ORANGE – A few hours after Pope Benedict XVI officially ends his tenure as head of the Roman Catholic Church, Orange County Catholics and others interested in the pope will gather to honor Benedict's service and pray for a successful election of a...
SANTA ANA – A man stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as an Orange County jury Wednesday found him guilty of fatally bludgeoning his wife of 37 years while she slept.
Jurors in Superior Court Judge John Conley's courtroom deliberated about...
When Liz Reynoso got the call that she was one of 51 selected to get a free surgery for her dog, she called it a miracle.
Reynoso, 48, a single mother of two, had put off spaying her 7-month-old English bulldog for months. With a daughter in college...
COSTA MESA – An outside expert on public employee pensions told the City Council Tuesday that it should take "drastic" actions to lower its retirement fund debt, which he said was slightly worse than neighboring cities.
Joe Nation, a Stanford...
HIKING AND YOGA IN THE WILD
Ready to try something different from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday? How about a hike up a steep hill in the wilds behind San Clemente, visiting an oak woodland and practicing yoga along the way?
The Richard and Donna O'Neill...
A Bay Area assemblyman and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer are pushing to reform the operations of the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, an obscure government agency that has issued billions of dollars in tax-free bonds over the...
SANTA ANA – An Anaheim man faces a life term in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted Tuesday of murdering a Garden Grove man by stabbing him during a dispute over a drug deal, prosecutors said.
Johnathan Allen Kincaid,...
MISSION VIEJO Another improbable finish helped the Aliso Niguel girls' soccer team successfully navigate their way back to the CIF-SS Division 1 championship match.Senior Lindsay Doyle recorded the match-winning goal with less than three minutes...
ANAHEIM – A Mega Millions lottery ticket buyer in Anaheim missed Tuesday night's $13 million jackpot by just one number, but will still pocket $630,786, lottery officials said Wednesday.
The lottery ticket bought at Gonzales Liquor Market, 1845 W....
SANTA CRUZ – The suspect in the killing of two Santa Cruz police detectives was wearing body armor and had three guns when he died in a shootout Tuesday with other officers, sheriff's officials said Wednesday.Authorities say 35-year-old Jeremy...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Clemente:
FEB. 26
• Terrorist threats. 12:19 p.m. 100 block of West El Portal. A man accused an employee of threatening him.
FEB. 25
• Investigate person down. 9:33 p.m. 1400 block of North...
CAMP PENDLETON – A Camp Pendleton Marine participating in a skydiving training exercise near Perris has been killed, base officials said.
Cal Fire Riverside paramedics responded at 3:01 p.m. Tuesday after a Marine was found in the 200 block of...
The Ark of San Juan animal-rescue group is seeking a home for Clyde, a terrier mix who was rescued by The Ark three years ago. His adoptive family had an economic hardship and could no longer care for him. He is about 7 years old and is good with...
The cost to inspect and repair faulty steam generators at the San Onofre nuclear plant reached $102 million by the end of 2012, while the cost to replace lost power hit $300 million, Edison International said Tuesday in a report on company costs.
The...
A man who lost his pharmaceutical license after being accused of filling hundreds of questionable prescriptions for narcotics and ignoring "red flags" that his Huntington Beach pharmacy was being targeted by drug abusers says he will apply for his...
SAN CLEMENTE – A San Clemente nonprofit organization that assists the working poor and the homeless is appealing for help to provide emergency shelter on cold or rainy nights for people who live on the streets.
The group, iHope, which offers...
IRVINE – The head of UC Irvine's law school will fill a newly created faculty position leading the school's teaching and research on First Amendment law, the school announced Tuesday.
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky will be the first Pryke Chair in First...
FULLERTON – A man was injured Tuesday night during a shooting in Fullerton that police believe to have been gang-related.Police shortly after 8 p.m. responded to reports of shots fired on the east side of Fullerton.The officers found a man...
A development violation in an environmentally sensitive area of Dana Point will be addressed by the California Coastal Commission next week.
At a meeting March 7 in San Diego, the commission will hear a staff recommendation to approve an agreement...
SANTA ANA – A man testified Tuesday his life seemed to move in slow motion the night he struck his wife in the head with a tripod while she slept.Agustin Armaraz Espinoza, 58, said his wife, Marisela, had again asked him to move out of the house...
LAGUNA NIGUEL – After more than four hours of deliberation, presentations and public testimony, the City Council voted 4-0 Monday night to allow development of a $68.5 million retirement community in the heart of the city.
The Planning Commission...
The son of a woman in assisted living and her former daughter-in-law were convicted Monday of stealing $330,000 from her, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.
Peter Garcia, 70, and Virginia Kay Furr-Garcia, 50, both of San Clemente,...
CAMP PENDLETON – A 16-year career Marine, awarded the Purple Heart for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, is the first killed in combat this year, base officials said.
Staff Sgt. Jonathan D. Davis, 34, of Kayenta, Ariz., served as a motor transport...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from Dana Point. Details are provided when available:TUESDAY Suspicious person/circumstances. 7:50 a.m. 34000 block Granada Drive. Petty theft. 7:24 a.m. 25900 block Domingo Avenue.MONDAY Burglary....
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Juan Capistrano. Details are provided when available:TUESDAY Vehicle code violation. 5:32 a.m. 30800 block Avenida de la Vista.MONDAY Disturbance. 8:33 p.m. 32000 block Paseo Carolina....
