Placentia

Costa Mesa Police and Highway Patrol Release Memorial Weekend Checkpoint Results: Update

See Update No. 2 at the end of this post with results from the joint Costa Mesa Police Department and California Highway Patrol checkpoint Friday night. Update No. 1 on the next page had Anaheim Police announcing its DUI checkpoint that night.ORIGINAL POST, MAY 24, 8 A.M.: Another long holiday weeke ... More >>

Training Day

[Hey, You!] Sorry for not calling the cops on your pot farm

Daniel Nestor, Luis Ramon Llanes and Ignacio David Morales Held in Fatal Shooting of Jorge Gonzales Valdez in Placentia Alley

Three men have been arrested for the gang-related murder of Jorge Gonzales Valdez, who was gunned down in a Placentia alley Dec. 23. Daniel Nestor, 19, 25-year-old laborer Luis Ramon Llanes and Ignacio David Morales, 21, were arrested on murder, conspiracy and gang charges after a multi-agency swee ... More >>

301 Cafe Is a Cal-Mex Shrine

[Hole In the Wall] This Placentia dive serves chimichangas, enchiladas, and the best wet burrito around

Irvine Joins Anaheim, Placentia and Buena Park in DUI Checkpointing Saturday Night

The Irvine Police Department just announced a DUI checkpoint Saturday night at Jamboree Road and Birch Street.This is the first of eight such ops the department has scheduled in coming months.

[UPDATED with New Arrest Totals:] Tis the Season to be Boozy and Patrolled and Stopped

ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 21, 8:56 A.M.: The Costa Mesa and Garden Grove police departments are conducting DUI checkpoints tonight, while one goes up in Huntington Beach Saturday night. None of the agencies is revealing the location of the mandatory motorist stops aimed at removing impaired and unlicensed ... More >>

Jorge Gonzales Valdez, OC Homicide No. 48: Gang Shooter(s) Suspected

Several people heard gunshots near the 600 block of Placentia's Center Street Sunday morning and called 9-1-1. Officers arrived to a nearby alley around 5:20 a.m. to find Jorge Gonzales Valdez suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and the Placentia 24-year-old later died despite the life-saving ef ... More >>

Where to Buy Tamales in Orange County This Christmas, 2012 Edition!

This is hilarious. Every year around this time, I get asked where to buy the best tamales in Orange County. Really, the answers rarely change. Below is the article on the subject I did last year, which itself is mostly a retread of a story I did back in 2007. Other plugs I'll give right now are for ... More >>

Buena Park Checkpoint Tonight, Anaheim's is Saturday, Many Anti-DUI Ops til Labor Day

The Buena Park Police Department is holding a DUI/drivers license checkpoint from 7 tonight to 2 a.m. Saturday in the 8000 block of La Palma.It's just one of several anti-DUI enforcement efforts planned around Orange County through Labor Day (Sept. 3).

Meet Today's Stupid Bank Robber: Kenneth Lyle Spangle

Poor, dumb Kenneth Lyle Spangle.Spangle dreamed of being a successful bank robber.But he's terrible at the crime and should have found another line of work to screw up.Nabbed within minutes of his August 12, BB-gun robbery by on-the-ball Placentia cop Jason Reger, Spangle planned the Bank of America ... More >>

[UPDATED with Villa Park Checkpoint, Results:] As Bombs Burst in Air on the Fourth, Smokies on the Ground Hunt for Drunk Drivers

See end of post for details on Fourth of July holiday DUI arrests, injuries and deaths so far, and a new checkpoint announced in Villa Park.ORIGINAL POST, JULY 3, 9:38 A.M.: Orange County law enforcement has big plans for the Fourth of July as it is anticipated fireworks won't be the only thing lit. ... More >>

The Coded Anti-Mexican Language in Placentia Councilmember Chad Wanke's Proposal to Close City Parks and Rec Centers

