The LA Times, respected newspaper read the world over, released a correction to a health story recently that has to be the most uncomfortable correction of all time. It read:

Adult orphans: An article in Monday's Health section that was part of a package on how people handle their parents' deaths focused on Larry Graber, a Santa Monica psychotherapist whose parents died within six months of each other in 2000. Although the article said Graber is an openly gay man, Graber is heterosexual. The reporter misunderstood the name of his partner and misinterpreted references in the conversation, and incorrectly assumed Graber to be gay.

The worst (or best) part about it is that the reporter writes that this guy challenged his parent's expectations in part by "living as an openly gay man." Ahem. An openly HETEROSEXUAL man, that is. Whoops!

Click to read the story in its entirety.

The Los Angeles Times today on its editorial page gave Tribune Co. Grandmaster and indelicate asshole Sam Zell the finger when it criticized Prop. 98 and asked readers for a big No vote.

The Times sent out a press release mentioning how they weren't going to bend to the pressure. While noble, it really isn't anything other than what should be expected from what is widely considered one of the preeminent newspapers in the country. But in these trying times, doing it right is always appreciated.

Prop 98, is a dubious piece of legislation that poses as protection against eminent domain, but sneaks around the back to end rent-control laws on the books in more than 100 California cities.

The Times reveals that Zell, who notoriously told the Orange County Bureau of the Times that "Everyone likes pussy," and told a Orlando Sentinel photographer "Fuck you" for asking why he focuses only on earnings and not journalism, might have a stake in Prop. 98 passing.

Sam Zell is chairman and CEO of Tribune Co., which owns The Times; he also chairs Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., which donated $50,000 to Proposition 98. The company owns 27 mobile home parks in California, many of them subject to rent control.

Rent control doesn't really apply in Orange County, but think of your next door neighbors in Los Angeles—about 626,000 units full of neighbors, according to the Times. If they get priced out, they might just, (gasp!), they move to Orange County instead. We don't want our beloved Orange Curtain invaded by a bunch of vapid aspiring actor/model/writer/director ne'er do wells, now do we?

Instead, the Times endorses Prop. 99, which is less sweeping, but intends to protect homeowners from private developers using city councils to screw them out of their homes.

So the Times sez "no" on 98, "yes" on 99. Or better yet, don't vote. Then you don't have to take responsibility, just blame it on the crooks in the government—and Sam Zell, of course.

Eric Lindroos is a columnist for the Coast Report, the student newspaper of my alma mater, Orange Coast College. He writes the "Weekly Queery," his musings on life as a gay student who doesn't take guff from morons—yep, you know where this is going. Lindroos has received muchos nasty email from homophobic pendejos, but the San Francisco State-bound student has always maintained a positive, reappropriating attitude throughout the semester—even in the face of a restraining order filed to protect him from one crazy.

Lindroos—whom we know because he's a waiter at a restaurant we frequent that shall remain nameless—told the Weekly that the individual has gone to the Coast Report newsroom and demanded to confront Lindroos about his homosexuality. The student was able to get an op-ed piece blasting Lindroos in the paper, one poorly received by the OCC community. Now, Lindroos says the student is threatening to join the Coast Report—just to harass Lindroos. The Coast Report staff has tried to shield Lindroos from his hater, but he doesn't mind the attention—indeed, he welcomes speaking to the moron in order to show him that homosexuality is as normal as air. "This is a learning experience for me," says Lindroos, who hopes to continue his column writing as a career. Be good folks: send the Coast Report kudos for standing by Lindroos by e-mailing them at editor@coastreportonline.com

Yesterday, Tony Dodero, editor of the Daily Pilot, Orange County's favorite source of snapshots of Daily Pilot readers holding aloft issues of the Daily Pilot from various exotic locations, wrote a heartfelt letter to readers. Titled "Taking Notes: Changes for the Future," Dodero announced what he claimed was a "big step into the new future" of print journalism, which is struggling to preserve itself in the face of reader apathy and competition from "the Internet, bloggers, Cragislist, Google, You Tube, Facebook and who knows what will be the next big invention."

That "big step"?

