Free Republic

The county plans to permanently close the west side of the flood-control channel between 17th Street in Santa Ana and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach as it prepares to start maintenance of Orange County Flood Control District property along the trail, officials have said. Before maintenance begins, Orange County Public Works officials have been tasked with cleaning debris and trash from the former encampment in Fountain Valley. Puckett said officials found a .357 magnum containing three empty shell casings — indicating to authorities that it had been fired — near the camp. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating where the gun...

A judge has sided with Huntington Beach, for a second time, in a legal challenge to the city’s new voter ID law.Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns issued a statement calling the ruling “a huge victory not only for our City but charter cities throughout the State … We will not back down in our efforts to secure local control over our local issues and will continue to fight for the City.” The backstory: Huntington Beach voters approved a measure last year allowing the city to require people to show ID when casting a ballot. State officials say that contradicts California...

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was fired from his high school football coaching job following his anti-Make America Great Again speech at a California city council meeting earlier in February. The 43-year-old Kluwe, who was arrested and charged with disturbance of an assembly after the Feb. 18 incident, revealed to TMZ that Edison High School served him termination papers on Wednesday. During the Huntington Beach council meeting, he ranted about a library plaque and what he called “propaganda” references to the MAGA movement. “I’m bummed that I won’t get to work with the kids anymore,” Kluwe told TMZ on Friday....

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was arrested after protesting at a City Council meeting in Huntington Beach, California, on Wednesday. The reason for Kluwe’s protest revolved around a sign proposed for Huntington Beach’s public library, which would have the words "Magical," "Alluring," "Galvanizing" and "Adventurous" next to each other. The words spell out MAGA. "Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!" the signage reads. Video captured Kluwe speaking at the City Council meeting, where he criticized the MAGA movement, which is normally associated with President Donald Trump’s campaign...

Huntington Beach City Council members unanimously agreed to ignore California’s sanctuary state law on Tuesday night, ordering police officers to work with federal immigration authorities and notify federal officials when they are about to release an undocumented immigrant from jail. It comes as Surf City launched a lawsuit against the state claiming the current rules are unconstitutional.

Four years after Huntington Beach came to symbolize resistance to California’s pandemic-era mandates, “Surf City USA’s” shift toward staunch conservatism became complete last week, after three new members of the city council were sworn in on Tuesday. Now, every seat on the seven-person council is filled by a Republican, and the members celebrated the milestone on Tuesday by donning red caps that said “Make Huntington Beach Great Again,” an homage to the famous “Make America Great Again” hats popularized by President-elect Donald Trump. The numbers “7-0” were emblazoned on the caps’ right side. It’s a supermajority that Councilmember Tony Strickland...

A judge on Friday rejected California’s lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach over a local measure allowing officials to require voter identification at the polls. Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas ruled that existing state law does not block the local measure, which was approved by voters earlier this year. The ruling could clear the way for the majority-Republican city to implement one of California’s only voter ID requirements at the polls in local elections. “It’s a massive black eye to the state of California,” City Attorney Michael Gates said of the ruling. “And what the state of...

With the 2024 presidential campaign season drawing to a close, supporters of President Donald Trump rallied for one last time in downtown Huntington Beach, Calif. On Sunday, November 3.

A California mayor is defiant after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law in direct response to the city’s attempt to secure elections. The saga began on March 5, when Huntington Beach voters weighed in and passed ballot measure 1, the Voter ID and Election Rules Amendment. According to Ballotpedia, the charter amendment authorized the city to require voter identification for elections and allowed infrastructure to support the initiative. ... In 2023, then-Mayor Tony Strickland supported the measure in the face of pressure from local and state Democrats seeking to torpedo it. “Our democracy does not work if people do not...

American surfing legend Bethany Hamilton has called out officials in California after organizers of a competition in Huntington Beach were told a transgender surfer must be allowed to compete in the women’s division. Hamilton, 32, posted a message on social media Friday about the controversy surrounding the inaugural Huntington Beach Longboard Pro in California this weekend after reports revealed the event’s organizers were forced to reverse their stance on transgender athletes or risk having it canceled.

