Main Beach

Police discovered a homeless man's body on Main Beach early Monday morning during a routine patrol. The man has been identified as Robert Hurd, 59. He was found at 12:39 a.m. near the lifeguard tower. Police believe he died a couple hours before he was found. Police said there were no signs of foul play. The coroner's office took custody of the body. — Joanna Clay

The city of Laguna Beach is hosting The King and Queen of the Beach volleyball tournaments this weekend at Main Beach. The men's tournament runs all day Saturday and the women's event is all day Sunday. The tournament is a round-robin format and players team up with a different partner for each game. Check-in time each day for the tournaments is 8 a.m. at the south end of Main Beach. For more information, call or text Kirk Morgan at (714) 381-4000. * Boys & Girls' Club hoops evaluations end Friday In-house registration and player evaluations are under way for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach Boys' Basketball League at the club's main branch, 1085 Laguna Canyon Rd. Evaluations run through Friday and practices start Oct. 31. The season officially starts Dec. 6. All participants must be members of the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach.

A lot of planning has kept the mammoth Main Beach sewer lift station project on time and within budget to date. The project included digging a hole wide enough, stable enough and deep enough to safely bury a new sewer lift station. It will replace the aged and stinky facility under the Lifeguard Headquarters on one of the most visible sites in Laguna. "It is certainly the most prominent project I have been involved with in Laguna, although the Nyes Place rehab in 2005 was more difficult," said Water Quality Director David Shissler.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man who allegedly bothered children at Main Beach on April 26 was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, Laguna Beach police said. Officers took Borislav Rabinovich, 31, into custody on $500 bail, Capt. Jason Kravetz wrote in an email. Beachgoers reported a man bothering children in the playground area at 11:14 a.m., according to police. Officers met with Rabinovich and saw that he was "very intoxicated," and had wandered into the playground, Kravetz said.

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.

Laguna's iconic lifeguard tower was the inspiration for the proposed new Main Beach Park play equipment, due to be ready for kids to use before the end of the year. The Planning Commission approved Aug. 15 the project proposed by city staff and designed by Coast Recreation Inc. to replace the dilapidated and unsafe - some portions have been boarded up - play equipment, originally installed in 1998. Approval was recommended by the city's Recreation Committee. "This is a project that we have worked on with the city for a long time," said Rebecca Meekma, committee member and parent of two children.

What a remarkable and important day it was here in Laguna as the community and the Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee gathered at Main Beach to honor World AIDS Day. The city's appointed Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee, which includes Shanti, AIDS Service Foundation (ASF), AIDS CareTeams In Our Neighborhoods (ACTION), Laguna Beach High School, community members and the Laguna Beach Community Clinic (LBCC) placed hundreds of memorial ribbons throughout the downtown and the cobblestone area, offered free HIV testing, provided educational tables and a candlelit ceremony to honor loved ones lost to AIDS.

Barbara Diamond Clusters of pedestrians crossing the highway at Main Beach, rather than straggling across in twos and threes, may be key to unblocking the Broadway intersection and moving traffic more smoothly on the highway. The City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday a pilot program that will include testing a pedestrian-only signal phase and restoring the crosswalk on the south side of the intersection. Both measures will require the cooperation of Caltrans.

Visitors to Laguna’s famed tidepools will soon have more supervision. The Laguna Ocean Foundation’s Tidepool Education Interpretive Program has been expanded to the north end of Main Beach, according to the foundation. The expansion, which will provide on-site docents to make sure tidepool rules and regulations are followed, is funded by a grant through the sale of Whale Tail License Plates from the California Coastal Commission. “We are excited to receive funding to expand the Tidepool Education Interpretive Program beyond the Treasure Island tide pools to the Heisler Park tidepools,” said Louise Thornton, chairwoman of Laguna Ocean Foundation.

You get a funny look at the human psyche when you run a volleyball tournament, especially when you run a ?draw? tournament, where playing partners are drawn randomly from a hat. Almost everyone worries about how they?ll play, how they look in a swim suit, will they disappoint their partner. Like any sport, you can have good days and bad days and I?m sure there?s much of the same before a tennis tournament or a team golf tournament. Last weekend, it was the beach volleyball crew?

Junior Breakers boys' volleyball camp Junior Breakers Summer Volleyball Camp is a grass-root youth organization focused on teaching young athletes the basic fundamentals and strategies of volleyball using the techniques and philosophies taught at Laguna Beach High School. Participants will receive instruction from current Laguna Beach High School boys' volleyball head coach Scott Panaro, additional Laguna Beach High volleyball staff members and current players. No camp session will be held from July 22-25.

