Around Town: Newport-Mesa school bus driver wins safety competition
Victor Garza, a bus driver with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, won first place in the transit bus category at the 45th annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition this month at the Dakota County Technical College in Minneapolis.
The event invited top school bus drivers from the United States and Canada to present their knowledge and skills.
The first day of competition included a written exam on the rules of the road. The following day, the drivers got behind the wheel of a school bus and maneuvered it through a road course.
Garza has been a delegated driver in the district for about seven years. He is responsible for operating school buses and training new drivers.
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Costa Mesa is a Playful City USA
For the first time in its history, Costa Mesa has been designated a Playful City USA community.
Costa Mesa received the designation after the national program noted its fields, playgrounds, recreational amenities and children’s classes.
Playful City USA communities “have championed efforts to make play a priority through establishing policy initiatives, infrastructure investments and innovative programming,” according to a city news release.
Playful City USA was founded by KaBOOM, a nonprofit that encourages childhood play and fitness. It is sponsored by the Humana Foundation, which advocates for community health and individual well-being.
Other cities in Orange County that have Playful City recognition are Anaheim and La Habra.
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OCC professor wins diversity and equity award
Orange Coast College kinesiology professor Robin O’Connor received the Dr. John W. Rice Diversity and Equity Award on July 21 for her leadership and efforts to include a campus facility for students with disabilities.
The award, given by the California Community Colleges chancellor’s office, honors staff members in community colleges who have contributed to faculty and staff diversity or student equity.
O’Connor was first hired to teach full time at OCC in 2004. She led the development of the campus’ Adapted Kinesiology Program for Students with Disabilities. The program annually enrolls about 70 students with disabilities, including traumatic brain injuries and schizophrenia. The program offers exercise regimens to improve the students’ strength, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance.
Each year, O’Connor recruited about 100 student volunteers to aid program enrollees.
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Activist group to lead walk in Talbert park
The Nature Commission, a local activist group, will lead tours of Costa Mesa’s Talbert Regional Park on Friday afternoon.
Visitors are asked to meet at the western terminus of West 19th Street at 4 p.m. The walk will “focus on support for simple paths and minimal touch of this unique area,” according to a group announcement.
A county parks official also will attend.
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UCI centers seek artist in residence
UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art and Technology, Newkirk Center for Science and Society and Center for Complex Biological Systems will co-sponsor an artist in residence to complete a synthetic biology work of art.
The work will be installed in “Traces in Vitality,” an exhibit at the Beall Center that will run from Feb. 6 to May 7.
A synthetic biology artwork can incorporate biological or computational materials.
“When you mix art and science, you’re experimenting and you never know what you’re going to get,” said Samantha Haug, the Beall Center’s director of programs. “Some have made artwork out of food or big murals out of Petri dishes.”
The selected artist will have a two-week residency between October and November. He or she will work with science professionals on campus to develop the artwork.
The Beall Center, the Center for Complex Biological Systems and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts will provide a stipend of up to $10,000 for the artist’s expenses, which can include travel, living and production materials.
Interested artists must send a proposal by Aug. 24, including a resumé, a biography of up to 300 words, a project draft of up to 500 words, a website and/or PDF portfolio of previous work, possible dates of the two-week period available and a list of materials and equipment required to develop the work, if known.
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Fairgrounds chairwoman to be honored
The Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County will honor Orange County Fair Board Chairwoman Ashleigh Aitken during a gala in August.
Aitken, a fair board director since 2012, will receive the chamber’s 2015 Veterans and Business Award on Aug. 27 at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in Anaheim.
Aitken, the fair board and a foundation are helping to establish a veterans museum called Heroes Hall that is expected to open at the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa on Veterans Day next year.