Palm Springs

Throw Rag Are as Sleazy, Salty and Psychotic as Ever

After a two-year hiatus, OC's favorite nautical punk band sails into the Observatory

[UPDATED with Hearing Postponed:] Ivan Von Staich, Killer of Ex's Husband and Near-Killer of Her, Seeks Parole Again

See the update at the end of this post on the parole hearing being delayed. ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 27, 3:49 P.M.: He's baaaaaaack!Ivan Von Staich--who twice escaped from jail, threatened to kill a judge, nearly killed his ex-girlfriend by bludgeoning her with a claw hammer and fatally shot her new h ... More >>

Richard Gustav Forsberg Stands Trial for Wife's Decapitation, Dismemberment and Disposal

Opening statements are expected to begin this morning in the trial of a Rancho Santa Margarita man accused of murdering his wife of nearly 40 years and then decapitating, dismembering and disposing of her.Marcia Ann Forsberg's body parts are believed to have been burned near the campground at Lake ... More >>

Scott Boras: Baseball's Savior?

You don't normally see Scott Boras hailed as a savior of baseball--usually, the Newport Beach super-sports agent is referred to as the complete opposite.But with the Nationals becoming the first Washington, D.C., team since 1933 making it to the playoffs, some in the nation's capital are crediting B ... More >>

Muffin Spencer-Devlin Is the Best Lesbian, Manic-Depressive, Glass-Blowing Golfer of Them All

The Laguna Beach resident made history when she came out while on the LPGA Tour. That was the easy part

The Field Trip Come Out and Play

[Locals Only] Dustin Apodaca is back, with a new band and a penchant for Yacht Rock

Ivan Von Staich: Killer Loses Parole Battle But Wins the Ugliest Mugshot of the Week War

​The ugliest police mugshot of the week comes not from a cop shop or district attorney's office but the California Department of Corrections, which is charged with continuing the incarcerate Ivan Von Staich with the governor's reversal of the Lake Elsinore 56-year-old's parole.For reasons known on ... More >>

Biologist Accuses Inland Water Districts of Spooking Populace Over Expanded Santa Ana Sucker Habitat

​Inland water districts are using unfounded claims, invented projections and a "staged sham" hearing to spread fears to the populace about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) having designated a portion of the Santa Ana River as a "critical habitat" for a little fish known as the Santa Ana su ... More >>

Andrew Urdiales, Serial Killer, Extradited to OC For Killing Saddleback College Student Robbin Brandley

Andrew Urdiales​More than 25 years after he allegedly stabbed Saddleback College drama student Robbin Brandley 41 times in an unlit campus parking lot, Andrew Urdiales is finally on his way to Orange County to face trial for her murder. Urdiales, 47, who was the subject of a Nov. 2007 OC Weekly fe ... More >>

Ivan Von Staich, Convicted Murderer Who Scored Win in Parole Bid, Has Menaced Courts for Years

​The state parole board Wednesday found suitable for parole a two-time jail escapee convicted of bludgeoning a former girlfriend with a claw hammer and fatally shooting her husband in 1983. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas opposed Ivan Von Staich's parole bid, but if the 55-year-old is ultimately ... More >>

Shag and His Trend Chasers

The Grand Central Art Center's new show on the hipster fave unintentionally proves he's the new Nagel

Joel Lee Craft Jr., Seller of Telemarketing Leads, Indicted in $25 Million Indie Movie Investment Scam

​David Mamet's independent movie (and play that preceded it) Glengarry Glen Ross is about slick salesmen using underhanded tactics to rope in would-be property investors culled from what is known as "lead lists."  The CEO of a San Clemente information company that sells such lists to telemark ... More >>

Samaa Kerba and Young Son Escaped Egypt, But the Mission Viejo Residents' Nightmare Had Only Begun

​A Mission Viejo woman and her 4-year-old son were hours away from being sent back to strife-torn Egypt this past weekend before the American Civil Liberties Union intervened on their behalf.Permanent U.S. resident Samaa Kerba, 26, and her son were returning home from Cairo because of the violence ... More >>

He Shall Be Set Free

Phil Aguilar’s brand of outlaw Christianity made him an evangelical powerhouse—and has law enforcement calling the pastor a criminal

Medical Marijuana Advocate Chadd McKeen Seeks to Shake Up Costa Mesa City Council

