudad de Santa Ana para permitir que los residentes no ciudadanos voten en las elecciones municipales.
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La alcaldesa actual, Valerie Amezcua, se postula para la reelección. Ella está siendo desafiada por el concejal Benjamín Vázquez.
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Over 200 homes have been without power for weeks now because of accelerated land movement.
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Who is Andrew Do? Why is his 23-year-old daughter involved? What does a county supervisor even do? We explain the theft of public funds that prosecutors say took place in Orange County.
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Federal prosecutors say the longtime O.C. supervisor has agreed to plead guilty and resign in a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars meant to feed needy seniors, following a months-long LAist investigation and federal probe.
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A look back at LAist reporting that uncovered more than $13 million in public funds directed to a little-known nonprofit by Andrew Do, who did not disclose that his daughter Rhiannon Do held leadership roles with the group — which was not required by state law at the time.
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A total of 50 people have now been charged, including 26 UC Irvine students.
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The information comes after the City Council settled a claim with a former city manager who alleged the police union runs city hall.
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Santa Ana could become the first city in California to allow non-U.S.citizens to vote in municipal elections.