From now on, starting today, the Daily Pilot will run advertisements on the front page of the paper. "It will be in the same place everyday, at the bottom of the page about six column inches wide and two inches high," Dodero wrote. "In addition, Tuesday's paper will seem a bit thinner. Instead of printing on a 50-inch wide paper, it will now be on 48 inches--a leaner product for a leaner time that will save money and paper."

Dodero also warned readers that Daily Pilot's website will also be changing--with more high-tech interactive features. And readers will be urged to contribute more to the paper--and not just more cheerful travel photos--but actual news stories and photographs for the paper's Townhall page.

One Daily Pilot staffer told the Weekly that Dodero never bothered to tell his own employees about the new changes. "We read about it in the paper along with everyone else," the staffer said. "Way to raise morale, boss. I wonder if this is how we’ll all find out when they decide to lay us off."

The staffer added that morale at the paper--as with just about every other daily paper in the country--is low these days, as is the pay, which averages around $12 to $15 bucks per hour. "Just about everyone here on staff is young and just out of college and they get a lot of work out of us for very little money," the staffer said. "They also frown on reporting overtime hours on your time sheet. The management just looks the other way if you work a 10 or 12 hour day, but they notice very quickly if you report it on your time sheet."

It's too early to tell exactly how the "big step" into front-page advertising is going to effect Daily Pilot's well-earned reputation for hard-hitting investigative journalism. Only one reader has commented on Dodero's announcement on the paper's much-vaunted, community-participation-oriented website.

"While I understand the need for change in order to keep the Daily Pilot afloat, I have a request," reader Bill Thompson wrote. "Since the news hole on the front page of the print edition is shrinking as of Tuesday, would you please devote less space elsewhere to what appear to be warmed-over business press releases and vaction photos, and give more space to actual news stories? "

It seems Orange County can't bear the thought that it is nationally renowned for being full of normal, educated couples who (gulp) swing. Yes, swing, as in go out and have recreational sex in a safe environment with your partner or with other people's partners on a regular basis. Or maybe it's the OC Register that can't bear the thought. Accept it, guys. It's not going to hurt.

Years ago, a home and part-time sex club known as The Panther Palace was hounded by the city of Costa Mesa for not having the proper permits. The county's latest victim is Club Amnesty, the friendly, mellow sex club we profiled last month (See "Swing Shift").

After our article ran, the Register started asking questions and began to dig for whatever scummy sex dirt they could find. That's the thing with sex in this county: If it happens in a way that's not missionary and monogamous, there must be something wrong. Wrong! And it must be stamped out.

Most people know Dean Singleton as the owner of the Denver-based MediaNews, Inc., a man who loves to buy newspapers like the L.A. Daily News and Long Beach Press-Telegram so that he can slash salaries, bust unions, earn huge profits, and generally quicken the destruction of print journalism. (His effort to buy the OC Register a few years back failed, but now he's using their copy to allow him to lay off his own reporters).

But did you know that Singleton also happens to be chairman of the board of directors of the Associated Press. It was in that function that Singleton attended the AP's annual luncheon today in Washington D.C. The event's guest speaker: presidential hopeful and Democratic front-runner Barack Obama. That's Obama, not Osama, as some in Fox News and other right-wing circles would have you believe. But don't tell that to Singleton, who introduced Obama to the crowd and, after the speech, re-read questions from audience members into the microphone. One of those questions, in Singleton's translation, had to do with Iraq, Afghanistan and "Obama bin Laden."

So there you have it, folks. The man who is speeding the destruction of print journalism, the very industry that has made him a bazillionaire, is also a fucking moron.
Additional proof: the only other famous numbskull who made the same mistake is CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

It's one thing for newspaper reporters to write about advertisers only because the advertisers buy ads, quite another for said reporters to cover an important community individual. The latter scenario is very much where Orange County Register reporter Tom Berg's Sunday story on mega-developer William Lyon falls. "The General" is one of the most important people in Orange County history, in the same way Serra was, so almost anything the man does affects county residents.

