The European Union (EU) will this week reinstate Sri Lanka’s GSP+ duty-free trade concession, in a move that mainly benefits the country’s leading garment export industry.

Apparel retailer Rue21 has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The appointment of Robert Lighthizer as the next US trade representative could see the Trump administration’s long-awaited initiative to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) get underway as early as mid-August, reports suggest.

The UK retail industry is calling on the next Government to put shoppers first in Brexit negotiations, ensuring they are protected from the cost of unwanted new tariffs.

Chinese textiles major Shandong Ruyi Technology Group is to invest US$410m opening its facility in North America.

San Juan Capistrano is known for its historic Spanish mission, for its migratory birds called swallows, for its indigenous people the Acjachemen, for its equestrian heritage and maybe, now, for its beers?

Joe Wilshire, Brian Hendon and Scott Cortellessa, owners of the town’s first brewery, say they are encouraged by the reception they’ve received since they opened for business on March 27 at 33049 Calle Aviador, in an industrial district bordering San Juan Creek.

Docent Brewing creates craft beers on site and operates “San Juan Capistrano’s Public House,” serving food and a variety of brews in a social setting. Hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 7 Sundays.

We asked Wilshire about the enterprise:

How did you come up with the name?

Over the last five years we attempted to get clearance on many different names with no success. Once we connected with our brewer, Bryan Giesen, he had a beer named Docent. As we developed our business philosophy and mission, we realized that Docent was a perfect match for what we wanted to do in the beer industry – guide people through the process of discovering new locally crafted beer.

Why San Juan Capistrano?

We are local guys. Brian Hendon and myself live right across the creek from the brewery. Scott lives in Laguna Beach, right down the road. San Juan Capistrano is a city full of great history and charm. It was always our goal to be San Juan’s first brewery and we made it!

How are things going?

Things have gone as we had hoped. People are embracing the “Public House” vibe we are going for, and we are meeting our neighbors and making new friends every day.

What kind of beers do you do?

Everything except sours. At least for now. We really want to have something for everyone that is willing to explore our beers. That means we hopefully will get people that are making Docent their first brewery experience. For those guests, we offer our “Canteen,” “Self Titled” and maybe our delicious pale ale “Peel Top.” But we also want to have offerings for the seasoned beer connoisseur. Our brewer along with the rest of us Docents are ready to take on that challenge.

How many beers do you plan to do?

We will have a lineup of about 8-10 beers that will remain regulars on our wall, But the great thing about being a small craft brewery is the ability to experiment with different recipes and styles and give our guests the opportunity to explore those tasty creations alongside us. We currently have the equipment necessary to do about 2,500 barrels per year. That may take a little time to hit our max production.

Are your beers available outside the brewery?

Currently our beers are available at several local restaurants and tap rooms that focus on local crafted beer.

What in the founders’ backgrounds led you all to start a brewery?

Brian Hendon has been exploring the craft beer scene since the mid 90s. Brian and Scott are brother in laws, married to sisters. Scott and I have kids the same age that have grown up together. All of our experiences hanging out together, traveling together and enjoying each other’s company always revolved around craft beer. We thought we had some good ideas about creating a local brewery that the community would embrace as a public house — a place to meet your friends and make new ones. So far, so good.

In brief, list five things the community should know about Docent Brewing.

1. Our brewer, Bryan Giesen, is a local. Born and raised in Dana Point. He developed all of his recipes home brewing over the last 10 years.

2. Brian, Scott and myself worked on this project for about five years before we actually got the doors opened.

3. We have a kitchen. Check out our menu online at Docentbrewing.com

4. Kids and dogs are welcome.

5. If you are stopping in for the first time or the 100th time, say hello. We look forward to meeting all of our guests. Cheers!

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Changes are coming to the Tustin Unified school board elections beginning in 2018.

Trustees on Monday voted 4-1 in favor of a proposal to elect board members by area rather than at-large. Lynn Davis, who is up for re-election in 2018, cast the dissenting vote.

Historically, all five members of the school board have been chosen district-wide for four-year terms. With elections staggered every two years, voters select from a panel of candidates to fill anywhere from two to three available seats. 

However, at-large elections for city councils, school boards, community college districts and other governing bodies have become a bone of contention. Civil rights advocates say the method violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 by diluting the votes of minorities — creating lopsided representation.

