Travel rewards programs shouldn’t be so annoying to use

• March 31, 2023

Even after the “revenge travel” craze of 2022, Americans are still eager to get out there. According to an email survey of its members from Going, a travel deals service, 68% of the 3,274 respondents say they plan to spend more on international travel in 2023 than they did in 2022.

Yet there’s just one problem: Travelers are also going broke. The No. 1 barrier to travel this year, according to the same survey, was a lack of money. So while inflation zaps budgets and consumers keep racking up credit card debt at a dizzying pace, those dream vacations might fizzle out.

Is it time to tap into those credit card points, airline miles and hotel rewards? It might be, but actually figuring out how to use those dang points poses its own problems. Earning travel rewards through credit card offers and travel spending is one thing; successfully redeeming them is quite another.

Consumers are confused

A stunning 84% of travelers cited user experience issues as their biggest frustration when using travel rewards, according to a survey of 2,041 U.S. consumers by iSeatz, a loyalty program service provider. A second survey from the same company asked 291 loyalty program service providers about their perceived issues and found that only 20% saw user experience as their biggest challenge.

Travelers, it seems, are fed up with the poor usability of these loyalty programs. And the programs themselves don’t even know it’s a problem.

For example, one of the best ways to maximize the value of American Airlines AAdvantage miles is by flying in business class to international destinations, especially on partner airlines such as Japan Airlines. Yet the American website and app offer a confusing mix of filtering and viewing options, which force users to either check each day individually in search of award availability or use a broader calendar view that doesn’t allow filtering for specific airlines.

It would be more streamlined if users could set filters like “business class” or “Japan Airlines” in the calendar view so that it would only display relevant dates. Instead, users are forced to hunt and peck manually through a sparsely populated award calendar.

This kind of user-unfriendliness is the rule with travel rewards programs. Want to transfer your credit card points to an airline that flies to Hawaii? Good luck finding any help within the credit card website itself. Instead, travelers must spend time searching for and researching these redemption options on third-party websites and message boards.

No incentive to improve

These loyalty programs are big business for travel brands. A recent report from On Point Loyalty, an advisory firm, estimated the value of these programs in the tens of billions:

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles: $28 billion.
American Airlines AAdvantage: $24 billion.
United Airlines MileagePlus: $22 billion.

The root of the problem is not that these programs can’t hire a user experience designer (or 20) to improve their search tools. It’s that they have a strong incentive to sign travelers up for their rewards programs, but not to get them to spend their points.

Plus, it’s hard to hold these programs accountable for poor user experience. NerdWallet’s annual ratings of airline and hotel programs consider dozens of factors, from the value of the points and miles themselves to the onboard movie selection. Yet it’s hard to quantify the user-friendliness of a website or app and therefore difficult to hold these programs responsible for their poor experience.

All is not lost

Given the status quo, things are unlikely to change in the near future, yet frustrated consumers do have some options. Third-party services such as Point.Me offer custom award search tools and concierge services to help travelers spend their points. These services aren’t free, but they can cut through some of the noise and offer travelers clear, actionable ways to use their miles.

And it’s usually possible to avoid the worst travel loyalty headaches by keeping things simple. Booking one-way domestic fares or using credit card points to book travel directly in a portal (rather than transferring to partners) might not offer the razzle-dazzle value of some other redemption options, but these methods make it relatively easy to book.

And when it comes to travel rewards, actually using those dang points and miles is a win.

More From NerdWallet

​ Orange County Register 

Manhattan DA slams GOP efforts to investigate Trump probe

• March 31, 2023

By Annie Grayer and Sara Murray | CNN

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is again slamming House Republicans for their efforts to intervene in its investigation into former President Donald Trump, accusing them of collaborating with Trump to “vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges.”

The DA’s general counsel Leslie B. Dubeck penned a letter Friday to three House GOP committee chairmen, citing Trump’s harsh rhetoric aimed at District Attorney Alvin Bragg and writing, “As Committee Chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury.”

Dubeck continues, “Instead, you and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges and made unfounded allegations that the Office’s investigation, conducted via an independent grand jury of average citizens serving New York State, is politically motivated.”

