By Pete Zarustica Walking into the old Orange County Courthouse in downtown Santa Ana is more than a trip up a flight of concrete steps; it’s a journey back in time. Many […]
“Legally Blonde” met legally historic
Fatty’s big, tragic career
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 […]
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 […]
Book: ‘New Deal’ for Orange County
By Jim Tortolano Although Barack Obama in 2012 made strong inroads into Republican domination of Orange County during presidential elections, only once in history has O.C. swung toward the Democrats. That was […]
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 […]
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 […]
“Catch 22” gift to the county
By Jim Tortolano It was once one of the largest air force training bases in the world, and yet it had no airplanes, hangars or runways. It was a major setting in […]
