“I wanted to spend time with my family and have a good summer with them,” Visoso said.

Visoso, 24, hadn’t been to the fair in more than a decade. After all those years waiting, how would he spend his day on the fairgrounds?

“Hopefully get on all the rides, because I know there’s going to be a lot of people coming in,” he said. “And get some good food.”

The 2025 OC Fair will run through Aug. 17 — it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The 23-day event is expected to bring in more than a million guests. Daily attendence has been capped since the onset of the pandemic and popular days sell out each year.

New activities this year include an after-dark event at the Plaza Pacifica that will get people moving with swing dancing, Latin music and more on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Read also: OC Fair 2025: Here’s what you need to know to pay, play and park

New attractions, food and stands, including Tom’s Puffs and Pie, the 180-foot-tall Aviator and an exhibit paying tribute to the VHS tape era featuring movie poster art, have also been added to the mix.

Each year, hundreds of residents submit entries to the fair’s competitions. Everything from quilts to cupcakes to table settings.

With a list of his family’s 20 entries, Long Beach resident and event planner Dan Smith Chavira rushed to the glass cases displaying the winning entries, searching for any blue ribbon wins. This is his second year submitting baked goods with his family. His niece had been perfecting her eight recipes for months, he said.

“This is the moment when you can first see the results,” Smith Chavira said. “So we doorbusted to see how we did.”

His Portuguese Focaccia, inspired by his Italian grandmother and Portuguese grandfather, won the focaccia class and an overall award for the artisan leavened bread division.

He turned in his focaccia earlier in the week, as well as his Yuzu bar that won an honorable mention in the citrus bar category. Smith Chavira says he only bakes for the OC Fair.

“I’m not a baker, but I’m a competitor,” he said. His focaccia beat out 24 other entries in his category, decided by a panel of 13 judges.

He was the only division winner in his family.

He called this year’s win a “redemption” after his “overdone” French onion focaccia garnered no accolades last year. This year, he told himself, “Don’t overcook it, slow down, cook to your skill level, and relax.”

Even without any entries in the competition, Anaheim couple LuAnn Hillman and Steve Rosco made an early stop in the OC Promenade hall to see the winners.

“We see all the talent that’s in Orange County. Look at these bakers and what they’ve done,” Hillman said.

They’ve been visiting the fair for more than 40 years. And each year, they go on the first day. They say it’s the best time to catch the food entries, “when everything’s fresh.”

“It’s beautiful,” Rosco added. “It’s not professional like when you go into a bakery, these are regular average people that have these incredible, wonderful talents.”

Standing next to his table setting, Orange resident and administrative manager Tim Wyckoff was approached by fans of his work from previous years. Wyckoff has been decorating table settings for more than 30 years.

This year, his table in the Tropical Paradise division won second place.

“I want to make people smile,” Wyckoff said. “Since I’m not a master of a certain craft, but I like crafting in general, I like that this lets me do so many different versions of crafting.”

He designs every aspect of his table meticulously, including the floral arrangement, glassware and menu. For the theme, he even made an animatronic parrot from scratch.

“The pink in the orchids matches the pink in the salt and pepper shakers. The green and orange are pulled upward into the birds of paradise. Everything is coordinated,” Wyckoff said.

Brian Koch, a 68-year-old arborist, took off work Friday to visit the first day of the fair. It was his first fair in at least a decade, and he purchased a season pass to come back regularly.

“I enjoy going to fairs,” Koch said. “Mainly for the agricultural stuff, not for the rides or anything.”

Throughout the fair, various animal species will come and go for people to visit and watch in competitions. Cattle, chickens, donkeys and more will make their way to the fairgrounds over the next month.

During opening weekend, visitors will be able to see goats and llamas brought by breeders from around Southern California.

Eleven llamas at the fair on Friday belong to Eileen Ditsler.

“I discovered the llamas by accident at a fair like this,” said the 61-year-old San Dimas resident. “I’ve had llamas now for 30 years and they’re just so easy.”

