In a much-anticipated contest for a high-profile public art award, Laguna Beach’s Arts Commission approved two sculptures of different styles by local sculptors to embellish a Broadway Street beautification project on Monday, June 25. The recommendations need approval by the City Council, scheduled to review the works July 17. Cheryl Ekstrom’s eight-foot tall entry, “Warriors [...]
End Of The Quarter Stocks continue to oscillate in a range roughly between 12,000 and 13,000 on the Dow Jones Industrials Average. With news from Europe and political fighting here, stocks are not sticking with short-term trends. After a good first quarter, the market went into a correction in May, reversed briefly to an uptrend, [...]
Critics serving up strong opinions run the risk of backlash from those who don’t share their views, as Laguna Beach eighth grader and foodie Noah Rosen recently discovered after posting a self-described “scathing” review of his school’s lunch offerings to his foodie blog web site “Your Taste Buddy.” Noah’s negative commentary left school officials with [...]
Two of Laguna Beach’s art festivals, the Sawdust Art Festival and Art-a-Fair, open for summer visitors today, Friday, June 29, while the Festival of Art opens its doors to the public on Sunday, July 1, after a major preview soiree planned for Saturday. If the Sawdust Festival’s preview party this past Tuesday set the tone, [...]
By Justin Swanson, Special to the Independent Laguna Beach’s courtesy trolley system opens today, coinciding with the commencement of the art festival season. The rollicking, adventure-filled and consistently entertaining Laguna tradition extends along the town’s two main intersecting arteries. Residents and tourists unite onboard to shun the frustration of dwindling parking spots. Taking advantage [...]
Daga Krackowizer wants Laguna Beach to be a compassionate city. She has been inspired by the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute in Michigan. “The future of the planet may well depend on developing this transformative power of love and forgiveness,” says Rob Lehrman, Fetzer’s board chair. The compassionate cities project [...]
Cindy Frazier, city editor of the Coastline Pilot newspaper since 2005, died this past Wednesday after struggling more than a year with pancreatic cancer. She was 60. “She was sure tough, determined to get better,” said Anne Johnson, a city planning commissioner, who in recent months provided a ride to Frazier’s spouse, Sharon Gretsch, visiting [...]
By Roberta Nichols, Special to the Independent Where her art was once flat and one dimensional, recovering anorexic Nansea Williams returns to Laguna Beach’s Sawdust Art Festival this summer with three-dimensional work, a visual expression of how much her life has changed. Prior to treatment, Williams’ friends described her as a vacant shell, unable [...]
June gloom has taken over so completely that I ended up miming its symptoms of dripping, intermittent chills, followed by enough heat to trigger sweating and a cough that made me sound like one of our harbor seals. It has been a long time since I’ve been down for the count. Before this bout of [...]
Resident Anna Krajec continues to wrest meaning from her family’s courageous journey battling their young son’s inoperable brain tumor. Along the way, the Krajecs encountered an extraordinary outpouring of community support before Christofer’s death in 2008, short of his 4th birthday. Drawing from her own bittersweet parenting experience, now Krajec aspire to prepare would-be parents [...]
University of Arizona professor and author Gloria McMillan will present her mystery novel “The Blue Maroon Murder,” at 2 p.m. Friday, June 29, at the Laguna Beach Library, 363 Glenneyre St. McMillan will answer questions and discuss the writing of her book.
AR4T Gallery is set to present “Depths & Beyond,” a solo show featuring all new works by Australian painter Karlee Mackie, with an opening reception June 30 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The show will run from June 30 to July 38 at 210 North Coast Hwy.
Noon “Art Talks” return to the Festival of Arts on Tuesday, July 3, a retrospective covering the festival’s 80-year history moderated by watercolorist Jacquie Moffett, a 45-year exhibitor. A special reception will follow. On Thursday, July 5, the Orange County Museum of Art’s chief art curator Dan Cameron will visit to talk about its lineup [...]
Taking place every first Thursday, Laguna’s enduring Art Walk premieres this coming July 5. The event begins at 5 p.m. in the lobby at the Inn of Laguna Beach, 211 N. Coast Hwy. The evening includes a multitude of featured galleries to see from Downtown to Gallery Row to Bluebird to Laguna Canyon Road, accompanied [...]
Three local artists tap into mobile phone technology to transform the gallery exhibition “A Moment in Time,” with a reception at Seven Degrees on Thursday, July 5, from 6-9 p.m. Artists Roark Gourley, Robert Celecia and Michelle Lance will explore an application that allows the public to interact with their work. Using familiar Laguna Beach [...]
Police Use Taser to Subdue Assault Suspect
An assault involving three men escalated into a struggle with Laguna Beach police, who ultimately deployed a taser twice to subdue the younger combative suspect in the 300 block of Cozumel around 1:15 a.m. Friday, May 10, police said. Police ultimately arrested Laguna Beach resident Sergio Gabriel Borgognone, 51, for allegedly resisting arrest and his [...]
