Featured Articles from the Coastline Pilot

The store manager of Sirous and Sons Rug Gallery in Laguna Beach pleaded not guilty on all counts in a Santa Ana courtroom on Friday. A pre-trial has been scheduled for Sept. 20. Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan, 53, was first arrested on Sept. 1 for sexual assaulting three women and distributing pornography to a minor. He was rearrested Wednesday in connection with four new cases - which include rape, sexual battery by restraint, false imprisonment, penetration with a foreign object, attempted forcible oral copulation and a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure - were filed Friday by the Orange County District Attorney.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hatz announce the marriage of their son Jason Hatz to Debbie Weberski of Willits, Calif. The wedding and reception took place on Aug. 30 at the Grand Traditions in Fallbrook. Jason Hatz is a 1996 graduate of Laguna Beach High School. The couple met while attending San Diego State University. After honeymooning in Hawaii they will make their home in Point Loma. The Coastline Pilot publishes engagements, wedding announcements and anniversaries free of charge.

Ruth Osgood Salyer Born on Feb. 20, 1920, Laguna Beach resident Ruth Osgood died April 26. Ms. Osgood was a nationally known artist. In 1964, she was the president of the Laguna Beach Art Assn., which later became the Laguna Art Museum. She helped create the Art Institute of Southern California, now called the Laguna College of Art and Design. She was also involved with the Laguna Playhouse. She was vice president during the change from the "old Playhouse" on Ocean Avenue to the "new Playhouse" in the Canyon.

Jo Ellen Byrnes first began working with mandalas as a psychologist through expressive art therapy. Noting their energetic and spiritual significance, the experience inspired the Laguna resident and artist to draw from her intimate communion with nature and begin designing her own works of art. Mandala — Sanskrit for "circle" — is a form of art used cross-culturally in spiritual teachings, meditation and to create sacred space....

This year's 40th annual Charm House tour on May 20 will feature homes that have weathered some difficult points in Laguna Beach's history. Event spokeswoman Barbara Picheny said Village Laguna, which hosts the tour, is looking forward to two Bluebird Canyon homes in the tour that endured the canyon's devastating landslides. One home in particular, she said, had actually been pushed to the roadway and had to be rebuilt. An architect heard of the homeowner's plight and volunteered his services so that they could once again enjoy their space in the canyon.

We have more art festivals than we know what to do with. We have fancy food festivals, world-class theater, legendary surf competitions and dozens of other Laguna Beach events. But no festival for popular music. Little Dana Point, only slightly bigger than Laguna, has two major festivals - Doheny Days and the Blues Festival - along with several other smaller events. The lineups are stellar with bands like Weezer, Ben Harper, Cake, Ziggy Marley and Donavon Frankenreiter.

When Laguna Beach filmmaker Christine Fugate saw Donna Hilbert read her poems ?In Quintana Roo? and ?Grief Becomes Me? in 2004, she felt inspired to make a film about the author, who transformed her grief into hope. Hilbert?s husband, Larry, was killed by a drunken driver on an early-morning bicycle ride in 1998. ?When I heard her speak, I could just see the images of her poetry in my mind,? Fugate said. ?At that moment, I thought, ?Wow, I want to take her poems and turn them into movies.

Martin Betz tore open the painting's brown paper wrapping. Kneeling behind the frame, he pulled back the wrapping to reveal a Laguna Beach scene painted in and around 1920 by Clarence Hinkle. The painting, called "A Street in Laguna," belongs to a permanent collection amassed over 80 years by the Festival of Arts (FOA). Comprising between 1,150 and 1,200 paintings, photographs, drawings and other pieces, until about a year ago, the collection lay scattered in art storage sites around Orange County and Greater Los Angeles, said Betz, the Festival's director of exhibits, collections & education.

Woe betide property owners or city staff who tear up native vegetation without the approval of the Design Review Board. The City Council voted unanimously May 1 to add an ordinance to the municipal code related to the protection of native vegetation, its restoration if removed without authorization and penalties. Fuel modification zones, brush that is a hazard and cleared by the Fire Department for public safety, were exempted. "This was an outcome of the Disaster Preparedness Committee, and I would like to thank them for their good work," said Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson, who sponsored the committee.

Although a Quarter Pounder with cheese might sound more appetizing to some than an all-juice diet, Living Juice founder Jamie Jensen swears that once you try her juice, it's hard to go back. While a sculptor in New York City in the mid-2000s, the Laguna Beach native said she felt sick and unhealthy in every way imaginable - from her mood and everyday energy to having difficulty sleeping. She was turned on to juices by her yoga instructor and decided to try a 10-day cleanse.

Volunteers are needed to help the Friendship Shelter assist residents interested in applying for the Orange County Housing Authority Section 8 waiting list. Training will be held Friday and Saturday, and volunteers will be assigned shifts to work during the application window of Feb. 16 to 25, according to a news release from the shelter. The Section 8 waiting list is the only chance for low-income families, seniors and those with disabilities to get a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher.

Marine mammal experts may have realized why a large number of seals and sea lions are coming ashore weak and malnourished. The mammals are having a hard time catching fish due to a slight increase in the temperature of the ocean, said Dr. Richard Evans, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center veterinarian and medical director. Experts are predicting an El Niño/La Niña weather pattern will begin to arrive through August, with higher global ocean temperatures already evident, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

A Costa Mesa artist of Syrian heritage has found a way to give back to her parents' homeland, which is in turmoil. On Feb. 25, Sama Wareh, 28, will show her art along with other artists at the Blue Jay Art Gallery in Laguna Beach. Portions of the proceeds will go to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund. Although Wareh grew up in Orange County, her entire extended family resides in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Her connection to Syria is apparent in her paintings, from the streets of Syrian towns and Bedouin symbolism to Arabic poetry and calligraphy in her art. Wareh has a bachelor's in art and filmmaking from Cal State Fullerton and has shown her work at the Bowers Museum, the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans and the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles.