Source notes
The Los Angeles Times published “The Budget Impasse: Laguna Niguel’s Ziggurat Building Becomes Virtual Ghost Town” on November 15, 1995. Reporters Michael Granberry and Davan Maharaj described the first day of the federal shutdown at the Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel, California. Security officer Nick McGahuey told them that the building had become unusually quiet as most federal employees were sent home. He said he ordinarily signed in 100 to 150 people a day at the north entrance.
Original excerpt: “It’s flat-out dead,” McGahuey said.
Verification: the original Los Angeles Times article was inspected on October 23, 2026. The article’s title, authors, publication date, location, McGahuey’s role and quoted observations are explicit. Published, draft and trashed discovery titles and source URLs were checked; no existing entry covers this 1995 federal-shutdown report.