Dubeck wrote to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Administration Chair Bryan Steil for a second time on Friday, in light of the investigation the committee chairmen launched into the Manhattan DA shortly after Trump warned he would soon be arrested.

A spokesperson for Comer declined to comment. Spokespeople for Steil and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In response to the House GOP’s inquiries into how federal funds were used in the probe, Dubeck disclosed that approximately $5,000 was spent “on expenses incurred relating to the investigation of Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization,” and added that that money came from “federal forfeiture money that the Office helped collect.” The letter says that no federal grant money was used toward expenses in the Trump investigation.

Dubeck specified that approximately $5,000 of federal forfeiture money was spent on expenses relating to Trump or the Trump organization between October 2019 and August 2021, and that most of that money had to do with Supreme Court litigation. In the last 15 years, Dubeck shared that the DA’s Office helped the federal government secure more than one billion dollars in asset forfeiture funds.

Dubeck also included details about the three federal grant programs the office participates in regarding its casework and shared, “no expenses incurred relating to this matter have been paid from funds that the Office receives through federal grant programs.”

Dubeck wrote that if the chairmen are not willing to call off their inquiry, the DA’s office is still willing to meet.

“If you will not withdraw your request, we reiterate our willingness to meet and confer with you or your staff about how we can accommodate your request without violating our obligations as prosecutors to protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal prosecution.”

Claiming the committees lack jurisdiction to oversee their state prosecution and discrediting any valid legislative purpose to their inquiry, Dubeck cites CNN reporting to claim that “it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective.”

​ Orange County Register 

Pennsylvania factory explosion survivor, on fire, fell into chocolate vat

• March 31, 2023

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM and ACACIA CORONADO (Associated Press)

A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says her arm caught fire as flames engulfed the building — and then she fell through the floor into a vat of liquid chocolate.

The dark liquid extinguished her blazing arm, but Patricia Borges wound up breaking her collarbone and both of her heels. She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno and choppers thumped overhead at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory.

“When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me,” Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from her hospital bed in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just minutes from the chocolate factory where she worked as a machine operator. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board planned to interview Borges on Friday.

The March 24 blast at R.M. Palmer killed seven of Borges’s co-workers and injured 10. Federal, state and local investigations are underway. A cause has not been determined, but the federal transportation safety agency has characterized it as a natural gas explosion.

Borges said she and others had complained about a gas odor about 30 minutes before the factory blew up. She is angry Palmer didn’t immediately evacuate. She said the deaths of her co-workers — including her close friend, Judith Lopez-Moran — could’ve been prevented.

Others workers have also said they smelled natural gas, according to their relatives. Palmer, a 75-year-old, family-run company with deep roots in the small town 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, has not responded to questions about the workers’ claims.

Speaking in Spanish over videoconference, her eyes bruised and her burned right arm heavily bandaged, Borges recounted her terrifying brush with death.

The factory was getting ready for a product switch that day, so instead of running a candy-wrapping machine as usual, she was helping to clean.

At 4:30 p.m., Borges told the AP, she smelled natural gas. It was strong and nauseated her. Borges and her co-workers approached their supervisor, asking “what was going to be done, if we were going to be evacuated,” she recalled.

Borges said the supervisor noted someone higher up would have to make that decision. So she got back to work.

Just before 5 p.m., the two-story brick building exploded.

Borges, who’d been on a ladder, was thrown to the ground. She heard screaming. There was fire everywhere, and the flames quickly overtook her. “I asked God why he was giving me such a horrible death,” she said. “I asked him to save me, that I didn’t want to die in the fire.”

She began to run. That’s when the floor gave way, and she could feel herself falling — into a long, horizontal tank of chocolate in the factory’s basement. At 4 feet, 10 inches tall, Borges landed on her feet in chest-high liquid.

The chocolate extinguished the flames, but she believes her fall is what broke her feet.

The vat began filling with water from firefighters’ hoses, eventually forcing Borges to climb out as it reached neck level. She sat on the lip of the tank, then jumped into a pool of water that had formed on the basement floor. Briefly submerged, Borges said she swallowed a mouthful of water before surfacing. She grabbed onto some plastic tubing.

And then she waited.

