First off, a pleasure to meet you folks at Calitics. Just a guy from North Orange County, pretty liberal and pretty friendly. I’ll be doing weekly or daily (depends on the OC coverage/importance) Open Topic threads on the OC.

Dems gaining (small) ground in Orange County, Repubs. losing it.

Just this week the OC Registrar of Voters updated its voter regs., with Democrats at 512,089 (Up from 511,811) with Republicans at 698,893 (Down from 699,678).

By percentages:

GOP: 42.7%

DEM: 32.0%

DTS: 20.3%

Oh, the “most Conservative county in America”, ain’t so conservative anymore.

Chuck DeVore touts his “Pro-Family” views:

Just when you think this guy is already radical..

Chuck DeVore receives a perfect pro-family score

March 18, 2009

Chuck DeVore was one of 18 lawmakers who received a perfect pro-family score from the Capitol Resource Family Impact for voting in 2007-08.  Capitol Resource Family Impact runs California’s only pro-family state lawmaker ranking.

Thank god i’m not being represented by this loon (I’m in the 72nd AD), but this guy still makes us OC residents look like narrow-minded, bible-thumping, wing-nuts. Hell, i’ll take the HP chick over this guy..

Arianna Huffington coming to Anaheim!

The dazzling woman who founded the awesome Huffington Post will be at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim on August 6th, hurry and get tickets soon! Details can be found on the Orange County Democratic Party’s website.

Have Dinner with Judy Chu

Tomorrow at the Villa Roma Restaurant in Laguna Hills, you can sit down and have dinner with CD-32 candidate Judy Chu (At the cost of $45.00). Details can be found on the Orange County Democratic Party’s website.  

(OK, fixed! : ) – promoted by atdleft)

Today, the FBI confirmed what CA AG Jerry Brown said in May, Irvine is one safe city. In fact, it’s the safest in the nation:

For the third year running, Irvine tops all large cities in the nation with the lowest incidence of violent crime after posting a nearly 17 percent drop in 2006, according to a report by the FBI. Reported violent crimes for the city – which include homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault – fell from a total of 151 in 2005 to 126 in 2006, for a rate of 67 per 100,000 in the preliminary posting of the 2006 FBI Annual Uniform Crime Report. (OC Reg 6/5/07)

Last time, I talked about the importance of parks and recreation.  And of course, economic factors surely weigh into the amount of crime. Given that Irvine has a pretty high per capita income, it’s not surprising to see a low rate of crime. But Irvine actually does better than similarly sized cities with higher per capita income. Take that Sunnyvale! (Ok…Sunnyvale is #2 on the AG safe city list, but that’s one slot below #1).

But something else is also at play here, that is the role of the city’s various crime prevention programs. Irvine has implemented geographic policing, neighborhood watch programs, and Internet reporting.  Follow me over the flip for more..

So for a city of about 200,000 people, how the heck does Irvine stay so safe? Well, how about the Police Department’s various programs. One such program is geographic policing.  This program gets beat officers out from behind desks and in the community, where they are visible. Irvine’s neighborhood alert has also been effective. Knowing your neighbors helps reduce crime and creates a more livable city. Or is it the WatchMail program? Can the internet actually be used as a tool to reduce crime in the community? Whatever they are doing, the Crime Prevention Unit of the Irvine Police Department is proving to be quite effective.

And clearly, it seems like Irvine has enough patrol officers to cover the entire community. And perhaps now that the Irvine Police Department now does “geographic policing”, officers really are connecting more with the community. And maybe, their Crime Analysis Unit is having some effect. Perhaps by finding out what had gone wrong, they can then work with the community to make things right. Whatever is happening, the Irvine Police Department must be doing something right.

And clearly Irvine’s Progressive Mayor and Police Chief know how tough it can be to keep such a big city so safe. Yet for the last three years, they have been remarkably successful in leading the way not just for Orange County, and not just California, but for the entire nation. From The OC Register:

“When you are the safest city in America, you have to work especially hard to maintain that position,” Irvine Mayor Beth Krom said. “This is a source of pride for the entire community.” […]

“Getting to know the people who live and work in these areas helps them to be able to identify the problems in these areas and any impacts on the quality of life,” said Irvine Police Chief David L. Maggard.

And how has Irvine been able to avoid what the other major cities in Orange County are suffering from?

The national crime trends were largely echoed in Orange County, with all eight cities with populations of 100,000 or above recording increases in robberies, and a sharp decline in property crime.

There were 19 more murders in Orange County’s biggest cities in 2006 than the previous year – a jump that can be largely result of a spike in gang violence in Santa Ana, which recorded nine more murders in 2006.

However, car thefts, arsons and other property crimes dipped across the nation for the second straight year, the data show. Huntington Beach – which saw a 12.6 percent drop in violent crime – was the only large Orange County city to see a rise in property crime, recording 365 more property crimes last year compared to 2005.

Huntington Beach must now worry about property crime becoming more prevalent throughout town. Santa Ana is now facing a crisis of escalating gang violence. Up in North Orange County, the cities of Orange and Fullerton are grappling with dramatic increases in violent crisis. Take a look at the major California cities on the FBI’s list, and things aren’t looking very good not just in OC, but throughout the state.

So what is Irvine doing right that other cities in California aren’t? Are Irvine’s police services that much better? Are they doing a better job of preventing crime? Are the parks and community services really making that much of a difference? There’s a secret to Irvine’s success, and more communities should try to learn this secret to figure out how to take a real bite out of crime.

Here are today’s wild and wonderful OC stories that you just have to see to believe!