She said a few years ago they exploded in popularity with people watching videos of them on TikTok, wearing llama T-shirts and even paying for them to be at weddings. They can even be taken out for a walk in the neighborhood with a lead rope.

They’re a hit with the fair crowds, especially Jim Wilson, 83, of Cypress, who was smiling in the livestock area as he watched the llamas munching on hay and showing off their poodle-like haircuts.

“It’s so great to see them,” Wilson said. “These guys are something different.”

If you go

When: Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 17

Where: The OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: General admission is $13 on Wednesdays and Thursdays and $15 on other days; seniors and children are $9 daily. Tickets must be purchased at ocfair.com/tickets and popular dates may sell out.

For more information: ocfair.com

Shah and his wife, Rika, have made a “transformational” gift to the Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton to establish the Shah Happiness Center for Cardiovascular Health. It is the largest cash gift the hospital has received, Providence officials said, though the amount is not being released.

With the donation, all of the hospital’s six labs for cardiovascular operations and procedures will be fitted with new equipment. Shah said his life was saved in those rooms and he hopes to return to see them refurbished — just not as a patient.

With input from hospital cardiologists and specialists, Director of Cardiovascular Services Dr. Adam Ford has been planning the upgrades and replacements to crucial medical machinery, including more equipment to provide real-time X-ray imaging during cardiac procedures.

Hospital officials said about 6,000 cardiovascular patients a year would benefit from those improvements, including those undergoing procedures and surgeries, heart failure care and cardiac rehabilitation, but the new technology would also be shared across specialties, especially the highly used imaging equipment for tens of thousands of diagnostic tests annually.

This week, Shah formally presented his donation to more than 50 cardiologists, surgeons and experts. There was excitement in the room and cardiologists were eager to share ideas and strategies, forecasting what the center could look like, the hospital’s chief executive, Laura Ramos, said.

“It really is the beacon of hope and health for our patients and this community,” Ramos said. “Which is inspiring and is going to make an impact on so many lives in the future.”

In his speech, Shah called the moment “so personal” and “so emotional.” During his own health emergency, he said there were times when he didn’t know if he would survive, but St. Jude saved his life.

“They didn’t just treat my heart, they gave me more years with my family, more time to build a business, more moments to cherish with my grandchildren,” Shah said.

Shah immigrated to the United States in his 20s and, with his wife, started a successful stone business, MS International, that would go on to supply the black granite for the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Washington, D.C..

With his first heart attack, his symptoms started quietly. Shah started noticing shortness of breath, he said, and occasional fatigue before it escalated. He said he wishes he didn’t ignore the warning signs.

“I kept thinking, ‘It can’t happen to me.’  But the heart requires maintenance,” Shah said.

Just last year, Shah experienced an episode of a very rapid heart rate, so irregular that it could have caused him to go into cardiac arrest and stop his heart.

His wife, Rika, said she remembers the look on the doctor’s face that said, “Everything was not alright. This one was dangerous.”

Doctors installed a device in his heart to shock him out of dangerous episodes. When Shah recovered, he was reminded of the fragility of his heart.

To spread awareness about heart health, his gift will also fund education programs and early detection of cardiovascular disease, along with cardiac rehabilitation.

After touring one of St. Jude’s community clinics, the Shahs said they decided they also wanted to help low-income families and vulnerable populations get cardiac care.

“This gift is not just a financial donation, it is a commitment to our community, to the people of Fullerton, Orange County, and beyond,” Shah said. “We are investing in the future of heart care so that no family has to go through what ours did without the support we were blessed to receive.”

“This is our gift,” he said. “But more importantly, it is our hope.”

But officials have announced they’ve won the year-long battle against the oriental fruit fly, an invasive species threatening the county’s food supply.

