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Lydia E. Ringwald is the Laguna Journal's  Cultural Arts Columnist as well as a Southern California based artist and photo-journalist.

NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL 2009
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TURQUOISE SILVER JEWELRY, KOKOPELLI, ZUNI, HOPI, NAVAJO, DREAM CATCHERS, KACHINA DOLLS, SILVER JEWELRY, BRACELETS, RINGS, NECKLACES, EARRINGS AND ARTIFACTS 

577 S. COAST HWY, LAGUNA BEACH, CA (949) 376-7632  or go to: NATIVE TRIBE-PRIMITIVES LTD  We now have Color Diamonds

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The Cliff's Breakfast Menu
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The Cliff's Dinner Menu

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Dr. Viviane S. Stein

Cosmetic & General Dentistry

31852 S. Coast Hwy., Suite 412 Laguna Beach, CA 949 415.1000

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Where every OC and SD county listing can be found www.buyersonlycoastalrealty.com

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The Cliff Laguna Beach restaurant!

Laguna Village 577 South Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach, CA (949) 494-1956

More Greens...Less Fees - Get Golf Card!

 

 

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Breaking News EFFECTING LOCAL LAGUNA BEACH & SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY WITH TOP STORIES

"Please, i'm asking them to release my son. Give him back to me”

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. May 6, 2009 at 12:00 PM PST

Briant Rodriguez up date:

News up-date: The photo below comes from a surveillance video that is believed to show the two Hispanic male suspects believed responsible for the abduction of Briant Rodriguez.

Photograph of Suspects

 The photo below shows an early 1990s dark green Ford Bronco believed to be driven by the unknown suspects. A spare tire is mounted to the back of the truck. This is the vehicle the kidnappers may have used to abduct 3-year-old San Bernardino boy Briant Rodriguez from his home Sunday afternoon.

Photograph of Suspects' vehicle

 Scholl down to see the composite sketches of the two suspects. A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two men who authorities theorize to be Mexican Drug Cartel enforcers.

 

Photo LaFonzo Carter/Staff Photographer

 

 

The Mother of kidnapped little 3-year-old, Briant Rodriguez Rosalina Millan embraces her son's shirt against her chest during a news conference at the San Bernardino County Sheriff s Department in San Bernardino. Young Rodriguez was forced at gun point from his modest San Bernardino home by two armed men during a home invasion Sunday. "They grabbed my kid, told me, 'I'm going to take the kid to Mexico and I'm going to kill him,' " said Briant's mother

Briant’s Mother spent over five hours relating to investigators and sketch artists Tuesday, drawing on painful memories to help compose pictures of the two men suspected of tying up her and her youngest five children Sunday afternoon before abducting the boy.

Briant’s Mother continues to make desperate pleas for her son's safe return.

"Please, I'm asking them to release my son. Give him back to me," she said as she cried. "Why did they take him? Let him go. Don't harm my boy. My boy, my life. He's a good boy."

 

The suspects are both said to be skinny, Spanish-speaking Latino men. One is said to be 18 years old, 5-foot-8 and wearing a black ball cap, blue jeans and a green T-shirt. The second suspect was about 24 years old, 5-foot-10 and was wearing a black shirt, black pants, black boots and a white bandana.

 

 

 

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has released these composite sketches of the suspects involved in the kidnap of 3 year old Briant Rodriguez. The suspect on the left is approximately 18 years old and the suspect on the right is approximately 24 years old. (Courtesy of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department)

Millan, her husband and their six children have only lived in the home about three months. For some unknown reason no information is yet available on the people who previously lived in the family's home.

 

Both parents deny that the family was involved in any illegal activity and said they do not know why anyone would take their baby. Sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said the kidnappers have not contacted the family for ransom and "we are concerned the child has been taken across the border."

Briant Rodriguez was kidnapped from his home in the 8000 block of Pedley Road on Sunday after the two gunmen spent about 20 minutes ransacking the home while his mother and five of her children were tied up, San Bernardino sheriff's officials say.

One of Briant's siblings was able to free himself and untied his family members.

