On the field, stealing bases is good. Off the field, embezzling more than $87,000 from Tijeras Creek Little League in Rancho Santa Margarita? Not so good. Orange County Sheriff Deputies arrested Joshua Paul Nowack, a 43-year-old Trabuco Canyon man, this week for the alleged crime. Prosecutors followed his cuffing up with 18 felony counts of […]
Trumpers Find New Troubadour in Yellow Red Sparks Singer Josh Hanson
Unleashed with a fury in these Trump times, the far right likes to position itself as the new counterculture despite relying more on meme magic than music. Through folksy voices like Woody Guthrie, Malvina Reynolds and Buffy Sainte-Marie, protest songs have solidly sided with the left for decades. Josh Hanson of Yellow Red Sparks, one […]
Campaign for Living Wage in Anaheim Resort Kicks Off With Fighting Spirit
The scene at Workers United Local 50 on Saturday didn’t resemble the somber funeral it otherwise might have been. Disney cast members from various labor unions gathered in the morning to kick off the Measure L campaign for living wages in the Anaheim Resort, a fight that’s far from dead. “Yes on L” signs decorated […]
Aliso Niguel High School Football Program Sponsored by Anti-Sanctuary Mayor
An Instagram post ahead of Friday night’s now infamous high school football game between the Santa Ana Saints and the Aliso Niguel Wolverines simply read “‘murica.” It encouraged students in the stands to wear red, white and blue. With the anniversary of 9-11 coming up, the display of patriotism seemed well-placed enough. But with the visiting team […]
Panxa Cocina’s Special September Menu Celebrates Hatch Chile
Nothing presages the turning of the seasons for New Mexicans quite like the smoky aroma of Hatch chiles roasting in a spinning barrel–tickling nostrils into a sneeze with its unleashed heat when prepared. The long, green chile is the Southwest’s gift to the world during its harvest season with local grocery stores stocking up during […]
Orange County’s Home-Care Program Is Plagued With Poor Pay and Shortages
Monique Taloa pulls out a drawer that’s full with her sister’s prescription bottles. She sits down at the kitchen table of her Buena Park home and methodically sorts pills into a large plastic box with compartments as deep as an ice tray’s. “It is very complex because I don’t want to make a mistake,” Taloa […]
Seal Beach Elementary Principal Calls Colin Kaepernick “Thug,” Rips Up Nike Shirt
It didn’t take long for a buncha conservatives to get triggered after news surfaced on Monday of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s deal with Nike for its “Just Do It” advertisement campaign. They sliced the swoosh off of socks, shoes and shirts in temper tantrum shows for social media (Hey, if any of y’all have […]
Fullerton Police Sgt. Charged With Filing False Report in City Manager Booze Crash
Following an election night party in 2016, Fullerton’s then-city manager Joe Felz acquainted his car with a curb in a nearby neighborhood. Two years later, his reckless ride is taking down more than just a small tree in front of a home. This week, the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office charged former Fullerton police […]
Principal Author of Anaheim’s Living Wage Law Says Disney’s Not Exempt
The prospect of putting behind a strained relationship between Anaheim and Disneyland held potential to be a momentous occasion. At Disney’s urging, both sides agreed to mutually end two subsidy agreements at the heart of contentious political battles in recent years. By the time Anaheim council members cast a unanimous vote last week to put […]
Northgate Market to Transform Downtown Santa Ana Store Into Fancy Apartments
On a busy afternoon, a man loads boxes of strawberries and other produce into his truck after wheeling a shopping cart from Northgate Market in downtown Santa Ana. The small parking lot is mostly full and daytime shoppers roam the aisles inside. But that daily bustle may become a thing of the past. Within a […]
Anaheim Dissolves Disney Subsidies, Declares Peace on Backs of Resort Workers
An earthquake unexpectedly shook things up at Anaheim city hall during last night’s council meeting. Long after the tremors calmed, council members sought to end rumbles of another sort with the Disneyland Resort over two controversial subsidy agreements. At the Mouse’s request, they unanimously voted to end $267 million in bed-tax subsidies for a planned […]
Anaheim Can Call Disney’s Bluff by Ending Hotel Subsidy, But Keeping Gate Tax Ban
Local elections are still months away, but a decisive moment in Anaheim arrives tomorrow evening. At the behest of the Disneyland Resort, Anaheim city council is set to consider reversing course on tax policies benefiting the corporate behemoth. “Good friends will not always agree,” wrote Josh D’Amaro, Disneyland Resort president, to city officials last week. […]
Poll: Living Wage Measure More Popular Among Anaheimers Than Disney!
