News

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers far and wide!  No kids come with manuals, and I’m sure we could have all been better kids.  But if winding up being a good person is any measure of success, the fathers of the vast majority did a fantastic job.   Call your dad or do something good in his memory!

After 19 months of battling between local, regional, county, state, and federal governments, Scott Peotter has had enough of the bureaucracy, and he has agendized our Dog Beach access! Scott was first-in when it came to supporting the Dog Beach, so this isn’t some stunt he is pulling in response to the people who dislike him because they say he is a big …

If you grew up in Newport Beach anytime in the last half-century, you’ve definitely eaten at Charlie’s Chili by the Newport Pier! This Friday from 7am to 10pm, Charlie’s is offering a big “thank you” to everyone for their support in the last 50 years, and kicking it off for another 50 more! In honor of their own birthday, they’re …

Wow, if you didn’t catch last night’s council meeting,  you really missed it.  I’ll let Jon Pedersen just explain it in this column, this is straight from the sheet he read off: Mayor Muldoon, Council Today I want to discuss the environment, in particular our harbors and our beaches, for without them we surely would not be Newport Beach. There …

Recently, there has been a lot of confusion about how local government works and who votes on what– this seems to stem from the multiple meetings with Dog Beach, which is definitely well beyond Civics 101 that you might have read previously, so I’ll do my best to explain this with as little ambiguity as possible! First, we’ve got cities. …

Back in February of this year in her Townhall meeting, Councilwoman Diane Dixon proposed getting rid of all bicycles on the boardwalk.  I asked how many injuries happen per year in order to warrant this, and she said she had no idea, but that it was “a whole lot, trust me”. So, I utilized the Public Document Request Act and …

Early Monday morning, a 28ft boat crashed onto the shores of Newport Beach by 12th Street.  Details were scarce at the scene, but locals were all repeating a similar story: The boat was from Dana Point (despite the “San Diego” on the boat tail), and was ejected from Catalina due to running over a buoy.  Running over a buoy is not …

The 3rd annual 7th St Party just keeps getting better and better!  This year the party (better known as the 3rd Annual Clam Jam) raised over $8,500 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Thrown on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, the party saw hundreds of attendees as the entire block of 7th and Oceanfront was shut down to traffic. …

On February 17th at 3:35pm, the famous Wedge Tree was overcome by 60mph winds and the heaviest rains Newport has seen in 20 years, getting uprooted and falling beyond any hope of repair or restoration. Shortly afterward, I was contacted by Alan Buchanan asking if I could convince the city to allow him to take home the trunk of the tree …

If you’ve been watching the social media feeds or headlines of those who report on California State politics (rather than here, where we focus almost exclusively on Newport politics), then you have doubtlessly heard that the California Senate has passed SB384 which will allow alcohol sales until 4am, just like New York City. (side note: Here’s a map of the Last Call times …