Sunshine and gradually warming temperatures are locked in for the rest of the week in Orange County, the National Weather Service says, with highs in the mid-80s possible by Friday.
Gusty northeast winds also push through canyons and passes over the...
ORANGE – Three businesses in Orange had their windows smashed and were burglarized early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
About 1:15 a.m., officers responded to a business alarm in the 1600 block of east Lincoln Avenue, said Orange police Sgt....
San Clemente resident Joan Thompson began volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast Area in 2011. The retired escrow manager was influential in the development of the club's Power Hour homework program.
Thompson agreed to share some of...
One of two big banks that served as a trustee for the giant Ponzi scheme Medical Capital Holdings has agreed to pay investors $114 million.
The settlement by Bank of New York Mellon is more than twice the $57 million the bank offered to MedCap's...
City officials shed some light on the timeline for Dana Point's Town Center project during a meeting of the Planning Commission on Monday night.
Director of Public Works Brad Fowler and acting Community Development Director John Tilton said they hope...
SANTA ANA – The mother of a 20-year-old who authorities say went on a killing, carjacking and shooting spree across Orange County last week, leaving four dead, appeared in court Monday in her own hit-and-run case.
Sarwat Syed, 43, and her family is...
Three rocks of crack cocaine earned Eugene Tate a sentence of 25 to life.
It was 1998, and Tate had already earned two strikes on his record with convictions for burglary and robbery. He had a drug habit, and he made mistakes. But he couldn't believe...
NEWPORT BEACH – Authorities have identified a man whose body was found in the water at a Newport Beach jetty.Orange County Coroner's Office officials Monday evening identified Pedro Ruiz, 82, of Costa Mesa as the man who was found in the water at...
NEWPORT BEACH – The California Coastal Commission's staff is recommending that the commission deny Newport Beach's request to remove 60 fire pits from beaches at Balboa Pier and Corona del Mar State Beach.
The Newport Beach City Council voted in...
TUSTIN – Police are investigating any connection between slain construction worker Jeremy Lewis and the 20-year-old man accused of last week's shooting rampage.
A judge over the weekend issued a search warrant for the phone records of Lewis in the...
LAKE FOREST – A division of oil giant British Petroleum has sued a Lake Forest city councilman, owner of a local gas station, for more than $177,000.Arco-franchiser BP West Coast Products filed a lawsuit Feb. 14 claiming businessman Adam Nick...
SILVERADO CANYON – Sarah Hommes has been shooting since age 9, beating out grown men during competitions at 13.
Now Hommes, 22, and her dad, Alex Hommes, of Lake Forest, are passing on their skills through the Silverado Shooting Academy. The...
SANTA ANA – A convicted rapist serving a 50-year term in a Michigan prison deserves the death penalty in California for the sexual assault and murder of a pregnant Costa Mesa housewife nearly 25 years ago, an Orange County prosecutor argued Monday....
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – The majority of work on the southbound I-5 between Ortega Highway and San Juan Creek Road is scheduled to wrap up March 26, according to David Richardson, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
Guardrail...
An Orange County Superior Court judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit that outlet-mall developer Steve Craig filed against a San Clemente political group over a "follow the money" election mailer.Judge David Chaffee ruled that the mailer...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Clemente:
FEB. 24
• Disturbance. 2:28 p.m. 1700 block of North El Camino Real. A man said two homeless men – one of them toothless – threatened him when he asked them to leave the area.
•...
For one week in February, Dana Point Harbor frequenters witnessed the first indication of the most significant development in the harbor since its dedication. Strings of orange flags tied atop wooden story poles towered above the existing one- and...
Ambuehl Elementary School celebrated Read Across America with Favorite Hat Day on Monday.
Sponsored by the National Education Association, it is the nation's largest reading event, which is tied to the March 2 birthday of the author who went by the...
Surfers from up and down the coast couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous winter day – or cleaner surf – than they experienced in the final rounds Sunday of a two-day National Scholastic Surfing Association open contest at Salt Creek Beach Park...
SEAL BEACH – The Naval Weapons Station will participate in a nationwide training drill through Friday, including a simulated "shooter" exercise at the station's security training facility.
Residents near the station off Seal Beach Boulevard may see...
FOUNTAIN VALLEY – A five-car crash left three people injured Monday and closed lanes on the northbound 405 for about an hour.
A cause wasn't immediately clear for the crash, which involved an overturned truck and blocked the carpool and left lanes...
LAKE FOREST – "Stay back or I'll shoot her!"
A tall man in a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers pointed a black handgun at the forehead of a blindfolded brunette tied to a kitchen chair.
"Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" Tom Halvert shouted,...
IRVINE – Flowers decorated the back of Concordia University's gym Sunday morning as thousands gathered to remember the newly engaged Irvine couple who met in the same gym six years earlier.
The lives of Monica Quan, 28, and Keith Lawrence, 27, were...
FULLERTON – J.D. DeCaprio went into law enforcement in 1986 because he "wanted to put bad guys in jail."
His motivation started changing at 10:45 a.m. March 1, 2004.
The veteran Fullerton officer was moonlighting that day as a guard for an...
