Irvine

Some time next year, a seeing-eye dog may guide visitors -- even those with no vision problems -- through the galleries of the Hammer Museum in Westwood to a pre-selected painting. In San Francisco, young actors in training may be found rounding up an...

Robert R. Sprague, a former Los Angeles-based leader of the savings and loan industry and a philanthropist who was a major donor to UC Irvine, has died. He was 92. Sprague died of cancer June 2 at his home in Corona del Mar, said his daughter, Lois M....

Jon Coupal was among friends May 27 when he was the guest speaker at a Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. meeting. Coupal is the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., founded by Jarvis and his wife, Estelle, to rein in property taxes in California....

With all precincts reporting, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor won the Republican primary in the 68th Assembly District and, due to voter registration in the district, could very likely head to Sacramento after the November election. Because voter...

A new cookbook is making mouths water throughout Orange County. Cleverly titled "Orange County Fare: A Culinary Journey Through the California Riviera," the tome compiled by the Newport Beach-based Junior League of Orange County boasts hundreds of...

IRVINE, Calif. -- A man who had his hand severed after being dragged by a Metrolink train two weeks ago was struck again on Tuesday and lived to tell about it, authorities said. The 57-year-old man claimed he fell from the platform onto the tracks at the...

Mad Hatter party for human rights A group of Laguna businesses and residents will take part in the Orange County Chapter of Human Rights Campaign's Mad Hatter Garden Party at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at a Newport Coast estate, with Lorna Luft and Greg...

Customers have been wondering for weeks when they'd show up, and now Wong Farms' desert mangoes, among the most exotic and eagerly sought fruits grown in California, are back at the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market. Juicy, sweet and aromatic, they're...

Like many celebrities who live in the white-hot public spotlight, Jessica Simpson appears to have issues about her body. She's said before she's fine with it, but then she goes and sends out this tweet: "Shocked my system with a vegan diet, special Pu-erh...

Federal officials hoping for decorum laid down the rules at the outset of Monday's public hearing on whether to build a toll road through a state park: no booing, no cheering. The public's response: Boos and cheers reminiscent of February's raucous...

New traffic studies contradict optimistic predictions that a proposed tollway through San Onofre State Beach would eliminate much of the congestion on Interstate 5 in South County. Most of I-5 in South County will be "consistently congested" at rush hour...

Is Amtrak growing or shrinking? It's staying about the same -- about 500 destinations in 46 states. In their 2006 annual report, the railroad's leaders counted 24.3 million annual passengers (up 12% from 2002). Amtrak ([800] 872-7245, www.amtrak.com)...