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Horwitz taps common wisdom to find solutions Delia Horwitz arrived in Moscow for a scheduled Chamber of Commerce talk with officials from government, banks and businesses only to learn that organizers developed cold feet. They wanted to cancel the event for fear of violence. Her...

By Donna Furey, Special to the Independent For the first time in nearly a decade, a rock show plugs in at the Festival of Arts’ grounds on Saturday, Nov. 2, starting at 5:30 p.m. and closing out by 9:30 p.m., before the headliner at a typical concert takes the stage. Despite the...

On a day dominated by Breaker runners, both Laguna Beach High cross country teams won Orange Coast League titles Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Irvine Regional Park. Junior Natalie Kimball ran a personal record time of 18:19 over the three-mile course to capture the girls individual...

Lancaster runs for a record 547 yards, 7 TDS Those who ventured out to Estancia High School on Thursday, Oct. 24, witnessed one of great offensive games in California prep football history as Calvary Chapel rallied to defeat Laguna in overtime, 62-56. Breakers had their chances...

With the 20-year anniversary of Laguna Beach’s firestorm as the backdrop, fire safety expert Richard Halsey recently described a scenario that runs counter to the popular lore. “The most volatile fuel is the home,” he said, not the vegetation around it. A properly...

“It doesn’t take long to replace the material things,” said Frank Bower, who watched his Tahiti Street home go up in flames during the 1993 fire in the company of firefighters, crippled without an adequate water source. But rebuilding his life proved more...

Due to rising enrollment, Thurston Middle School will get two portable classrooms, school board members unanimously decided this week. The classrooms are scheduled to be up and functioning by the end of the calendar year, with installation planned during the winter school break. ...

So how old was ET really? Anyone who attends the Pageant of the Monsters staged this year by the same creative crew that puts on the “Pageant of the Masters” might just find out whether the lovable alien has remained a kid or died a codger. An alien autopsy is among the...

Some conditions remain unchanged since a devastating wildfire swept through Laguna Beach on Oct. 27, 1993, a $528 million disaster that consumed or damaged 441 homes and cost no human lives, but continues to influence city policy. The sun continues to bake the town’s south-facing...

  Kaitlin Gunsolley is a go-getter. Even so, the jazz-dancing, flute-playing, 4.0 seventh-grader at Laguna Beach’s Thurston Middle School shines in October. For the sixth year, she sets out this month to collect new Halloween costumes and new pajamas for the sick kids in...

Breakers shattered their homecoming game scoring record, routing Estancia 59-14 Friday, Oct. 18, at Guyer Field and sending the large alumni crowd home happy. The Breakers advanced 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in Orange Coast League play. Laguna rolled up 515 yards on the ground and...

By Sean Orfila, Special to the Independent Venola Imrie’s journey to Laguna Beach was a familiar story for those moving here during the 1950s. Her husband Watson Imrie, an avid photographer, aspired to live closer to photographer William Mortensen, who operated a studio and...

‘The Castle’ withstands a firestorm By Loreen Berlin, Special to the Independent Twenty years ago, Laguna Beach homeowner Lona Ingwerson lived in a Mystic Hills home visible above Main Beach dubbed “the castle.” When the October 1993 firestorm swept in from...

It was a good mid-October day, all signs pointed to the sublime: blue skies, warm-enough water, glassy surf. In a little beach town trampled by summer tourists, it was finally a locals’ haven again. “It’s a good day,” Frank said. And a far cry from where he was standing 20 years...

By Robin Pierson, Special to the Independent As water-dropping helicopters soared overhead, one asked a prescient question:  “What would you do if you lost your house?” “I told her I walk what I talk…that material things aren’t most important. Health and happiness are.’” Little...