Sunshine dominates the Orange County forecast through the week, the National Weather Service says, with temperatures reaching as high as 88 on the first day of the new month.
High-pressure air building along the West Coast should take us from a few...
Children and their animals got to play dress-up Sunday for the San Juan Capistrano Fiesta Association's Kids Pet Parade at Zoomars Petting Zoo.
Prizes were awarded for best team costume (owner and pet), best domestic/household pet, best small...
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – When Nick Baldwin and Brian Nix walked into Partners Bank of California where Mike Chambers is a senior vice president, Chambers worried they were there to rob the place.
"They looked like Hells Angels," he says.
Tattooed...
LOS ANGELES – The election that made Antonio Villaraigosa the city's first Hispanic mayor since 1872 confirmed the clout of a fast-growing Latino population and turned the former barrio tough into one of the most visible Hispanic politicians in...
Lane closures on I-5 in San Juan Capistrano are scheduled for overnight Sunday and Monday as the California Department of Transportation does restriping and places concrete barriers in preparation for its I-5/Ortega Highway interchange reconstruction...
Examples of how California could be affected by the automatic budget cuts set to take effect this week, according to the White House`.
The White House compiled the numbers from federal agencies and its own budget office. The numbers reflect the...
LOS ANGELES – Damaging wind gusts swept in from the deserts Sunday, as Southern California got a late-season dose of Santa Ana conditions.
A peak gust of 70 miles per hour was recorded overnight at Laguna Peak, a mountaintop 14 miles west of...
NEWPORT BEACH – Authorities said they recovered a man's body from the surf around 2:30 p.m. Sunday.Lifeguards pulled the body of a fully clothed deceased "elderly" man from the water near the 40th Street jetty, lifeguard and police officials...
LAGUNA BEACH – Emergency crews came by boat, truck and helicopter to rescue three 10-year-old girls whose fun afternoon paddle Sunday turned into a fiasco.Offshore winds gusting more than 30 mph pushed the girls beyond the serene protected waters...
ORANGE – Hair messy, eyes red and blinking at the morning sun, more than 50 die-hard movie fans started shambling out of the auditorium in small groups about 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
A full 24 hours after they entered the theater, the bleary-eyed group,...
ORANGE – A walk through Bob Babcock's party-supply warehouse is like taking a tour through the history of the world.
He's got 10-foot-tall Greek and Roman statues tucked in one corner. A medieval castle made from plaster sits in another corner....
BREA – Nature against nature.
That's the strategy being used at the Olinda Alpha Landfill, where a team of predatory birds keep pesky seagulls away from exposed trash.
A team of six falcons and one hawk trade shifts six days a week to prevent...
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – A Chase bank in the 31000 block of Camino Capistrano was robbed Thursday of an unknown amount of money, the Sheriff's Department reported.
The suspect was described at a man in his 30s wearing a hospital mask. Sheriff's Lt....
SANTA ANA – Vehicles ranging from a brand new pearl white Lexus to an older model Toyota pick-up truck with a rusted blue paint job drove through the coned-off corner on Flower Street Saturday exchanging their unwanted guns for gift cards during...
Placentia police uncovered a cache of 30 weapons, some of which were stolen, when they served a search warrant at a storage unit in the 500 block of Crowther Street, while investigating a man for allegedly selling drugs and stealing motorcycles.Chris...
Orange County's best middle schools can't and don't fit into a one-size-fits-all model of success.
Rather, they've mastered the delicate art of working both tirelessly and strategically to ignite achievement, pursuing approaches and techniques that...
Opening day started early Saturday morning for some Orange County Little Leaguers with ceremonies, the first pitch, and the resounding metallic pings as bats connected with baseballs.
In Tustin, nearly 1,000 children from 5 to 12 have signed up for...
HUNTINGTON BEACH – For Oscar Rodriguez, a freshman at Cal State Long Beach, every trip to the Oak View neighborhood feels like a homecoming.
On Saturday morning, the shy young man took the microphone before hundreds of volunteers assembled at Oak...
Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, who recently re-released his New York Times bestseller, "The Purpose Driven Life," for the online generation, on Sunday joins Oprah Winfrey for a second episode of her show, "Oprah's Lifeclass."
On the show,...
A mom makes dreams come true for children facing heart-rending health challenges.
For nearly four decades, a couple gives back as a form of thanks for having discovered San Clemente.
An orthodontist dedicates an element of his practice to many San...
The Ocean Institute's three-day, 11th annual Jazz Festival kicked off Friday night at Dana Point Harbor with a wine reception, a silent auction and a concert headlined by trumpet man Rick Braun, featuring guitarist Peter White and saxophonist Richard...
Gas prices here and across Southern California have posted one of the steepest one-month jumps on record and now rival the notoriously high prices of Hawaii, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
An average gallon of regular...
SACRAMENTO – Nine in 10 California voters say they support allowing immigrants who are in the country illegally and have been here for several years to stay and become citizens if they have a job, learn English and pay any back taxes, according to...
STANTON – Orange County Sheriff's deputies chased a man Saturday morning after he passed out in a fast-food restaurant drive-through lane and rammed a patrol car trying to escape, authorities said. Deputies arrived at a McDonald's, 11097 Beach...
Bankers, lawyers, architects and companies hoping to profit from school construction are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars this week to court public education officials at a three-day gathering in Sacramento.
