Grand Canal

The duck problem on the Grand Canal of Balboa Island is the result of one woman who simply does not care about the health of the children who swim in the canal nor the peace and quite in the middle of the night for her neighbors and the well-being of the visitors who come to our island ("Newport Beach trying to duck the law," Tuesday). I have witnessed her on several occasions step out of her house, throw a hand full of food to the 20 to 30 ducks and pigeons sitting along the sea wall squawking for food.

June Casagrande NEWPORT BEACH -- City officials think they may have found a solution for a duck problem that so far just won't go away. Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said the city is talking with a private company that handles animal relocation to find a legal and humane way to move ducks and mallards that frequent the Grand Canal on Balboa Island. A new city ordinance went into effect earlier this year that forbids people from setting out large quantities of food and water for ducks and mallards.

Well, any day now, under the cover of night, some Balboa Island ducks may find themselves ducknapped -- if you will -- and transplanted in another Orange County city, perhaps. "Quack." Yep, that'll be something missing from the Grand Canal after the somewhat secret operation: Eliminate Duck. But perhaps in reality, Newport Beach officials are ducking their own no-feeding law. After all, Daily Pilot readers continue to tell us that a Grand Canal woman still runs afowl of the law by feeding these birds.

Actress, wife, mother, cat lover, Duck Lady of Balboa Island. Born September 17, 1919. Died in Costa Mesa, March 12, 2007. Oldest daughter of Benjamin and Ray Kutler, Bunty was raised in Beverly Hills and attended the Westlake School for Girls (now the Harvard-Westlake School). Afterwards, she studied acting. Her performing career, under the name Bunty Cutler, included live theatre, radio, and motion pictures. She was married to Sidney Justin, long-standing entertainment industry attorney who, at one time, headed the legal department at Paramount Pictures' Hollywood studio.

I'm going to miss the Park Avenue Bridge. Though not an A-lister like the Golden Gate or Sydney Harbor bridges, the Park Avenue Bridge is a graceful and distinctive 100-foot span that connects Newport Harbor's Balboa Island and Little Island. The narrow 32-foot-wide bridge, which has two lanes for autos with pedestrian walkways bordering each side, was completed in about 1930. It spans the ribbon-thin Grand Canal. The Park Avenue Bridge was the first bridge I got to know as a youngster.

June Casagrande The feathers just keep on flying. A ban on feeding ducks in the city was supposed to be the final squawk in the long-running debate on how to handle some foul fowl on the Grand Canal. It seemed simple enough: If someone disobeys the new ordinance by setting out troughs of food and water, the city would first call attention to the matter, perhaps with a phone call or a visit. If the problem persists, issue a little written warning.

June Casagrande This is your duck. This is your duck on drugs. This is your duck being driven to a farm miles away from Newport Beach. This is your new stink-free Grand Canal. Any questions? Thursday was D-Day, as City Councilman Steve Bromberg put it: Duck Day. While about 20 residents, including Bromberg, looked on Thursday morning, representatives from three government agencies and a private contractor carried out a coordinated search-and-don't-destroy mission to round up about 60 ducks.

I am a resident of the Grand Canal on Balboa Island. I continue to read your reports on the continued pollution of the waters in the Grand Canal as a result of the duck population, which is compounded by the scheduled feeding of the ducks by two of the residents that live on the Grand Canal ("Newport Beach trying to duck the law," Tuesday). Since the feeding began, the duck population has increased from a handful of ducks to more than one hundred. It is not uncommon during the summer months for the canal to be posted as unsafe water due to the pollution.

The Pilot should vamoose, just like the Balboa ducks Your Friday article "Duck -- duck -- vamoose" does not belong on the front page of your -- or anyone's -- newspaper. Your writer thought it would be cute to write a tongue-in-cheek story about the removal of ducks on the Grand Canal. Of course, to the residents of the Grand Canal and Balboa Island, this has been a serious problem of long standing. If your paper wishes to make fun of local issues, I suggest you go out of the local paper business, or feature opinions on the editorial page.

