The Lead

A witness who provided investigators with information about a person fleeing a suspicious fire in Laguna Canyon led to the arrest of a suspected arsonist, police announced Thursday.

Song, of La Mirada, bought the property in 2010 for $685,000 with the intent of building a family home. As it sat then, 1199 Lewellyn Drive was an abandoned lot reached from a ruggedly twisting long driveway off of Laguna Canyon. That is exactly how the once fire-ravaged 12-acre parcel still sits, steeply tucked below Skyline Drive.

Concerned citizens pledged a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in vandalizing trees at the Montage resort,...

The owners of Laguna Drug have negotiated a deal to cede operations of the Broadway Street storefront to the CVS pharmacy chain, but city officials have so far rejected the arrangement.

Iseman has been mayor three times: first in 2003, then 2007, and 2011. After next week’s Dec. 13 meeting, she will take on the ceremonial role for the fourth time. This is her 18th year on City Council.

  When Chris Tebbutt and his husband Bob Fouhy relocated from Boston to Laguna Beach a year ago, Tebbutt says the language he encountered on...

Neighbors seized a chance to quiz the architect behind the latest proposed restoration of the historic Coast Inn, gathering last week in the defunct gay haven, the Boom Boom Room nightclub.

A work by early plein air artist William Griffith and never exhibited publicly before is on display at City Hall. It was donated by a great-grandson of a Laguna Beach homesteader.

Around Thanksgiving, many of us stop to count our blessings, to give thanks for things we take for granted the rest of the year, and to appreciate our loved ones. We often don’t realize that no matter how bad off we may be, someone out there has it worse. Volunteering my time at the ASL shelter in the canyon this last few weeks has been a touching and eye-opening experience. Getting to know some of the residents and their stories compelled me to help bring their plight into the public eye.

Two years ago, a hand-painted buddy bench was added to the El Morro Elementary playground by the PTA’s Character Counts Committee to create a place where a student in need of a friend can find one. Along the way, the bench has also proved a platform for students to cultivate empathy at a young age.

Signs of life are visible within Laguna Beach’s only movie theater, a landmark building that closed 16 months ago and is expected to reopen shortly. There is new carpet in the lobby and a giant popcorn maker gleaming just inside the front doors. Painters are dodging ladders and caution tape, working to meet the slated opening date.

By Cassandra Reinhart, Special to the Independent Like NORAD tracking Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, alcoholic beverage compliance in Laguna Beach is on the radar. After...

Laguna Playhouse lifts the curtain on a new holiday production, known as a panto, a musical fairytale with a bit of improvisation thrown in.

Laguna Beach school board member William Landsiedel steps aside after more than eight years in office.