Brandon Ferguson

Coastal Commission Raised Questions of Poseidon Honesty Years Ago

Poseidon Resources Inc., the company hoping to build a $1 billion desalination plant on Huntington Beach Shores, left out vital information when applying for a permit for its Carlsbad facility in 2007. That's according to California Coastal Commission (CCC) documents obtained by the Weekly which say ... More >>

Huntington Beach City Councilmembers Move to Oppose Poseidon Desalination Project

Things got chilly in the council chamber at Huntington Beach City Hall last night following passionate public debate over the proposed construction of a $1 billion desalination facility to be built by Poseidon Resources Inc. on Surf City's shores.The debate ended with a 4-3 vote in favor of councilm ... More >>

The Five Must-See Shows in OC This Weekend

Friday, May 3 Basscon The Yost Theater Friday night's alright for partying down, so make your way over to Santa Ana's historic Yost Theater for Basscon tonight. The Yost has been putting out great EDM and trance music nights for a while now, but Basscon looks like its going to be an intense night o ... More >>

The Five Must-See Shows in OC This Weekend

Friday, April 26 DJ Shadow The Observatory Boasting one of the most extensive vinyl record collections ever--at a whopping 60,000 LPs--DJ Shadow's range is overwhelmingly impressive and his influence well-known. The Davis, California native rose to the ranks of DJ notoriety with London-based recor ... More >>

Did OC Human Relations Breach an Anaheim Community's Trust During Last Summer's Unrest?

Anaheim's city manager has yet to propose a model for a civilian review board, a task the council unanimously directed him to do in January, but the very idea has already caused political tensions to arise from the police union. In his staff report, Bob Wigenroth strongly favored the possibilit ... More >>

A Hollywood Legend in a Santa Ana Boneyard!

There's nothing remarkable about the grave of Hollywood comedy writer Clyde Bruckman, who was buried in Santa Ana's Fairhaven Memorial Park and Mortuary. Far from the ornate angel statues and historic Civil War monuments in the adjacent county-run cemetery, Bruckman's plot is marked by a flat, faded ... More >>

Irvine Makes Sweeping Changes To Clean Up Struggling Great Park Operations

Irvine's first majority Republican city council meeting in more than a decade kicked off last night and the winds of change raged like a hurricane. With the five-member body focused on the Orange County Great Park, the new council voted for sweeping changes including a restructuring of the ... More >>

Federal Judge Okays More Anaheim Police Secrecy in Manual Diaz Civil Lawsuit

In a rapidly conducted hearing this afternoon, a federal judge in Orange County officially ruled that lawyers for the estate of Manual Diaz, an Anaheim man killed by police in 2011, are not yet entitled to inspect investigatory records while prosecutors consider whether to file charges against the o ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in OC This Week

Monday, January 31New Year's Eve With Kendrick LamarThe ObservatoryLike Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet, Kendrick Lamar's self-explanatorily titled Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is about children lost to overmedication. A casualty of first-world comfort, Lamar raps of being strung out on pharmaceu ... More >>

Navel Gazing's Project Un-uncensored

Looking back at 2012 news that was fit to blog but not to print . . . until now

The Five Best Concerts in OC This Week

Tuesday, Dec. 4Bruce Springsteen Honda Center Some rock 'n' roll shows simply fill a Tuesday night with enough noise to free the audience from the minutiae of the work week. The band sings a couple songs and flashes some strobe lights--whoopity doo. Then there are concerts that are spiritual, st ... More >>

'We Will Live to Fight Again'

Election Day dispatches from around the county

The Five Best Shows in O.C. This Week: Nov. 5-9

Monday, November 5Lindsey SterlingThe Observatory It's violin dubstep from a sci-fi-loving, eccentric little 26-year old with a knack for interpretive dance. This is Lindsey Stirling and she was born right here in OC. Her sound is a surprisingly unconventional collaboration of styles and genres--b ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in OC This Weekend: Adam Ant, Frightenend Rabbit

Friday, October, 19 Crocodiles, The Soft Pack The Glass House Two new bands--"new" as in they post-date the Feelies and the Psychedelic Furs, respectively, even if they've both been around for a couple years--with two new albums on which they make some perfect new choices and deliver us some ... More >>

The Best Five Shows in OC This Week: Big Business, Major Lazer

Monday, October 15Big BusinessAlex's BarFor those not familiar with the genre Sludge Metal, meet Big Business. Hailing from Seattle and signed to Gold Metal Records, they traffic in crunchy, chugging jams with wonky, drop-tuned strings. Reminiscent of instrumental metal band Pelican, Big Business fe ... More >>

Space Gallery to Feature Work of Iconic Punk Rock Photographer Roberta Bayley

Beginning this weekend through November 3, the Space Gallery (in its inaugural showing), will feature the photographic work of Roberta Bayley, former door girl at famed punk club CBGBs. Bayley's unconventional career path granted her insider access to one of Rock 'n' Roll's most fascinating eras.&nb ... More >>

