By

  After reading about the recent fire in Shady Canyon that was caused by a golfer, all I could do was roll my eyes, take a deep breath, and laugh it off. The golfer struck his club against a rock, which caused a spark, while trying to retrieve his ball from the rough.  Look,...

  You can hear it said all over town by young and old, skilled and unskilled surfers: “Hope the surf comes up,” or, “There’s a big swell coming our way,” and even, “Pray for surf!” The excitement that spreads throughout the surf community by...

  Usually I like to write on the brighter side of the topics I chose for my column.  And before I begin this one, I would like to emphasize that this is not an anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim or for that matter anti-any-religion rant.  It is just me simply sharing with you some...

  When I heard Kathy Daniels tell the story of Women of the Wells, I heard the refrain from an old song “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” play over and over in the back of my mind. Only in this case, the trek is the many miles many people walk every single day just to get water,...

With the Jewish New Year rapidly approaching, the Chabad Jewish Center is organizing High Holiday Services in Newport Beach. The free services are geared primarily to the thousands of unaffiliated Jewish families residing in Orange County. Rabbi Reuven Mintz of the Jewish Center...

  Facebook can be used for more than just chatting. The Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) has used facebook and other social networking websites, as well as craigslist, to do research and locate stolen property. “We regularly use craigslist” and other similar...

  We’re crowing a bit at Firebrand Media (Newport Beach Independent’s parent company) this week with the introduction of our new web portal, OCinSite.com. Check it out. The website is intended to become the marketplace for lifestyle, features and news solely dedicated to our...

  CRIME LOG   8/28 10:00: Ocean Blvd/Helitrope, vandalism, est. dam. $400 8/28 16:45: 1242 Rutland Road #3, residential burglary, $1,315 8/29 03:15: 115 Garnet Ave., residential burglary, $1,300 8/29 10:56: 4500 Macarthur Blvd., vehicle burglary, $1,200 – est. dam. $500...

  Goodbye open skies of summer. Hello fluorescent-lighted classrooms. Although kids are excited to see their friends, or wear a new outfit on the first day of school, we all hear the grumbling about returning to earlier wake-ups, earlier bed times, homework, tests, quizzes,...

  So, you are driving along Irvine Avenue and you see the Back Bay. Better yet, you are walking, hiking, biking or jogging along the Back Bay paths. Anyway, when you hit University Drive, there is a natural parking lot.  As you head towards the water, magnificence is...

  By Andrea Adelson | LB Indy OCinSite.com, a new regional website about coastal Orange County, started attracting its first viewers this week, the latest offering by fast-growing Laguna Beach-based Firebrand Media Inc. Regional websites that deliver their message clearly...

  By Tim Brown I am a teacher, and as you might imagine, a number of my friends, family and colleagues have asked me for my reaction to the LA Times “value added” statistical analysis of math and English scores to estimate teaching effectiveness. I have also been asked...

  Cable bills could fall as much as 13 percent if cable and satellite customers could choose the channels they want. Why should we pay for what we would never use, such as Russia Today, The Golf Channel, Playboy, Cartoon Network? And we want more control over what comes in...

  Three new stores are set to open in South Coast Plaza in the coming weeks. Catimini, a French children’s clothing company, is opening its SCP boutique today on Level 1 near Carousel Court. The store – the only Catimini outlet in Southern California – carries European...

  Irrelevant Week, which during its 35 year existence has raised more than $1 million for Orange County charities, this year generated in excess of $30,000 for Goodwill of Orange County’s Fitness Center, which will be used by people with physical disabilities or...

  Impact Giving, a Laguna Beach-based fledgling women’s collective giving organization, will kick off their second grant-giving season with “The Power of We…Women Working Together to Change our World,” at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach....

  By Lynn Selich | Society Editor   Returning for the 18th year, the Santa Ana Zoo’s annual Zoofari gala fundraiser hosted around 350 guests who were treated like royalty with the theme, “Hot Egyptian Nights!” Guests were greeted with a special drink appropriately...

  By Lynn Selich | Society Editor   Friends and family of Eric Pepys (of Newport Beach) gathered last week for the 2nd annual memorial golf tournament and dinner in his honor. Sixty golfers headed out to the links and 120 gathered afterwards for a reception and dinner...

  On Saturday, Sept. 11, the Newport Harbor Elks Lodge will host its annual Western Roundup, the lodge’s largest fundraising event of the year.  Last year’s Roundup helped raise more than $19,000 toward the California-Hawaii Elks Major Project, Inc. Through this event and...

By Lynn Selich | Society Editor   Women clad in 1920s-inspired flapper cocktail dresses, and men in “gangster attire” complete with fedoras and pinstripes stole the show from vintage cars parked at the entrance of the Crevier Classic Cars  at the “OC Barons’ Speakeasy,” the...