Saving open space in Laguna with Measure CC is not only a good idea, it shows exceptional leadership, not only here in town, but statewide. “Why don’t people get involved? There is so much they can do if they would only take some initiative!” This is the refrain I heard in landscape architecture graduate school [...]
It’s been three years now since we started the South Laguna Community Garden. The project has grown from what could have been just a little neighborhood improvement project to a focus of community activity, creating surprising benefits. On Aug. 15, 200, we met to clean the vacant lot of weeds and debris. That was the [...]
It could seem puzzling that at the low price end of the culinary spectrum we can go to a buffet and have unlimited plates of whatever items we choose, but at the higher price point we may be served only a small exquisitely arranged exhibit of tiny bits. Is it a match between quantity and [...]
Beyond the Threshold If Cornell is any example, Ivy League graduations are impressive with pageantry. But more than that, all this beauty, color and tradition is reinforcing the importance and significance of the threshold the degree candidates are crossing. One week my nephew Ted was living in his campus apartment, working hard on projects [...]
Strapless in Laguna Those nuns were determined to see to it that everyone was paired up for the prom. I had waited most of junior year for Alfredo to ask me out and he had finally done it. He’d even asked me what color my dress was so he could get a matching corsage. [...]
Weeding works wonders There is a sloping area on the edge of the South Laguna Community Garden where a year ago we were pulling out castor bean plants, Bermuda grass, and the usual garden variety weeds. We had tiny native plant starts in small pots and garden volunteers planted them with varying degrees of [...]
Editor, I think the article on Halliburton’s House (“Work Frozen on Halliburton’s House,” April 20 edition) was titled wrong. It should have been titled: City Council ignored city building department so Ann Christoph could have more time to fleece money from the homeowner. John Kreber, Laguna Beach
Effecting Change I had a mysterious call last week from someone who wanted to know what the chances are that change can happen at city hall. Not only did he want the answer to that question, but there was a condition in his question, “Can we make change happen without the effort ruining my [...]
Heart and Soul Live On The view outside our kitchen window on the farm where I grew up was of the rolling Wisconsin fields, farmhouses and barns, interspersed with patches of woods. Most striking of all, on the horizon, was a stone country church with a tall steeple, an anchor of inspiration and rustic [...]
It’s all connected To reassure the reader who was concerned about the fate of the our late neighbor Paul Pflueger’s chickens mentioned in my last column, I am told they have been taken to their new home in Santa Barbara. The coop has been dissembled. Our neighborhood is quieter and more somber. We miss [...]
Editor, I just had the chance to read Ann Christoph’s column for the Independent (“View from the Coop,” Village Matters, March 9. The sweet, flowing verse was like a wonderful warm blanket. Really, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to remember Paul and to express so well what we all felt [...]
The Rhythm of Change When do they realize you’re not going away? That you’re going to nag and keep at it until things change? It’s hard to know because even when you win it’s so subtle usually no one notices. Environmental activism is not like the Super Bowl. No cheering from the spectators, [...]
Loose in Laguna The ocean view is not the only advantage of having an office in Laguna. Our neighborhood of shops, offices and homes is a beehive of intrigue and melodrama. I feel like I’m on stage, except I don’t know the lines or the plot. I never know what or who is [...]
Editor, I like the idea from Transition Laguna members about planting fruit trees (Letters, “A Fruit-Bearing Solution to Eucalyptus Problem,” Jan. 6). I also suggest that the proceeds from all fundraising by Laguna Village and Ann Christoph be used to support local residents who don’t have enough money to trim their beloved eucalyptus [...]
A Shared History Guard at a state prison, mechanic at a copper mine, child day-care provider. Kids working as security guards while attending school, grade-school janitor and Mexican restaurant waiter, someone who does something having to do with making technical monitoring devices, civil engineer, banker, Japanese translator and insurance office worker. School bus [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
