Orange County

Grand-scale show, featuring 54 magnificent horses and 37 artists continues at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, through January 28. President and artistic director Normand Latourelle announced the six additional performances, he wants to provide additional opportunities to see Cavalia before it begins its European tour, where it has already scheduled engagements in Brussels, Belgium opening March 8 and Amsterdam, Holland, opening May...

When typical Orange County residents are asked what they like the most about living in Orange County, I can almost guarantee you that the answer will be that it's because of the beautiful beaches, public parks, recreational opportunities, low crime rates, good schools and excellent job opportunities. When you roll all of that up into a package and put a name on it, there is nothing else to call it but "quality of life." We have to constantly work at preserving and protecting this quality of life that all of us hold so dear.

GLENDALE — Bob Franz, the city's director of finance and administrative services, submitted his resignation Wednesday, clearing the way for him to become Orange County's chief financial officer and deputy chief executive, he said. "I have mixed feelings about this decision because of how good a situation Glendale has been for me," Franz said. "I think of Glendale of being an ideal position with the good staff here and stable City Council and officials. It's been very difficult to get to this decision."

The 14th annual Cotton Club West: Puttin' on the Ritz gala came to Orange County, sponsored by the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County. The Grove of Anaheim was the setting for nearly 1,000 guests -- including a significant contingent of Newport-Mesa civic, community and social leaders -- who came together to raise nearly $30,000 for the Black Chamber Education Fund. Jerry Mandel, saxophonist and retiring president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, joined the UC Irvine Jazz Orchestra and jazz great Ernie Andrews to entertain the crowd.

Everyone has a soft spot. For Newport Beach's Chris Massey, it's children. More than 3,000 children in Orange County are in the foster care and the juvenile court system on an average day, and a large percentage of them are in need of stable relationships and mentors. Social workers and judges manage multiple cases and rarely have time to focus on a single child. That's where the Court Appointed Special Advocates program (CASA) comes in. The juvenile court appoints volunteers to serve as advocates for children going through court proceedings.

Long before we ran out of energy in California, the housing crisis was prologue to today's headlines in Glendale. For 30 years, we in California have been shutting down production of housing on the one hand, while on the other, we wonder why we have no housing, exactly as we did for energy and a host of other public goods such as water and airports and roads. And nowhere is this contradiction better illustrated than in two California cities, one in Orange County, the other in Riverside.

o7"When the 1/1 goes off to war again, we will be there for their families when they need us."f7 -- Steve Bromberg, former Newport Beach mayor and now Superior Court judge, at Mess Night held Thursday at the Balboa Bay Club for the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, which the city adopted last year o7"We don't deplete our own resources in order to help out."f7 -- Keith Fujimoto, Costa Mesa Fire battalion chief, describing the mutual-aid relationship among fire departments; Costa Mesa and Newport Beach firefighters helped out with fires burning in northern Los Angeles County last week.

A flash-flood warning was issued Tuesday afternoon for Los Angeles County as forecasters warned of possible pockets of rain and thunder showers. Earlier in the day, officials issued a similar alert  warning of hail, thunderstorms and possible lightning in Orange County and the Inland Empire.  L.A. NOW

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams announced Friday that he will be seeking the job of sheriff of Orange County, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Adams is one of more than 40 candidates who are applying for the position. ?He will be a huge loss to the city,? Lorenz said. ?As the city manager has said, it will be a huge loss, and to think that one of his best may leave the city. City management is not immune to losing department heads to other cities.? If hired, Adams will replace former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.

Big 'Little' Production "Little Women -- The Broadway Musical" opens at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, the production tells the story of four sisters at the end of the Civil War. The Orange County Performing Arts Center is at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For more information, call (714) 556-2787. Winged Migration Help our most delicate winged friends by volunteering to renovate the butterfly habitat at the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve.