Also taken from the home was Millan's cell phone, so she made the emergency call from a nearby liquor store.

"It's horrifying," sheriff's Lt. Rick Ells told the Associated Press. "I don't think I could impress on you how rare a kidnapping like this is."

Briant's father, who lives with the family, was at work at the time of the robbery and kidnapping, Ells said.

"The family is saying there's no motive and they do not know the kidnappers," Ells said, adding that the kidnapping does not appear to be a family abduction.

Briant's mother told sheriff's officials that she heard a vehicle door slammed just outside the family's home when the men left, leading her to believe that the gunmen fled by car.

 

San Bernardino sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller told the Associated Press that authorities along the Mexican border have been put on alert, and FBI investigators were also helping in the investigation. Detectives emphasize that Briant's parents are not suspects.

Less than 200 stranger abductions nationwide are reported annually, according to the FBI.

Last year another young boy, Cole Puffinburger, was abducted from a Las Vegas home by three men posing as police officers. Police said they believe the men were Mexican drug dealers and that the kidnapping at gunpoint was a "message" to the Childs grandfather.

Clemons Fred Tinnemeyer, 51, the grandfather of the kidnapped 6-year-old Nevada boy, was arrested by the FBI's fugitive task force in Riverside. According to police Tinnemeyer allegedly stole millions of dollars from a powerful Mexican drug cartel out of Tijuana, Baja Mexico and believe as a result a contract hit was ordered. Unconfirmed reports say Tinnemeyer turned himself in rather than be found by the Mexican cartels assassination team. It is believed that Tinnemeyer played a major roll in the distribution and sells of drugs in Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

Federal officials say they believe the kidnappers were attempting to locate Tinnemeyer to collect the debt or to take other serious action, but because Tinnemeyer was not there the Mexican gangsters took Cole and were seeking a ransom as payback and would trade Cole for the amount owed. Investigators in the Rodriguez kidnapping in San Bernardino are checking for any similarities.

 

Briant Rodriguez

VICTIM DESCRIPTION:
BRIANT RODRIGUEZ, MALE, HISPANIC, WEIGHT: 40LBS, EYES: BROWN, HAIR: BROWN, CLOTHES: YELLOW SHIRT BLUE SLEEVES, BLUE STRIPED SHORTS. BLACK  SANDALS
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Organized, well-financed and violent Mexican drug cartels kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens; many victims are believed family members of drug dealers. The MDT’s are ordering murders, kidnappings and other violence against innocent Americans and some of the victims are children.

 

 Some of the kidnappings are believed retaliation for drug dealers owing the MDC’s cash for drugs.

 

Authorities believe this is about terrorizing people for retaliation.

 

Many American residents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico and others kidnapped from the United States and taken to Mexico.

“Some of the kidnapped were recovered, some were hurt and some were killed,” said agent Alex Horan, who directs the FBI's violent-crime squad in San Diego.

“It's not a pleasant experience. Victims have reported beatings, torture and there have been rapes.  . . . Handcuffs and hoods over the head are common,” he said. “I would certainly be concerned,” Horan said.

He described the kidnapping groups as sophisticated operations similar to terrorist cells, each with a boss and clear divisions of labor. Usually, one group is involved in scouting, another carries out the kidnapping, a third holds the victim and a fourth handles the ransom.

“They know who they're going after. I think they have a list,” Horan said. “These are kidnapping cells.  . . . That's what they do. They do kidnappings all year long.”

While the FBI wouldn't say what the ransom demands are, or how often they're paid, agents said money is driving the increase.

 “We've had victims held for days to months,” Horan said.

Not every victim is Hispanic, but there have been “very few cases where a tourist is targeted at random,” said Eric Drickersen, who supervises the FBI's border liaison office in San Diego.

Some of the kidnappings go unreported because people fear retribution, Drickersen said.

