Nevada

Jean Ervin Soriano, Accused of Killing Five in Nevada DUI Crash, Escaped Santa Ana Lockup

Jean Ervin Soriano, the 18-year-old DUI driver accused of causing a crash that killed five people in Nevada, escaped March 1 from the Youth Guidance Center in Santa Ana, according to a television news report.Further details on how Soriano managed to leave the juvenile-detention facility have not bee ... More >>

Dr. Kevin Ray Buckwalter of San Clemente Faces Revoked License Here for Nevada Script Woes

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but it's not turning out to be so for Dr. Kevin Ray Buckwalter.Following a Las Vegas newspaper investigation, the San Clemente physician is poised to lose his license to practice medicine in California.

Will Fresh & Easy Leave US Market?

We kept noticing a Fresh & Easy that was supposed to open off Valley View in Cypress but never did; now we know why. With at least 200 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada, the chain is likely going to pull out of the US market, leaving upwards of 5,000 employees without jobs.Tesco, the bran ... More >>

Five Things an EDM Diva Learned at Burning Man

See Also: The Fantastic People of Burning Man FYF Fest 2012: A Complex Punk Portrait of the SoCal Music Scene Insomniac Donates $115,000 From EDC Sales Burning Man is an annual event and temporary community based on radical self-expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Havin ... More >>

Five Ways To Get Your Foie Gras On (Legally) In California After July 1

On July 1, SB 1520 comes into force, which bans the production (including production-for-hire) and sale of products involving force-fed birds. Notice those words--you can't produce it, and you can't hire someone else to produce it, and you can't sell it to anyone.That leaves all sorts of great legal ... More >>

Fresh & Easy Comes to Costa Mesa ... and So Do the Pickets

​"Sir, I'm asking that you don't shop here today." This seemed to be an unusual request from a Fresh & Easy employee near the entrance of the Tesco-owned market chain's latest store, which only opened an hour earlier along Harbor Boulevard just south of the 405 freeway in Costa Mesa. As he wen ... More >>

Police Seize Pot From High Schoolers on SWAT Snowboarding Trip

​​Teens on a bus trip to Utah for what would be three whole days of parent-free debauchery in the snow were busted by cops this week for having a massive stash of marijuana. Party foul.    Nearly 250 high school students from the Bay Area were heading to Salt Lake City on a trip organi ... More >>

Feds Bust Alleged Internet Auto/Boat Sales Scam By Russians

​The U.S. Department of Justice in Los Angeles announced this afternoon that a federal grand jury has indicted six foreign nationals--including one in Costa Mesa--for operating an Internet-based sales scam that allegedly defrauded more than $4.2 million from unsuspecting shoppers since 2007.Accord ... More >>

Key Witness in Massive Mortgage Foreclosure "Robo-Signing" Fraud Case Turns Up Dead

​A notary public who was to be the key witness against two Irvine title officers accused of orchestrating a massive mortgage foreclosure "robo-signing" fraud scheme was found dead in her Las Vegas home. Tracy Lawrence, 43, missed her sentencing hearing on a misdemeanor charge Monday, after which ... More >>

Are More Mexicans Becoming Conservative?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And do teachers discriminate against students with Hispanic first names?

Earthlings Beware!

Costa Mesa Playhouse

Dennis Koire, OC Homicide No. 54: Succumbs to Injuries From Valentine's Day 2010 Shooting

Courtesy of OCDAPasquel Raul Loera​Fifty-year-old Dennis Koire was in a coma for the 13 months after he was shot in the head on Feb. 14, 2010. The Westminster man succumbed to his injuries this past March.In announcing the death penalty will be sought for Pasqual Raul Loera, who is also accused of ... More >>

James Christopher Corr Could Get Life for Wild Carjacking with Toddler and Saint Bernard Aboard

​A Mission Viejo man who allegedly stole a SUV with a toddler strapped in a car seat out of an Aliso Viejo family's garage could get life in state prison based on the laundry list of charges against him. The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) was asking for $1 million bail today at th ... More >>

Kenneth Joseph Lucas II Gets 13 Years for Running International Phishing Scam and Indoor Pot Farm

