Orange County News Blog

What 5-foot-3, 180-pound Gustavo Palmas Reyes of Anaheim lacks in English-speaking skills he makes up for in nerve. The construction worker arrived home drunk one night in July 2005 and beat his live-in girlfriend. She had made the mistake of cooking him dinner when he wasn't hungry. Annoyed, the 42-year-old then left to drink alcohol and eat fried chicken with friends. Later that night, he came home to the couple's one-bedroom apartment near Disneyland, where he stripped, molested and raped his girlfriend's mute, developmentally disabled 12-year-old daughter.

Caught in the act by the little girl's horrified uncle, Reyes declared he'd gotten "vengeance" against his girlfriend. When police arrived, Reyes tried to blame the consumption of 13 beers and, perhaps sensing he wasn't winning sympathy, finally suggested that he'd mounted the girl only to save her from an alleged epileptic seizure. The tale might have had a slight chance if his DNA hadn't been found in the girl's vagina. "Well, I've touched her," he told a police detective the next day. "I'm not saying that I haven't. But she likes me like you wouldn't believe, that's why I regret this."

He also declared himself "a normal person," cried, noted his otherwise-clean criminal record, begged for "forgiveness" and suggested counseling as punishment. Police and prosecutors weren't impressed. Based on their work, an Orange County jury convicted Reyes, who has a wife and kids in Mexico, on three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. For an hour's worth of stupidity, he won a free trip to a California prison. It'll be his home for a decade.

(Periodically at OCWeekly.com, discover the depths of human depravity in Orange County, California.)

Click HERE for other "winners" of Citizen of the Week!

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

New Zealand designer Karen Walker started her clothing line with NZ$100—material for a T-shirt. Thirteen years, eight London Fashion Weeks, four New York Fashion Weeks and three successful storefronts later, her customers include Sienna Miller, Madonna and Björk.

Her latest Spring '08 collection looked ready for a day at the Derby (which, actually, is this Saturday), with wide-brimmed hats, floral dresses and argyle vests—and just a touch of that effortless 1970s Laurel Canyon, free-spirited Hippie child look that's still raging hard on the runways and on the streets.

You can purchase her clothing at stores like Milk, Traffic, Creatures of Comfort and Tracey Ross in Los Angeles, but her eyewear (available at Barney's Co-op in South Coast Plaza) is especially noteworthy.

If you're stuck in a sunglasses rut like me—you're totally over oversized sunglasses and aviators and Wayfarers are just too prevalent—Walker's eyewear line might just be it for you.

Offered in a fun variety of colors like grape, ice blue, light pink and tortoise shell, the sunglasses are all simple but offer just enough of a twist on a tried-and-true classic to make you stand out, like these Wayfarer-but-not "Trixie" sunglasses with just enough of a fun cat-eye shape pictured here.

Karen Walker sunglasses can be purchased at Barney's Co-op in South Coast Plaza or online at KarenWalker.com (watch out for that overseas S&H fee!), letrainbleu.com. Visit Karen Walker for a complete list of stockists.

Tomorrow is May Day, celebrated by socialists across the globe and by illegal immigrants in the United States to march for amnesty (as an Aztlanista, I can tell you the shared dates ain't no coincidence, I tell ustedes what). Locally, pro-amnesty folks will meet at SanTana's Civic Center Plaza at 2 p.m., while the loyal opposition known as the California Coalition for Immigration Reform will protest outside the Mexican Consulate off Broadway and Civic Center Drive at eight in the morn.

Of course, a CCIR rally isn't a CCIR rally without a wacko ramble by their president, Barbara Coe (pictured). Rather than leave nasty commentary, I present it below in its unvarnished, Know Nothing brilliance:

Since we all know our mainstream media will NOT report the truth and WILL spin their reports in favor of the illegal alien criminals marching in our streets AND all first-hand reports are so appreciated, CCIR urges you all to practice "Safety First"!
Film the marches and conduct interviews discreetly and say nothing that will incite violence toward you. Some of these "marchers" are violent criminals and with the march "hysteria" , will use any excuse to physically attack you.
At least in the Los Angeles CA area, DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT count on local law enforcement personnel to protect you as
LA Mayor Villar and LAPD Chief Bratton have made their commitment to protect "the rights" of the illegal aliens - they have made NO commitment to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans!
o Work within a group or at least with a partner - o Have your cell phone on and ready to make a 911 call at all times. YOUR reports are invaluable but not at the cost of YOUR life - Be aware, take care and God bless and protect each & every PATRIOT who has the courage to record this illegal alien invasion event!

