Hong Kong

Orange County's Great Park balloon has been grounded for inspection after a giant balloon in Hong Kong made by the same manufacturer sprang a leak and dropped from the sky last week, injuring five people. Great Park officials shut down the ride for an immediate inspection Friday after learning about the Hong Kong incident, said Great Park spokesman Marcus Ginnaty. Crews didn't discover any issues with the balloon, but Ginnaty said it will remain grounded until inspectors sent by the manufacturer - Paris-based Aerophile - arrive in Irvine to conduct their own investigation.

NEWPORT BEACH — Melissa Matsuoka can appreciate how a good doubles team is supposed to play. This week, she has been part of a good one herself with her Corona del Mar High teammate Lindsay Zotovich. But, in Thursday’s girls’ 18 doubles semifinals at the 19th annual Balboa Bay Club Junior Tournament, Matsuoka and Zotovich ran into a team playing at just a bit higher level. The sister tandem of Chun-Wing Sher and Pui-Wing Sher, from Hong Kong, ousted Matsuoka and Zotovich, 6-2, 6-4, at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.

What do you do when it turns out a wealthy investor can't actually come up with $174.5 million as promised? If you're Beverly Ray Parkhurst, who owns the landmark Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach, you call off your planned sale of the company to Winston Chung of Hong Kong and entertain other offers, as the Times reported Tuesday. And with your financials improving, you may decide to hold off on a sale altogether for now, a top club official said. Chung, a battery and electric-vehicle entrepreneur, attracted considerable attention over the last two years by investing in Southern California specialty-vehicle makers and promising to establish a green transportation industry in the Southland.

Vanguard University senior Paige Halberg earned second-team NAIA All-American recognition in women's basketball after leading the Lions to a 23-7 record and their 11th straight appearance in the NAIA national tournament. Halberg, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 11.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists, playing mostly point guard due to injuries to others. Her 45 steals and 30 blocked shots also led the team and her basketball IQ and versatility allowed her to fill several roles for Coach Russ Davis' Lions, who were ranked No. 12 in the final national poll.

Tom Titus Heard a good play lately? You have the chance to listen to three of them this weekend. The occasions are forms of entertainment known as "reader's theater," in which actors, without benefit of the full rehearsal process, read a play from the script for an audience. The venues are the Newport Theater Arts Center, where two plays will be read this weekend, and South Coast Repertory, which has a new one on tap Monday evening. One of the three, "Men's Singles" at the Newport Theater, will be familiar to those who've been following South Coast Repertory for several years.

Alicia Robinson After 12 years away, Thomas Gurtner has come home. What's unusual is that home is a hotel. Gurtner has returned as general manager of the Four Seasons on Newport Coast Drive, just in time for the hotel's 18th birthday this month. He takes over for Mehti Eftekari, who started as the hotel manager during Gurtner's first three-year stint as general manager. Eftekari is now at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles. A native of Switzerland, Gurtner has spent most of his professional career in the U.S. He's logged 20 years with Westin hotels and 15 years with the Four Seasons chain.

Let’s hear it for the men. They came in traditional blue blazers and khaki slacks; they smoked their major assortment of gratis cigars; they dined on filet, lobster and steamed clams; and they bid through the roof on auction items raising a record $52,000 earmarked in part to support the “1221 Club” College Scholarship Fund in Newport-Mesa. It was the 14th annual Gentlemen’s Smoker and Lobster Clambake thrown on the bay-front lawn of The Balboa Bay Club and Resort.

Marisa O'Neil When he got a job as custodian at St. Joachim School 33 years ago, Hau Chung made a promise to his new boss. Chung died without breaking that promise. "He was a man of his word," said Paula Petersen, a Costa Mesa resident and mother of two St. Joachim students. "He had made a commitment to Msgr. [Thomas] Nevin that he would take care of his church and school as long as he possibly could. I don't think God makes those guys anymore."

Ryan Park, a 31-year-old solar energy executive from Corona del Mar, is still in the running to be Ashley Hebert's husband-to-be on "The Bachelorette," although he's never scored a one-on-one date. The only other guy to not get a one-on-one date — which means they've only hung out on group dates with other dudes — is Blake, who was eliminated at the end of last week's episode. Not great odds there. Charming, always smiling and bursting with enthusiasm, Ryan has managed to capture the attention of Ashley long enough to be kept around on their romantic ride through Asia.

A former Newport Beach man was scheduled to face fraud charges in a New York court Tuesday after fleeing the country six years ago. Eugene M. Carriere, who ran a Newport Beach Internet company, Yes Entertainment Network Inc., is accused of defrauding investors out of $11 million, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Curtis A. Kin. He fled the country in 1999 after search warrants were issued at his company, Kin said. Investigators located Carriere, 56, in Thailand a few weeks ago and authorities in that country took him into custody, Kin said.

