Bill Campbell

Canyonites Gear Up for Legal Fight Over Board of Supervisors' Approval of 65 New Homes

Stymied in their efforts to get the Orange County Board of Supervisors to reject a 65-home project into the rural canyons just northwest of Cook's Corner, canyonites are turning to the last place they can think of to stop what they believe to be a forever quality-of-life-changing development:The cou ... More >>

[UPDATED with Board's Memories:] Chuck Smith--No, Not That Chuck Smith; We Mean the Former County Supervisor--Dies

See the update at the end of this post about county supervisors remembering Smith before adjourning today's Board meeting in his honor.ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 1, 2:18 P.M.: Charles V. "Chuck" Smith, who as an Orange County supervisor during the Weekly's toddler years became our face for good (advocating ... More >>

Wild Rivers Water Park Bubbles Back Up in Irvine

Tweens looking for a place to escape their parents, parents looking for a place to dump off their tweens and creepers who like ogling wet young things, rejoice: Wild Rivers returns to Irvine. But it won't be in the same place . . .

The Norbertine Code

Monks and canyon dwellers go mano a mano in Silverado Canyon

John Wayne Airport's Terminal C Opened Today; Flights To Mexico Expected By Next Summer

​Today, at 5 a.m., we went tri-terminal. That's right, John Wayne Airport's Terminal C finally opened up. Basically, there's now more parking spaces, check-in kiosks, security lanes, gates and, of course, Starbucks. Here's a map of the airport's add-ons.Yesterday there was an invite-only dedi ... More >>

Foothill-South Toll Road Foes Call Bullshit on TCA's Jobs Creation and Economic Stimulus Ploy

​Foes of the 241 Foothill-South toll road carving through San Clemente are calling bullshit on the Transportation Corridor Agency's latest ploy to win public support: propping up their unpopular project as a statewide job creator, economic stimulus and deficit buster.

William Denis Fitzgerald, Gadfly Suing Board of Supervisors for Limiting Speech, and His Weekly Past

​The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California has filed a federal lawsuit in Santa Ana against the Orange County Board of Supervisors on behalf of an Anaheim gadfly who periodically turns up in OC Weekly.Based on the struggles of William Denis Fitzgerald to speak at public me ... More >>

[UPDATED with More Details:] OC's Largest Municipal Solar Energy Efficiency Project Shines Today

​UPDATE, JULY 21, 8:47 A.M.: Though the ribbon-cutting unveiling the largest municipal solar energy efficiency project in Orange County is this morning, the city of Brea is already reaping savings that have exceeded expectations. For the month of June, there was a 65% reduction in electricity cost ... More >>

[UPDATED with Bond Fears:] Hours After County OK's $5.6 Billion Budget, State Says "Guaranteed" $48 Million May Not Come

​UPDATE, JUNE 29, 8:03 A.M.: Following up on yesterday's warning about the havoc to services--and possibly public health and safety--that will be caused by a state budget proposal that would withhold $48 million Orange County was counting on in its balanced, just-approved, $5.6 billion fiscal year ... More >>

[UPDATE: More Stupidity from Supes, and Silliness from Local Press] What Does the Orange County Board of Supervisors Have Against Spanish and Latinos?

Nelson: Still dumb when it comes to Mexis...​UPDATE: Okay, so Janet Nguyen is REALLY stupid--I mean, stupider than what we already knew. Unlike the other supervisors, she knows exactly what Latino Health Access is about--she received an award from them a couple of years ago, according to sources w ... More >>

Symposium Plugs in to Hybrid Automobile Future

​Hot on the tire tracks of announcements that Volvo is road testing its V60 Plug-in Hybrid, Volkswagen will soon have plug-in Golf and Jetta hybrids and Toyota will offer plug-in options for all Priuses by 2014 comes an all-day symposium in Irvine today dedicated to the hottest automobile market.C ... More >>

[UPDATED with Janet Nguyen M.I.A.:] Harvey Milk Day Idea Draws Crickets from OC Board of Supervisors

​UPDATE, MAY 10, 7:11 P.M.: Activists seeking an Orange County Board of Supervisors proclamation recognizing slain gay icon and San Francisco County Supervisor Harvey Milk's May 22 birthday received slightly more than the sound of crickets we predicted earlier today."It was great!" Linda May of th ... More >>

Todd Spitzer Versus Chuck DeVore for OC Supervisor?

