California

The 2009 Golden State Spirit All-State Team Was announced November 22, 2008. These 15 girls were chosen from the best of the best from the state of California based on Cheerleading skills, Academics and outstanding Community Service. The following girls were chosen to the California All-State Team: From Granite Bay High School                                                      Allison Grace From Hart High School                                                                   Stephanie Harris From Magic All Stars                                                                      Lauren Loos From Victory Cheer Company                                                       Natalie Corwin From Riptides                                                                                 Brittany Scholl From Mater Dei High School                                                         Kendall Bullock        From Costa Mesa High School                                                     Allison  Krikorian ...

In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed our fiscal deficits. He lamented that the budget for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has doubled on his watch. Moreover, the governor is tired of California being a donor state. Recent estimates suggest that California gets back 78 cents for every tax dollar sent to Washington. His answer?: “We need to work with the federal government to build a more fair and equitable financial relationship.

Cynthia Bohler & George Parthmer                                 Cynthia Bohler and George Parthmer of Costa Mesa, California, have announced their engagement. The bride-to-be is a 1994 graduate of Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, CA and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently employed at the City of Newport Beach. The prospective groom is a 1997 graduate of Central York High School in York, PA, earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Pennsylvania State University, his Master of Business Administration at York College of Pennsylvania and his Juris Doctor at Widener University School of Law. He is currently employed as Manager of Environmental Health and Safety at Eaton Corporation in Irvine, California.

Patricia (Patty) Lillegraven, entered this life in Chicago, Illinois on June 27, 1927, the daughter of Grace and Thomas Thompson. She entered eternal life on April 23, 2010 in Rancho Mirage, California, following a brief illness. Her death was peaceful, surrounded by her closest family. Patty lived on Balboa Island with her husband, Ben, and they spent winters in Rancho Mirage, California playing golf and enjoying the ambience of the desert.

"The Costa Mesa Plateau" There's a new way of life in the city of sunshine, the city of charm and allure. There's a more pleasant life near the calm blue Pacific, the horizon's a crown of azure. Where the flowers and youth bloom in beauty, to create this enchanted tableau. There's a haven of comfort and gladness on the Costa Mesa Plateau, on the Costa Mesa Plateau. There's a Costa Mesa Plateau. "Costa Mesa, California" Where's the best town in the land?

UCI Chancellor Michael Drake will announce a multi-million dollar boost to the school?s California Teach Science and Math initiative today, school officials said. The award comes from the science and math initiative?s national body. The California Teach Science and Math Initiative helps prepare future math and science teachers and supports programs that have proven effective in math and science education in the country. The program, still in its infancy, aims to address the massive shortage of qualified math and science teachers in California.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bogenrief of Newport Beach, California, announce the engagement of their daughter, Christine Michelle Bogenrief, to Michael Stephen Doane, son of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Doane of Menifee Valley, California. Christine attended Cal State University Fullerton and San Diego State University, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Communication.  She is currently a Client Relationship Manager in the Human Resources Department at the Irvine Company. Michael is originally from Loma Linda, California, and is currently Manager of the Enterprise Software Department of Pacific Life Insurance Company.

Submitted by Kelsey Chase July 12, 2009 As a summer intern in a city full of unique opportunities and rare experiences I have made every effort to make the best of my stay in Washington DC. You really never know who you might see or what you might stumble across. So far, a couple notable experiences I’ve had were attending a small presentation given by the former Presidential candidate John McCain and sitting in on a Congressional hearing that my boss testified at. This week I had a memorable experience meeting the Senator of California, Senator Diane Feinstein.

Marisa O'Neil The standardized testing is finished and the end of the year is looming just around the corner. So doing reports about the state of California may not be the first thing on students' minds right now. But mix some crayons, markers and string and a run-of-the-mill assignment suddenly becomes much more interesting. On Monday, reports in Suzanne Johnson's fourth-grade class at Victoria Elementary School took the form of colorful mobiles, which will go on display for the school's open house next week.

Elaine Petty Shaw Parker, 83, passed away on Monday, October 29, 2007 in Corona, California. Born on June 20, 1924 in Ogden, Utah, Elaine was one of three children born to William Orley and Virgel Petty Shaw. Robert Frank Shaw, deceased; William Orley Shaw, Jr. (Lynnette), Centerville, Utah. Elaine married Wallace Lock Parker on March 12, 1945 in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake Temple. He preceded her in death on August 22, 1995.