The money is helping to pay for...
ANAHEIM – Los Angeles has its Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills its Restaurant Row. Anaheim has Tile Mile.
While it may not show up in Michelin Guides like the other two, Tile Mile, or Tile Row, nonetheless pulls in visitors from not just California, but...
Sonny is a 1 1/2 old male Schipperke/Pomeranian mix. He loves to play with toys, go for long walks and be cuddled. He is good with other dogs, and would do well in a home with kids as well. He may be small in stature, but he has a world full of love...
Local Vietnamese American leaders who wanted to personally present donations raised by the ethnic Orange County community for hurricane relief efforts in New York got their wish on Friday — a month after questions arose about the whereabouts of...
Another hotel could be in the works for San Juan Capistrano.
According to a weekly report by City Manager Karen Brust, the city's Development Advisory Board was presented with preliminary plans for a new 130- to 150-room hotel, along with 5,000 to...
ORANGE – Ray Venezia walked around the Orange Plaza 50 times on Friday to commemorate a 50-mile walk he logged around the traffic circle a half century ago.
It took Venezia, 66, about two hours to complete his journey around the inner circle of...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Clemente:
FEB. 21
• Burglary. 4:15 p.m. 600 block of Calle Canasta. Four teenagers were detained on suspicion of using a crowbar to break into a neighbor's garage and drinking alcohol and...
ORANGE – Christine and Lon Cross visited Chapman University for the first time recently and were taken by the campus' beauty, the friendliness of faculty and staff, and students' devotion to learning.
That's when the couple decided to leave their...
LOS ALAMITOS – Oakley Boren has gone by many names in her life.
They included the endearing nickname "Oh" from her native Thailand and "Annie" after Annie Oakley. But never was she called a runner.
The 36-year-old Los Alamitos resident was named...
Democrats lost supermajority control of the state Senate on Friday with the sudden resignation of Bakersfield Sen. Michael Rubio. But they almost certainly will regain their two-thirds advantage in May if not sooner.
With Rubio's immediate departure,...
The county's fire marshal was suspended from her post, just as officials completed an audit of an inspection program that charged hundreds of Orange County businesses for hazardous material inspections that were not done.
The weeklong suspension is...
As social norms evolve, it's only natural for city laws to adapt and change along with the times.
In the 1920s, Huntington Beach leaders likely could not foresee the need to tell waitresses they must be clothed or to prohibit the inhalation of glue....
"All those coves are magic in their own way. Shaw's hit homes for me when I was young and would go down there and boogie board as my dad went abalone diving with his buddies when it was legal to dive for them. Then in high school there were some fun...
SANTA ANA – An Orange County judge on Friday postponed the trial of a Huntington Beach man charged with murdering eight people in a Seal Beach beauty salon until November at the request of defense attorneys.
Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders...
Michael Lee's San Juan Capistrano home was the testing center for three months last year when his and three other families came together every evening with plans to bottle a homemade ketchup recipe they had been using for years at family and...
County Supervisor John Moorlach confirmed this week that he considering a run for governor in 2014.
Moorlach, a Republican who was the county's elected treasurer-tax collector for 12 years before winning election to the Board of Supervisors in 2006,...
SANTA ANA – A 19-year-old Tustin man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday moments after he apologized to the family of a friend who died in an alcohol-fueled, high-speed car crash while he was driving in 2011.
Jesus Manzo Torres told the...
Aspiring actress Courtney Aoki predicted in a 2010 YouTube video that she would be in the public eye in five years.
She didn't live that long.
Aoki, 20, was identified by law enforcement as the first of three people killed in an early-morning...
The next time your favorite local bar draws a complaint for leaving doors or windows open during live music that spills outside, there could be a $100 fine – or up to $500 for repeat violations.
Believe it or not, that's letting the bar off a lot...
COSTA MESA – Supporters and opponents of a plan to restart a reactor at the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant took their concerns to state utility regulators Thursday at a public meeting.
About 300 people attended the first of two three-hour...
After competing in three California Association of Dance/Drill Team Directors competitions, the San Clemente High School dance team is moving on to the national competition.
The National Competition will be held March 29-30 at the Segerstrom Center...
Read 'em and weep. The posted prices for a gallon of regular, observed Friday:
United Oil, El Camino Real/Cadiz: $4.21
Arco, PCH/Camino Capistrano: $4.25
Valero, Palizada/I-5: $4.25
USA Gas, Camino de Estrella/I-5: $4.27
Mobil, Pico/I-5: $4.28
Mobil,...
Your cat just made a litter box out of your wedding dress three days before you're getting married. What do you do?
If you're in Orange County, you get yourself to Judy Morrison's Paradise Creations Bridal Salon in Laguna Beach. And don't bother...
Staff Sgt. Nanette Lugo joined the U.S. Marine Corps for the ultimate challenge.
As a senior at Wilson High School in Long Beach she excelled academically, was class president and planned to go to Cal State Long Beach for a business degree.
But those...
Armed with a late pass, Costa Mesa Middle School seventh-grader Skylar Manning stuck around after class, fishing rings out of the school's pool.
With a robot.
Manning and his classmates have spent several weeks at the end of a controller, piloting...
