That sound you may have heard Monday was a collective sigh of relief when officials announced the threat of a massive explosion from a 34,000-gallon ruptured tank of highly-flammable methyl methacrylate (MMA) at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove was eliminated Monday.
Then, at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, even better news was heralded: All evacuations orders were lifted and no public danger remained, officials said.
It had been a harrowing several days for the region. Gov. Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County on Saturday and asked that President Trump approve a federal declaration of emergency, which he did on Monday.
While the evacuation zone announced last week shrank, about 16,000 people remained away from their homes Tuesday afternoon, down from around 50,000 who were told to get out after the drama began unfolding last Thursday.
“I want to reassure everyone who is outside of the new evacuation zone that when you go home, you can feel safe,” Orange County health officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said Monday. “There was no contamination, there were no fumes, there were no vapors that came from this incident. There was no leak.”
Interim Orange County Fire Authority Fire Chief TJ McGovern told reporters Tuesday that his team was testing the failed tank at GKN Aerospace to see if the temperature inside it would stabilize when they decreased the amount of water they’d been hosing it down with. The result of those tests would inform officials of the next steps, he said.
By Tuesday evening, apparently those officials were sufficiently convinced the public would be safe, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported the decision to fully repopulate the evacuation zone was made in coordination with law enforcement, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Orange County Public Health Department.
To say The Times’ reporting and editing staff was all over this breaking news story with live updates would be an understatement, and in fact they put a couple of our Daily Pilot writers to work on it over the holiday weekend as well. (One of the items I was surprised to read was that the annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival still went on, although its parade was canceled.)
No doubt, this is a story that will be covered to the very end. And given that officials, including Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, are launching investigations into the incident and lawsuits are in the offing, it could stretch on for some time to come.
Yesterday afternoon, Rep. Derek Tran held a community meeting focusing on the topic of the crisis at GKN Aerospace in the Student Union at Cal State Fullerton for affected Orange County residents titled “Know Your Rights.”
Last night, in lieu of a city council meeting, the city of Garden Grove convened a similar meeting, The Times reported. Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein invited residents to attend, ask questions and stay engaged.
“Garden Grove will get through this together. We will continue to support our residents, businesses and community every step of the way,” Klopfenstein said.
MORE NEWS 
Cintya Felix Mendivil spoke at a convocation earlier in the school year but was not allowed to give a traditional student commencement speech.
(Courtesy of Cintya Felix Mendivil)
• Student Government Assn. President Cintya Felix Mendivil was prepared to give a speech customary for her position Friday night at the Chapman University’s commencement ceremony until officials pulled the rug out from under her just a week before her graduation. “I haven’t been given an adequate reason why I’m being censored or punished, given that I did no wrong,” Felix Mendivil said. “The only difference I see between my predecessors and me is that they were white and I’m not.”
• Although one member of the Fountain Valley City Council sought to allow limited use of fireworks on the Fourth of July, Fountain Valley’s ban on fireworks is still in place following a 4-1 vote against Councilmember Ted Bui’s proposal.
• Although Mercy House had been operating Costa Mesa’s bridge shelter for the past five years, the City Council this week opted to switch the operations to Volunteers of America Los Angeles, under a $2-million contract.
• Sean Crumby, hired on a three-year contract just last October to serve as Irvine’s city manager, announced in an email to city staff last week he plans to retire as of Aug. 14.
• The City Celebration Committee and Visit Huntington Beach last week unveiled America 250 commemorative banners and lit the pier red, white and blue.
• Lori Ann Farrell, the former city manager of Costa Mesa, has landed a new gig as head of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency.
CRIME 
Nelson and Meshell Holdo attend the 2024 Balboa Bay Club Car Show at the Balboa Bay Resort. Nelson Holdo has been charged with multiple counts of grand theft.
(Niki Cram Photography)
• The No. 1 story trending among Daily Pilot online readers over the past week involves a former Newport Beach jeweler, Nelson Holdo, who has been charged with 23 felony grand theft counts in a luxury watch fraud scheme. Holdo also operated in Pasadena and San Marino.
• Jason Blanchard, 47, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Steven Christian Lucero and Jillian Alise Jones, 33, at a mobile home in Santa Ana in June 2022, according to a City News Service report. Under a plea deal, Blanchard is expected to be sentenced to 14 years in prison on June 5.
PUBLIC SAFETY
• Dean Scott Foes, 68, of Newport Beach, died last week following a six-vehicle traffic collision in his hometown. A preliminary investigation revealed that Foes was traveling westbound on San Miguel Drive when his Corolla collided with several vehicles that had stopped at a red light.
• A 65-year-old Huntington Beach man who was driving his pickup truck home following a chemotherapy session, according to his family, was involved in a collision with another vehicle last Thursday. Michael Cody Wilmoth was found unconscious behind the wheel of his pickup and was taken to a hospital but passed away.