Let’s face it, the Mouse is acting a little strange lately. After decades of dolling out pittance in pay, the Disneyland Resort agreed in late July to bring thousands of workers belonging to its biggest unions up to $15 an hour next year. Then, they followed that contract by raising starting salaries for non-union “cast […]
Will Village Center’s Revival Help Make Stanton Great Again?
The Village Center shopping plaza in Stanton along Beach Boulevard stood for years as a tattered testament to the Great Recession’s fallout. Acapulco’s, the last remaining restaurant, shuttered two years ago leaving in its wake abandoned storefronts giving the place an eerie vibe reminiscent of the ghost town of Ambrose from House of Wax. In […]
Disneyland Moves to Cancel $267 Million Hotel Subsidy and Gate Tax Exemption
In an unprecedented move, the Disneyland Resort called on Anaheim to end two policies that granted the corporation $267 million in bed-tax subsidies for a planned luxury hotel as well as a 45-year moratorium on any future entertainment taxes levied against it. The decision comes just days after Disney put plans for an eight-story, 700-room […]
How Will Anaheim’s Spat With Disney Over Subsidies Affect November’s Elections?
Construction plans on a new upscale hotel at the west end of Downtown Disney came to a screeching halt last week over disputed tax breaks. The Disneyland Resort sought to begin building its proposed eight-story, 700-room luxury lodge after appearing before the Anaheim planning commission today. The Mouse can still get things started, but opted to […]
Chapman Director of Church Relations Talks Church and State in Trump Times
The only wall President Donald Trump doesn’t seem to want to build these days is the civically sacred one separating church and state. Trump may not be convincing as a pious man to most, but with Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his administration enjoys the robust backing of the religious right. […]
Former Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle Ditches “City of Kindness” for Cowan Heights
What’s left for Curt Pringle in his former fiefdom of Anaheim? The ex-mayor lost his grip on city hall two years ago when the debut of district elections narrowly denied him a council majority of sycophants for the first time since being termed-out in 2010. The following year saw Curt Pringle and Associates, his influential […]
Gracey Van Der Mark, Peddler of Racist Conspiracies, Runs for School Board in HB
Gracey Van Der Mark, a woman removed from two school district panels earlier this year after referring to African-Americans as “colored people” in online comments, is now running for a seat on the Ocean View School District board of trustees in Huntington Beach. She made the announcement about her last-minute candidacy over the weekend on […]
OC Dems Denounce Mike Huckabee’s Upcoming Medieval Times Appearance
Mike Huckabee isn’t coming to Medieval Times in Buena Park until November, but the political jousting over his appearance is already underway. The former Arkansas governor is the special guest speaker for the city’s 40th annual mayor’s prayer breakfast dubbed “Faith in Life and Leadership.” The event touts Huckabee as a renowned author, television host […]
Will Dad Miller, Tiger Woods’ Old Golf Course, in Anaheim Be Replaced With a Brand-New Community Park?
Carts whirl around the grounds of Dad Miller Golf Course in Anaheim on a recent Saturday afternoon. Bent at the knees, a golfer swings his putter and sends a shot toward the hole. The ball tumbles to the left before coming to a stop. He walks over and tries again; this time, the ball curves […]
