TimesOC: Orange County is almost halfway there to reopening schools

Good afternoon, and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter. It’s Friday, Aug. 28.

My name is David Carrillo Peñaloza, the author of the TimesOC newsletter and an editor for Los Angeles Times Community News.

As we enter the weekend, Orange County is wrapping up its first week off the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list.

The county has to remain off the list for 14 consecutive days in order to receive the green light to reopen all schools for in-person learning, and Sunday would mark the halfway point. Sensible precautions — wearing facemasks, social distancing and hand-washing — can only aid the county’s effort to reopen schools after Labor Day.

Testing can also help.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday unveiled California’s plans to ramp up testing, and two Orange County cities — Costa Mesa and Santa Ana — began offering free coronavirus testing this week.

One is a drive-through super site at the Orange County fairgrounds and the other is a mobile center that will visit different Santa Ana neighborhoods.

Reporters Sara Cardine and Ben Brazil covered the first day at both events, which are financially backed by the federal CARES act. The number of tests, the hours of testing, and for whom the tests are for differ in both cities.

Cardine wrote that the Costa Mesa super site, the second of its kind countywide, is for essential workers, first responders and those potentially exposed to the virus. Tests will be available to those who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and live or work in Orange County. The testing is available from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Santa Ana’s testing will be available twice a day and for those who live in its city. Brazil wrote that Santa Ana has the county’s highest coronavirus case count.

Santa Ana will set up tents and tables in its most densely populated neighborhoods and administer tests in the morning and afternoon. No insurance or symptoms are needed to be tested.

98-year-old Anaheim woman was member of Civil Air Patrol during WWII

As a 20-year-old back in 1941, Phyllis Turnbull didn’t want to get married like the rest of her friends. She wanted to fly.

Brazil featured Turnbull, one of the trailblazing women of the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. The Anaheim resident turns 99 in September.

“When I got out of school, a lot of my friends couldn’t wait to get married,” said Turnbull, who graduated from UCLA with a degree in mathematics. “I said that’s not for me. You do that and then you have somebody else to consider. So what’s your husband say when you want to go flying? I decided I wasn’t going to get married in a big hurry.”

State Supreme Court orders Gov. Newsom to respond to O.C. Board of Education petition to reopen schools

The Orange County Board of Education’s fight against Newsom to reopen school campuses for in-person learning has reached the state’s highest court.

Cardine wrote about the California Supreme Court ordering the governor to defend his executive authority to keep students at home during the pandemic. Newsom had until 3 p.m. Friday to respond to two lawsuits, one representing the Board of Education, an Anaheim public school charter and three public school parents, and another on behalf of private schools.

UCI law students secure compassionate release for 74-year-old veteran

With the help of two UC Irvine law students, David Stringer, a veteran, is a free man.

Julienne Pasichow and Harrison Weimer fought for the compassionate release of Stringer, 74, who was serving time in a South Carolina prison. Brazil interviewed Stringer, who spent more than 17 years in prison after being charged in 2001 for possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, which at the time carried heavier penalties than powder cocaine.

“Now that I sit down, it just went by so fast, it doesn’t even seem like it’s been that long,” Stringer said of his time in prison. “But I lost a lot while I was locked up.”

In other Orange County news:

— Huntington Beach broke ground on a 174-bed homeless navigation center.

— Newport Beach unanimously passed a resolution applauding how its police force handled five protests in support of Black Lives Matter on June 3.

— UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Theater is showing its version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” virtually, calling it “A Midsummer Night’s Zoom.”

— The Laguna Playhouse is hosting its 99th gala virtually on Saturday night. The Laguna Beach institution turns 100 in October.

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See you next week.