By Irvine City News staff

Fire Station 20, the newest fire station in Irvine, was dedicated today at a ceremony attended by local dignitaries, Orange County Fire Authority leadership and the community. The morning ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the new station located at 7050 Corsair, near the cross street of Ridge Valley in the Orange County Great Park.

The new station will support Irvine's stellar reputation for safety by reducing response times, saving lives and ensuring the safety of residents of the Great Park Neighborhoods as well as visitors to the Great Park.

The program included a welcome by Greg McKeown, division chief of the Orange County Fire Authority. The invocation was given by the OCFA Chaplain Duncan McColl.

Councilmember Melissa Fox spoke from the podium about the new fire station's role in continuing to keep Irvine among the safest and most-protected cities in the nation. She also participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Bob Blankman, a former Marine who was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in 1943, had the honor of holding the scissors. Assisting him were city officials and police and fire staff.​

Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel as well as Fire Chief Brian Fennessy also offered remarks about the safety milestone that Fire Station 20 represents for the city.

By Irvine City News staff

Cyber security
Those worried about issues of privacy and the security of our nation’s digital infrastructure may take solace in the giant Cylance logo now watching over the Irvine Spectrum area from atop one of the twin glass towers. The company, which recently announced it raised $120 million in funding, applies artificial intelligence, algorithmic science, and machine learning to cyber security to prevent the most advanced security threats in the world. Some 350 employees have relocated to Cylance’s new worldwide headquarters across six floors of 400 Spectrum Center Drive. “Irvine continues to be a strategic advantage for us as we continue our rapid pace of innovation and accelerate market leadership,” said Stuart McClure, chairman and CEO at Cylance. “Cylance’s roots are in Irvine, which brings many of the same advantages as Silicon Valley – a confluence of people, properties, universities and companies – while forging a unique identity,” McClure says. Cylance also supports local research and development efforts. The company sponsors UCI’s Center for Machine Learning & Intelligent Systems, providing funds to bring speakers to campus and to recruit doctoral students, and is also a corporate partner of UCI Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.
 
First in class
UCI’s class of 2018 graduated in recent weeks, with some 7,000 students and their families in town for commencement ceremonies. In a remarkable testament to the American dream of a college education being fulfilled in Irvine, 50 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded went to first-generation college students. That’s a key reason UCI has twice earned the top spot among the nation’s universities that do the most to help students achieve the American dream, according to New York Times ranking. This year, UCI granted bachelor’s degrees to more than 2,000 Latino students (2,014), almost double the number awarded five years ago (1,034) and more than triple the total 10 years ago (637). UCI remains a popular choice for California’s Latino high school graduates, receiving more fall 2018 applications from them than any other UC campus. “This graduating class continues to highlight how well UCI serves the people of our state by offering a world-class education to our best and brightest students, regardless of their financial circumstances, and acting as a powerful engine of upward economic mobility,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman.
 
Tunnel vision
Chicago beat SoCal to the punch when it comes to possibly building the first Elon Musk tunnel. Musk’s Boring Company won a bid to build a high-speed underground transit line linking the city’s downtown to its Chicago O’Hare airport. Musk’s Boring Company claims it will be able to build tunnels at least 14 times faster than current technology and engineering allows. Musk says he will build the 14-mile, $1 billion tunnel for free, in exchange for keeping fees and revenue, including advertisements, branding and in-vehicle sales. What’s this got to do with Irvine? Sign us up for the second one, we say. Imagine autonomous electric vehicles running underground from John Wayne Airport to the Irvine Transportation Center/Orange County Great Park, with stops at Irvine Business Complex, UCI, and the Spectrum. If the mad scientist/billionaire behind Tesla, SpaceX and a mission to Mars wants to pay for it, we’ll be the first to ride. 
 
PHOTOS, COURTESY UCI

​When: July 10; 4:00 p.m.
 
What: City Council Meeting with veterans cemetery issue on the agenda
 
Why: City Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway wants Irvine residents to spend $80 million of city/taxpayer money on a veteran cemetery at the contaminated ARDA site. Online polls after the election show nearly 64% of respondents do not support spending that amount on the cemetery at the ARDA site, with 55 percent saying their vote on Measure B was more about traffic and development than a preference for the ARDA cemetery site.
 
How much: A 2016 California Department of Veterans Affairs CalVet study estimates the cost of the ARDA site at $78 million, including $38 million in site clean up to remove hangars, barracks, runways and other buildings. The site also has an FAA antenna and an old flight control tower on it. CalVet estimated the cost of a cemetery at the Strawberry Fields site at $28 million, with all costs committed from FivePoint and the state and federal governments.
 
What you can do: Call, write or email the city council. Or attend the July 10 session: If you would like to address the City Council, complete the Request to Speak Form located at the table at the entrance to the City Council Chamber.