Editor, Judging by the letters to the editor, public feedback to the city council and other community commentary, the decision to kill a dozen mature, healthy and beautiful trees may have been a mistake. If the ficus trees were buckling the sidewalks, the eucalyptus probably are too. Those could all come down also. Then change [...]
Editor, How disappointing it is to see our council members decide to rush the cutting down of our beautiful ficus trees during the spring nesting season. They choose to ignore Lagunas as a bird sanctuary. I remember seeing dead baby birds on Third Street sidewalks when the city decided to heavily prune the ficus one [...]
Editor, Since the ‘80s I have had an interest in preserving ocean views. I attended meetings in the ‘90s on this subject and watched in dismay as Village Laguna, led by Ann Christoph, orchestrated tactics to waylay this effort. Fear tactics included no trees, no birds, even an 8-year-old sobbing that “he would never experience [...]
Editor, So, here we are back to 1995 with our village entrance project. Thirteen years ago we were looking at a project of $10 to $20 million. Today it is pegged by Elizabeth Pearson at $35.3 million and this appears to be a “guestimate” until the project is put out to bid. Has anyone seen [...]
A five hour-long standoff with a handgun-toting motorist who claimed to have booby-trapped his car ended late Wednesday with Laguna Beach police taking the a 41-year-old man into custody outside the gated community of Three Arch Bay. No explosives were found, Sgt. Louise Callus said, though police had evacuated the immediate area early in the [...]
Editor, In light of the overwhelming outpouring of frustration about disappearing views and decreasing property values demonstrated at the recent city council meeting, I thought a city-wide cacophony of chainsaws and toppling trees would follow. I hoped that home owners with view-blocking trees would do the right thing of their own accord. After all, these [...]
By Pam Tallman Forget digital. I prefer my paper address book. Flipping through its pages I’m reminded of the extras I’ve added—birthdays, favorite colors, names of pets and tidbits like Wendy’s crazy about hedgehogs and P.J. has a thing for leopard prints. My old address book is shabby and worn, and every few years [...]
By Arnold Silverman As we head into the Christmas season, I am reminded of an event that occurred in December of 1952, one of the “buried” stories that the old memory seems to be churning up recently (is the old bod telling me something?). It confirmed for me, in spite of any secular leanings [...]
By Susan Jacob, Ph.D. Forest Park is still beautiful, 30 years after the St. Louis World’s Fair, especially when covered in snow. The air was fresh with the scent of pines, clear, cold and exhilarating. Red and his twin cousins were as playful as three large puppies, mixing football with a snowball fight. Unexpectedly, [...]
When I was a kid, my family lived in old Corona del Mar and opened presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning. It was a tradition from Kansas, where my folks came of age in the Great Depression. We never got elaborate presents. They were small and inexpensive. Anything else would have been deemed [...]
By Liz Zuercher It starts with my husband, Gary, asking me to make Springerles, the German anise cookies his childhood neighbor, Mrs. Schlobaum, used to make. Innocently, I agree. Year One Two days before Christmas I realize the cookies must mellow in an airtight container for two weeks. I abandon the project. Year Two [...]
By Alice C. Meek, MA Jenny danced up and down the hallway. “Is it time, mom? Is it time? Are we ready to wake them up?” Ally still sees her on tippy toe, hears her begging, and feels her tugging at her shirttails. “Almost time, Jen. Let’s get our red slippers so we can [...]
From one moment to the next, my 5-year-old became obsessed with turtles. She decided that what our family needed was not a dishwasher that scrubbed dishes or a garden with live plants. No, we needed a turtle. When she couldn’t spur her parents into action, she did what any smart kid does: She picked up [...]
After a brief yet brave battle with cancer, Ulli Ceniceros-Sperry succumbed to this disease on Dec. 16, 2012. Ulli was 4 years old and a fixture in the Laguna Beach downtown area. A regular at the Laguna Beach Dog Park, this 180-pound gentle giant won many people’s hearts with her affectionate and friendly demeanor. Ulli [...]
Editor, Bravo to the LagunaTunes for their Sunday afternoon concert “Making Spirits Bright” on Dec. 9 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. The LagunaTunes 50-member choirs performed with their new director of the larger chorus, Bob Gunn, along with returning conductor, Cristin Cornell, directing the Chamber Music Ensemble. It was a glorious afternoon of outstanding choral [...]
Police Use Taser to Subdue Assault Suspect
An assault involving three men escalated into a struggle with Laguna Beach police, who ultimately deployed a taser twice to subdue the younger combative suspect in the 300 block of Cozumel around 1:15 a.m. Friday, May 10, police said. Police ultimately arrested Laguna Beach resident Sergio Gabriel Borgognone, 51, for allegedly resisting arrest and his [...]
