Big Spike in Drugs Coming Into Orange County Jails Brings New Body Scanners … for Some

A story recently published about drug smuggling being on the rise at many California jails contains this interesting fact about Orange County's lockup: Not only has there been a massive increase in illegal drugs making it inside, but the county is purchasing several full-body scanners to give deputies full views of inmates' internal organs and …

Hole In the Wall: Anatolian Fresh Mediterranean Grill's Turkish Feast

“Can I start with the pilaki?” I asked the cashier at Anatolian Fresh Mediterranean Grill. The picture of the appetizer on a flat-screen TV at the register promised a pinto bean cassoulet: the beans, onions, carrots and tomatoes simmered, then tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. I've had it on many occasions, and you …

Bao Nguyen Is Garden Grove's History-Making Mayor in More Ways Than His Ethnicity

If you need a metaphor for Bao Nguyen's stunning win as Garden Grove's new mayor earlier this month and what it means for the future of Orange County, look no further than the city's historic Main Street on election night. The storefront-heavy stretch is the last remnant of Garden Grove's old downtown, nowadays a forlorn …

Hole In the Wall: Tortas y Biónicos 'Nice' Is the Nacho's Revenge

If you want a glimpse into the profound mystery that is the Mexican soul, look no further than tostilocos. It's a snack that has marched across Aztlán over the past decade but has made no impact among gabachos whatsoever—and I don't blame them. Slice open a bag of Tostitos, dump cueritos (pickled pig skin) on …

Orange County Dinged in Report That Ranks Huntington Beach Our Most LGBT-Friendly City

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which are most and least LGBT-friendly Orange County cities of them all? Well, the Human Rights Campaign–or HRC, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization–did not rank all 34 of OC's incorporated cities, just seven, and based on that Huntington Beach is the most LGBT-friendly and …

UCI Law's Erwin Chemerinsky and Michele Goodwin Tell Obama to Act on Organ Shortages

UC Irvine School of Law founding dean and nationally known constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, UCI Chancellor's Professor of law Michele Goodwin and 300 health and transplant professionals, religious leaders, legal scholars and ethicists are calling on President Barack Obama to take action on “easing a critical and worsening shortage of transplantable organs that results …

An Inconvenient Thirst: Rain Can't Save Us From This Drought

Looking out the large windows from Jay Famiglietti's corner office at UC Irvine on a sun-drenched late-spring day, you take in an inviting deep greenbelt and, just beyond that, the green, green grass of Aldrich Park. Contrast that with the view from the UCI hydrologist's new office at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in …