A man, who Riverside County Superior Court records say called himself “The Godfather,” was ordered to serve 54 years in state prison and pay $23 million in fines for masterminding a criminal organization that attempted to bilk the state out of $150 million in a workers’ compensation fraud, the District Attorney’s Office said on Monday, April 15. Judge Charles J. Koosed sentenced Peyman Heidary, 53, on Friday, April 12, after his January conviction on 68 counts of insurance fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and other crimes, including falsely advertising himself as a lawyer. Koosed said Heida ..read more

Magic Keyholder Andrew Rich found out the hard way that Disneyland has a Magic Key Review Board and Revocation Team after he sold a pair of Sweethearts’ Nite tickets on eBay and had his annual pass revoked for a year. Andrew and his wife, Jen, both in their 50s, are hard-core Disney fans who have been annual passholders since the late 1990s and travel to Disneyland from their home in Spokane, Washington, half a dozen times a year. Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here. ALSO SEE: Disneyland st ..read more

The Anaheim Resort District attracts tens of millions of visitors yearly, bolstering the city’s $2 billion budget, and it’s poised to undergo significant growth should the City Council approve Disney’s new development  plans at its April 16 meeting. Dubbed DisneylandForward, Disney’s vision for how it could transform under-used portions of its property would lure even more visitors “for generations to come,” company officials say, and create thousands more jobs in the city’s 1,100-acre resort district, which fuels dozens of hotels, restaurants and other attractions outside the theme parks ..read more

Disney’s plans to grow its theme parks in Anaheim, by investing at least $1.9 billion in its properties for more lands, hotels and entertainment, goes to the City Council on Tuesday, April 16, for approval. Disney wants to build new immersive experiences in Anaheim, as it is around the world, with attractions that heighten the integration between rides and hotels, dining and shopping – all still within the property’s current footprint. Company officials say the ability to do that hinges on the project passing, which creates the flexibility for decades of development. It’s one of the most conse ..read more

A former Anaheim-based staffing agency will pay $2.2 million to settle a hiring discrimination lawsuit that alleged it failed to recruit and refer job candidates based on race, sex or disability, federal regulators announced this week. The 2022 suit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission targeted BaronHR LLC and Radiant Services Corp., a Baron client that operates a commercial laundry facility in the Harbor Gateway near Carson and allegedly exercised the same discriminatory practices. “Protecting individuals seeking entry-level or temporary jobs from discrimination in recruitment ..read more

In the summer of 2021, Dennis DiPlacito was watching TV when he saw a segment about Lasagna Love, a grassroots movement sweeping the nation in which volunteers cooked lasagna for neighbors experiencing challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. He immediately felt compelled to join, he said, as he’d previously cooked meals for his elderly parents in Northern California – and grew up in an Italian family that made lasagna from scratch. Volunteer Dennis DiPlacito of Irvine, CA makes a lasagna dish a week for the nonprofit Lasagna Love. The national organization makes the meals for those in ..read more

A musical group of beavers, opossums, racoons, bobcats and other Audio-Animatronic bayou critters will play songs from the 2009 “Princess and the Frog” animated film when the transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is complete. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open this summer in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. Disneyland’s version of the revamped attraction will debut in the fall or winter of 2024. Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here. ALSO S ..read more

Authorities are still looking for the man who was caught on video repeatedly kicking a dog in Anaheim over the weekend. It happened in the 800 block of North Brookhurst Street around 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 7. In the video, a dog can be heard yelping as the man appears in the distance riding a bicycle. He gets off the bicycle and walks beside a fence while holding a small dog in one hand and the bicycle in the other hand. He lets go of the bicycle, walks forward, drops the dog and punts the animal. He is seen kicking the dog again as he goes out of view. It sounds like he is still hurting the ..read more

The city’s Active Older Adult Program will be hosting a health and resource expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 20 at the Downtown Anaheim Community Center. This will be a great opportunity for those who are Medicare eligible to speak with a variety of health care and community resource providers. There will be health screenings, class demonstrations and more. There is no cost. Also, the Anaheim Senior Citizens Club will be hosting its annual craft boutique and bake sale. For more information call 714-765-4511 Library fun in April Get gardening tips and enter the fantasy world this month at A ..read more

A Star Wars fireworks show at Disneyland that turns a strangely quiet corner of Galaxy’s Edge into a vibrant stage full of storytelling and music tells the tale of heroes, villains and the battle between light and darkness. The new “Fire of the Rising Moons” fireworks show debuted in Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland as part of the two-month-long Season of the Force seasonal event that continues through June 2. Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here. ALSO SEE: Trio of Mexican restaurants coming to D ..read more