American Express Company

Chef Amar Santana Receives Threats After His Cell Number Was Posted Online By Anti-Foie Gras Activists

"Are you the foie gras motherfucker?" Amar Santana received this greeting last week when he answered his cell phone. The caller hung up immediately after. The owner and chef of Broadway By Amar Santana in Laguna Beach had been getting a string of calls from blocked numbers, yet no one left a voi ... More >>

Armenian Hoodlum Involved In Massive LA-OC Identity Theft Ring Gets Prison

A 26-year-old Armenian man living in Southern California and deemed an "illegal alien" by federal officials participated in a massive, Burbank-based, $7 million identity theft ring operating for six years in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. But Hovhannes Dilboyan hoped that his role ... More >>

Do Mexicans Hate Cubans?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And are all gabachos Mexican-haters?

Christopher John Aragon Gets 25 Years for Leading Sophisticated Credit Card Crime Ring

Christopher John Aragon, who pleaded guilty in March to leading a crime ring that stole thousands of personal identities for counterfeit credit cards used to buy high-end goods that were re-sold online, has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison. The Capistrano Beach 52-year-old is the final of ... More >>

Barnes and Noble Loses Huge Motion in Federal False Advertising Lawsuit

A federal judge in Orange County ruled today against bookselling giant Barnes and Noble in its efforts to force a false advertising lawsuit plaintiff from the public courthouse and into private arbitration.In a 10-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Josephine Staton Tucker sided with Kevin Khoa ... More >>

Kinde Durkee, Near Plea Deal for Ripping Off Democratic Politicians, Makes a Love Match

​Before we get to the news about Kinde Durkee's possible plea deal, may we point out that, based on their respective booking photos, we believe we have found a love match between the disgraced former Democratic campaign treasurer and a certain disgraced former city official who called Huntington B ... More >>

Christopher John Aragon Guilty of Leading Crime Ring That Stole I.D.'s, Made Fake Credit Cards and Bought Goods Resold on Web

​Way back in January 2010, then-Weekling Spencer Kornhaber shared a video where a Newport Beach Police detective displayed the machinery hacker Christopher John Aragon used to forge credit cards based on real names and account numbers stolen off the interwebs. Aragon, 51, of Capistrano Beach, ple ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sports Agent's Reaction:] Leigh Steinberg, Who Inspired Jerry Maguire, Accused of Being a Deadbeat

​UPDATE, DEC. 22, 5 P.M.: One-time super-sports agent Leigh Steinberg of Newport Beach has reacted to the bench warrant imposed on him by an Orange County court commissioner, calling the whole thing the result of a mix-up. The 62-year-old tells the Associated Press that he was under the mistaken i ... More >>

Devon Lynn Kile, Real Housewives Wannabe, Won't Be Trading Pradas for Prison Garb

​When Laguna Hills roofing contractor Michael Vincent Petronella was convicted for one of the largest known frauds of its kind in California history, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas famously said, "Cheaters who defraud the system will be trading in their Pradas for prison garb." Su ... More >>

OC Restaurant Recommendations for American Express' Small Business Saturday

​Most of you are probably waiting anxiously for Black Friday deals; but me, I'm looking forward to this Saturday, which is the day American Express will credit $25 back to me if I patronize a small business and spend $25 or more with my American Express Card. To get the details, click here. You do ... More >>

James Harry Fluch Accused of Embezzling $822,000 From Buddy's Business to Fund Lavish Lifestyle

​A former Rancho Santa Margarita accounting consultant is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana today for allegedly embezzling $822,000 from a longtime friend's company, using the ill-gotten money to pay off seven credit cards that racked up charges for gasoline, bar tabs, restaurant bills, cable ... More >>

American Express Pulls Plug on Marijuana Purchases

​If you're in the habit of using your American Express card to purchase marijuana from your local dispensary, you might want to break out that Visa or remember to bring some cash in your pocket. That's because, according to an email that began circling among dispensaries and medical marijuana acti ... More >>

Calling All Gleeks! Glee Performing Live in OC

​​It's the most talked-about show in America right now. Although the show is a bit corny, we can't help but love it. But what's cooler than watching it on TV is seeing Glee live. The Gleek crew is heading to the Honda Center on May 27 to perform some of the shows more memorable numbers.&nbs ... More >>