SAN BERNARDINO – A line of black-and-white cars topped with silent sirens stretched 15 miles down the San Bernardino highway Thursday morning, following the hearse of the sheriff's deputy authorities say was the last victim of Christopher Dorner....
NEWPORT BEACH – Rep. Paul Ryan, one of the Republicans' brightest stars on Capitol Hill, dropped into Orange County on Thursday to lay out his vision of how lawmakers can roll back the "big government" changes of President Barack Obama.While one...
When marketing guru Tom Patty asked Jon and Gila Kurtz what their business was about, the owners of Dog Is Good had a ready response: "dog stuff."Wrong answer – and one that derails many young businesses, said Patty, a Dana Point resident who is...
The sun takes charge of Orange County skies Friday, and a warming trend could drive highs into the low 80s by late next week, the National Weather Service says.
For now, though, it's sunshine and cool weather, with gusty winds near the foothills for...
SANTA ANA – Three men have been arrested in connections with a gang-related shooting in a Santa Ana alleyway that left one person dead and another seriously injured.
Julio Sanchez Jr., 19; Vicente Vega, 19; and Salomon Lopez, 32, were taken into...
The trial for the man accused of killing Irvine 14-year-old Ashton Sweet has been moved to Riverside County after the justices of Orange County Superior Court recused themselves from the case, the prosecutor confirmed Thursday.
The local court...
Two rare prizes have arrived at San Clemente's Surfing Heritage Foundation – wall murals that surf artist Rick Griffin painted more than 50 years ago at age 15 in a friend's bedroom.When the house bearing the murals was torn down in November in...
In December, the Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast Area was selected as an official partner of Payless GivesTM Shoes 4 Kids, an annual giving program from Payless ShoeSource.
As part of the program, the club was awarded 350 shoe vouchers –...
A former Huntington Beach High School student was sentenced Thursday to four and a half months in jail after pleading guilty to making a false bomb threat at the school in December, according to an Orange County District Attorney's Office press...
SANTA ANA – A paranoid, jealous and controlling Huntington Beach police officer sexually, physically and emotionally abused his ex-wife and former girlfriend as he alternated between explosive and loving phases with both women, a prosecutor told a...
San Clemente's Guillobel Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy took home three medals at the "biggest-ever" official children's Brazilian jiu jitsu competition, the Pan American Kids Games (Pan Kids), held Feb. 10 at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson City....
San Clemente High School alumnae Heidi MacDonald and Maili Rohner joined forces after high school, starting a mural-painting business in Hawaii.
The team recently illustrated their first children's book, "Is There Really Such Thing as a Family Tree?"...
San Juan Capistrano's guardians of the night don't wear capes — they wear a badge.
The City Council this week honored Orange County sheriff's Deputy Anton Pereyra as the city's Deputy of the Year. He is a 13-year Sheriff's Department veteran and...
Locked in a scoreless battle with San Clemente in double overtime, Santa Margarita junior Taylor Klawunder saw an opportunity to make a match-changing play and squared herself up for a shot in the middle of the field.When her shot ultimately bounced...
San Clemente is introducing a law that will require businesses to clean up stray trash that they generate if it's found up to 100 feet from the premises.
The City Council approved the ordinance this week, aimed at bags, wrappings, cups or other...
Instead of the traditional treats and card exchanges that accompany Valentine's Day, Marblehead Elementary School kindergartners spread the love by making, packing and decorating sack lunches to be donated to Family Assistance Ministries.
A...
Twin 16-year-old San Clemente High School sophomores Kinsley and Kaleigh Anderson were honored by the San Clemente Lifeguard Department for their summer contributions.
Kinsley was awarded Junior Guard of the Session for 2012. She was also nominated...
When Sean Weiss, a Fountain Valley resident, learned that his best friend had been diagnosed with bone cancer in April 2011, he was determined to help him afford his treatment.
He held a yard sale. He helped organize a fundraiser with Huntington...
When you walk into Melrose in the OC, you realize women's clothing is serious business. There's little talking among shoppers – just basic chat: "This?" "Cute!" "Not you!" "Yes!"
Other than that, there's only the steady clacking of plastic, wood...
Chapman University President Jim Doti never imagined when he started teaching at the campus nearly four decades ago that a building would one day carry his name.
"I was just a struggling assistant professor back then," he said. "I was happy just...
ANAHEIM – The glitz and glam of a Hollywood red carpet will come to Anaheim on Oscar night as Cal State Fullerton's College of Communications throws a viewing party to raise money for scholarships.
"We're trying to create a fun Hollywood feel,"...
Colby Hudgens wasn't planning on taking over the family business. She had been helping out temporarily in the framing store, but when her parents retired and moved east, she found herself in charge.
Hudgens pulled out a calculator last week to figure...
Updated 02/21/13 to include new comments from Disney.
The White Rabbit character from Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" refused to hug black children last summer at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim – and it wasn't because the rabbit was late...
For the first time in nearly a year, all three clocks on the tower of the San Clemente Library agree on what time it is.
Orange County this week installed a new state-of-the-art clock system at a cost of $10,738 to replace three-decade-old clocks...
Fountain Valley, the quiet, bedroom community, is bustling with construction activity.
For the past year, the city has seen its economy steadied and, in fact, revived, by four separate projects that coincidentally began – and will end – at the...
