TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR NOs. 2-10: No shortage of headlines

2Couple shot by police

On April 22, a Mission Viejo couple were killed in a hail of police bullets in a bizarre incident at the Montage Resort & Spa.

Kevin and Joni Park, who had a local real estate business, had rented a room at the posh hotel the day prior under a false name. Early the next morning, Laguna Beach police were summoned to the hotel grounds on reports of a “crazy woman” running around the hotel grounds with a gun.

The woman, later identified as Joni Park, had allegedly threatened visitors at Treasure Island Park adjacent to the hotel. Police responded with force and faced down both Parks in their ocean-view bungalow.

Within minutes, police officers made the decision to use deadly force, after allegedly seeing the gun being brandished by each of the Parks.

An investigation of the shooting deaths determined that the officers acted appropriately.

As an aftermath to the shooting deaths, the FBI seized boxes of documents from the hotel room in an investigation into possible real estate fraud, but the investigation was eventually dropped.

3Closure of Boom Boom Room and Woody’s

Laguna Beach lost two of its landmark gay establishments in Woody’s and the Boom Boom Room, located within two blocks of each other on South Coast Highway.

Woody’s at the Beach was at the corner of Cress Street and South Coast Highway for 10 years and the location had been gay-oriented for about 50 years.

Owner Joel Herzer sold the restaurant, and the last day was Feb. 3. An Avila’s El Ranchito restaurant now occupies the space.

The Boom Boom Room, housed in the historic Coast Inn for more than 60 years, saw its last day after a Labor Day weekend of parties.

Airline mogul Steven Udvar-Hazy bought the hotel, bar and adjacent gay liquor store in 2006 with plans to redevelop the ocean view site and gave the bar a one-year lease extension.

In the intervening year, a grass roots effort was organized by local gay activist Fred Karger. The group — Save the Boom — organized fundraising events and actively sought buyers to preserve the watering hole.

A “for sale” sign now hangs in the window as Udvar-Hazy has put the property back on the market. Karger and Save the Boom activists are still optimistic they will find a buyer who will keep the bar as it was.

4Day Labor Site lawsuit

Judge Gregory Munoz ruled in favor of Laguna Beach in a lawsuit that sought to stop city funding of the Laguna Day Workers Site on Laguna Canyon Road.

The suit was filed in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of Garcia and her husband, George Riviere, anti-illegal immigration activists, by Judicial Watch, a national conservative law group. It was filed in October 2006 and went to court one year later.

The suit aimed to stop funding the site with taxpayer community assistance funds, arguing the center assists illegal immigrants in violation of federal immigration law.

The Munoz decision was handed down Nov. 26. Judicial Watch plans to appeal the decision.

In the latest development in the long-running hiring center issue, Laguna Beach is currently considering whether to buy the land from Caltrans.

5Senior Center breaks ground

Years of fundraising bore fruit and rancor turned to building when the Susi Q Senior Center and community project on Third Street broke ground on April 3.

Among those who attended the ceremony were two of the four sons of Elizabeth Quilter, who donated $750,000 toward the construction of the center, named for the nom de plume used by their mother, a longtime columnist for the Coastline newspaper. Daughter-in-law Ann co-chaired the capital campaign.

The $15 million center will be on two levels, with parking for 72 vehicles on a lower level and 19,056 square feet of space above, divided into two wings, with the senior center on the north and the community center on the south.

Protests over the project continued to the very end, with picketers seeking to derail plans to remove about a dozen old and historic cottages on the site to make way for construction. Three cottages were moved to Big Bend for preservation, but by the end of the year there were no takers for the small dwellings.

Seniors Inc. President Lee Anderson said he sometimes had doubts that the center would ever become a reality.

“This is a banner day for Laguna Beach,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider said at the groundbreaking. “Can you believe we are finally doing this?”

6MTV leaves Laguna

MTV opted to take the fourth season of “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” reality show to Newport Harbor.

The move followed a decline in ratings and left opponents of the reality TV show elated.

“It was a divisive and negative influence, not only within the community but also among the kids themselves,” School Board President Betsy Jenkins said at the time. “We’re happy to give it to Newport.”

The board was derided for originally approving MTV’s request to film on campus in 2004. It rescinded its decision at a special meeting in weeks following input from the community.

The show’s influence continues, however. Teens and tweens still pose in front of the Laguna Beach High School marquee, cameras in hand, and snap up Laguna Beach-branded sportswear.

Many of the show’s early stars have experienced highly-publicized run-ins with the police; others have fallen from the limelight.