DeVore​This is not a trick question: If almost all of our county's supervisors have been conservative Republicans dating back to the Paleozoic Era, what difference does it make which conservative Republican fills any one of the five board slots?I'm asking you, Chuck DeVore and Todd Spitzer. B ... More >>

It's Official: Chuck DeVore Running for Board of Supervisors

​The worst-kept secret in Orange County politics is finally out: Chuck DeVore has finally announced he's serious about replacing pedo-priest-protector fan Bill Campbell on the Board of Supervisors.DeVore announced it--where else?--on Twitter and will undoubtedly use the social-network platform (an ... More >>

[UPDATED] Orange County Wants Obamacare . . . for Disaster Aid

​UPDATED, JAN. 26, 5:49 P.M.: President Barack Obama agreed today that Orange County is a disaster. Ethically, morally, politically--it's like Mischa Barton's blank stare here, said . . .Check that: Obama today signed the paperwork that officially declared Orange County and several other Californ ... More >>

Report: OC Kids Fatter, More Likely to be a Hoodlum

Sup?​The number of Orange County children living below the poverty level is down and their test scores are up, but more are living in obesity, illegally consuming alcohol and narcotics, willing to join criminal street gangs and relying on government-sponsored free or reduced school lunch programs. ... More >>

Inaugural CleanTech OC Conference Should Have Been Better Attended

​If attendees took anything other than swag away from the inaugural CleanTech OC Conference & Expo in Irvine Monday, it was this: the green revolution is back, baby. After a red hot 2008, the clean technology industry was battered for a spell by the recession, but banks are back to lending, ve ... More >>

Mark Wayne Hewlett, Drunk Off-Duty Deputy Who Crashed Into Supervisor Bill Campbell's Planter, Avoids Jail Sentence

​We told you in March about the DUI charge brought against Orange County sheriff's deputy Mark Wayne Hewlett, who got drunk while off duty, lost control of his personal vehicle and crashed into a planter in the front yard of Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell's Villa Park home. ... More >>

Notorious Pedo-Priest Protector Apologist Matt Cunnigham Billed County for Work with OC Diocese

Hewitt: Does he check county contracts for ways to shower money toward his pals?​For the past couple of weeks, the Friends for Fullerton's Future blog has been documenting with devastating effectiveness how Matt Cunningham--founder of OC Blog, longtime Republican activist, a supposed lover of smal ... More >>

Kevin Noel Schlueter and Mark Wayne Hewlett, Both Cops, Face Jail for DUIs

​Anaheim police officer Kevin Noel Schlueter was charged today with driving under the influence of drugs after crashing into four parked cars. It's the 37-year-old Costa Mesa resident's third DUI, and not to be confused with the DUI charge brought against Orange County sheriff's deputy Mark Wayn ... More >>

John Campbell: Too Whimsical to be Tom Campbell

What do you think, ladies? Is John (left) "better looking" than Tom?​ We've written before about how Congressman John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) is an excellent blogger and all-around avuncular guy, what with his a strange tendency towards faux-folksy exuberance when raving about great President ... More >>

Arpaio Raises Howls Inside, Heckles Outside Bill Hunt for Sheriff Dinner

​I went to a Bill Hunt for Sheriff fund-raiser tonight, and a Joe Arpaio Dinner Show broke out.

OCTA Committee Recommends Slightly Less Painful Bus Cuts--For Now

WikicommonsBye bye buses.​County Supervisor Patricia Bates may have said it best today: "You can't send these people off a cliff, in a bus."The remark came amidst some low-heat sparring between her and Tustin Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Amante at this morning's meeting of the OCTA Finance and Administrati ... More >>

UPDATED: The Irvine Co. Gift That Keeps on Giving

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS FROM THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING . . . Photo by Keith MayCounty Supervisor Bill Campbell, whose district includes the Irvine Co. land in question, is amused by a speaker at Tuesday's board meeting in Santa Ana.​He's got a gift. Donald Bren, the secretive, aging multi-billi ... More >>

Embattled County Planning Director Announces Retirement

Bryan Speegle, director of Orange County Public Works and head of a planning department that was recently lambasted in a government audit and blasted by county supervisors, has announced his retirement, according to a statement from the county CEO's office."County Executive Officer Thomas G. Mauk ha ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

John Urell Gets Punked!!!

John Urell, pastor to the powerful (see: Supervisor Bill Campbell, blog king Matt "Jubal" Cunningham), pedo-priest protector supreme, was the victim of a brilliant prank this past Sunday at St. Timothy in Laguna Niguel. Someone created the flyer above, which details at length Urell's role in the Dio ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 14: Weekend and Monday B.S.