The oriental fruit fly can lay its eggs in more than 200 different fruits, vegetables and plants. Once hatched, the larvae or maggots can quickly spread through a tree’s bounty, feeding as they go, leaving a waste of decayed fruit behind. Leading the fight against the pests was Orange County Agricultural Commissioner Jose Arriaga and his staff, whose mission is to protect local agriculture and the environment.

Officials detected the infestation when eight fruit flies were found in a network of traps regularly monitored throughout the county. Just those few were enough to trigger a quarantine that restricted what agricultural goods could be moved across county lines.

This time, the oriental fruit fly invasion was found in residential areas, but an infestation of agricultural land could have been devastating.

“Nobody’s gonna buy tomatoes full of maggots,” Arriaga pointed out.

An outbreak can ruin a whole season’s harvest. Even if a crop survives, farmers can’t export their goods and most quarantine requirements force them to destroy the harvest entirely.

An infestation can put farms out of business.

“They work the entire season to cultivate the soil, to water the plants, and then you end up finding that it’s under quarantine and you can not move it and you may have to destroy it,” Arriaga explained.

Once the fruit flies were detected, inspectors deployed some 800 traps around Orange County to track the infestation.

A dark grey gel was sprayed onto utility poles and street lights across the county — 600 times per square mile around each detection site. The gel, harmless to humans and out of reach of pedestrians and animals, contains an organic pesticide that kills the male flies.

It took vans driving city streets and spraying poles and posts for at least seven months, or until three fly lifecycles passed, for the quarantine to be lifted.

Inspectors also destroyed more than 2,000 pounds of backyard fruits possibly harboring fly larvae. Arriaga said residents were understanding, recognizing how much was at stake.

First line of defense

To defend residents and growers from invasions, officials work to stop pests at the door.

They enlist the help of Bear, a chocolate Labrador Retriever and professional detector dog. Bear works with his handler, agricultural inspector Vanessa Ochoa, to catch packages entering the county with unmarked agricultural goods, potentially dangerous hosts for invasives.

Their day starts at 6 a.m. when most mail is sorted. Bear walks through distribution centers for FedEx, UPS and other carriers, stopping packages that smell of produce or plants.

Ochoa is trained to see changes in Bear’s behavior and uses certain phrases to direct him. Bear needs to be 98% accurate.

“I have commands and words like ‘What you got?’ and he’ll show me, ‘It’s here, it’s around here,’ and I’ll motivate him and tell him he’s onto something,” Ochoa said. “Seeing his change in behavior and seeing how excited he gets is what helps me pick up speed and motivates me to find more.”

The 40,000 packages human inspectors check in a year, Bear can clear in around four days. When Ochoa intercepts an insect-infested package, she said she feels the impact her work can make in her community and for local farmers.

“We’re here to be public servants and protect the public and our industry. That really sets a purpose for me, everyday coming in and doing what we do,” Ochoa said. “And I have the best partner to do that with.”

Bear stops potentially catastrophic agricultural packages every week, Ochoa said. Recently, they intercepted a package with mangos coming from Mexico. Inside the fruit, they found Mexican fruit fly larvae, a pest not established in California and known to cause economic and environmental harm.

Bear has also caught infested kumquats shipped from China and durian from Thailand. So far, he has blocked more than 200 pests from entering the county, according to department officials.

Soon, the duo may take on a graveyard shift, working until 2 or 4 a.m. to monitor USPS facilities. But since Bear can only monitor one carrier at a time, the detector dog team plans to recruit a new canine this year.

Impacts of an invasive infestation

The county produces around $90 million in agricultural goods every year, so an outbreak can hit the economy. Just as devastating, Arriaga said, is the damage to the county’s ecosystems and natural resources.

“These pests and diseases, they don’t see a difference between a plant in a farm and a plant in the landscape and in our natural environment, and they’ll equally decimate it,” he said.

Addressing a quarantine can also lead to higher pesticide use, which takes an environmental toll and can have human health risks.

During previous regional quarantines, when nothing could be brought into Orange County, food banks that rely on imported produce struggled to stock their shelves. They called Arriaga for help.