ENCINITAS – A man who stole his mother's car despite her restraining order against him barricaded himself in her home, shot two San Diego County sheriff's deputies, and then killed himself early Thursday after a 10-hour standoff, authorities said....
About 90 people showed up at Calvary Chapel in Tustin on Wednesday to pray for the victims of a deadly shooting spree that tore through Orange County early Tuesday morning.
The evening vigil began with worship songs by the chapel band, after which...
LONG BEACH – A man suspected of stealing a car during a burglary at a Redondo Beach home was killed by Long Beach police Thursday morning after firing at officers at the end of a car chase, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol officers...
Programs aimed at Anaheim youth often have waiting lists, close doors in the early evening and fail to offer services for teenagers, even though crime is on the rise in Orange County's largest city, a new report shows.
The Anaheim Community...
We're sitting ducks.
Random gun violence is the new Orange County.
People are losing it everywhere!
Police weren't even done giving press conferences on Chris Dorner's bloody rampage from Irvine to Big Bear when another gunman terrorized our county...
FULLERTON – The 26-year old construction worker sitting in his vehicle when killed during Tuesday's shooting rampage would have handed over his keys and wallet to the shooter without resisting, a longtime neighbor of the victim said.
Jeremy Lewis,...
Courtney Aoki wanted to be an actress.
Aoki, 20, was a triple-threat singer-actor-dancer who worked in a taco joint and played in school productions of "West Side Story," "The Odd Couple" and "Damn Yankees."
But her dreams ended in an all-too-real...
LAS VEGAS – The Las Vegas Strip became a scene of deadly violence early Thursday when someone in a black Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati, sending it crashing into a taxi that burst into flames, leaving three people dead and at least six...
SANTA ANA – Police and city officials announced plans for a no-questions-asked gun buy-back that will take place at Santa Ana Stadium Saturday.
In exchange for the weapons they turn in, residents will receive $100 or $200 gift cards from four...
CSUD music programs need used instruments
Help CUSD schools by contributing to the "Let the beat go on" project. Donating used musical instruments to the CUSD music programs to help them meet the goal of providing free instruments for any student who...
Cool temperatures and partly cloudy skies should wrap up the workweek, the National Weather Service says, with sunnier skies and a warming trend expected in the week ahead.
Low-pressure air systems will be in the driver's seat through the weekend,...
The manufacturer of flawed equipment that has kept the San Onofre nuclear plant offline for more than a year paid $45.4 million to the plant operator, Southern California Edison, as part of a warranty for the equipment.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,...
The price for a gallon of gas in Orange County inched up a penny to $4.30 Wednesday. Overall local gas prices increased 58 cents in the past month, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.
Wednesday's hike marks 27 consecutive days of gas price...
LAGUNA HILLS – "Action cures fear." "Genius is perseverance in disguise." "The pursuit of excellence is its own reward."
Melvin Edwards carried these quotes with him on flashcards, reading them soon after he arrived to his Santa Ana business at 5...
Two out of three California students who took an Advanced Placement test in high school passed at least one of the college-level subject exams, a figure that has held fairly steady even as AP participation has shot up by 84 percent over the past...
BULLETIN: Investigators are hoping computer and phone records will answer questions about how Courtney Aoki ended up in the bedroom of Ali Syed, a 20-year-old unemployed man who went on a shooting rampage Tuesday morning, killing Aoki and two others....
MISSION VIEJO – Admittedly, Saddleback College's McKay LaSalle has struggled at times this season.Before the start of Orange Empire Conference play, the 6-3 sophomore guard from Bountiful, Utah was averaging a paltry 4.5 points a game. But since...
Orange County schools that teach poor students and those who don't speak English would get more money under a new formula released Wednesday.Under the new formula previewed by Gov. Jerry Brown's budget office, Orange County school districts and...
The largest traffic project in years in San Juan Capistrano officially kicked off Wednesday in the shadows of the city's most recognizable historic feature, its Spanish mission.
The $86.2 million reconstruction of the I-5/Ortega Highway interchange...
San Juan Capistrano city finances, including the water enterprise fund, which has had a deficit the past few years, continue to improve with help from an uptick in sales and hotel occupancy taxes, city staff reported Tuesday.The city's second-quarter...
Michael Burke McHugh pled not guilty on Wednesday to four felony charges and a misdemeanor for wielding a BB gun at Estancia High School last week, according to a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney.
McHugh was arrested by Costa Mesa...
ANAHEIM – A man has been charged with murder after police found him injured in a hotel room with his dead wife.
Bruce Allen Ohlwine, 48, of Ontario is facing a felony murder charge in connection with the death of Saori Ohlwine, a criminal complaint...
Point Center Financial Inc., the company controlled by Assemblywoman Diane Harkey and her husband Dan, filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors Tuesday.
The Aliso Viejo company, which sells investments in trust deeds, listed assets of...
SAN CLEMENTE – Residents and visitors could see dramatic improvements to Avenida Pico, Avenida Vista Hermosa and the 248-acre Marblehead Coastal development site in coming months as a result of a three-party agreement approved Tuesday night.
The...
HUNTINGTON BEACH – A timeline for the final cleanup of a toxic landfill in southeast Huntington Beach has been set.
State officials have set their sights on 2015 to launch the second phase of cleaning up the 38-acre Ascon landfill site at Magnolia...