• A pedestrian whose name, gender and age were not immediately made public by police, was killed Monday night after being struck by a car while walking on the southbound side of the San Diego (405) Freeway in Westminster, City News Service reported.
SPORTS 
An aerial view of a U.S. Mens National Soccer Team banner hanging on the exterior of the Great Park Balloon Ride as crews nearby prepare the training area for the U.S. men’s national soccer team at Championship Soccer Stadium at Great Park in Irvine.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
• Championship Soccer Stadium in Orange County Great Park in Irvine will soon be occupied by the U.S. national soccer team, which will be using it as their main training base for the World Cup, The Times reports. The team’s first training session, on Monday, June 8, will be the only practice open to the public.
Fans in the stands wave their shirts and shout “sell the team” during the eighth inning of an baseball game between the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on Wednesday, May 20.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
• As of Sunday, the Angels were tied for the worst record in baseball. Some fans are calling for owner Arte Moreno to “sell the team,” according to this Times report, with about 75 of them “gathering in front of the Angel Stadium State College Boulevard entrance on Saturday chanting ‘sell the team,’ ‘we want playoffs’ and ‘winning matters,’” writes Joaquin Ruiz.
• The Hoag Classic golf tournament has been renamed for 2027 and with that name change it will become a major PGA tour event called the Senior Players Championship, it was announced Tuesday. The tourney will still take place at Newport Beach Country Club, but the purse will be boosted significantly, from $2.2M to $3.5M.
• The baseball teams at Newport Harbor and Laguna Beach have performed well this year, with both making it into the CIF finals.
LIFE & LEISURE 
The Lido Theater, which since its recent remodeling has been showing films, will be offering live entertainment beginning this summer.
(Joseph Barber Photography)
• The owners/operators of the iconic and recently restored Lido Theater in Newport Beach have decided to open it up to live entertainment as well as movies, beginning this summer.
• Theme park enthusiasts who have not yet signed up for Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride newsletter, written by Times features columnist Todd Martens, might want to consider subscribing to it. In recent days he’s written a couple of great items related to Disneyland. Also, TimesOC’s Sarah Mosqueda offers readers a look at this summer’s lineup at the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
KXFM executive director Billy Fried, “baby robot” Jax Owens, presenter and personality Pat Parnell and artist Jorg Dubin, from left, begin the 2nd Annual 2026 Laguna Achievement Festival Award Winners show at the Laguna Playhouse.
(Don Leach/Daily Pilot)
• In what has quickly become a community bonding event, radio station KX FM’s 2nd annual Laguna Achievement Festival (LAF) awards were handed out at the Laguna Playhouse last Thursday night to people from all walks of life. Billy Fried, the station’s executive director, had this to say: “ I think this really was a pastiche of what our town represents — athletes, artists, merchants, environmentalists, … and it really created a picture, a mosaic, of what’s special about this town, which was intended, but my god, it really manifested itself.”
CALENDAR 
A Centennial Handkerchief quilt, on display at Bowers Musuem in Santa Ana.
(Sarah Mosqueda)
• Curated by Tara Miller, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has just opened its latest exhibition, “The American Quilt,” which will run through Aug. 30. The show has some special events planned, like “Using African Prints in Quilts” with Kena Tangi Dorsey on June 27 at 1:30 p.m. and the Bowers Museum Quilt Fair on Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For details and tickets, visit bowers.org
Sherman Gardens executive director Scott LaFleur, from left, artist Elizabeth Laul Healey, director of philanthropy Alexandra Anderson and donor Marilyn Macy Green pose with art pooch Fifi.
(Courtesy of Sherman Library & Gardens)
• “Dog Days of Sherman,” which opened this month and runs through Labor Day, features six mosaic sculptures created by artist Elizabeth Laul Healey that have been installed throughout the Sherman Gardens in Corona del Mar. Healey’s “Watch Dog” sculptures are so named because every one of them has a watch somewhere on it, according to this Daily Pilot story. A ticketed after-hours “Yappy Hour” is open to both people and pooches from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on June 5, July 10 and Aug. 7. To purchase tickets, go to thesherman.org/dog-days-of-sherman.
Kids from Lincoln, Paularino and Sonora elementary school bands in Costa Mesa marched along Marine Ave. during the Annual Balboa Island Parade.
(Susan Hoffman)
• Strike up the (surf) band: The 31st annual Balboa Island Parade steps off this Sunday at 11 a.m. This year the theme is “Good Vibrations on Balboa Island,” a tribute to the Beach Boys. The parade starts at the Balboa Island bridge and continues along Marine Avenue. The after party immediately following will feature dancing in the street to vintage surfer songs. For more details, visit the parade’s website.
KEEP IN TOUCH
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