Working with the state, Arriaga was able to allow transport from certain areas in the quarantine to Orange County food banks, bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to families. He said he is here for residents and they can always call his office with questions.

“We are a resource locally here in Orange County, to assist them to make sure that they’re not only doing what’s legal, but also what’s protecting our local environment and our food supply,” Arriaga said.

Although his office works to prevent any infestations, Arriaga said the public needs to understand how to avoid triggering a quarantine and what to do if one happens.

Residents in quarantine zones should not harvest fruit from a backyard tree or ship produce outside the county because it could contain larvae. He also warns that shopping online for plants or fruit can have consequences.

“You may inadvertently, accidentally import a disease or a pest,” Arriaga said.

Arriaga and his staff operate their network of traps yearround to detect if another infestation develops. His office is also in charge of inspecting farmers markets, organic produce, and agricultural wholesalers — 20 different programs in all.

To track quarantine areas, visit cdfa.ca.gov.

Last year, Sisi drew more than 50 fans to the races, with all of their ticket sales going to the Seal Beach Animal Center, a no-kill shelter that benefits from the annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals hosted each July at the Los Alamitos Race Course.

Sisi will race against nine other dachshunds in her division on Saturday, July 12, when more than 100 wiener dogs are expected to run in 14 categories.

This is Sisi’s third year racing, but owner Kiley Majeski said she isn’t expecting her senior athlete to win — even in her Long in the Tail division for dogs ages six and older, Sisi will be the oldest —  but she knows Sisi will win hearts.

Majeski also hopes that by bringing Sisi to the race, she can show that even old dogs can learn new tricks, she said.

“We want to show people that senior dogs have a lot of life, and a lot of value,” Majeski said. “We know she’s not the fastest, we know she’s old, and we know that she’s probably not going to win. But we have a bigger cause and a bigger win.”

Majeski attended the wiener dog races long before she adopted a dachshund of her own. She called racing with Sisi a dream come true and said she feels lucky for all the time she can spend with her four-legged friend.

“Having an old dog really does teach you to appreciate every day, because you’re not guaranteed tomorrow and you’re very aware of that when you have a 14-year-old dog,” Majeski said.

The races are in their 28th year.

Ana Valencia’s 2-year-old wiener dog, Alvin, will compete in the trial races to advance to the finals. She says Alvin dislikes her husband, so her strategy is for him to take Alvin to the starting line so the pup will be quick to find her at the finish line.

Younger dogs like Five-month-old Franklin will compete in the Diaper Dash, a race for dogs younger than 1 year old. Owner Emily Rodas drove in from Riverside to the track on Monday to have Franklin practice racing before the big day.

Rodas says she has been training Franklin at home with a cardboard box cut out to mimic the starting gate. She hopes to see him win, but said that most of all, she hopes he has fun.

It will be Orlando Gutierrez, who started out as an assistant for the races, who will be judging the race at the finish line, seeing which dog crosses first.

“There are so many noses coming in at the same time. Hopefully we get eight noses all hitting the finish line at the same time, that would be a great race,” Gutierrez said.

Most owners use toys or treats to get their dogs to the finish line. Some try to use a high-pitched call to attract their dog’s attention over the chorus of names being called. Gutierrez said former champions have even thrown a beach ball, getting their dog to chase it past the finish line.

More than 2,000 wiener dogs have raced since the start of the event, some having traveled from Florida, Texas and even Canada, according to Gutierrez.

The winner receives a cash prize and a custom Wienerschnitzel dog house. All proceeds from the event will go to the Seal Beach Animal Care Center.

The no-kill shelter is mostly run by volunteers and has saved more than 21,000 animals since the operation started almost 40 years ago, according to Cathy Winans, a shelter representative. The funds raised help with the keeping of animals looking for homes and for medical care.

“We go the extra mile for our dogs and cats. If we see that an animal’s life can be much improved, with an operation, like fixing their back legs, we will take that challenge on,” Winans said. “We fundraise specifically for that. We will do whatever we can if we can see that that animal has a chance at a higher quality of life.”

