Free Republic

At the tail end of my college years, a band from Orange County, Calif., burst onto the national scene. MTV News called this group a “ska-punk band” — it seemed like a lot of new bands in that era received that moniker — but No Doubt’s music was a true fusion of ska (along with rocksteady and reggae) and rock with more of a punk edge than a punch sound and a sparkling pop melodic sensibility.But what set No Doubt apart was its charismatic frontwoman, Gwen Stefani. She had a unique combination of that aforementioned punk edge and SoCal glamor....

WALLKILL - A former state auditor accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the town of Wallkill while reviewing its finances pleaded guilty to a felony public corruption charge. Tobias Otieno, 41, of Hyde Park, admitted Tuesday in Wallkill Town Court that he stole $405,843.25 from Wallkill between June 23, 2022, and Sept. 1, 2024, while assigned to audit the town on behalf of the state comptroller's office. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of four to 12 years when Otieno is sentenced on June 1, according to a release from Orange County District Attorney David...

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who is currently running for governor, got absolutely humiliated during a campaign event in Orange County by Grammy-nominated singer Tish Hyman, who heckled him in a glorious exchange that featured the congressman doing a metaphorical tap dance around whether men identifying as women should be allowed in female locker rooms. The obvious answer is “no,” but Swalwell wouldn’t provide the simple two-letter answer. Hyman stuck it to Swalwell at the event, which comes just a few short weeks after she was kicked out of a Golds Gym in Los Angeles after she confronted a transgender woman...

GOSHEN — The wife of an Orange County highway superintendent charged with attempted murder for shooting a lost DoorDash delivery worker earlier this year was indicted this week for allegedly deleting video evidence related to the case against her husband. Selina Nelson-Reilly, 45, was arraigned on charges that included hindering the prosecution and 17 counts of tampering with physical evidence, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced Friday. Nelson-Reilly’s husband, John Reilly III, was indicted following the May 2 shooting that left the DoorDash worker, a West African immigrant living in Middletown, with severe injuries that required multiple surgeries. Reilly,...

When I found Darshan Smaaladen earlier this month, she had joined several hundred of her neighbors at a “No Kings” demonstration in Orange County, California. Not that she was there to protest. “Rallies are great,” Smaaladen told me, “but they don’t get people out to vote.”A year ago, Smaaladen had helped lead a successful campaign to recall two ultraconservative members of Orange County’s school board. Now the 52-year-old mother of three was using the “No Kings” protest as a campaigning ground for Proposition 50, the ballot measure orchestrated by Governor Gavin Newsom that would redraw California’s district map to add...

A North Carolina police officer who declared he was “Antifa” in a post on the social media app BlueSky was fired Monday by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, according to the News & Observer. Brian Edwards, 37, served as a detention officer for the agency while making the posts and had been promoted to corporal in May, the News & Observer reported. Edwards’ posts included calls for subjecting “traitors” to “war crimes trials” and hinted at executing them. “I maintain that the biggest mistake the US government has ever made was letting the traitors from the civil war back into...

The Orange County woman who faces a series of felonies for registering her dog to vote in 2021 and 2022 made her first court appearance on Tuesday, saying through her legal team that she did so to "expose flaws" in California's voting system. Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, was charged with five felonies last week as she registered her dog, Maya, to vote in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election and the 2022 primary election, Orange County District Attorney prosecutors said. "The dog's vote was successfully counted in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election but was rejected in the 2022...

The family of a Newbury homicide victim is calling on Vermont officials to do more when it comes to protecting communities from those who suffer from mental illness and commit a crime. It comes after James Perry Jr. -- who admitted killing his own daughter in 2021 -- was found not guilty earlier this summer by reason of insanity. The Orange County Courthouse in Chelsea was packed Friday as loved ones of Karina Rheaume expressed their grief to the court over her tragic death at the hands of her own father. “The process never ends. Every hearing, every update re-traumatizes...

