Featured Articles from the Coastline Pilot

"Surfing is not a crime. " That's what 11-time Assn. of Surfing Professionals champ Kelly Slater tweeted when he found out last month that 40-year-old Rex Flodstrom was arrested for … wait for it … surfing Lake Michigan in Chicago. Flodstrom was charged with disorderly conduct, two counts of violating a Chicago Park District ordinance and one count of being in the park after park hours. He was handcuffed and taken to jail in his wetsuit. When the news got out, Slater was outspoken and expressed he might go to Chicago and attend Flodstrom's court appearance, which took place last week, in a show of support.

For just the third time in its 78-year history in Laguna, the Marine Room Tavern will change hands. Chris Keller, already the owner of three Laguna restaurants, signed the lease on Saturday. He will take possession Nov. 28, according to Kelly Boyd. The councilman, with his late brother Bo, was the leaseholder of the tavern, affectionately known as the "Mar Bar," for the past 25 years. "Rumors have been flying for months," Boyd said earlier this week. "It is time to set the record straight.

Video camera is returned to its owner Videographer Michael Taylor got his video camera back Tuesday, after it was taken from the hillside where it had been placed to capture time-lapse images of the work after the Bluebird Canyon landslide. Taylor thought the camera might be sold over the Internet, and he was right. But he was surprised when the Internet helped bring the camera back. After losing the $2,000 camera Dec. 15, Taylor put some lenses up for sale online to try to replace the lost equipment.

A fast start that led to an eventual sweep Tuesday has propelled the Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team forward in postseason competition. The Breakers won their CIF Southern Section Division 2 opener at Dugger Gym by defeating Corona Santiago, 25-15, 25-18, 25-17. The win advanced the Breakers, the No. 2 seed behind Esperanza in the division, to a second-round match Thursday against South Torrance (Pioneer League No. 2) which won the Division 3 title a year ago. The score from Thursday's match wasn't available at press time.

Members of Laguna Beach Girl Scouts Troops No. 238 and No. 2311 collected coats throughout December and January as part of the "One Warm Coat" service project. The girls collected a total of 175 coats, 51 of which went to the Relief and Resource Center of Laguna Beach for those in need. From left, Neika MacDowall, Kaitlyn Waidley, Allie Hastings, Marcella Bechtel, Marina Paul, Kate Rogers, Ciera Crowe, Mary Jo Mancuso of the Soroptimist International of Lake Forest Club, Kelly Fleming, Amanda McCrory, Amie Clay, Victoria O'Connor, Tori Tomo- Krohnfeldt, Katie Fleming, Taylor Kahn and Ashley Andrews.

Laguna Beach Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Pearson and Councilwoman Toni Iseman are moving the once-languishing Village Entrance project forward. "It's a real opportunity to address what we need in town to keep our business community vibrant and easier for the public to shop and enjoy our town," Iseman said. Iseman and Pearson, who formed a subcommittee two years ago for the Village Entrance, will present their ideas at 5 p.m. March 26 in Council Chambers, 505 Forest Ave. The two have different versions of what the project should entail, according to Iseman.

Time ran out Tuesday for skateboarders who wanted to preserve Skyline Drive as a course for downhill speedsters. The City Council voted 4-1 to add the narrow, twisty drive to the list of Laguna Beach streets closed to skateboarding, with almost no objections from the usually vocal youth and adults who support the sport and not much more input from folks who want the ban. Pro-skateboarders were given 60 days at the Feb. 28 council meeting to...

A storage unit, a garage, a car, a professor's office and a tent on a campsite. These are only a few of the 24 Irvine spots where Richard Newton bunked over two years in the early 1970s. This nomadic life - the yearning to feel out new surroundings - sparks inspiration. "The seed of my ideas comes from other places and, I suppose, works with my restlessness - I'm always going somewhere," he said. "I have personally found that the most interesting part of life is to be exposed to other people, cultures and places - to somehow step completely out of where you come from and immerse yourself in someone else's world.

Our aura is an electromagnetic energy field that emanates from our bodies, and can be visualized through an outline of cascading colors, which are supposed to reflect our state of mind, body and inner being, says Jill Templin, owner of The Chakra Shack in Laguna Beach. Templin said these colors are associated with our seven chakras, or energy centers of the body, and determine our physical, emotional and spiritual states. ?An aura reading can help us learn how to balance our chakra system, by highlighting which areas we need to strengthen,?

Moulton Meadows Park in Arch Beach Heights could serve as a good location for a skate park, according to a City Council subcommittee. Mayor Kelly Boyd and Councilman Steve Dicterow propose a 9,000 to 12,000 square foot skate park next to the existing soccer field and basketball and tennis courts. Boyd and Dicterow selected Moulton Meadows for its location and size, Boyd said. A community meeting to gain residents' input will take place near the basketball courts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Lagunans' voices were heard loud and clear at a community skate park meeting Thursday night: no skate park at Moulton Meadows Park. About 200 residents, most from Arch Beach Heights, turned out early Thursday evening at Moulton Meadows Park to share input on an a proposed skate park at the site. By the end of the meeting, only 75 remained. They were in favor of a skate park, just not at the proposed site. Tension was thick at the meeting - one young man called a lady opposed to a Moulton Meadows skate park a “hater.” Councilman Steve Dicterow foreshadowed many neighborhood residents' sentiments in his opening statement, with members of the Tony Hawk Foundation alongside.

Onlookers crowded Main Beach this week to get a glimpse of the cast of "Savages," a film by director Oliver Stone. "Traffic" star Benicio Del Toro, Taylor Kitsch of "Friday Night Lights" and Demián Bichir of "Weeds" were some of the stars spotted on the beach this week. The cast also includes John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch, "Gossip Girl" actress Blake Lively and Salma Hayek. The film, which is set to be released in 2012, is based on the book of the same name by Don Winslow.

Tommy Bahama's newest bar, grill and retail store opened its doors to the public on Saturday, in Laguna Beach. A traditional ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted by Mayor Elizabeth Pearson , with Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rose Hancock and Tommy Bahama Big Kahunas Terry Pillow, Rob Goldberg and Brian Pierce at her side. The ceremony followed a private party the previous night to celebrate the opening. Building owner Sam Goldstein said Friday that he never doubted the project would come to fruition despite disputes and delays.