Around Town: Irvine police dedicate officer to O.C. Human Trafficking Task Force
The Irvine Police Department will have one officer dedicated to the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force as part of its partnership with the group, according to an announcement Wednesday.
The Orange County district attorney’s office, Community Service Programs, the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County Transportation Authority also are among the partners for the task force, which aims to curtail labor and sex slavery.
“We’re proud to be part of a team of great organizations fighting this horrible crime and urging people to recognize the signs of human trafficking,” Jeff Lalloway, OCTA chairman and mayor pro tem of Irvine, said in a statement. “Anybody could be … the one with the power to change the life of a victim with the simple act of speaking up.”
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Newport Beach gets Five Star Diamond Award for tourism
Newport Beach received the International Five Star Diamond Award this month from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, becoming the first city on the West Coast to receive the honor for excellence in tourism.
Academy President Joseph Cinque called Newport the “West Coast Riviera.”
The award is typically given to resorts, hotels, restaurants, airlines and cruise lines. Previous destination winners include Baden-Baden, Germany; Japan; New York City; Lucerne, Switzerland; the Turks & Caicos Islands and Rhode Island.
Other awards went to two Newport Beach establishments, the Balboa Bay Resort and The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar.
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3 local high schools make California top 25 in Newsweek rankings
University High School in Irvine placed seventh among California high schools and 74th nationwide on a list of 500 high schools ranked by Newsweek magazine
Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach was rated 16th in California and 116th in the nation on Newsweek’s list of America’s Top High Schools for 2015, released this week. The list was based on weighted rankings of enrollment and graduation rates, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate dual enrollment, SAT/ACT proficiency, change in student enrollment between ninth and 12th grades and counselor-to-student ratio.
Irvine High School also made California’s top 25, placing 23rd in the state and 191st nationwide.
The top-ranked school on the list was Thomas Jefferson High in Alexandria, Va.
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Cardiologist donates $1.5 million for UCI Sikh studies department
Dr. Harvinder Sahota, an Indian American cardiologist, has donated $1.5 million to UC Irvine to create a Sikh studies department on campus.
The department is to be named after Sahota’s mother, Bibi Dhan Kaur Sahota.
Courses are expected to begin in September 2016, covering Sikh studies from 1469 to 2015 and beyond. The department will include graduate and undergraduate courses in Sikhism, a religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Students will get the chance to visit Sikh temples.
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UCI Health gets $2.5 million grant for senior care
UC Irvine Health said its division of geriatric medicine and gerontology has received a three-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The grant is through the federal department’s geriatrics workforce enhancement program, which funds development of care programs for older adults.
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Irvine water-quality project receives OCTA grant
An Irvine project is one of 18 in Orange County receiving grants from the Orange County Transportation Authority for efforts to improve water quality.
The city was awarded $200,000 for a $266,667 project to Install about 80 curb inlet filters throughout the Irvine Business Complex and the Woodbury/Stonegate residential community.
The transportation agency awarded a total of about $2.9 million in funding from Measure M, a half-cent sales tax approved by Orange County voters in 2006 for transportation improvements. The measure included funding for an environmental cleanup program that awards money to cities and the county for projects intended to reduce the effects of water pollution related to transportation.
The projects focus on removing visible pollutants such as litter and debris from roads before they reach waterways.
—From staff reports