“Help, help, please help!” she yelled, over and over, for hours. No one came.

The pain grew more intense. The water was frigid. The main supply pipe for the building’s fire suppression system had ruptured — and water was pouring into the basement. She lost track of time but thought she might be there for days.

“The only thing I wanted was to get out of there,” she said.

Finally, in the middle of the night, she saw a light and screamed anew for help.

Search-and-rescue dogs had alerted their handlers that a survivor might be in the rubble. Now, as rescuers carefully worked their way down to the basement, they heard Borges’s cries.

Calling for quiet, the rescuers followed the sound of her voice. They found her in a tight space, in chest-deep water. She made her way to them and was placed in a litter.

“She was severely hypothermic and banged up,” conscious but “absolutely confused,” said Ken Pagurek, who helped lead rescue efforts as program manager of Pennsylvania Task Force 1, an emergency response team that deploys to disaster sites around the country.

“I think had they not gotten to her when they did, there was a very good chance the number of victims was going to be plus one,” said Pagurek, also a captain in the Philadelphia Fire Department.

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Her rescue gave hope to first responders who already had pulled two bodies from the rubble in the hours after the blast. Rescuers spent two more days at the pile. They found five more bodies but no additional survivors.

Borges now faces surgery on both feet and a long recovery. Her family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her pay the bills.

Borges, who came to the United States 31 years ago from Puebla state in south-central Mexico, has worked at Palmer for four years. She said she’s seeking accountability.

“I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future,” she said. “For my colleague Judy, I want there to be justice.”

___

Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Coronado reported from Austin, Texas.

​ Orange County Register 

School shootings are a stain on America. Set aside the culture war gibberish and focus on solutions.

• March 31, 2023

A little over a week ago, I was visiting Guadalajara, Mexico, getting breakfast, when I struck up a conversation with one of the workers. 

He asked me what’s the most negative impression Americans have of Mexico. 

With the recent kidnappings and killings of Americans in Tamaulipas in mind, I replied something along the lines of, “That everywhere in Mexico is unsafe, with cartel violence ravaging every city.” 

We joked about how ridiculous an idea that is. 

I then asked him, in turn, what’s the most negative impression Mexicans have of Americans.

His response?

“There are people always going into the schools and shooting people.”

“Well, yes, that’s actually true,” I responded. 

“Really?” 

“Yes, unfortunately, it happens every few months. It’s crazy.”

And, sure enough, it has happened again.

To quickly recap, on Monday, six people — three children and three adults — were murdered at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.

This time, the shooter was a 28-year-old female who identified as transgender, was in possession of a detailed map of the school and had what police officials described as a manifesto.

Nashville’s police chief told NBC News the shooter legally purchased seven weapons and according to Nashville’s police chief was “under a ‘doctor’s care for an emotional disorder.’”

As is usual in the aftermath of mass shootings, the political discourse is mostly pretty stupid and unproductive.

President Joe Biden’s first press conference after the shooting involved him joking about ice cream before calling for an assault weapons ban he knows won’t happen. Because, yeah, he’s all there and totally serious. Right.

Right-wing pundits, meanwhile, fixated on the shooter being transgender mainly to score culture war points.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson went on air to hyperventilate that, “The trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence.” 

Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson tweeted, with as of now 10 million views, “One thing is VERY clear: the modern trans movement is radicalizing activists into terrorists.”

And Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio tweeted, “If early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn’t compassion, it’s dangerous.”

Most trans people just want to live their lives; they’re not out “targeting Christians.”

This kind of hysterical rhetoric is designed to stir up angry, defensive responses against whole groups of people based on the violence of one disturbed person. 

If the idea is to push back against extremism, the right shouldn’t be using extremist rhetoric of its own. 

That some transgender people are also criminals doesn’t mean that transgender people in general should be painted as dangerous extremists, no more than non-transgender people  who commit crimes define everyone who is not transgender. 

If this all seems like obvious, “duh” stuff, that’s because it is. I’m just spelling it out because America’s political rhetoric is dominated by people constantly trying to out-outrage each other. 

Reducing anything to hysterical partisan talking points is bound to be silly.

Now, I’m not going to leave left-wingers off the hook either.

