The controversy over a Huntington Beach resident’s bigoted online comments and offline associations with known alt-right racists came before the Ocean View School District board of trustees meeting last night. Gracey Van Der Mark, a member of the district’s Measure R Citizens Oversight Committee, referred to blacks at a Committee for Racial Justice workshop in Santa […]
Lara Hanneman’s Cauldron in Buena Park Is a Cozy Tavern of Bewitching Allure
Revelers no longer have to wait for Halloween Haunt to have a frightfully good time in Buena Park. The Cauldron, a new witch-themed bar, is a charming experience. Two large, wooden doors transport all who enter into the realm of a 17th-century tavern. Transforming the nondescript longtime location of Crystal Factory Italian Galleria across the […]
Slumlord’s Buena Park Mansion Protested By Tenants Set to Be Evicted Near USC
A yellow Sureway bus arrived in a quiet, upscale Buena Park neighborhood near Coyote Hills on Sunday afternoon. One by one, dozens of tenants set to be evicted from an apartment complex a block from USC in Los Angeles exited with protest signs in hand. The residents readied to march before the multimillion-dollar, majestic, white […]
FAIR’s Anti-Immigrant Extremist Behind OC’s Anti-Sanctuary State Revolt Has OC Roots
In a tale of two city councils, Los Alamitos and Yorba Linda traveled down different paths towards the same goal of opposing the California Values Act last month. The roaming pro-Trump circus packed Los Alamitos’ tiny chambers on Mar. 19 in supporting the city’s effort to adopt an ordinance opting out of the “Sanctuary State” […]
Lawsuit Filed Against Los Alamitos Over Anti-Sanctuary State Ordinance
Two days after Los Alamitos city council adopted an ordinance opting-out of the California Values Act, attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the move. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU), the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Latham & Watkins firm joined together in representing Los Alamitos residents […]
Anti-Defamation League Joins Call for HB Finance Commissioner’s Removal
Gracey Van Der Mark somehow remains on the Huntington Beach finance commission even after a controversy erupted around her online bigotry earlier this month. As the Weekly reported, Van Der Mark recently deleted comments on YouTube where she referred to blacks as “colored people” and suggested they dutifully did the bidding of Jews at a […]
Los Alamitos Police Silent on City’s Potential “Sanctuary State” Opt-Out
Orange County’s chain migration of anti-Sanctuary State city council revolts returns this evening to where it all began in Los Alamitos. Following a 4-1 vote last month, council members are set for a second reading of an ordinance that will formally exempt Los Alamitos from the California Values Act (also known as SB 54). The […]
Peter Muntean ID’d as Man Critically Wounded in Anaheim Police Shooting
UPDATE, APR. 14, 8:00 A.M.: Police identified the man wounded in yesterday’s officer-involved shooting as 24-year-old Petrica Peter Muntean. He remains in critical condition. The department also released more details into the Thursday night incident that led officers to identify Muntean the following morning at a Carl’s Jr. parking lot. Around 8:30 p.m., police responded to […]
OVSD Trustee Sues HB Blogger for Violent Threats, Gets Temporary Restraining Order
Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin is as tough as they come, but even she has legal limits. Attorneys for the school board member filed a lawsuit on Mar. 22 in Orange County Superior Court against Huntington Beach blogger Chuck Johnson for defamation, harassment and making criminal threats against an elected public official. Johnson […]
Eat This Now: Character Cones at Eiswelt Gelato
“AWWWW! HOW CUTE!” Servers working behind the counter at Eiswelt Gelato in Westminster probably hear as many gushy greetings as baby animals at a petting zoo. That’s because the desserts they hand over are artfully crafted to resemble the most adorable critters in the pen. And if the routine has gotten old since the shop […]
OC Register Sports Section Publishes Weeks-Old NBA Standings Ahead of Playoffs
The NBA season wraps up tomorrow night with several seeds up in the air and all but one remaining playoff slot left to be determined. But unsuspecting sports fans wouldn’t know it by turning the pages of the OC Register‘s sports section this morning as I did while sitting on the can (TMI?). That’s because […]
