Janet Nguyen

Less Than a Year Since She Was Appointed Sheriff, Sandra Hutchens Has Made Some Powerful Enemies

"This is America, Not Vietnam" and Other Pearls of Wisdom from Westminster's Idiot Mayor

Dunno what they put in the boba in Garden Grove and Westminster, but something's gotta explain why its geriatric gabacho elected officials say the darndest things about Vietnamese. In September, GG councilmember Harry Krebs had to apologize after telling councilwoman Janet Nguyen he couldn't explain ... More >>

Another Nguyen, Another Problem

The campaign of an OC Republican candidate named Nguyen has been caught distributing a clumsy bit of fraud. No, this is not another Tan Nguyen and the "Immigrants Can't Vote Letter" post. From this morning's Times: The campaign of an Orange County supervisorial candidate, whose slogan is "Honesty, ... More >>

Nguyen Wins

Garden Grove city councilmember Janet Nguyen is seems the winner of yesterday's special election in the Board of Supervisor's First District. The vote count currently on the Registrar of Voters website gives Nguyen a 52 vote margin of victory over second place finisher Trung Nguyen. The big story ... More >>

Going, Going, Gone to Court

The question of which Nguyen won is about to be answered. Or maybe not. The Los Angeles Times reports that OC Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley has finished the recount of the February 6 special election, and determined that Janet Nguyen is the winner. Republican Nguyen's margin of victory over Rep ... More >>

Update-a-palooza

A variety of stories lurching forward this morning… It looks like the most special of all special elections is finally over, and Janet Nguyen is the new First District Supervisor, winning by a total of 3 votes.   Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner rejected Trung Nguyen's claim th ... More >>

So much for fiscal conservatism . . .

Christian Berthelsen at the Times is calling it "Extreme Makeover: Orange County Government Edition." In his Sunday article, he details the $1.1 million tab four OC officials ran while renovating their offices. Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach bought an $8,990 desk for the reception foyer of ... More >>

Wednesday's Headlines & Surprises

Build It & Hope They Come: The Register reports that Irvine has approved a 5-mile, $280 million street car/bus plan that will link the future Great Park to the Irvine Spectrum and a train station by 2012. City officials, untrustworthy in the past, claim that each day 5,000 people will abandon their ... More >>

Dude, Here's Your Pot!

The all-Republican Orange County Supervisors voted 4-1 today in favor of allowing county residents who suffer from a variety of ailments to smoke and possess medical marijuana without being harassed by cops. And yes, OC cops do harass medical cannabis smokers, folks: You read it here first in "Dude, ... More >>

Thursday's Headlines & Surprises: Darth Vader Chases Janet Nguyen

The all-Republican Orange County Supervisors voted 4-1 today in favor of allowing county residents who suffer from a variety of ailments to smoke and possess medical marijuana without being harassed by cops. And yes, OC cops do harass medical cannabis smokers, folks: You read it here first in "Dude, ... More >>

Janet Nguyen Begins Campaigning Early, Litters the 22 Freeway

In a couple of months, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen will seek reelection in the First Supervisorial District. The race will be brutal, as Nguyen will have to fend off Trung "Don't Call me Tan" Nguyen (whom she beat earlier this year in a special election by a scant three votes) and whomever ... More >>

Wednesday's Headlines & Surprises: OCSD's Bubbling Cesspool

L Word? The board of supervisors is exploring whether indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona can legally name his temporary replacement while he takes the next two months off (with full pay!) to fight “baseless” charges by the FBI. Jo Ann Galisky, 47, played Al Haig yesterday. She told told reporte ... More >>

Tuesday's Headlines. No Surprises: More war money for Costa Mesa

Janet Nguyen to pay up: OC's newest supervisor recently admitted to collecting funds above the legal limit in the last election and trying to avoid disclosing them. Nguyen has agreed to pay $5,000 to settle state and county investigations into a legal-defense fun she improperly set up (and made $12 ... 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 >>

Nguyen vs. Nguyen: Janet Wins!

Ok, so the timing sort of sucks for us, since we'd have liked to include the information in our story, but it's good news for Janet Nguyen: the California Court of Appeals ruled today, the same day our cover story hit the streets, that Janet did win her election, and therefore does get to stay in of ... More >>

Ex-Sheriff's Dept. Officials Create Bold, New Firm!

Over at the Orange County Register, ace reporter Peggy Lowe writes tonight on Orange County Sheriff's Department blog news that two of indicted ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's Yes Folks (YF) quit today: assistant sheriffs Jo Ann Galisky and Steve Bishop. Somehow the third and final major YFer embarrassme ... More >>

(Sheriff) Jack in the Box

If ever a man looked like a sheriff, it’s Jack Anderson. The mustachioed man is tall and husky and, if he wore a cowboy hat, would cast an impressive shadow sitting on a horse. Of course, the wild—ridiculously wild—west days at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) should be over. E ... More >>

Hoa Van Tran on Immigration

Yesterday, I stumbled (literally: a Bloody Mary, bottle of soju from Ami Sushi, and a double Makers Mark were in my bloodstream) upon the Orange County Young Democrat mixer at Jason's Downtown in SanTana. The keynote speaker was Hoa Van Tran, the one Democrat running in the First Supervisorial Distr ... More >>

Another Win for Nguyen

Despite facing numerous lawsuits and an incredibly nasty public relations campaign by her Republican opponents in the past several months, Janet Nguyen sailed through yesterday's election to seal her supervisorial seat. Nguyen easily beat Westminster city councilwoman Dina Nguyen and Hoa Tran, a rar ... 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 >>

OC Fundie Funder Gives Money to Wacky Reeps, Homo-Haters--And Lou Correa?!

