INSIDE SCOOP

-- Compiled by the Daily Pilot staff

We’ve known for a while now that Mayor Gary Adams was a little upset

about the kind of gifts he’s forced to hand out to dignitaries and other

well-deserving folks. A few weeks ago, he asked city officials to stock

up on goodies since there was almost nothing left to give.

Now Adams seems to have taken a proactive approach, as shown during

last Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“Because this is the last time you’re sitting in this chair, I’d like

to present this chair to you,” Adams told Don Webb, the city’s public

works director, who will retire July 11. Webb, who said that he’s been

sitting in the chair since the early 1980s, seemed pleased with his new

piece of furniture.

But don’t you worry that the mayor’s going to start running around

City Hall to earmark inventory for future gifts.

“If all goes well, we’ll have new chairs up here next time,” he said

with a mischievous smile. Good one, Gary! Now there’s a chair less to go

in the trash. The new chairs, by the way, are of the fancy, black leather

kind and will definitely add a bit of elegance to the dais.

Wish him a happy fifth of July

If you’re a West Newport resident and wince at the thought of having

to put up with extensive police patrols and traffic diversions on the

Fourth of July, just be glad you’re not Lt. Rich Long.

The Newport Beach Police veteran had the misfortune of being born on

July 5 and ending up as the lieutenant in charge of the gorgeous beach

neighborhood.

On Wednesday night, Long humorously chided a group of West Newport

residents.

“We don’t enjoy all of this,” he said, pointing out that he’s spent

more than 20 birthdays thumping down 39th Street in the wee hours of his

birthday.

And this year isn’t going to be any different. If you’re up until 4

a.m. on July 5, you’ll probably see the friendly lieutenant with his

cheery Irish countenance thumping down 39th Street -- yet again.

Oh, and if you do spot him, be sure to wish him a happy birthday.

The buzz is our bees-ness

Here at the Daily Pilot we’ve always got our ears perked up to hear

what the buzz is around town. But when we heard an actual buzzing last

week from the more than 20 bees that made their way into our newsroom

through ventilation holes in our ceiling, we got more than we bargained

for.

Luckily, we were saved when the Bee Man, AKA Jerry Bryant, came to our

rescue. According to the Bee Man -- his polo shirt boasting the name he

prefers -- the buzzers were “Scout bees” and we Piloteers were fortunate

those scouts didn’t alert the swarm waiting outside our building.

Many of the scouts eventually got tired as they hovered near our

ceiling lights, fell down and died. Others were vacuumed up by the Bee

Man, who was so generous as to usher a couple of them out of the building

on his thumb. Thanks, Bee Man, for preventing any stinging headlines.