Left-wingers can be gross too.

Popular left-wing podcaster David Pakman, for example, tweeted, “Very surprising that there would be a mass shooting at a Christian school, given that lack of prayer is often blamed for these horrible events. Is it possible they weren’t praying enough, or correctly, despite being a Christian school?”

It’s not new for secular left-wingers to angrily mock people of faith for offering prayers after a mass shooting, but Pakman revealed an obviously callous disregard for the lives of the victims for the sake of a tweet bashing Christians and conservatives, as if that’s a reasonable response to a mass shooting.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ press secretary, Josselyn Berry, thought it was a great idea to tweet out a gif of a woman pointing two guns at an unseen target with the words: “Us when we see transphobes.” She ultimately had to resign, obviously, because her encouragement of threatening gun violence against people isn’t exactly reasonable.

None of these sorts of responses are healthy or productive. 

Which finally brings to the “What should be done/What can be done?” issue.

What to do about public mass shootings is a hard problem. One, because public mass shootings are difficult to predict beforehand, two, because they usually involve handguns (not the so-called assault rifles), and three, we still have that thing called the Second Amendment (and a U.S. Supreme Court with a particular bent).

These are all constraints and complications.

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Some things can obviously be gleaned from the details of any particular mass shooting. In the case of the Tennessee shooting, there might or might not be something to the shooter being under a doctor’s care and the parents of the shooter saying they believed the shooter should not have owned weapons. I don’t think there’s much controversy to the idea that people who are known to be mentally troubled probably shouldn’t have access to guns; the key is obviously how to put together a constitutionally sound law with due process and clear thresholds. 

Admittedly, every possible set of solutions possible under the existing constraints admittedly feels inadequate and throws up serious trade-offs.

Boosting security at schools seems rational, for example. But at what cost? If we’re talking billions of dollars, is it possible we’d be better off putting that money into mental health treatment or crime prevention more generally? Let’s say sales of “assault weapons” were banned, what’s the next move going to be if/when, inevitably, a mass shooting doesn’t involve an assault weapon? Then what?

There’s something deeply wrong when kids are being murdered in their classrooms and it’s just a fact of life. It’s a hard thing to figure out and even try to solve. And the hysterics on the left and right make it impossible to try to have rational policy discussions. 

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

New school center gives thousands of Fullerton students access to health services and more

• March 31, 2023

Fullerton students have a new go-to place to find the resources they need to thrive in school, including health care or mental health counseling, free healthy meals, tutoring services and more.

The idea behind the new Nicolas Community Center is to provide a one-stop-shop of various wrap-around services for students and their families. With a design aesthetic centered on calming natural wood tones and greenery, the center provides private spaces for students to utilize for telehealth appointments, connections to a local urgent care facility and two pharmacies that can help families without insurance and a free family meal once a week.

Additionally, counselors, social service workers and a full-time community liaison will be on hand to help students and their families, both at the Nicolas Community Center and the six schools the center supports: Commonwealth, Maple, Nicolas, Richman, Valencia Park and Woodcrest.

The goal is to meet students and their families where they are and to provide them with the tools and resources they need to be successful in the classroom and the community, said Jackie Gallardo-Hoffmaster, a program specialist for Fullerton School District.

“What are different things we can provide so our students are feeling safe and ready to learn,” Gallardo-Hoffmaster said. “This is an opportunity for families and students to have a safe space where they can come and be vulnerable with us, and we can help them.”

For now, the community center is open during typical school business hours, but the plan is to extend its availability once it gets off the ground a bit more, Gallardo-Hoffmaster said.

The new Nicolas Community Center was unveiled by Fullerton School District on Thursday, March 30, with a ribbon-cutting and other festivities. California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was on hand for the event.

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​ Orange County Register 

Real estate news: CapRock buys Phoenix property for $11.9 million

• March 31, 2023

Newport Beach-based CapRock Partners bought a 130,800-square-foot Class A industrial building in Phoenix.

CapRock paid $11.9 million for the property, according to the CRE industry website traded.co. The seller was Sun State Builders.

