Featured Articles from the Coastline Pilot

Woman located after missing from beach A woman was located at a hospital days after her fiancee reported she disappeared near Main Beach on Saturday. The woman's name could not be published because police are still investigating the possibility that the she may have been sexually assaulted, Sgt. Darin Lenyi said. The woman's fiancee, 29-year-old Brian Andrews of Covina , told police on Wednesday the woman, a 36-year-old Covina resident, was in a hospital, Lenyi said.

If you think Laguna has some architectural gems, wait until you see the gems created by some of Laguna's top architects and their contractors who competed for "Best of Show" in the inaugural Project Pet House fundraiser. The team of Morris Skenderian and Don McKeehan were the top dogs, according to a panel of judges that included Mayor Toni Iseman , City Manager John Pietig , Laguna Art Museum Director Bolton Colburn and Laguna Board of Realtors President Nancy Pooley . But the real judges will be the bidders on the houses.

A trip north resulted in gold for the Laguna Beach Water Polo 14-and-under girls' team last weekend. Laguna won the gold medal at the Santa Barbara Water Polo Invitational Sunday by defeating host and heavily-favored Santa Barbara, 5-4, in the championship game. Despite losing six of seven starters from last season's squad, the youthful Laguna girls kept pace with Santa Barbara during the early part of the game. The locals held a one-point halftime advantage and kept a narrow lead until Santa Barbara tied the score with a goal out of center with 40 seconds left in the game.

The Laguna Beach Scholarship Foundation hosted ceremonies before the 2013 Honors Convocation on Friday for the donors of millions of dollars given over the years to graduating seniors. This year alone, $323,000 was awarded to 107 students. Donors and presenters were recognized at a dinner in the Laguna Beach High School quad before the convocation in the school's Artists' Theater. "This is about you," said foundation President Kerry Rubel. "There would be no awards ceremony without you. "The scholarships we give tonight, through your generosity, recognize the potential in these students and give them opportunities they might not otherwise have," he said.

Live with vultures, become a vulture; live with crows, become a crow. - Laotian proverb * Why did the crow cross the road? The giggle answer that rose up was "to get to the other side," of course. As the black bird with the wide stance completed his hopping crossing, I drove on with a smile on my face. OK, I admit it - I love crows! I know many people find them nothing but annoying, if not downright scary. The scary tag is a complete mystery to me, though annoyance at times might be understandable.

Fire control in Laguna was a hot topic at the June 4 meeting of the City Council. The City Council directed department staff to develop a priority list of "hot spots" in the city that might need more defensible space — the reduction or elimination of vegetation around structures to reduce the fire danger. The council also directed the city planning staff to explore a defensible space ordinance. "The No. 1 job of the city is safety," said Councilman Robert Whalen. "It has been 20 years since the (October 1993)

Laguna Beach had more employees making salaries of $100,000-or-more per capita than any other Orange County city in calendar year 2009, but none were deemed to be overcompensated by the Orange County Grand Jury. A Grand Jury report issued Monday that compared salaries and benefits paid in county cities questioned whether a town of about 23,000 really needs 22 top officials and upper-level employees, not including emergency personnel to run Laguna. The report also gave the city low transparency grades Feb. 1 for making it difficult for the public to find out who makes how much for doing which jobs, but steps were taken this week to make the information more accessible, City Manager John Pietig said.

The City Council presented Bruce Hopping with a commendation for his foundation, for which he had been lobbying for months. Hopping and the Kalos Kagathos Foundation, which he heads, were honored at the Jan. 10 meeting for more than 40 years of service to the city. "Mr. Bruce Hopping has attended a copious number of City Council meetings," said Councilman Kelly Boyd, to whom Hopping had appealed for the recognition of his foundation's good works. "His petulant behavior has prompted numerous painstaking discussions.

The annual Laguna Beach High School Honors Convocation over the weekend rewarded the accomplishments of graduating seniors with scholarships and awards. The reception before the convocation rewarded the donors and presenters with gratitude from former recipients and awe from the Scholarship Foundation. "This evening the foundation will award 121 students $283,000," foundation President Kerry Rubel said at the reception. "That's pretty amazing for a small town like this. " She said it brought to mind a Chinese proverb: "If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.

You have to get the temperature right, Celia Lerum says, as she sticks a thermometer in a pitcher of hot wax. After mixing the wax slowly back and forth with a pitcher of essential oils, she slowly pours the mixture into small jars, the wicks held up with Popsicle sticks. The Laguna Beach native is making candles for her company, Arovela, which began out of her one-story San Clemente home last year and whose products are now sold in Laguna Beach. Muted rock music plays inside the house and Lerum, 30, is tranquil as she makes her soy- and coconut oil-based candles in the backyard.

Time was, not that long ago, when local community and collegiate theater groups were pushing one another out of the way to gain access to Robert Harling's female-friendly dramatic comedy "Steel Magnolias. " I once viewed three different productions of it in a five-week span. It's been a while now since the ladies of Chinquapin, Louisiana congregated at Truvy's Beauty Shop for the entertainment of local audiences, long enough to qualify the current production at the Laguna Playhouse as a revival.

Beverly Jeanne Badham Anderson, a radiant all-round Southern California bombshell, successful musical theater light opera singer and actress, and exceptional wife and mother of five children died April 28, at home. She was 81.     Anderson was born June 23, 1931 to Virginia Evelyn Dabney Badham and Edward Dick Badham in Los Angeles, Calif. and grew up in Hancock Park. She graduated from Marlborough School in 1949, and was a TickTocker in the National Charity League, and a Coronet Debutante in 1950.

Laguna Beach residents all believe they are art critics, which is why the real experts on the city's Arts Commission are in a no-win situation. Loved or hated, every piece of public art in Laguna gets judged - every single day. And now, the commission has two more members joining the fray. David Emmes and Suzanne Mellor were added recently by the last City Council, making it a nine-member commission. The extra members, however, are not working artists. Both are professional board members of various groups.

With its wood floors, minimalist displays and Andy Warhol-painted skateboards hanging on the back wall, Handplant is far from your average O.C. skate shop. Owner EG Fratantaro, marketing manager for industry biggie Sector 9, opened the shop last month at 1025 S. Coast Hwy. The small shop dedicates one wall to a skate artist, with 100% of the proceeds going to the featured artist. Right now, it's showcasing the photography of Jorge Salas, who lives in Dana Point, and is hosting a celebration for him May 27. Kris Markovich, a pro skater and painter, will be featured beginning June 2. Fratantaro, 42, calls it half skate shop, half art gallery - a fitting mix for the art colony that makes national news for its skateboarding community.