Prize

Orange County Market Place will give people the opportunity to prove they can carry a note in February and March with cash prizes for those who can stay in tune. Karaoke Scene Magazine presents Songburst, a karaoke-style competition held for four consecutive Saturday’s starting Feb. 16, will be at the Orange County Fair and Expo Event Center. The grand prize winner takes home $1,000, with other places taking $100 to $500 awards. Junior division winners receive their awards in saving bonds.

This corrects an earlier version of the story. Councilwoman Katrina Foley has announced a “creative media” contest in which students are invited to answer: “What motivates young voters, and why don’t they vote?” Winners will receive a framed certificate recognizing his or her achievements, along with a $500 tuition scholarship. Councilwoman Katrina Foley encouraged students to “get creative” and stressed that any kind of creative communication will be accepted.

The 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning play for drama, “Doubt: A Parable” opens Friday and will be performed through Nov. 18 at South Coast Repertory Theater. Written by John Patrick Shanley, the play stars Linda Gehringer as Sister Aloysius, a steadfast nun who believes in tutelage and discipline. According to Aloysius, fear is a means to discipline. By contrast, Father Flynn, played by James Joseph O’Neil, is an easy-going priest who wants students to like him. When Aloysius gets word of a possible inappropriate friendship between Flynn and a student, she plays detective and judge.

This summer, with the Anaheim Ducks atop the world of hockey, the Stanley Cup made its rounds of Newport-Mesa. The trophy, which traditionally gets passed to each player on the championship team, logged appearances at Muldoon’s, Fashion Island and the Orange County Performing Artscenter. That last location was an especially fitting one. Newport Beach businessman Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, who recently had a theater named after them at the Artscenter, are the owners of the Ducks and helped guide them to their first title.

They won’t be invited to Stockholm, but that’s OK with the nine UC Irvine scientists who have contributed to the environmental reports that won the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change its share of a Nobel Peace Prize. They were never really after the glory, just the work. Michael Prather, a UCI earth system science professor, researcher and a lead author for the panel’s reports dating back to 1995, said he appreciated how the Nobel committee named the entire organization as the beneficiary of the award.

A national championship skateboarding event that organizers say boasts the largest purse in professional skateboarding is coming to the Orange County Fairgrounds in 2008. The Maloof Money Cup, a six-event competition with $400,000 in prizes, will be held in conjunction with the opening weekend of the 2008 Orange County Fair from July 11-13, according to information from event sponsors. Joe Maloof, who owns the Sacramento Kings basketball team, created the three-day festival that will include a skateboarding camp, an amateur event and several professional events sanctioned by World Cup Skateboarding.

Somewhere toward the end of the Great Depression and before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Costa Mesa was home to a colorful but forgotten festival. For one day each year from 1938 to 1941, scarecrows of all shapes and sizes were displayed in the streets of Costa Mesa. They had names like “Town Gossip,” “Bad Man from Brimstone” and “Lady Flirt.” There were Japanese dancing girls with gourd heads and stuffed Mexican trinket peddlers complete with ponchos and sombreros.

In Newport Beach, residents fought hard to preserve the park-only concept on a piece of land that some saw as a good location for a new city hall. Still waiting to be determined is whether three kids playing catch there can be cited if they are caught. That's the rule in Costa Mesa's Paularino Park. Even if the park is empty, kids cannot play catch there. Go to any of Newport's beaches and you're likely to see one of those signs with a big "No" on it, as well as a long list of activities in which you are not allowed to take part.

Though the boat of choice has changed over the years, the spirit of the annual Flight of the Lasers remains the same. Running today in its 72nd year, the race brings dozens of Lasers to the harbor for a bit of friendly competition and a whole lot of fun. "Winning the race gives you bragging rights for years," said Carter Ford, who at age 60 was the oldest winner when he took first place in 2001. "For me, to hear the level of cheering from the spectators is one of those moments you remember."

What are teens reading this summer? From now until mid-August, teens have an opportunity to read for fun or get a head start on their school's summer reading lists and win prizes at the same time. The Teen Summer Reading Program, with this year's theme of "Peace, Love & Read," encourages students in seventh through 12th grades to read and be creative during the summer months. Register at any of the Newport Beach Public Library branches, read a book and write your review on a "Peace, Love & Read" form.