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Editor, Given the sensitivity of Laguna Canyon, we should explore every option that would enable better traffic flow at a reduced impact to the canyon.  One of the best options to achieve this is to eliminate the redundant portion of El Toro Road and return it to wilderness uses....

Editor, I was at the beach yesterday and I watched a surfer working the waves outside the surfing area at St. Ann’s narrowly miss a little kid playing in the surf. The lifeguard swam out to the surfer and I presume asked him to be careful and stay in the surf area. I saw the...

Editor, Caltrans holds the record on road re-alignments for Laguna Canyon Road, each time to “mitigate congestion and improve safety and facility operations.” In 1993, 10 alternative routes were considered between the 405 and 73 toll road; one was chosen for SR-133, the...

Editor: Kudos to Billy Fried for his insights into decency and decorum (“The Season of Incivility,” June 29).  My reaction, in no particular order, was: I thought I could keep my cool, despite the overheated rhetoric and truly bad behavior building daily.  I’m...

Editor, Must-read commentaries in Indy’s June 28 edition by Mike Beanan (“We Are All in the Plume”) and Charlotte Masarik (“County Ocean-Sampling Misses Pollutants”). We’re on extended vacation with grandkids in Maine, ocean swimming and paddling at Kennebunkport and in mountain...

Editor: A flurry of negative comments from a few outraged Laguna Beach protectionists regarding the annual ocean pollution report card by Heal The Bay received some coverage by local media recently. My NGO, Clean Water Now, has also been openly critical in media of this...

Editor, On June 29 I attended an open meeting to review the landscaping plan recently developed by city staff covering Broadway, Forest, etc. About 99 percent attending were Village Laguna folks; I was the lone ranger. The presentation was detailed, well-researched and easily...

Editor, I’m alarmed and angered every time I walk up to the Carolyn Wood Knoll.  More unsettling than the ever-present scourge of trash and graffiti are the many discarded cigarette butts. Clearly, the city is falling dangerously short in protecting its citizens from the ravages...

Editor, Laguna Beach has at least eighty retail outlets for alcohol, the deadly liquid which causes intoxication and alcoholism, a disease that kills millions of people every year, and yet we have no retail marijuana store. Our founding fathers said we are entitled to the pursuit...

Editor, Nice article by James Utt. He is really growing as a writer. However, I do not see the necessity of making his article about a fire political in nature:  i.e., “Rohrabacher-red CDM”.   It’s like the actors who ruin a perfectly good awards show by tossing in their personal...

Editor, At 10 a.m., the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Sawdust Festival took place last Friday with Laguna Beach City Council member Steve Dicterow, a beloved friend of the artists in town, cutting the ribbon to inaugurate our season. At exactly the same time the city meter...

Editor, Thanks to JJ Gasparotti for his June 22 column in the Indy about South Laguna being considered a place apart and with a history of benign government neglect. He’s right — with that one lone park, the Village Green, which he referred to as the “Children’s Park” being...

Editor, As a Hawaii transplant and former canoe paddler I was very excited to read of the upcoming film, “Year on the Water,” a documentary of the Southern California outrigger canoe scene.  I do, however, take exception to filmmaker Brockett’s comment that outrigger paddling has...

Editor, Ann Christoph has been our neighbor in South Laguna for 24 years.  During this time, she has always been very friendly to us and we have appreciated that. She is a legend; her past work with the City Council, her community service, and her dedication to preserving the...

Editor: Thank you for the well-balanced article by Gabriella Mix, “Local Beaches Earn High Marks,” regarding Heal the Bay beach ratings for our Laguna Beach shoreline in the Indy, June 22. It was very informative. Sadly, our beaches are not pristine, and we must not sit back and...