We add the "almost" qualifier because Berg's focus on Lyon yesterday falls under this category. Lyon was about to fly a B-17 bomber from Orange County to Washington, D.C.--huh? Is this a rare occurrence nowadays? Not really. Is Lyon setting a world record? No. This pedophile protector (strange that Berg doesn't mention that in his breathless list of Lyon charitable causes) is flying a plane--nothing more, nothing less. Yet Berg builds his man-crush throughout the piece, and spills his load at the end, describing Lyon as an "Orange County icon, standing in flight suit and boots, his gray mane combed straight back." Been talking to Dillow lately, Tom? Meanwhile, a quick look at the Sunday classifieds finds a full-page ad for William Lyon Home, just a bit of the mucho moolah Lyon has spent in advertising at the Reg for decades.

Join us in congratulating our terse Norse, Nick Schou. Variety reports today that Universal is developing a film based on Nick's excellent 2006 book Kill the Messenger, which detailed the tragic career of brave journalist Gary Webb. And this isn't some rinky-dink, indie-film bullshit we're talking about: writing the screenplay is Peter Landesman, who's penning the script for a film about Deep Throat of Watergate fame.

But wait: there's more! Earlier today, Nick found out his book proposal on the Laguna Beach hippie mafia of the 1960s was picked up by Thomas Dunne, an imprint of St. Martin's Press whose roster include legendary baseball scribe Roger Kahn and William Shatner. Hail Nick! Those who toil salute you!

Click here for more info...

Back in the days when the Orange County Register was known as the Santa Ana Register, the paper was infamous for twisting phrases to suit the editorial philosophies of owner/old coot R.C. Hoiles--public schools, in perhaps the most famous example, were referred to as "taxpayer-supporter" or "gun run."

The practice largely died once the Reg became a real newspaper, but a bizarre bit of its past philosophy arose today in a front-page story about a Placentia lesbian couple who had quadruplets.

The county is still abuzz about the failed jewelry heist at the Shops at Mission Viejo that left an idiot in a bad wig dead and the Orange County Sheriff Department investigating its own since two deputies shot the guy. Given that Kirk Christian Knight (just one letter removed from KKK!) fired at the deputies, this latest death under OCSD watch is much more justified than, say, the John Chamberlain affair. But what's been the strangest development so far is the visibility of acting sheriff Jack Anderson. The Caronie (h/t to Steve Greenhut) is openly jonesing to permanently assume leadership over the fifth-largest sheriff's department in the U.S.A. by embarking on moves that are good but still tainted because, hey: Anderson's a Caronie. And to let the county know who he is, he addressed news cameras on Sunday instead of usual sheriff spinner Jim Amormino, and gave an in-depth interview to the Orange County Register yesterday, continuing his predecessor's proud tradition of hogging the spotlight when the men in green come out looking like the heroes they're supposed to be. And when not? We shall see...

Papi Pulido and his amigos can breathe a bit easier: longtime Los Angeles Times SanTana reporter Jennifer Delson is leaving the paper, as reported by LA Observed and confirmed by Delson via phone call. Delson has written about Orange County's wackiest city since 1999, when she was known as Jennifer Mena.

No word yet on whether the Times will replace Delson with another writer, but her departure is further proof that owner Sam Zell is all bluster and cuss words and no action. Hey Zell, you fuck (note to readers: personal joke between he and I and not gratuitous name-calling): last month, you threw a fit about the Times' Washington, D.C. bureau being overstaffed and the Orange County offices being bereft of reporters and promised to reverse those numbers. How is letting a veteran reporter like Delson leave fulfilling that promise? We don't await an answer, as you obviously love to mumble about pussy much more than allow your quality product to approach Singleton territory.

From its pompous East Coast perch on high, the New York Post this morning slammed Orange County's women as “brain dead.” Columnist Adam Buckman writes that Bravo channel's new “The Real Housewives of New York City” is an “obnoxious” show that “in no way represents the vast majority of women” in Manhattan. According to Buckman, folks around the nation will now believe wrongly that his city is on “breast implant and face- lift” par with Orange County.

“Thanks, Bravo, for bringing this great city, with its more than 8 million residents representing every known corner of the globe, down to the level of brain-dead Orange County, Calif.--the land of lookalike McMansions where the first ‘Real Housewives’ series was spawned,” Buckman huffs.

