Laguna Woods, California

The Laguna Woods shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on May 15, 2022, at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, United States. The church in Orange County was hosting a congregation of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church for Sunday services. The shooter killed one person and wounded five others. A suspect, 68-year-old David Chou of Las Vegas, was arrested at the scene. Authorities allege that the crime was committed out of a political hatred of Taiwan and the Taiwanese people. Chou has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder, all with hate crime enhancements, and four counts of possessing an explosive device.

Allied American University (AAU) was a for-profit university located in Laguna Hills, California, that offers online learning degree and certificate programs. Allied American University was founded in 2008 and received national accreditation by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) in that same year. The university offered bachelor's and associate degree programs in business administration, criminal justice, general studies, and allied health. Allied American University offers seven undergraduate degree programs and 10 certificate programs for career or skill enhancement. G.I. Jobs magazine had ranked Allied American University as one of the top Military Friendly Schools, along with other top-tier universities, trade schools, and colleges across the country. Allied American University was also named a Top School in Military Advanced Education's Guide to Colleges and Universities for three consecutive years.

Laguna Woods Village is an age-restricted community for persons aged 55 and over in Laguna Woods, California. The development, formerly known as Leisure World, was developed by Ross Cortese, a former fruit stand owner turned retirement community developer.

Barbara's Lake is a natural lake in the James Dilley Greenbelt Preserve section of the greater Laguna Coast Wilderness Park in Laguna Canyon, Orange County, California, United States. The lake is believed to be spring fed and bears the distinction of being the only natural lake in Orange County, California that contains water year round. This lake is named in recognition of local conservationist Barbara Rabinowitsh who worked to keep the area from being developed.Recreation opportunities include hiking and bird watching but no use of watercraft, fishing, or swimming is allowed in Barbara's Lake.

WaterHealth International is a private, American multinational corporation headquartered in Irvine, California. The company operates as a social business that provides drinking water to communities in primarily rural areas. WaterHealth purifies and retails water through decentralized plants termed "WaterHealth Center," which serve an average consumer base of 10000. The company has installed around 500 WaterHealth Centers primarily in India, but also in Bangladesh, Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia. Daily output of purified water across all of the WaterHealth Centers falls around 1.4 million liters.The company was founded in 1995 as a market development firm that operated primarily in Mexico and the Philippines. By 2002 and 2003, however, the company reoriented its focus to water retailing services and began to center more heavily in Asia and Africa. The company currently operates through wholly owned subsidiaries like WaterHealth India and WaterHealth Ghana.

Laguna Hills Mall was a shopping mall in Laguna Hills, California, in southern Orange County that is being redeveloped by the owners as Five Lagunas. The enclosed mall closed on December 31, 2018 and will be demolished. The exterior stores remain open. New retail, a movie theater, apartments, and a parking structure are currently planned to replace the old mall structure.

Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre (formerly known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre) was an amphitheatre located in Irvine, California. The establishment was built in 1980 by Irvine Meadows Partnership (with 4 local investors) and it opened in 1981. In 2016 the amphitheatre was closed and demolished. It was the largest amphitheatre in Orange County, with 10,418 reserved seats and 5,667 on the lawn. The architect was Gin Wong Associates of Los Angeles. The unique design of this venue is that it was built on a hillside so the seats have a steep slope toward the stage.

Pretend City Children’s Museum is a nonprofit children’s museum in Irvine, CA. The museum features 17 interactive exhibits designed as a small, interconnected city. Pretend City aims to “build better brains” through purposeful play, hands-on learning experiences, role playing, and educational programming. In addition, the museum offers community resources such as developmental screenings and tools for families, educators and community agencies.

Area code 949 is an area code in California that is contained within South Orange County California. On April 18, 1998, the southern cities of Orange County were split from 714, creating area code 949. It includes some of the wealthiest communities in California; including such cities as Newport Beach, Irvine, Lake Forest, Portola Hills, Coto de Caza, Dove Canyon, Aliso Viejo, Trabuco Canyon, Capistrano Beach, Corona Del Mar, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Newport Coast, Foothill Ranch, Robinson Ranch, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, and San Clemente. The city of Costa Mesa is shared between the 949 and 714 area codes, being split at Wilson Street and along Newport Boulevard. A very small portion of Irvine is also in the 714 area code, from the north side of Culver Drive at the I-5 to Jamboree Road in the Marketplace, in the neighborhood of Northpark Irvine.

The Monterey Formation is an extensive Miocene oil-rich geological sedimentary formation in California, with outcrops of the formation in parts of the California Coast Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and on some of California's off-shore islands. The type locality is near the city of Monterey, California. The Monterey Formation is the major source-rock for 37 to 38 billion barrels of oil in conventional traps such as sandstones. This is most of California's known oil resources. The Monterey has been extensively investigated and mapped for petroleum potential, and is of major importance for understanding the complex geological history of California. Its rocks are mostly highly siliceous strata that vary greatly in composition, stratigraphy, and tectono-stratigraphic history. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated in 2014 that the 1,750 square mile Monterey Formation could, as an unconventional resource, yield about 600 million barrels of oil, from tight oil contained in the formation, down sharply from their 2011 estimate of a potential 15.4 billion barrels. An independent review by the California Council on Science and Technology found both of these estimates to be "highly uncertain." Despite intense industry efforts, there has been little success to date (2013) in producing Monterey-hosted tight oil/shale oil, except in places where it is already naturally fractured, and it may be many years, if ever, before the Monterey becomes a significant producer of shale oil. The Monterey Formation strata vary. Its lower Miocene members show indications of weak coastal upwelling, with fossil assemblages and calcareous-siliceous rocks formed from diatoms and coccolithophorids. Its middle and upper Miocene upwelling-rich assemblages, and its unique highly siliceous rocks from diatom-rich plankton, became diatomites, porcelainites, and banded cherts.

Laguna Hills (; Laguna, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby—Laguna Niguel and Laguna Woods—are similarly named.

Aliso Viejo (Spanish for "Old Sycamore") is a city in the San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California. It had a population of 52,176 as of the 2020 census, up from 47,823 as of the 2010 census. It became Orange County's 34th city on July 1, 2001, the only city in Orange County to be incorporated since 2000. It is bordered by the cities of Laguna Beach on the west and southwest, Laguna Hills on the east, Laguna Niguel on the southeast, and Laguna Woods on the north. It is similarly named to another nearby city, Mission Viejo.