Category: Orange County

Vehicle Vandalism Spree Leads to Arrest

A 35-year-old man was arrested on a felony charge May 23 after a vandal caused more than $50,000 in damage to a series of vehicle in Irvine, Calif. The Irvine Police Department (IPD) responded to parking structures at Park Plaza after receiving a report May 20 that numerous vehicles had been keyed, spokesperson Sgt. Karie Davies…


Defund Police Unions, Not the Police

Commentary   As a relatively new state senator, I did my best to work across the aisle. One example is my assisting Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) in February 2016 when I coauthored one of his more ambitious bills. It was Senate Bill 1286, which addressed police officers and their records of misconduct. If approved,…


Orange County Rally Attendees Call for End to Local Health Emergency 

Hundreds of speakers during an Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting May 25 called on the elected officials to terminate the county’s local health emergency and pass a resolution denouncing a vaccine verification system. The supervisors voted to let the local health emergency stand. About 200 people gathered outside the board’s Santa Ana, Calif. chambers during the May 25…


Police: Suspect in Custody May Be Tied to Spate of Freeway BB Gun Shootings

LOS ANGELES—Authorities are investigating whether a suspect arrested May 26 in Riverside County may be responsible for a score of BB gun freeway shootings that have left more than 100 vehicle windows shattered across the Southland in recent weeks. “An arrest was made this morning from an incident that occurred in Riverside County yesterday evening,”…


Costa Mesa School Targeted by Vandals

Smashed windows and damaged computers were among the toll vandals took on a Costa Mesa, Calif. elementary school. Staff arrived at Whittier Elementary School May 24 to find windows that appeared to have been smashed with fire extinguishers, and graffiti spray painted on walls. Carpets were damaged, and furniture was toppled over, a Newport-Mesa Unified…


Scientists Say Most Whale Strikes Go Undocumented

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—Scientists, researchers and environmentalists have long grappled with how best to analyze the occurrence of vessel strikes that kill or injure endangered whales and other marine mammals along the feeding ground waterways of the California coast. In Huntington Beach, a 63-foot fin whale washed onto California shores May 19, after it was struck…


Orange County Offers $100,000 Reward for Road Rage Killing

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is offering a $100,000 reward for information on the fatal road rage shooting of a six-year-old boy on the Costa Mesa Freeway in Orange, Calif. Aiden Leos was killed May 21 on the 55 freeway while his mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving him to kindergarten at Calvary Chapel school in Yorba Linda. “This is…


Home Inventory Remains Low in Strange Start to Home-Buying Season

Commentary U.S. home prices continued to climb in March and have risen nearly 15 percent since the beginning of 2020. That is the takeaway of a U.S. housing market analysis by Standard & Poors, in conjunction with CoreLogic. The study was completed using a method advocated by Nobel-laureate Robert Schiller, which uses actual home price…


Pacific Marine Mammal Center Celebrates 50 Years of Caring for Sea Life

From a small three-person rescue team, rehabilitating seals in a bathtub to a leader in marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific hub and education center, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center is this month celebrating its 50th anniversary. “In 1971, Jim Stauffer, Dr. Rose Ekeberg, and I started a small group known as the Friends of…


Family of Boy Killed in Road Rage Shooting Seeks Justice

The family of a 6-year-old boy killed during a road rage shooting on the 55 Freeway in Orange, California, say an outpouring of support is keeping them motivated to find justice. Aiden Leos died May 21 after the car he was traveling in was shot; the bullet penetrated the car’s trunk and fatally wounded the boy….