REGAL CINEMAS in Garden Grove is located in The Promenade at Brookhurst Street and Chapman Avenue (File photo).

Maybe we haven’t seen the Last Picture Show yet. Regal Cinemas, which operates a 16-screen cinema in Garden Grove, announced this week it was planning to reopen its theaters nationwide on Aug. 21.

The final say on reopening will come from state, county and local officials, but Regal – the second largest cinema chain in the nation – is proposing a series of measures to reduce the chance of transmission of the coronavirus.

They include “contactless payment,” sanitizing each auditorium and seat after each movie, requiring masks for employees and guests, limiting capacity in each auditorium to 50 percent and requiring two empty seats between groups in its computerized reservation system.

The Aug. 6 meeting of the Garden Grove Planning Commission has been cancelled.

Jennifer Hudson of Huntington Beach has graduated summa cum laude with a degree in business. economics and international relations, with a minor in Spanish, from Wheaton College of Illinois.

TITO ORTIZ

Two local pugilists are in the news. Tito Ortiz, nicknamed “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” has taken out nomination papers to run for a seat on the Huntington Beach City Council.  He’s a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) guy who held the light heavyweight crown (2000-2003) in that sport that combines traditional boxing with other martial arts. Ortiz attended Huntington Beach High School and Golden West College in Huntington Beach,

Lucas Santamaria of Garden Grove will meet Mykal Fox of Maryland in a 10-round welterweight boxing bout being televised on Fox Sports 1 on Aug. 8. Santamaria has a 10-1-1 record with seven knockouts, while Fox is 22-1 with five knockouts.

The coronavirus pandemic has knocked One More Productions off the Gem Theatre stage, but Nicole Cassesso and Damien Lorton are still in there punching. While they have been required to cancel the last two weekends of “Guys and Dolls” and performances of “A Chorus Line” and “Ain’t Misbehavin,’” that’s not the end of activity at the Garden Grove venue. Still planned are the annual “Hearts for the Arts” fundraiser to be held outdoors on Aug 15 and “Always … Patsy Cline” for October, with dates to be announced later.

“Our Towns” is the place for short news items, announcements, honors and “slice of life” bits. It’s posted on Thursdays. Send your stuff to orangecountytribune@gmail.com.