INSIDE SCOOP

WHERE’S THE SPIRIT?

A search to find one block or neighborhood completely lit up with

Christmas lights in Newport-Mesa may have failed for one Daily Pilot

reporter.

Reporter Greg Risling has been looking for the past several days for a

neighborhood that shows the Christmas spirit, Las Vegas-style. But after

driving around at nighttime looking for a possible story candidate, none

was found.

Newport may have its boat parade, but the Pilot is looking for a

neighborhood that puts forth a group effort during the holidays by making

the streets bright. Call the Pilot if you think your neighborhood

qualifies.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

If you dared venturing to South Coast Plaza this past weekend, you would

have been hard-pressed to find a parking spot. From dawn to dusk, drivers

jockeyed for a coveted space anywhere remotely near the shopping mall.

Most had to park over at Metro Pointe and hike over to South Coast Plaza,

prompting one irate motorist to scream “Bah Humbug!” at the top of his

lungs. Rumor has it, he is still waiting for a parking spot.

GOOD NEWS TO E.R.

Jason Hoffman of Newport Beach proposed to longtime girlfriend and

Daily Pilot news assistant Amy Spurgeon Friday at their apartment. Before

accepting, she insisted he ask her father first. Caught up in the moment,

he hastily paged her father, Lincoln Spurgeon, to seal the deal. It turns

out Linc -- who is Chief of Internal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente in

Anaheim -- was in the middle of working with patients in the emergency

room. He gave Hoffman his blessing, but said he’d have to call back to

chat at a more convenient time.