Tyler Laube pleaded guilty Oct. 23 to a single misdemeanor charge of interference with a federally protected right without bodily injury...prosecutors dismissed anti-riot act charges. The 27-year-old Redondo Beach man was sentenced to 35 days behind bars, or time already served, for punching a journalist in the face during a clash between former President Donald Trump supporters and opponents in Huntington Beach seven years ago. Carney sided with the defendants in their constitutional argument against the anti-riot act. In Judge Carney's view, "far-left groups were at least equally culpable in causing much of the violence that erupted at the various...

Federal prosecutors who opted not to pursue charges against “Antifa” members cannot prosecute a Huntington Beach man accused of helping establish a Southern California-based militant, white supremacist group whose members attacked rivals at Southern California political rallies, a judge ruled Wednesday. Criminal charges against Robert Paul Rundo for allegedly recruiting and training others to commit violence at rallies in Huntington Beach, San Bernardino and Berkeley were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who accused the U.S. Attorney’s Office of selective prosecution for pursuing suspected “far-right, white supremacist nationalists” but not “Antifa and other extremist, far-left groups.” Carney wrote...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - This oceanside enclave is a lot like the rest of coastal California: Its signature pier juts into the Pacific as waves big enough to make surfers salivate break beyond miles of white sand. But when it comes to politics, this city of 200,000 south of Los Angeles loudly defies the blue-state stereotypes. Lately, the beach town has become a battleground, its council chambers a coliseum for culture warriors. The conservatives who now control city government have pursued policies that position Huntington Beach as the ideological counterweight to the state’s liberal leaders. In the past year alone,...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Bisecting a wide sandy beach, the Huntington Beach pier beckons tourists and surfers alike, creating a break in the waves that helps gives the city its nickname: Surf City, USA. It is a scene as laidback as the name would suggest - and a stark contrast to the political hostility spilling out of City Hall just a short drive inland.

Lacking power at the state level, conservatives are leaning into local governance to protest California’s progressive politics. The fight in Huntington Beach could be a harbinger of what’s to come.

Reports of "aggressive shark behavior" have temporarily shut down a two-mile stretch of a popular California beach, officials said Sunday. Witnesses at Sunset Beach in the Southern California town of Huntington Beach told lifeguards that a shark was splashing and acting aggressively at 3:45 p.m. on Nov. 5 before a whale washed up on shore. "While the whale was still alive, bite marks were seen on the mammal," the city said in an alert posted on social media. The young whale was beached near lifeguard tower 22. "As is the City’s policy when aggressive shark behavior is witnessed, the shoreline...

A Huntington Beach City Council decision over what flags to fly in front of city government buildings made earlier this week received increased scrutiny on Thursday with more LGBT groups demanding that the rainbow-striped gay pride flag be allowed to fly again.

As California goes, so goes the nation, or so they say. If that rings true, the nation is set for a reversal of some of its strictest renewable energy plans, after the Huntington Beach City Council voted to dump its plan for 100% renewable energy...Huntington Beach, California, is changing the plan it had in place with the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) - a nonprofit offering clean energy.But its recent history in a rather unfavorable media limelight has given the city council pause.And Huntington Beach wasn’t the first municipality to pull out - Orange County bailed on the green power...

Shocking surveillance footage shows California jewelry store workers fighting back after several smash-and-grabber robbers rush into the shop and attempt to make off with valuable gems. FOX 5 San Diego obtained the video showing at least four individuals wearing hooded sweatshirts run into Princess Bride Diamonds, located in Bella Terra mall in Huntington Beach. One of the suspects uses a hammer to smash open a glass display case, as others rush in carrying backpacks. But workers at the store quickly jumped into action, running toward the would-be thieves. The employees, including a brother and sister who work for their father...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A California coastal panel on Thursday rejected a long-standing proposal to build a $1.4 billion seawater desalination plant to turn Pacific Ocean water into drinking water as the state grapples with persistent drought that is expected to worsen in coming years with climate change. The state’s Coastal Commission voted unanimously to deny a permit for Poseidon Water to build a plant to produce 50 million gallons of water a day in Huntington Beach, southeast of Los Angeles. Poseidon said it was disappointed in the decision. “California continues to face a punishing drought, with no end...