Free Republic

Marcus Eriz, the Costa Mesa man who claimed not to understand why he fired the bullet from his car that killed a 6-year-old boy in 2021, received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison on Friday. Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King rejected a defense attorney’s plea for leniency on the basis of Eriz’s age — he was 24 at the time of the shooting — as well as the argument that Eriz had suffered childhood trauma. King said he could find no connection between the defendant’s alleged trauma — left unspecified in courtroom arguments — and...

On the morning of February 7, 2024, when Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley appeared at the Wild Goose Tavern in Costa Mesa, Calif. for a “meet and greet” event, supporters of President Donald Trump showed up to meet her and greet her in their own way. Carrying banners, placards and flags, they sang Steam’s 1969 hit “Kiss Him Goodbye” and chanted slogans calling on her to drop out of the presidential race, expressing support for her archrival Vivek Ramaswamy and for building the border wall.

Costa Mesa police are searching for robbers – at least one with a handgun – who ran onto the patio of the Seasons 52 restaurant at South Coast Plaza at dinnertime, ordered everyone to get down, and then stole a purse before fleeing Monday night, Nov. 22, authorities and witnesses said.

Californian independent contractors and freelancers got quite a shock Thursday evening when a state senator compared lost jobs to “lollipops.” Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson represents the 19th District in western Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. In a Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement meeting officials heard arguments for and against pushing forward SB 806 and SB990. The bills — put forth by Republican senators John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) and Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) — aimed to immediately suspend and amend the disastrous AB5 legislation that killed independent contracting/freelance jobs across the state. Moorlach and Grove have been two politicians at the...

COSTA MESA (CBSLA) – Costa Mesa is trying to block as many as 70 confirmed coronavirus patients from being transferred to the city. Federal court papers filed Friday state that the federal government plans to transfer the patients from Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento to the former Fairview Development Center on Sunday.

A former employee and another woman in hoodies and painted faces were arrested after they walked into a Costa Mesa restaurant, at least one of them with a bat, and started vandalizing and disrupting the establishment Saturday afternoon, the Costa Mesa Police Department said in a news release. Passion Shenay Coleman, 27, walked in at about 1:30 p.m. and smashed a television, table settings and plates with a bat, causing thousands in damages at the restaurant in the 3300 block of Bristol Street in the South Coast Plaza area, police said. Restaurant staff recognized her as a former employee. Another...

Kim Endicott and her local driver were abducted last Tuesday in a wild park. Following their kidnapping, a ransom had been demanded for their release. On Sunday, the pair were reported to have been released and returned to Ishasha Wilderness Camp, an area owned by the Wild Frontiers Camp. A ransom was believed to have been paid for their release.

Another scandal for the "scandal-free" Obama administration. Not all ICE targets work construction or smuggle drugs. Some are key figures in the Dem machine. But the era of Obama corruption is over. There's a new sheriff in town. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week arrested two millionaire fugitives from Ecuador whose family donated heavily to American political campaigns. Roberto and William Isaías, 74 and 75, were detained Wednesday in Miami and taken to a detention facility for undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation, The New York Times reported Friday. ICE told the Times that the brothers were “unlawfully present” in...

COSTA MESA – The community college instructor who called Trump’s election “an act of terrorism” during class was named faculty Colleague of the Year – but she turned down the honor. Orange Coast College’s Olga Perez Stable Cox, 66, wants to avoid the national attention that hounded her after videos of her lambasting the new administration went viral in December, school officials said Wednesday. “She didn’t want the same level of attention and scrutiny,” said Doug Bennett, Orange Coast’s executive director of college advancement.

