INSIDE SCOOP

-- Compiled by the Daily Pilot staff

When we saw that Newport Beach’s planning commissioners would debate a

request for a license to offer wine tastings on Via Lido last Thursday,

it seemed a sure bet that Commissioner Michael Kranzley would go “no, no,

no.”

After all, he’d voted against other alcohol-related projects in that

area in the past. Since the stretch between Balboa Peninsula’s 38th and

20th streets has the highest concentration of crime in the city,

Kranzley’s said again and again that he won’t add more booze to make

things even worse.

But Dennis and Chris Overstreet, who run The Wine Merchant, finally

managed to convince him otherwise.

“At the risk of shocking my fellow Planning Commissioners [and] in my

desperate desire to have high-quality businesses on the peninsula, I will

be supporting [the project,]” he said.

We understand, Mike. And, as the Overstreets said, they’ll be handing

out minute servings at prices of up to $75 per 3 oz. glass. You won’t see

us tasting any of those in the near future. But we’d appreciate it if

you’d let us know whether you liked them or not.

Mistakes aren’t always mistakes

When one of your Piloteers intuitively promoted Dave Kiff to Asst.

City Manager this week, it wasn’t something we had to correct. Kiff,

who’s so far gone by the title of Dept. City Manager, assured us that

City Manager Homer Bludau had in fact just bumped him up a step a few

weeks earlier.

Congratulations, Dave. Now if someone could tell us how “Dept.”

differs from “Asst.,” we’ll be happy as can be.