On the eve of statute of limitations, the Orange County district attorney’s office (OCDA) is charging a second person in the 2015 stabbing murder of 22-year-old college student Shayan Mazroei at a Laguna Niguel bar. Elizabeth Anne Thornburg, a 38-year-old Mission Viejo resident, now faces a felony “accessory after the fact” charge for allegedly aiding […]
Mission Viejo
Donavon Frankenreiter Brings The Sound of the Beach to OC Parks Summer Concert Series
Donavon Frankenreiter finds importance in giving back to the places he’s called home. Last month, the Mission Viejo-bred solo singer/songwriter helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in a benefit concert for the island of Kauai, where he’s lived for the past 11 years. Headlined by popular acoustic surf rock musician Jack Johnson, the show […]
McGarvey’s Scottish Ale: Our Beer of the Week!
Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse and Pizza equips it’s brewpubs with only the freshest ingredients to create their award winning suds and variety of menu items. Oggi meas today in Italian, but to us Oggi’s stands for the OG of OC craft beer– founded in 1991 by brothers, George and John Hadjis, who initially opened a pizza […]
South County’s Sol Agave Expands to Mission Viejo!
From gourmet truck to stand alone restaurant to second location, the team at Sol Agave is embracing their restaurant’s growth and extending their reach to not only include San Juan Capistrano, but Mission Viejo’s Union Market. I sat down for dinner with Jessie Galvez (one of the business partners) to learn more about their thriving […]
Now Open: Another North Shore Poke Co. and MORE!
North Shore Poke Company, one of the first poke stores to open in Orange County, has added a restaurant in Mission Viejo–its third in OC and seventh overall. 23052 Alicia Pkwy. Ste B1, Mission Viejo, CA 92692 Black Market Meal Prep, a meal delivery service business, has opened in the spot that was once Xa […]
STEALMYBEATS Is OC’s Unsung A-List Hip-Hop Producer
Birthdays. Honoring the previous year of success with a celebration of becoming older and wiser. OC-native Justin Harris, better known as music producer StealMyBeats has a lot to celebrate as he is coming off his most successful year in music yet. In 2017, through his unique production, StealMyBeats accomplished placement with a vast variety […]
Federal Judge Poised to Punish Innocent Vietnamese for Somebody Else’s Crime
With more than $700,000 at stake, Vietnam War refugee Hung Ngo this month entered a courtroom inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse breathing heavily and looking confused. Three corporate lawyers and a Department of Justice attorney faced U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna while discussing mind-numbing intricacies of a legal quarrel over scrapped plans […]
Federal Officials Defend Mailman Who Ran Over Orange County Granny
While working on his Rancho Santa Margarita route, U.S. Postal Service carrier Adam Rojas exchanged pleasantries with resident Mary Honda on at least 40 occasions, so you can image his shock when he accelerated away from curbside mailboxes on Oct. 28, 2013, and ran over the 85-year-old grandmother, a retired bank teller. For more than […]
MMA’s Jason “Mayhem” Miller: “We Shouldn’t Live In Fear of the Police”
Jason “Mayhem” Miller’s reputation rested easy in 2012. He captured Internet attention around the globe as a mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar, MTV show host and willing subject for provocative photographs. But the last four years have brought Miller a flood of negative publicity stemming from allegations of domestic violence, resisting arrest, vandalism, assaults and […]
Helm Street's Choice Ruggedness
Nature. Skateboards. Beers. Joints. Bikers. Confederates. How a young man fits these aesthetics into one accessories brand is intriguing, but it works. Helm Street's (helmstreet.com) lookbook scrolls through tatted and rugged dudes and chicks partying on the shore and in the woods mixed with clean images of hand-forged and heavy-duty jewelry and leather goods. It's […]
O'Neill's Breakfast of Champagne
“Would you like a mimosa or champagne?” the server asks as you're seated at O'Neill's Bar & Grill inside the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo. “A mimosa, please,” you reply without hesitation. You know from the flier you saw earlier with the brunch buffet price that the drink would add only $4 to […]
MISSION VIEJO
It's easy to claim there's nothing to do in Mission Viejo because of its wide, expansive streets and absence of nightlife (except for you, Shooter's Saloon, you dingy gem, you!), but to call it bereft of fun activities just isn't true. The call to visit the Ol' Mission is in its scenic landscapes that hint […]
The Gals and Guys Every OC Native Has Probably Dated
Last year, we published two listicles that immediately became some of the most-read stories in OC Weekly history: “10 OC Girls You've Probably Dated” and “10 OC Guys You've Probably Dated” are testaments to the fact that no matter how many dirty cops we expose, how many politicians we recall, how many pedophile priests we […]
Joe Schmoe's: House of Meat
I've been mad at Cypress ever since its high school beat my alma mater, Anaheim High, in the CIF Division IX football championship back in 2007. We made up a bit with Cambino's, an awesome Asian barbecue—but that closed a couple of years ago, and I got pissed anew. Why, if it weren't for Cafe […]
Mission Viejo Hiker Costs Taxpayers, Discovers True Meaning of Fiscal Cliff
New Year's weekend is a magical time when human intelligence is diminished by excessive revelry, a time when normally sensible people find themselves in handcuffs following encounters with lawmen on highways or inside barrooms and clubs. (It must be something in the Champagne.) Though plenty of these folks could qualify for an Einstein award, this year, […]
Richard Crawford, OC-raised NFL Rookie, Makes Huge Play For Washington Redskins
Most of the people Orange County sends to the nation's capital are prone to empty, partisan rhetoric, but on Sunday Mission Viejo's Richard Crawford showed that the way to win a genuine standing ovation in the Washington, D.C. area is with raw athletic prowess. Crawford–who attended Oceanside's El Camino High School, Saddleback Community College and then […]
Orange County Waiter Gets Punished For Threatening High-Ranking FBI Agents
The Orange County man who made several, wild threatening calls to the FBI last year won't be heading to prison because officials believe the defendant suffers from mental health issues. This week inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, U.S. District Court Josephine Staton Tucker ordered Thomas Troy Bitter sentenced to six months already […]
Federal Judge Punishes Orange County Mail Thief
With an accomplice in January, Henry Gerhard Amundson stole more than 40 pieces of mail in cities like Mission Viejo and Lake Forest and doctored checks to steal money before police stopped them in Costa Mesa. Amundson faced a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine. But this month, U.S. District Court […]
Judge Slams FBI's Italian Cruise Ship Murder Case; Orders $1 Million Returned To OC Suspect
Based on government documents reviewed by OC Weekly, there's no doubt FBI agents in California believe an Orange County lawyer murdered his ex-wife for financial gain during a 2006 Italian cruise and tossed her body overboard near Naples. Indeed, federal law enforcement officials have tried without success to win a grand jury murder indictment against Lonnie Kocontes […]
Jason “Mayhem” Miller of MMA and Bully Beatdown Fame Fights Off Vandalism Count
A judge last week dismissed a misdemeanor vandalism count against Jason “Mayhem” Miller, the former MMA fighter and reality TV star who sheriff's deputies found naked in a Mission Viejo church last summer. Deputies arrived at Mission Hills Church the morning of Aug. 13 to find a broken picture frame, a propane tank and other […]
Pepz Pizza Is a North County Secret
Just admit it, Orange County: We are plagued by segregation—pizza segregation. Not only do we have neighborhood spots frequented only by locals, but we also have mini-chains servicing swaths of the county that ensure we rarely leave our friendly confines to see how the other half folds a slice. Residents in Huntington Beach and Costa […]