Feelings

On a clear day, 81-year-old Jesse Lennep claims he can see the Gulf of Mexico from his two-story, 100-year-old home on the shore of Krebs Lake in Pascagoula, Miss. Shrimp boats regularly chug past his front porch. After Hurricane Katrina, Lennep lost his wife of 53 years to kidney failure. The storm weakened her already fragile health, he says. Medical problems, subsequent hospital bills and lost business after Katrina depleted his finances. Two of his children and one grandchild live in FEMA trailers behind his property — “FEMA trailer No. 1 and FEMA trailer No. 2,” Lennep calls them.

Scott McGinnis, a former counselor at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, found himself back at his old stomping grounds in Glendale this spring, nearly 30 years after attending the Grandview Presbyterian Church's Children's Center Preschool. Standing inside the sanctuary in front of an assembly of people, including friends and family, McGinnis was ordained and installed as the newest pastor of the church, with which he had established a connection when he was a child. It was the proud culmination of a process that began eight months prior, he said, when he first preached during a service at Grandview in October.

ALISO VIEJO — In the middle of an early pitching change, the Newport Beach National Little League 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars were already down four runs Thursday night. The team moms in the stands got a little restless, or were at least searching for things to talk about. "LeBron James is going to the Miami Heat," one of them said after glancing at her phone. Newport Beach is also feeling the heat in the District 55 All-Star tournament after suffering its first loss, falling to Lake Forest, 9-5, in Thursday's semifinal game at Woodfield Park.

NEWPORT BEACH - This week is becoming quite memorable for Stewart Hagestad. The 21-year-old Big Canyon Country Club member qualified for his fourth United States Amateur championship at the Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda, Mont., on Monday. Then Saturday at his home course he shot a three-under-par 69 to move into second place after 54 holes of the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur championship. Hagestad, playing the SCGA Amateur for the first time, is four-under (70-73-69 - 212)

IRVINE — Having cut his coaching teeth in big-time programs at Wake Forest and Stanford, as well as the NBA, first-year UC Irvine men's basketball coach Russell Turner knows the swell of emotion that can stir in an arena. And while the biggest Bren Events Center crowd in nearly four years (4,070) helped heighten the euphoria surrounding the Anteaters' 86-76 upset of Big West Conference-leading Long Beach State on Saturday, Turner wanted to make sure he did everything he could to accentuate the groundswell of support.

Young Chang You know that nice, cool feeling you get walking into a gym? That crisp, almost chilly air that envelops you both before and after you sweat? Forget that. With hot yoga, it's all about heat. Enter a room blasting out about 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit of stuffy, hot air and simmer in it. Stretch and do yoga for more than an hour and sweat like it's summer in a class of about a dozen others also raining perspiration. That's right -- a class.

He was the Newport-Mesa doctor known for his old-fashioned flair, a hometown feel to his craft, compassion for his patients and a twinkle in his eye. Dr. Dudley A. Pfaff, a longtime Newport Beach resident, 41-year physician and team doctor to local sports teams — including for Costa Mesa, Estancia, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high schools — died Nov. 21. He was 86. Pfaff, aka "Dr. Dud" and the "jock doc," was born and raised in...

We just had our house painted. The Angels will go to spring training next week. The Academy Award nominations have just been made. The vet tells us that our dog, Coco, needs her teeth cleaned. Our friends from North Carolina will soon be coming to visit. The stuff of life goes on. Mostly good stuff. But so does another life from which I feel totally disconnected, a life that spreads a patina of uncertainty, bewilderment and anger over the normal stuff of life.

Rick Devereux The depression that surrounded the Costa Mesa High football program faded after last week's 39-24 Golden West League victory over Santa Ana. But that does not mean the bad feelings will be gone forever, because the Mustangs (5-1, 1-1 in league) face league title contender Saddleback Friday at the Santa Ana Bowl. "We need to keep the momentum going," Coach Tom Baldwin said. "We have to keep the motivation up and we need a good week of practice."