Dear Bucky: Okay, OC isn't the intellectual capital of the nation. Folks here would rather go to the movies than read a book. We've got too many McMansions stuffed onto tiny lots. Our government, though uniformly conservative, is just as wasteful as any in more liberal strongholds. Traffic sucks because everybody wants to drive alone. Some segment of people--just like in NYC--obsess about boob jobs and face lifts.

But we're not a place dominated by bimbos or, the other tired stereotype, dope-smoking surfers. For example, 30 percent of our population (same as Manhattan, by the way) is foreign-born. We have large, thriving Latino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Central American, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern and Cambodian communities. Don't tell television producers, but we also have just as many poor white neighborhoods as wealthy. (Thanks to Cops, Riverside gets all that equally unfavorable publicity.)

After nailing OC and its women, Buckman did what lazy journalists are prone to do: He gave himself an out.

“Were they [Bravo producers] fairly representative of Orange County's 'real' housewives?” he wrote. “I wouldn't know. I don't know Orange County from the Orange Bowl.”

Thanks for the informed insights, pal.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

One of my favorite college experiences happened at Orange Coast in the late 1990s, when my Bible as Lit professor told us there was no way Moses wrote the Pentateuch as tradition maintained for millenia because of Deuteronomy 34:10. The passage stated, "No prophet ever again arose" like Moses, a boast that flew in the face of his documented humility in the Bible. "If Moses really was humble, he wouldn't have written that," the professor stated.

I share the above anecdote as a roundabout way of criticizing Red County/OC Blog's recently revealed list of Orange County's Top 40 Influential Politicos. Most of the names aren't a surprise given the county's political landscape--mostly conservative, mostly Republican operatives. One of the picks is Matt Cunningham--and that's where the problem lies.

Joseph Pulitzer, famed newspaper magnate and founder of the Pulitzer Prize once said, "Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together." Sam Zell, billionaire and CEO of the Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co. once said, "Everyone likes pussy. It’s un-American not to like pussy."

With such an eloquent man at the helm of the Southland's flagship newspaper, there's little doubt that our press, along with our Republic, are once again on the rise. That is, as long as we're not talking about the probably-on-the-chopping-block Washington bureau. According to LA Observed, Zell let those lazy self-important reporters in D.C. know exactly how dispensable they are at a recent meeting there. Although we are not told how this information was leaked, apparently Zell said something along the lines of "there's way too many people (at the D.C. bureau) and they should start acting like a wire service for the Tribune newspapers."

It's no secret newspapers have been axing bureaus from Washington to Moscow for years, growing ever more reliant on cheaper wire services in a pathetic attempt to reclaim the double digit profit margins of yesteryear.

The Times' Orange County bureau has taken massive hits itself in recent years. However, if Zell had his way, LA Observed reports, the situation would be "reversed" and D.C.'s bureau would see massive cuts and OC's staff would be beefed up (at least how we're interpreting it).

Does that mean we can expect better coverage of our fair county by the news juggernaut that is the Los Angeles Times? Pfft. It's probably more likely that the D.C. bureau will lose staffers and the OC bureau will lose still more staffers.

Today, the Daily Pilot published a piece by freelance writer Steve Smith in which he takes issue with my Feb. 10 op-ed piece for the Los Angeles Times (where I'm a contributing editor) criticizing its bowdlerized edits regarding stories (the passing of former Nixon Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz and new Times owner Sam Zell's f-you to an Orlando Sentinel photographer) where an obscenity is the story. "Contrary to popular belief, neither story is better with the bad language included," Smith asserts. "What Arellano sees as a behind-the-times (no pun intended) newspaper, I see one that distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack for not printing what everyone else is printing — and setting a standard for my kids." He also proudly boasts, "To this day, I have no idea what words Zell used, nor can I recall what that dead man said about 31 years ago. And I have no intention of finding out, even though the answer is just a Google away."

Smith makes it seems as if I argued that the Times should print as many profanities as possible and can't help but take a swipe at your favorite rag, saying the Weekly "often runs foul language in its stories and letters to the editor." Fuck yeah we do, Steve-o, and what of it? I'll take the Weekly's potty-mouth record over the Pilot's society pages-light coverage any day--but that's besides the point. Fact is, Smith misread my Times piece. Here's my op-ed's thesis:

But it's one thing to publish an unedited Howard Stern rant or print a transcript of the latest Paris Hilton sexcapades; it's quite another when the vulgarity itself is the story.

