Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

Mortgage broker arrested in murder-for-hire plot

San Clemente man accused of offering money to have his ex-girlfriend killed, authorities say.

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

UPDATE: Sewage spill closes portion of Newport Harbor

Swimmers and divers restricted from area

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

Motorcyclist killed in San Clemente crash

Sheriff's traffic team investigating cause of accident.

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

Priest facing criminal charges placed in monastery

Attorneys also agreed to plea bargain with Rev. Luis Eduardo Ramirez – who was bailed out by religious order after taking boy to motel room.

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

O.C. homes are 10th least affordable in U.S.

About 23% of homes sold in the second quarter were affordable for local residents.

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

55 charged – including H.B. man – in child porn sweep

Federal authorities said one of most serious cases involves Gary Samuel Cochran, 50, of Huntington Beach.

Aug 19, 2008 03:00AM

Sanchez congresswomen revealed in joint memoir

Book paints picture of two determined women as different as they are alike.

Aug 18, 2008 11:09AM

Honoring Huntington Beach?s standout citizens

A 10-year-old girl who taught piano to children throughout her Minnesota town and grew up to found a Huntington Beach private school. Three generations of Huntington Beach businessmen who brought luxury hotels downtown. The late founder of a company whose flags decorated seven Olympic Games and five Worlds? Fairs.

Aug 18, 2008 11:09AM

H.B. company sues Ed McMahon for loan

Huntington Beach lender Westmoore Lending filed a lawsuit Monday against television personality Ed McMahon, saying the sweepstakes presenter and former ?Tonight Show? announcer owes more than $275,000 from a loan he took out in 2006.

Aug 07, 2008 03:19PM

Making H.B. walkable

Is Huntington Beach ready for more density, walking to work and biking to the store?

Jul 31, 2008 12:29AM

Surf City Nights visitors can now take a shuttle

Surf City Nights already takes over three blocks of Main Street ? soon it?ll have its own bus as well. Starting this week, the fair has a free shuttle service using the OC Cruiser Woody Bus. The bus takes residents from City Hall, 2000 Main St., to downtown and back at 15-minute intervals. Pickup is at the north parking lot at Main Street and Yorktown Avenue, and drop-off is on Lake Street near the Main Promenade parking structure. The bus runs from 5 to 9 p.m.

Jul 30, 2008 05:08PM

Tell the editors what you would like to see in print

The Huntington Beach Independent?s editors want to hear what?s on your mind.

Aug 16, 2008 10:43PM

Newport Beach women to direct JLOC fundraising

Three Newport Beach women have been named directors of the Junior League of Orange County, an organization devoted to volunteerism and women?s development.

Aug 15, 2008 08:12PM

Three Newport ZIP codes increase property value

The housing crunch in Orange County and the rest of California is continuing, though Newport Beach seems to be more resilient than the rest of the county.

Aug 14, 2008 08:23PM

Another Linens ?n Things to close

Home goods retailer Linens ?n Things, which went into bankruptcy protection in May, plans to shutter its Metro Pointe store in Costa Mesa as part of a new round of closures.

Aug 14, 2008 10:14PM

Fundraiser officials hope to pass $1-million mark

When Cindy Thomsen started a golf tournament at the Mesa Verde Country Club in 2003 to raise money for breast cancer research, the event brought in $30,000. Six years later, the event organized by Thomsen raised almost $250,000, beneficiaries announced Thursday.

Aug 07, 2008 08:54PM

O.C. Market Place plans Saturday return with band

After a monthlong hiatus, the Orange County Market Place will be back in full force Saturday. The Billys, a regular quartet band at Disneyland, will welcome back shoppers with bluegrass and contemporary rock. They will be performing on the Westside Stage from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The concert is free with fair admission, which is $2 and free for children 12 and younger.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

Orange County Calendar

TODAY Aliso Viejo: City Council meeting. 7 p.m. 12 Journey. (949) 425-2505 or www.ci.aliso-viejo.ca.us

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

Orange County transfers 1,200 acres to developer-backed land trust

The firm wants a toll road built through the property but says it will keep open space undeveloped.

Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved a plan to give control of 1,200 acres of open space to a land trust backed by a developer that supports building a six-lane toll road through the property.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

James Halstead ordered to pay $22 million in investment scheme

The Santa Ana man blew investors' money on a lavish lifestyle, a federal judge says. He also faces punitive damages.

A federal judge has socked James R. Halstead with a $22-million summary judgment, ruling that the Santa Ana insurance salesman solicited the money for sophisticated investments but instead blew it on fast cars, a mistress and Las Vegas real estate.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

O.C. supervisors wrangle over doctors' funding

Board chairman Moorlach sought to hold back $54,000 from a medical group involved in a dispute with a county health program for the poor. His colleagues balk.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach sought to withhold nearly $54,000 in funding from a doctors group Tuesday because it recently filed a request seeking records from CalOptima, the county's version of the statewide MediCal program.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

O.C. deputies' use of Taser is curtailed

Use of stun guns on restrained suspects is restricted to certain circumstances. Grand jury report expressed 'alarm' after two inmates died after being stunned by deputies.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has banned deputies from using electronic stun guns on restrained suspects unless alternative means of control fail to subdue "overtly assaultive behavior."

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

Robber plays cop in Buena Park theater holdup

He went through an elaborate ruse to convince employees of the Krikorian Theatres that he was investigating a recent string of robberies in the area, police say.

A man who robbed a Buena Park theater this week took the time and care to convince his victims that he was a police detective and that he was there to help solve a crime, authorities said Tuesday.

Aug 18, 2008 09:52AM

Southern California home sales jump in July

The increase, which appears to be spurred by the ongoing decline in prices, is the first in nearly three years.

Southern California home sales rose last month for the first time in nearly three years, although prices continued their downward spiral, data released today showed.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

Day laborers, Orange County Sheriff's Department reach tentative settlement

Represented by the ACLU, the workers had alleged harassment by the agency.

Day laborers reached a tentative settlement with the Orange County Sheriff's Department in an unusual harassment lawsuit in which workers took their case to federal court, an attorney said Tuesday.

Aug 20, 2008 12:00AM

Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate) at Chain Reaction in Anaheim

Jeremy Enigk -- the enigmatic, sad-eyed former frontman of the granddaddy of '90s emo bands, Sunny Day Real Estate -- kicks off a six-day mini-tour at Chain Reaction in Anaheim tonight. More than a decade after disaffected college students with multiple piercings wept openly in nightclubs to Sunny Day's brand of soaring orchestrated sorrow, Enigk's voice and music retain their singular power. 7:30 p.m., 1652 W. Lincoln Ave. $15. (714) 635-6067; www.allages.com .

Aug 19, 2008 12:00AM

San Onofre nuclear power plant feeling regulatory pressure

The facility, rated among the worst overall performers in the U.S., aims to fix problems and head off increased oversight.

San Onofre nuclear plant managers are scrambling to avoid stepped-up oversight from regulators and to resolve worker safety and operational problems that have put the facility's industry ratings significantly below its peers.