Editor: (This letter was also addressed to council members and the city manager.) I am writing to express my shock and dismay about your recent decisions regarding our downtown. I have lived in Laguna for a long time, and I have an abiding and deep love for this town, its people and its character. I [...]
Editor, Very smart thinking all the way around by our city government. Butchering the trees that give our downtown its singular character right before summer. We may drive our tourists to another strip mall beach town, one with free parking. We may never have to build that village entrance. I love the new view of [...]
Editor, What has happened to our City Council? They are cutting all the trees down! What happened to informing the public about these changes? What if the “view ordinance committee” gets their way? Then all the trees may be cut down, even in the public parks. Two of the members of this view ordinance committee [...]
Editor, This past week I have been getting emails and seeing posts on Facebook, which are rabidly against the proposed skatepark in Moulton Meadows park. I am surprised to see such fear around what a skateboard-structure may bring. I honestly don’t see offering a skate-structure as any different as offering a basketball court, a tennis [...]
Editor, Laguna is a paradox of sorts. A landslide strikes Bluebird Canyon and the city unifies to help. People open their homes, they voluntarily inflict a tax on themselves, and, in the end, numerous homes are rebuilt on an area prone to landslides. Everyone is a hero. On the other hand, the same citizenry plants [...]
Editor, Since the ‘80s I have had an interest in preserving ocean views. I attended meetings in the ‘90s on this subject and watched in dismay as Village Laguna, led by Ann Christoph, orchestrated tactics to waylay this effort. Fear tactics included no trees, no birds, even an 8-year-old sobbing that “he would never experience [...]
Editor, People visit Laguna Beach for the art, yes, but mainly for the climate, the beach, and the waterfront hotels and restaurants that offer beautiful views. People choose to live in Laguna Beach for the climate, the quaint neighborhood feel and the eclectic styling, but especially for the views. You see, other ocean-hugging towns have [...]
Editor, I moved to Laguna Beach five years ago and heard about the village entrance project, thinking it was a monumental sculpture or gateway arch. I attended the recent meeting presenting proposals for the village entrance and was surprised to discover it is parking structure trimmed with trees. For an entrance to Laguna Beach the city should [...]
Editor, There are 22,000 people in Laguna. Most of us are not merchants, nor members of the boards of the Playhouse nor of the Festival. Yet if the current plan is put into effect, we, the residents of Laguna, will be the most affected. The expenditure of the astronomical sum of $35 million to $55 million [...]
Editor, Yesterday, Sally from the Neighborhood Congregational Church asked me to meet her and Julie at the Food Pantry to help unload some food donations. Naively, I thought that would be no big deal until they arrived with two SUVs overflowing with non-perishable items they and their friends had collected outside of Albertsons. Volunteering at [...]
Editor, On April 22 I had an accident on Park Avenue after hitting a parked car to avoid an animal in the road. The assistance of so many people was incredibly comforting. Alby Beler of the swimming pool staff physically pulled me out of the vehicle and I was stunned and could not move or [...]
Editor, The two-mile Laguna boardwalk: imagine the boardwalk on Main Beach that would stretch all the way to Anita Street. All the hotels would have a romantic, safe and quiet pedestrian friendly connection to the main part of town. Laguna would have one more attraction, an amazing promenade for pedestrians, rollerbladers, bicycles, joggers. My [...]
Editor, The Blue Bus would get more customers if they allowed dogs on them. I like to walk my dog to town but coming home is a tiring uphill trek and if only I could take a bus I would do it more often. Margot Rosenberg, Laguna Beach
Editor, West Street Beach in South Laguna is probably the most well known beach in Laguna because it is listed in gay-lesbian guides around the world. Located north of the verdant West St. stairway and south of Aliso Beach and Camel’s Point, it can be reached by car, O.C.T.A. bus #1, a 46-mile route which connects [...]
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 [...]
