AROUND TOWN - Nov. 21, 2008

Conservancy dinner focus on Measure M tax

The Laguna Canyon Conservancy will hold its monthly dinner meeting Dec. 1 with a program on the Renewed Measure M, a half-cent sales tax passed by 70% of the Orange County voters.

From 2011 until 2041, it is expected to raise $11.8 billion for freeway construction or improvement, including two new environmental programs.

Melanie Schlotterbeck, who represents the public on the Environmental Oversight Committee, will give a PowerPoint presentation on the program.

Doors open at 6 p.m. at Tivoli Terrace, 650 Laguna Canyon Road. Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for non-members and may be paid at the door with prior reservations. To reserve a seat, call (949) 494-6465.

World AIDS Day events set in Laguna

The Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee will commemorate WORLD AIDS from 3 to 6 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Main Beach Cobblestone area in memory of those who have died and those living with HIV/AIDS.

Ribbons in memory of those in the community who have died of AIDS will be placed on trees throughout the city for the day. Local residents are invited to come to Main Beach in the evening to add the names of their loved ones to a special 6-foot-tall ribbon.

From 3 to 5:30 p.m., the Laguna Beach Community Clinic will provide free anonymous HIV testing and counseling. Coffee and information will be supplied by HIV/AIDS service organizations such as Shanti OC, ACTION, AIDS Services Foundation and Laguna Beach High School.

A candlelight vigil will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. gathering at Endangered Planet Gallery, 348 Forest Ave., Gallery 13.

Thanksgiving lunch at Bluebird Park

Friends and neighbors will celebrate Thanksgiving at the 20th annual feast at Bluebird Park at noon Thursday. The potluck event is hosted by Friendship Shelter, local churches and community groups including the Cross Cultural Coalition and Resource Center.

For more information, call David Peck at (949) 497-3936.

Thanksgiving for Camp Pendleton Marine families

For the fifth year in a row, Laguna Presbyterian Church is collecting funds to help provide Thanksgiving meals for the military families at Camp Pendleton. The families are living on very low incomes, and many have one or more member who has served multiple tours in Iraq.

To donate, make your deductible contribution payable to:

Laguna Presbyterian Church, and send or bring it to the church, 415 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach, 92652. Indicate it is for Pendleton Marines.

Miller Garden plant sale

The Friends of the Hortense Miller Garden will be at the Laguna Beach Farmers Market Saturday to sell paperwhites and Christmas flowering Amaryllis. These are special top-sized bulbs ready to be potted or started in vases of water. Potted plants, pots and other garden-related items will also be for sale to benefit the garden.

Coastline Pilot takes statewide honors

The Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot won two first-place awards in the California Newspaper Publishers Assn. Better Newspapers Contest for 2007.

The paper took top honors for Front Page Broadsheet and Page Layout and Design, Broadsheet in the weekly division, competing against other newspapers with a circulation of 11,001 to 25,000.

Since 2004, the paper has garnered 13 major awards — 10 first place and three second place, in addition to numerous honorable mentions.