World-Class Beer Tasting Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Enjoy the frites (we prefer them avec mayonnaise) and learn to love something other than Budweiser. Price: $14 Per Person
KIMERA
19530 Jamboree Rd. Irvine, CA 92612
949-261-1222

It’s Too Darn Hot: Climate Change Panel, 7 p.m.
Special guest speakers will illuminate ways to combat global warming on a local level. Price: Free
Huntington Beach Central Library
7111 Talbert Ave. Huntington Beach, CA
714-374-0500

Second Annual 31-Cent Scoop Night, 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
From 5pm to 10pm, all 2,700 stores nationwide will be offering ice cream scoops for 31 cents. The stores will also partner with the National Fallen Firefighteres Foundation and donating $100,000 to the organization.
Baskin-Robbins locations nationwide
See www.baskinrobbins.com for a location near you!

The 4th Annual Casa Romantica Reading Series Benefit "Fire with Icicles", 7 p.m.
A gala event with poetry by Kay Ryan, music, light dinner and silent auction. Price: $75
Casa Romantica
415 Ave. Granada San Clemente CA 92672
949-498-2139

Karaoke With Tom Terrific, 8 p.m.
Sounds terrific.
Clancy's Pub and Restaurant
803 E. Broadway Long Beach, CA
562-437-1836

There's something a little sad—ironic is too obvious a word—in the apparent fact that Robin Hinch, the Register's famed obituary writer, is among the casualties of the paper's most recent round of self-immolation.

Today I received an anonymous tip from a source with ties to the Register's newsroom saying that Hinch—the subject of a Weekly feature story years ago and a former Freedom Communications Employee of the year—is departing the paper. Besides Hinch, the source said the following staffers were on their way out the door:

*Catherine Reiland, the paper's deputy editor for finance

*Neil Pinchin, a design editor

*Andy Horan, a Sunday editor who joined the revenue-draining OC Post as managing editor until it folded recently, returning to the Reg

*Travel editor Steve Plesa

*Sports editor Greg Gibson

*Daniel Anderson, a photographer and husband of Register columnist Yvette Cabrera

It's still unclear if Hinch and the others are being forced out or are taking buyouts that were announced in tandem with the staffing cutbacks, although one would have to assume that at least some of the departures are voluntary. It's too bad, as our profile of her noted, Hinch was one of the best obituary writers in the business; she actually took more time to get to know her dead subjects than most writers spend talking to live ones. And both Plesa and Gibson edited award-winning and highly readable sections of the paper.

Stay tuned for more names as they become known.

We've been covering the craziness over at Faith Community Church in Irvine (led by documented truth-stretcher Robert Morey) for the past couple of days, and the funniest thing about the entire episode is how Morey and his minions only insist everything is fine to the point of deleting dissension from their blog. "We who actually attend Faith Community Church don’t see any schism or confusion in the church," Morey wrote on this blog.

That's not what Morey has been preaching at FCC for over a month, though. Since February 24, Morey has lectured almost weekly about what the New Testament teaches on eldership, a not-so-veiled to convince FCC faithful that blind obedience to him is a biblical mandate. We'd love to post Morey's rambling sermons, but FCC's page of his recordings mysteriously disappeared overnight (the roll call can be found through Google's cache, but not the actual recordings--if someone has them, please post them here). And the lectures continue: last Sunday, Morey talked about eldership yet again, according to an FCC member. Calling the Movementarians...

Educator Reception, 8 p.m.
PreK- 12th grade educators are invited to attend a reception showcasing materials, new titles and resources for educators and students. Please RSVP for the kids activities at (714) 897-6201.
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Ave. Huntington Beach, CA 92647
714-897-8781

Brian Hutchinson, 9 p.m.
"Who is Brian Hutchinson?" you ask. Well, you're just going to have go show up and find out.
Taco Beach Cantina
211 Pine Ave. Long Beach, CA 90802
562-983-1337

Evening of Holocaust Remembrance, 7 p.m.
Nearly 100 Holocaust survivors from Orange County and Los Angeles are expected to be in attendance for this ceremony of reflection.
Chapman University's Memorial Hall
1 University Dr. Orange, CA 92866
714-997-6729

What They Have, 7:30 p.m.
Parenting, painting and the Law of Attraction collide in What They Have, Kate Robin’s new play where lives can change in a heartbeat, and things aren’t necessarily what they seem.
South Coast Repertory
655 Town Center Dr. Costa Mesa, CA 92628
714-708-5555

It's never fun being right about this kind of thing, but apparently the OC Register is laying off 80 to 90 employees, according to a post today on the newspaper's website.