 

From Brownsville Texas to San Diego California Mexican cities bordering American cities are where most Americans are being killed by assassinations and executions. But other Americans are being killed by the long arm of the Mexican drug cartels which reach deep into America. There are accounts of Mexican drug cartel surrogate terrorist’s invading the U.S. by crossing the porous international border and killing Americans in Dallas Texas, Atlanta Geo, New York City, Phoenix Ariz, Las Vegas Nevada, and is believed to have reached Shelby County Alabama where five people were found murdered gangland style by Mexican nationals.

 

Many Americans were kidnapped in the U.S. and taken to Mexico where they were murdered. Still other Americans were abducted and slain in Mexico while visiting, others where shot gangland style in country. Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, or held hostage, or killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom and Americans being killed continue to be reported.

 Carey Marcella McClintock - May 2008

Carey Marcella McClintock was threatening to testify against a prominent and well known El Paso Texas criminal defense lawyer who has represented Mexican and American drug traffickers and that he himself was beholding to the drug cartels and their gang members.

Carey’s father has been independently investigating his daughter’s killing and now believes that Carey was taken from a Texas town near Dallas to Juarez Mexico across the border from El Paso Texas on a ruse, and was brutally murdered on August 31, 2008 in Juarez so she could not testify.  She was found in an abandoned house in the desert minutes outside of the city.  She had been beaten and stabbed multiple times. Carey’s father believes that his daughter was about to testify against the attorney and others in a federal and on going investigation involving the Mexican drug cartel and there hired assailants the El Paso's Barrio Azteca Gang  One Of The Most Dangerous In Nation. “I believe she was coerced into going to El Paso by the attorney and the attorney’s girl friend where she was provided transportation and was put up in a hotel in Juarez and all paid for by the same attorney. Her family fears that what really happened to Carey has happened to others and that her murder and others like hers will never see the light of day and will never be solved by the corrupt Mexican authorities. He also says the American authorities refuse to investigate because they claim the crime was in Mexico. The El Paso Police Dept has been informed as to the details surrounding the case where the local attorney illegally transported and harbored a known fugitive, yet no investigation is underway. The father also thinks the same attorney had something to do with his daughter’s murder.

Help Find 3-Year-Old Briant Rodriguez: View Flyer with Photos of Suspects
Thu, 07 May 2009 16:22:45 -0500

Three-year-old Briant Rodriguez was abducted from his home in San Bernardino, California, on May 3, 2009. He may be in the company of two adult Hispanic males involved in his alleged abduction. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to Briant's recovery.

Individuals with information concerning this case should take no action themselves, but instead immediately call the toll-free hotline 866-346-7632, or contact the nearest FBI Office or local law enforcement agency. For any possible sighting outside the United States, contact the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate.
| Los Angeles Field Office | Kidnapping and Missing Persons Investigations |
| FBI Home Page | FBI Field Offices |

American Death toll in Mexico's drug war surges

Phoenix and Tucson police report over 400 kidnappings of Americans

Mexico

Mexican Cartel Zetas Attack and kill an American in Phoenixan Drug cartels terror reaches Alabama

Mexican Drug cartels terror reaches deep into the U.S.

Americans Being Kidnapped, Held and killed in Mexico

U.S. is not dealing with Mexican violence against Americans

Mexico is world leader in gruesome violent killings in 08

 

 

 

 

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The Laguna Journal Lodging Diamond Rating System

The Laguna Journal Restaurant Gold Star Rating System

The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

One Ritz-Carlton Drive,
Dana Point, CA. / (949) 240-2000 or (800) 241-3333

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SYNERGY

Limousine Service

Welcome to SYNERGY Serving Orange County and Las Vegas

Seattle Airport Transportation

(949) 376-7632 (949) 494-7121 Specializing In:

Airport transfers LAX, Orange County-Dinner packages, Night clubs - Las Vegas and Indian Casinos- Sightseeing tours - Disneyland, Knottsberry farm - Business use - Parties - Sporting events -Conventions - Shopping tours - Celebrity Executive and VIP protection and security services. Courier jewelry and other valuables escorted -Delivery - Messenger - 24/7. Attorney Client and Patient transportation including Workers Comp. We also offer fully insured & certified private chauffeurs serve you at home or when you travel.
We help make the time you spend in your car more enjoyable and productive for those on that are on the constant go. Drive4Me provides customers with certified and insured chauffeurs who drive for you in YOUR vehicle.

