From shore to shore: $37M subsea cable project to stretch between Huntington Beach and Catalina
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Living in this digital age without reliable internet can be dicey, especially for businesses, so plenty of eyes were on an item before the California Public Utility Commission Dec. 18 in San Francisco.
By the close of the session, the CPUC had adopted a resolution that approved five grants totaling up to $96 million to support “new broadband infrastructure projects that will bring reliable, high-speed internet access to nearly 15,000 Californians and connect more than 4,500 previously unserved locations,” according to the commission’s news release. In total, the source of the money is known as the Last-Mile Federal Funding Account.
The commission’s action was very good news for AVX Networks, the recipient of a $37-million CPUC grant to build subsea fiber-optic cables between Huntington Beach and Catalina Island, the Daily Pilot reported last week. This will bring high-speed internet to Avalon and Two Harbors on Catalina while also upgrading existing infrastructure that serves parts of coastal Orange County.
Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon applauded the news in a video released as the news was announced, as his city will host two landing stations for the cables, calling it “historic.”
Certain areas of Surf City are also expected to experience better connectivity when the improvements are made, The Pilot reported. According to Geographic Information System data, the Central Park area and a stretch near the coast in southeast Huntington Beach would experience a bump in service.
Our neighbors “26 miles across the sea,” as the old Four Preps song goes, will be the greatest beneficiaries of the project. According to AVX Networks, “the entire Catalina project area is currently designated 100% unserved, with 1,125 unserved locations on the island and 2,233 unserved units.”
The Catalina Islander reported that the chief executive of Catalina Island Health, Tim Kielpinski, was among the stakeholders that urged the CPUC to make the grant.
“Improved broadband is a direct investment in Catalina’s health and equity,” Kielpinski stated. “It expands access to mental health care, specialty services, and chronic disease support for residents who can’t easily leave the island. It also strengthens education, workforce participation, and most importantly, our hospital’s ability to maintain communication and care during emergencies. This project truly enhances the resilience of our entire community.”
MORE NEWS
• In an effort to make it easier for breweries, distilleries and small restaurants to open in town, the Fountain Valley City Council approved amendments to existing code to streamline the process for them.
• Fountain Valley also has a new fire chief, Chris Nigg, who most recently served in the same capacity in La Verne.
• Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center is overseeing the development of two new civic art pieces in Anaheim, murals on buildings in an affordable housing project. Interested artists should reach out to tampico@muzeo.org. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 8.
• The youngster who was injured in October when a helicopter crashed in Huntington Beach was gifted with a check by singer-songwriter Sammy Hagar on Saturday — through his philanthropic foundation — and the Waterfront Beach Resort, which lies near the site of the crash.
COURTS
• In the years-long legal battle between the city of Huntington Beach and state leaders in Sacramento over housing mandates, the city found itself on the losing side a couple of weeks ago when a San Diego Superior Court judge gave Surf City 120 days to adopt a compliant housing element, something that was originally due in 2021. City officials remain recalcitrant.
• A former member of the Stanton City Council, in an agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to her campaign for reelection and was sentenced to informal probation and ordered to complete some community service hours.
• Walter Corea Sanchez, a Fountain Valley resident who allegedly grabbed and fired a police officer’s gun and bit a sergeant at a local police station on Dec. 19, is facing multiple felony charges, according to this report. If convicted, he could be facing 31 years in prison.
• The Orange County district attorney’s office received a Christmas gift last week when federal officials announced they have stopped monitoring the department’s informant program, citing recent reforms.
SPORTS
• Although the official results were not announced until two months after the competition took place in France this fall due to a lag in drug testing, David Stanton, a 70-year-old gastroenterologist from Newport Beach, let us know last week he’d won his first world championship in cycling. To say he’s thrilled with the achievement would be an understatement.
• The Daily Pilot sportswriters have made their selections for their annual Water Polo Dream Team. The highest honor, that of Player of the Year, went to Newport Harbor High’s Connor Ohl who, by all accounts, has an incredible work ethic. Lucas Reynolds, who guides the Corona del Mar team, was named Coach of the Year.
LIFE & LEISURE
• If you do not yet have plans for a New Year’s Eve meal out and are contemplating what you’d like to do, Daily Pilot/TimesOC staff writer Sarah Mosqueda has come up with this roundup for your consideration: “Eat, sip and ring in the new year at one of these 7 Orange County establishments.”
• Restaurant reviewer Edwin Goei writes of his recent tantalizing visit to a new location of a shabu shabu chain in Irvine in “How I ate more Japanese A5 Wagyu than ever before — while being timed.”
• If you’re an enthusiast of escape room amusement centers and you know of children who might enjoy one that was designed especially with their skills in mind, you might enjoy this feature story about Anaheim-based Exit Game OC’s new section called “Meow! I’m a Cat!”
KEEP IN TOUCH
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