SPEAKER at the June 3 protest in Garden Grove Village Green park addressing a crowd. Another rally is scheduled for this Saturday (Orange County Tribune photo).

The June 3 rally and march in Garden Grove that drew so much attention seems to be having a sequel. Scheduled for this Saturday is a “Garden Grove Solidarity Protest” to be held at the Village Green park starting at 3:30 p.m. Among the issues supported by the protestors are “Black Lives Matter,” the abolition of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and making ethnic studies a requirement for students in the Garden Grove Unified School District.

Sunday is “International Ice Cream Day” and we are reminded by our friends at Bruster’s Ice Cream in the Town and Country center at Garden Grove and Harbor boulevards. They’ll be having some special offers for customers.

Westminster’s continuing controversies are continuing. Khai M. Dao is suing a variety of plaintiffs over some aspects of the recent recall election aimed at three members of the city council. The recall of Mayor Tri Ta and councilmembers Kimberly Do and Chi Charlie Nguyen were rejected by voters, but a civil lawsuit to challenge that outcome is set for Tuesday, July 21 at 10 a.m. at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. Dao is alleging that illegal votes were cast, that eligible voters were denied their right to vote and that errors were “sufficient” to overturn the results of the election.

A LEGAL challenge to the Westminster recall election result goes to court next week (Shutterstock).

If you think that the Westminster city council is the only one where some members are angry at some others, turn your attention to last Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove City Council. Toward the end of the session, Councilmember George Brietigam criticized earlier remarks that had been made by Councilmember Kim Nguyen. According to him, she had referred to “systems that [white people] had created to impose and hurt communities of color.”  He termed her language “racist and hateful” and threatened to pursue a censure process against her if it continued. Stay tuned. The next council meeting will be on Aug. 11.

Brett Simpson, who grew up in Garden Grove (or West Grove, if you prefer), has been named head coach of the U.S. Olympic Surfing team. He attended Huntington Beach High School and is a two-time winner of the US Open of Surfing, held in Surf City.

Many residents of Stanton are expressing their approval on social media for the cleaning up and clearing of homeless encampments at various locations in the city. “The city did what they said they would do,” said Linda Van in a Facebook post. Wednesday was the deadline for encampment sites to be emptied as the city enforced its anti-camping ordinance, but efforts are being made to shelter the homeless. Stanton is partnering with the city of Buena Park and other area cities in opening a navigation center in Buena Park.

Here’s an update on the July 11 fatal shooting of a man on Stanford Avenue in Garden Grove. According to Lt. Carl Whitney of the GGPD, “The shooting was gang-related,” and the next day a group of people gathered for a vigil at the site of the incident. “There was a drive-by shooting but nobody was hit.”  Police arrested a suspect in that shooting, a 25-year-old Garden Grove man.

Our Towns is posted on Thursdays. It’s for tidbits, short news items and slice-of-life notes. Send them to orangecountytribune@gmail.com .

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