Orange County

Life After Bankruptcy: What role will the business community play in Orange County once the government emerges from its bankruptcy next June? A panel of county business leaders is scheduled to wrestle with that issue Thursday at a gathering in Irvine sponsored by the National Assn. of Industrial and Office Properties. The key to the county’s recovery is a $500-million bond issue the county plans to sell next spring to pay back vendors and bondholders stiffed after a loss of nearly $1.7 billion in risky investments forced the county to file bankruptcy last December. On hand for the discussion will be Tim Cooley, president of the economic development group Partnership 2010; Gary Hunt, executive vice president of Irvine Co., and William J. Popejoy, former chief executive of Orange County. The program begins at 7:15 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, 17900 Jamboree Blvd.