Santa Ana

There are at least two well-known unprecedented feats associated with the Jones Cup. No player has ever sank a hole-in-one to win a car from Fletcher Jones Motorcars. Also, Sana Ana Country Club has yet to win a Jones Cup title. The 25 golfers in the 13th annual event have two chances to win a car on the fourth and 17th holes. Santa Ana's chances to win its first title appear to have dwindled on one hand, yet improve in another view. The Jones Cup, which pits local country clubs vying for bragging rights and a trophy, has added another team, as Shady Canyon of Irvine joins Big Canyon, Mesa Verde, Sana Ana and host Newport Beach Country Club Wednesday, with first tee set for 12:30 p.m. "I think it's great to add another local club to the mix," said Geoff Cochrane, the head professional at Santa Ana and the team captain.

An Irvine church has rescinded its offer to purchase the Santora building in downtown Santa Ana, an architecturally ornate structure that for years has served as the center of the city's artistic community. Tom Greer, the chief financial officer for Newsong, said that the church could not come to an agreement with seller Mike Harrah and decided to pull out of escrow. He declined to discuss specifics. Greer said if another property becomes available in Santa Ana, the church would be open to purchasing it. "Its been a very positive experience for us," he said.

A teenage couple was arraigned in a Newport Beach court Friday on charges that they conspired to murder a friend and left threatening messages on the friend's Facebook page, authorities said. Jessica Gascon, 18, of Santa Ana pleaded not guilty to felony counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime and assault with a semiautomatic firearm, court documents show. Her 17-year-old boyfriend, also of Santa Ana, pleaded not guilty to felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, criminal threats and discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling, according to court documents.

A Newport Beach man's female relative accidentally stumbled upon child pornography on disks she thought were blank, court records allege. But instead of Alex Bassinne's disks being usable, she found two videos on them - one depicting a girl believed to be between 10 and 12 who was performing oral sex - according to a search warrant affidavit. Bassinne, 50, faces up to nine years and four months in state prison for the three felonies of which he stands accused, including possession of child pornography and lewd acts with a child, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

A Newport Beach man who taught at Santa Ana schools was arrested Thursday for allegedly molesting two teenage girls and possessing child pornography, authorities said. Alex Bassinne, 50, is accused of touching the buttocks of a 15-year-old girl during a class trip in 2009, and looking down the shirt of a 13-year-old girl in 2010, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Prosecutors said when the 13-year-old tried to move her shirt away so Bassinne couldn't see down it, Bassinne allegedly grabbed the shirt and positioned it so he could see down it again.

A Santa Ana man stole a decorative dagger from Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan's restaurant and bar, police said Monday. Conner Craig Schryver, 24, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of three felony charges of burglary, felony possession of stolen property and felony vandalism related to an incident at Skosh Monahan's. He is being held on $50,000 bail at the Orange County Jail, according to a Police Department news release. Schryver is also suspected of a residential garage burglary in the 2000 block of Marian Way and a vehicle burglary in the 2000 block of Orange Avenue, according to a preliminary investigation.

Gloria Zigner, Douglas Rankin and Elizabeth Turk move in different worlds but have, in their own ways, made a mark on the Orange County arts scene. Come September, all three will be recognized at the 13th annual O.C. Arts Awards in Costa Mesa as recipients of the Helena Modjeska Award, a lifetime achievement handed out by Santa Ana-based nonprofit Arts Orange County, the ceremony's host whose mission is to promote the arts countywide. "It is our premier award," said Richard Stein, Arts O.C. executive director.

The gold crucifix and rosary studded with Colombian emeralds is known as "The Atocha Cross. " In 1986 — 364 years after the Nuestra Señora de Atocha ("Our Lady of Atocha") went down during a hurricane in the waters off what is now Key West, Fla. — a treasure-hunting expedition recovered the cross and rosary from the Spanish ship's sunken cargo. The glistening artifact now belongs to a private collector, but it's about to make a public appearance at the Bowers Museum as an appendage to a larger exhibition titled "Sacred Gold: Pre-Hispanic Art of Colombia.

Costa Mesa police arrested a man Thursday on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting his ex-wife's boyfriend. Carmen Mendez-Silva, 34, of Santa Ana and a second man beat the victim with a pipe or bat Wednesday and threatened him with further harm if he did not move out of his Costa Mesa apartment, police said. The victim was then allegedly placed in the trunk of a car and driven to Huntington Beach, where he was released. Police were initially called to the Fillmore Way home of Mendez-Silva's ex-wife on a child custody issue.

ORANGE - The Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted Monday to strike the proposed 19th Street Bridge from the county's master plan. The move effectively ends decades of studies and controversy about the potential bridge that would have linked Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach over the Santa Ana River. Environmentalists and 19th Street residents pleaded Monday to eliminate the bridge, as Huntington Beach Mayor and OCTA Director Don Hansen ushered through the unusual vote to change the county's long-standing master plan.