Labor Day

Think of Independence Day and you think of fireworks and hot dogs. Think of Valentine's Day and you think of millions of men running red lights to buy flowers and candy in time. For too many people, Christmas is a retail blur, a time when we are supposed to pause and reflect, but end up shopping and dropping. Labor Day and Veterans Day? Those mean a three-day weekend. And Mother's Day has been reduced by a conspiracy theory to an occasion invented by greeting card companies to boost sales.

Covering a high-profile news story can be a mighty adrenaline rush for a reporter. It can also have its share of challenges. This applies to a spot-news story, of course. "Spot" news, as it is called, is so named because of its spur-of-the-moment nature. If two cars collide on a freeway, causing major injuries, we'll rush to the spot of the accident to cover it. Many of the stories on the public safety beat fall under that category -- a structure fire in Costa Mesa or a sinking boat in Newport Harbor would apply.

Deirdre Newman A local artist who has been decorating the outside walls of a Diedrich coffee house in Costa Mesa filed a complaint against the Costa Mesa Police Department on Wednesday, saying officers treated him brutally when they arrested him on Labor Day. Aloysious Dougherty III, 39, of Costa Mesa, was placed under citizen's arrest by the store's manager Monday on suspicion of vandalism and trespassing....

The Newport Strikers Region 97 Girls 13-and-under soccer team heads into league play this weekend off of a successful Labor Day Weekend that saw them claim second place in a tournament. The girls team took second in the Progressive Play Tournament at the Farm Complex, going 2-2-1 while outscoring their opponents 8-3 throughout the tournament. Newport beat Tustin, 2-1, Corona del Mar-Region 57, 5-0 and tied South County-powerhouse Mission Viejo, 1-1. Newport lost to HB55 in the opening game, 1-0, and also lost to the same Huntington Beach team in the final.

Paul Clinton With the sun blazing, beachgoers put a bow on summer by turning out en masse at Corona del Mar State Beach for some Labor Day fun. Huge crowds filled the beach on the holiday weekend leading in to the first day of school for many children, the start of the NFL football season and other events signaling the coming of fall. Kendell Minor, who lives in Redlands, jogged down to a lifeguard shack to ask if it was permissible to cook up some chicken, ribs and hot dogs at one of the beach fire pits.

Todd Karella Nothing says summer fun more than having your very own beach house, or at least that's what KIIS-FM (102.7) counted on when it launched its Summer Beach House promotion on the Balboa Peninsula earlier this summer. The radio station has been broadcasting live from the house on weekends since Memorial Day and plans to continue until its Labor Day Blowout this weekend. After spending the last four summers broadcasting from a Venice Beach location, station officials decided to move to a hipper, cooler Orange County location.

Know what day it is? No, not Sunday, you goose. Of course it's Sunday. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here annoying you. It's the Big Green Day -- the day upon which we are all Irish and during which we celebrate anything and everything connected with the Emerald Isle. Do you know what the odds are of St. Patrick's Day falling on a Sunday? One in seven, I think. As you know, I'm a big St. Patty's Day fan. It's a product of growing up in a neighborhood that was predominantly Italian and Irish, to say nothing of 12 years in Catholic schools -- Irish-Catholic, to be exact.

Bryce Alderton With cool ocean breezes, air and water temperatures in the low 70s, and plenty of sunshine, beach goers at Newport Beach made the most of Sunday's ideal weather conditions to take advantage of what many consider the last hurrah before the end of summer. Newport Beach lifeguard officials estimated that about 75,000 people visited the beach on Sunday. "It's been a quiet, uneventful Labor Day weekend so far," explained Newport Beach Lifeguard Capt.

Is it true? Can it really be September? I don't understand. Wasn't the Fourth of July last week? We moved clocks up a month ago, didn't we? I guess not. Yes, I'm afraid it's true. Here in the Land of Newport-Mesa, and probably the rest of the country too, summer is over. It's done, dude. Get serious. Get back to work. Get over it. Forget that Sept. 21, autumnal equinox thing with the sun and the earth and the poles. Way too complicated. The official end of summer is that very important holiday we celebrate on this very weekend.

WEATHER FORECAST It'll be yet another cool August day as the high hovers just above 70. What is this? Early October? Whatever it is, the sun will make it a point to peek through today and should do so most of the afternoon. But the clouds aren't going anywhere. Overnight, expect a low of about 62. Still not quite in the 50s. Expect warmer conditions Friday and into the Labor Day weekend. Enjoy the last hurrah. Information:o7 http://www.nws.