Orange County Register: Octo-Mom took spawn from her oldest litters to Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday and Disneyland the day before, and all she got were crummy t-shirts reading: "More kids have passed through my log fume than Knott's" and "Your Kaiser co-pays help ... More >>

A Pedo-Apolgist's Best Pal: OC Supervisor Bill Campbell

So it turns out icky Monsignor Lawrence Baird won't give the invocation at the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting today after all as originally planned; Baird now says he has to give Mass at St. John Vianney Chapel on Balboa Island at 9:30 a.m., and isn't that as bullshit an excuse as you'll ... More >>

Board of Supes Invite Pedo-Priest Apologist To Give Invocation This Monday**

What is it with the Orange County Board of Supervisors and their love of pedophile apologists? In 2006, Third District Supe Bill Campbell tried placing Monsignor John Urell, the right-hand man of Diocese of Orange bishops for a good decade of their sex-abuse scandal, on the county's human relations ... More >>

Say You Will Build It, and They Will Come . . . If the 'It' Is a Toll Road Over Trestles Parkland

The Circus Outside the Toll Road Circus Inside

Photo by Christopher Victorio Passing through the Del Mar Fairgrounds gates bound for the toll-road hearing inside O’Brien Hall Monday morning, you were first re-directed to a party scene created by 241 opponents. At any time during the 10-hour marathon inside, dozens and dozens of people filled ... More >>

And The Sheriff is. . .

Sandra Hutchens! The Orange County Board of Supervisors earlier this morning appointed the retired LA County Sheriff's Department division chief to replace Mike Carona as Orange County Sheriff. The vote was 3-2 in favor of Hutchens. Supervisors Chris Norby and Bill Campbell supported Santa Ana P ... More >>

Schroeder Law Enforcement Empire At Stake Today

Mike Schroeder will jump out of bed this morning in Corona del Mar, neatly hang his Darth Vader pajamas in the closet, shower, kneel at his USC football altar and don an expensive, natty suit befitting Orange County’s leading Republican strategist-slash-chiropractic insurance company king. It’ ... More >>

Civilian Review of Sheriff Passes 5-0

Steven Greenhut at the Register's Orange Punch Liberty Blog attended today's Board of Supervisors meeting and reports that Sheriff Mike Carona lost his bid to kill the concept of a civilian review panel. Thanks to a surprising last-minute switch by Supervisor Bill Campbell, the vote was 5-0, accor ... More >>

Hassle-free Bankrolling

Public board lavishes OC GOP sugar daddy with $61,000 per month

The Wretched of the Wretches

Will OC see the ultimate Catholic pedophile bare all in Deliver Us From Evil?

Bates: Fishy

If only it were a smile contest... I thought the Transportation Corridor Agencies were getting desperate when I saw their ads on cable. But now it looks like they're going so far as to cobble together campaign mailers for supporters. I say this because Pat Bate's latest mailer, which uses TCA endor ... More >>

Bill Campbell Hates the (Surfin') USA

Today I listened to a State Senate Budget Subcommittee meeting on Transportation. Slightly more fun a C.I.A. interrogation. But as long as the TCA keeps trying to build a time/money-wasting toll road that might not even relieve traffic, when they haven't even done ANY studies on weekend traffic beca ... More >>

Supervise the Supervisors-Stop the Toll Road

On Feb. 28, the OC Board of Supervisors will consider adopting a resolution to support the Transportation Corridor Agencies' Foothill-South (241) extension. The motion was put forth by Supervisor Bill Campbell at the Board's Feb. 7 meeting (item 32 on the agenda). No doubt this is meant to trump the ... More >>

The Times They Are A-Changin . . . Back!

The GOP gets funky, by which of course we mean they smell

Where Have All the Blowhards Gone?

An Iraq invasion retrospective!

What a Rush!

A Commie in the Limbaugh Club

Stonewall Rackauckas

Judge orders DA to end secrecy over $5 million consulting deal

Good Luck on Your War

Supes take bold stand, slash programs for the poor, back war on Iraq

Diary of a Mad County

Please Tear Up Our Journalist in Space Application

Earth Mover

Supervisor candidate Jim Potts wants to shake up county, dig tunnel under mountain

Diary of a Mad County

Taming the Beast

State lawmakers try to regulate the global Net