Laguna Canyon Road

A Laguna Hills man was arrested June 29 after a confrontation at a Laguna Canyon business. Eduardo Garcia Mercado, 47, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. According to Sgt. Robert Rahaeuser, police received a call at 6:23 a.m. regarding an employee in the 21000 of Laguna Canyon Road who was having a confrontation with his boss. Mercado had reportedly threatened to kill the owner of the company that he works for, police said. During the argument, Mercado allegedly picked up a screwdriver from a toolbox and went toward another employee.

City officials looked no further than City Hall for the right person to coordinate the proposed overhaul of the Downtown Specific Plan. Principal Planner Carolyn Martin has been named project manager for the re-evaluation of a document that is revered by many as the savior of the distinctive character of the downtown. Her appointment eases concerns about hiring an outside consultant with less local expertise and it will save the city thousands of dollars. "It is absolutely wonderful that someone in-house has been appointed who has the necessary background for it," said Anne Johnson, a member of the Planning Commission, which will have primary responsibility for the revisions.

A Lake Forest man was arrested Saturday after reportedly brandishing a machete at an Anneliese School teacher. Juan Vigil Portillo, 31, was arrested on suspicion of exhibiting a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and DUI, according to Lt. Jason Kravetz. Police began receiving calls around 2 p.m. that a man had pulled into the parking lot of the school, 20062 Laguna Canyon Road, when the kindergarten graduation ceremony was ending. Callers reported that he was drinking beer inside of his Toyota Tundra and acting strange, Kravetz said.

There are some things in life that stare at us in plain sight, yet we do not notice until a child points them out. In this case, like Edvard Munch's "The Scream," Laguna Beach has zombie boy yelling, "WTH is up with the traffic?!" If you have not seen it, there is a partially painted mural at 2133 Laguna Canyon Road. It is being created by Laguna College of Art & Design students, but they stopped recently for their summer break and will not return until the fall. The problem is they left an eerie outline of a boy looking very much like a distressed zombie.

The city of Laguna Beach anticipates up to 100,000 visitors on Fourth of July if the weather pans out, according to officials. About 700 individual fireworks are set to be shot off during the city's 9 p.m. fireworks show from Monument Point at Heisler Park, said Benjamin Siegel, assistant to the city manager and director of Community Services. The Monument Point area will be closed all day on the fourth, according to a press release. At 5 p.m., part of Heisler Park from Rock Bench at Myrtle Street to the Rockpile Beach stairs at Jasmine Street will be closed to the public as part of the fireworks preparation.

Saturday LagunaTunes Concert The LagunaTunes season ends with its spring concert at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 428 Park Ave. It will be Director Roxanna Ward's last program. Weekend at Nix Nature Center Dr. Sue and her Insect and Arthropod Zoo will come to the Nix Nature Center in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park from 1 to 4 p.m. Space is limited. For more information, visit http://www.lagunacanyon.org. Community Open House The Susi Q hosts an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. at the senior center, 380 Third St. Light refreshments, art exhibit and reception, raffle prizes, bingo games, children's art table and more.

Laguna Beach may be one of the "happiest seaside towns," but when bringing up issues like traffic, biking and public parking, the smiles on people's faces just might sour a bit. "Parking and traffic have been a problem in Laguna since the beginning of time," Mayor Jane Egly said with a slight laugh. According to the 2012 Citizen Survey, only 22% of respondents rated the city "excellent" or "good" in ease of car travel; 32% gave good marks for ease of bike travel; 21% were OK with traffic flow on major streets; and 28% were positive about the amount of public parking.

This letter responds to Richard Picheny's personal attack on me in the Coastline Pilot's May 4 story , "Cottage to be torn down. " Picheny indicated that I do nothing as a council member to protect old cottages. His statement is simply untrue. Here is one example: Several years ago, when I was involved with fundraising for our community/senior center, the city had purchased parcels on Third Street, where four old structures were located, to be used for the center. A couple of these structures had been made available by the city to the 2005 landslide victims to live in at no-cost while they were trying to rebuild their lives and their homes, and I had been inside them visiting those folks.