Rancho Santa Margarita

Scott Andrew Christensen, After-School Daycare Perv Who Preyed on Little Boys, Guilty Again

​Scott Andrew Christensen, a former Saddleback Valley Unified School District childcare worker found guilty in 2008 of molesting a 6-year-old boy, can now add convictions for doing dirty deeds to a second 6-year-old boy and a third boy under 14. The Rancho Santa Margarita 28-year-old had been work ... More >>

Pizza e Vino Owner Planning New Restaurant in North County

​When Steve Dickus opened Pizza e Vino a few years ago on Rancho Santa Margarita Lake, I wondered how he would stay in business. His Neapolitan pizzas are the best in South County, but opening a high-end pizzeria in the middle of a recession in one of O.C.'s most remote locales seemed crazy (Ortic ... More >>

Bruxie to Open Third Store in Rancho Santa Margarita

Shuji SakaiThe space in question... formerly a crappy burger joint, soon to be improved!​Oh, Bruxie. First they created a traffic fustercluck in Old Town Orange with the long lines for their waffles; then they gave people a reason to head off of Brea Boulevard when driving through on the way to av ... More >>

[UPDATED W/PHOTOS] John Chamberlain Murder Trial: Jurors Reject First Degree Murder

​UPDATE, OCT 24, 6:10 P.M.: The jury in the case of five Theo Lacy Jail inmates accused of murdering John Chamberlain, the software engineer they suspected of being a child molester, may be hopelessly deadlocked, but they've agreed on one point: they cannot unanimously convict the defendants of fi ... More >>

On the Line: Joe Youkhan of Chef Joe Youkhan's Tasting Spoon, Part One

Photo by Meranda Carter​South County is represented this week, as we sit down with Joe Youkhan and discuss his Italian-inspired, Rancho Santa Margarita-based luxe lonchera, Chef Joe Youkhan's Tasting Spoon. An East Coast transplant, he loves his butter, salt and vino. Learn how this father of two ... More >>

Cooling Down With Local Beer

[SUMMER GUIDE] No. 44 of the 100 Reasons to Be Ecstatic About Summer In OC!

How Much Would You Pay To Avoid Prison?

Schapel​Here's your dilemma: You can either pay $4,000 a month for 200 months or spend 80 months locked in a California prison?Hard choice?It apparently wasn't for David Scott Schapel, a 36-year-old Rancho Santa Margarita man.He chose prison.

[UPDATED with Booking Photo:] Memorial Day Weekend DUI Enforcement Countywide

​UPDATE, MAY 31, 6:39 P.M.: The Irvine Police Department this evening released the booking photo at right of Austin Jeffrey Farley, the alleged drunken driver with a past DUI conviction blamed for causing the crash that killed 14-year-old Ashton Sweet.The Northwood High School freshman cheerleader ... More >>

Announcing Tortilla Tuesdays! In Search of OC's Best Tortillas...

​It was while I was at Trader Joes, looking at their hideously overpriced pack of barely edible corn tortillas, that I remembered something: we're blessed with tortillerías in Orange County. We don't have to rely on Maseca's masa monopoly for our tortilla needs--from San Juan Capistrano to La Hab ... More >>

Robert Bruce Engel, Sex Offender, Booked After Returning to the Scene of the Splooge

​Three teenage girls at Rancho Santa Margarita Library noticed a man sitting on a bench across from them around 7 p.m. on May 9. He had a newspaper on his lap, his hands under the newspaper and--yikes!--is the book marker in your pocket or are you just happy to see us?Turns out it was the latter. ... More >>

OC Pot University Claims Big Boost in Enrollment

​Rancho Santa Margarita's God's Green Earth College Online (GECCO), which provides classes on growing marijuana and operating a successful collective, is apparently enjoying a major spike in enrollment. The college put out a press release today boasting that the school is well on its way to "becom ... More >>

Restaurant Roll Call for March 2011

Edwin Goei​A busy, busy March for the local restaurant scene this past month. We saw the long-awaited Chapter One: The Modern Local debut St. Patrick's Day in Santa Ana. This week we witnessed the popular Laguna Beach sushi bar, O Fine Japanese Cuisine, open its second restaurant in Irvine. The ... More >>

Haven Gastropub Expanding to Pasadena

​OC's own Haven Gastropub is opening a second, Pasadena location in late 2011. It's not just a clone of the Old Towne Orange restaurant, but an ambitious expansion into their own, on-site beer brewing operation.