“It’s the right decision,” Superintendent Gregory Franklin said in an interview Tuesday.  “Clearly, the state wants districts to move to by-trustee areas.”

Prior to the next school board election in November 2018, Tustin Unified will be divided into five areas, each of which will be represented by one trustee who lives in the precinct.

Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman, who has made the issue his cause in cities throughout Southern California, wrote Tustin Unified a letter dated April 5 demanding by-area elections.

“TUSD appears to have never elected a Latino board member,” Shenkman said in the letter, adding that Latinos comprise almost one-third of the district’s population.

“We urge TUSD to voluntarily change its at-large system,” the letter concludes. “Otherwise, on behalf of residents within the jurisdiction, we will be forced to seek judicial relief.”

TUSD had 45 days to respond to the letter after receiving it. Monday’s vote almost certainly ended the threat of litigation, officials said.

The resolution states that “trustee-area boundary lines shall be developed based on the federal 2010 Census data.”

Shenkman began his battle against at-large elections with Palmdale in 2012. Although half of the city’s population is Latino, a Latino had never served on the city council.

Palmdale fought back in court and lost — to the tune of $7 million, including $4.6 million in reimbursement fees to Shenkman — a victory he pointed out in his letter to TUSD. After Palmdale transitioned to by-district elections, a Latino won a seat in 2016.

Since that ruling, most city entities approached by Shenkman have fended off lawsuits by swiftly conceding to by-precinct elections — including in Buena Park, Costa Mesa, San Juan Capistrano and Garden Grove.

Earlier this year, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District voted to implement by-area elections in response to a demand letter from Shenkman.

In general, a city or school district that complies with a demand letter must reimburse its author up to $30,000, Shenkman said. His expenses include the cost of a “racially polarized voting study” analyzing demographics and election patterns.

“It’s no big pay day for me, but I’m OK with that,” Shenkman said.

TUSD now has  90 days to draw a map and adopt it. At least one public hearing will be scheduled for input on draft proposals before the boundary lines are approved, according to the resolution.

Two TUSD board members are up for reelection in 2018: Davis, who lives in unincorporated North Tustin, and Jonathan Abelove, who lives near Tustin Ranch.

The other three trustees, reelected in 2016, will complete their terms before facing the new election process in 2020. They are James Laird and Francine Scinto, both of North Tustin, and Tammie Bullard of central Tustin.

“It’s hard to say how this change will affect school district operations,” Franklin said. “Already, we are performing so well and we are looking out for every student. But it’s good to be in compliance with California law.”

IRVINE — Elected city officials are showing mixed reactions to Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s proposal to put a temporary homeless shelter on county-owned land just south of the Orange County Great Park.

“Clearly this is a shot in the dark, without any plan, by Supervisor Nelson to stick it to the residents of this city without getting the opinion of the council or residents,” Irvine Councilman Jeff Lalloway said in response to Nelson’s announcement at the May 9 board meeting.

Under Nelson’s proposal, the county would erect a large, temporary, 200-person, tent-like structure on county-owned land in Irvine, Huntington Beach and Santa Ana. He wants the first one to open within 30 days, but stressed that his purpose was to start a conversation.

“We need everybody to have an honest discussion,” Nelson said in a phone interview after the board meeting. “This is such an unpopular topic. … No one wants a homeless shelter in their community.”

In recent months, scores of homeless people and advocates have spoken at county board meetings, complaining that homeless people living along the Santa Ana River have no access to toilets, showers, clean water or a reliable food source.

Nelson said his short-term plan would not prevent the county from formulating long-term solutions and that he didn’t want to wait for a permanent fix before addressing the issue. He said his plan is by no means perfect and said he is open to better ideas.

“Having nothing seems to me a poor option,” Nelson said. “We have people on the street today. “Can we fix it? Yes, but we need the will to do it.”

Nelson wants to provide basic amenities such as beds and portable bathrooms and showers at each site. He said he approached the plan wanting something “similar to what you would see if there were an emergency today and the Red Cross had to set up facilities.”

Last month, Nelson directed staff to identify county land where it could open a shelter. One of the proposed sites is on 100 acres of county-owned land just south of the Great Park, along Marine Way. Nelson said the site was proposed because the land is flat and there are few neighbors.

The county last year released its plans to develop the land into apartments, hotels and retail — a proposal that has angered Irvine officials, who said it could congest roads and block Great Park development. Nelson said his proposal won’t affect the county’s development plans because the shelter’s temporary.

