News

Police have a tough job.  They constantly struggle with who is a threat, and who isn’t.  While we all hate speeding tickets, and parking tickets (and noise enforcement on the 4th of July!), there is one thing where Newport Beach Police really shine: Overseeing a low crime rate.  Last year was the lowest-crime year Newport Beach’s RECORDED HISTORY.  That’s pretty awesome. Here’s …

Did you know that as one of the final acts of the previous council, they gave away the Balboa Parking Lot?  Yes, the one where Balboa Market used to stand, on the corner of Palm and Balboa. The old City Council gave a last-minute no-bid contract to ExplorOcean giving them this space averaging less than $360 per year for 7 years, and only $2,500 per …

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of California’s 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court’s judgment and reinstated the city Planning Commission’s approval of dancing and extended patio hours at Woody’s Wharf. Yes– we have won, yet again. The Previous City Council had banned the practice when a new development began being built next door.  A source that asked us to withhold …

During each council session, City Council approves minutes from the previous session.  These minutes serve to recap the decisions made throughout the prior council meeting and to create a quickly re-visitable log of the events that occurred.  Most often, there are changes needed– misspellings or a few word alterations– and the vote is largely non-eventful. But last nights meeting was quite a …

Huntington will be seeing 6-8 foot waves tomorrow, peaking at 10 feet. Newport will be seeing sets smaller than that– but still bigger waves than we’ve been getting the last few weeks. Our waves will be rolling in at about 5-6 feet. Temps will be pushing up to 80, so expect an abundance of tourists! 🙂 It should be fun– but always …

Okay, so they don’t actually collide.  But tonight they get less than one-half of a degree apart, and will put of spectacular light.  Look to the Western Sky to see this beautiful display– barring any potential cloud cover, it should be hard to miss!

High tides tomorrow morning will peak at 9:04 AM PST, and will raise the standard sea level by a whopping 6.4 feet.  This could cause high tides to generate minor flooding in low-lying areas. If you are in a low-lying area, please be aware and park your car so you don’t have to wade through the potential mess tomorrow morning! More tidal information is available here: http://tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/342.html …

The Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Friday, January 16, 2015 at an undisclosed location in Newport between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. DUI Checkpoints are claimed to reduce drunk driving mostly by deterrent, but also serve to actively arrest those who are driving under the influence. This is a good …

Last night– we WON! In a council meeting regarding quite a few items– the most popular by far were the Fire Rings.  As speakers approached the microphone for about an hour and a half, the sides were evenly split.  Much of the talk was repetitive, with anti-fire-ring advocates labeling themselves as health advocates and damning the woodsmoke for its effects on their …

The New Council will be meeting tomorrow afternoon for some very big issues.  First, during the Closed Session meeting they will be discussing the Woody’s Wharf scenario, and how to proceed with that. Second, they will be doing a second reading on whether or not to give approximately $7-10 million dollars of taxpayer land to a private organization for 7 years for the sum …