VIDEOThe BEST way to force compliance from local officials who refuse to cooperate with ICE is simply to threaten to terminate their political grifting careers. Watch just how FAST and EFFECTIVE such a threat was in Florida when Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, after steadfastly refusing to cooperate with ICE, almost instantly changed his mind when faced with the threat of his removal from office. These officials will do anything to keep their grift going as you can see.

IRVINE, Calif. — On the morning of Feb. 28, 2000, a man in a black hood ran up to Patrick Riley in front of his office, shot him flush in the face and fled. The bullet missed his brain, and Mr. Riley, a biotechnology entrepreneur, survived. But two days later, his business partner, a doctor named Larry C. Ford, killed himself with a shotgun after learning he was suspected of being the mastermind behind the shooting. That is where the story probably would have ended — a lurid but ultimately local piece of intrigue played out in the sun-splashed Orange...

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page for allegedly not providing records related to non-citizens’ removal from voter registration lists. The Justice Department alleged that Page refused to provide full, unredacted records related to the removal of non-citizens from the county’s voter registration lists and did not maintain an accurate voter list in violation of the Help America Vote Act, a 2002 law that made sweeping reforms to the country’s voting process. It said the records Page provided redacted certain personal information, including social security and state ID numbers. The lawsuit alleged that...

Several massive immigration sweeps reported throughout Los Angeles.

A new round of DNA testing exonerates a homeless man who has spent nearly four decades in prison for the killing of a Santa Ana nanny, according to defense attorneys who are asking Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer to declare Kenneth Clair innocent of the 1984 slaying. Clair, who spent years on death row before an appellate court overturned his death sentence and he was re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. ...

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 stray dog survived a 45-minute coyote attack earlier this month in Orange County, fending off at least five coyotes that circled it in a residential neighborhood

A stray dog survived a 45-minute coyote attack earlier this month in Orange County, fending off at least five coyotes that circled it in a residential neighborhood. An incredible video posted on Nextdoor and shared with KTLA showed the dog fighting off the coyotes in the driveway of a home in Brea on May 6. The homeowner said it happened around 5:40 a.m. on Huntley Circle near the 57 freeway. The video shows several coyotes surrounding and attacking a young Labrador/German shepherd mix that was roaming the neighborhood without a collar. The homeowners were unaware of the battle unfolding on...

Early one morning in September 2024, two teams of F.B.I. agents descended simultaneously on a pair of homes in Orange County, New York. The agents arrived to serve arrest warrants on Mout’z Soudani, 76, a local real estate investor, and Stewart Rosenwasser, 72, a prominent former judge and recently retired county prosecutor. The two were accused in a conspiracy case. Mr. Soudani surrendered. Mr. Rosenwasser did not. Instead, he barricaded himself inside his home in Campbell Hall, N.Y., a suburb 65 miles north of Manhattan, exchanging gunfire with F.B.I. agents, according to local news reports, which cited an unnamed source...

News 12 has obtained exclusive video showing the moments before a lost DoorDash driver was allegedly shot by an elected official in Orange County. The 24-year-old victim is seen on surveillance camera at a residence in Chester holding a plastic bag and his cellphone at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday, while state police say he attempted to find the correct delivery address. “I have DoorDash. My phone is broken. I need some help,” the unidentified DoorDash employee is heard saying during the recording. News 12 traced the dasher’s steps to one of the houses he tried in the Valerie Drive...

LOS ANGELES — Jurors convicted a Southern California judge of second-degree murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting his wife while the couple argued and watched television at home. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was on trial for the 2023 death of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home. Ferguson took the stand in his own defense, admitting to shooting his wife but saying it was an accident. Jurors reached their decision Tuesday afternoon, a day after deliberations began. After the verdict was read in court, Ferguson was given a moment to hug his son before...

Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was convicted for the 2023 killing of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home.. A Southern California judge was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of his wife during an argument. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was on trial for the 2023 killing of his wife Sheryl, 65, in their Anaheim Hills home. Ferguson took the stand in his defense and admitted to shooting his wife but claimed it was an accident. Jurors reached their decision Tuesday afternoon after deliberating since the day before. He was also found guilty...