Around Town: Speak Up Newport to host police to discuss residential break-ins

Speak Up Newport is hosting a meeting on the night of Wednesday, July 13, with the Newport Beach Police Department for a discussion on residential break-ins, what police are doing and how residents can protect their homes.

The meeting will be held at the Newport Beach Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Drive, with reception scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. and the program at 6 p.m.

In other NBPD news, the department will be holding its first “mobile cafe” from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, for residents to gather in an informal space and discuss community issues while building relationships with local officers.

The event will be held at Rose Bakery Cafe, 3536 E. Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.

According to a news release describing the mobile cafe, the goal is to allow for a relaxed, one-on-one environment where community members can learn about the work police do and bring questions and concerns to the attention of officers. For more information contact Sgt. Steve Oberon at (949) 644-3717 or soberon@nbpd.org.

Fountain Valley High adds assistant principal

Fountain Valley High has announced the hiring of alumna Rachel Kloppenburg as its new assistant principal of guidance.

Kloppenburg graduated from Fountain Valley in 2009 and is also a USC graduate, earning degrees in both math and English.

She returned to Fountain Valley in 2013 and was a water polo coach for two years, while earning her master’s of education in curriculum and instruction from Vanguard University.

Following her graduate studies, Kloppenburg taught math in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for seven years and was the teacher on special assignment in education technology for two years. Last year, she was an administration intern.

Ocean View School District elementary school to be modernized

The Ocean View School District held a groundbreaking ceremony at Star View Elementary on June 30, kicking off a yearlong modernization project that will take place at the site.

Star View will be the fifth school in the district to be modernized by funds generated by Measure R, a bond passed by voters in 2016.

Renovations at Star View will include fully modernized classrooms, an outdoor double-sided amphitheater with a new lunch structure and large amounts of infrastructure replacement.

Star View students will be relocated to an interim site for the 2022-23 school year and will return to the campus in 2023-24.

Huntington Beach baseball grad Nick Pratto selected for MLB Futures game

Nick Pratto, a 2017 Huntington Beach High graduate, has been selected to play for the American League in the Major League Baseball Futures Game on July 16 at Dodger Stadium.

Pratto is a first baseman in the Kansas City Royals organization. He was drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Royals out of high school.

This year, he has been playing for the Royals’ AAA affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers. Pratto has 15 home runs and 45 runs batted in for the Storm Chasers, in 71 games played.

Orange County Soccer Club announces partnership with Cal South

The Orange County Soccer Club has signed a one-year marketing partnership with the California State Soccer Assn. — South, Southern California’s largest youth soccer organization.

As part of the partnership, OCSC will promote Cal South in stadium and during television broadcasts for all home games, and the club will host Cal South Night on Sept. 3.

Current OCSC players who have been a part of Cal South include Milan Iloski, Brian Iloski, Ivan Gutierrez, Jonathan Gomez and team captain Michael Orozco.

Laguna Live! topic is the voice as an instrument

Laguna Live! will be holding a discussion and demonstration Thursday, July 28 at the Laguna Beach Women’s Club, 286 St. Ann’s Drive, on the topic of the voice as an instrument.

The discussion will start at 7 p.m. and is expected to touch on the history and evolution of the human voice through different eras of popular music. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session with tenor Arnold Livingston Geis and soprano Oriana Falla.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Children ages 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at lagunabeachlive.org.

Randy’s Donuts celebrates second Costa Mesa store Tuesday with O.C. Fair pop-up

To mark the grand opening of its second Costa Mesa location on Tuesday, and the upcoming start of the Orange County Fair on July 15, Randy’s Donuts will host a “Randy’s Fair” pop-up with carnival games with chances to win prizes.

All customers who visit the new store — located at 401 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa — on Tuesday, between the hours of 6 a.m. and noon, will receive a free glazed doughnut. During a special promotion, from July 12 through 17, O.C. Fair ticket holders may receive a free classic doughnut while supplies last and special, random O.C. Fair ticket giveaways will take place.

The new location is the third in Orange County and the first to serve both the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach communities.

Orange Coast College’s respiratory program to be honored as credentialing success

The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care in a July 26 award ceremony in Palm Springs will officially recognize Orange Coast College with a “Distinguished Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) Credentialing Success Award,” given to programs that met or exceeding a 90% accreditation benchmark from 2018 through 2020.

In California, graduates may not obtain a license to practice respiratory care without an RRT credential and must take two exams to be licensed. OCC’s Respiratory Care Program is a two-year curriculum that prepares students with the knowledge and skills to become an RRT.

Alison Riggio, in a July 1 announcement, credited the program’s success to the positivity, strength and professional depth of the program’s faculty as well as its hardworking and motivated students.

“Our program’s success is also bolstered by the strong support of OCC and our amazing community clinical partners,” Riggio said in a statement.

Coast Community College District Vice Chancellor of finance, admin retires after 12 years

Coast District officials announced on July 1 that Andy Dunn, vice chancellor of finance and administrative services retired on June 30 after serving the district for 12 years, ending a nearly four-decade public service career.

Under Dunn’s tenure, CCCD was faced with the prospect of recovering from the Great Recession and was also tasked with overseeing the $698-million voter-approved Measure M bond program. He also helped steer the district through a change in state-funding models and a continually changing Orange County student demographic.

“The district has been fortunate to have had Dr. Dunn’s guidance during some of the most transformational years in our history,” Coast District Chancellor John Weispfenning said in a statement. “I thank Andy for his years of leadership and for leaving a strong foundation for our District’s future.”

Dunn was succeeded in the role of vice chancellor by Marlene Drinkwine, who began on July 1.

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