If Smith cares so much about his kids, he'd click here to find Butz's vulgar remarks and teach the chamaco to do otherwise. Same thing with Zell's f-bomb. His most ridiculous point, however, is his claim that parents are "smart enough to figure out the content on our own without having it shoved in front of us night and day." Ha! Anyone clever enough to figure out Butz's joke is lying or a fan of H. Millard--so which is it, Steve?

Over the weekend, Orange County Register columnist Gordon "Bootlicker" Dillow wrote some claptrap about the continuing controversy involving the proposed renaming of John Wayne Airport to something reflecting idiot Orange County television shows. But because the Reg is the Reg, that column isn't online despite it coming out yesterday...wait, I just found it after digging. Argh! Where were we? Ah, yes: in trying to find Dillow's most recent column, we stumbled upon a reminder of his one good cause over the years--urging veterans in 2002 to visit legendary cartoonist Bill Maudlin before he passed away in a Newport Beach retirement home. Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran an excerpt of Bill Maudlin: A Life Up Front, in which Dillow is given prominent, rightful play for promoting Maudlin in his final days. The book is out today--buy it, and remember the old adage about blind pigs and truffles.

This month's issue of Portfolio devotes its cover to the modern-day Carl's Jr.--not the quaint regional chain run by a bigot burger baron but one based in Carpinteria and operated by religious hypocrites. Say what you want about the conservativism of founder Carl Karcher, but at least the man was consistent, not like current Carl's CEO Andrew Puzder. Karcher loved making money but refused to let his advertising become repugnant or offensive; under Puzder, Carl's has become notorious for its commercials featuring moral icons such as Paris Hilton, Hugh Hefner, and Dennis Rodman. We don't mind the ads--companies need to make money. But then Puzder offers this gem to Portfolio reporter Joe Keohane regarding those commercials, which Karcher publicly condemned:

"I'm probably more a member of the religious right than I am anything else, so these are my people I'm offending. That's kind of a weird thing, but I can't run the business to the aesthetic tastes of any particular group in the country. And I will tell you, when we run these ads, sales go up and they don't come down."

Really, Puzder? Chik-fil-A and In-n-Out have done just fine producing food loved by millions while sticking to a conservative Christian business philosophy. Jesus doesn't take kindly to hypocrites--didn't that statue of St. Francis of Assisi Karcher had in your company's former Anaheim headquarters teach you anything?

Today came the announcement of two major developments in the world of Southland journalism. One announcement is superbad and the other superfresh awesome. So which do you want first? Well, the good's so good, you'll probably forget the bad so long as you hear the good last, so here's the bad. Deep breath:

"Tribune Co., struggling with declining revenue, today said it would cut staff by 400 to 500 people companywide, or around 2% of the Chicago-based media company's workforce. At the Los Angeles Times, 100 to 150 jobs will be eliminated, 40 to 50 in the newsroom, through a combination of attrition, voluntary buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs, Publisher David D. Hiller said in an interview this morning."

This news appeared in the Los Angeles Times today, the full article can be read here.

Ok. Now that all that's out of the way, let's focus on the positive aspect. I mean, sure, the Times will have 40 or 50 less newsroom voices. But, frankly, so what if you slice away what probably equals a combined several hundred years of cultivated institutional knowledge, beat knowledge and experience like so much gristle on rump roast?

That's the "old" business model. And by "old," I really want you to imagine an old gray lady with inkstained fingers who stinks like mothballs and lurks in the woods late at night with an ax felling innocent trees while cackling the virtues of the liberal gay-loving, abortiony entitlement queens it calls "readers."

Then there's the future of journalism. Imagine a couple of sexy hipsters, a couple in love maybe. The girl is looking doe-eyed into the distance with wisp of chocolate brown hair subtly obfuscating one of her eyes. She has on a really hot looking leather biker-type jacket and purple tie-dyed nylons in lieu of pants. A big set of headphones tells you she's into music, the music of the bottomless chasm of her soul. Then there's her boyfriend. He's a bearded vaguely ethnic dude posing behind a some DJ equipment. His eyes are covered by a pair of sunglasses. He's wearing some sort of jungle print hoodie that looks like it cost $2 but probably cost a hundred.