SANTA ANA – With ceremony and a promise of solidarity with the Vietnamese American community, the City Council adopted a resolution seeking to discourage official visits from communist Vietnam.
"What this resolution is intended to do is to send a...
Gabriela Mafi, an assistant superintendent at Garden Grove Unified since 2009, will become the district's newest superintendent on July 1, officials announced Wednesday.
Trustees unanimously selected Mafi during Tuesday's board meeting. She will...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Clemente:
FEB. 19
• Hit and run. 11:52 a.m. 100 block of Avenida Navarro. An apparently drunken man driving a gray Toyota Tundra reportedly sideswiped another person's car and refused to...
Starting March 15, San Juan Capistrano residents may not have to put up with as much train noise, as the City Council voted Tuesday night to implement "quiet zones" at five public crossings.
Despite some concerns about the city's liability in case of...
El Horno Street residents showed up Tuesday night to call on San Juan Capistrano not to open a small residential street for through access during one of the biggest transportation-related projects in the city's history.
The matter was not on the City...
San Clemente's elected leaders took steps Tuesday to add 33 parking spaces – maybe more – at North Beach.
On a 3-1 vote, with Mayor Bob Baker dissenting and Councilman Tim Brown absent, the City Council directed staff to:
• Develop construction...
SAN CLEMENTE – Locked in a scoreless battle with San Clemente in double overtime, Santa Margarita junior Taylor Klawunder saw an opportunity to make a match-changing play and squared herself up for a shot in the middle of the field.When her shot...
In the decades-long fight over California's water supply, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is ground zero.
The Delta was formed by the two rivers from which it takes its name, rivers that nature created to carry water from the mountain snowmelt into...
Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Phil Tingirides – one of Christopher Dorner's main targets – says he now knows the meaning of fear, the kind that creeps up in your voice, the kind that sends you to the family garage to cry in private.
And...
San Clemente tennis players who were worried that the city was about to abandon two aging tennis courts got good news Tuesday night.The City Council agreed to spend $18,000 to patch and resurface the two lighted courts built in 1976 at Bonito Canyon...
LOS ANGELES – Police say the body of a woman found wedged in a water tank on the roof of a downtown hotel is that of a missing Canadian guest.
Investigators used body markings to identify 21-year-old Elisa Lam, police spokeswoman Officer Diana...
LADERA RANCH – Violent crime in Ladera Ranch is such a foreign concept to resident Kearn Connors that he drove unthinkingly by a fire engine and police cars parked at a nearby townhome Tuesday morning on his way to work.
"My husband thought that...
Two people identified as victims in an Orange County shooting rampage Tuesday morning had no connection and little in common, police indicated, except for being in the gunman's line of fire.
Both died in attacks for which authorities have no...
"The stars are all aligned" was the theme of the night Tuesday as the Dana Point City Council voted unanimously to move forward with plans for the city's Town Center project, which has been stagnant for seven years.
The motif was echoed by everyone...
A cold storm that dropped a fourth to a third of an inch of rain over parts of Orange County makes its exit Wednesday, the National Weather Service says, leaving cold air and perhaps some gusty winds behind.
Skies should remain partly cloudy through...
BULLETIN: Police have identified the woman who was killed inside a Ladera Ranch home, the first victim in a shooting rampage Tuesday that left four people dead, officials said.
Law enforcement officials have been working to identify the woman since...
ANAHEIM – A male was seriously injured Tuesday during a shooting at an Anaheim apartment complex that police believe to be gang-related.
Officers shortly before 8:30 p.m. responded to several calls about a shooting in the 2100 block of East Banyan...
Preparatory work for the I-5/Ortega Highway interchange reconstruction project in San Juan Capistrano has been delayed because of rain. The work that was to have begun Monday will get under way when the ground is dry, according to the California...
A "Meet the Authors" luncheon to benefit the San Clemente Library is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, featuring Miles Corwin, a former crime reporter who won a Los Angeles Times "Best Book...
A cold storm moving over Orange County began to drop some light rain Tuesday, but the strongest effects are expected in the afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service says.
Mountain snow, gusty winds and thunderstorms with possible hail are...
First the good news: The number of animals impounded by the Orange County animal shelter fell by 4.3 percent between 2011 and 2012 (from 31,044 to 29,723).
Click here for related slide show
And the number of animals euthanized fell by 10.8...
Rep. Paul Ryan, whom many are eyeing as a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate, will be stopping in Newport Beach on Thursday for a couple events and some private meetings.
The 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee is scheduled to attend an...
An Orange County man has been banned for life from the telemarketing business after allegations that he made pre-recorded "robocalls" to people on the federal Do Not Call list.
Roy M. Cox Jr. of Santa Ana agreed to the court order to settle a lawsuit...
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck says the review of ex-officer Christopher Dorner's firing is under way, but it's too early to comment on the re-examination.
Beck told a news conference Tuesday that he doesn't discount the effect...
SANTA ANA – Eagle Scout Benjamin Sanchez of Santa Ana will participate in one of Scouting's top honors when he takes part in the annual Report to the Nation this month.
Sanchez, 16, was selected as one of eight delegates for his work on his Eagle...
WASHINGTON – Lawyers for the man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy say his prosecution was "predicated on a lie," and they intend to file a motion for a new trial.
The arguments from attorneys for Ingmar Guandique were included in...
