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Editor, Every day at rush hour, I look out my store window and see gridlock at Cliff and Broadway when vehicles coming from Cliff block Broadway, or drivers on Broadway block Cliff (and Beach). Similarly, at Coast Highway and Broadway, you can spend two or three light changes...

Editor: After years of reading about and listening to the national debate on universal health care, I finally heard the definitive arguments in LinkTV’s “Medicine and Money “ documentary and was motivated to write. It’s a moral issue. Ten nations, all highly developed, provide...

Editor, On Monday, March 28, at approximately 7 p.m., a newer, small model Mercedes Benz car, black, with very dark tint pulled out of Bounty and proceeded down onto Skyline Drive. Two minors, both seventh-graders at Thurston Middle School were skateboarding on Skyline Drive. The...

An aviation first occurs just off Laguna’s coast By Christopher J. Lynch | Special to the Independent Photos courtesy of the Boeing Historical Society   George Franklin Smith never knew he would be flying into aviation’s history book that fateful day of Feb. 26, 1955. The...

By Steve Riches, Special to the Independent Laguna’s 12 and under girls, coached by Erich Fischer and Scott Baldridge, continued to develop as a winning team taking first place in the Orange County Cup at the Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine recently. Starting with their first...

Part 1 By Michelle Boyd   In early spring 1871, the Thurston family of eight left their home in Utah in search of government grant land in California. The nine-month journey involved a train ride to San Francisco, a boat ride to San Diego, and a journey by covered wagon with...

It Can’t Happen Here By Michael Ray We do not think it can happen here. I live above Diver’s Cove in a house that is at an elevation a good 50 feet above the ocean.  Let me be specific.   My house is on a lip of land 20 feet above Cliff Drive, which runs below the house; on the...

By Kate Rogers, Special to the Independent Parents learned a fresh approach to teaching children about money from therapist and mother Vicki Hoefle during last Wednesday’s Coffee Break presentation. Hoefle’s method of teaching kids how to spend, save and give away their money is...

Editor, While I understand all the folks concerns about safety on the streets of Laguna, it seems evident that much of the debate about safety is one sided. Many people do not drive their cars with other people in mind. We seem to have a ridiculous sense of entitlement around...

Editor, Speedboarding will result in serious injury and death if allowed to continue. Why do we have to wait until this happens to correct the problem? I firmly believe that this should be a priority and resolved quickly.  No motorist wants to be surprised and be a party to this...

Editor, It was with some astonishment that I read the update on the speedboarding ban sent from SNAG last week. As I was out of town, I could not attend the last meeting. I assumed the Council would act swiftly to enact a law prohibiting this dangerous pastime throughout the City...

Editor, I have lived in this town for a number of years. My daughter, her husband and their children have lived here even longer. Two of my three grandsons love to skateboard! At their home they have probably 10 to 12 different boards in all shapes and sizes. Some boards are f...

Editor, I am the father of two boys, aged 9 and 13, neither of whom skateboard, and I am not a skateboarder myself, but a reasonably objective observer of the issue and its debate, as well as a long-time resident of Laguna Beach. That said, in support of my signature in support...

Editor, Based on regular letters to the paper, many feel that our city streets are dominated by cars, and by drivers that feel they should be able to drive as fast as they like regardless of the impact to others. Yet virtually nothing is being done to address these dangerous...

Editor, “Mitsulo Loshi, 82, and Shizula Hoshi, 65, were also among the lucky. The two women were in their shared home Friday afternoon when the earthquake hit. As a precaution, they headed for higher ground. Their house was located along the narrow valley, which concentrated the...