Last year, the center raised around $7,000 to help with the roughly 400 animals in their care. Since its founding almost 30 years ago, the dog races have raised more than $300,000 for the center, according to race officials.

“We’re very very grateful for all the people who support us because it allows us to make those kinds of choices which are so important,” Winans said.

The races will take place between the usual horse races on the track at the Los Alamitos Race Course on July 12.

This summer, six Orange County cities from Laguna Beach to San Clemente, have again launched their free trolleys to shuttle residents to beaches, popular shopping and dining areas and community events.

The Dana Point trolley serves more than 80,000 people each summer and connects to four other neighboring cities’ trolley routes. Summer trolleys can also be found in Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach on the Balboa Peninsula, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

You can use the network of trolleys to get between several coastal South Orange County cities without needing a car.

Dana Point City Manager Mike Killebrew said he makes use of the city’s transportation service at least twice a week, and is even licensed to drive the trolleys for special events.

The trolleys help reduce traffic and parking congestion by simply getting people out of cars, Killebrew said. They also provide chances for tourists to explore the city and for local residents to get around town during the popular season.

One recent rider, Lena Karlsmyr, who was visiting from Sweden, hopped aboard with her three granddaughters. Stopping for lunch at a local restaurant, she said it was the perfect activity for the day.

Local middle and high school students, who can’t yet drive, also use the trolley to get around in the summer. Some load their surfboards into racks on the back to head to Dana Point’s famous surf spots on the route.

One local high school student said he rides the trolley three times a week from his home to Salt Creek Beach to surf with his friends. Usually, he straps his surfboard to the back of the trolley, but recently, he has been bringing his blue-and-white-checkered Boogie Board onboard with him.

Visitors such as Flor Reyes also use the shuttles to get around the beaches. Reyes drives in from Riverside on the weekends, parks and then rides the trolley. This past week, she rode the whole route with her sister and four friends, she said.

Reyes appreciates the sightseeing on the trolleys, and said she can “actually look around” because she’s not focused on driving. The atmosphere of the trolley, with its music, open windows and sea breeze sparks a connection among riders, she said.

“On a bus, everyone is doing their own thing. But people on the trolley are open to having a conversation,” she said.” You get to meet a lot of people from all over.”

This year, Dana Point added four new stops to serve additional areas, going past Sunset Park to reach more neighborhoods. And, Killebrew said the news stops are now some of the busiest, bringing more residents into the city center.

The city also introduced a new app, Passio Go, which riders can use to track the trolleys.

The cities’ trolleys are mostly funded by the Orange County Transportation Authority, which supports local community-based transportation projects with grants. Last year, the OCTA recorded more than 400,000 boardings throughout the summer on all the summer routes.

“It’s a great way to connect people even from our regular OC bus routes or Metrolink train services, to fill in that last-mile gap,” OCTA spokesperson Megan Abba said.

Laguna Beach Councilmember Mark Orgill said the trolleys help manage traffic and the influx of visitors who come to see Laguna Beach’s natural sites. He called them a symbol of the city’s commitment to the environment.

“We have our tide pools and our rock formations on the cliffs. We have our open space and the marine protected area, and we’re committed to nurturing and taking care of those elements,” Orgill said. “There’s a big picture here, and we’re always trying to find ways to manage the people who come into town, and look at ways to protect our environmental resources.”

He said the city is also looking into an electric vehicle fleet for its trolleys and buses.

Hazel Aguilar has been a bus driver for more than 30 years, but this summer is her first time driving the Dana Point trolleys. She said she enjoys handing out the toy trolleys to kids who get excited to ride the shuttle. One parent said the trolley is her son’s favorite toy.

Aguilar said the atmosphere of the open-air and beach-viewing trolley is a change from her previous bus routes and she loves it. She often runs into regulars, she said, and hopes to drive the route again next summer.