Third Wave of Anti-Sanctuary State Council Meetings Slated This Week in OC
They keep coming. City councils in Orange County are passing resolutions, filing court documents supportive of a federal lawsuit and even suing California on their own against its “Sanctuary State” laws. This week, three more city governments will consider taking action in various forms in a revolt first unleashed by Los Alamitos last month. Not to […]
Former HB Detective Convicted of Stealing Money From Coworker’s Retirement Gift
Call it a thin blue crime or an alternative pension plan. The Orange County district attorney’s office announced yesterday that ex-Huntington Beach police detective Mario Ricci pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor county of petty theft for stealing money from a coworker’s retirement gift. In the week between Dec. 8 and Dec. 15, 2o16, Ricci pocketed […]
HB Finance Commissioner Called Blacks “Colored People” Online, Denies Antisemitism
The ranks of Orange County’s alt-right are fractured and in decline a year after the infamous Battle of Berkeley where figures made a name for themselves in pitched streets battles against antifa. But some of the quieter folks are still hanging around under the radar. Despite parading with a band of alt-right agitators who crashed […]
Water Polo Coach Accused of Sexually Assaulting Seven Girls in Los Alamitos
A local water polo coach pleaded not guilty yesterday afternoon to sexually assaulting seven girls during practice at his Los Alamitos club. The Orange County district attorney’s office charged Bahram Hojreh, a 42-year-old Irvine resident, with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts. After his arraignment at West Justice Center yesterday, the investigation continues as authorities believe […]
Santa Ana Activists Begin Push to Put Rent Control on November Ballot
A coalition of activist groups gathered on the steps of Santa Ana city hall to kick off a campaign to bring rent control to the city. Frustrated by a lack of support from council members, Tenants United Santa Ana (Tú Santa Ana) filed an ordinance with the city clerk yesterday afternoon following a rally. If […]
Huntington Beach Kicks Off OC’s Second Wave of Anti-Sanctuary State Fervor This Week
More city councils in Orange County are primed to revolt against the California Values Act with Huntington Beach voting to legally challenge it last night. The anti-Sanctuary State backlash is poised to spread to San Juan Capistrano, Aliso Viejo, Fountain Valley and Fullerton this week. Following Los Alamitos’ lead, Yorba Linda and Mission Viejo already […]
Will Buena Park’s Most Korean District Help Elect Democrat Sunny Park to City Council?
District elections will be fully in place when Buena Park voters elect three council members this November. The city began scrapping its old at-large system during the 2016 election cycle without getting hit with a lawsuit alleging violations of the California Voting Rights Act like Anaheim with Latinos and Fullerton with Asian-Americans before it. Even […]
How Drummer Jon Knox Helped Form Rage Against the Machine in Irvine
A week before leaving his hometown of Irvine behind for a new life in Nashville, musician Jon Knox had a parting suggestion for his longtime friend Tim Commerford that proved providential. Knox played drums with Lock Up, a funky Los Angeles rock band that split in 1990, when he paid special mind to its prodigious […]
Living Wage Campaign Kicks Off in Anaheim Amid Resort Elite Protest
Dozens of precinct walkers gathered at the downtown Anaheim office of Workers United Local 50 early Saturday morning to kickoff a $15 living wage campaign for the city’s resort area. They poured cups of coffee and plucked pan dulce from a pink box before listening to leaders of the nine-member Coalition of Resort Labor Union […]
ACLU: New OCDA Social Media Policy Still Unconstitutional
In a scathing letter last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California took the Orange County District Attorney’s office to task for scrubbing critical comments from its social media platforms. The civil liberties group argued that the offense, including blocking certain users, amounted to an unconstitutional suppression of free speech. A few days […]
