OC Supervisor Tom Riley’s Final Days Tarnished by Bankruptcy

These were supposed to be Supervisor Tom Riley’s glory days.

By Marc S. Posner
Daily Pilot
Serendipity kept my feature about Tom Riley’s pending retirement from elected office from running as scheduled. And then, boom, the entire county went bankrupt. I called the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, added a couple of quotes, and had an award-winning story (second place, non-breaking news, Orange County Fair, July 1995).

Instead, the retired Marine Corps brigadier general is back in the thick of battle as his 20-year tenure on the county Board of Supervisors comes to a close. Continue reading “OC Supervisor Tom Riley’s Final Days Tarnished by Bankruptcy”

Moon Walker Pete Conrad Still Pushing the Envelope

HUNTINGTON BEACH — As one of 12 men to walk on the moon, you’d think that Pete Conrad would recall the event like a giddy teen remembers his first kiss.

By Marc S. Posner
Huntington Beach Independent
The thrill I found in meeting Pete Conrad can’t be overstated. He was a Right Stuff-era aviator and astronaut I had been familiar with since childhood. Meeting a human who set foot on another heavenly body was out-of-this-world (sorry for the pun; no I’m not).

Instead, the retired Navy captain routinely answers the question with the smooth, calm demeanor of a Right Stuff-era test pilot.

It was just a job, something he spent several years training for, he said. Continue reading “Moon Walker Pete Conrad Still Pushing the Envelope”

Two killed in head-on collision TRAFFIC: Three children are hospitalized after the crash of a pickup and station wagon in Irvine

MARC S. POSNER
North County News

Orange County Register
16 May 1993: b01.

When people ask: “what was the most-difficult story you had to cover?” this is one of two that comes immediately to mind. I’ll never forget arriving at this accident scene because the magnitude of what transpired minutes earlier hung in a somber mood. I think about these girls and their father regularly.

A wrong-way driver and another motorist were killed when their vehicles collided head-on Saturday on Sand Canyon Avenue.

The accident occurred when the driver of a GMC pickup crossed the center divider and hit a Volvo station wagon as it traveled south. The driver of the pickup, identified as John Paul Renzi, 42, of Trabuco Canyon, and the driver of the Volvo, a woman, were killed.

The woman’s three children were hospitalized after the crash at 12:40 p.m.

One of the children, an 8-year-old girl, was in serious condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. The two younger children, 6- and 2-year-old girls, were being treated at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for skull fractures. The youngest also suffered a fractured left leg, according to the California Highway Patrol. Continue reading “Two killed in head-on collision TRAFFIC: Three children are hospitalized after the crash of a pickup and station wagon in Irvine”