If Twitter users are any indication, San Clemente is the third happiest city in America.
That's according to an analysis of 10 million tweets in an article that appears in The Atlantic.
The only cities listed as happier than San Clemente were Napa,...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from Dana Point:MONDAY Citizen assist. 12:09 p.m. La Paz Avenue and Street of the Golden Lantern. A caller reported a broken water line between an apartment complex and a bus stop. Disturbance. 12:12...
Here are recent Sheriff's Department reports from San Juan Capistrano. Details are provided when available:TUESDAY Suspicious person/circumstances. 7:17 a.m. Calle Arroyo and Via Parra.MONDAY Prowler. 8:25 p.m. 25600 block Dana Mesa Drive....
Editor's note: This story has been modified. Some details were removed after it was originally published at 2:34 p.m.
SILVERADO CANYON – This close-knit canyon community is reeling over the loss of a husband and father of three who crashed a...
Pet owners who want their dogs and cats spayed or neutered can sign up for a free lottery where 50 animals will be randomly selected.
The lottery drawing is to promote the first annual Ford Petersen Spay Day. The event honors Petersen, a long- time...
Havana restores its long-neglected memorial to the victims of the USS Maine – a monument not just to those who died, but to the evolution of the island nation's relationship with the United States. See today's Focus on Cuba: Havana remembers the...
Orange County's luxury hotels rebounded last year with the average room over $200 costing $295.86 a night – a 7.8 percent increase over 2011, reports PKF Consulting, a hotel research and consulting firm.
Although luxury hotels gained the most in...
BUENA PARK – A Bellflower woman who was killed in a Buena Park crash Sunday night was identified.
Hanel Lozano, 18, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Sunday on southbound Valley View Street, north of La Palma Avenue, coroner's officials said.
Lozano...
Orange County school districts are working to lower their budgets next year by as much as $158 million, a cost-cutting ax expected to fall largely on employee salaries and benefits after years of class-size increases and program cuts.
Eighteen of the...
SANTA ANA – Richard Roehm, chairman and a founder of the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center, died Feb. 6. He was 50.Roehm, who lived in the French Park area, suffered a heart attack and died at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, said Beth Koenig,...
The South Orange County School of the Arts Foundation presented an "Oldies Night" fundraising concert Sunday night at the Dana Point Yacht Club, featuring a live band with student soloists and groups performing tunes from the 1950s, '60s, '70s and...
There it is – a big black dog – 24 feet tall.
The dog stands right by the side wall of the Orange County Museum of Art building in Newport Beach, one leg lifted, squirting yellow paint on the salmon-colored wall.
"Bad Dog."
That's what Sierra...
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in San Clemente invites you to stop by on Friday evenings between now and March 22 for fish dinners during the church's observance of Lent.
SEE A SLIDESHOW OF LAST FRIDAY'S FEAST HERE.
At $12 for adults and $5 for...
Remember Pacifica.These are the last words spoken before every Capistrano Valley girls soccer game. The words – by themselves – might not seem to mean much. But to the Cougars, they might as well be silkscreened onto their jerseys.It's become...
A Golden West College student contends Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, made her cry and threatened her when she talked about being undocumented during an advocacy meeting on immigration reform in Washington, D.C.
A representative for the...
Effective Feb.18, the DMV office at 2727 Via Cascadita in San Clemente will be closed for a month for roof repairs.
It's expected to reopen March 18.
The nearest DMV office is at 23535 Moulton Parkway in Laguna Hills, 17 miles away. Other options are...
When there's a weapon in the home, suicidal thoughts are easier to act upon. The result: The bulk of U.S. gun deaths are self-inflicted. See today's Focus: Guns play key role in suicides.
An effort brought together nearly 60 Dana Point residents Monday night to discuss the long-awaited Town Center project.
The Dana Point Town Center Organization, led by former Mayor Harold Kaufman, presented the meeting at the Dana Point Community...
BUENA PARK – Police were trying to determine Sunday night what caused a collision that killed one young woman and injured others.
Four people who appeared to be between the ages of 18 and 20 were traveling southbound on Valley View Street in a...
SACRAMENTO – California officials are pushing hard— some say too hard — for money to recover the costs of fighting wildfires, The Sacramento Bee reported Sunday.
For the last eight years, the state has more aggressively gone after businesses...
George Washington would have been none too keen on the political divisions of today, said Gary Beard, of Tustin, at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum on Sunday.
He should know. Beard, dressed in a replica of the first president's military...
SAN BERNARDINO – The Luiseo language is back from the brink of extinction, thanks to the efforts of tribal leaders on the Pechanga Indian reservation in Southern California. The tribe recently began funding a graduate-level Cal State San Bernardino...
LOS ANGELES – Dozens of protesters rallied outside Los Angeles police headquarters Saturday in support of Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD officer and suspected killer of four who died after a shootout and fire this week at a mountain cabin...
Astute hospitals and clinics are making millions by utilizing a little-known federal program -- and some pharmaceutical groups don't like it. See today's Focus: Drug discount program under siege.
TRABUCO CANYON A motorcyclist died after he ran into a tree early Saturday morning.
John Minor, 44, of Silverado, was riding on Santiago Canyon Road, about a quarter-mile south of Silverado Canyon Road, when he struck a tree around 1:40 a.m.,...
