Carl Karcher gets his star

The Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars? Who knew? It's been around since November to honor folks who have made a big impact on OC. Walt Disney got a star late last year and on Tuesday it was Carl Karcher, founder of Carl's Jr. Karcher, who just turned 90, was on hand for the festivities, along Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and Andrew F. Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants Inc. As noted by the OC Register, Karcher started with a hot dog cart at the corner of Florence and Central (he also sold tamales) and opened his first drive-in location, Carl's Drive-In Barbecue, in 1945. Karcher also is devoutly Catholic, devoutly conservative and has contributed heavily to anti-abortion groups. He was the largest single contributor to a 1978 ballot initiative that would have required public schools to fire any teachers known to be gay or lesbian. The initiative failed. All of which was deliciously ironic when Carl's Jr. began running those Paris Hilton commercials in 2005 that were, shall we say, not fit for a family hamburger company. Karcher is supposed to have been heartbroken by the company's move away from Christian values.