I've seen the future of journalism, and it is called MetroMix (see photo).

We appreciate WeCanStoptheHate.org, a website run by perennial conservative cucuy the National Council of La Raza that documents the going-ons of various anti-immigrant pendejos. We don't agree with their efforts to boot said pendejos off the airwaves, and do they really want to eliminate one of their top reasons for existence? And while we're excited they cover some of our local Know Nothings, the NCLR should at least get their facts right--especially when it comes to the Weekly.

For instance, the website's entry on the California Coalition for Immigration Reform claims that the activities of CCIR fraulein Barbara Coe "convinced the Orange County Weekly to once name her one of the 'scariest' people in Orange County." While Coe is indeed frightening, she's never made our revered annual 31 Scariest People list--the closest Coe came was in 1999, when we said that dearly departed Weekly managing editor Matt Coker "went stiffer than California Coalition for Immigration Reform leader Barbara Coe’s Queen Victoria’s Secret panties" after encountering a real-life piece of crap while surfing in Huntington Beach.

Moving on to Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, WeCanStoptheHate.org says that the Southern Poverty Law Center reported he said, "I see neighborhood armies of 20 to 40 going out and killing and invading one another." They did--but Gilchrist made his prediction when talking to me. Proper citation, Raza, proper citation! And speaking of which, can you please note that Chris Simcox's infamous boast, "So far, we've had restraint, but I'm afraid that restraint is wearing thin. Take heed of our weapons because we're going to defend our borders by any means necessary" was first reported by the Weekly?

Full disclosure: I'm not too informed on the 241 Toll Road. I don't see how extending it to San Onofre will reduce traffic on the 5 Freeway. I don't surf so don't particularly care if the legendary waves of Trestles disappeared. I do know that the Transportation Corridor Authority is one of Orange County's worst governmental agencies, and that environmentalists care a bit too much about nature at the expense of other issues.

But after hearing both sides go at it yesterday on AirTalk with Larry Mantle on KPCC-FM 89.3, I know why the TCA didn't get its plans approved by the California Coastal Commission: arrogance.

One of the people interviewed was Lance MacLean, chairman of the Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency and a member on the Mission Viejo City Council. MacLean told Mantle he was "disappointed" in the Coastal Commission's decision, said "there was no winners" and went on to claim commuters were "doomed," our air quality would "degrade" and state parks would no longer receive $100 million that the TCA promised them if the Coastal Commission allowed the 241.

A couple of minutes later, Huell Howser of California Gold called, "compelled to call in with my two cents" he told Larry through his trademark twang. Huell acknowledged Southern California needed to alleviate traffic but then went into an impassioned defense of state parks and a vicious critique of those who want to tamper with them. Trestles, he said, "wasn't set aside for a park until something better came along; it was set aside FOREVER." View clips from Huell's Trestles special here.

MacLean's response? He called Huell's statements "alarmist."

Alarmist. Saying Huell Howser is an alarmist when it comes to California state parks is like saying Vin Scully overreacts during Los Angeles Dodgers broadcasts, that John Wooden cheers too much whenever the UCLA Bruins play at Pauley. Lance: You don't question Huell when it comes to California treasures; you shut up, learn, and hope you can ever have an ATOM of the respect Howser commands amongst Californians. By the way, it's pronounced "Cristianitos Road," not "Christianitos." And how's the sign stealing treating you these days?

The Los Angeles Times ran an obituary today on Earl Butz, the Secretary of Agriculture under Yorba Linda boy Richard Nixon. Per the obit, "He was forced to resign his Cabinet post in October 1976 after telling an obscene joke that was derogatory to blacks." The Times, in its ever-genteel ways, didn't even bother to hint at Butz's crack, but we at the Weekly give it to you in its entirety after the jump!

Good news and bad news with this month's edition of Esquire.

The good news is the cover, a simple shot of four Victoria's Secret models with little text to distract like most of the esteemed magazine's 2007 efforts. But horrible news comes that Esquire is ending its long-running annual "Dubious Achievements" awards feature.