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The Cliff Laguna Beach restaurant!

At Laguna Village

Oceanfront, open-air dining and cocktails return to the spectacularly-situated Laguna Village in Laguna Beach!  After a complete overhaul and updating of the premises, The Cliff Laguna Beach is poised and ready to greet you with a delightful selection of California cuisine:  lunch, dinner& shopping.

Where Great People, Art, Shops and Food all converge over looking the Gold Coast. Where at sunset you may be lucky and see the Green Flash.

The Cliff's Breakfast MenuThe Cliff's Lunch MenuThe Cliff's Dinner Menu

Laguna Village 577 South Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach, CA (949)494-1956

Food: **** *   Service: ***  Ambiance: ***** Overall: ***

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Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo

Citrus Fresh Grill  Introducing Happy Hour Week April 12-18, 2009 with fabulous drinks and delicious food at happy prices all day, all week!    50 Enterprise • Aliso Viejo • California 92656 • 949.643.6700

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Code Restaurant and Lounge Friday Nights
 

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The Coach House
Located in San Juan Capistrano. The premiere concert facility in Orange County, featuring a large variety of musical and comedy acts including many name acts that would otherwise play at larger venues. Seating is arranged around tables, smaller cocktail style tables and the bar. Roughly half of the seats are reserved for the dinner crowd.

Laguna Canyon Winery - Laguna Beach
Laguna Canyon Winery carefully sources out the highest quality grapes from vineyards in California, Washington State, Oregon and Italy. Their focus is on producing fruit forward premium style wines with unique character and taste. This is an extension of a 10 year wine operation in Canada, where all of their wine is crushed, pressed, fermented, oak barrel aged, blended and bottled in the canyon under their exclusive new label of 'Laguna Canyon Winery'.
Tasting room open Tuesday - Sunday 11-6 - Closed Mondays
(949) 715-9463 (Wine) Winery also available for special events

 

Ocean Avenue Brewing Co.  

237 Ocean Ave, Laguna Beach, CA 92651-2106 Phone: (949) 497-3381.

Where Laguna Night life Lives

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Las Brisas
                                
361 Cliff Drive Laguna Beach
Enjoy one of the most spectacular views in Orange County while dining on authentic Mexican cuisine here on the California Riviera! Las Brisas' presentations are simply beautiful and include mesquite-broiled New York steak, bouillabaisse with a half-lobster tail and much more.

The open-air patio is also a popular spot for watching both the waves and people on sunny days.

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ENO Wine Rooms - Dana Point
This wine tasting room, located inside the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel is truly a luxurious alternative to traditional Southern California wine clubs and bars. Select from up to 500 varieties of wine in 1,500 bottles. Enjoy their rotating selection of 50 cheeses … served with freshly baked breads, Spanish Marcona almonds, and olives tossed in olive oil and rosemary. Or delight in their acclaimed collection of hand-crafted chocolates. Ideal for romantic evenings for two or larger California wine tasting events.

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Tannins Restaurant & Wine Bar -
San Juan Capistrano
Something for everyone: Choose from over 40 Wines by the Glass, Pick out a bottle from their 500+ varietal Wine Cellar (at store prices!) or try one of their Wine Flights. Italian food, gourmet pizzas and dessert with a fun atmosphere.
Live music on Thursday - Saturday nights.

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The Wine Artist - Lake Forest
The Ultimate Private Party Place!
At this stunning Tuscan-themed winery, you will indulge in everything wine: wine tasting, wine making, bottling and personalized wine bottles. Think of the fun you will have tasting wine and bottling your own personal vintage with family and friends - a truly unforgettable experience! Known for its impeccable service, The Wine Artist is the perfect setting for milestone birthday parties, client events, corporate teambuilding events, intimate wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners.

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On the Border

On the Border

Experience On The Border! Traditional Mexican favorites and mesquite-grilled specialties ...

26661 Aliso Creek Rd.

Aliso Viejo CA

(949) 643-3827

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