Amid national discussions about possible gun control initiatives, gun shows across the Southland have been reporting record traffic, prompting early concerns in Glendale that a similar event scheduled for March could also attract the same attention. Add to that the fact that the upcoming Glendale Gun Show on the weekend of March 2 could be the last on city-owned property, and city commissioners this week said officials should prepare for the worst. “We're talking about a doubling [of attendees]

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - At this point in the season, Coach Tony Riviera has begun to notice his Glendale Angelenos wearing down a bit. Their bats have been a little flat lately, he said, which is why there was added emphasize this week about "getting guys in motion. " Glendale's summer collegiate baseball club tallied five hits Friday evening, but it cashed in stolen bases, wild pitches, missed diving catches and errors for a 4-1 victory over the Orange County Black Sox at Stengel Field.

For a Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team setting forth in hopes of defending its CIF Southern Section Division I championship, there is nothing new about traveling south into Orange County. Only this time around, the Tologs will take to the road from the onset, as they drew an opening-round contest at Capistrano Valley on Friday, upon the release Monday of the CIF playoff soccer brackets. "It's Mission Viejo on a Friday," said Tologs co-Coach Frank Pace of making the 70-mile trip down to Mission Viejo.

A flash-flood warning was issued Tuesday afternoon for Los Angeles County as forecasters warned of possible pockets of rain and thunder showers. Earlier in the day, officials issued a similar alert  warning of hail, thunderstorms and possible lightning in Orange County and the Inland Empire.  L.A. NOW

GLENDALE — Los Angeles County Public Health officials were continuing to investigate the motives of a fake inspector who called several restaurants, including one in Glendale, urging them to dial certain numbers. The man, who investigators have yet to identify, called one undisclosed Rainbow Sushi & Teriyaki on South Brand Boulevard in Glendale and another three in the Antelope Valley, asked them to call a phone number and then dial a numeric code, Angelo Bellomo, director of the county’s Environmental Health Department, said.

Jon Maeda, Scout executive for the Boys Scouts of America Verdugo Hills Council is moving on and begins his new position of Director of Field Service with the Boy Scouts Orange County Council on Monday. As the chief operating officer, Maeda will be recruiting new Scouts and scouting groups. The Verdugo Hills Council has 4,000 Scouts, and the Orange County Council, headquartered in Santa Ana, served 28,000 Scouts as of 2009. Maeda has been overseeing two field executives for the Verdugo Hills Council and will now be in charge of 15 field executives in his new post.

GLENDALE — When not battling each other for Pacific League supremacy, the boys’ water polo teams from Crescenta Valley High, Hoover and Glendale try to stay sharp by competing in nonleague tournaments. Such was the case on Saturday, when the Falcons wrapped up play in the North Orange County Tournament at Esperanza High in Anaheim and the Tornadoes and Nitros were active in the Servite Tournament at Servite High, also in Anaheim. “We’ve reached the point I’ve been hoping we would get to all season,” said defending league-champion Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju, whose team won a pair of games on Saturday.

GLENDALE ? In the long run, making the journey to Orange County might not be such a bad idea. For the members of the Crescenta Valley High boys? water polo squad, it might be a critical point in their season with respect to keeping their eye on the possibility of making another deep postseason run for the second time in three seasons. Playing some respectable programs across Southern California, Crescenta Valley captured three of five matches at the three-day North Orange County Tournament.

GLENDALE — Randy Adams will remain as Glendale’s police chief after the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday cut him and six others from the final list of candidates for county sheriff. The decision came after the supervisors publicly interviewed Adams and eight other candidates in Santa Ana for the position that former Sheriff Mike Carona left in January in order to fight federal corruption charges. Adams, having made the list of nine finalists out of an initial group of 50 applicants, said he was relieved the process was over, and that “in reality, I’m very happy, and I love this city and this department.

GLENDALE — Police Chief Randy Adams is scheduled to go before the Orange County Board of Supervisors today for what should be an hourlong public interview in his bid to fill the position left vacant by former Sheriff Mike Corona, who resigned in January under the cloud of a federal corruption indictment. Glendale’s top cop for more than five years will join eight other candidates at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana today for separate, televised interviews for the Orange County Sheriff position after the board of supervisors this month narrowed the field from nearly 50 applicants.