You read that right: Rocks collected by a woman and her kids at an Orange County beach somehow combusted inside her cargo shorts. more ›

Do atheists really make better lovers? That's the claim made on a new Valentine's Day-inspired billboard erected in Westminster by a group of Fountain Valley-based non-believers. more ›

Got motivation, kids? The Chivas USA pro soccer team and the Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (GRIP) are hoping the promise of free tickets to see a game is enough to keep a few school-aged kids out of ganglife. more ›

City parks not nice enough for you? Dislike the neighborhood strip joint's employees dancing in their skivvies? Want your street to be renamed? Have beef with big time Hollywood actors? You could go ahead and file a steaming pile of lawsuits and demand cash, which is what one Huntington Beach lady has been busy doing. more ›

Two Orange County cities are considering separate ordinances to ban single-use plastic bags. If approved, Dana Point and Laguna Beach would be the first two cities in the OC to put in place such a ban, similar to a ban already implemented in Los Angeles County and cities within LA County. more ›

Burger lovers from behind the Orange Curtain, it's your time to shine! A Banh mi burger, fare from a favorite SoCal chain, the concoction of a gastropub... All's fair in love and the all mighty hamburger wars, including in the OC. more ›

Prosecutors claim Juana Perez Valencia, now 21, decided that the newborn baby girl she gave birth to in December 2009 simply "was not part of her plans," and callously suffocated the child, then dumped the body in a trash receptacle. more ›

A 47-year-old man was struck and killed by the driver of a van late last night as he rode his bicycle in Lake Forest. The cyclist, whose name has not yet been released, was turning from Ridge Route Drive to Serrano Road about 10 p.m. Tuesday when the driver of a white, northbound van on Serrano Road struck him. more ›

Residents of and visitors to the OC's San Clemente will soon have a place to take their four-legged canine companions for an off-leash oceanside romp. One of two public beaches there could be turned into an experimental dog beach. more ›

Sometimes when you're chatting with the 13-year-old girl who replied to your ad for a mom/daughter team to have sex with, you're actually chatting with a law enforcement officer. Such was the case with 21-year-old Shaw Bruce Warrington, who was busted through the efforts of an investigator with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. more ›

Youth, they say, is wasted on the young, and in Newport Beach, it seems an alarming number of the young are wasted on heroin. Authorities there are cautioning locals that there has been in increase in arrests in conjunction with heroin use and sales, according to the OC Register. more ›

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Wednesday morning that two officers will face felony charges in the death of Kelly Thomas. Thomas, 37, was brutally beaten by six Fullerton Police officers and died several days later from his severe injuries. more ›

The Orange County Fairgrounds was the site of a small Tea Party rally this morning, where people gathered to hear a speech by Republican presidential candidate hopeful Michele Bachmann. A few hundred fans were there to hear the Congresswoman from Minnesota speak, according to the OC Register. more ›

There's getting to know new people at a party, and then there's crossing the line: A Buena Park man was arrested this weekend when he allegedly bit off and chewed on a chunk of another man's eyebrow. 29-year-old Luis Miguel Aguilar reportedly got into a fight with a fellow party-goer, a 41-year-old man from Placentia. more ›

A judge in Orange County ruled that Anaheim's ban on dispensaries doesn't conflict with the 1996 state law that legalized medical marijuana, the Los Angeles Times reports. But the group that filed the case, Qualified Patients Assn., plans to appeal the court's decision. more ›

She's at it again. Laguna Niguel-based lawyer Orly Taitz, one of the key players in the anti-President Barack Obama "birther" movement, is getting dressed down by a federal judge. This time it's in response to her claims Obama "has used other people’s Social Security numbers," reports the OC Register. more ›

55-year-old Robert Bedolla Ambriz of Anaheim was convicted this week of 11 criminal counts of sex and lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, reports the OC Register. Ambriz's m.o. was to "lure" young boys into his apartment by offering them potato chips, toys, and cigarettes, then showing them pornographic videos and ultimately sexually assaulting them. One of Ambriz's victims was nine years old, and mentally disabled. more ›