Orange County's Great Park balloon has been grounded for inspection after a giant balloon in Hong Kong made by the same manufacturer sprang a leak and dropped from the sky last week, injuring five people. Great Park officials shut down the ride for an immediate inspection Friday after learning about the Hong Kong incident, said Great Park spokesman Marcus Ginnaty. Crews didn't discover any issues with the balloon, but Ginnaty said it will remain grounded until inspectors sent by the manufacturer - Paris-based Aerophile - arrive in Irvine to conduct their own investigation.

Vanguard University senior Paige Halberg earned second-team NAIA All-American recognition in women's basketball after leading the Lions to a 23-7 record and their 11th straight appearance in the NAIA national tournament. Halberg, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 11.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists, playing mostly point guard due to injuries to others. Her 45 steals and 30 blocked shots also led the team and her basketball IQ and versatility allowed her to fill several roles for Coach Russ Davis' Lions, who were ranked No. 12 in the final national poll.

What do you do when it turns out a wealthy investor can't actually come up with $174.5 million as promised? If you're Beverly Ray Parkhurst, who owns the landmark Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach, you call off your planned sale of the company to Winston Chung of Hong Kong and entertain other offers, as the Times reported Tuesday. And with your financials improving, you may decide to hold off on a sale altogether for now, a top club official said. Chung, a battery and electric-vehicle entrepreneur, attracted considerable attention over the last two years by investing in Southern California specialty-vehicle makers and promising to establish a green transportation industry in the Southland.

A deal to sell the Balboa Bay Club and Newport Beach Country Club to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman has collapsed. The $174.5-million deal for the combination yacht club and hotel and its sister Newport Beach Country Club was called off Jan. 13. Investor Winston Chung never came up with the money as agreed, forfeiting what city documents show was a nonrefundable $4-million down payment. "We were told he was having difficulty moving money out of China," David Wooten, chief executive of the clubs, said Monday.

Ryan Park, a 31-year-old solar energy executive from Corona del Mar, is still in the running to be Ashley Hebert's husband-to-be on "The Bachelorette," although he's never scored a one-on-one date. The only other guy to not get a one-on-one date — which means they've only hung out on group dates with other dudes — is Blake, who was eliminated at the end of last week's episode. Not great odds there. Charming, always smiling and bursting with enthusiasm, Ryan has managed to capture the attention of Ashley long enough to be kept around on their romantic ride through Asia.

COSTA MESA — Los Angeles-based musician Ernie Halter has his fans but he just found out that one of the biggest pop icons in the world knows his name: Justin Bieber. Bieber showed up Thursday night during a performance by Halter at La Cave in Costa Mesa to surprise the singer-songwriter. Bieber had covered Halter's song "Come Home to Me" at a Hong Kong performance during his recent world tour. Halter, 36, had no idea that Bieber, 17, knew he existed until he saw a video of the performance online.

The West Coast premiere of “Red Cliff,” the most expensive film ever made in China, will take place exclusively tonight at a local cinema, as part of the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices Chinese cultural festival. Director John Woo, 63, known to American audiences for Hollywood films like “Face/Off,” returned to his roots in Chinese action films to create “Red Cliff,” a war epic based on one of China’s most famous historical chronicles.

Dennis Conley Murphy aka Denny, “Murph”, Dennysan Born September 16, 1937—departed this life July 30, 2009. Dennis lived his formative years in Newport Beach, CA where he nourished his love for all things nautical. While a member of the California Air National Guard, he developed an abiding interest in aviation – his passion. Murphy was ‘larger than life’ with a life lived to the fullest. He was outrageous, irreverent, and ornery; funny, talented and generous; and a practicing perfectionist.

What the hay? Let?s see it?s July, the weather is warming up, I open the Pilot up this Friday morning, the first day of the OC Fa.... What? Go back check the date on the paper and yep it?s July 10, and after going through the paper from front to back, the only mention that the fair is starting it?s annual run today is some article on Weird Al Yankovic and his brain. The Pilot used to be front and center on our fair with a week?s worth of what to expect each year in the days before the fair?

Let’s hear it for the men. They came in traditional blue blazers and khaki slacks; they smoked their major assortment of gratis cigars; they dined on filet, lobster and steamed clams; and they bid through the roof on auction items raising a record $52,000 earmarked in part to support the “1221 Club” College Scholarship Fund in Newport-Mesa. It was the 14th annual Gentlemen’s Smoker and Lobster Clambake thrown on the bay-front lawn of The Balboa Bay Club and Resort.