An Orange Coast College teacher who told her students that Donald Trump’s election was an “act of terrorism” has received threats and has temporarily left the state. News of the threats against Olga Perez Stable Cox came to light Monday, as hundreds of people turned out at the college to protest for and against her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db8oL3sRzgo COSTA MESA (CBSLA.com) — A political discussion in a college class touched off a firestorm. A college professor went off on president-elect Donald Trump in her Orange Coast College class. There are now threats of expulsion and threats of legal action. CBS2’s Stacey Butler listened to the controversial rant. The human sexuality teacher — Olga Perez Stable Cox — called Trump’s election “an act of terrorism.” “Our nation is divided. We have been assaulted. It is an act of terrorism,” she told the students. .... “I felt censored and bullied if I did not agree with her opinions,” the...

The Orange County district attorney filed charges Monday against a 19-year-old man who was arrested during the demonstrations that turned violent following a Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa. Luis Fernando Alarcon, a car detailer, was charged with one felony count of vandalism causing damage of $400 or more and one misdemeanor count of inciting a riot, according to a criminal complaint.

An Anti-Trump Protest in Costa Mesa California turned violent Thursday night. Trump supporters were assaulted, police vehicles destroyed, and roads shut down.

A protest outside a campaign rally for Donald J. Trump in Costa Mesa, Calif., turned violent late Thursday night, as the crowd smashed a police car, the authorities closed nearby streets and officers arrested about 20 people. The unrest erupted outside an amphitheater where Mr. Trump, the favorite in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, was addressing several thousand supporters, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. There were no major injuries, and the Sheriff’s Department reported on Twitter that the protest was over and that the crowds had dispersed around 11 p.m., after officers on horseback pushed people...

COSTA MESA (CBSLA.com) — Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters clashed with drivers and police Thursday evening in Costa Mesa. Trump was speaking to thousands at a rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds. The group gathered just outside held signs and Mexican and American flags to protest the controversial GOP presidential front-runner. The protest group spilled out into the streets and blocked traffic in several intersections. Stu Mundel reported overhead in Sky 9. The group of protesters was described as “very large and very aggressive.”

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is coming to Costa Mesa for a 7 p.m. rally Thursday at the OC Fair & Events Center, according to his campaign. The first Orange County visit by Trump since entering the race comes as he gears up for California's June 7 primary, which could determine whether he reaches the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination in advance of the Republican National Convention in July.

Laguna Beach's LSD culture in the 1960s, a cranky widower befriended by his chatty neighbors and a man who's dealing with the fallout from his reality show days are all stories that will be told at the Newport Beach Film Festival this year. At this, the 17th annual festival, there are more than 400 features, short films and documentaries from 50 different countries. It's a chance to see things that likely won't appear elsewhere, especially in the United States. The festival starts this Thursday and runs until the following Thursday. "The largest misconception about any film festival is that these...

Recently, the House passed, by an overwhelming margin, a resolution to condemn the Russian Federation for actions considered hostile and aggressive within its sphere of influence, specifically with regard to the politically torn country of Ukraine. Ten Members voted “nay,” myself among them. I wish to explain why I took this unpopular position. Above all, while Vladimir Putin’s government may well have engaged in questionable behavior toward neighboring countries, Resolution 758 was nothing more than gratuitous, needlessly provocative and shortsighted. Moreover, reasonable observers the world over can see it as tantamount to a declaration that Russia is America’s enemy. The...

The nation is engaged in a conversation on immigration and, therefore, our congregations should be too. After all, this is not just an abstract philosophical topic — this cuts straight to the core of who we are as Americans and, ultimately, who we are as people of faith. Those of us who claim one of the Abrahamic traditions know that we have been called to care for the immigrant among us. It is a biblical mandate. And any of us living on this side of the border knows (or at least should know) we are all immigrants. Our human journey...

Need some freeper help and knowledge. My sister is moving to Costa Mesa CA from Cave Creek AZ. She and her family love Arizona but because of a job situation she must move to California. She is uptight about moving and I would like any freepers to let me know good things about the area, or any inside info to help calm her fears and give her something to look forward to. I know the taxes are too high, too many illegal’s, too many liberals so fill me in on good news.