The most influential Orange County man you've never heard of is undoubtedly Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr., heir to the Home Savings (remember that bank?) fortune. He rarely makes public appearances due to suffering from Tourette's Syndrome, but that hasn't stopped him from giving millions of dollars away ... More >>

Supervisor Janet Nguyen's Ties To Vermin Happy Restaurants

Something seemed fishy yesterday when the County Board of Supervisors voted to reject health department and grand jury recommendations for more user-friendly signs displayed in restaurant windows to warn the public of potential health safety violations (the board had already rejected the supremely h ... More >>

Why is Dina Nguyen Ashamed of Her Birthplace?

Went to a celebration last Friday in honor of LULAC's 80th anniversary at the Garden Grove Community Room next to their City Council chamber, and I grabbed a flier with pictures and short bios of councilmembers along with phone numbers for the city's various representatives. It was hilariously outda ... More >>

See the "Supe Snoop" Footage for Yourself

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

Democratic Candidate Paul Lucas Says He's Still in Trouble for Playing Footsie With Republicans

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Don Bren Plays Rough With Businesswoman, His Kids-But Courts Play Rough, Too

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] What Tied the Tongue of Mike Schroeder, Janet Nguyen's Biggest Nemesis?

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

Letters from OC Weekly readers

Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of coun ... More >>

Letters

'He will have had a greater positive impact in people's lives than some judgmental, morally superior journalist who can only throw barbs to build himself up at the expense of one who has passed away'

Letters

'Sometimes, when I am stressed, I go and stand on the shoulder of a toll road and smell the fumes—I mean, fresh air'

Dammit, Janet!

Why do Supervisor Janet Nguyen's former supporters in OC's Republican power structure hate her so much?

Red Scare in Little Saigon

Le Vu's Viet Weekly newspaper endures OC's latest anti-communist witch-hunt

Diary of a Mad County

Feb. 7-Feb. 13

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Death by hog

[Moxley Confidential] Sandra Hutchens' Party Poop

Death by hog

Losers Again

Communists, Bush defeat Little Saigon in human rights war

Little Big Saigon

The DAs outreach has done more to embitter Vietnamese civic leaders than seduce them

Orange County Sheriff Was A Democrat

Sandra Hutchens, Orange County's Republican sheriff, registered as a Democrat for as long as a decade in both Los Angeles and OC, according to records reviewed by the Weekly.In an interview for a March profile, Hutchens told me she is a Republican; holds conservative views, particularly on fiscal ma ... More >>

Passings: Shirley Muckenthaler, Harriet Wieder

TheMuck.orgShirley Zoeter Muckenthaler​Two women strongly tied to Orange County history have passed away.Shirley Zoeter Muckenthaler, whose husband's family built the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton and who was involved in charitable work in her own right, died at her home Jan. 3 after a ... More >>

Each Orange Countian Challenged to Reduce Waste By 10 Percent

​Picture enough garbage to fill up the entire Rose Bowl, once every 45 days, and you'll have an idea how much trash Orange Countians generate daily. Today, the county Board of Supervisors and OC Waste & Recycling challenged the 3 million people here to reduce by 10 percent the up to 15 million ... More >>

College District Board's Battle Cry: Send Lawyers, Hired Guns and Money

​The South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) board votes tonight on whether to pay a private lawyer $25,000 in taxpayer funds for helping negotiate what the district calls the "Mathur settlement." Why the district must settle anything with Raghu Mathur, who in January was fired/did ... More >>

Grand Jury Lauds County Departments for Eco-friendly Practices

​The Orange County Grand Jury in the past has issued reports critical of projects intended to improve our environment, including light rail, cleaning up Aliso Creek and, most recently, the Orange County Great Park.Today, the grand jury issued a report titled "Orange County Goes Green" that lauds t ... More >>

Van Tran Accuses Loretta Sanchez of Trying to Start "Race War," But What About His Anti-Mexican/Anti-Gay Warriors?

Tran: A bit of a RAHOWA man himself...​To quote George Takei, "Oh my." Our little story about Loretta Sanchez railing against "Vietnamese" trying to take her congressional seat away from her and the Democrats has gone national, making the pages of the New York Times (with a proper citation for us ... More >>

Five Things the National Media Should Note About Van Tran in their Parachute Profiles of the Sanchez-Tran Congressional Race

​The national media is starting to send its reporters to our sordid little burb, specifically the 47th Congressional District, where incumbent Loretta Sanchez is facing her first true challenger ever in State Assemblymember Van Tran. Politico did an okay job; the Los Angeles Times published a r ... More >>

Sunday News Notes

Happy 10-10-10 to you.​Weekend news highlights from various media sources include:Fred Phelps thinks he knows whyYou can thank UC Irvine researchers for this good news: The future "Big One" earthquake along the San Andreas fault will be much worse and much sooner than previously expected, accordin ... 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 >>

[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 >>

Pundits Already Saying New Redistricting Will Hurt Loretta Sanchez--HA!

Sanchez: Always ready for battle​Man, it's always a hoot reading the premature obituaries written about Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Took Two Dead Girls to Make Her Sponsor the DREAM Act) over the past 15 years, and the latest batch is already starting today with the release of draft maps show ... More >>

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 >>