My prayers are with the two Orange County Fire Authority firefighters who were seriously injured on Monday fighting the Silverado Fire. Wishing them a full and speedy recovery.

A big Thank You to our emergency personnel who are battling the Silverado Fire and the Blue Ridge Fire with courage and tenacity. Orange County is fortunate to have brave professionals protecting our residents from harm.

We are currently experiencing poor air quality due to smoke from the Silverado Fire and the Blu Ridge Fires. Take the necessary precautions to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

For live updates, please follow @OrangeCountyFire on Facebook or @OCFA_PIO on Twitter.

And for general information and the latest updates on the fires and evacuations, please call the Orange County Emergency Operations Center Public Information Hotline at (714) 628-7085.

Out of the 1,242 licensed child care facilities in Orange County, only 944 are open for business. That means that almost a quarter of childcare providers have closed due to the pandemic. And 22% of those businesses have closed permanently.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan by Supervisor Doug Chaffee and I to allocate $5 million in financial assistance to child care providers for pandemic-related expenses.

This new grant program will allow for a safe and reliable space for children to stay, as we continue to rebuild our economy.

The grant application goes live this Friday, October 30, at 9 am.

For more information, click here.

Supervisor Doug Chaffee and I proposed the OC API Taskforce as a way for the Orange County Health Care Agency to work with Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations to better meet the needs of our community.

Our OC API Taskforce is already expanding testing capacity, providing food assistance, mental health services, and more.

Click here to find a testing site near you.

Access to the internet is a fundamental need in today’s digital world and I have long advocated for finding solutions that will bring broadband internet access to those who cannot afford it or easily access it.

To address this rising need in the community, I met with county departments back in April and proposed using county libraries, mobile bookmobiles, as well as free WiFi hotspots.

WiFi On Wheels is part of the OC Public Libraries Internet Access Initiative: Bridging the Digital Divide, a larger project which includes WiFi extensions at County libraries and WiFi hotspots for check out with valid library cards.

Check out the videos below for more information:

For more information on where and when the next WiFi on Wheels trailer will deploy, click here.

With help from the County of Orange, American Family Housing and Related Companies secured $5 million for the Casa Paloma and Crossroads at Washington affordable housing projects through federal tax credits. Together, we will add 135 affordable and permanent supportive homes to Orange County.

Join us this Saturday, October 31^st, from 5 pm to 7 pm for a safe and spooktacular Drive-Thru Trick-or-Treat event!

To ensure the safety of everyone, families are asked to stay in their cars at all times as volunteers place goodie bags in the trunk of their cars. Costumes are encouraged and you can even decorate your car!

Click here for more information!