Larry Agran

TheLiberalOC: Allan Bartlett, Ron Paul Fan, Will Get Irvine Finance Commission Appointment

Veteran Orange County Republican activist Allan Bartlett, an outspoken critic of Larry Agran's lefty, tainted political machine in Irvine, will be appointed to the city's finance commission, according to a report today by TheLiberalOC.com.Bartlett, a huge Ron Paul fan, has made no secret that he's b ... More >>

The Five Least-Deserving, Non-Incumbent Winners in Orange County Elections Last Night

SO...while a lot of good happened in Orange County politics last night, so did a lot of evil. Not just did a bunch of former councilmembers who have nothing else to do with their sorry lives except run for offices in which they were termed out years ago win last night (Lucille Kring in Anaheim, Mike ... More >>

Meet the Three 2012 Election Candidates Who'll Hate OC Weekly Forever Because We Helped to Defeat Their Asses

The nicest thing anyone ever wrote about your favorite infernal rag's news team was former Weekly writer Steve Lowery--oh, Lowery, how we miss you! Anyhoo, the occasion was the 2004 resignation of Huntington Beach Mayor Pam Houchen, after Nick Schou exposed her on a real-estate scheme that would lan ... More >>

5 Sets of 2012 Orange County Election Losers

Anyone else hope someone switches the seating cards at the next Orange County Mayors Breakfast so that Tri sits next to Tita? Tri Ta became Westminster's first Vietnamese-American mayor and, he claims, the first in the country to win a mayoral seat via the voters rather than appointment. Meanwhile, ... More >>

OC's Scariest People 2012!

Child molesters, Shaheen Sadeghi, serial killers, Dana Rohrabacher and so many more!

Irvine City Council is Scared of the Big Bad Vans Warped Tour

Just days before the Vans Warped Tour steamrolls into the Great Park, Irvine City Council members are jumping up to say "not in my backyard!"Following Tuesday's council meeting, it was reported that council members representing the safest city in America are having some serious objections ... More >>

[UPDATED with "Industry Winning":] San Onofre Nuclear Plant Reopening Pushed Back as 1,300 More Damaged Tubes Found

UPDATE, MAY 21, 5:23 P.M.: The energy director of a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group calls Gregory Jaczko's resignation as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "a terrifying example of industries trying to wreak havoc on those who regulate them-and winning.""Jaczko sou ... More >>

Irvine Forces City Contractors to Pay their Workers a Living Wage--Unless They're Mexican Crop Pickers

Agran (at right): Can he finally do something progressive after years of being a tool?​This summer, the city of Irvine and its apologists made much about its decision to force any contractors doing work for the city to pay its workers a living wage, that progressive wet dream in effect wherever fo ... More >>

Occupy Orange County Morale Still High and Gaining Supporters

Brandon Ferguson​This morning marked Occupy Orange County's first big event since Tuesday when the Irvine city council unanimously granted the group permission to camp 24/7 on the civic center lawn. The atmosphere was jubilant as nearly 100 activists, hoisting signs decrying corporate injustice, g ... More >>

Sukhee Kang to Run for Congress in 2012

Sukhee Kang​Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang announced today he's running in 2012 for what will likely be three-term Republican John Campbell's newly redrawn congressional district seat.Kang, obviously un-chilled by City Council colleague, former mayor and fellow Democrat Beth Krom's handy loss to Campbel ... More >>

Irvine Befuddled DA Tony Rackauckas on Perverts-in-the-Park Debate

Larry, Sukhee & Beth: The water's safe!​Having lost his push to get a defiant Irvine City Council to adopt his proposed ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from public parks, a befuddled Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas left Tuesday night's session and immediately thought ... More >>

[UPDATED with Split Response:] Rackauckas and Hutchens Support Ban on Sex Offenders in Irvine City Parks

Irvine council members Sukhee Kang, Beth Krom and Larry Agran​UPDATE, MAY 11, 9:54 A.M.: The proposal to ban sex offenders from Irvine city parks did not wow all council members Tuesday night. Mayor Sukhee Kang, Councilman Steven Choi and the councilman who brought the matter before the panel, Jef ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

A Night to Dismember the Democrats

Election 2010: Scenes from some of the few races where Dems didn't get tsunami'd

Sunday News Notes

​Highlights include:The Latest Grocery Store Scam KCBS Channel 2 in LA is promoting its Monday investigative look into an area grocery store that pretends to honor product coupons but actually credits the shopper $0.00. No word on the identity of the alleged offender. The report is scheduled to ... More >>

OC Conservation Voters Roll Out Endorsements

​The Orange County League of Conservation Voters, a PAC that supports "environmentally responsible candidates for non-partisan offices," has released its endorsements for 2010 city council races and the Coast Community College District.  And the recyclable canvas envelope, please . . .

