Pancake breakfast, ceremony set

The annual pancake breakfast put on by the Laguna Century Exchange

Club will be held from 7 to 11 a.m. on Memorial Day in Heisler Park

at Cliff Drive and Myrtle Street. The event costs $3.50, and all

proceeds will go to child abuse prevention programs.

At the end of the breakfast, the American Legion and Veterans of

Foreign Wars will hold their annual Memorial Day ceremony.

The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at Monument Point in

Heisler Park.

Music provided by Wade Hendricks and the Laguna Beach High School

Band will begin at 10:30 a.m. The keynote speaker will be retired

Marine and former Assemblyman Mickey Conroy.

Also in the program will be floral presentations laid at the

monument by the veterans’ organizations and other organizations in

Laguna Beach. The Marine Firing Detail from Camp Pendleton will

provide a 21-gun salute.

At noon the same day, the Laguna Beach Community Band will play

for an hour at Main Beach.

For more information, please contact Dave Connell at (949)

494-2065 or Richard Moore at (949) 376-6340.

Sculptures set to get a public try-out

Two sculptures will get a trial run before the council approves

the permanent installation at a busy Downtown intersection.

“It seems to me we are recreating the golf tees in front of the

fire station,” said Councilman Wayne Baglin, who opposed the

installation recommended by the Arts Commission. “I love to see art

as a surprise, but I don’t want to think that every corner has a

piece of art.”

The council requested a mock-up of the two sculptures be set in

place in planter beds on either side of Forest Avenue at South Coast

Highway, where the commission wants to install “The Wave” by local

sculptor Larry Gill.

The two granite mosaic and stainless steel monoliths with curved

tops proposed by Gill were selected in a competition titled Essence

of Laguna. They weigh two tons. One will stand up to 8 feet tall, the

other slightly shorter.

“Look at it as two tons of fun, Wayne,” Commissioner Pat Kollenda

said. “We had many wonderful entries, but this piece stood out.”

Kollenda submitted a petition signed by 17 merchants supporting

the installation.

Four other members of the arts commission spoke on behalf of the

sculpture.

“Forest Avenue is very busy, and we felt something simple with a

fair amount of mass would be appropriate,” Commissioner Nancy

Beverage said.

Beverage said the sculptures would be about the same width as her

shoulders, 18 to 20 inches wide. The Arts Commission recommended

appropriating $41,500 from the Business Improvement District Fund for

the purchase, installation and dedication of “The Wave.”

Councilman Steven Dicterow and Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson

supported the Arts Commission recommendation.

“As usual, the commission has done a marvelous job,” Pearson said.

“This [Forest Avenue] is a cluttered area, and this calms it down.”

Dr. Gene Atherton suggested cardboard mock-ups of the sculptures

to give the council and the public an opportunity to assess the

effect of the sculptures on the intersection.

“I am looking for softening, not more hard edges” Baglin said. “We

should try to retain the vegetation created by God and nature. We

don’t need monuments on each side of the road.”

-- Barbara Diamond

El Morro sewage spill quickly sealed

County officials closed a large stretch of El Morro Beach access

at around 7 p.m. Saturday when about 800 gallons of sewage spilled

from a pipe serving the El Morro Beach mobile home park.

The sewer pipes at the park run above a 10- to 15-foot-deep creek

that runs through the community and into the ocean, said Monica

Mazur, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency. She said

the pipes are checked twice a day and the spill was discovered at the

day’s second check.

“At this point, it looks like vandalism,” Mazur said. “Apparently,

someone was either hanging on the line or throwing rocks at it, and

it burst.”

Mazur said the broken pipe was repaired immediately, and officials

closed beach access 500 feet up and down the coast from El Moro Creek

until Tuesday. She said bacteria levels were in compliance with state

and county codes when tested Sunday and Monday, but the beach stayed

closed to be safe.

-- Mike Swanson

It pays even more to park legally

City parking fines will rise for the first time since 1994 since

the City Council approved a $35 citation for most parking

infractions, a hike expected to raise $110,000 per year for the city.

City Manager Ken Frank said the raise puts Laguna Beach’s fines

closer to other Orange County cities, especially among beach

communities. Newport Beach’s parking fines are $36 and $48.

Staff recommended that the council approve an increase in parking

fines to $30 and $35 depending on whether the violation was

intentional or unintentional, but Councilman Steve Dicterow suggested

they go with one rate. The fine used to be $27 and $30.

-- Mike Swanson

Business improvement district extended

The Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau heads a list of six organizations

receiving a 67% increase in city funds next fiscal year after the

City Council voted to continue a 2% bed tax on city hotel and motel

fees.

The business improvement district assessments raised more than

$700,000 this fiscal year, and the total is expected to rise to $1.23

million with the addition of the Montage Resort and Spa.

The Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau will receive $615,000, while the

Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach

Museum of Art, Arts Commission programs and various community arts

programs will receive $123,000 each.

The advisory committee put together the proposal specifies that

the account, called the Business Improvement Area Fund, allocate 50%

of the bed tax to the visitors bureau for promotion of tourism in

Laguna Beach, 30% to art/cultural organizations meeting a list of

standards, 10% to the Arts Commission and 10% to community arts

organizations.

The motion to continue the assessment, which was levied July 1,

2001, passed 4 to 1.

-- Mike Swanson

Estate planning workshop to be held

Attorney Renee Raithel and Laura Tarbox, a certified financial

planner, will discuss estate planning case studies from 10 to 11:30

a.m. on Tuesday in an “It’s Your Estate” workshop.

The workshop is the conclusion of a free eight-week financial

seminar at the Wells Fargo Building, 260 Ocean Ave.

Raithel and Tarbox will hand out a net worth statement for

attendees to complete using fictitious names and make recommendations

by reviewing and incorporating previously-discussed topics.

This workshop is sponsored by the SchoolPower’s Endowment and

Capital Fund, Laguna Canyon Foundation and the American Red Cross

Orange County Chapter. For more information or to reserve space, call

Guine at (949) 497-8324.

Interim minister named to Congregational Church

Neighborhood Congregational Church has hired an interim minister.

The Rev. Ken Barnes will arrive in Laguna Beach during Memorial Day

weekend and will begin leading worship on June 1.

Barnes was born in Kelseyville, Calif., about 110 miles north of

San Francisco. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and San Francisco

Theological Seminary. He did graduate work at New College in

Edinburgh, Scotland and has served churches in Scotland and

California.

Barnes resigned from a 22-year pastorate as senior minister of the

Arlington Community Church in Kensington, a suburb of Berkeley.

Neighbors invited to meet Mayor Toni Iseman

The Top of the World Neighborhood Association will hold a Meet the

Mayor event from 5 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 1.

The event, where neighbors will be able to meet and provide input

to Laguna Beach Mayor Toni Iseman, will be held at the home of Chris

and Dinah Brazelton, at 2891 Chateau Way. Light refreshments will be

served.

The TOWNA board encourages everyone to be careful driving in the

neighborhood, particularly when children are starting or leaving

school.