Sanchez: Get it together girls!

​[UPDATE at 5 p.m.: After her morning TV appearance, Congresswoman Sanchez appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews in the afternoon and reiterated her stance that "it's really sad" that Komen for the Cure has decided for political reasons to attack "a very important" medical resource for countless women, Planned Parenthood.

[ORIGINAL POST at 12:30 p.m.:] After praising the "good" work of the Susan B. Komen for the Cure organization, Rep. Loretta Sanchez told a national television audience this morning that she believes conservative, anti-abortion forces in the group have unnecessarily caused a rift with Planned Parenthood.

"It's a shame to see this [relationship] break apart," Sanchez, an Anaheim Democrat, told MSNBC. "[But] it's driven by politics."
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Brents: Gotta match?

​A vicious Orange County career criminal, heroin addict, pimp and killer given a death sentence nearly 12 years ago has reason to rejoice today after the California Supreme Court reversed the punishment because a judge here botched the jury instructions.

In a 26-page ruling written by Justice Joyce Kennard, the high court determined that the superior court trial judge, John J. Ryan, "for reasons that are not clear . . . deviated" from proper jury instructions in a way that misled Gary Galen Brents' jury on a key kidnapping count.
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Newport Coast squatters were featured in the Weekly

​The jobless couple who brazenly took over an empty multimillion-dollar, oceanview Newport Coast home, pretended it was theirs and mocked the Newport Beach Police Department have acknowledged criminal conduct in exchange for a sweetheart deal from Orange County's most notorious judge: Robert R. Fitzgerald.

Over the objections of the Orange County district attorney's office, Fitizgerald dismissed the two felony counts each against Christopher Wayne Duncan and his wife, Robin.

I'm not sure what the People got (looks like nothing), but the judge--notorious because he loves to prevent juries from rending verdicts in cases--allowed the couple to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts at a pretrial hearing today: conspiracy to commit a crime and unlawful entry into a noncommercial dwelling.
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​You may recall the name Sirous and Sons from our coverage of Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan, the Laguna Beach rug store's manager and registered sex offender facing up to 60 years to life in state prison for allegedly sexually assaulting and/or exposing himself to 11 women. Most incidents having happened at the downtown store are not what has caused its closure, however. The business has been involved in ongoing disputes with its landlord and the city of Laguna Beach, which Sirous and Sons is suing for more than $14 million.
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​A 1941 Willy Coupe restored by CW Restorations of Huntington Beach received a second place award in the Custom Rod Coupe category at the prestigious Grand National Roadster Show over the weekend.

That's notable for two reasons: it was CW Restorations' first entry in the competition, and the car was built as a tribute to the late Joe Hetherington, whose family still owns Big Daddy's Car Wash in Sunset Beach (as well as the '41 Willy Coupe).
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R. Scott Moxley

Year of the Dragon: Chuc mung nam moi

​Under a bright blue sky and appreciating warm temperatures despite occasional gusty winds, Orange County's Little Saigon community celebrated the Chinese New Year today with a Tet parade that, if based solely on the number of South Vietnam flags waved, resurrected the long dead Asian nation if only for a day.

More than 1,000 spectators watched the 2.5-hour parade down Bolsa Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Little Saigon.

The parade featured bands from area high schools, community groups, former South Vietnamese soldiers, retired U.S. Marines, local business owners as well as Democrat and Republican politicians.
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Snaps photos with tongue; nabs commission

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In California, would-be Realtors have to pass an examination to obtain a valuable, state-issued license.

But there is no requirement that Realtors know a damn thing about activating a camera or taking a decent photograph.

This fact can have tragic, if hilarious, consequences for homeowners trying to sell their Orange County properties.

There were plenty of nominations but here is today's horrible home for sale photo of the day: More >>

Crocs

​Crocs--they're surely a fashion crime, but are they dangerous? More >>

​The Anaheim-based Access California Services, which has its office nestled on Brookhurst Street in Little Arabia--a neighborhood profiled in the Weekly's current cover story--has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1998. The agency that provides assistance to the county's Arab and Muslim communities started when founder and Executive Director Nahla Kayali became a divorcee with three children in search of help. She sought out culturally responsive resources from local mosques but found them lacking in terms of the immediate needs of her situation. Out of that experience her vision for a new non-profit took form with the help of two friends, Nemati Abdullah and Hassan Al-Khatib. More >>

​And you thought you had it rough: Esther Adler was physically abused by a family member from age 3 and forced into becoming a caregiver to her handicapped mother at age 8. She ran away from her ultra-conservative Jewish family but was later "married off" at 18 to a controlling, abusive husband, bearing him four children by the time she was 27. After a messy divorce, her kids alienated her. That was before she was diagnosed with a life-threatening, incurable disease. Who better to speak to women in need, as Adler will do Wednesday afternoon at the Catholic Worker in Santa Ana?
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