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Today is the the day! The world-famous Hi Time Wine Cellar Chili Cookoff is happens today from noon until 5pm! The 9th annual celebration goes to benefit the Boys and Girls Club in the harbor area.  Last year, the event raised over $23,000, and hopes are this year will even surpass that.  Admission is cash only and is $10 to get …

Are you a kid, a kid-at-heart, a fisherman, or a cook?  The biggest annual Grunion Run is happening this weekend! 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 in the grunion run is a famous pasttime for our long history of Southern California beach …

The Blue Moon is a normal-colored moon which happens about every 3 years.  Simply put, it is when there are two full-moons within a single month.  The moon cycles at about 29.5 days, making this a somewhat rare event, as the moon would need to be full at the beginning and the end of the month.  The last Blue Moon we had …

For two years, the Blackball Working Group has been working to come up with a plan set to balance access between surfers, swimmers, body surfers, skimboarders, and boogieboarders.  They have reviewed the Blackball policy at the Wedge, between 40th and 44th street, as well as weighed in on creating “hardboard-only” areas of the beach. Back in April of this year, The …

The El Niño this year is shaping up to look like it may be the largest El Niño in the history of documented weather.  This article will guide you through what El Niño is and what this particular season may hold in store for us. WHERE THE NAME COMES FROM: Those who took more than 15 minutes worth of a Spanish class know …

I am sure that the “Google Boat” name drives owners Chris Welsh and Sir Richard Branson up the wall, considering that the “Virgin” logo is so much more pronounced on the boat, and that they are the two primary owners.  But that local colloquialism may be fading faster than we think. The boat’s actual name is The Cheyenne, and on July 17th, Harbor …

It’s rare that we have a July rain–  in fact, so far this month, we have had more rain than the last 103 Julys, combined!  This is much-needed water for our area, but it also presents a problem: urban runoff and sewage overflow. As the chemicals wash off into the ocean and the storm drains flood, a familiar and unwelcome stench came …

The National Weather Service has just released a Flood Warning for Newport Beach which is effective until 8:45pm today. The rain is expected to continue for a while the ground is not prepared to absorb it all, resulting in possible downhill flash-flood accumulations. In a rare instance for Newport Beach, they also utilized the Emergency Alerts system to issue an …

Two men were charged with Animal Cruelty for their role in destroying birds nests at Balboa’s Peninsula Point, as we reported on June 1st, 2015.   The event happened when a private party contracted with Tim Greenleaf Engineering to clear their property which included a tree.  This tree contained several birds nests.  When they began scoping the tree out, a concerned neighbor came …

Do you remember on May 12 when we posted photos of the sea lion who innocently walked into Beachball?  The story made viral and made international news (woah!) Well, thanks to your help, support, and the hard work of teams like HBMMST and PMMC, yesterday, lil’ Beach Ball (his new name) was released! As Beach Ball took his first steps back …