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Alex Rivera Looks Back on the Legacy of His Sci-Fi Magnum Opus, Sleep Dealer

Alex Rivera’s science-fiction flick Sleep Dealer was released nearly a decade ago, but it remains relevant for its radical vision of a future world we now live in, with increased border patrol, digital culture, natural-resource containment and drone warfare. It’s an amazingly prophetic film, especially when you recognize the concept was developed in the mid-’90s. …

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In Orange County’s Courthouse Scandals, Prosecutors and Sheriff Unite in Cover-Ups

CHAPTER ONE  Undercover Canadian police couldn’t believe their eyes at the Tycoon Club in Vancouver. Oblivious to the surveillance, law-enforcement colleagues, including two cops from Southern California, partied inside a hangout for the Big Circle Boys, a violent, Asian, organized-crime family. The Guangzhou-spawned syndicate specialized in extortion, home-invasion robberies and narcotics trade—particularly heroin, international human …

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Kaiser Permanente’s Mental-Health Screenings for Preteens Expand Beyond OC

“He tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge at 14.” Dr. Vincent Valenzuela is reading a hospital report regarding a young patient he saw two years ago at Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Ana medical offices. The pediatrician’s eyes skim through the report in disbelief. “At his last physical, there weren’t any red flags, but …

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“Food From the Bar” Enlists Legal Community in OC Hunger Fight

A food line six years ago at Boysen Park in Anaheim made all the difference in the world to the Soledad family. “I saw my mother crying because we had just been eating canned foods,” recalls Sergio Soledad, a 17-year-old Loara High School student at the time. The son of Mexican immigrant parents from Guadalajara, Soledad …

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Newport Beach Corner Cafe Is the Perfect Coastal Liquor-Store Deli

The chalkboard menu at Newport Beach Corner Cafe said the sandwiches were strictly a DIY affair. There were no specials to save me—I had to pick the ingredients myself. And so I froze. “Are you ready to order?” the kind cashier asked at least three times as I stood silently, mind lost in exponential possibilities. …

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Judge Orders Return of 250 Pounds of Weed Seized On Way to OC Dispensary

  On August 22, 2014, Tehama County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle heading south from California’s Emerald Triangle, the marijuana heartland of America. They seized 250 pounds of ready-for-market marijuana, four sample bags, a live marijuana plant, 11.7 grams of weed for personal use, several cell phones and a laptop, a pair of walkie-talkies, and a …

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OC Weekly’s Cannasseur Corner: Bob Baker of Grandma Baker’s Edibles

  Bob Baker, the owner and operator of Grandma Baker’s Edibles, had his first experience making edibles at the age of 14 with the help from a retired veteran. At the time, his inexperience showed in the finished product. “The first time we ever did it we put so much in there it was crazy,” …

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Doctors, Medical Billers, OC Pharmacy Owners Accused of $40 Million Scheme

Twenty-one doctors, two pharmacists, two business owners and a physician assistant have been charged in an alleged $40 million kickback scheme that affected 13,000 patients and rattled California’s workers compensation insurance system, the state’s Insurance Commissioner and Orange County’s district attorney jointly announced Thursday. Among those charged are: Tanya Moreland King, 37, and her 38-year-old husband Christopher …

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