​UPDATE, JUNE 28, 2 P.M.: Sentences totaling 13 years for convictions in two cases have been given to Kenneth Joseph Lucas II, the "kingpin" of an international "phishing" operation that used spam e-mails and bogus websites to collect personal information used to defraud American banks. The 27- ... 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 >>

WeedMaps Owner Expanding OC Headquarters

​No, General Cannabis isn't a Jamaican dancehall singer. It's a Nevada-based technology company that owns Weedmaps.com, CannaCare.com and other medical marijuana related concerns. The company is currently headquartered in Costa Mesa, but according to a press release today, it just moved into new o ... More >>

Me Arlene Settle Could Get Stiff Prison Sentence for Role in International Phishing Ring

​When federal indictments were announced in the fall of 2009 as part of Operation "Phish Phry," a multinational investigation conducted in the United States and Egypt that led to charges against 100 people, it was hailed as the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cybercrime case. Fiv ... More >>

Food-By-State Map (Spoiler: We Get Grapes)

I Can Haz Cheezburger​How can a food blog offend an entire nation? By creating a food-by-state map.My Food Looks Funny, the "noms" section of I Can Haz Cheezburger, took it upon itself to select a food to represent each state (click for the enlarged image). Some picks were easy-peas ... More >>

Sen. Lou Correa Praised for Proposed Online-Gambling Bill

​Orange County state Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) is better than a handful of aces, if you ask the California Gaming Association.The group is praising Correa's proposed Senate Bill 40, which would legalize online poker in California and is opposed by--one guess--yes, greedy Nevada casino execu ... More >>

Owner Reunited With '73 Chevy Camaro Stolen in Santa Ana ... 27 Years Ago

​Robert Andrews reported his 1973 Chevrolet Camaro stolen in his hometown of Santa Ana on July 31, 1983.On Tuesday, the Nevada transplant was reunited with his sweet ride . . .. . . in West Los Angeles.

Latino Voters Influence Felt Beyond Brown and Boxer in California, Claim Advocates

​Should we credit/blame Latino voters for Jerry Brown returning to the governor's office, Barbara Boxer remaining in the U.S. Senate and Democrats not only holding the nation's upper house but picking up a seat in the California Assembly? Latino advocacy groups think so.

Sunday News Notes

News highlights include:Relax, sir. It's only .000034 percent of your wealth.​Is OC's Biggest Billionaire Stingy?Two of Donald L. Bren's children are expected to take their father to court this week in Los Angeles in hopes of winning $800,000 in retroactive monthly child support payments because, ... More >>

Integrity? Quality? Objectivity? We've Got 'Em

​When we received a tweet that included this link: http://www.newspaperintegrity.com/paper.php?id=513. . . we here at the Weekly World HQ nearly flipped our Che berets. Who was this "Committee for Newspaper and Media Integrity" and where did they get off scoring us with a combined 57.1 for integr ... More >>

The Worst Little Whorehouse Movie

'Love Ranch' not fit for a queen

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Offering Free Iced Drinks This Afternoon!

Flickr user egor.gribanov​Coffee snootists look away! The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is offering an array of free 12 oz. iced drinks today. 

[UPDATED:] Today's Important Unimportant Election, From My TV Screen to Your Computer/Phone Screen

​11:15 p.m.: Don't be surprised if KOCE is accused of turning over its election coverage to that rare Orange County bird known as the "Democrat." The "live, election night edition of Real Orange" came from the Artists Village in Santa Ana, OC's version of Havana. Their election expert was the Voic ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Julie Palasco, OC Homicide No. 5: Found in Ransacked Home

UPDATE: Orange County District Attorney levels charges; suspect's telling MySpace page . . . MySpace.comPasqual Loera's user photo.​The Orange County District Attorney today charged the man arrested in Las Vegas in the shooting and killing Sunday of a Westminster woman and critical injuring of her ... More >>

As Snow Falls, Legislation Rises

​Three to 6 inches of new snow are expected in the next few hours to start falling in the local mountains--including Big Bear, where 5 feet of white stuff dumped during the last round of storms. Mammoth Mountain got 7 inches of fresh snow in the last 24 to add to its 8- to 12-feet base of packed p ... More >>

Are OC Republicans Lying or Businessmen Stupid for Leaving Country's Most Popular State?

