Free Republic

ANAHEIM – A half-century ago today, Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland with great fanfare, and Ron Hanford was there. “It lived up to everything,” he recalled, now 71 and living in Rancho Cucamonga. This week, like so so many times over the years, he was back enjoying Disneyland – and Pirates... It was the last attraction overseen by Walt Disney, opening three months after his death. What is now a 15-minute journey in a boat that bobs past fireflies, pirates firing off cannons, drinking pirates and those trying to escape a jail cell – with that catchy tune...

Boeing will shift more than 2,400 jobs out of its Huntington Beach facility over the next four years, the aerospace giant announced Tuesday, slicing in half the number of workers at the sprawling campus. A nationwide streamlining of operations at the company’s Defense, Space & Security division will result in the transfer of 300 Huntington Beach jobs to its Seal Beach facility and 1,600 positions to its plants in Long Beach and El Segundo. Another 500 jobs will move to St. Louis. And an additional 400 will move to Huntsville, Ala., from Huntington Beach and other facilities around the country.

Donald Trump managed to flip some traditionally blue counties in other states but lost in Orange County, a historically conservative stronghold that’s turning bluer. Hillary Clinton snagged 401,577 votes countywide (49 percent), compared to Trump’s 361,121 (44 percent), according to results posted Friday morning. Third-party candidates Gary Johnson, Jill Stein and Gloria Estela combined got 43,293 votes (4 percent). Roughly a third of Orange County ballots remain uncounted, and final results likely are weeks away ...

Gwen Stefani took the Irvine Meadows stage Sunday night as the concert venue's final performer, 26 years after her band, No Doubt, first played there as an opening act for reggae artist Ziggy Marley. "Can you imagine? Tonight is one of the most special nights for all of us," she said. "We, together, will be closing down Irvine Meadows. This is it, right here ... I'm so honored to be from Orange County, and I'm so honored to be with you here tonight to celebrate music. Let's have some fun tonight. Do you want to?" And with that, Orange County's...

Henry T. Segerstrom, the arts philanthropist and visionary behind South Coast Plaza who helped turn his family's lima bean fields into one of the most successful shopping malls in the United States, died Friday . He was 91. Segerstrom was known for his charitable giving – he made the largest single private donation in Orange County history, $40 million in 2000 to expand the Orange County Performing Arts Center – and for luring high-end retailers to Orange County. In 1978, he successfully courted Nordstrom, persuading the luxury department store to open its first location outside the Pacific Northwest, forever changing...

That icon of police transportation, a vehicle so sturdy and beloved and ubiquitous that it became virtual wallpaper on TV cop shows and local streets – the Ford Crown Victoria – is dead. The upshot is this: For many police agencies, it’s time to buy a new car. Ford stopped making the Crown Vic four years ago, saying sales to the public had fallen to the point that the car is no longer viable, even if demand from police agencies remained strong. Fuel efficiency (or in the Crown Vic’s case, inefficiency) played a role.

Lawyers from California have cast accusatory eyes on Mississippi, declaring that the state’s Confederate symbol on its flag that’s flown at a Santa Ana display is racist and needs to go. The Orange County Bar Association has passed a resolution to remove the Mississippi flag from the Santa Ana civic center where it now hangs, along with the flags of all other states, The Los Angeles Times reported. Members of the group say the Confederate symbol is an outdated relic that represents racism and hatred, The Associated Press reported.

April 3, 2009 Police: Butcher may have been paid to slice man in love triangle Two arrested in attack on father of three who gave unemployed security guard a place to live. By KIMBERLY EDDS THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER FOUNTAIN VALLEY – A grocery store butcher arrested on suspicion of slicing a 47-year-old delivery driver with a large jagged knife, crushing his skull and nearly cutting off his nose may have been hired by the man's roommate as part of love triangle, authorities said. The butcher and his accused accomplice are both behind bars in lieu of $1 million bail....

NEED AID TO COUNTER CODE PINK IN ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA

The debate between Dr. Alexandria Coronado and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has been canceled. Sanchez has backed out. There will still be a rally at 6:00PM at the Santa Ana Police Officer's Association building at 1607 N. Sycamore St. on the first floor.