Time to change the clocks

The Fire Department advised Lagunans to make sure their smoke alarms

have fresh batteries.

Smoke alarms can significantly reduce the risk of dying in a home

fire, but only if the devices are powered by fresh batteries, fire

officials said. The fire department recommended homeowners replace

smoke alarm batteries twice each year, and suggested Lagunans switch

batteries on Sunday when they reset their clocks for the end of

daylight saving time.

Home fires caused 3,145 deaths across the United States in 2003,

according to the National Fire Protection Assn.

For more information on fire safety, call the Laguna Beach Fire

Department at (949) 497-0700.

TOW puts in its few cents on election

The Top of the World Neighborhood Assn.’s board of directors

announced its endorsements for local campaigns.

The board decided to favor incumbent Wayne Baglin and challenger

Jane Egly for City Council, association president Piero Wemyss said.

In the race for the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board, the

association has selected incumbent Jan Vickers and challenger Mark

Itnyre. The candidates were chosen by a majority vote of the board.

The association chose Baglin and Egly because of their opposition

to moving the city’s Corporate Yard to Act V, Wemyss said. Members of

the board voting for their endorsement believe moving the yard and

building a new parking lot in its place will bring too much traffic

Downtown.

Wemyss did not list specific reasons for the board’s school board

endorsements.

Irish named to Community Clinic board

The Laguna Beach Community Clinic has appointed Gary G. Irish,

president and CEO of South Coast Medical Center, to its board of

directors.

Irish holds two master’s degrees, one in Public Health from Loma

Linda University and a master’s degree from UCLA. He moved to Laguna

Beach from Denver, Colo. in 2002. In Denver he held the position of

chief executive officer for the Littleton Adventist and Porter

Adventist Hospitals. Previously, he served as administrator/executive

vice president for Huguley Health System in Fort Worth, Texas. Irish

lives with his family in San Clemente.

Marines to meet in honor of comrades

Laguna’s First Marine Faithful Old Force, an association of former

members of the U.S. Marine Corps from Laguna Beach will meet on Nov.

10 to commemorate the corps’ 229th anniversary.

Former Marines will join in a ceremonial toast, and will drink for

Marines on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are prohibited from

using alcohol while serving in those countries.

Local Marines who have served in Iraq will be the guests of honor

at the event, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at the American

Grill at the Canyon Lodge, 31106 S. Coast Highway. For reservations,

call (949) 715-1406.

Public input sought by DRB task force

The Design Review Task Force will hold a public forum from 6 to 9

p.m. Monday in the City Hall Council Chamber.

The public is invited to share suggestions on how the design

review process can be improved.

Future forums are set for Dec. 6, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

Written comments may be submitted to the task force to: city of

Laguna Beach, 505 Forest Ave. Laguna Beach, CA 92651. Comments may

also be e-mailed to designreviewtaskforce@yahoo.com.