Granted -- Jim Fournier's private weather station on Balboa Peninsula
won't do anything to stop the rainy days ahead.
But all those beach fans out there will now have a chance to get
information on the skies every hour, on the hour.
Fournier, who used to publish a weekly newsletter and wrote a book
about Balboa's long gone wild days, fulfilled a childhood dream by
recently installing the meteorological instruments on his roof.
Come summer, his online weather readings might even help keep away
some beach goers and ease traffic down Balboa Blvd. But then again, that
might be wishful thinking. A rainy summer day in Newport Beach just seems
a contradiction in terms.
To check out Fournier's weather info, go to
http://www.talesofbalboa.com.
Bye bye, resort. Hello who-knows?
For another week, it was all about Crystal Cove.
After a trip to his Fiji resort took him out of the range of press
inquiries, San Francisco developer Michael Freed finally sounded off
about the state's announcement to pay him $2 million to kill his luxury
resort plan.
During a Wednesday interview, Freed said he would accept the buyout,
ending his more than three-year effort to build a $35 million resort at
Crystal Cove State Park.
At a Jan. 18 public meeting in Corona del Mar, Freed found himself at
the heart of a maelstrom of public opposition to his resort.
Complaining that his resort plan was misunderstood, Freed said he
wants "a project the community can get behind."
A quiet holiday week for schools
It was a slow week in education thanks to the debut of the Presidents
Day holiday week in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Students
were off, the schools were dark, even the district office was a ghost
town.
But the American Bar Assn. still managed to ruffle some educational
feathers with its decision to pass a resolution Monday opposing
zero-tolerance policies at schools. The group claims that policies that
call for the immediate expulsion or transfer of students caught with
drugs, alcohol and weapons violates students rights and do not allow them
due process.
Some school board members scoffed at their accusations, saying that
the policy works, so the policy stays.
It's a discussion that is far from over. A student political action
committee that spoke to the board about their concerns on the policy last
year will seek another audience in the upcoming month.
Pluck down money for your very own seat
The Costa Mesa City Council gave its final approval to its parks and
