New Highs, Old Principles Stocks powered to new highs on both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. Only a week ago, I commented that the basics supported further market advances to 16,000 on the DJIA and 1,700 on the S&P. The S&P then closed at 1707 a...
, By Tony Crowell
A Looming Financial Crisis
Editor, Although the economic downturn hurt our city as it did all government agencies, Laguna's current financial situation has stabilized. Per the latest budget, we have about $22 million in the bank (albeit mostly earmarked for contingencies, maintenance, and specific...
, By Guest Contributor
Tree-economics 101: My lost trees = My lost dollars. Who pays?
Editor, Hold on a minute. With all the subjective talk about trees and views, let's talk about objective economics. Let's understand that there is a definable economic component of value to beautiful trees on a property. It's the difference between a property's estimated market...
Criminalizing Homelessness Worsens the Situation
Editor, Criminalizing homelessness by harassing, arresting or jailing the poor because they have nowhere else to go but the street should sicken all of us. If a homeless person has committed a crime then they deserve to be arrested or jailed. However indiscriminately and...
Exemplary Table Manners
Editor, I came across the mountains from Bermuda Dunes last Thursday, July 25, to see the "Pageant of the Masters." My friend and I purchased food before the show and proceeded to look for a table "on the green" to sit and dine. It was packed with the jazz/picnickers...
Praise for Article Describing the Push to Bury Utilities
Editor, Thank you for your excellent article on undergrounding! (Crash Spurs Advocates of Below Ground Utilities," July 26). As you may have found out from your own research, Edison actually does have a third transmission line coming into Laguna. City planner Steve May found this...
Village Matters: Is There Magic?
I dreaded the prospect of getting married, walking down that aisle. What if that man waiting for me at the altar was the wrong one? "How will I know when I've met 'the one,' the person I'm destined to spend a lifetime with?" "You'll know, you will feel the magic…" came the...
, By Ann Christoph
Speaker's Corner: In Support of Council's Entrance Decision
By Greg Vail I listened to a recent KX 93.5 interview of Councilmember Elizabeth Pearson regarding the village entrance project. The interview struck me less as a forum for community enlightenment and more of a platform for the interviewers to express their own opinions in the...
Last Call for Songwriter's Showcase
An eager crowd of music lovers packed every chair, the edge of the stage, the aisles and the tiny foyer of the Marine Room Tavern this past Tuesday. As the evening progressed, the party spilled into the street even as some patrons doubled up on bar stools. They included under-age...
, By Daniella Walsh
Lawyer on Familiar Turf Helps Resolves View Disputes
Where others see irreconcilable differences, Laguna Beach resident and attorney Larry Nokes sees an opportunity to reconcile. Nokes defies the portrayals of litigators in courtroom dramas as either out for blood or hackneyed automatons, and strives to achieve the best outcome for...
, By Jennifer Erickson
Formal Review Begins for New View Rules
After months of hearings, a draft of proposed new rules to resolve view disputes – a process raising fractious questions over community aesthetics as well as high-price home values — was submitted for review to staff last month and was posted Tuesday on the city's...
Drowning in Sand?
Regulars at south Laguna beaches are noticing what they're calling a relatively new phenomenon, believed to be borne of urban encroachment: a slow build-up of sand on beaches that's covering fragile tidepools and curtailing desirable side-swell breaks for wave riders. Charl...
, By Rita Robinson
Schools Hire New Tech Director
Initiating new hiring practices to ensure transparency in a process that was highly criticized in recent weeks, a new director of technology was hired for the Laguna Beach Unified School District. Sean Colt was unanimously approved as the district's chief technology officer by...
Students Gain Mentors and Creative Encouragement
This fall begins the initiation of an intergenerational mentoring arrangement between second grade students from the Boys and Girls Club and trained volunteer mentors from the Susi Q Senior Center. Volunteers for the project are welcome to attend a meeting at the Susi Q, 380...
Class Notes 8/2/13
Fired Up About Science Laguna Beach's Max Wolf, child of Lorie and Mace Wolf, graduated from the four-day camp Starship Earth at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center last month. Max will be entering fifth grade at Aliso Viejo's Van Damme Academy. Local Earns Order of...