​The kind of Orange County Republicans who would launch a recall of a Southern California politician from their own party tell you higher taxes are driving businesses out of California. They'll compare Cali's various tax rates with a backwater state like Nevada, or send their pupp ... More >>

Locals Among Dozens Caught Up in International Criminal Phishing Scheme

No, not that kind of fish fry. ​Congratulations, Orange County! Some of your residents were among today's arrestees in the largest cyber crime case of its kind. "Operation Phish Phry," the first joint cyber investigation between Egyptian law enforcement authorities and United States of ... More >>

Sublime Reunion Part Deux

​Bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh are hitting the stage as Sublime, just like they did in February. But unlike the previous gig, held at some tiny Mexican restaurant in a Nevada town no one's ever heard of, this show is actually pretty big.It's part of Cypress Hill's Smokeout, a gathering ... More >>

Navel Gazing: The Avis of Journalistic Blogs in the West

Dear readers, prepare to withstand some navel gazing about Navel Gazing, the OC Weekly staff news blog: It has won second-place honors from Best of the West, which was founded in 1987 to promote freedom of information and reward journalistic excellence, mainly through its contest for newspapers and ... More >>

Fatburger Divisions File For Bankruptcy, While CPK Booms

Seems we're not even buying burgers any more. On the other hand, maybe we're starting to think that it's not all doom and gloom, and that we might live beyond 2010. Two divisions of the struggling Fatburger chain, Fatburger Restaurants of California and Fatburger Restaurants of Nevada, ha ... More >>

Club Pick: Afrobeat Down at The Rhythm Lounge TONIGHT!

I know what you're thinking. Where's the club flier with a half-naked chick mashing her boobies together? Though I readily admit that a sexy flier is usually a key ingredient to a good club pick, tonight's awesome line-up at The Rhythm Lounge can't be ignored...even for a prominent pair of chesticle ... More >>

Sublime video from Saturday night

A guy can't take a shit these days without someone posting it on YouTube the next day. That being said, here are some clips from the Sublime reunion show Saturday night in Nevada with new singer Rome. According to his MySpace page, he's from Newport Beach. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrkfVlCM_SA

Chaste & Chastened

The 33-year-old near-virgin

Dudes Gone Wild

Three odd tales from Orange Countys domestic-violence files

Five Questions with a Times buyoutee

Award-winning features writer Roy Rivenburg was one of two OC-based Los Angeles Times staffers who took the buyout, ending a decade and a half at the paper. (The other was Mai Tran.) Today, we quizzed him on the decision to kiss the LAT goodbye: Soooo . . . why'd ya do it? A combination of wantin ... More >>

Good Journalism, Bad Judgment

This comes via those fine folks at LA Observed. It's Cal State Fullerton journalism professor and former Orange County Register reporter Jeff Brody beginning by lauding the Los Angeles Times' investigative series last week about judges being bought and paid for in Las Vegas--and then damning the Tim ... More >>

'Dirty, Stupid or Both'

Never mind the photo: Sheriff Carona denies Mafia ties

Massively Penetrating in Vegas

Looking for something new to do in Vegas? Something that involves breathing in massive amounts of particulate matter blown in from the desert? Something that involves watching yet another bit of idiotic Bush administration defense planning go up in smoke (literally)? Something a little mushroom clou ... More >>

Road Trip!

The Girl goes to Vegas, or, as we like to call it, OC East

Dr. Death Revisited

In French TV documentary, ex-CIA official admits ties to CIA-cocaine scandal character

Ill Wind Blowing

The Land Southward is a should-be classic

Diary of a Mad County

An Informed Citizenry

Bust the Kids, Pass the Bong

Waste Central

San Onofres nuclear waste aint going nowhere

Cancer Politics

Radiation is good for youjust ask a scientist!

Off the Strip

A guide to weird Las Vegas