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Local Focus: In Memory of Dr. Mike and His ‘Deep Thoughts’

By Jeff Glueck | Special to the NB Indy Many of you read my father’s column, “Deep Thoughts from Dr. Mike,” over the years in this newspaper. He loved Newport Beach, his home for 44 years, and loved sharing his thoughts, whether funny, sad, indignant, or irreverent. We lost my...

Posted On 30 Dec 2017

Championship Rower ‘WOW’s at Newport Aquatic Center

More than 30 years ago, after admittedly non-competitive 18-year-old Deborah Cowles told her boyfriend that she had decided to become a competitive athlete, he did what any supportive boyfriend should not have done: He laughed. Cowles responded accordingly — she dumped him in...

Posted On 06 Dec 2017

Local Focus: Heidi Miller Offers Unselfish Gift to Save Bruce Cook’s Life

By Cassandra Reinhart, Special to the Independent Sixty-five-year-old Bruce Cook couldn’t admit to anyone but himself that he will die without a kidney transplant. “I didn’t want sympathy and I didn’t want people to think I was disabled,” Cook said. “I didn’t think anybody would...

Posted On 14 Nov 2017

Local Focus: Buck Gully is a Natural Slice of Yesteryear

Snakes slither, rabbits bolt, bobcats stalk, coyotes slink, hawks glide, and a multitude of other creatures dart, dive or peck. This is no exercise in animal action verbs, but it does describe everyday life in one of Newport’s lesser-known wildlife oases: Buck Gully nature...

Posted On 03 Nov 2017

OASIS Senior Center: Looking Good at 40

In 1977 Upper Newport Bay became a marine preserve and wildlife refuge. USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, while Apple Computer incorporated. “Fantasy Island” made its TV debut, while “The Brady Bunch” made its TV adieu. Biologists identified a form of microbial life dating...

Posted On 15 Sep 2017

Local Focus: Entrepreneur Parker Theo Has a COLOR-ful Story

“Wine should be fun.” That statement comes courtesy of Parker Theo, 25, a young entrepreneur whose goal is to shake up the wine industry one glass at a time with his pet project: COLOR wines. Theo grew up in Newport Beach and attended USC. After graduation, instead of taking a...

Posted On 25 Aug 2017

, By Christopher Trela

CdM Artist Marks 50 Years at Festival of Arts

By Joe Haakenson | Special to the NB Indy Jacquie Moffett has been there, done that. Entering her remarkable 50th year as a presenting artist in Laguna Beach’s Festival of Arts, one might think there is nothing more for her to experience, to inspire her, to tickle her funny bone....

Posted On 11 Aug 2017

Local Focus: Tracy Stayton is a 4Tunate Woman

By Caroline Leedom | NB Indy How do you counter the negative undertone of getting older? Simple: rebrand the experience. That is what local resident Tracy Stayton has done since entering her 30s. At 31, she minted the age as “thirty-wonderful.” At 32, she was,...

Posted On 07 Aug 2017

Local Focus: Newport Entrepreneur Rolls Out New Electric Bike

Archaeologists believe that the wheel as a useful tool was rolled out about 3,500 BC, in what was then Mesopotamia, a region within the Tigris and Euphrates River System in the Middle East. Aside from materials, the wheel has changed little in purpose these past 5,517...

Posted On 21 Jul 2017

Local Focus: Surfing Physician Offers Tips for Ocean Safety

December may be the season to be jolly, but summer ‘tis the season to be surf-and-sun aware. That cautionary “prescription” comes from avid surfer Bryan Doonan, a sports medicine and family physician who sees more surf-and-sun related injuries in his Newport Center walk-in...

Posted On 30 Jun 2017

Newport’s Upper Bay: A Jewel in a Disappearing World

The City of Newport Beach claims that annually there are seven million visitors coming to this resort and shopping mecca. But then, they’re only counting people. Other important visitors drop in as well, none of which bother to check with air traffic controllers at John Wayne...

Posted On 30 May 2017

Row, Row, Row Your Boat…Across the Pacific Ocean

There was absolutely no way that four girls weren’t going to set a world record. After all, they were the first humans to row across the entire Pacific Ocean – from San Francisco, to Cairns, Australia. Their incredible odyssey spanning 8,579 miles over nine months is humanly and...

Posted On 23 Apr 2017

“Augie” Documentary Inspires Hope

Moviegoers may not expect a film involving amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, to inspire hope, but “Augie” certainly does. The documentary centers on Augie Nieto, the fitness entrepreneur responsible for LifeCycle, and his fight with the disease. ALS attacks nerve cells in...

Posted On 23 Apr 2017

, By Victoria Kertz

John Wayne’s Daughter Adopts ‘True Grit’ Ethos

By Cassandra Reinhart | NB Indy You’ve got to have true grit to keep up with John Wayne’s daughter. “It’s actually funny, people think I can ride a horse because I am John Wayne’s daughter,” Marisa Wayne laughed. “I’m like, ‘I grew up on a boat!’ ” The daughter of...

Posted On 09 Mar 2017

Local Focus: Laguna Supercross Rider and Newport Riding Coach Team Up

If you’re going to the Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Saturday, Jan. 21, look for a rider wearing number 14. That’s Laguna Beach-based rider Cole Seely, 26, who trains with Newport Beach resident Jeff Ward. Ward is Seely’s riding coach, as well as a...

Posted On 20 Jan 2017

Local Focus: Former Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O’Neil Passes Away at 78

Longtime civic leader and former Newport Beach Mayor Dennis “Denny” O’Neil passed away on Jan. 6 in Corona del Mar after a long battle with fibrosis of the lungs. He was 78. O’Neil was the vice chairman of Newport Beach and Company, the private nonprofit marketing arm...

Posted On 07 Jan 2017

Retired Airline Pilot Cooks up a New Life

Before the introduction of aircraft-specific iPads issued to cockpit crews, pilots would pack their carry-on bags with manuals that measured many inches thick. Retired American Airlines Captain James Whitehead, 71, of Balboa Peninsula, still finds himself traveling to “work”...

Posted On 18 Nov 2016