Earlier this month, Placentia councilmember Chad Wanke--the politician who can't be bothered to show up to OC Vector Control board meetings like he's supposed to, or offer an excuse--made a little girl cry.The scene was during a city council meeting, during which residents--children and their parent ... More >>

[UPDATED with $5,000 Reward Paid:] Itzcoatl Ocampo, Troubled Former Marine, Accused Orange County Serial Killer

​UPDATE, JAN. 25, 10:58 A.M.: Before the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of a serial killer preying on homeless men. Union president Tom Dominguez is scheduled to hand Donny ... More >>

The Bruery To Release a Local Brewers Collaboration Series

​The Bruery has collaborated with the big-timers of the craft beer world--Dogfish Head, Stone, Elysian. Now, they're going local.   Over the course of 2012, the Placentia brewery will be teaming up with four different breweries for a local brewers collaboration series. The first beer in ... More >>

10 Revelations in Case Against Itzcoatl Ocampo, Orange County's Accused Serial Killer

​Accused Orange County serial killer Itzcoatl Ocampo appeared at his arraignment this morning but entered no plea to charges that could bring the death penalty as the hearing was postponed until Feb. 17. Given the amount of media heat generated, it's difficult to fathom anything new coming from th ... More >>

[UPDATED with I.D., Suspect Description:] James MacGillivray, OC Homicide No. 65: Transient Found Stabbed to Death

​UPDATE, DEC. 22, 4:46 P.M.: Placentia Police identified the homeless man found stabbed to death as 53-year-old James MacGillivray, who beat officers knew slept in a camp at the north end of a strip shopping center where his body was found Wednesday morning. Thanks to surveillance cameras, cops al ... More >>

Hot Under the Collar

[Hey, You] Ignorance of leash laws is no excuse for letting your yappy little dogs roam free

Ruben Tapia Accused of Threatening Girlfriend with Knife, Hitting Her and 1-Month-Old, Trying to Burn Down Home and Generally Acting Like an A-hole

​Officers responding to a domestic violence call in Placentia Thursday morning were told a 32-year-old man struck his girlfriend and her 1-month-old baby, threatened the woman with a knife and then doused their apartment with lighter fluid before turning the gas stove on in an unsuccessful attempt ... More >>

DUI Patrols Intensify for Cinco de Drinko

​I mean, it's not like your favorite outpost of alternative newsiness is bastardizing the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, with "Cinco de Drinko" listings. Er, check that.Anyways, in other Cinco de Drunk Tank news, the countywide "Avoid the 38 ... More >>

Pie-Ology Pizzeria: The Study Of Kustom Pizza

​If Costa Mesa is the county's epicenter for the noveau pizza movement best exemplified by Pizzeria Ortica, then North County is the land of the dinosaur joints, where places like Cortina's in Anaheim and Placentia's Tony's Little Italy haven't changed their pie recipe in decades, if ever. Fast-fo ... More >>

Alert To Minors: Don't Be Out Past Curfew on Nov. 18

​Kids, here's some advice. The night of Thursday, Nov. 18 is a very good time to stay indoors. Police departments will conduct what they're calling the "largest-ever Orange County curfew sweeps." Cops in nearly every city--Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, ... More >>

Lynsie Ekelund's Accused Killer Awaits Arraignment

Chris McAmis confessed to murdering the Fullerton College student in 2001. Their families now try to come to grips with the news

An Open Letter to Restaurant Web Hosts

Flickr user mandyxclearWhat do you MEAN, I don't get a bottle of Black Tuesday?​Last year, the Bruery's release party for Black Tuesday was so insane that after two-plus hours in line, I hadn't moved; the line wrapped around behind the building and back, and while patience was the rule, it was hug ... More >>

Bruery Provisions to Open In Orange, Not Placentia

The Bruery​Three months ago, Edwin broke the news that the Bruery, the popular craft cervesería that operates out of an ugly warehouse in a forgotten corner of Placentia, would be opening a brewpub in Placentia's Placita Santa Fe district.Well, that's all correct, except for the brewpub part and ... More >>