Here's about half of the post (it's really short):

"... [Publisher Terry] Horne cited Orange County’s sluggish economy, especially in real estate, as affecting the company’s revenues from local retail, automotive and classified advertising for jobs. The company provided no financial details about the decline in advertising revenue.

This is the third round of layoffs in a year for Orange County Register Communications, the umbrella brand for the Register newspaper, web sites, magazines and other community publications. The company also completed a voluntary severance program to cut staff in 2006.

I kind of predicted this was happening in my previous blog posts about the Register's content-sharing agreement with Dean Singleton's MediaNews, quoting anonymous staffers at the paper saying they were worried layoffs could follow. You can find those stories at our OC Register Deathwatch archives.

Singleton was the first to follow the content-sharing deal with staff cuts, but folks—including one crazy Register staffer and serial blog commenter—who thought the Reg was safe and my reporting was speculative hype are now probably wondering if they should dust off their resumes.

For the record, despite the fact that my stories have been filed under the subject header OC Register Death Watch, neither my colleagues nor I here at the Weekly are happy about any of this.

Here's an idea: Instead of firing 90 people, fire Gordon Dillow. Then hire him back. Then fire him again 89 more times.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of some still-unexplained rewriting of readers' comments, the comments feature for this post has been disabled. Messing with comments like that violates the spirit of free-flowing debate and community we've worked hard to cultivate on this blog. We're trying to figure out how it happened—and ensure that it doesn't happen again. —Ted B. Kissell

Okay, filmgoers, it's time for a linguistics lesson.

CEMENTO ARMATO is the title of an Italian film. In English, would you call that movie...

(a) ARMORED CEMENT

(b) CONCRETE ROMANCE

(c) both of the above

NBFF has opted for (c). But which is it really? IMDB says (b) is the international English title, but use of an online translator indicates that (a) is a more accurate translation.

In the film itself, the line is delivered by a crime boss to describe the city outside his window as being a place where he owns everything, and where anyone who defiles it must pay. The subtitles in this scene translate his description as "armored cement."

Not that this semantic argument is of great import, save for the fact that if it screens again, it might do so under either title.

Sancho over at The Latin Blogger scored a statement from Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk regarding her city's endangered Chicano murals on a Lemon Street overpass near Valencia Drive. "The history of the murals tells a story of Fullerton’s neighborhoods, and Fullerton’s culture," writes the MILF-y mayor. "The murals represent a time when our city worked with youth in the Maple neighborhood to be part of a solution and partner with our city."

Nice words—except she doesn't commit to keeping the murals. Instead, she offers this disturbing wiggle quote:

The murals should be maintained, and restored. I would ONLY support removing a mural and updating with a new mural, if there was a strong consensus within the neighborhood to do so. This can only take place after community members have come together to voice their opinions.

Mayor Quirk: I'm all for community involvement, but beware the community. The Lemon Street overpass Chicano murals are important because they document a period in Fullerton's history, a time when the city fathers ensured a generation of unfulfilled promises for the children of Mexican immigrants due to their parents' nationality. You, I, and everyone in Fullerton knows that the neighborhoods near the mural are changing, mostly with idiot Brave New Urbanists buying up lofts in the SoCo district and beginning the slow, historical black hole known as gentrification. Keeping the past alive is important for a healthy community—paint those murals over, and your denying a community and epoch its place in Fullerton's past.

In other community journalism news, Easy Writer did this great video discussing Fullerton's hostile past toward art museums:

This weekend had so many festivals going on that both Navel Gazing and Heard Mentality were working through the weekend.

First, we had Luke Y. Thompson pulling double duty blogging his little heart out at the Newport Beach Film Festival AND attending his big movie premiere in Hollywood. While Dave Segal and Erin DeWitt were off at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio listening their little ears off for our reading pleasure.

Speaking of a festivals, Gustavo Arellano attended the LA Times Festival of Books and spoke on a panel about immigration. Once that was over he practiced a little religious commemoration by stirring the shit some more with Robert Morey, pastor of Faith Community Church in Irvine. This time he unleashed yet another critique of Morey's blog, BiblicalThought.com.

