Laguna Canyon Road

Laguna Beach police arrested a woman on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle Friday and recognized her from a pursuit late last year, authorities said. Officers spotted Michele Lynn Frazier, 28, of Laguna Beach, at 11:30 a.m. driving a stolen 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser in downtown Laguna, according to police, who then followed the vehicle to a less populated area and conducted a traffic stop on Laguna Canyon Road near the 73 Toll Road. Frazier complied with officers' instructions and was arrested on suspicion of auto theft and driving without a license, as well as for a $26,000 warrant for grand theft in Los Angeles and a warrant for violating probation.

Three cars were involved in a collision on Laguna Canyon Road near Laguna Coast Wilderness Park on Thursday morning, according to Sgt. Louise Callus Traffic is expected to be delayed for about 30 minutes. There are no major injuries, just complaints of some pain from passengers involved, Callus said. --Staff reports

Laguna Canyon Road was reopened Wednesday morning after a car crash caused its closure Tuesday night. The road was closed in both directions from 9 p.m. Tuesday to about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday after a van struck a pole on the side of the road and knocked it over. The driver, Sloane Violet Friedmann, 18, was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, Lt. Jason Kravetz said in a statement. The damaged pole belonged to Verizon, and crews arrived at 2:30 a.m. to repair it. They requested that both lanes remain closed during the repairs since the pole was unstable and it connected lines that crossed the road, Kravetz said.

The Orange County Fire Authority and Laguna Beach police responded to a vehicle fire where Laguna Canyon Road meets the 73 Toll Road on Monday afternoon. Dispatch received a call at 2:03 p.m., and multiple engines responded to the call in case the fire spread to adjacent vegetation. OCFA Fire Capt. Mark Stone said the fire was extinguished as of 2:30 p.m., and it had not spread to vegetation. Although there was an earlier call regarding people trapped in the vehicle, he said he did not believe there were any injuries.

A Laguna Beach woman died after the vehicle she was traveling in overturned near the Laguna (133) Freeway, according to the Orange County Coroner. Sann King, 58, was traveling southbound on Laguna Canyon Road, just north of Route 73 when a vehicle she was in careened off the road and flipped about 3:52 p.m. Friday, according to the coroner. She died at the scene, according to the coroner. The cause of the vehicle leaving the road was unclear. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Two cars were hit by downed power lines on Laguna Canyon Road on Jan. 20, according to the Laguna Beach Police Department. At 10:01 a.m., dispatch received a call of low or downed wires in the outbound lanes of Big Bend, 2995 Laguna Canyon Road, Sgt. Louise Callus said in an email. Several large Verizon wires came down when a bracket on the pole failed, she said. Of the two cars hit, one received minor damage and the other moderate damage. A bicyclist was reportedly hit as well, but left the area without contacting officers, Callus said.

The Fire Department put out a trash truck fire near the entrance to Laguna Beach early Wednesday morning. The Fire Department got the call at 7:25 a.m. when the truck's driver noticed smoke billowing out of his truck on Laguna Canyon Road, Division Chief Dan Stefano said. The driver, who wasn't injured, pulled into a parking lot at Broadway and Forest Avenue, close to a fire station. Firefighters moved the truck away from the building, traffic and people and then the driver pulled the emergency release, dropping the trash, which allowed firefighters to extinguish the fire.

The city will pay a consulting firm to complete an analysis of Laguna Canyon Road and propose options for its improvement. The City Council voted Tuesday to retain RBF Consulting to analyze the road from Forest Avenue to El Toro Road, taking into consideration other projects under consideration or underway, and come up suggestions for a comprehensive plan for the entire stretch, as proposed by Councilman Robert Whalen. The $45,000 fee for the consultant will come from savings on the Downtown Specific Plan project.

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.

WHAT: Realignment and widening of Laguna Canyon Road. WHAT'S BEHIND IT: The four-mile project will expand the roadway to two lanes in each direction, divided by a median that separates the north- and southbound lanes by landscaping and elevation and moves the road west, away from two natural lakes. Construction began January 2003, but planning started long before that. Supervisor Tom Reilly appointed an advisory committee to reach consensus on the alignment and design of the road.