Killer Quince

Happy Quinceañera to us! A look back at 15 years of telling the other side (that is, the real side) of OC's story

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Coming Up Next From the Christina Shea Echo Chamber: Contamination Under the Great Park

​Christina Shea is not termed out as an Irvine City Council member until November, but she has given her first exit interview.If you expected the longtime City Hall fixture--who served as mayor from 1996 to 2000--to leave quietly, you obviously haven't been paying attention. Indeed, Shea lets slip ... More >>

Agran Crony and Gore Campaigner Agrees to Guilty Pleas in Federal Wire Fraud Case

Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja, the 39-year-old money man for that town's "progressive" political boss Larry Agran and a former official with Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, agreed in court papers to plead guilty to two felony charges related to a scheme where he ripped off nearly all of the $ ... More >>

Park Place Owners Have a Rocky History in Irvine

Maguire had this office tower built at Park Place in 2006.​Maguire Properties' announcement today that it has sold its Park Place I office property in Irvine is just the latest twist for a massive campus that seems to have been dogged by controversy since the Los Angeles-based developer acqu ... More >>

Irvine Police Association Blasts Mayor Sukhee Kang, City Council Members Beth Krom and Larry Agran

Irvine Police Association has criticized Mayor Sukhee Kang (left) and City Council members Beth Krom and Larry Agran over stalled contract talks.​Anyone who has attended a city-run meeting in Irvine has heard elected officials, especially City Councilman and Orange County Great Park Corporation ch ... More >>

On Safest-City-In-America Irvine and Its Orwellian Reality

Like Gustavo's car, except much, much nicer...Larry Agran and his acolytes will undoubtedly crow about Irvine getting ranked for the fifth straight year as America's safest big city, and good for them! Irvine is a cool town, with lots of parks, great restaurants, and a multicultural community that s ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 22: Weekend and Monday Edition

Orange County Register: Robbins: The chance of dying in Orange County from a natural disaster is relatively low. This is based on a study Fox News cheerily lables "the death map." . . . Wisckol: A 59-year-old Aliso Viejo woman's description of kissing President Barack Obama on his cheek at ... More >>

Krom Makes Congressional Bid for Campbell Seat Official

Nine days after R. Scott Moxley, with an assist from TheLiberalOC.com, blogged that Irvine City Councilwoman Beth Krom was "putting the pieces together" to seek the 48th Congressional District seat occupied by Republican John Campbell, Krom made it official."On issues that matter to this district, t ... More >>

Will Obama's Stimulus Plan Help Make the OC Great Park a Reality?

Calling the action "momentous," the Great Park Corp. Board of Directors voted unanimously today to recommend the Irvine City Council adopt the Great Park Design Studio's Comprehensive Park Plan, the final planning piece required before the building phase can begin--as soon as March 20--on the ambiti ... More >>

Attorney Who Misspent Clients' $2.7 Million Was at Center of Irvine Election Controversies

The Register's Greg Hardesty has the scoop on 38-year-old Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja admitting to burning through nearly all of a $2.7-million settlement that was supposed to be shared by about 1,000 plaintiffs he represented in a class-action labor lawsuit.According to the story, Baweja played ... More >>

Navy, Water District Officials Swear Irvine's Drinking Water Now Safe

Irvine City Council members say they hear from residents convinced that unsafe levels of trichloroethelyne (TCE)--a volatile organic compound linked to cancer, other nasty illnesses and death--is in their drinking water. Those fears lead to media-fueled alarm, public confrontations and snarky blog p ... More >>

Plumbing the Depths of Irvine's Election

Dear Joe the Plumber, As you well know, you have unplugged many a drain at Casa de Coker over the years and sooner or later you'll be handling that bathroom remodel we talked about years ago. But first, I have a favor. I have started a petition drive where signees will let my bosses know what a goo ... More >>

Irvine Candidate Forum: Mostly Civil, Some Fireworks

Irvine is either a city where the sun does nothing but shine, the streets are lined with gold and bad stuff never ever ever ever ever ever ever happens, or it's a swirling cesspool of cronyism, backroom deals and looming Muslim threats. That was the message voters were given as a busload of people r ... More >>

Irvine Candidate Forum, Part 2

The mayoral candidates are covered in the previous post. Here are the council candidates: Eric Johnson: Run the city like a business. Build Great Park like a business, incrementally, so it pays for itself. More transparency and open meetings. While saying Gallinger's right to practice the Muslim fa ... More >>

The One Great Thing About the Great Park...

...Is Avanti Cafe, the Costa Mesa Slow Food laboratory of everything great and healthy. They serve food at the Great Park's Hangar Cafe for the massive thing's free Friday and Saturday concerts. The menu is limited--veggie burgers, three-way hummus (as delicious as it sound randy), salads, and a ma ... More >>

The Great P-U

Much hoopla is surrounding the third anniversary of Irvine's Great Park becoming official and the first anniversary of the big orange Great Park balloon taking flight. Wednesday was a media preview for ink-stained wretches and blow-dried TV anchorbots. This morning, the Great Park Corporation was to ... More >>

Friday's Headlines & Surprises

FBI targets one of OC's richest: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the FBI served subpoenas at the Newport Coast home of Henry T. Nicholas III, ex-chairman of Irvine-based, electronics giant Broadcom Company. According to the paper, the investigation involves drugs and other potential crime ... 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 >>

Letters

'And We Dont Give a Damn Whether Your Boobs Are Fake or Not!'

Irvine

Stories That Made a Difference

And some we regret

Angry Liberals

Diary of A Mad Year

2004 regurgitated

Letters

Three Major Irvine Democrats Question Agran, Krom Ethics; Endorse Republicans

Mears, Petracca and Goldstone abandon Agran, Krom in favor of the Dark Side

Letters

Letters

Noxious Talk

Dick Nixons Revenge

El Toro Airport Watch No. 146

Bunny Business

The Kid is Free!

Arthur Carmona released from jail 10 years earlyand two years too late

Schlessinger, Shea, Sheesh!

Learning from the master baiter