Then Rich Kane blessed us with another review of the car wreck that is the OC Register complete with puppy, kitty and exploding diarrhea references. And Edwin Goei actually witnessed a car wreck while eating at Gammy's Café. But don't worry. It didn't disrupt his appetite. Read a review of the restaurant here.

Beautiful Noise: A Benefit for the Family of Mike Conley, 7 p.m.
Join Mike’s friends, family and fans for a night of remembrance at the House of Blues with performances by M.I.A., Jello Biafra, Kevin Seconds (of 7 Seconds), a special acoustic set by Social Distortion, and more. Proceeds will help the Conley family. Price: $35.
Check OCWeekly.com/heardmentality tomorrow for a live review and photos of the event.
House of Blues
1530 S. Disneyland Dr. Anaheim CA 92802
714-778-2583

The Shys, 9 p.m.
No need to by shy.
Detroit Bar
843 W. 19th St. Costa Mesa CA 92627
949-642-0600

Vanishing Points, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Come view the photography of Marjorie Sanders. Sandstone is also featuring the paintings of Joseph Hawa: Hawa Speaking in Color, and Kathryn Nova Williams: High Stakes and Sunsets.
Sandstone Gallery
384-A North Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach CA 92651
949-497-6775

Encore Careers: Working and Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Aging, Mon, April 28 until Fri., May 2, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Attend this four day workshop series, meet new friends, and learn about volunteer and employment possibilities in the field of aging.
Costa Mesa Center, Room 11
2990 Mesa Verde Drive East Costa Mesa CA
92626 714-241-6213

Sindustry, 8 p.m.
Drink specials and dancing for all those "industrial" folks out there.
Diamonds Billiard Club
910 E. Birch St. #300 Brea, CA 92821

You hear all the time that men never stop and ask directions. Women use it as proof that we're all stubborn and pointlessly macho. But there's another reason.

Men don't ask for directions because they know that 98% of the time, the response from whoever they ask is going to be something along the lines of "Durrrr....hurrrr....uhhhhh....I dunno."

Point being, the Orange County Museum of Art is directly adjacent to Fashion Island. But God forbid you should actually ask a Fashion Island employee for directions to get to it. Because familiarity with one's immediate surroundings is not a prerequisite for a customer service job. That's why companies outsource 'em to India so much.

OCMA was the site of the Sunday night film fest party, though the picture I've included is actually of a model posing at Friday night's party. I figured readers would like a more naked picture. But it's a trade-off -- no string bikinis at OCMA, but we did get gift bags containing a chocolate bar made with chipotle chilis. Can't wait to give that a bite.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I did promise to talk about the HD deck breakdown on day 1.

Grand Avenue was busy that day I ate lunch at Gammy's Cafe. But I suppose it's always busy. Looking out towards it from one of their concrete picnic tables, I saw truck after truck roaring past. Trailing every rig was the rumble of diesel engines, whirring of gears, smoke and dust.

Above my head, a speaker blasted Mexican ranchera music at an ear-piercing volume. Together, the noise of the road and the polka-beat combined into a crazy, cacophonous soundtrack.

Suddenly midway through my meal, a thunderous bang and deafening crunch jolted me half bite. I looked up and saw that a car had just plowed into another. A woman stormed out of one vehicle with a cell phone clutched to her ear. She hunched down to survey the damage to her rear bumper.

It's dented, but the car that hit her fared far worse. Its driver, a guy with a beard, had already begun picking up pieces of his front end from the road when the woman started yelling at him.

"They should get off the street," I thought as I gulped down the mouthful of taco I was still chewing. They did eventually, turning into a nearby strip mall to swap insurance information, but not before snarling the rest of the traffic on this four lane thoroughfare to a halt.

*Updated, with new information on the bottom...

For the past couple of days, it's been quite the battle royale at Navel Gazing regarding Robert Morey, pastor of Faith Community Church in Irvine, and a guy whose flock is the most aggressively arrogant bunch of religious folks since the Scientologists. Here, we approve all sorts of criticism--but not so much at Morey's blog, BiblicalThought.com

Earlier, I commented about having my comment deleted at Biblical Thought by BT head lemming Stephen Macasil (and I wasn't the only one). Late last night, the site mysteriously went down. When it was back up, it was missing two posts: Morey's "The Need for Biblical Warrant" and Macasil's "The Gates of Hell," both blog posts blasting Faith Community Church defectors except written in the elliptical, evasive, nasty way that is the wont of Morey and his crew. Ah, but thanks to the messianic powers of Google, you can recall those posts from the dead: here is "The Gates of Hell," and a bit of "The Need for Biblical Warrant" here (if anyone can find the rest of that, I'll post it). So, Stephen: what gives?

