I would not presume to review the science or even explain the specifics of the regulatory tar baby that, thankfully, seems to have caught up So Cal Edison in its lies and obfuscations, stubborn insistence on the viability of SONGS. Read Nick Schou and other OC Weekly reporters for that. Mine is a political and, well, poetical response, a chance to consider the place of those two "units" in the life of the mind, psyche, not to mention physical experience of the Bibliofella.

Last Friday, when the decommissioning of San Onofre was announced, reminded me of my phone call to the late Jeanie Bernstein upon the arrest in London of the war criminal Pinochet of Chile some years back. I needed someone with whom to gloat, weep in joy, rant, holler and laugh. Alas, Jeanie, a co-founder of the anti-nuke organization Alliance for Survival, did not live to see last Friday. So I will share with you my gloating and weeping, since most coverage of and commentary on this life-saving decision has mostly focused on the presumed "cost" of non-nuclear energy instead of celebrating what is a huge victory for consumers, environmentalists, citizens, not to mention posterity.

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See the update at the end of this post identifying the dead man as Joseph Thomas Brewer Jr., 54.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 13, 7:23 A.M.: The source of gunfire in a quiet, relatively crime-free residential neighborhood of Orange early Wednesday remained a mystery for most of the day before police much later in the day confirmed an officer fatally shot a dude. Neither the officer, a 10-year veteran, nor the dead man, a 54-year-old said to be wielding a knife before he was taken out, were identified.

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A man who is not enrolled at UC Irvine stabbed another man during a fight at a party on campus early today, according to UCI officials.

The victim's wounds are not considered life-threatening, and UCI police are still looking for the 22-year-old suspect, according to the university.

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A letter to parents from the district superintendent today--followed by police confirmation--indicates that Brea Olinda High School's 2009 teacher of the year was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly having sex with one of her male students.

Math instructor Michelle Lynn Johnson, 45, was taken into custody at her Anaheim home, Brea police Sgt. Jim Griffin said.

See Also:
* PHOTOS: The Lovely Ladies of Theo Lacy Jail
* Ex-El Modena High Band Teacher, Wins Appeal in Underage-Sex Case
* Husband and Wife Teachers Who Sexed Up Student, Likely Escape Prison Time

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Over the objections of the prosecutor, a judge in Fullerton ordered the release of a worker who'd been held in connection with two dry-ice bomb explosions at Disneyland last month.

Christian Isaiah Barnes, 22, of Long Beach, was released on his own recognizance Thursday.

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See the update at the end of this post with police identifying the dead man as Simon Buckles, 27, of Anaheim, and details culled from social media and the fellow's brother.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 13, 11:49 A.M.: A man who assaulted his boss at a Fullerton clothing manufacturer and later returned with a gun was shot and killed by a police officer Wednesday evening, according to authorities.

Neither the officer nor the dead man have been identified, but the site was in the 1400 block of East Valencia Drive in a light industrial section of Fullerton.

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See the update at the end of this post about prosecutors declining to proceed in the church-burglary case against James Allen Dorscht and detectives trying to resurrect it, as well as Daniel Ruben Cortes already being sentenced after pleading guilty.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 12, 10:40 A.M.: Irvine Police say a final arrest has been made in the case of Orange County churches, temples and other religious facilities that have been burglarized in recent months.

James Allen Dorscht, 39, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after he stepped out of a family member's apartment on Loara Street in Anaheim and later held on $20,000 bail, Irvine Police said.

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A disbarred Irvine attorney, who was looking at up to 15 years in prison for defrauding clients who'd hired him for traffic crash-related civil litigation, got a year in jail and five years probation after pleading guilty Thursday.

Tuan Thanh Tran, 43, admitted that he settled claims with insurance companies and kept more than $150,000 in payouts to five clients without informing them.

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Faber's economic patriotism?

A federal judge in Orange County has punished a 59-year-old Huntington Beach businessman and national defense subcontractor for cheating the United States Air Force.

Keith Randell Faber, owner of A&M Bearings LLC and Mesa Bearing Company, successfully bid between 1997 and 2008 to supply a specific type of high quality ball bearings to military contractor General Atomics in Poway, California.

But federal agents discovered that for at least three years of his contract, the grandfather knowingly supplied substandard ball bearings, dishonesty that ultimately cost the Air Force $60,000.

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New Jersey State Police say an investigation has been launched into the Bridgeport Speedway dirt track crash that killed NASCAR driver Jason Leffler of Long Beach Wednesday night.

Leffler was in second place and away from other cars early in his heat when his car slammed into a wall on the fourth turn of the track about 15 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

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