Long-Stalled In-N-Out Opens Friday in Costa Mesa

Edwin Goei​You may have not realized it, but there was a long hard slog to get the In-N-Out that replaces Kaplan's Deli off the Harbor exit of the 405 approved through the proper authorities.  It opens on Friday.As the Daily Pilot reports, "The approval process was lengthy, requiring both the ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Dean Patrick Maldonado, OC Homicide No. 32: Bail Bondsman Shot in Quiet Neighborhood

From Dean Patrick Maldonado's MySpace pageThe deceased, Dean Patrick Maldonado​Update, December 8, 3:15 p.m.: After a five-month investigation into the midnight hour shooting July 17 that claimed the life of 49-year-old Dean Patrick Maldonado, the Orange County District Attorney's Office has concl ... More >>

Fall Film Fest Season Kicks Off With SoCal Film Festival in Huntington Beach

​Start working out those eyeballs, Orange County. This fall is going to be given over to back-to-back film festivals, the first a returner to Huntington Beach and the second an inaugural run in Anaheim. Both events will give significant screen time to the works of local filmmakers, from students t ... More >>

Marcia Ann Forsberg, OC Homicide No. 39: Authorities Say Hubby Did It

​UPDATES THROUGHOUT . . . Richard and Marcia Forsberg were said by friends to be the perfect couple. They met in a Ventura College journalism class and were looking forward to their 40th wedding anniversary at the end of this month.The pair of 61-year-olds, who had no children, were often seen ho ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Marcia Forsberg, OC Homicide No. 39: Deputies Say Her Hubby Did It

​SEE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS POST. Richard Gustav Forsberg would bring his wife dinner every night, but their neighbors in Rancho Santa Margarita noticed 61-year-old Marcia Ann Forsberg was not around beginning in February. They asked the hubby, a computer manager who is also 61, what happened to ... More >>

At Last, Relief From a Stinky Lake

​Finky the Blogger told us how for months and months, something smelled really bad in Mission Viejo, and the same source of the funk--think rotten eggs, high school locker rooms, Taco Bell kitchens--has been blamed for stinking up Rancho Santa Margarita.No, that's not a reference to the RSM City C ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Saint Margaret Ranch, er, Rancho Santa Margarita Backs Arizona's SB 1070

​UPDATE: As expected, the Rancho Santa Margarita City Council passed a resolution last night supporting the controversial Arizona immigration-reform law SB 1070. In adopting the thing, one panelist revealed he does not believe in immigration reform (see end of post) . . .Aw hell, Rancho, go all t ... More >>

A Guide to Cheap Golf

[Summer Guide] We tell you how to find the best fore less

As Lake Forest Marijuana Dispensary Owner Gets Prison Time, Federal Suit is Filed to Guarantee Patient Access

​As a Lake Forest medical marijuana dispensary owner and manager were being convicted today of selling and possessing cannabis, a Mission Viejo law firm was announcing a federal lawsuit aimed at barring authorities from denying patients access to Costa Mesa and Lake Forest dispensaries.

