By Jim Tortolano Orange County has produced its share of movie stars and celebrities, ranging from Diane Keaton to Kevin Costner, but none have had the impact and tragic life of our […]
Fatty’s big, tragic career
OC’s three famous churches
By Pete Zarustica Over the years, Orange County has been marked by much more than amusement parks, beaches and housing tracts. Houses of worship have played a key role in the history […]
Westminster’s English roots
By Jim Tortolano Westminster is a city best known for its mall and its large Vietnamese population, clustered in an area known as Little Saigon. So what’s with the Olde English-style architecture […]
OC turns 125 … sort of
By Pete Zarustica Orange County is (almost) officially 125 years old. On June 4, 1889, residents of the southeastern wing of Los Angeles County (typically referred to as the Santa Ana Valley), […]
FC bridges past to present
Editor’s note: First in a series of visits to historically significant locations in Orange County. By Jim Tortolano Orange County’s most senior institution of higher learning is a “junior” college. Technically, Fullerton […]
The historic house on the hill
By Wayne Sherwood Any one who has ever shopped at Mother’s Market on Beach Boulevard, near Adams Avenue, has seen the beautiful Victorian house sitting on the bluff nearby. This splendid, Queen […]
Cities now coming full circle
By Jim Tortolano Old is the newest trend in American living. I’m not talking about the steady march of baby boomers toward senior citizen’s discounts, but the popularity of living styles which […]
Should Santa Ana be county seat?
When Orange County was divided from Los Angeles County in 1889, there was a lot of controversy over which city should be the county seat, or center of government. Anaheim, Orange and […]
From White House to Orange County
By Pete Zarustica Orange County is about as reliably conservative county as there is, having only gone Democratic only once (in 1936 for Franklin Roosevelt). It’s not exactly a “swing” area, but […]
County’s long (& maybe shady) birth
By Jim Tortolano Sometimes you hear people complaining about having to drive to the civic center of Santa Ana to do business at County of Orange offices. Can you imagine having to […]
