Orange County

Residents fighting a proposed ban on beach fire rings could find the Orange County Board of Supervisors in their corner. A staff report for Tuesday's meeting recommends that the supervisors vote to formally oppose the ban, which, if approved, could snuff out fire pits throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Instead, the report advises the supervisors to support "an option that provides greater flexibility" for cities to determine whether or not wood smoke generated by the fires poses enough of a health risk to justify removing the rings, which many argue have provided generations of beach visitors summer fun. "The county supports a municipality's right to decide the future of its fire rings as this is a local control issue," the report says.

An autopsy is scheduled Friday for a Santa Ana woman who police say died after being shot by a BB gun. “She just had a small puncture wound in her chest area,” said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. Martha Socorro Marin, 32, was shot in the chest with a BB rifle about 11:45 a.m. Thursday by her boyfriend in their Santa Ana home, police say. Paramedics performed CPR on Marin at her home and then took her to UCI Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. “Never point any weapon at anybody,” Bertagna cautioned.

Ernie Schneider, the chief administrative officer of Orange County when it declared bankruptcy in 1994 because of its disastrous investment practices, died Saturday at his home in San Juan Capistrano. He was 66. His death, related to liver and kidney problems, was confirmed by former wife and current Laguna Beach City Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson. A longtime public servant, Schneider was the top appointed officer when Treasurer Robert L. Citron was discovered to have lost $1.64 billion in the value of the county's investment portfolio.

Tenants kept the upper hand in office rent negotiations in Southern California in the first quarter, even though conditions improved slightly for landlords as the economy picked up and some businesses expanded. The most leases were signed in markets such as the Westside and Orange County, where some companies are growing enough to add workers, industry observers said. "I think we're on the slow road to recovery," said Hans Mumper, head of the greater Los Angeles region for real estate brokerage Colliers International.

A man killed when his scooter collided with a Jaguar driven by a 98-year-old woman was identified Thursday as Oscar Alaniz of Orange. Alaniz, 35, died Wednesday afternoon when he drove into a Costa Mesa intersection on a green light and collided with a vehicle turning left in front of him. Officials with the Costa Mesa Police Department said the car was turning on a green light. The woman driving the car stopped at the scene and was interviewed by police. Alcohol did not appear to play a role in the crash, and she was released pending an investigation, they said.

Orange County prosecutors won't file criminal charges against former porn star Jenna Jameson following her arrest in Newport Beach over the weekend. Jameson was arrested Saturday on the Balboa Peninsula on suspicion of battery after someone complained to police that they had been attacked by the former porn star. The onetime "queen of porn" was later released on her own recognizance and given a preliminary court date for a hearing on the misdemeanor battery charge, said Lt. Evan Sailor of the Newport Beach Police Department.

An Orange County teen was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges he killed five members of a family while driving drunk in Nevada on Easter weekend. Jean Soriano, 18, was due in a Clark County courthouse at 9 a.m. He was being held on $3.5 million bail. Soriano was driving a Dodge Durango on Interstate 15, about 30 miles south of Mesquite, around 3 a.m. March 30 when he struck the back of a van, according to Loy Hixson of the Nevada Highway Patrol. The van, carrying seven members of a family, spun around and overturned, ejecting five people.

An Orange County coroner was conducting an autopsy Monday on the youngest son of Pastor Rick Warren to determine an official cause of death after he reportedly committed suicide. Jim Amormino, an Orange County sheriff's spokesman, said the cause of Matthew Warren's death will be announced after the autopsy is complete. Such autopsies are usually performed when suicide is suspected, authorities said Saturday afternoon. Amormino said he could not confirm an earlier report by coroner's officials to City News Service that Warren, 27, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Days after her dramatic rescue from a brush-covered ledge, Kyndall Jack -- the 18-year-old hiker who was missing for four days -- said memories of her time lost in the south Orange County hills are fleeting, with only recollections of hallucinations, fending off animals and crying when she and her parents reunited. "I honestly didn't know I was missing," she told reporters Monday outside UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, from which she said she is being released later in the day.  "I didn't know I was gone.

Days after her dramatic rescue from a brush-covered ledge, the 18-year-old hiker who was missing for four days said she has only fleeting memories of her time lost in the south Orange County hills recalling only hallucinations, fending off animals and crying when she and her parents reunited. "I honestly didn't even know I was missing," Kyndall Jack told reporters Monday outside UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. "I didn't know I was gone. I didn't know anything was going on. I just thought I was in a big dream.