Garden Grove Ca

First things first: during our phone conversation Wednesday afternoon, Ron Granados got another call telling him his wife had just given birth to quadruplets. I couldn't see his face, but he sounded, uh, like a guy about to embark on a giant adventure. And now, on to other news: Granados also is about to embark on an adventure with the Garden Grove City Council. Like raising quads, it could get dicey.

After a two-year legal battle with the city of Garden Grove, a Vietnamese Buddhist congregation has won a settlement paving the way for a 10,000-square-foot temple to be built on the site of a former medical building -- a spot the city had claimed was inappropriate for a church.

More than three years after Garden Grove police seized a small amount of marijuana from a chronic pain patient, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider the city's argument -- which divided California's major law enforcement organizations -- that it should not have to give the drugs back. Advocates cheered the development as a step forward for medical marijuana users to get their "medicine" back from police.

While other Southern California cities pass laws to prevent Wal-Mart Supercenters from opening, Garden Grove appears to be all but holding open the front door for the big-box retailer. Pressed for money and looking for a way to revive a tired commercial district in central Garden Grove, city officials see a Supercenter as a potential savior. "This is going to enhance the quality of life of our residents, and it will be an anchor to a blighted area," said Councilwoman Janet Nguyen.

Garden Grove has broken off negotiations with a Los Angeles-based investment group that had expressed interest in building a theme park in the city. City Manager Matt Fertal said TL Properties failed to demonstrate, during a 90-day negotiating period, that it had found an operator or studio committed to the project.

An 81-year-old woman found dead in her home Wednesday may have been a homicide victim, police said. Officers responding to a call from a neighbor found the body about 8:40 a.m. in a residence in the 13600 block of Havenwood Drive bearing a "suspicious, traumatic injury," police said. The woman's name was withheld, pending notification of relatives. Anyone with information is asked to call (714) 741-5704 or (714) 741-5800.

An 81-year-old woman found dead Wednesday in her Garden Grove home had been beaten to death, authorities said. The victim, identified as Betsy Ross Pigg, was said to have been a descendant of Betsy Ross, the seamstress who reputedly sewed the first U.S. flag. Meanwhile, Thomas A. Levingston, a 25-year-old computer technician, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant on a 2005 charge of committing financial elder abuse against Pigg.

A 1 1/2-year-old girl drowned and her 2 1/2-year-old cousin was fighting for his life Wednesday after they wound up in a murky backyard swimming pool in Garden Grove, authorities said. The mothers of the children found them floating in the pool, said Lt. Travis Whitman, a spokesman for the Garden Grove Police Department. The names of the children and their parents were not released. Whitman said that shortly before 3:15 p.m.

A surge in the number of paroled child molesters staying at two Garden Grove hotels prompted city police to issue a public warning Thursday to nearby residents, businesses and schools. Patrol officers and cadets began blanketing the area around the hotels with fliers listing the names and photos of 16 high-risk sex offenders -- all convicted child molesters -- who are residing at the Hospitality Inn or the Garden Grove Inn. At a news conference, Capt.

A Garden Grove motel evicted seven paroled child molesters Friday after police passed out photos of the men to neighbors and accused the state of "dumping" parolees in the city. The registered sex offenders were asked to leave the Garden Grove Inn because of the media attention they were drawing, said John Ting, co-owner of the 101-room, two-floor motel where rooms rent for about $300 a week. "If it's in the news, some people won't want to stay here," said Ting.