The local angle, of course, is that the feature always included the above-picture of President (and Orange County boy) Richard Nixon with the caption "Why is this Man Laughing?" Godspeed, Dubious Achievements--and do ustedes Esquire folks mind putting more Victoria's Secret models flashing their thong tan lines in its place?

Last Friday, on the slowest of news days, the OC Register announced that it would become the largest daily newspaper in the country without a business section.

The story came two days after the news that the Register's OC Post and Irvine World News would be merging into one thrice-weekly bundle. It was the first move in a proposed series of upcoming "initiatives" (read: more cuts? more mergers?) at the Register.

The elimination of the business section was the second big move. The avidly read Marketplace section will now be wedged in with all the other stories in the paper's main news section, the OCR reported Friday. The change comes amid the need to "...be more efficient in the type of news we publish in our newspaper versus online."

Longtime readers left huffy posts on the paper's blog, criticizing the decision to scrap business talk in one of the country's busiest entrepreneurial hubs.

Hat Tip: LA Observed

Our former sheriff Mike Carona made the New York Times a couple of days ago, and the parachute dispatch was boring save for the last segment:

In recent years, however, local news outlets reported accusations of murky financial dealings and the misuse of public money and accusations of infidelity.

“Who knows?” Mr. Moorlach said. “At the end of the day, they might have been very accurate, and we may be coming to grips with that.”

Hey Moorlach and Times: it wasn't "local new outlets" that reported Carona's idiocies. It was the ORANGE COUNTY FREAKING WEEKLY. More specifically, it was our R. SCOTT FREAKING MOXLEY.

And Moorlach: we're ashamed of you. "They might have been very accurate"?! You of all people should appreciate Jeremiahs railing alone in the wilderness--for you to dismiss Scott's reports show how much of a hack you truly are.

While enjoying Mami's amazing pozole this morning and seeing the Tournament of Roses parade rebroadcast on KTLA-TV Channel 5, my parents pointed out something interesting. When the Los Angeles Dodgers' float passed by, the camera cut between different Dodgers--Vin Scully, the Dodgers' organist, Nomar Garciaparra, a dapper Don Newcombe and a noticeably dour Tommy Lasorda, amongst others--but showed just a glimpse of Spanish-language announcer/legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and his senior partner, Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín.

The opposite happened on KMEX-TV Channel 34's version, according to my parents--they focused on Jarrín, Valenzuela and Garciaparra while largely eschewing the other Dodgers. We expect such racial idiocy from KMEX-- hey, cabrones: Mexicans in Southern California WORSHIP Vinny, Garvey and Lasorda; just talk to them-- but KTLA should know better.

While we're on the Rose Parade, Anaheim's entry was by far the stupidest: replicas of the Big A, the Honda Center, a bunch of freeways, some anonymous high rise that doesn't really exist yet, and the real-life Stanley Cup accompanied by some third-tier Anaheim Duck. Hopefully, this monstrosity didn't cost taxpayers $250,000 like last year, ¿qué no?

Remember Rebecca Schoenkopf? The Weekly's beloved, wildly popular Commie Girl? Whose column skewered the rich, mega-rich, and other idiots? Who unceremoniously bid our paper adieu in February--and who was unceremoniously booted out of the Weekly offices afterward?

You can always read her oeuvre on this website--or, better yet, buy her first book this summer. Titled Commie Girl in the OC and published by the chingón publisher of radical tomes Verso, Rebecca's book seems to be a collection of her greatest hits at the Weekly, from columns to features and other goodies. We say "seems to be" only because pages in the back of the uncorrected galley her publicist sent us promises more to come.

Congrats, Rebecca (and dig the Mike Davis love!), but just one quibble: Por favor, tweak your cover. The closest Orange County comes to a skyline like that is maybe the South Coast Metro area--but even then, it's all splayed out in accordance to old man Segerstrom's old farm and not so neat 'n' prim.

Back in October, we wondered out loud what was happening to the Orange County Register's once-vaunted food section. Today, further bad news: the wine column penned by Register investigative reporter Chris Knap is no more. But in ending his 12-year run, Chris couldn't help but take a swipe at me and be the kind of lockstep groupthink that would've made Old Man Hoiles spin in his grave*.

