Don Harbert has been the lead pastor of the Way Fellowship in Buena Park since 1991. In a biographical note on the Christian church’s website, it says: “Through anointed messages from God’s Word and the loving nurture of a spiritual father, God has blessed Pastor Don’s ministry at The Way Fellowship in a powerful way.”
Over the years, Harbert has established a solid reputation and was even named a Citizen of the Year by the Cypress College Foundation as part of its annual Americana Awards gala to be held later this month
Things appear to have become a bit bumpy for the pastor over the past couple of months.
It came to light last week that Harbert, who was also a longtime senior police chaplain for the Buena Park Police Department, was asked to step down from that role when it was discovered he’d reposted and “liked” what are clearly anti-Muslim sentiments on social media.
According to this report in TimesOC by my colleague Gabriel San Román, Harbert was called into a meeting on Jan. 28 with Buena Park’s city manager and interim police chief to discuss his future with the department. Two days prior to that, Mayor Connor Traut had submitted a complaint about the posts, describing in a statement Harbert’s social media activities as showing “a pattern of hostile and inaccurate statements about members of the Muslim community.”
By Harbert’s account provided to TimesOC, he is in the practice of reposting items “to start a dialogue because I have friends on the far left and friends on the far right.”
City officials informed him the posts are considered hate speech, he said.
If you use Facebook, you can read the post the pastor shared that raised city officials’ concerns at this link. One of the assertions there is that Muslims should be prohibited from holding elected office.
As San Román writes, this sentiment “hit close to home,” as Buena Park Vice Mayor Lamiya Hoque is the first-ever Muslim American elected to serve on the panel.
But Harbert told the reporter he has no issue with Hoque’s position in his city’s government.
“I believe that anybody has a right to serve if they’re voted in,” Harbert said. “I stand by that. She was voted in by her constituents.”
He said the if city officials had simply asked him to remove the social media posts “I would have. “But I’m not going to apologize for being a Christian. I’m not going to apologize for trying to get people to have dialogue and talk about what the issues are.”
Amr Shabaik, the legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ local chapter told TimesOC that anti-Muslim sentiments “especially concerning” when coming from chaplains affiliated with law enforcement agencies.
“Chaplains working alongside public officers should provide spiritual support and guidance rooted in dignity and respect for all people, regardless of faith background,” Shabaik said. “When hate in such a public manner is allowed to go unchecked, it erodes public trust and puts the safety and well-being of all our communities at risk.”
After losing his chaplain duties with the police department, there was more bad news. Harbert said he received a phone call from someone at the Cypress College Foundation after which, he told TimesOC, he decided to rescind his acceptance of the Citizen of the Year award.
MORE NEWS 
A view of end of herbicide spray area (top) along Trabuco Creek in San Juan Capistrano on Feb. 27, 2026. After SJC resident Brent Linas started a community group to speak out about how the county is using herbicides in creeks, officials said they would stop using the vegetation killers in creeks near Doheny State Beach for an indefinite period.
(Sandy Huffaker / For The Times)
• A quick update on a story mentioned in last week’s newsletter regarding residents in the San Juan Capistrano area concerned about herbicides being used to treat creeks designated as flood control channels: On Friday, O.C. officials announced they would stop spraying herbicides in creeks near Doheny State Beach for an indefinite period.
• Butch Twining, currently the mayor pro tem of Huntington Beach, learned over the weekend that his $25-million defamation lawsuit against Ocean View School District Board of Trustees President Gina Clayton-Tarvin was dead in the water, after a judge agreed with the corresponding anti-SLAPP motion filed by Clayton-Tarvin. The dispute arose after Clayton-Tarvin called Twining out for attending a Charlie Kirk memorial on the night of the conservative activist’s assassination that was taken over by white supremacists.
• The financially struggling International Surf Museum in Huntington Beach will be allowed to move into space at the Main Street Library for the modest monthly rent of $500. This follows a decision of the City Council that was decried by some who considered it ill-advised.
• Unless the local school board has a change of heart, Laguna Beach High School graduation ceremonies are poised to return to the Irvine Bowl on the Festival of Arts grounds that hosted them prior to the pandemic. In recent years, the ceremony was held on LBHS’s Guyer Field. Dueling petitions were circulated by both those in favor of the moving the ceremony back to the Irvine Bowl and critics of the change.
• Orange County drivers, along with motorists all around the state, are experiencing pain at the pump this week as the U.S. continues its military operations in Iran. The average price of self-serve regular gas in O.C. was pegged at $5.322 on Tuesday, 65.1 cents more than one week ago, 86.3 cents higher than one month ago and 66.2 cents greater than one year ago, according to CNS.
BUSINESS 
The Newport Beach Planning Commission discussed a proposal to demolish the Big Newport movie theater to build 150 high-rise condos.
(Gabriel San Román)
• Development company Related California has received permission from the Newport Beach Planning Commission to tear down the nearly 60-year-old Big Newport movie theater to build two, 22-story residential towers with 150 condominiums.
• Saks Global will be closing its Saks Fifth Avenue store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, one of several sites the luxury retailer will shutter as part of a brand restructuring, City News Service reported over the weekend. The company will retain its Neiman Marcus store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
• Pinning its woes on overexpansion, Grocery Outlet has announced it will be closing 36 underperforming stores by the end of this year, The Times reports. The business has numerous locations in Orange County.
CRIME 
A look at the status of some of the recent crime reports in Orange County.