More spray-painted graffiti threats against Governor Jerry Brown and President Barack Obama have been spotted in Santa Ana today, reports the OC Register. The report came in early this morning about three locations of the messages on Greenville Street between Hall and Alton avenues, say local authorities. This is the second time such graffiti has shown up in this area; in January, graffiti claiming Brown would be assassinated on Valentine's Day was also discovered there, and considered a "terrorist threat." more ›

A student at Smith Elementary school in Huntington Beach found one way to bring reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic-ing to a halt today: By bringing an old grenade to class. According to Huntington Beach police, the incident was first reported around 10 a.m. says the OC Register. The device is thought to be a World War II era hand grenade. more ›

A Fullerton woman is thought to be behind at least nine documented incidents of hateful graffiti on Catholic churches and buildings around the OC, and now she has been arrested, according to the OC Register. 53-year-old Kim Rebar Henry is accused of leaving slurs against Catholics, Asians, Mexicans, and African Americans. One of her alleged messages is the sadly misspelled "Kill CATHLick's" left in "black 12-inch letters on a walkway next to the church parking lot," of Saint Thomas More Catholic Parish in Irvine. more ›

In an era when advertising is based on honesty, and the fast food industry prides itself on serving only the highest-quality fresh ingredients in their thoughtfully prepared dishes, it is nothing short of shocking that OC-based Mexicasual giant Taco Bell has been slapped with a lawsuit alleging they're lying when they say their food uses "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef." more ›

Nothing says "Respect" for the rarely intertwined realms of surf culture and African-American civil rights than a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day-themed sale. Unfortunately, the promotion was a total wipeout at Laguna Beach's Thalia Surf Shop, according to CBS2, and yesterday the business issued an apology for their misguided marketing. more ›

OC Shoppers may soon be calling The Block at Orange by another name, but not everyone thinks the whole idea is so sweet. The OC Register points to a poll opened last week by their Retail Blog, which includes 74 suggested monikers for the shopping mecca. Some (mostly tongue-in-cheek) suggestions include: The Slice of Orange, Sell Block O, Teen Hangout of Orange, Orange You Glad It's Half Price?, New Kids on the Block at Orange, For Those Who Can't Afford to Shop at South Coast Plaza, We went downhill after Virgin Records closed at Orange, and The Outlet Formerly Known as the Block at Orange (among many, many more). more ›

For anyone living, working, or heading into Santa Ana's civic center today, be aware that there will be street closures and public transit route changes due to the visit of former President Bill Clinton, according to the OC Register. more ›

Around the world, all eyes were on the coverage of the 33 trapped Chilean miners being brought to the surface after a 69-day ordeal; the miners' eyes, however, were shielded from the elements by dark sunglasses by Oakley, an Orange County-based company, who donated 35 pairs, according to an AP report published in the Daily News. more ›

For the 17th consecutive year, the OC Register turned to the people who know the OC the best to come up with their list of winners for the "2010 Best of Orange County." Dozens of retail, restaurant, and recreation spaces earned top spots in the six main categories: Arts & Entertainment, Food & Drink, Outdoors, Pets, Places, and Shopping & Services. more ›

Orange County has crowned their very first Mr. Gay in a pageant competition held yesterday, according to the OC Register. more ›

Two teenagers are dead and a third has been hospitalized after the trio were struck by a Metrolink train in Mission Viejo, according to cbs2. "Metrolink train 603 heading from Oceanside to Los Angeles struck three people on tracks under the Alicia Parkway overcrossing at 6:06 a.m.," agency spokeswoman Angie Starr told the press. Two died on scene, and the third, a female, was "hospitalized for moderate injuries," noted Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Mike Yeun. Metrolink is experiencing service delays in the area; passengers are being shuttled between Laguna Niguel and Irvine via buses. The accident is under investigation. more ›

A reminder that the Los Angeles Police Department and authorities from various city agencies in Orange County will be conducting DUI and driver's license checkpoints tonight as part of a statewide effort this holiday weekend to crackdown on drunk driving. more ›

The Los Angeles Police Department are not alone in their wish to eradicate drunk drivers from the Southern California roads and highways. This holiday weekend, local police departments all over Orange County will be running DUI and Drivers' License Checkpoints, as well as saturation patrols, according to the OC Register. more ›