Irvine Councilwoman Melissa Fox said while Irvine may not be seeing the same homeless problem as other cities, it has a large number of people without stable housing, including many UC Irvine students. She said putting a homeless shelter is better use of the land than the county’s development plans.

The county allowed Irvine to annex the Great Park land in 2003, and as part of that deal, the county set aside the 100-acre site for itself for future development. The agreement states the county has “exclusive land use control” over the property and “shall be entitled to place any development” including but not limited to 15 government uses suggested in the document. An emergency shelter is one of the listed uses.

Councilwoman Christina Shea said the homeless problem must be addressed and a shelter may be a proper use for the county land. However, she and fellow council members said Nelson should have consulted the city before announcing his proposal.

“I’m totally willing to work with the county, but we’ve got to do this properly,” Shea said. “We weren’t even notified about it.”

Nelson said that’s “fair criticism” but added this is just a beginning of the process. County staff is expected to evaluate the Irvine and two other proposed sites and report to the board at its May 23 meeting. The project needs a board approval.

“It’s not like we’ve made a decision yet,” Nelson said. “We will discuss with the cities if we decide to move forward.”

Irvine officials said there are a lot of unanswered questions about Nelson’s proposal.

“This is just a proposal floated by one of the supervisors,” Mayor Don Wagner said. “I don’t think anybody wants to overreact to it. I don’t.”

Orange County opened its first two year-round shelters in the last year, including an emergency shelter at a former bus terminal in Santa Ana and a full-service shelter in Anaheim aimed at quickly finding people permanent housing.

A 2015 count found there were nearly 4,500 homeless people in the county. The figures for the county’s 2017 count have not yet been made public.

By Sean Sullivan and Robert Barnes

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, removed himself from consideration to be the next FBI director on Tuesday, becoming the latest high-profile possibility to bow out.

The second-ranking Republican senator announced his decision following two days of resistance from his own Republican colleagues to the idea of him filling the post.

“Now more than ever the country needs a well-credentialed, independent FBI director. I’ve informed the administration that I’m committed to helping them find such an individual, and that the best way I can serve is continuing to fight for a conservative agenda in the U.S. Senate,” Cornyn said in a statement.

Cornyn’s announcement came the day after Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., took himself out of the running. And the Texas senator released the statement not long after reports that Judge Merrick Garland, who some Republicans had touted for the job, is not interested.

Cornyn met with top Justice Department officials over the weekend about filling the job. Among those who did not want Cornyn to leave the Senate was Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. While Cornyn is well-liked on Capitol Hill, he is seen as a partisan whose confirmation hearing would have been expected to be highly contentious.

Cornyn is close to Attorney General Jeff Sessions from their days as colleagues in the upper chamber of Congress. One Republican familiar with Cornyn’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he felt obligated to consider the job because Sessions asked him to and out of a desire to restore stability at the the FBI and Justice Department.

McConnell said Tuesday that he told President Donald Trump that he ought to pick Garland, whose nomination to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans. But Garland has no interest in the job according to associates.

Still, the top Senate Republican leader said he remained “optimistic” that Trump would pick someone in the mold of Garland.

“That illustrates the kind of person I hope and expect will come next,” said McConnell. “Somebody deeply credentialed in criminal justice and criminal justice enforcement, completely apolitical, in line with the tradition of prior FBI directors.”

At least eight candidates, including Cornyn, interviewed for the position over the weekend.

The opening was created when Trump fired James Comey. Shifting explanations by Trump and his aides about why Comey was fired have prompted concerns by Democrats and some Republicans.

Comey had been leading an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election, including possible ties between Trump associates and Russian officials.

Democrats are expected to raise fierce concerns about any nominee seen as a partisan defender of Trump and Senate Republican leaders are hoping to avoid such a conflict.

Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, had been promoted for the job by some of the same Senate Republicans who blocked his nomination and refused to give him a Senate hearing.

He has declined to comment on the reports, but friends contacted reporters Tuesday morning to say speculation about Garland was groundless.

“He loves his job and is not interested in leaving the judiciary,” said one, who spoke on condition of not being named.

Some Democrats seethed that Republicans were promoting Garland for the FBI job after refusing to act on his Supreme Court nomination. They said sudden interest was a GOP strategy to open a seat on the circuit court for a Trump administration nominee. Federal judges have lifetime appointments.