Finding Heaven at B & C Burgers

[Hole In the Wall] Placentia burger dive mashes Mexican with American

Placentia PD Declines to Oust Kogi Truck

​After a long Saturday spent trying to restore files to the in-laws' PC (incidentally, HP, there is a special place in Hell for you), I got home and decided I needed to get some fresh air. Since I like beer with my air, I headed up to Placentia to have a drink at the Bruery and discovered that the ... More >>

Beer Geek Show & Tell at the Bruery This Saturday

jlstern @ flickr.com CC BY-NC-ND 2.0​The Bruery in Placentia will be hosting a Holiday Beer Geek Show & Tell at the tasting room in lovely southwestern Placentia this Saturday at 5 p.m. They're going to get things off right, with some new beers to tap; if you've got a winter-themed beer you lo ... More >>

The Living Suns

Gypsy Lounge

Orange County Beer Festival Coming on Sunday, August 30!

The booze-up, held at Irvine Lake from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., will feature the county's best breweries, plus domestic and international brands, including ones from Hawai'i, Brazil and, of course, Belgium. Look out for The Bruery (from Placentia), TAPS (Brea), Bootlegger's Brewery (Fullerton) and the ... More >>

Saints Alive! Drink Belgian Beer for St Paddy's Day!

Forget Guinness on St Patrick's Day--it's such a cliché. Instead, this year, knock back the beer in honor of St Veronus, patron saint of Belgian brewers (I'm not making this up).This Saturday, March 14, from 2-6pm, the Bruery, a small independent brewery in Placentia, is laying on Belgian snacks (i ... More >>

First Team All-Americans

When you think of soldiers and especially those killed in action, you generally conclude most came from the poorer parts of town. But with five young servicemen cut down in their primes, Irvine is the Orange County hometown with the most war dead from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's also ... More >>

What do I do with all these damned CDs?

I'm moving from Placentia to Seal Beach next week—my fourth relocation since 2001—and once again, I'm forced to confront a moral quandary: what the hell am I supposed to do with all the CDs that were given to me by hopeful Orange County and Long Beach bands looking for ink back when I was the ... More >>

Memorial & Wake for Mike Conley Today

All info from a MySpace bulletin posted about Mike Conley by DJ Poppa of the Double Fisted Underground/Suck My Disco crew: Memorial: 4pm Sunday Brookhurst Street & Pacific Coast Highway Huntington Beach At The River Jetties You can enter the beach one block north of Brookhurst Street @ Magnolia Str ... More >>

OC Civil Rights Pioneer Alfred Aguirre Dead at 87

Let's hope the Orange County Register offers a fuller obituary for Placentia resident Alfred Aguirre than the two-byline rush job they printed today. Reporters Eric Neff and Heather McRea covered the main facts--Aguirre was indeed Placentia's first Latino councilmember (and the third in Orange Count ... More >>

Hey, You!

The Times, They Are A-Missin’

Good Guys Winning in Placentia

For the past couple of years, idiots have turned the quaint city of Placentia into a debt pit thanks to their redevelopment efforts (read the recap here). But the pendejos are almost gone--two years ago, voters kicked out one incumbent; this year, none of the people eligible for re-election ran. Thr ... More >>

The CPCs Hidden Empire

Where might you get ticketed by the Citation Processing Center

Deep Dish Deliverance

Solving the horror of the pizza lunch with Tony’s Little Italy

Placentia

The Tragedy of It All

Orange Countys own Hurricane Katrina: the Great Flood of 1938

the Little Train Project That Couldn’t

Four reasons Placentia’s OnTrac development died

Wrong Side of the Tracks

State investigates Placentia case that
OC grand jury said was legal

Super Corokke

Kokona Hut

This week in north North County

Five Endangered Placentia Restaurants

P

Placentia

Once on the cutting edge

Mexico, Mexico-Style

Of mariachis, tequila and mole

Message in a Baton

OCN tags along for troubling police raid