“Sometimes I have like a party bus in here,” she said.

The trolleys allow tourists and residents alike to better experience the city, Killebrew added. When he and his wife take the trolley to visit Salt Creek Beach, he said he often finds himself asking fellow riders, “Where you from?”

“It’s like a community table at a restaurant. Everybody is enjoying an experience together,” Killebrew said. “People stay longer than if you just had your car right there next to you. They tend to walk around more and enjoy what we have to offer.”

Trolleys arrive around every 15 to 20 minutes and each city runs routes for special events such as free concerts and movie screenings. Most have service on holidays such as Labor Day.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen someone on a trolley upset. They’re always happy and enjoying life. I don’t know what it is, there’s some magic to them that people just enjoy the ride,” Killebrew said. “And it doesn’t hurt that they’re free.”

SoCalGas has been trying for more than five years to get the project started. Now it’s just waiting for approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, and if approved the pilot project would be underway by 2027. Two required public participation hearings were held Tuesday, the first drawing about 70 people.

The proposal is to blend up to 20% of hydrogen gas in existing natural gas pipelines at the university’s recreation center to power equipment such as pool heaters and kitchen appliances. The process would be monitored by trained staff and the pilot project would run for about three years, according to the commission. 

Because hydrogen doesn’t produce carbon dioxide when burned, using it can be a lower-carbon alternative to natural gas. 

Last year, when SoCalGas and three other gas companies reapplied for approval of their five test projects, including the one at UC Irvine, environmentalist groups such as the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, as well as consumer advocate groups, pushed back. 

This is the gas companies’ third time applying — a previous proposal would have run hydrogen through UCI’s freshman dorms and on-campus dining halls, but was rejected in 2023 after the student body opposed the plan. 

A SoCalGas representative said at Tuesday’s public hearing the project would establish a standard for the state to one day use hydrogen as an “important tool” to reach carbon neutrality goals. Some UC Irvine professors at the hearing said hydrogen is a key step toward making the energy grid sustainable.  

But the Climate Action Campaign, which has organized local opposition to the project, argued at the public participation hearing that companies such as SoCalGas only push hydrogen to ensure reliance on their gas infrastructure during movements toward sustainability. The proposed project is still reliant on fossil fuel infrastructure, they argued, and is just “greenwashing,” or trying to brand non-renewable energy as sustainable. 

Some commenters raised concerns that hydrogen also produces air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and can be more prone to leakage and explosions. They opposed the project, saying the safety risk to those using the recreation center and nearby residences and child care centers is not worth the demonstration of hydrogen use. 

UC San Diego ended up rejecting a similar proposed project on campus.

UC Irvine calls the project a major step toward bringing clean energy to all of California. Climate activists dub it a “risky on-campus experiment.” 

Graduate students from UCI’s Clean Energy Institute who spoke at the hearing said hydrogen blending can lower emissions of existing gas lines without major infrastructure changes to make a difference now. They said the project can allow researchers to study the performance and safety of hydrogen to eventually scale it across California. 

The Climate Action Campaign pushed to postpone the hearing until the academic year, to hear from more undergraduate students who are currently on summer break. 

During the school year, the UCI student body passed legislation in opposition of the project, saying most students weren’t made aware of what would be built under their gymnasium. Only a handful of students were in attendance at the hearing Tuesday.

The California Public Utilities Commission will hold eight more public participation hearings through the end of August around the state to cover all the proposed projects. Administrative Law Judge Charles Ferguson, who is overseeing the case, will continue to review the proposal. 

“This has been very fruitful, in my opinion, and I’ve been to a lot of these for a lot of different utilities,” Ferguson said Tuesday. “This one is quite high level and I really appreciate everything that everybody gave on both sides of the issue here. There is science on both sides.”

After the public hearings, an evidentiary hearing will be held that can take several days to weeks. After which, Ferguson will make a proposed decision that will then need three votes from commissioners to stand. 

Commissioners can also vote to disregard Ferguson’s decision.