“The acquisition of 5810 W. Buckeye Road represents an opportunity to meet the ongoing demand for quality industrial space in infill areas in Phoenix and expand CapRock’s portfolio in the region,” said Jon Pharris, co-founder and president of CapRock Partners.

The property has been pre-leased by Metrie Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of solid wood and composite molding.

Construction on the new building was completed earlier this year with Metrie set to take occupancy by summer.

Don MacWilliam and Payson MacWilliam of Colliers International represented CapRock Partners in the marketing of 5810 W. Buckeye Road. Metrie was represented by Mark Seale with Avison Young.

More Western properties for CapRock

CapRock Partners also announced it has wrapped up work on two Class A industrial distribution facilities in Las Vegas.

The facilities span a combined 700,000 square feet.

Tropical Logistics Phase II has three single-tenant buildings in 442,780 square feet. The firm said all of the buildings are pre-leased though it declined to provide the tenant names.

Spanish Ridge Industrial Park also has three buildings for a total 230,899 square feet and is partially pre-leased.

“Newly completed, well-located projects such as Tropical Logistics Center Phase II and Spanish Ridge Industrial Park are benefiting from Las Vegas’ limited supply of new industrial development and the continued high demand from occupiers,” said Jon Pharris, co-founder and president of CapRock.

CapRock, with $2.7 billion of assets under management or advisement, said it is actively buying industrial properties in the western and central U.S., typically investing $20 million and $100 million per acquisition.

Industry people on the move

Snyder Langston has a new executive team, appointing Jason Rich as its chief executive officer, Lee Watkins as president and chief operating officer, and Jo-E Lopez as chief relationship officer. The announcement for the 64-year-old commercial and multifamily building company comes as it enters year eight of a 10-year succession plan. Rich joined Snyder Langston in 2002, Watkins in 2013 and Lopez in 2006.

Kellie Reed has been promoted to vice president of sales and healthcare at Tangram Interiors’ Newport Beach office. She first joined Tangram in 2012 as general manager in the Central Valley market and then shifted three years ago to Orange County director of sales. The firm said Reed was a key player in establishing its presence in the Central Valley when she also acquired responsibility for Tangram’s Bakersfield operations.

Bea Kissinger has been promoted to operations manager at Newport Beach-based P11, a creative agency that works in the real estate trade. She began her career at P11 in 2012. Kissinger oversees client invoicing, accounting procedures and payroll.

Mike Ruppert is Newmark’s new senior vice president of property management for Southern California. He has 30 years of experience in commercial real estate services, client relationship management and property management.

Bill Roberts has joined Irvine-based Ware Malcomb as its general counsel. In this new role, he will oversee the firm’s legal functions. Roberts also is a member of the advisory council of the Risk Management Program at the USC.

Rancho Mission Viejo executive Paul Johnson has retired as executive vice president of community development at the homebuilder. (Courtesy of Rancho Mission Viejo)

Milestones

Rancho Mission Viejo executive Paul Johnson has retired from his role as executive vice president of community development at the homebuilder, effective March 31.

A part of the leadership team at The Ranch for more than 35 years, Johnson played a key role in creating the master-planned community.

“Paul’s imprint upon the Rancho Mission Viejo community has been significant and meaningful,” said Anthony (Tony) Moiso, chairman and chief executive officer at Rancho Mission Viejo. “He took to heart and implemented the wisdom of my grandmother Daisy O’Neill, who noted ‘Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.’ We have all benefited from his dedication, creativity and vision and multi-faceted expertise. We are enormously grateful to Paul for his many contributions.”

TMG expands offices to Vegas, New Mexico

Costa Mesa-based The Mogharebi Group has expanded its Western presence to Las Vegas and Albuquerque.

The brokerage founded in 2016 by Alex Mogharebi said it has closed $8 billion in transactions for a combined 75,000 apartment units throughout California, the Pacific Northwest and the mountain states.

TMG in two years has expanded to Salt Lake City and Seattle. The latest office expansion brings the firm to 8 offices throughout the West.

Bill Ketcham and Robert Gallegos, with a combined 45 years of real estate investment experience, will lead the two offices. Ketcham joins the firm as vice president and will lead the Las Vegas office. Gallegos joins TMG as senior vice president to lead the Albuquerque office.

