BARBARA DIAMOND
JULY
July 2: Inspired by "Roadtrip Nation," a book written by Nathan
Gebhard and Mike Marriner of Laguna Beach, three recreation vehicles
full of students began a tour of colleges across the country to talk
to students about alternative career paths.
* Wayne and Faye Baglin announced they would not file a lawsuit
against the city relating to his trial on suspicion of violating
state conflict-of-interest laws, of which a jury found him not
guilty.
July 9: Assistant City Manager John Pietig conducted a tour of the
city's maintenance yard and explained plans for the proposed facility
at Act V.
* Despite objections from residential neighbors, the City Council
approved redevelopment proposed by the new owner of the Pottery
Shack, with the proviso that the property be put on the city's
historical register. "I better be able to recognize the Pottery Shack
when you are done, or I am gonna come after you," then-Mayor Cheryl
Kinsman said. Councilmen Wayne Baglin and Steve Dicterow voted
against the proposal.
July 16: Andrew Urdiales, who confessed in 1997 to killing Laguna
Beach college student Robbin Brandley, then 23, in the parking lot of
Saddleback College, was awaiting a judge's decision on whether he
would go to death row for three other killings in Illinois.
July 23: Festival of Arts members voted on changing its by-laws to
prevent licensing of the Pageant of the Masters.
* The California Coastal Commission voted 7 to 2 on July 15 to
continue its hearing on the proposed relocation of the city's
maintenance yard to the Act V parking lot because of conflicting data
delivered by proponents and opponents of the project and the lack of
a parking study. Choosing a seat at the meeting was like deciding on
which side of the aisle to set a Hatfield-McCoy wedding. Councilwoman
Toni Iseman, an opponent of the project who sits on the commission,
dropped a bombshell when she announced that the tin shacks at the
current site would not be removed.
* The California Newspaper Publishers Assn. awarded first place to
the Coastline Pilot for page layout and design for weeklies and
second place for general excellence among papers of the same size.
July 30: Bill Bryan took the title at the 28th annual Victoria
Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding, held July 24 and 25 at
Aliso Beach.
AUGUST
Aug. 6: John Laurence Whitaker, 57, was arrested in Oregon on
suspicion of murdering Patricia Ann Carpenter in 1983 in Laguna
Beach. Whitaker confessed to the murder, another cold case solved by