He said Tuesday the process may lead into mid-2026. Ferguson also suggested residents add comments or documentation to the public record for review by the commission to have their voices heard.

Across the country, fireworks cause around 18,000 fires and send more than 10,000 people to the emergency room each year on the holiday. In Orange County, 911 calls almost triple over the holiday weekend, officials said.

On Tuesday, fire officials aimed fireworks at watermelons and two mannequins. One child-sized mannequin wearing a blue sundress was torn apart by the blast of a homemade firework. The Sheriff Department urged residents not to buy illegal fireworks or attempt to construct their own.

Using illegal fireworks, residents can mistakenly light a fast-burning fuse, which contains almost 1,000 times more flash power than a legal firecracker, Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Wigginton said. The fuse could ignite instantly and “remove their hand from the elbow down,” he warns.

He said the department has seized 5,200 pounds of illegal fireworks in the last month and expects to confiscate thousands more by July 4. A confiscated firework comes with a $1,000 fine.

Dr. Andrea Dunkelman, medical director of the Orange County Burn Center,  said she has already seen burn injuries leading up to the holiday weekend. If a minor burn injury does occur, Dunkelman advises residents not to apply ice, but instead rinse the burn with room temperature water and seek the nearest burn center. For serious burn injuries, she said to call 911 immediately.

“(Patients) have some minor injuries and some serious injuries, but all these injuries cause pain, suffering. They’re going to need wound care, and they could leave permanently disabled,” Dunkelman said. “You know it all starts out great, everybody’s happy, and it ends horribly.”

Dunkelman stressed that residents should never let children touch fireworks. She says sparklers alone send over 700 people to the emergency room, burning at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt metal. Firecrackers cause another 800 visits.

“People come in and they’ve tried this firecracker that’s illegal, and they’ve lost their hand.” Dunkelman said. “It seems like no big deal, you’ve got a firecracker, but for the rest of your life you have no hand.”

Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said incidents are preventable if residents don’t buy illegal fireworks and take precautions if using the so-called safe and sane fireworks that are state fire marshal-approved and allowed in a dozen Orange County cities, with the addition of Orange this year. Residents should have a bucket of water or a hose nearby, not attempt to relight a “dud” firework, and not handle fireworks while intoxicated.

“We do these [demonstrations] year after year after year. And then like clockwork on the Fourth of July we get the countless 911 calls of distraught community members reporting a fire, an injury, or a death due to fireworks,” Fennessy said.

The Orange County Fire Authority urged residents to celebrate the holiday by seeing one of the many firework shows offered around Orange County that are operated by professionals.

“To be clear, we at the OCFA are not here to deprive you of celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks,” Fennessy said. “We just ask that you do it legally, safely, and responsibly.”

The community, for more than a decade, has participated in the global Day of Music initiative, hosting free music performances at all kinds of venues each year on June 21, the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice.

This year, more than 60 venues are participating, organizers said, many are in the downtown area, but there are performances planned around the city.

Downtown restaurants, coffee shops and businesses have lineups planned throughout the day, and there are performances at senior living facilities, the public library, the Fullerton Arboretum and more.

Visitors can hop around multiple venues, discover new local artists, and make the event what they want. Event organizer Laarnie Barcelon said the website includes filters for different music genres so visitors can “pick and choose” what they want to experience.

“If you want it to be a party, you can have a party. If you want something calm and easy going, you can also get that, too,” Barcelon said.

Two musicians will play at a hardware store in downtown Fullerton to create a “fun shopping experience,” she added. The event also collaborated with Metrolink to put an R&B band on a train departing the Fullerton station.

From cafes to carwashes, organizers tried to find a way for all local spots to participate, Barcelon said. “We have a place for everyone.”

Performances are planned from the morning to the night. And all of it is free and organized by volunteers.

“It’s just a way to highlight that music is such an important part of the community,” Barcelon said. “And that regardless of where you are from or where you’re going, music is there and Fullerton’s got it.”

