The Pasadena home that architectural firm Buff, Smith and Hensman designed for partner Conrad Buff III’s parents is on the market for under $3 million. (Photo by Shawn Bishop) A view of the open-plan living space and kitchen. (Photo by Shawn Bishop) Floor-to-ceiling Fleetwood doors extend the light-filled living and dining room out onto a…
Read more
A 400-year-old spirit has been making its presence known. This voice from a long-gone past isn’t a Halloween haunt, though. It’s just never gone away. Still, the spirit of William Shakespeare, who died in 1616, seems to be having an especially good time right now: In Washington D.C. over the summer, the Folger Shakespeare Library reopened –…
Read more
Former Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, one of the most powerful and influential politicians in county history, has died. He was 85. Gates, the 11th sheriff of Orange County, held the reins from 1975 to 1999. He was a self-styled Western lawman endorsed by none other than movie legend John Wayne, a resident of Newport…
Read more
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — Jack Jones, a Grammy-winning crooner known for “The Love Boat” television show theme song, has died. He was 86. Jones died Wednesday night at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California, after battling leukemia for more than two years, according to a statement from his manager, Milt Suchin. Jones began his…
Read more
State Auditor Big addiction treatment “campuses” aren’t allowed in residential neighborhoods without special permits. But providers in California get around that by clustering many small homes together — one treating 30 users at a pop! — and regulators haven’t raised an eyebrow. It took almost three months for them to investigate serious complaints — like…
Read more
A decade ago, a few days before Halloween, a team of sociologists at Chapman University published the first “Survey of American Fears,” a poll of more than 1,000 Americans about the things that give them the willies. The “American Fears” survey quickly became an annual media event, a social science version of Groundhog Day. Most…
Read more
Q. Why are there so many lizards this year? I’ve never seen so many before! It’s possible that you are seeing more lizards because their normal hiding places have been disturbed. For instance, whenever the open field across the street from us is mowed, our neighbors end up with mice in their garages. (We took…
Read more
“How expensive?” tracks measurements of California’s totally unaffordable housing market. The pain: Housing eats up at least half of paychecks in one-fifth of California households. The source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at the latest Census Bureau stats tracking household expenses in 2023, focusing on what government experts call “extreme burdens” – folks paying 50% or…
Read more
Before California voters this year is Proposition 36, billed as an anti-crime measure aimed at increasing penalties for certain drug and retail theft crimes. It’s among the more contentious topics on the ballot this year. If passed, it would, among other things, allow people with at least two prior theft convictions to be charged with…
Read more
TGI Friday’s is a vanishing presence in Southern California. The casual dining chain’s website currently lists five restaurants in California. Most other locations here have dropped from its website. Many of their Facebook pages have broken links. And several Yelp users have reported closures. The chain is based in Texas and could not be reached…
Read more
