Las Vegas

Even though they won't be going far, 3.1 million Southern California residents will travel out of town this Memorial Day weekend, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. "They're traveling closer to home…. Historically San Diego had the No. 2 or 3 destination, and this year it's No. 1," Auto Club spokeswoman Maxine Montgomery said. "I think the reason would be it's not a four-hour drive, it's a two-hour drive, and people go, 'OK, that's going to be half as much gas as Vegas so maybe that'll be more affordable."

BASEBALL Luke Genova had two hits and two RBIs, also striking out the side in the sixth for a save in Citrus Motors' come-from-behind victory on March 15. Jeremiah Sheldon pitched three scoreless innings for Citrus, and Jake Genova, Chase Alibrando, Zane Waysz and Sheldon all added RBIs. Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Mustang Division Citrus Motors 6, Sun Cal 3: Citrus Motors 4, Al's N.Y. Café 0: Nick Belida and Luke Genova each pitched three shutout innings for Citrus Motors, which also played strong defense, on March 17. Luke Genova, Jake Genova and Jeremiah Sheldon each collected two hits, with both Genovas driving in two runs.

Spend the day playing the beautiful Monarch Beach Golf Links while benefiting a very worthy cause. Sign up today for the Junior League of Orange County's Golf Tournament by the Sea on March 30. This isn't just a golf tournament, and anyone can attend. The Junior League plans a day of fun that includes a great lunch and drinks on the course, a live auction, a post-tournament buffet dinner, a reception and awards. Golfers can participate in on-course contests, wear complimentary Nike golf clothing, and receive a fun goody bag filled with treats from local and national retailers.

NEWPORT BEACH In anticipation of one of the most watched television programs in the world, film producer Robert Kline comes to the Newport Beach Public Library Wednesday to present "The Oscars: A Look at the Academy Awards." As a former member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Kline will offer guests an insider's perspective on the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. Working more than 40 years in the motion picture industry — 10 of them as executive vice president of 20th Century Fox — Kline produced dozens of shows and documentaries for television.

Sid Soffer could have been a character in a novel. Beneath his cranky demeanor and scruffy white beard was an ingenious restaurateur, savvy businessman, classic car collector, self-taught legal scholar, city hall gadfly and curmudgeonly renegade with a libertarian streak. He created a thriving restaurant business with his Blue Beet restaurant in McFadden Square and subsequent Sid's Steakhouse on Old Newport Boulevard. When he wasn't cooking up beef stroganoff or booking top musical acts, he was engaging in legendary rows with city and county government.

"I have noticed that there is very, very little ocean breeze in Vegas, practically none. There is just something lacking here." "I want to know when's the last time somebody died from a cockroach?" "Part of the cleanup is to get rid of old cars. What you probably do not know is between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, I have lost over 20 old cars that the cities came onto my property and towed away and destroyed because of minor things like not being currently registered, a flat tire or dead battery, etc. That wouldn't happen if I was in town [not in Las Vegas]

Former Newport Beach restaurateur Sid Soffer — a maverick who lived by his own codes, often not exactly the government's — died Tuesday morning in Las Vegas after fighting leukemia and diabetes. He was 74. Soffer had been a self-proclaimed "fugitive" since 1995, when he left California for Las Vegas to avoid being arrested for building-code violations. But he always intended to come back and finish the fight. "I'm definitely coming back," Soffer told the Daily Pilot in 2000.

On Oct. 12, I flew to Las Vegas to attend a small reunion of some college buddies. I've known a few of them for about 40 years, and we were on a road trip to play some poker. We did play — for about an hour. My friends and I spent the entire time inside at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, two of us leaving for about an hour to shop at the Mirage. I retuned home on Oct. 14. On Oct. 31, I made a routine online review of one checking account and noticed that about $1,240 had been taken without my permission through four transactions in Las Vegas a few days earlier.

On Oct. 28, Brenda Chandler of Costa Mesa was down the street visiting with her sister when the bank called telling her that someone in Las Vegas had withdrawn $500 from her account that day. "My husband called me and sort of joking asked if I was in Las Vegas," Chandler said. Her husband had just gotten off the phone with their bank, which notified him that her debit card information had been used that weekend to withdraw $1,500 from ATMs in casinos. When she received her bank statement, Chandler discovered that the thieves had withdrawn $500 at a time, at the New York, New York, and Sahara casinos, and at a 7-Eleven along South Boulder Highway.

By the time you have read this, I will have just returned from one too many trips to Las Vegas. All of the trips this year but this one have been for business purposes. More and more, the organizations arranging the annual and semi-annual conferences I am compelled to attend are hosting them in Las Vegas. Out of each trip, I do manage to squeeze in a little education, but most of the time it does not make up for the fact that Las Vegas has very little to offer the two-day visitor besides what he or she can find along the strip.