Laguna Beach residents who daily wake to the sound of planes overhead just after 7 a.m. likely take little comfort in knowing that the onslaught could begin earlier. A curfew agreement, which stipulates take-off times no earlier than 7 a.m., is up for renewal and part of negotiations underway with John Wayne Airport, according to [...]
Bass player Eric Morton, co-founder of the influential Laguna Beach-based Rebel Rockers reggae band, died Thursday, June 6, after a long battle with liver disease. He was close to 60, though he declined to discuss his age. Morton, known as Redz, performed with and married lead singer Deborah Sullivan, known as Princess. Together with keyboard [...]
By Justin Swanson | LB Indy A 66-year history serves as testament to one of Laguna Beach’s special traditions, now an ingrained coming of age ritual for the town’s high school graduates. Witness the $328,955 in scholarships awarded at Laguna Beach High School’s Honors Convocation last week to 107 graduates, the largest sum in [...]
By Rita Robinson and Andrea Adelson| LB Indy The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente won’t be restarted again, but it will be years before its distinctive double domes disappear from the coastline. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” said Edison spokeswoman Maureen Brown, describing a years-long process decontaminating and deconstructing the plant under [...]
Street chanteuse April Walsh, an Irish-American lass with a French grandmother and several Gallic cousins, sings the lyrics of “La Vie En Rose” with a perfect French accent that will add a distinctive vibe spilling out of downtown Laguna Beach streets this Saturday, June 15. Walsh’s sultry flair with songs from the 1930s and ‘40s [...]
Though former Joffrey Ballet prima ballerina Jodie Gates no longer pirouettes across international dance stages, she has kept in constant motion as a choreographer, founding director of the Laguna Dance Festival and dance professor at UC Irvine. Her academic career took another leap in April when the University of Southern California appointed her to become [...]
Editor, The permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Plant opens new opportunities for California’s green energy re-evolution. Nuclear power plants basically boil water for steam turbines and electrical energy production while creating a stockpile of radioactive material. Emerging fuel cell technology led by UC Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center can generate power directly [...]
Editor, As I am sure you are aware, the 50th Annual Brooks Street Surfing Classic was held last weekend in great surfing conditions. I am writing to thank the City of Laguna Beach for their continued commitment to this unique and amazing community event. Started in 1955, the Brook Street Surfing Classic holds a special [...]
Editor: While many of the Orange County Libraries have a new fiber optic internet service, the Laguna Beach branch must wait until October to have the new service installed. Our local librarians will admit that literally hundreds of library patrons have left the Laguna Beach branch and gone to the independent Newport Beach city library [...]
All-Sports Awards Drake Martinez and Haley Putnam were selected as athletes of the year at the seventh annual LBHS Athletic Booster’s Awards held last week. Martinez set 20 different play, game, season and career marks in football as the most prolific runner and scorer in the sport’s 78 year history at the school. Martinez was [...]
By Justin Swanson | LB Indy For the first time, Laguna Beach lifeguards’ can now rely on their own rescue watercraft for patrol and rescue missions. Though deployed since Memorial Day weekend, the new addition to the marine safety department will be heralded with a christening ceremony on Main Beach, Saturday, June 8 at [...]
Laguna philanthropists Michael and Tricia Berns have donated $1 million to Crystal Cove State Park, which will go to create and sustain the Berns Environment Study Loop. The Loop is a half-mile of mini-field stations where visitors can perform “citizen science” endeavors or learning stations. The donation also goes toward the development of infrastructure such [...]
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter last week dismissed all claims but one in a lawsuit filed last March by Leonard Porto, alleging civil rights violations and challenging the legality of Laguna Beach’s treatment of the homeless on multiple fronts. Laguna’s City Attorney Phil Kohn sought to dismiss the suit in its entirety last [...]
Editor, At last we’re getting a new vision for Laguna brought to us by the view ordinance and anti-skateboard park folks that will give us the sterile environment we have long craved. The problem is they haven’t gone far enough, but let’s first start with a review of what has been proposed so far for the [...]
Editor, Beautiful old historic public trees went the way of the chainsaw. City staff said it was needed due to maintenance costs, and liability issues. I’d like to suggest that the problem isn’t the trees. The problem is the way we deal with our trees in the public space. Anyone who has successfully grown anything from [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
