I attended the annual SPON (Stop Polluting our Newport) meeting this month. This is a community based group of people who have been involved since 1974 protecting, preserving, and informing local citizens about how we can best preserve the charm and beauty of our city. It all started in 1974 after a torrential rainstorm filled [...]
One year ago, I wrote a story entitled “Two Kinds of Vacations.” Here it is time to write about my most recent trip of the year. I am on a sixteen day trip through the Panama Canal and Central America. This trip is a little more relaxing than last year because there are nine sea [...]
Now that the city has relocated to the new City Hall near Fashion Island, it’s time to make decisions regarding how to develop the old four acre property on Newport Blvd. I attended the study session where three proposals to redevelop the site were presented to the Council and the community. Two of the proposals [...]
I was invited by City Manager, Dave Kiff, to participate in an informal meeting with about eight citizens, joined by Councilmember Michael Henn and Mark Harmon (general services director). The topic: the possibility of outsourcing the city’s residential trash pick-up. The purpose of the meeting was to get input from citizens regarding our current trash [...]
It has been said that nobody likes change except a wet baby, and I am no exception. At the end of last year, I wrote my last story of the year on places and people I will miss in 2013. What I did not know is that I would start my year with yet another [...]
I have been getting rid of things the last two weeks like old newspapers, financial statements, pictures, magazines, clothes, and a host of other things so I can start the year fresh and organized. I have also been thinking about local restaurants, and people I will miss this coming year. El Torito, Champagne Bakery, Coco’s [...]
Mayor Nancy Gardner took time out of her very busy schedule in October to do an early interview with me so I could have this column ready for the changing of the guard in December. As most of you know, we do not elect our city’s mayor. They are chosen annually by their council peers, [...]
Abraham Lincoln became my favorite president after I spent two semesters studying the Civil War during my undergraduate years at Cal State Long Beach. Years later, I was asked to teach a graduate course in Educational Leadership for school administrators. I was given the flexibility to design the course curriculum, and I chose as one [...]
There is a lot going in the our city and country right now that requires all of us to stop and consider how we are voting, to get out and vote, but most importantly get information from all sides and make the hard choices among leaders, propositions and measures. It is difficult to imagine that [...]
Last week was a busy one for citizens who spoke up and attended city meetings and study sessions. I attended two study sessions and one forum. The study sessions were about the best use of the City Hall site and a proposed raise on rent in the marina, termed the “dock tax” by the owners [...]
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