The Laguna Beach Planning Commission did not recommend a proposed change to the city's zoning law that would have encouraged certain homeowners to preserve rather than demolish houses 50 years and older at its meeting Wednesday. Commissioners voted 3-1, with Robert Zur Schmiede recusing himself because he owns property that meets the criteria, against the amendment, which would apply to houses of 1,200 square feet or less on lots of no more than 5,000 square feet. The amendment would have allowed a house's existing covered parking spaces be used for other purposes such as storage or an artist's studio, provided the change would not prevent a person from parking a car inside the garage.

The 36th annual Women's Laguna Open Beach Volleyball Tournament was held Saturday at Main Beach in Laguna Beach. Lisa Rutlege and Lynn Galli won the title for the second straight year. They defeated Sarah Pavan and Geena Urango in the final. Equal third-place were the teams of Sara Hughes and Delaney Knudsen, and Josie Schatz/Mackenzie Brook. Equal fifth-place were the teams of Traci Morin/Aurora Skarra-Gallagher, Heather Lowe/Gabriela Roney, Summer Ross/Sarah Day, and Monica Lynch/Dede Ravenhorst.

Don Black may have retired from the working world, but he doesn't stop when it comes to community service. Black, 89, spends his days with Laguna Beach's homeless, providing them an ear and a shoulder to cry on through his generous spirit. His wife, Joan Trivett, said Don leaves the house at 6 or 7 a.m. most days and returns around 7 or 8 p.m. after meeting with fellow "citizens. " Black doesn't like the term "homeless," Trivett said. "It's not the most important fact about the person.

The 36th annual Women's Laguna Open Beach Volleyball Tournament at Main Beach in Laguna Beach is Saturday. Throughout its history, some of the top names in beach volleyball have competed in the tournament. Next month, the 58th annual Men's Laguna Open, the second-oldest continually held tournament in the state, starts June 15. For tournament information, visit http://www.cbva.com , or email Kirk Morgan at kirkmorgan@cox.net . To follow all tournaments, classes and beach volleyball events, visit the "Laguna Beach Volleyball" page on Facebook.

The once-prestigious Laguna Open volleyball tournament has fallen on hard times since its heyday in the early 1980s. Enthusiasts would like to see it restored to its former glory - without the headaches brought on by the alcohol distributors that sponsored the tournament at its apex. Olympic gold medalists, professional stars and $150,000 in prize money drew huge crowds, tournament director Kent Morgan, a city volleyball instructor, told the City Council April 23. Last year, by comparison, prize money totaled $500 at what is now an amateur tournament.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man who allegedly bothered children at Main Beach on April 26 was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, Laguna Beach police said. Officers took Borislav Rabinovich, 31, into custody on $500 bail, Capt. Jason Kravetz wrote in an email. Beachgoers reported a man bothering children in the playground area at 11:14 a.m., according to police. Officers met with Rabinovich and saw that he was "very intoxicated," and had wandered into the playground, Kravetz said.

Most people will not admit this out loud, but we have made fun of Earth Day. With its unrealistic solar ovens and organic patchouli oil, over the past 40 years it has grown into a bloated caricature of itself. And now in Laguna Beach we have added its nautical stepsister, Kelpfest. But here's the thing: The eco-revelers are having the last laugh. Regular humans are finally paying attention and listening. Perhaps we are feeling mortal. Perhaps the global headlines are starting to sink in. Perhaps we are believing the science.

Transition Laguna Beach and marine biologist Nancy Caruso are teaming up for the second annual Earth Day and Kelp Fest from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The events will take place at the intersection of Park and Forest avenues, and at Main Beach. The events celebrate earth awareness and the resurgence of kelp forests off Laguna Beach's coastline. Activities include guided tide pool tours, a life-sized interactive kelp forest model, free stand-up paddleboard tours to the kelp forests, interactive games, arts and crafts for children, cooking demonstrations and rain barrel and compost bin giveaways.

Karl Halili spent years devouring movies and television and hanging around Laguna Beach. And all he got out of it was a medal. The Tustin resident, who works for his city's Parks and Recreation Department, was officially recognized in October as a scholar of Laguna. He, his girlfriend and another couple took first place in the Laguna Beach Art Adventure, a scavenger hunt of sorts in which teams compete to find landmarks around town. Unlike in a typical scavenger hunt, the participants don't get to take the items with them - they just have to locate and identify them from the clues given.