*UPDATE: About a month ago, Morey told his followers not to read any criticisms. The Leader is good, the Leader is fine...

MONDAY, APRIL 21:
●What’s the big news today from the Reggie’s crack team of community reporters? In Yorba Linda, “A 4- to 6-month old black puppy was found on Arroyo Street the afternoon of April 15.” Ummm . . . any sleazy goings-on out in Rancho Santa Margarita? “A local homeowners association is holding a royal tea party.” Okaaayyy . . . how about over in scandal-a-minute Newport Beach—there’s gotta be something there in OC’s most Republican ‘burg, right? Naaah . . . “A Newport Beach Boy Scouts troop will hold its annual rummage sale fundraiser.”

●Also today, dominating the Life section: five full pages of cute puppies and kittens. And it’s not even time for the final results of the Reggie’s laughable cat photo contest.

THURSDAY, APRIL 24:
●Clearly, the future of in-depth, take-no-prisoners news coverage at the Reggie involves reporters writing about themselves. (And we’re old enough to remember when we’d hear non-stop bitching from the Grand Ave Mausoleum that that was allll the Weekly was about.) The latest sign of Reggie staffers making busywork to keep the Blackstone boys at bay: a new wine column that starts in today’s ish, scrawled in awkward script form by married peeps Paul Hodgins and Anne Valdespino. Now, wine is a very good thing, but we can’t help wondering where this will lead: Gordon Dillow blogging about his bathroom habits?

●Better still—howzabout getting Reggie staffers to exploitatively write about their children’s bathroom habits? Already happening! That’s exactly what Nick Brennan does in his “Bath Time Isn’t Always Fun” post on the Reggie’s Dad Blog (not to mention all the shit and piss and exploding diarrhea references found over at their Mom Blog).

●More on the Mom Blog, where Reggie bloggers actually have serious debates on whether or not to use the phrase “MILF”: why does it seem that everyone who posts responses to these blogs are either fellow Mom/Dad Blog contributors, or relatives of them? Because it’s true. (Enough from Ben Wener's granny, already!) If the Reggie wants to solicit posts from real people on the Mom/Dad Blog, perhaps they should do the obvious and post some videos of their goddamn kids being conceived. Memo to Blackstone: a guaranteed revenue-generator!

●Oh—also today, the Weekly breaks the Reggie sex scandal story!

FRIDAY, APRIL 25:
●Some 45 cars belonging to Canyon High students are towed for being parked illegally in a nearby shopping center. Do you care--unless, y’know, you’re one of the law-breaking towees? Whatever--the Reggie says it’s a "must-read" story, right there on the front page of their Local section, just above another "must-read" story about a food fight at Trabuco High. We could not make this shit up.

●COMING NEXT WEEK: The Reggie website finally debuts its sure-to-be-hysterical new TV show, Juice. But will it be as guffaw-worthy as Daybreak OC?

I do not understand you festival audiences.

You have standing before you John Ratzenberger, comedic genius from CHEERS and every Pixar feature ever. He’s improvising hilarious off-the-cuff remarks, and undoubtedly has great stories to tell. And what do you do? Ignore him, and ask the director the same stupid questions that get asked at every festival Q&A ever.

“What did you shoot it on?”
“How long did it take?”
“Was it close to the script or was there improvising?”
“How long was post-production?”
“How did you do the lighting?”
“Are there any scenes you had to delete?”

American clothing detergent companies have only just recently caught onto the fact that we like our dark clothing to stay dark—with household names like Tide and Woolite releasing special formula color safe detergent made especially for items like denim and your favorite black T-shirt.

But! I've tried it. Actually, I've tried them all. And it just doesn't perform quite as well as I'd like—even when I try things like doing my laundry in ultra cold water or throwing in a cap of vinegar with the wash. My black jeans still turned gray, my navy cotton skirt a bizarre cadet blue.

Once only available in Europe, Fewa Black Magic is now finally available here in the U.S., and from the reviews I've read online, it's supposed to be the real thing. Fewa Black Magic is actually made to help intensify dark washes, rather than simply prevent them from fading.