Eat Local, Recycle Your Food Waste Miles and Miles Away

​Not to be outdone by their North County counterparts, who recycle sewage into drinking water through the revolutionary Groundwater Replenishment System, South County communities are banding together to turn food waste into compost.While the regional pilot program sounds meritorious, one thing abo ... More >>

Finky Gets to the Bottom of the Stinky in Mission Viejo

​"I can't believe there hasn't been any stories in regards to the foul odor that is covering Mission Viejo, CA like an airborne bacteria," writes a reader named Cori. "(Well . . . actually, in this Prozac laden city of Stepford, I'm surprised when anyone notices anything outside the 'norm.') The o ... More >>

[Special Screenings] 'Under the Bombs,' 'Border Café,' 'The Big Lebowski,' More

​"I can't believe there hasn't been any stories in regards to the foul odor that is covering Mission Viejo, CA like an airborne bacteria," writes a reader named Cori. "(Well . . . actually, in this Prozac laden city of Stepford, I'm surprised when anyone notices anything outside the 'norm.') The o ... More >>

Death, Taxes and the FPPC

Millionaire Richard J. O'Neill died, reportedly of natural causes, on April 6, but not before the government took its last piece of flesh from Orange County's monumental Democrat. The 85-year-old real estate developer who headed the California Democratic Party 30 years ago and was a major contribut ... More >>

John Taylor Describes His Last Day on the Job at Nixon Library

John H. Taylor, who left his longtime gig as the executive director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation to lead St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church and School as the Rancho Santa Margarita church's vicar, describes the events of his last day on the job in Yorba Linda here.It wa ... More >>

Water District Dinged $130K-plus for Sewage Spills

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board today fined Orange County's Santa Margarita Water District $133,190 for two spills that flushed 857,934 gallons of shit into San Juan Creek and Cristianitos Creek.   The water district - Orange County's second largest, serving more than 150,00 ... More >>

Why Do People Have a Problem With OC-Raised USC QB Mark Sanchez Being Proud of His Mexican Heritage?

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board today fined Orange County's Santa Margarita Water District $133,190 for two spills that flushed 857,934 gallons of shit into San Juan Creek and Cristianitos Creek.   The water district - Orange County's second largest, serving more than 150,00 ... More >>

Memorial Concert for OC Musician Shane Gooding

Folk-rocker Shane Gooding died of cancer in 2007, but his music made a strong impact on many of his fellow OC/LA musicians. Consequently, MJ Lazarsky is organizing a tribute concert to Gooding, scheduled for May 18 in Rancho Santa Margarita, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. [see details below] Called FG-V, it will f ... More >>

Letters

Add in a completely substandard produce section and meat that I could find cheaper elsewhere, and you have the perfect storm of crap

Mike from Rancho Santa Margarita: Slag Off!

A couple of weeks ago in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, the Los Angeles Times published a great article about how minorities fret that one of their own is the guilty party whenever a violent tragedy occurs. Shameful apprehension is exactly what I feel whenever I read stories involving the c ... More >>

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Mexican for gabachos

See You, Suckers!

This time, she means it

Special Screenings

Movie of the week: The Italian Job

Surf City Rolls 'Em

In recent weeks, smallish films deserving a second look have found a home in Huntington Beach. Actually, two homes if you count the Regency Charter Centre (formerly an Edwards), which has shown a penchant for holding on to some worthy flicks even as the huge summer blockbusters roll into town. For i ... More >>

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Special Screenings

Special pick your own movie of the week edition!

Special Screenings

Movie Event of the Week: Nosferatu Double Feature

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week: Dark City

Political Transvestism, Puma Killing, and The Blotter's Clairvoyance

Political transvestism and puma killing are in the news today, and both were implicit in posts on The Blotter yesterday. Coincidence or clairvoyance? Yesterday's first Blotter post dealt with the investigation by State Senator Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove) into the California National Guard's spying o ... More >>

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week: PARADISE NOW

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week:

The King of Masks

The Year in the 241 Toll Road

The year in doing nothing

Toll Road Rage: 2005 in Review

The year in the 241, the year in doing nothing

FOR THE BENEFIT OF MRS. ROHRABACHER

The year in the 241, the year in doing nothing

The Boys From Company JC

Marines talk war with kids at church

Terror Town, USA

Marines talk war with kids at church

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Marines talk war with kids at church