The Orange County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff’s Department have finally responded to the OC Grand Jury’s June 20 report on potential safety hazards at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located atop Loma Ridge. Unsurprisingly, both response letters say basically the same thing: thank you for your report but the EOC is fine as it […]
Where Do OC’s Senators Stand on AB 931, Which Restricts Law Enforcement’s Use of Deadly Force?
In early July, Santa Ana police officers shot and killed a man who was allegedly breaking into cars in a West Civic Center parking structure. News reports said the man was carrying some sort of metal bar (but apparently no gun), and officers reportedly first used a taser on him. But then an “altercation” took […]
The Orange County Great Park Is Huge, Perfectly Manicured and Beautiful. So Where’s the Actual Park?
It’s sunny and about 80 degrees out when I find a map for the Orange County Great Park. I’ve been walking around the massive Irvine landscape for the past 30 minutes, trying to take it all in, but the map holds a surprise I didn’t find in any of the websites, brochures or blog posts […]
UC Irvine’s Thuy Vo Dang is the Newest Member of the John Wayne Airport Arts Commission
Thuy Vo Dang is the curator of the UC Irvine Libraries’ Southeast Asian Archive, co-author of the 2015 book Vietnamese in Orange County, and, as of today, the newest member of the John Wayne Airport Arts Commission. We recently spoke about her interest and experience in the arts, her goals for airport arts commission, and […]
In the Age of Trump and Fake News, We Talk Propaganda With Cal State Fullerton Professor Nancy Snow
It often seems that today’s social media landscape is a just a wasteland for propaganda–what political scientists refer to as non-neutral advocacy spread by mass media. Propaganda covers everything, especially after President Donald Trump–one of the most skilled propagandists ever to occupy the White House–says or tweets something (especially if it’s in ALL-CAPS). About 15 […]
Watch the Amazing ‘Lost’ Show Huell Howser Shot for So Cal Edison!
Over the course of nearly three decades, the journalist Huell Howser filmed about 1,500 programs about California. Virtually all of it aired on PBS affiliates like KCET, where Howser worked for most of that time. But most people don’t know that some of Howser’s earliest work in California (he moved here in the mid-1980s) was […]
Irvine Company Denies Claims It Provides Shopper License Plates to ICE
If you drive to the Irvine Spectrum shopping center, Fashion Island or The Marketplace, it’s a sure bet that the Irvine, Newport Beach and/or Tustin Police Departments know about it. That’s because in 2016, The Irvine Company installed Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) at these three shopping centers (click here to read The Irvine Company’s […]
OC Grand Jury says Orange County Emergency Operations Center is Vulnerable in Emergency!
High atop Loma Ridge is the Orange County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Consider it the main command center during a big disaster. From there, 150 or more emergency responders and public officials can coordinate efforts to deal with anything ranging from a major earthquake to a mass shooting. It’s hard to overstate the facility’s vital […]
After 30 Years, I Found Out My Best Friend in High School’s Death Was Not an Accident
We met in the second grade. My first memory of R (for the sake of his family, I’ll just call him that) was of me irritating him in a little-kid way. I was standing behind him in line. We were always standing in line in elementary school, and it was insanely boring. At some point, […]
All Hail the Art-o-mat!
Just beyond the curtain-framed entrance to the LivingRoom Salon in Costa Mesa and immediately to the left is what appears to be an old cigarette machine. At first glance, it seems to be just a kitschy relic shoved off to the side of this combination hair salon and art gallery (many municipalities banned cigarette machines […]
For American Military Veterans, Transition Has Been Hell
Andy Greene was in Mammoth when the phone rang. It was 1:30 in the morning on Saturday, Jan. 18, and the Long Beach resident was sleeping, so the call went to voice mail. After the sun rose, Greene checked his phone. The message was from Chris Atencio. Greene met Atencio more than a decade earlier […]
Barney the Dinosaur? Meet Jan Crouch
Illustration by Katherine HyattUnless you're into Lawrence Welk reruns, decade-old telecourses and second-tier British comedies, Orange County public television station KOCE is a dead zone. You could say it's perennially uninteresting. But suddenly the 30-year-old station has become monumentally fascinating because Barney the Dinosaur and the rest of the KOCE gang may be shacking up […]
Garofollies
Photo by Jack GouldSandwiched between the Sugar Shack and Longboard Pub on Main Street in Huntington Beach is an orange and green storefront. Its windows are mostly covered with brown butcher paper, but it's still possible to peer inside and see an empty room, stacked tables and exposed electrical wiring where drywall should be hanging. […]
Dear John
My Dearest A.G.: Of all the loathsome provisions in the USA Patriot Act—which you rammed through Congress in those scary days immediately after September 11, 2001—easily the most loathsome and chilling was the part that made it ridiculously easy for the already all-powerful feds to go snooping around public libraries to check up on our […]
Tunnel Vision
Irvine Co. bazillionaire owner Don Bren likes all kinds of things in life—fine art, skiing, beige stucco houses with Spanish tile roofs and 5-0 development approvals from the Orange County Board of Supervisors. He even likes the sprawling housing and commercial uses that will make up much of Irvine's plan for the old El Toro […]
From Scrubs to Trunks
Photo by Jeanne RiceThe sky and ocean are about the same anvil-gray color, but there are still lots of little kids flying kites and scores of shirtless guys and bikini girls lying out on the beach at 54th Street in Newport Beach. There's a line of maybe a dozen surfers in the water stretching south […]
Ann Coulters Pillow Case
Aside from the fact that exactly zero flights are taking off or landing at El Toro, the best indicator that the skies over South County are safe is the content of the El Toro Chronicles message board. During the hottest days of the war on El Toro, local activists used the board to kick around […]
So Good, Youll Wish You Were Sick
Photo by Jessica CalkinsThey certainly looked like doctors, though they were dressed like you or me. They didn't have any surgical tools or stethoscopes or anything, but I couldn't shake the feeling they were medical professionals. They were two tables over, so I leaned in closer to listen in on their conversation. Much of what […]
Outside the Master Plan
Photo by Tenaya HillsCamille Barr is sitting on her back porch enjoying the afternoon sunshine. A few yards away a sprinkler drenches the hot yard. Her dog, Charlotte, runs through the yard and then goes back inside. Near Barr's feet, her pet chicken, Foghorn, silently picks at a corncob. “I feel so lucky to live […]
Less Talk, More Shooting
Dan White rode an anticrime campaign into San Francisco City Hall, resigned from the city council in 1978, immediately begged for his job back, was rebuffed, executed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, and so became one of the most notorious criminals in city history. How White went from anticrime advocate to killer is […]
Faster N Furiouser
Darrell Issa is South County's congressman these days, and the major investor in a campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis. But, by his own admission, Issa comes from a background of thievery. His brother stole cars. Issa's been accused of stealing cars with his brother. And Issa built a $100 million business selling car alarms […]