Am I going to try it? Sure. But you first.

Fewa Black Magic available in stores and online now at Village Home Goods, $10.99.

Rumor had it that the Newport Beach Film Festival was looking for a high-profile opening night movie that failed to finally come through, so instead the festival kicked off with SHERMAN'S WAY, which is not to be confused with the Ross McElwee documentary SHERMAN'S MARCH -- their only common factor is that I don't like either one of them.

So no way was I going to actually watch the movie again: the only thing worse than sitting through a movie you don't like is sitting through it again after it starts an hour late following several boring speeches by people not used to public speaking, and lots of shout-outs to sponsors, most of them individually named. I get that this stuff is obligatory, and it's worth sitting through if the movie at the end of it is good. But it was SHERMAN'S WAY.

(And yeah, "the only thing worse" is hyperbole. Torture would be worse. But we're talking within the cinematic realm.)

BabyLon Blues, 4/25 @ 8 p.m.
Bumpin' and grindin'.
It's A Grind
4245 Atlantic Ave. Long Beach, CA
562-981-0028

Eon Burcham Trio, 4/25 @ 8 p.m.
Caffeine high.
Portfolio Coffeehouse
2300 Fourth St. Long Beach, CA 90814
562-434-2486

On Switch; Killjoy, 9:30 p.m.
Drinking gypsy tears.
The Gypsy Lounge
23600 Rockfield Blvd., Ste. 3A Lake Forest, CA 92630
949-206-9990

Petting Zoo, Daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Not that kind. Jeez. Price: $3-$5
Zoomars
31791 Los Rios St. San Juan Capistrano CA 92675
949-831-6550

Orange County Adventure Race, /27 @ 8 a.m.
Two words: Adventure race. Enough said. Price: $85
Irvine Lake
4621 Santiago Canyon Rd. Irvine, CA
714-649-9111

Our post earlier today about the turmoil at Irvine's Faith Community Church has already sparked discussion on its friend's blog (more below) and a comment from the church's leader, Robert Morey. And it's not just any comment--it's one so pompous and hilarious it deserved its own post. Here it is:

We who actually attend Faith Community Church don’t see any schism or confusion in the church. We are happy and joyful serving the Lord. Our attendance is great and things are moving forward with great joy. To see this is true, just visit some Sunday service (10:30AM at 17601 Fitch, Irvine).
Just for accuracy sake, please note that biblicalthought.com/blog was not set up by or run by the church. I visit it from time to time when I have the time. But it is not my blog.
There are three new books that reveal a new phenomenon is taking place today in the church world.
1. Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations Under Attack by G. Lloyd Rediger
2. Character Assassins: Dealing with Ecclesiastical Tyrants and Terrorists by Peter Hammond and Brian
3. The Wounded Minister: Healing from and Preventing Personal Attacks by Guy Greenfield

These books document that today when someone leaves a church, they do not go out and make a new life for themselves and get involved in positive works of charity. Instead, they dedicate all their time, money, and energy to destroy the church and pastor they left.
They hang around the church and use the internet to slander the church, send out malicious emails and blogs that contain unsupported accusations. They harass the people who attend the church with personal attacks and foul language. They forget there is freedom of religion in this country and people can attend or not attend whatever they want to attend.
The above authors counsel churches under attack by such terrorists not to react to these childish tirades and temper tantrums. Instead, we should remain positive and go on doing works of charity -while ignoring the terrorists.
These poor mentally unbalanced people, whose only meaning in life to tear down other people, will eventually burn themselves out with all their hatred and bitterness.
We at Faith community Church do not hate them or anyone else. We pray for them that they will grow out of their negativity and finds positive outlets for their energy.

My thoughts--few of them nice--after the jump.

A few months back OC Weekly staffer Luke Y. Thompson went off to Texas to shoot a horror movie titled Wicked Lake.

That's right, folks! A real-life motion picture. And that picture is having a big Hollywood premiere this Saturday at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles at 11:59 p.m. Tickets are only $10 and can be purchased by clicking here. There will be a cast and crew Q & A afterwards.

But that's not all! Before they screen the flick, horror movie maniacs, Fangoria, will be having a panel discussion at the LA Convention Center featuring the ladies from the film, Marc Senter, and director Zach Passero at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the Fangoria Convention are $20 and up and can be purchased by clicking here.

