The action came at the urging of parents in the Quail Hill area, which is remote from the high school, and requires driving a circuitous route in morning or afternoon traffic — roughly 25 to 30 minutes each way.

Several parents testified that the need to drive their kids to and from school was holding them back from getting full-time employment.

 
On a 3-2 vote on a motion by Councilmember Larry Agran, the City Council declared the long-running and controversial negotiation with Live Nation terminated. Agran was joined by Councilmembers Kathleen Treseder and Tammy Kim in voting for the motion while Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Mike Carroll voted against it.

The successful motion directed City staff to return to the Council with a “process and timeline” for reviewing and approving an amphitheater of 8,000-10,000 seats, with a house sound system under City control.

When it arrived at the Ranch, the car pulled up to an odd two-story wooden building from which a 3-foot-wide metal pipe extended as far as the eye could see into the darkness.

The car door opened and Albert Einstein stepped out into the dim lamplight from the scientific station, to be greeted by another giant of 20th century physics, Dr. Albert Michelson. (Michelson Drive in Irvine is named after Dr. Albert Michelson.)

This year, the team repeated as a division champion in the elementary division at the 2023 VEX-IQ world robotics competition in Dallas.

To win, the pair had to design, build and code a robot to complete a set of specific tasks in 60 seconds. The course this year involved collecting plastic discs from different containers around the game board and and then disgorging the discs into a target area of the board.

Ezra and Kenneth, who both attend Turtle Rock Elementary School, spent a year developing and honing their robot, as they competed first at the county level, then state and national, and finally at the world championship.

Riders will also be required to travel with the flow of traffic on streets and sidewalks under a new ordinance approved by the City Council at its July 11th meeting.

In addition, the ordinance requires e-bikes to yield to all pedestrians and vehicles when entering a roadway from an alley or driveway; bans e-bikes from the City’s Open Space areas; and prohibits people from tinkering with their e-bikes to increase their speed capability.

Amplified music and tighter enforcement were among the concerns raised by Councilmember Kathleen Treseder in asking for the review, but much of the Council discussion centered on gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers.

“When I talk to residents of Irvine, the gas-powered leaf blowers are the second-most cited nuisance” behind traffic, said Treseder. She suggested the City ban the gas-powered equipment by next year.

Other Councilmembers and public commenters all agreed that the landscaping equipment noise is a pervasive nuisance.