Laguna Beach police arrested a woman on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle Friday and recognized her from a pursuit late last year, authorities said. Officers spotted Michele Lynn Frazier, 28, of Laguna Beach, at 11:30 a.m. driving a stolen 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser in downtown Laguna, according to police, who then followed the vehicle to a less populated area and conducted a traffic stop on Laguna Canyon Road near the 73 Toll Road. Frazier complied with officers' instructions and was arrested on suspicion of auto theft and driving without a license, as well as for a $26,000 warrant for grand theft in Los Angeles and a warrant for violating probation.

The push is on for a stoplight in front of Laguna College of Art + Design. The college's president and a nearby building owner petitioned Caltrans to install a traffic signal where the current crosswalk - which only has flashing lights - sits in front of the main campus at 2222 Laguna Canyon Road. "I've witnessed a number of fender benders," LCAD President Jonathan Burke said. "No one has been hurt, but there have been damaged cars. " Burke is working with a consultant in hopes of getting a traffic light installed at the two-lane road.

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.

Ocean Foundation in need of volunteers The Laguna Ocean Foundation is seeking volunteers for its TideWater Docent program, which educates residents and visitors about the ecology in Laguna's protected tidepools. Docents volunteer at Crescent Bay, Shaw's Cove, Heisler Park, Wood's Cove, Goff Island and Treasure Island, all part of the Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve. Those interested have to attend one two-hour classroom training session and participate in on-the-job field training led by a professional, according to a news release.

The city will pay a consulting firm to complete an analysis of Laguna Canyon Road and propose options for its improvement. The City Council voted Tuesday to retain RBF Consulting to analyze the road from Forest Avenue to El Toro Road, taking into consideration other projects under consideration or underway, and come up suggestions for a comprehensive plan for the entire stretch, as proposed by Councilman Robert Whalen. The $45,000 fee for the consultant will come from savings on the Downtown Specific Plan project.

Even before Johanna Felder moved to Laguna Beach 26 years ago, she was well aware of the parking difficulties. "I didn't come to Laguna [back then] because it was a pain to park," said Felder, who now lives near Top of the World Elementary School. Felder is one of several residents and business owners who attended the first public hearing April 10 on the Parking Management Plan for downtown and Laguna Canyon areas, which presented potential parking solutions to the Planning Commissioners.

Laguna Beach is like the Hollywood of Orange County - a rare, crazy, inexplicable thing that is loved to death. Filled with well-meaning tourists, both towns suffer from the impact of the multitudes. The difference is Hollywood doesn't have a protected ocean, fragile ecosystems or limited transportation. The stars in our tidepools are not like the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, shielded in marble and impervious to pain. Our little hillsides are becoming like mini freeways, filled with multipurpose zealots intent on having a good time at any cost.

A Palm Springs man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three felony counts related to alleged thefts at a Laguna Beach grocery store. Jason Richard Paquin, 30, appeared in Orange County Superior Court to face charges that included two counts of second-degree burglary and one count of receiving stolen property, according to the court's website. A loss-prevention officer saw a man loading merchandise into a grocery cart and approached him at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Albertsons on Coast Highway across from Montage Laguna Beach, Sgt. Louise Callus wrote in an email.

Laguna Beach police have not released the name of the driver of a Tesla that crashed into a Honda Accord, killing two men on their way to work on Laguna Canyon Road on April 2. "The reports are getting written," Sgt. Louise Callus said Thursday. "These things take time. " Accident investigators returned to the scene of the head-on collision, near El Toro Road, on Tuesday to conduct follow-up research. They used computer-assisted technology to measure and map out locations of the crime scene evidence to help determine how the collision occurred, police said.

Laguna Beach police are interviewing the driver of a third vehicle who witnessed the fatal head-on auto collision that killed two men Tuesday morning on Laguna Canyon Road, police Capt. Jason Kravetz said Friday. Kravetz said a white Mercedes sedan was in the lane next to the Tesla that veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a Honda Accord, killing Alberto Casique-Salinas, 46, of Anaheim, and Armando Garcia-Gonzales, 38, of Santa Ana. The men were heading westbound on Laguna Canyon Road on their way to work for a Laguna Beach landscaping company, police said.