A San Bernardino Superior Court judge presiding over the trial of McStay family murder suspect Charles “Chase” Merritt ruled Thursday that certain evidence pointing to another suspect cannot be presented to the jury. In a motion filed with the court, one of Merritt’s attorneys argued that a business associate of victim Joseph McStay, Daniel Kavanaugh, threatened…
Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer issued $189,000 worth of mailings from his office during his recent bid to become District Attorney, spurring allegations that he misused taxpayer money for political gain. From March through August, Spitzer’s office mailed out more than 768,000 fliers to constituents in the county’s 3rd District, after sending no such mailings…
Vintage surf and paddle boards, an exhibit on the history of the Newport Beach Lifeguards and a look into the life of Hollywood legend John Wayne, are among the must-sees at the new Balboa Island Museum. The museum, which opens in its new location on Friday, Nov. 29, offers a deep dive into the history…
In a county with a small African American population, Pastor James Carrington made a huge mark. Carrington founded the first predominately black church in Orange County, opening Friendship Baptist Church in Fullerton in 1964 – the middle of the civil rights movement. Four years later, he and his wife Doris launched their ongoing fight for housing…
Two former officials in California’s liquor agency pleaded guilty Thursday to running a bribery scheme that for years targeted karaoke bar owners in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. Wilbur M. Salao, 46, and Scott Seo, 49, entered guilty pleas during a morning hearing in a downtown federal courtroom, the…
Mary “Peg” Haapa spent 30 years keeping her neighbors up to date on the news in Newport Beach. Co-founder and publisher of the Newport Harbor Ensign weekly newspaper and longtime Corona del Mar resident, Haapa died at the age of 101 on Nov. 8 in Windsor, Calif. Haapa founded the Ensign in 1948 with her husband,…
A starting date for the trial of defendants David Allen Turpin. 57, and Louise Anne Turpin, 50, in the Perris torture case is expected to be set Friday, Nov. 30, in Superior Court in Riverside. The pair are accused of shackling, starving, neglecting and psychologically abusing 12 of their 13 children to the point where doctors say…
Hollywood screenwriter Gloria Katz — who co-wrote “American Graffiti” and helped give Princess Leia her power in “Star Wars” — has died. She was 76. Willard Huyck, Katz’s husband and longtime collaborator, told the Hollywood Reporter that she died Sunday, their 49th wedding anniversary, at Cedars-Sinai…
When L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez was told by L.A. Unified School District Supt. Austin Beutner that nearly a quarter of the students at the district’s Telfair Elementary School were homeless, he started spending time at the school to put a face to the statistic. Months later, Lopez wrote a…
There’s a 10 percent chance your new neighbors — the few that exist — moved to California from another state. My trusty spreadsheet, looking at new Census Bureau data, tells me California had the lowest nationwide share of residents who swapped states in 2017. And the Golden State’s well below the 16 percent national average….