Orange County Christianity has more than its share of charlatans, but few are more offensive than the Reverand Robert Morey, the resume-stretching head of Faith Community Church in Irvine. Every time we discuss him, we get email from former or current members of his congregation alleging all kind of madness. Now, the fight has spilled over to the blogosphere: a former FCC member has slammed Morey, and he's getting grief from Morey's minions. Morey, for his part, is--as usual--bat-shit weird. Be a good person of faith--even you apostate atheists and agnostics--and join the fun!

KIIS FM College Night, 9:30 p.m.
I miss college.
Tia Juana's
14988 Sand Canyon Rd. Irvine, CA 92618
949-551-2998

Inverse; The Knives; The Feelings Mutual, 9 p.m.
Drunktastic.
Alex's Bar
2913 E. Anaheim Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90804
562-434-8292

Does It Offend You, Yeah?; Walter Meego, 9 p.m.
Walter Meego offends me.
Detroit Bar
843 W. 19th St. Costa Mesa, CA 92627
949-642-0600

Bubba And The Big Bad Blues, 6:30 p.m.
Un huh. Go here.
Fullerton Market
Downtown Plaza Fullerton, CA
714-738-5332

Abliss; Rotting Decay; Idemise Devils; Rose Mod-Odds; Metal X, 8 p.m.
From cero to hero.
Cero's
316 S. Euclid Anaheim, CA
714-956-2031

A couple of days ago, the Huntington Beach City Council voted to ban campaign donation limits. It would be a noteworthy story in any city, considering most have some type of cap, but it's of primary significance in HB, where streetwalkers in the form of developers have plagued the place for decades. The city is currently mulling how to redevelop its lucrative downtown, and hotels and resorts are already beginning to sully PCH anew (we remember a wonderful nine-hole golf course next to a trailer-park community inhabited by crotchety vets). Allowing Surf City candidates to rake in as much cash as possible is akin to having an AA meeting being sponsored by Jim Beam--faithful readers know the scum that tend to inhabit the council dais. More information at Greeting from Downtown Huntington Beach. In the meanwhile, bring on the whores!

All you publicists out there have been lax in sending me meaningless free stuff to blog about, but this makes up for it. A package that's, what, five feet tall?

What could possibly be inside?

A "Ghost in the Shell" Motoko Kusanagi inflatable love doll?

A coat rack?

Samurai swords?

Iron Man?

After the jump, see what delight(s) lurked within the giant box...

*Updated with new info on the bottom...

You know we live in dark times when a Macarthur Genius-winning mensch like Rueben Martinez has to close his legendary Libreria Martinez, the country's premier Latino-themed bookstore visited by every author from the legendary (Carlos Fuentes) to the terrible (yours truly). Am about to board a flight to Kansas City, so much more to come. Just two thoughts for y'all: hey, Santa Ana Mayor Papi Pulido: instead of allocating $1 million for a FREAKING ANTEATER EXHIBIT at the Santa Ana Zoo, howzabout helping Mr. Martinez? And Martinez landlord Orange County High School of the Performing Arts: howzabout helping out your best tenant? I ain't holding my breath...

**UPDATE: Just got off the phone with a Libreria Martinez worker. Store is selling some books at 40% off in the hopes of staving off a closure. There's still hope that Martinez doesn't shut down, but people need to start buying books--and fast.

**UPDATE: The mad genius of San Diego State, Bill Nericcio, weighs in.

This toll road debate is starting to feel like Clue—who's going to kill the project? Was it Colonel Magness, in the media, with cold, hard facts?

Col. Thomas Magness wrote a little letter the Transportation Corridor Agencies didn't like. The letter disclosed that the TCA's preferred, certified alignment for their Foothill-South (241) toll road extension was not in fact the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative (LEDPA). In layman's terms, LEDPA means "that which is least idiotic." In legal terms, it means "the only option you can legally choose."

Magness felt obliged to clarify certain "misrepresentations", such as the TCA's suggestion that everyone involved had agreed that their Green Alignment was just super. In fact, Magness's agency—the Army Corps of Engineers (COE)—is solely responsible for determining the LEDPA and they haven't made a final decision yet. Naturally, this created a flurry of media attention. Why? Who cares about this issue besides me? Well, it turns out California law requires the 241 extension be built using the route that will cause less environmental devastation than all others, as determined by the COE and ONLY the COE, as Col. Magness asserts.