Next month, Dan Cameron - the new chief curator at the Orange County Museum of Art - will board a flight to Europe, where he hopes to gather ideas from some of the world's most innovative international art exhibitions. "I'm going abroad in June to see what a few of my friends and colleagues have done with the international platform," he said in an interview. "We'll see what I can poach. " What he captures, he'll bring back to OCMA in preparation for the museum's first international contemporary art survey, the 2013 California-Pacific Triennial.

Newport Elementary School's principal stood in the hallway as the bell rang and students filed out of their classrooms to lunch. Principal Amy Nagy received hellos, waves and hugs - and some news they excitedly had to share. "I've done really good at writing," shouted a kindergartner. She congratulated him. Next was a sheepish first-grader, who showed Nagy his paper about bees. He walked away with a smile and the promise of a "super student" pencil as a writer's reward.

The California Coastal Commission's view of itself can be romantic. When its longtime executive director, Peter Douglas, died earlier this month, a staff tribute turned to "The Lord of the Rings" for a comparison: "For more than 40 years, he has been Gandalf to the developers' balrog, standing resolute on tenuous footing while declaring, 'You. Shall. Not. Pass.'" The tenuousness of the commission's footing may be a matter of debate, but its denials are rarely so declamatory, couched instead in the language of bureaucracy: "Gnatcatcher.

The gold crucifix and rosary studded with Colombian emeralds is known as "The Atocha Cross. " In 1986 — 364 years after the Nuestra Señora de Atocha ("Our Lady of Atocha") went down during a hurricane in the waters off what is now Key West, Fla. — a treasure-hunting expedition recovered the cross and rosary from the Spanish ship's sunken cargo. The glistening artifact now belongs to a private collector, but it's about to make a public appearance at the Bowers Museum as an appendage to a larger exhibition titled "Sacred Gold: Pre-Hispanic Art of Colombia.

The older generation will be happy to hear that yes, the younger generation is still being taught manners. The National League of Young Men (NLYM) hosted its Social Etiquette Dinner on March 18, drawing 50 area teens. Every year, about 25 junior boys from NLYM and about 25 junior girls from the National Charity League (NCL) attend the dinner. The students represented Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, JSerra Catholic, Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran high schools, and St. Margaret's Episcopal School.

The Western frontier — Southern California, in particular — represented a tableau of possibilities and artistic freedom for women who strived to be painters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Many of the artists who came here got to do things they never could have done on the East Coast," said James Irvine Swinden, president of the Irvine Museum. "The other thing is that a lot of these artists were able to explore their talents much more than men could, and they changed their art style.

Supporters of same-sex marriage called Tuesday's federal court ruling negating Proposition 8 a step in the right direction while opponents argued that the will of California voters should stand. "It is incredible, marvelous," Newport Beach Dr. Jorge Rodriguez said of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to overturn the proposition on constitutional grounds. "I'm really reminded of that Martin Luther King quote that I love: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'" Rodriguez, a Laguna Beach resident who works at Orange Coast Medical Group, said that as a doctor he sees health problems, including depression, in patients who do not feel validated.

A man on the Orange County district attorney's Most Wanted list was sentenced to 61 years to life in prison Friday for sexual assaults that took place in Costa Mesa and other parts of Southern California, authorities said. Ali Achekzai, 34, formerly of Ladera Ranch, was convicted Dec. 15 of six felonies for assaulting three women. One of the cases involved him following a woman and luring her into his car - under the pretenses of warning her about another man - before he raped her, according to the district attorney's office.

COSTA MESA — To the crashing of cymbals and beating of drums, a brilliantly adorned troupe of Lion Dancers at South Coast Plaza on Thursday heralded the arrival of the Year of the Dragon. The shopping center was kicking off its 13-day celebration of the Lunar New Year. A 40-foot red paper dragon coiled itself in the two-story space around Jewel Court, and a ring of holiday greetings from the balcony above proclaimed "Happy New Year" in English and the languages of four Asian countries marking the occasion: China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

A group of car washes in Northern and Southern California that allegedly underpaid workers and routinely denied them breaks will pay more than $1 million in restitution for unpaid wages and civil penalties, state officials said Tuesday. "Workers at these car washes were taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers who illegally denied them the pay and benefits they earned," said State Attorney Gen. Kamala D. Harris. "The resolution of this case will allow workers to receive the pay they are owed.