If you go

When: All day June 21

Where: Throughout Fullerton

Cost: Fee

Information: Schedules and venues are available at dayofmusicfullerton.com

An ACLU attorney argued in a cease-and-desist letter dated May 22 that Mayor Pat Burns had previously violated California law during council meetings by interrupting speakers he labeled as disruptive, warning they could be removed, arrested or prosecuted. The mayor has also prohibited addressing councilmembers by name.

“The mayor had no legitimate basis for preventing these speakers from providing their public comments,” attorney Jonathan Markovitz said in the letter. “He certainly had no legitimate basis for indicating that their speech was in any way ‘disruptive.’”

The ACLU alleged that by enforcing vague decorum rules and imposing a blanket ban on speakers’ behaviors, the council was violating citizens’ right to address their elected officials under the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Councilmembers, not admitting to violating public rights, voted Tuesday night to let speakers have their say uninterrupted. Mayor Burns read the city’s brief response at the meeting, but there was no further discussion regarding the complaints.

During Tuesday night’s public comment period, the mayor’s mic picked up him uttering an expletive referring to a public commenter, with the moment posted on multiple social media accounts.

The mayor and several councilmembers did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the council’s policy or the mayor’s remark.

Proposed for 14 acres north of the 405 Freeway on Susan Street, the project would include 105 low-income units in the mix of housing, as well as 3,692 square feet of retail space and 335,958 square feet of open space. The green space would be paseos open to the public during business hours and the project would also add more access to nearby bike lanes.

The plan, proposed by San Francisco-based real estate firm Legacy Partners, would replace the existing Hive Creative Office Campus and former Los Angeles Chargers practice field.

Planning Commissioner David Martinez supported the development, saying additional housing units are much needed in the city.

He also remembered as a successful development a 250-unit luxury apartment building, 580 Anton, that Legacy Partners designed in Costa Mesa a decade earlier.

Raised a few times by planning commissioners is the 11,760 units — at least 6,800 affordable — the state has mandated Costa Mesa plan for in the next decade. Fewer than 400 new units have been built since 2021.

Some residents opposed the development, citing traffic congestion and neighborhood safety. One resident said neighbors already see high traffic living across the street from the proposed site.

Commissioner Robert Dickson supported the project, but added that given the size of the project is going to be hard to please everyone.

In a letter to the commission, one resident urged the planning officials to focus on the site’s surrounding streets. They called for shaded sidewalks, safe bike connections and pedestrian crossings to make for a walkable community along with the new infrastructure.

“Without attention to these elements, there’s a risk this becomes an island of good design surrounded by hostile infrastructure,” they wrote. “If we keep approving high-quality projects in North Costa Mesa without a clear vision for how they stitch together, we’ll end up with a car-dependent patchwork of density – not a coherent, vibrant urban neighborhood.”

Dickson said the car-centric project “acknowledges reality. There are an adequate number of parking spaces and there is a good road system in the area.”

“This area is ripe for housing,” he added.

Commissioner Jon Zich, although impressed by the project’s amenities, said he didn’t believe the location was suitable for the development. Zich said that even with the proposed increase in bike trail access and the public access to the paseos, the development is mainly to the benefit of the residents, rather than the greater community.

“From a municipal standpoint, we have not done the level of planning that is needed in order to be able to say, ‘We should have tens and thousands of residents north of the 405, where we have no parks, where we have no schools, where we have no stores,’” Zich said. “We have no community north of the 405.”

Despite their reservations, the commissioners approved 6-1 to push the project along to the City Council for consideration. Commission Chair Jeffrey Harlan, who supported the proposal, said it is important to look at who will be using that area in the future.

“What this project represents to me is not just a significant investment in the future of the community, but setting a very high standard to do that,” Harlan said. “And while things might not be in place right now, I think this project is gonna serve as the catalyst to develop the area north of the 405.”

The Costa Mesa City Council is expected to consider the project on July 15.