Phil Aguilar, Set Free Soldiers, To Hold Car Wash For Cop Shooting Victim Manuel Diaz

A carwash will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. on Anna Street near the site where 25-year-old Manuel Diaz was shot by Anaheim police officers. Proceeds from the event will go toward paying for the costs associated with his funeral."Everybody's welcome," said Pastor Phil Aguilar. "We're going to help the ... More >>

The Delorean's Orange County Roots

Back when a 56 year-old entrepreneur named John Z. Delorean first introduced drivers to his avian-emulating automotive creation, the world was a different place. The year was 1981 and Coke was it. In the absence of YouTube and reality television, primitive audiences were thrilled by MTV and the soun ... More >>

Jeremy Popoff FINALLY Admits Slidebar's Role in Call to Police That Led to Kelly Thomas Killing

After months of denials and ridiculing the OC Weekly and others, Slidebar owner Jeremy Popoff finally admitted on KFI's John and Ken Show that one of his employees did, in fact, call police the night Kelly Thomas was brutally beaten by six Fullerton Police officers to death.Good job, Jeremy!

Lawsuit: Fullerton Bar Manager Enticed Police with a Lie Before Officers Beat Kelly Thomas to Death

A fired security guard at the Slidebar Rock-N-Roll Kitchen in Fullerton has filed a lawsuit accusing Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff, an owner of the establishment, with enticing police to harass Kelly Thomas on the day officers savagely beat the homeless, schizophrenic man to death in July 2011, and th ... More >>

Mysteries of Fullerton: Tony Bushala and the Schumacher Building

​It was sometime in the mid 1980s, when the family of local blogger (and scourge of three-fifths of Fullerton's city council) Tony Bushala acquired a unique piece of property near the Fullerton train station. A 375-square-foot building at the rear of the lot was used by the previous owners as a ba ... More >>

What Explains Odd Conduct of LA Sheriffs in the Death of Cal State Fullerton Student?

​We'll probably never know why homicide investigators with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department acted oddly in the recovery of the skeletal remains of 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton student Mitrice Richardson in Malibu Canyon.The August 2010 decision by sheriff's investigators to move Richardson' ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Will Occupy OC Rifts Destroy the Anti-Corporate Greed Protests?

​Despite a reputation for raucousness, some 40 Occupy Orange County members gathered quietly outside of Fullerton city hall last night to discuss the future of the local movement after Wednesday's dismantling of Irvine's three-month protest.While two Occupy leaders outlined negotiations with Fulle ... More >>

What We Learned

The Year on Navel Gazing and Beyond!

Marisa Gerber, Chingona Cub Reporter, Leaving the Weekly to Go Back Home :-(

Off to better places you go, kid...​For the past three years, the Weekly has given kiddies straight out of college an opportunity to do a six-month stint with us at a reporter's salary. Our first person was Spencer Kornhaber, who wrote THE definitive piece on Birfer queen Orly Taitz, was a staffer ... More >>

Fender Factory Opens to Public

[Mental Notes] Also: Latina theater group Breath of Fire goes gypsy

Kelly Thomas Memorial Concert and Food Drive Last Saturday

Brandon FergusonJulian Porte performing at Kelly Thomas Memorial Concert​Saturday's concert in memory of brutalized Fullerton homeless man Kelly Thomas saw a modest crowd of protesters, local residents and music fans gather in the Fullerton Downtown Plaza to listen to an eclectic mix of local band ... More >>

Katy Perry and More Showgazing

[Mental Notes] Highlights from the U.S. Open of Surfing with Jimmy Eat World, plus the Yost's reopening with Unwritten Law

Bob Dylan's Words Blowin' In the Wind

[Mental Notes] Plus, the verdict on Rebecca Black's new single is out

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Sheila E., Still Hot

[Mental Notes] Plus, Avenged Sevenfold's the Rev portrayed by a local 13-year-old drummer

Foo Fighters at Fingerprints!

[Mental Notes] Record Store Day, Andrew W.K. and Honeypie at Detroit Bar

Bob Dylan Opens OC Fair

[Mental Notes] Also: The winners of two OCMA awards, Amateur Chemist is on hiatus

An Interview with Aquabats Singer The MC Bat Commander

​After a five-year hiatus, the perennially goofy Orange County ska-punk band the Aquabats will be releasing a new album. Unless you've been living under a rock in the interim, you know lead singer MC Bat Commander (aka Christian Jacobs) has been busy creating, writing and directing the hugely succ ... More >>

Lynsie Ekelund Remembered at Moving Service

​Almost two months after  Los Angeles County Coroner's officials removed the bones of missing Fullerton College student Lynsie Ekelund from a shallow grave in Santa Clarita, a memorial service was held today for the 20-year-old Placentia woman. Ekelund left her mother's Placentia home on ... More >>

Tom Morello Rages Against Disney

[Mental Notes] Also, two decidedly different takes on ALO's visit to Long Beach

Letters From OC Weekly Readers