NEWS
By Bryce Alderton | June 10, 2013
Laguna Beach lifeguards rescued 40 swimmers last weekend as big swells hit the coast. The largest waves occurred Friday - sets averaged 6 to 8 feet, but occasionally topped 9 feet, Marine Safety Officer Joshua Bynum said. Saturday sets averaged 4 to 6 feet, but clouds kept crowds at bay. "With swells like that, if the weather was good, the number [of rescues] could have gone up to 150 or 200," Bynum said. There were no serious injuries or medical emergencies associated with the rescues, which were evenly split between surfline breaks and swimmers caught in riptides from Friday through Sunday, Bynum said.
NEWS
By Joanna Clay | July 26, 2012
The California Coastal Commission has sent an informal letter to the city and the Montage Laguna Beach, asking for the resort's security to stop confronting the public at Treasure Island Park adjacent to the resort. The Coastal Commission has received several complaints over the past couple of months regarding the presence of private security in a public park, said Andrew Willis, an enforcement officer with the state agency. Patrick Veesart, the commission's Southern California supervisor, said it has independently confirmed that security guards have been asking park visitors to refrain from taking pictures of people in the private residences near the hotel.
NEWS
By Barbara Diamond | September 24, 2009
Volunteers bagged more than 2,800 pounds of trash at the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. About 800 volunteers scoured Laguna’s beaches from Treasure Island to Divers Cove and Heisler Park, despite fears that recent publicity about city homeless issues kept some people away. “I had the most interest for the Coastal Cleanup Day this week in the past several years before the story on the stabbing at Heisler Park,” said Roger von Bütow, founder of Clean Water Now!
NEWS
By Cindy Frazier | September 24, 2009
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.
NEWS
By Barbara Diamond | June 26, 2009
Billy Fried won’t launch his kayaking business at Treasure Island Beach after considering the conditions imposed on the permit by the California Coastal Commission. At the June 11 hearing, the commission sided with opponents of the project, who claimed the City Council’s terms of approval for the project conflicted with the Treasure Island Local Coastal Program, certified in 1999. “We are going to pick up the permit, but we won’t be pursuing operations at Montage at this time,” Fried said.
NEWS
By Ashley Breeding | May 28, 2009
A new children’s book aims to make environmental education enjoyable. “See into the Sea,” written by Laguna Beach resident and Ocean Foundation member Molly Peckels and illustrated by Australian artist Svett Strickland, is a 16-page coloring book designed to educate children about tide pool behavior, sea critter identification and environmental responsibility. Each page has an illustration of common shore and near-shore animals for coloring, information about the creatures and a “Wacky Wave” insert that reveals unusual and quirky characteristic about each animal.
LOCAL
May 15, 2009
Party starting on Forest Avenue on Thursday The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce will inaugurate the Forest Avenue Promenade from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday when Forest Avenue between South Coast Highway and Glenneyre Street will be closed to allow music, entertainment, sidewalk cafes and sales by local merchants. The Forest Avenue Promenade will continue on the third Thursday of the month. Parking will be free after 5 p.m., and a trolley will provide transportation on Coast Highway and to the Laguna Beach High School parking lot, 625 Park Ave. For more information, visit www.lagunabeachchamber.
NEWS
By Barbara Diamond | April 9, 2009
Billy Fried is gambling that his kayaking business will not prove damaging to the beach ambience at Treasure Island Park and will go unchallenged by the California Coastal Commission. The City Council approved a five-month temporary use permit Tuesday to La Vida Laguna to stage, rent and launch kayaks at the beach below the Montage Resort and Spa. Conditions imposed on the business by the Planning Commission to reduce at least the appearance of commercialism on the beach were eliminated.
NEWS
By Cindy Frazier | December 30, 2008
A Buena Park man reported missing in the ocean off of Treasure Island in Laguna Beach Sept. 11 is believed by police to have faked his own death, Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jason Kravetz said Tuesday. John Sung Park, 29, is suspected of trying to run down a woman with his car less than two weeks after his two companions reported that he never returned from spearfishing. Divers searched for Park for several days, but no evidence of him came to shore, Kravetz said. “That was unusual,” Kravetz said.
LOCAL
By Cindy Frazier | December 26, 2008
It’s astonishing to get to the end of a year and realize all that has happened since the last time we took stock of events. There weren’t any landslides or other local disasters in 2008 (knock on wood, since there are still a few days left) but the year didn’t lack for drama or crises. Of course, 2008 will be known as the year the bottom dropped out of the world economy and the ramifications of that are still unfolding. In Laguna Beach, however, property values have so far held up, and the city and school district both counted their blessings throughout the year with no decline (actually some increase)