...has to be the one they ran last week asking readers what "is the most effective way to stop illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border?"

Reporter Amy Taxin sure knows her audience--of the options available, none included "open the borders ala the European Union," "reform the current immigration system to encourage more legal migration" or "turn over the southwest United States already." About the closest opinion to such immigrant-friendly options was "there is no effective way to stop migration," a rather bleak assessment that only about 10 percent of Register voters agreed with. Way to be optimistic, cabrones!

If there's one thing that Orange County Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut hates more than Sheriff Mike Carona, it's city-controlled urban planning, and he ripped SanTana officials a new one and then some yesterday in a piece blasting the city's much-ballyhooed Renaissance Specific Plan. Proponents say the Renaissance Plan will transform the city's downtown; opponents say the same, except use the word "gentrification." Greenhut, in one of his increasing moves to the Left, sides with the opponents and even injects race into the argument with this wonderful line:

Why aren't Santa Ana residents up in arms at an effort to gentrify the downtown, in a fairly obvious effort to replace the city's Mexican-themed atmosphere with something more in keeping with a yuppie clientele?

Where the heck is the outrage?

Steve, 'mano: have you been to a Green Party meeting lately?

My challenge to all lovers of liberty after the jump:

This paper has rightfully dinged the Orange County Register's readers over the years, specifically their insane Letters to the Editors that have advocated everything from darkie-dumping to homo-hating to machismo and, always, always Mexican-bashing. But a letter this past Sunday by Lou Shaver of Irvine tops anything this longtime Register reader/critic has ever read in the paper for absolute stupidity.

What set Shaver off was news that the indefatigable Sandra Robbie is seeking to make California schools teach about Mendez vs. Westminster, the landmark 1948 desegregation case that happened here in beautiful, idyllic Orange County, California. We have reservations about the State Legislature telling Californians what to learn in school (a Chula Vista assemblywoman wants to introduce a bill that would make Mendez mandatory) only because we can foresee a Republican whackjob force all kids to worship Reagan, but let's set that aside for this post. Shaver not only doesn't care for Robbie's efforts, he questions the importance of Mendez vs. Westminster!

With the Orange County Register in a continued free fall--fewer staffers, the failure of SqueezeOC and the OC Post--it will undoubtedly pain the Reg's ultra-conservative readership that the company is succeeding on just one level: its Spanish-language weekly Excelsior. Today, Excelsior editor Julio Saenz announced they're launching a bilingual insert named Expresso (cute!) this Friday. "Expresso particularly caters to young, second-generation Hispanic readers who are interested in Latin American culture, but read and speak English as their dominant language," Saenz tells Editor and Publisher. At this point, we'd usually launch a pedo Saenz's way as he's a Register employee and ostensibly the enemy, but not this time: he'll get plenty of crap from Register readers and not-getting-laid staffers soon enough.

Speaking of Register readers, a MASSIVE response by your humble wab to a Sunday letter tomorrow...

...isn't the everlasting battle between the Weekly and Orange County Register, Register staff and the new publisher, or even the Hatfield-McCoy madness that happened at this rag earlier this year and still persists (read a coming Hey You! for further details!) but the fight between two of our favorite local blogs: The Liberal OC and Orange Juice!. Late last year, The Liberal OC stole South County Democratic stalwart Gila Jones from Orange Juice!; this week, they swooped in and offered SanTana activist Sean Mill a home after Mill had a falling-out with head Juicer Art Pedroza. Liberal OC blogger Chris Prevatt announced the new development but couldn't resist taking a shot at Pedroza; in turn, Pedroza blasted Mill and continued the fight at the Liberal OC. Best part of this? All sides were at Memphis at the Santora last Thursday for Liberal Drinking, with Mill clutching a stogie, Pedroza working the crowd, and the Liberal OC guys bidding adios to own of their own.

It was like the scene in The Godfather when the Five Families meet and decide how to carve up New York--except remember this is Orange County, Juicers and Libs, and ustedes are far away from being Corleones. All of us fighting the good fight are st