Free Republic

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 ...

Dog tests positive for meth, heroin TUSTIN, Calif. – A dog picked up during an arrest in Tustin, California has tested positive for methamphetamine and heroin, authorities said. Tustin Police Lt. Robert Wright tells CNN that the dog named Bubba was found in a hotel room after officers served an arrest warrant for Joshua West, 40, on March 22 in Orange County. West was on parole for drug violations, said Wright. Police reported illegal drugs were found in the room along with used needles. The dog was turned over to Orange County Animal Care (OCAC) and transported to its facility....

Second District Supervisor John Moorlach warned in a weekend editorial in the Register that the county is poised at the edge of bankruptcy – again. To make his point, Moorlach compared Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports for June 30, 2010, for Irvine and Newport Beach to the county’s. “The county’s net assets are $4,794,221,000. The net investment in capital assets is $3,097,843,000. The restricted resources are $1,384,586,000, thanks to our relationships with the state and the federal governments.,” Moorlach wrote in an Aug. 26 guest editorial. “That leaves unrestricted net assets available to the county of $311,792,000, or just a little...

Pete Dietrich, chief nuclear officer at San Onofre, assured in a news conference this week that San Onofre is super safe. The twin reactors are encased in inner shells of steel that are 8 inches thick and outer shells of concrete that are 4 feet thick. However, there's an old saying in the news business: "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out." I've ridden my bicycle past the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station a dozen times. In my mind's eye, there are gaps in the wall around the plant. Could a massive tsunami circle around the...

All of the melodrama of the unfinished counting aside, there is a lot hanging in the outcome of this race, and it all has to do with the number of Republicans versus Democrats in the California State Senate. If Lynn Daucher is victorious, it will mean that instead of 15 Republicans and 25 Democrats, there will be 16 Republicans. While this seems like a minor difference -- trust me, it is not. The dynamics of the legislature are such that the leverage that Republicans have in the process (especially when the Governor has taken to embracing liberal positions on key...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government. The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule. "America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take...

A Republican congressional candidate whose campaign was linked to an intimidating letter sent to Hispanic voters said Tuesday he would not quit the race if he is charged with a crime. ADVERTISEMENT "If you're innocent and somebody charges you, would you give up? No, you've got to fight," said Tan Nguyen, who is seeking to unseat five-term Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez (news, bio, voting record) in California's 47th Congressional District. "Innocent people can be persecuted," he told The Associated Press. The state Department of Justice has opened a voting rights investigation into the letter sent to certain Democratic voters in...

President Bush claims he’s serious about immigration enforcement. Here’s one way he could show it. The Orange County, Ca., sheriff has asked the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to train and deputize his detectives in immigration law and to authorize them to enforce it. That way, when a sheriff’s detective comes across an illegal-alien gang suspect, he can get him off the street immediately on an immigration charge. ICE has sat on Sheriff Michael Corona’s request (which conforms to a 1996 federal law) for ten months. If President Bush wants to demonstrate that he is willing to protect the country...

SAN DIEGO -- Lifeguards Tuesday prepared for waves up to 18 feet that are expected to arrive Wednesday. "We've increased our staff a little in anticipation of the high surf and we're doing a bit of predeployment in the rescue-prone areas," said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Greg Buchanan. Eight lifeguards will be on duty at daybreak Wednesday, and a special unit will be in place at Sunset Cliffs, he said.

ORANGE COUNTY MAN WHO “WEB-CAST” EXPLICIT IMAGES OF A PRE-SCHOOL-AGED RELATIVE INDICTED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY SANTA ANA, Calif. – An Orange County man who engaged in sex acts with a then four-year-old relative and web-cast the images over the Internet to computer users in Texas and Indiana has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of producing and possessing child pornography. Jed Philip Larson, Sr., 44, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges contained in the two-count indictment handed down today. Larson was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Orange County...

Every December, Zack and Hilary Rudman used to send out nonsectarian cards with winter scenes and generic holiday greetings. Now, however, Zack Rudman, a Kansas City lawyer, has found a variety that seems to better suit a Jewish man and an Episcopal woman with two young children as familiar with the menorah as with a manger scene. These cards proclaim: "Merry Chrismukkah!" "I'm all for holiday cards but I want to make sure when we send something it respects both sides of our family," Rudman said. "I always like to deal with religious differences with humor. These were right up...

Looks like John Wayne has got more staying power than The O.C.'s fictional crew of tawny teens. Two days after an Orange County supervisor made the ill-advised suggestion that John Wayne Airport be renamed in tribute to Fox's prime-time teen soap, the idea has been kicked to the curb. "Let's just say it was a trial balloon. It crashed and burned," Supervisor Chris Norby told the Los Angeles Times of his proposal to dub the airport "The O.C. Airport, John Wayne Field." "With all the priorities we have, it is not going to be one of ours." (It sounds like...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Suddenly, John Wayne (news) isn't trendy anymore. A politician in Southern California's Orange County has suggested that the community's John Wayne Airport might be a more appealing destination for travelers and a better emblem of the region if it had a name that traded on a popular TV show: "The O.C. Airport." "The O.C.," a drama about the lives and loves of some oversexed teenagers in the affluent, conservative region south of Los Angeles, became a breakout hit for broadcaster Fox this season. Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby raised the idea before his colleagues of changing...

Anybody out there watching the OC tonight? I am watching it and am very interested in how they are treating the teen pregnancy/teen abortion issue. I mean abortions by teens, not of teens. If we allowed abortion of teens who knows what would happen (wasn't that a south park episode?). Anyway this is my break from studying for my Contracts final (it's tomorrow) so I thought I'd still engage in some intellectual debate.

NEVER FORGET ...During this Recall Gov. GRAY DAVIS Election the Los Angeles Times has purposely given California Voters: Misleading Election Polls / Dirty Tricks Articles / Delayed Dirty Tricks Articles ...while it prepares some more for us to digest before the Oct. 7th Recall Election. ...During this Recall Gov. GRAY DAVIS Election the Orange County Register has responsibly given us all 'JUST the FACTS, Ma'am' ...The Orange County Register has recently expanded its circulation. This includes many more Newstands both inside and outside Orange County and... ...SUBSCRIPTION service outside Orange County. ...Your Home Copy will be delivered in a very...