– TABOR for All? In yesterday’s OC Register, Rep. John Ken-doll Campbell offers us an “American Taxpayer Bill of Rights” to fix all the fiscal woes that those “tax and spend Democrats” are already creating:

The road back to fiscal sanity in Washington is likely to be a long slog, unless Republicans are willing to boldly recommit ourselves to the principles that earned us the reputation as the party of lower taxes and less government. Today the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of approximately 100 fiscal and social conservatives in the House, will do just that when we unveil the American Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Unfortunately for Ken-doll Campbell, Dan Chmielewski ain’t buying any of this “TABOR talk”.

But Republicans are hardly the party of less government. The size of the California government rose under Ronald Reagan. It rose under Pete Wilson. And it’s risen under Arnold Schwarzenegger. The size of the Federal Government grew under Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

The president who actually reduced government: Bill Clinton, under the RE-GO initiative led by then VP Al Gore shrunk the size of the Federal Government to the lowest point since the Kennedy Administration.

Read the rest of what he has to say at The Liberal OC.

– And you say only Iowa and New Hampshire have town hall meetings? Nope, not true… ‘Cuz we’ll be having a series of them in Santa Ana over the next month. OK, OK, we won’t have anyone “famous”… We’ll just be talking with our city leaders about youth issues, business development, neighborhood concerns, and more. Ryan Gene has more about it at Orange Juice.

– Advantage Janet? In case you forgot, our Special Election for County Supervisor is still in court. However, there was an interesting turn of events inside the courthouse yesterday. Peggy Lowe has the latest in Total Buzz. And finally…

– “Do I stay or do I go?” Ellyn Pak talks about that grueling decision that thousands of Anaheim Hills and East Orange residents had to face as the threat of fire loomed over their neighborhoods in today’s OC Register.

(Video courtesy of atL3x on YouTube)

Here’s the latest update on the Windy Ridge Wildfire, courtesy of The OC Register:

It’s now contained. The fire is now 100% contained, and should by fully controlled by 6 p.m. tomorrow.

But we’ve still got plenty of firefighters on the scene. Over 400 firefighters and 800 total personnel are still there. However, crews are now being sent home.

Pretty big price tag. The cost of fighting this fire is estimated at $1.5 million, but expected to double.

Firefighters injured. Three firefighters had minor to moderate injuries. One was treated for smoke inhalation, while another had an allergic reaction to an insect bite. A firefighter who suffered an ax wound to the face had his injury upgraded from minor to moderate.

3 structures have burned. One single-family home with a shake roof in the 6800 block of Avenida de Santiago in Anaheim Hills was damaged. Two outbuildings in the 6900 block of Overlook Terrace in Anaheim Hills were destroyed.

2,740 homes still evacuated. 240 of them are in Anaheim Hills, while 2,500 of them are in Orange. All evacuees have been allowed to return to their homes.

The roads are open again. All roads are open, including all lanes on the 241 toll road.

Hopefully once the fire has been put out, everyone can return home safely. And hopefully, those three families who have lost their homes will be able to find new homes very soon.

(Video courtesy of watashiwabritney on YouTube)

Here’s the latest update on the Windy Ridge Wildfire, courtesy of The OC Register:

– 2,740 homes have been evacuated. 240 of those homes are in Anaheim Hills, and 2,500 are in Orange. All evacuees have been allowed to return to their homes. Residents in the Hidden Canyon area in Anaheim Hills are still under voluntary evacuation. Only residents will be allowed into the neighborhood.

– 3 structures were burned today. One single-family home with a shake roof in the in Anaheim Hills was damaged, while another two houses in Anaheim Hills have been completely destroyed.

– 80% contained? So far, that’s the latest estimate. As of tonight, 2,080 acres have been burned.

– Some roads are still closed. Most roads in Anaheim Hills and East Orange are open. However in the vicinity of Serrano and the Hidden Canyon area in Anaheim Hills, the roads are still closed. Only residents are allowed in. Only two lanes are open on the 241 toll road.

– Firefighters are still on the scene. Right now, over 100 fire engines, 5 bulldozers, 20 strike teams, 20 hand crews, about 600 firefighters are working to contain the fire. However, 800 firefighters and structural firefighters who worked here yesterday were dismissed today.

– Was this arson? A burning abandoned car with stolen license plates ignited vegetation about 50 feet off the 241 toll road yesterday morning, and authorities are feeling quite sure now that this caused the great fire. Police suspect that this car was deliberately set on fire, and they are asking anyone who saw suspects running from the vicinity Sunday morning to call authorities.

All of us in OC are watching what happens at Windy Ridge right now. And yes, I’m still hoping that all these poor folks can return home safely and soon.

(Video courtesy of watashiwabritney on YouTube)

Here’s the latest update on the Windy Ridge Wildfire, courtesy of The OC Register:

– 1,220 people were evacuated. And though some people were allowed to return home last night, many must still stay away from their own homes as the threat of fire looms nearby.

– 4 structures have been destroyed. Fortunately, only 2 of those were single-family residences. But still, as the temperatures rises and humidity drops today, more homes may be threatened.

– 30% contained. So far, 2,036 acres have been burned. However, authorities are hoping that not too many more become scorched as they expect to fully contain the fire within the next 24 hours.

– Two firefighters were injured. And now, both firefighters injured have been treated. One was treated for an ax wound to the face, and the other for smoke inhalation.

– Did a really stupid criminal cause all this? Apparently, this all started when some jackass criminal set fire to a car with stolen license plates (Hmmm… I wonder who stole them…). Seriously, why are such idiots allowed to roam this earth freely?

So anyways, this is what’s happening in OC right now. Let’s just hope that all these poor folks can return home safely and soon.