I'm going to miss the Park Avenue Bridge. Though not an A-lister like the Golden Gate or Sydney Harbor bridges, the Park Avenue Bridge is a graceful and distinctive 100-foot span that connects Newport Harbor's Balboa Island and Little Island. The narrow 32-foot-wide bridge, which has two lanes for autos with pedestrian walkways bordering each side, was completed in about 1930. It spans the ribbon-thin Grand Canal. The Park Avenue Bridge was the first bridge I got to know as a youngster.

Last week, it was Sicily. Now, it’s on to Venezia, the city Italians call “La Serenissima” — “The Most Serene.” To say Venice is unique is to say nothing at all. Venice shouldn’t exist; it shouldn’t be there; it doesn’t make any sense. So many things in life are like that, no? The entire city is built on wooden piles sunk deep into the marshes surrounding the Venice lagoon. It was founded in the 5th century by people called the Veneti who fled their inland villages to escape Germanic invaders called the Lombards.

AREA 1 Pomona Avenue: A vehicle was reported burglarized in the 1900 block at 7:50 a.m. Sunday. Anacapa Drive: A petty theft was reported in the 2500 block at 8:05 a.m. Sunday. Harbor Boulevard: A commercial burglary was reported in the 200 block at 3:24 p.m. Sunday. Pinecreek Drive: A vehicle was reported burglarized in the 2800 block at 3:36 p.m. Sunday. West 18th Street: Vandalism was reported in the 700 block at 3:41 p.m. Sunday.

Actress, wife, mother, cat lover, Duck Lady of Balboa Island. Born September 17, 1919. Died in Costa Mesa, March 12, 2007. Oldest daughter of Benjamin and Ray Kutler, Bunty was raised in Beverly Hills and attended the Westlake School for Girls (now the Harvard-Westlake School). Afterwards, she studied acting. Her performing career, under the name Bunty Cutler, included live theatre, radio, and motion pictures. She was married to Sidney Justin, long-standing entertainment industry attorney who, at one time, headed the legal department at Paramount Pictures' Hollywood studio.

There were the Grand Canal ducks. There's always Rupert. And now the latest fowls to earn human friendship and concern are the geese at TeWinkle Park. These birds are facing a tough late summer when the city renovates the park's two lakes. That's just fine for those feathered folks who can fly off, but those for whom long migration travel plans aren't in the picture, things could get dicey. City workers say they are complying with regulations put down by the state Department of Fish and Game -- but those don't include any requirements for handling the grounded geese.

We must be missing something. People are actually excited about thousands of jellyfish floating around in the waters by Cannery Village? They're showing up by the docks and the restaurants, cameras in hand, to catch a glimpse of the translucent, bobbing creatures? Perhaps it's all the time we've spent in the ocean, but we don't abide by creatures like jellyfish -- the most common of which belong to the class Scyphozoan -- in these parts. We've felt the lashing sting of a sea jelly as it floated past.

John Rettberg We had made plans six months in advance to visit cities in Italy, France and Spain that we had not previously visited. Of course, we didn't know then that the war in Iraq would coincide with our trip schedule. We already had doubts about traveling abroad since terrorism is always in the back of one's mind. Terrorism has a special meaning to me since I was in Manhattan on Sept. 11 and saw the tragedy first hand. Fortunately, I was not in the Trade Center that day, as I had been so many times, and all but two of my friends escaped the terrible inferno.

June Casagrande A sole pole stands on Little Balboa -- a towering testament to the dangers of counting on universal cooperation. City officials are considering their legal options for bringing down the only utility pole left on the island after every homeowner there but two has done his or her part to move the island's utilities underground. "That pole will come down," vowed Councilman Steve Bromberg, who has been part of the 14-year push to move the cables underground.

The most humiliating moments in my life include falling backward in a chair at a formal dance, realizing during a job interview that I was wearing one black and one white shoe and every time I've spoken to Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff in the last six months. Don't get me wrong, Kiff's a fine guy. But, you see, pretty much every conversation I have with him ends with me asking, "Is there anything going on with the ducks?" I'm glad I didn't go to journalism school, because if anyone had ever filled my head with glamorous images of the life of a hard-hitting investigative reporter, I would right now be demanding a full tuition refund and punitive damages.