So what business had the TCA in certifying their so-called "Green Alignment", running through San Onofre State Beach, the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy and the Acjachemen sacred site of Panhe? None whatsoever, it would seem, if the road was not the final choice of the COE.

Col. Magness has a response to recent comments in the media discussing his letter, possible motives for its composition, and the meaning of certain statements. It is available on the COE Los Angeles website, but I leave you with a salient excerpt.

As part of the collaborative of federal, state and local agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did identify a preliminary LEDPA in 2005 based on information available to us at the time. My intent in the letter, as a neutral arbiter in the environmental review, was to make clear that our process has not run its course. There has been no final, formal decision on any of the remaining practicable alternatives. More analysis, public review and comment are needed and are ongoing.

See the full letter below.

Five Course Spring Wine Tasting Dinner, 7 p.m.
Includes rilled jumbo scallops with sesame mango ginger sauce with 2006 Viognier, Mendocino County Grilled Lettuce Salad with Warm Bacon & Blue Cheese Dressing with 2005 Chardonnay, Mendocino County Pan Sautéed Salmon with prezzemolo pomegranate walnut sauce with 2003 Syrah, Sonoma County Grilled Lamb Chops with fresh thyme port reduction sauce with 2005 Zinfandel, Mendocino County Utopia's homemade tiramisu with Weltevrede Muscate De Hambourg, South Africa. Price: $50.
Dinner.
Utopia
445 E. First St. Long Beach, CA 90802
562-432-6888

Film Screening: Lolita, 8 p.m.
Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita finally gave middle-aged perverts a movie to which they could relate. Professor Humbert Humbert (James Mason) becomes romantically infatuated with 14-year-old Lolita (Sue Lyon), the daughter of his landlady (whom he eventually marries in an attempt to remain close to the girl). Does Humbert get what he really wants in the end?
And a movie.
Bay Theater - Seal Beach
340 Main Street (340 Main Street) Seal Beach, CA 90740
562-431-9988

Club Lucky, 10 p.m.
Price: $12.
Get lucky.
House of Blues
1530 S. Disneyland Dr. Anaheim, CA 92802
714-778-2583

I Do! I Do!, 7:30 p.m.
An intimate two-person musical that follows the marriage between Michael and Agnes on their wedding day and travels with them over a period of 50 years. Price: $37.50-$45.
Then get married.
La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts
14900 La Mirada Boulevard La Mirada, CA 90638
562-944-7977

For Buena Park's James Ochoa, the indescribable agony of spending 16 months locked in the Orange County Jail and a California prison for crimes he did not commit is a bit less painful today.

This afternoon, a state board in Sacramento voted 3 to 0 to award Ochoa nearly $30,000 in compensation in one of the final chapters of a bizarre law enforcement case. (Witnesses at the scene say board member Rosario Marin, a member of the governor's cabinet, argued against the payment but must have recorded a favorable vote to join State Controller John Chiang and San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos. California law permits wrongfully imprisoned people to apply for a $100-per-day fee for time spent in prison. Time in county lockup doesn't count.

"It's like a miracle," Ochoa lawyer Scott Borthwick said immediately after the hearing. "Every step of the way James had been screwed by government authorities. Finally, this board stood up and did the right thing."

In 2005, police arrested and prosecutors charged Ochoa—then 20 years old—for a robbery/carjacking near a Buena Park nightclub. A pre-trial article in the Weekly demonstrated numerous gaping holes in the government's case, and yet law enforcement officers refused to drop it. Most significantly, DNA evidence left at the scene of the crime did not match Ochoa. There were also substantial questions surrounding the competence and integrity of a police dog handler. In the middle of the trial, Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald pressured Ochoa to accept a two-year prison deal by threatening to send him away for the rest of his life if a jury found him guilty. Over Borthwick's objections, Ochoa took the deal. Justice arrived 16 months after the ordeal began when crime lab officials matched the DNA from the crime to a prisoner sitting in the Los Angeles County Jail. Fitzgerald quickly released Ochoa from prison.

Earlier this year, the Weekly revealed that prior to trial prosecutors had asked the crime lab to alter its findings that Ochoa was excluded as a source of the DNA. You can read that story here.

The Innocence Project, by famed defense lawyers Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld, features the case on its website.

Ochoa's civil rights lawsuit is set for trial in federal court on May 20 in the Ronald Reagan Federal Court Building.

--R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly