​The Washington Post compared the annual financial disclosure reports filed by every member of Congress over the past decade to various public records and discovered that nearly 50 senators and House representatives directed millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that could either enhance the surroundings of the lawmakers' own property or help entities connected to their immediate families. Two of these lawmakers represent districts that include parts of Orange County.
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​UPDATE, FEB. 7, 1:44 P.M.: Just received this short, unsweetened announcement from John Moorlach, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors:

"Mr. John Williams has agreed to honor the original terms of his previous agreement to resign from the position of Public Administrator. Mr. Williams' resignation was effective on January 23, 2012."

Our long countywide nightmare is over.
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Armstrong

​"There was plenty of evidence of doping, but the fact that there may have been doping doesn't necessarily mean a federal crime was committed."

-Chris Manderson, a Newport Beach attorney, reacting via New York Daily News to federal prosecutors dropping a two-year investigation into allegations seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and members of his cycling team used banned drugs to boost performance.
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Conway, Jr.: Like a skinnier Tom Arnold, except less funny

​I remember when Tim Conway Jr. was cool: back when he was on KLSX-FM 97.1, first with Doug Steckler, then Brian Whitman. But ever since he's been on KFI-AM 640, Timmy's been a tool (not to be confused with Timmy O'Toole) who tries to strike a happy medium between Borscht Belt cynic Handel and Know Nothing JohnKen but ends up a sad imitator of nothing (except, of course, for the genius "What the Hell did Jesse Jackson Say?").

Really: his show is unlistenable. But that's the only thing I can listen to when I get out of the office, because my transistor radio can only pick up KFI, in some sick-as-fuck God joke. But He works in mysterious ways, and that's how I was able to listen to Conway Jr. make an ass out of himself in trying to advocate for child-abuse victims.
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​UPDATE, JAN. 30, 3:54 P.M.: Orange County Superior Court Judge William Monroe today denied former public administrator John Williams' request for a temporary restraining order aimed at getting him back into his county office.

In other words, the locks that were changed after Williams left his office last week remain.
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​Since 2004, I have been a regular voice on KPCC-FM 89.3 and KPFK-FM 90.7--on the former as part of the regular Orange County roundtable held on Airtalk with Larry Mantle, and on many shows for the latter, including the two laughable years I spent with my own one-hour radio show. I love both of the stations equally--KPCC for their thorough coverage of Southern California, KPFK for their leftist politics. But the fortunes of the two stations are diverging: KPCC is hiring like crazy, while KPFK seems to broadcast a loop of endless fund drives.

Which leads to the following billboard prank committed by KPCC against KPFK.
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​A couple years ago I introduced readers to Anthony J. Tarquinto and The Real 40 Year Old Virgin of Orange County, the Aliso Viejo author's self-published tome that mixes his unique lack of sexual experience with a political ideology that finds Barack Obama a threat to America. In the months since, Tarquinto has spread his "expertise" on celibacy and tea party ideology. Others are taking notice, although nothing has apparently changed his status between the sheets.
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Recent highlights in Orange County news from various media outlets or blogs:

​TheLiberalOC discusses the long reach of its bombshell story on state Assembly candidate Michele Martinez's controversial train conversation related to a California Indian tribe and campaign support.

OCPoliticsBlog calls District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' decision to label accused serial killer Itzcoatl Ocampo "a monster" during last week's press conference "pathetic" given Ocampo's service as a Marine in Iraq.

Greg Hardesty, a veteran reporter at The Orange County Register, features the 6-foot-4 and 300-pound Lloyd James Middaugh, a 42-year-old murder victim and registered sex offender in the Ocampo affair.
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​The County of Orange has been sued, scolded and ordered to reduce jail overcrowding for years. Just as regularly, attempts to expand the number of beds at the James A. Musick Facility in Irvine have been met with resistance--and court battles--from that city and nearby Lake Forest.

It's happening again: Irvine is reportedly suing the county over a plan to add 512 beds to the minimum-security jail.
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​January's GQ has a fascinating piece on a fellow who turned up in our crime coverage the past couple years: Luis Mijangos, the so-called "sextortion" hacker out of Santa Ana sentenced Sept. 1 to six years in prison for cyber-terrorism.

The 32-year-old undocumented immigrant hacked into dozens of computers to obtain personal data--and in some cases demanded sexually explicit videos from females lest he email their boyfriends the lie that the women willingly sent him risque images he actually obtained on the sly.
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