Photo by Keith MayChadd McKeen, the man with the plan.​Chadd McKeen, the Weekly's current cover boy ("Growing Pains at Otherside Farms"), is not only working to change people's perception of medical marijuana providers through his Costa Mesa business that helps patients grow their own. He's also w ... More >>

Drake Doremus' 'Douchebag' at Sundance

OC stage prodigy-turned-filmmaker Drake Doremus brings his 'very personal' movie to Park City, Utah

Distant Karma Catches Up With the Brotherhood's Brenice Lee Smith

Someone Stop Don Papi Pulido From Lubing Up Santa Ana For Mike Harrah--Again

Pulido: Pay your taxes!I'm supposed to be relaxing at the Parker Resort in Palm Springs, a beautiful lil' oasis where UC Riverside MFA program in creative writing is holding a writer's retreat (I'm an invited lecturer), but news that SanTana mayor Don Papi Pulido is busy lubing Orange County's seat ... More >>

In Honor of BritWeek: My Top 10 British Things

BritWeek sounds smashing. It naturally makes one think about all the local reminders of Great Britain. Never having been to England (something that's scheduled to change very soon), these evoke memories of that jolly old land.1. Westminster. There's a city by that name sandwiched between Huntington ... More >>

[Newport Beach Film Fest] An Encapsulated Diary Digesting the Decade-Old Newport Beach Film Festival

Rocco Convicted in Ketchup Heist: OC Condiments Declared Safe!

Photo by Christopher VictorioSteve Rocco gets ready to face the music.After a three-day trial, a jury today convicted former Orange School trustee Steve Rocco of stealing a half-empty bottle of Heinz ketchup from a Chapman University cafeteria last September. Their harsh verdict brought a momentous, ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Dr. George Kooshian to Plead Guilty to Charging Big Bucks for Bogus Injections

Great Park Home Builder Lennar Corp. Sues Whistle-Blower

Financially troubled Lennar Corp. is suing a whistle-blower raising questions about the Miami-based home builder's off-balance-sheet debt and a large personal loan taken out by a Laguna Beach resident who is a top executive with the company that is the city of Irvine's ... More >>

Joelle Casteix Fights for Catholic Church Sex-Abuse Victims While Pursuing Her Own Abuser

Barbara Coe, Sonny Bono, And the Illuminati

It must be nigh-impossible for the nicotine-stained brain of California Coalition for Immigration Reform president Barbara Coe to keep up with all the conspiracies (Reconquista, evil Muslims, the Cult of the Two Blue Shoes) she subscribes to. Nevertheless, we always dismissed her efforts and rambles ... More >>

Who the Hell Is Clutchy Hopkins? The mystery of a Mojave Desert beat savant

Stealth Loretta

Is Congresswoman Sanchez a whore orworsea Republican?

Scott Weaver

The renaissance man shares some of his favorite things

He Like Bike

Craig Savage is EXTREME (duh!)

Don't Mind Dyin

Rock & rolls last encores at the Ponderosa Stomp

Who Shot the Sheriff?

Star witness against ex-Assistant Sheriff Jaramillo is tanking, evidence reveals mischief by Sheriff Carona

The First Jesus Freak

A pot-smokin, LSD-droppin seeker turned Calvary Chapel into a household name. So why is Lonnie Frisbee missing from church history?

Turning the Tables

Master framer Dave Link tries his hand at furniture

Scared To Sleep For Years

The fall and fall and surprise rise of Throw Rag

An Overnight Success, 13 Years in the Making

David Newhans remarkable journey to the big leagues

Feel the Love

Stonewall Rackauckas

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

From Canvas to Screen

The unconventional route of Sandow Birks unconventional In Smog and Thunder

Rackauckas Gives Aides Reason to Belch

DA Puts Pub Back in Public Funds!

Slosh fund revelation helps fuel mass exodus of veteran investigators

What If You Had a Pissing Match and Nobody Came?

Orange Coasts Ruth Ko is all in a tizzy!

No Pride

Officials cancel annual OC gay festival at UC Irvine

Its Like Being a Rock Star

Six summers of pimps and hos at Club Rubber

Unbusted

Why Frank Eiras will get out of prison 300 years early

Burrito History

Nick Zampino and the dawn of the burrito

Letters

The Figure of Expressionism

The irrepressible people of Tom Fields Abstract Expressionism

Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

Travels with Roxy

Poo Fighters

Once a friend of land developers, Garry Brown has joined the battle to keep OCs beaches free of the brown stuff

BOOM BOOM, OUT GO THE LIGHTS?

Tough times at Orange County's flagship gay nightclub