News

Starting on Thursday the 25th is Newport’s internationally known Film Festival, this time, breaking into its second decade and celebrating its 20th Anniversary! Living here, it’s easy to dismiss hyped up things as “just more local news”, but this is a really big deal!  Centered around the historic Lido Theater but having most other surrounding theaters also participating, the event kicks …

Are you a kid, a kid-at-heart, a fisherman, or a cook? One of the big annual Grunion Runs is happening this on Friday– and while you can’t catch ’em until June, this is a great time to get a look at their breeding patterns! Grunion are a species of fish that spawn on the beaches after new or full moons …

Today, Saturday, April 13th will be the 29th annual Balboa Island Garage Sale put on by Carolyn Carr-Kamps. The tradition begins at 7:30am and will officially end at 2pm– though the ones who sell out of their goods will surely begin to close before that. Another tradition that continues is from everyone who has learned the hard way here: Get …

A bit outside of Newport, but Skosh Monahans is well known to so many, if not for its great food, stiff pours, 15 giant TVs and 24 taps with 34 beers, and a TV at every booth, but because it used to be so ubiquitously advertised as “The Mayor’s Place” when Gary Monahan was mayor of Costa Mesa.  Indeed, this …

The rumors have been flying about “what’s next” for the beloved Hershey’s Market on Balboa Island since it closed last year.  The market was across the street from the fire station, across from Wilma’s, and diagonal from the Village Inn. Today, we have an answer for you: the Irvine Ranch Market is going to be opening their doors at the …

April Fools came early this weekend, as rumors have been aflutter with Councilwoman and current mayor Diane Dixon reaching out to her big money donors seeking financial support for a State Assembly run– but will she do it, and if so– why? Dixon– who moved from LA to our small town just 6 months before filing to run for office– …

After the Catalina Flyer had some unexpected gear box issues in October 9th of last year, they fixed the issues, but another one arose in it’s place. On a boat this large, fixes are both expensive and time consuming, as you can’t exactly go buy a replacement gear box for the Catalina Flyer in the Walmart Clearance section. Alas, the …

As everyone knows, the moon doesn’t revolve around the world in a perfect circle.  It not only wobbles, but its own center of rotation is off-kilter from the earth being at the center.  A couple of times per year we have a “Super Moon”, where the moon is at apogee and is also a full moon.  Typically, these happen about …

Are you a kid, a kid-at-heart, a fisherman, or a cook?  One of the first big annual Grunion Runs is happening this on Thursday– and the last time you can catch ’em until June! Grunion are a species of fish that spawn on the beaches after new or full moons during the summertime, and joining in to watch or participate …

Dick Dale wasn’t just famous nationally, he was a local celebrity, too.  He passed this last Saturday from unreleased causes, after solidifying his place in history with his invention of “surf guitaring”, which also led to an unexpected genre of music: heavy metal. Dale was a local Wedge guy, and lived in the last house near the Wedge (the “Rigley …