A Year of Navel Gazing: The Virtual Orange County

Looking back at 2010 on our news blog, one Top 10 List at a time

John Legend and the Roots Cover Arcade Fire

​According to Pitchfork, you can now buy the John Legend and the Roots cover of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" on Amazon. It's selling for $1.99 today only, or you can listen to the stream below. The cover is an outtake from Wake Up!, a set of classic soul covers that the two acts collaborated on. The a ... More >>

Michael Vincent Petronella, Laguna Hills Roofer Who Lived Like a King, to Do a Dime for Massive Workers' Comp Insurance Fraud

​When Laguna Hills roofing contractor Michael Vincent Petronella and his wife Devon Lynn Kile were arrested in one of the largest known Workers' Compensation Insurance fraud cases in state history, they owned five properties in California and Texas and multiple luxury vehicles including a Bentley ... More >>

Chase Johnson of MTV's Laguna Beach Has His Suit Tossed Over $43,000 Bar Tab

​A judge tossed out a lawsuit brought by Chase Johnson, a former Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County cast member who claimed he should not have to pay the $43,000 bar tab he racked up at a Hollywood nightclub because the establishment knew he was only 20 at the time.The club, My House, last mont ... More >>

[UPDATED] Weezer Announces Blue/Pinkerton Dates--With an LA Stop

​Dates for Weezer's Memories Tour--around which the band will play both the eponymously-named yet literally-termed "Blue Album" from 1994 and the cult favorite Pinkerton--have just been announced.The band will play two nights in every city, with some "greatest hits" thrown in on both nights.There' ... More >>

Tyrica Jenice Goff, Ringleader in American Express Fraud Case, Gets Stiffest Sentence

​The ringleader of the American Express travelers' checks fraud scheme--which ripped off more than $650,000 from T.J. Maxx, T.J. Maxx HomeGoods and Marshalls stores in Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino counties--was sentenced today to seven years in state prison.We tol ... More >>

Ronnie's Kids

Today, 'amnesty' is a dirty word. So what happened to the immigrants given a fresh start by Reagan in 1986?

Tyrone Donte Gray and Girlfriend Tyrica Jenice Goff Convicted in $650,000 American Express Travelers Check Scheme

​We told you here about six people--including a boyfriend and girlfriend and mother and daughter--charged in February with stealing more than $650,000 from T.J. Maxx, T.J. Maxx HomeGoods and Marshalls stores in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties by using hundreds ... More >>

Haitian Charity From a Convicted Cheat

Suzie Graf might have a criminal record, but those PODS full of donations she solicited are on their way to Haiti

6 Charged in $650,000 American Express Travelers Check Fraud

​Six people--including a boyfriend and girlfriend and mother and daughter--were charged today with stealing more than $650,000 from retail stores by using hundreds of forged American Express travelers' checks. Between December 2008 and this month, Tyrone Donte Gray, 33, and his girlfriend Tyrica J ... More >>

Michael Vincent Petronella and Wife to Be Trading "Their Pradas for Prison Garb"

​A Laguna Hills roofing contractor was convicted today of lavishly spending illegal profits on luxury goods by cheating the Workers' Compensation Insurance system in what the Orange County District Attorney's office called one of the largest known fraud cases of its kind in California history.At t ... More >>

Weather or Not

Andrea Polli fights a tornado with a peach tree switch

Just Another Wedding Expo

Gay and lesbian event trudges on, politics be damned

A Brief History of the T-Shirt

Fast Forward

Triumph of Mediocrity

A Shore Once Far

How things were, and why they are the way they are

Happy Accidents

Chen Yen keeps tradition tasty at Cafe Calypso

Kissinger to the rescue

Keep Your Trap Shut

Traveling through the new Vietnam

Bad Hair Day

Richer Than Rockefeller

Argyros tells feds hes a billionaire

A Guide to our Advertisers

Cocaine Decision

Hapi Accident

Each meal at Hapi Sushi is a delightful exploration of the unknown

A Guide to our Advertisers

A guide to our Advertisers

Let the Bastards Burn!

Wait a minute: Thats us in Birks war between the Californias

Selling Out

Its a witness and a hoot

Live Like a God!

How Supervisor Bill Steiner used a phantom political campaign to fund his lavish lifestyle