(File Photo)
• A married Newport Beach couple who were taken into custody at their $3.9-million home on Sandalwood Lane on Feb. 26 are facing 68 felony counts of fraud. The charges filed against them in Santa Barbara County Superior Court claim they fraudulently obtained over $6.4 million from a mortgage company and stole more than $2 million from a neighbor in the Montecito neighborhood where they owned a second home valued at $5.7 million.
• A Yorba Linda man faces up to six years in state prison if convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges after his 12-year-old son was critically injured riding an e-bike the father had modified into an e-motorcycle that could travel up to 60 mph.
• An Orange County sheriff’s deputy from Tustin turned herself in on Monday after she was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the killing of her fiancée in August, The Times reports. You can find the D.A.’s news release on this development here.
• Robert Cipiano Alvarez Jr., 76, was charged Thursday with fatally shooting a 65-year-old Bari Payne at her Huntington Beach home last Wednesday morning.
• The former supervisor of a Costa Mesa post office who pleaded guilty last year to stealing checks and money orders was sentenced Friday to a year and a day of home confinement. She’ll also be required to pay more than $64,000 in restitution.
• A former Laguna Niguel resident, 34-year-old Byrom Zuniga Sanchez, was sentenced to seven years
in federal prison on Thursday for threatening an Orange County Superior Court judge who oversaw his child custody case, City News Service reported.
• The trial got underway last week for Tanh Thien Tran, who is accused of killing his 11-year-old stepdaughter, Anh Duong and attempting to kill his then-36-year-old wife, San Nguyen, on Aug. 29, 2018 in Garden Grove. according to CNS.
PUBLIC SAFETY
• Seven Disneyland employees were sickened following a mix-up with chemicals brewed up in a backstage area of the Star Tours attraction yesterday afternoon, an Anaheim police spokesman reported to CNS.
• A neighbor’s doorbell camera captured a video of a car that had been driving along Valencia Drive in Fullerton Sunday evening crashed into a pickup truck as it made a left-hand turn from Courtney Avenue. The truck was flipped on its side, trapping two people that had to be extricated through the windshield by responders.
• A motorist died Sunday when the 2003 Ford Mustang he was driving hit a utility pole on Western Avenue in Garden Grove shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, according to CNS
• Also in Garden Grove, a two-alarm fire broke out at a house on Sherlock Circle on Sunday evening, burning an RV, a car and trees as well as spreading to the roof of a neighboring home. It was doused in 18 minutes, CNS reported, attributing the information to the Orange County Fire Authority.
SPORTS 
John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals, was acquired by the Ducks on Thursday in hopes he’ll help the Anaheim team make the playoffs.
(Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
• On Thursday the Ducks acquired Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline, in hopes he’ll help the team as it pushes to hit the playoffs. “What we’ve been doing the last three years is adding assets,” Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek told The Times.
• Against all odds, the Sage Hill girls’ basketball team upset powerhouse Sierra Canyon Saturday in Chatsworth. The Lightning struck down the top-seeded Trailblazers in a CIF State Open Division regional semifinal game. Our reporter who covered it said it was a jaw-dropping performance. Last night Sage Hill faced second-seeded Ontario Christian (32-2) with a trip to Sacramento at stake, but results were not known as of this newsletter’s deadline.
LIFE & LEISURE 
Shawn Kortes with wife Jenny and daughter Charli, at their Huntington Beach home.
(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
• Huntington Beach resident Shawn Kortes had been in need of a new kidney for almost a year and it came in a most unexpected way that you can read about in this Daily Pilot story. “All the circumstances that needed to happen just somehow miraculously happened, and now I’m sitting here today,” he told my colleague Matt Szabo. “You know, it’s a true miracle. It’s weird, man. It’s like a Hollywood movie kind of story.”
A picture of Jesse Miranda as seen in the biographical documentary, “Always a Seat at the Table: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Jesse Miranda,” during celebration of his legacy at Vanguard University last week.
(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
• The life of the late Jesse Miranda, a Christian leader who in 2000 became director of the Center for Urban Studies and Ethnic Leadership at O.C.’s Vanguard University, is being told in a new documentary that aims to inspire Vanguard students. The 17-minute film was shown last week during a celebratory event held at what is now called the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership.
CALENDAR 
Florencia Cuenca, left, Tatianna Cordoba and Justina Machado on stage for the musical “Real Women Have Curves.” Cuenca and Cordoba, along with other members of the cast, will be performing in Costa Mesa for one night only, on March 20.
(Julieta Cervantes)
• To mark Women’s History Month, members of the Broadway musical “Real Women Have Curves,” will perform at “Curves in Concert” for one night only, Friday, March 20. The show will begin at 7 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, with tickets starting at $30. ¡DAMAS!, held in the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., is free to attend with no reservations required. For details, go to scfta.org
• The 59th annual Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade will start at 11 a.m. Saturday in front of Laguna Beach High School and continue through the streets of downtown Laguna Beach. The theme is “America 250.” Several other performances are on tap in the city in upcoming weeks, as detailed in this Daily Pilot story.
• Also this Saturday, the OC Super Show Music and Beer Festival in Irvine will feature the Aquabats, Story of the Year, LIT, Fenix TX, Mest, Tunnel Vision, 84 Days, Sailors Songback and more. Great Park, 8000 Great Park Blvd. Gates open at noon and tickets start at $72.74.
KEEP IN TOUCH
We appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.