Real estate transactions, leases and new projects, industry hires, new ventures and upcoming events are compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin. Submit items and high-resolution photos via email to Business Editor Samantha Gowen at [email protected]. Please allow at least a week for publication. All items are subject to editing for clarity and length.

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​ Orange County Register 

Long Beach’s Virgin Orbit to lay off 85% of workforce, wind down operations

• March 31, 2023

Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc., the Long Beach satellite-launch company tied to British billionaire Richard Branson, is ceasing operations indefinitely, succumbing to growing cash-crunch pressures that have paralyzed startups in many emerging technologies.

The company said in a filing this week that it was cutting 675 jobs, or about 85% of its workforce, “in order to reduce expenses in light of the company’s inability to secure meaningful funding.” A spokesperson for Virgin Orbit said the remaining 15% of employees will work on winding down the business.

The move punctuates a rapid fall after its high-profile launch failure in January and a collapse in its stock price. Virgin Orbit temporarily suspended operations earlier this month while it sought additional capital. The firm — part of Branson’s empire that includes airline Virgin Atlantic and spaceflight company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. — hasn’t turned a profit as a public company.

Virgin Orbit shares fell 45% in extended New York trading as of 7:20 p.m. Thursday, March 30, trading at just 19 cents each. The stock was worth more than $7 a year ago. Charges will amount to about $15 million, consisting primarily of $8.8 million in severance pay and employee benefits, and $ 6.5 million in other costs such as outplacement services, Virgin Orbit said in the filing.

Just two weeks ago, the company approved a severance plan for top executives, with Chief Executive Officer Daniel Hart standing to collect a payout of twice his base compensation, a cash payment equal to the pro-rated annual target bonus, as well as as much as six months of health insurance cover.

Branson injected $10.9 million by buying a note convertible into shares through his Virgin Investments Ltd., allowing the failed business to fund severance pay and other costs, Virgin Orbit said in the filing.

Business sale

The Long Beach company is one of several space-related startups with once high-flying valuations that have seen their shares plunge as investors shy away from untested business models and money-losing operations.

Astra Space Inc. reported Thursday that its cash and cash-equivalent reserves fell by 32% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, and Rocket Lab USA said last month it expects to its quarterly loss to be three times bigger than analysts had estimated.

Virgin Orbit is still looking to sell all or part of its business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Those discussions for a possible transaction don’t include Matthew Brown, a little-known Texas-based venture capital investor who had said he was interested in a deal earlier this month, said the person, who asked not to be identified revealing private conversations.

Brown had touted himself as a possible savior of a business that was worth billions just a year ago. But his financing deal collapsed over the weekend, CNBC reported March 27.

The launch company officially began in 2017 as an offshoot of Virgin Galactic before going public in 2021 through a combination with a blank-check firm. Virgin Orbit’s business centered on launching small satellites into orbit, distinct from Virgin Galactic’s focus on sending humans to the edge of space and back.

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First mission

Unlike some competitors that launch rockets from the ground, Virgin Orbit uses a technique known as air launch, in which its LauncherOne rocket is deployed at a high altitude from underneath the wing of a modified Boeing Co. 747 plane. The company began developing the rocket at Virgin Galactic, years before the satellite-launch business was formally created.

Virgin Orbit successfully launched its first mission to orbit in January 2021 and completed four successful flights through 2022.

The company had planned to increase its launch frequency this year but had to reassess after the failed January mission, which was slated to be the first orbital launch from British soil. Its vehicle never reached orbit after incurring a problem with a fuel filter during the flight, leading to the loss of nine small satellites.

​ Orange County Register 

Fire at Garden Grove strip mall causes $1.25 million in damage

• March 31, 2023

Authorities were investigating what caused a fire to rip through a Garden Grove strip mall Thursday night, March 30, causing an estimated $1.25 million in damage.

More than 40 firefighters responded to the blaze in the 12500 block of Valley View Street at about 8:40 p.m.

It took an hour to knock it down. The building’s roof partially collapsed and four units suffered damage.

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Damage was estimated at $1 million to the building and $250,000 to its contents.

No injuries were reported.

​ Orange County Register