Facebook Page

A long-time Costa Mesa dive bar, The Helm, is set to shutter Saturday after its landlord chose not to renew the business' lease. According to Dana Couch, a 24-year employee, the bar is set to shutter at 2 a.m. Saturday. The bar at 1824 Newport Blvd. has been a fixture for decades, with the name The Helm for 23 years, and the Shamrock before that. It is thought to be one of the oldest full-liquor bars in the area. "It's devastating," Couch said. "I've been here so long it's like losing family.

COSTA MESA - When you're done reading this article, real estate insider Holly Schwartz has 365 ideas for what to do with the rest of your day. As author of 365 Things to Do in Costa Mesa, a Torelli Realty blog that highlights local events, places and activities, Schwartz is the unofficial expert on what residents love most about the city. "There's so much going on here," said Schwartz, Torelli Realty's vice president of media and marketing. "Costa Mesa really is a small city with a big-town heart.

The Daily Pilot is excited to announce the launch of our new online calendar system. With the help of Costa Mesa-based social calendar company SquaredOut, we've revamped the way we present local calendar listings to our readers. The most notable difference is that now readers can submit their calendar events directly to us. Our calendar listings can be accessed from the Daily Pilot home page, as well as http://www.dailypilot.com/calendar . Submissions can also be made on our Facebook page . Readers will notice a "submit event" button on all of those pages.

The Chicago Public Schools website doesn't have this fantastic page, nor do the websites for the New York City Department of Education, the San Diego Unified School District or the Dallas Independent School District. You won't find a similar page for the Anne Arundel County Public Schools, which includes Annapolis, Md., home of the U.S. Naval Academy, nor the Academy School District 20 in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the U.S. Air Force Academy is. And this webpage does not appear on the website for the public schools in West Point, N.Y., home of the U.S. Military Academy.

Does a presidential candidate who misspells "America" love it any less than the guy whose campaign gets all the letters in the right order? Is he less fit to lead if his Facebook page mentions "offical gear" when it means official gear? Would the typo "sneak peak" on his Facebook page peg him as illiterate, an ineffectual supervisor or a helmsman too dumb to realize he's steering a ship of dummies? These are the questions raised by three typos in one week that the Mitt Romney campaign let slip, the most famous of them being a campaign app that went viral because it contained the slogan "A Better Amercia.

Just in case you missed it, let us fill you in on the 30th Annual Speak Up Newport Mayor's Dinner. The sold-out event was held on Feb. 11, 2011, at our own Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, and they did a wonderful job with the over 450 guests. Emcee Peter Buffa (not related to Hosni Buffaat) and musician-extraordinaire Jim Roberts made the program go smoothly, but with Peter's occasional funny jabs. Others also participated in the jokes. Have you ever smiled during an invocation?

UC Irvine Extension and its OpenCourseWare initiative won four Impact awards at the 2012 Internet Marketing Assn. Conference in Las Vegas in September. UCI Extension won best Facebook, best Facebook "Like" outreach, best webinar series – educational and best webinar/vodcast/podcast – educational series, the program announced Thursday. "We're very pleased to be recognized for our efforts in Internet marketing," said Scott Rutherford, UCI Extension director of marketing and communications.

NEWPORT BEACH — A new mayor took control of the dais Tuesday night and outlined a vision of streamlined city government, revived commercial districts and a more technologically advanced City Council. Mike Henn, a businessman who was reelected in November to his second term on the City Council, assumed responsibility from outgoing Mayor Keith Curry. The council unanimously selected Nancy Gardner to replace Henn as mayor pro tem. Henn said some of his tasks for the coming year include rehabilitating the "deteriorating and under-served areas" like Mariner's Mile, Balboa Village and Lido Marina Village, and privatizing some city services.

In the warm afternoon sunlight, Kim Moss stood at the door of the Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor recalling the time when she brought her 3-year-old son, Nick, and his grandfather, Frank, to the beloved restaurant. Now Nick is 30, and the place he grew up with will not longer be there. “We are sad, we’re all sad to see the place close,” said Moss, who worked there as a waitress for years and will have to look for another job. Vons, which owns the shopping center at 179 E. 17th St., home of the Omelette Parlor for 27 years, served the eatery with a 30-day notice to vacate, said Omelette Parlor owner Susan Adkins.

Some Corona del Mar High School students are preparing to get in on the Occupy movement to try and preserve the Balboa Fun Zone. The students are planning Project: Occupy the Fun Zone at noon Saturday during an open house for the upcoming ocean-themed educational and entertainment center, ExplorOcean, that is slated to replace the fun zone, said movement leader Courtney Brown, 16. "We've had so many memories there and we want to do everything...