However, the Lauren Conrad juggernaut continues, with a new clothing line and bonus episodes of “The Hills” that see her going to Paris as part of her Teen Vogue union.

Current gossip is swirling around the rumored debut of Conrad’s “Laguna Beach” first-season enemy, Kristin Cavallari, on “The Hills.”

7Beach Buddy designation

Laguna Beach was given a distinct honor in August when the Natural Resources Defense Council named the city a “Beach Buddy” to recognize its accomplishment in cleaning up the ocean waters.

The city was one of 13 nationwide and the only city on the Pacific Coast to be so honored. The Today Show featured the designation in a story on the “Best (and worst) beaches in the U.S.” Aug. 7.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is based in New York City, with offices in Santa Monica.

The group determined Laguna Beach met public health standards more than 90% of the time in 2006.

City Manager Ken Frank was elated by the designation.

“It’s a good day,” he said. “We’re the only city on the west coast that received this recognition and the only one in a major metropolitan area, which is extraordinary.

“This is the result of efforts of local groups cleaning up the beaches, prodding us to do the same, our nuisance water diversion program, staff who clean up the storm drains, a lot of big efforts are involved.”

8 Southern California fires

When firestorms began to sweep across Southern California in late October, Laguna Beach went into high alert. With memories of the devastation caused by the 1993 fire, schools in fire-prone areas were closed for two days, and citizen patrols helped firefighters keep round-the-clock watch in the wildlands.

Laguna’s firefighters battled the blazes on multiple fronts from Malibu to San Diego.

Fire crews remaining in Orange County switched shifts between running regular city calls and fighting the Santiago fire, which was started by arson Oct. 21. All the while, fire inspection crews patrolled the buffer zones between Laguna homes and the open brushland.

Every single Laguna Beach firefighter who wasn’t on leave or vacation worked more than a week without time off.

Capt. Kris Head added leadership experience in fighting brush fires to the effort and commanded an entire division of fire strike teams, which was responsible for halting an entire flank of the Santiago fire.

All told, more than 1,100 firefighters from California worked to stop the Santiago fire, which consumed 28,445 acres. The fire was put out by the beginning of November.

9 Aliso Creek development

Athens Group may own the Aliso Creek golf course property, but supporters and opponents staked their claims on the development of the site in October.

The City Council had a special meeting at the request of Village Laguna to allow the public to air their opinions of development in Aliso Canyon even before a completed proposal had been submitted. No council action was taken.

The proposed redevelopment area covers 325 acres that the developer owns and 10 acres company officials hope to purchase to realign the entrance to the resort.

As proposed, the plan includes an inn with 15 guest rooms, meeting rooms, banquet facilities and restaurants; a spa building with 24 guest rooms and cottages on the south side of the creek with 36 rooms, and an underground parking garage with 507 spaces, none of which can be built without a coastal development permit.

Opposition to residential development on the property was expressed by Village Laguna and South Laguna Civic Assn. members and Laguna Greenbelt Inc.

Benefits besides tax revenue outlined at the meeting by Athens Group Vice President John Mansour included the proposed dedication of approximately 250 acres of open space in the new Aliso Highlands Conservation Area, which would eliminate the potential for residential development currently allowed by the general plan for that acreage.

Other benefits: a scenic art walk connecting the county parking lot to the Aliso Creek Trail, golf fees structured to favor locals, habitat and water quality management plans that will triple the wetlands habitat.

In another Aliso Creek development, Congress moved forward in November on providing $45 million in funding needed to improve and restore the creek watershed, known as the SUPER project.

10 Beheaded animals

Laguna Beach police never determined why a series of headless animals washed up on the city’s beaches in November. No other nearby city reported similar findings.

Two goats, three hens, one rooster and a dove or pigeon were found on the sand. All had been decapitated. The goats were stuffed inside identical bulk onion bags but the other carcasses were not covered.

“We are disturbed by the find and are investigating the incident,” Sgt. Jason Kravetz said at the time.

The carcasses began showing up on the beaches Nov. 8. A decapitated chicken and a headless goat were found at Picnic Beach in the 400 block of Cliff Drive by beachgoers.

Another headless goat carcass and two chicken carcasses were found at Sleepy Hollow beach, about a mile south of Picnic Beach around 4 p.m. the same day. Five days later, at 9 a.m. Nov. 13, another headless chicken, believed to be a rooster, was reported at Heisler Park below the lawn bowling area in the vicinity of the first findings.

The incidents alarmed the community, but no blood or implements were found indicating the animals were decapitated in Laguna.

Police surmised that strong tidal currents and huge waves may have brought the carcasses to Laguna’s shore from ships far out to sea.