Radio

'Radio' is heartwarming "Radio" is a classic Hollywood effort at real family values entertainment. It's based on a true story from a small town in South Carolina. It crosses racial lines in a very positive way and is politically correct in all areas. While it cannot shake the feel of a made-for-TV movie, it still rises above its own limitations with a fine screenplay and A-list acting by its principal characters. Cuba Gooding Jr. makes the most of a difficult role as a mentally disabled young man whose single mom is a hard-working nurse at a local hospital.

Ahoy, It's a great weekend to get out on the water with 3-foot swells, 70-degree ocean water temperatures, plus great weather. As always, you will need to be prepared for morning and evening fog when the inland areas' air temperatures are this hot. Next week we will see what effects hit the Southland from Hurricane Dean, which is beating a westerly path across the Caribbean. Tropical Depression Erin has made landfall in southern Texas and is heading northwest, which will bring us muggy weather with high clouds along the coast.

Radio broadcast veteran Warren Duffy will speak at St. James Anglican Church at 7 p.m. Wednesday as part of the church’s “Steadfast in Faith” lecture series. For a decade, afternoon drive-time radio listeners in Southern California tuned in to hear the daily talk program “Duffy and Company — Live From L.A.” A free dinner will be served before the lecture at 6 p.m. Offerings will be accepted at the event. St. James Anglican Church is at 3209 Via Lido.

There's something for everyone at the Newport Sea Base this spring as the center's latest session of classes and programs kicks off Saturday. With more than 100 boats and a harbor-side location, the sea base is a spot where water enthusiasts of all ages and abilities can take classes and get some hands-on boating experience. "What they get from this is an opportunity to develop and find out what their interests are," said sea base program director Berkeley Green. The sea base, on Mariner's Mile, will hold its first spring session Saturday through April 8; other sessions run May 6 to 13 and June 3 to 10. Participants have their pick of classes; topics include canoeing, motorboating and environmental science.

Noaki Schwartz COSTA MESA -- A spokesman for Dr. Laura Schlessinger said Thursday there may still be hope for a resolution in her lawsuit against Beach Access owner Thomas Moore. Despite Schlessinger's filing in Orange County Superior Court claiming $1 million in damages, Allan Mayer said the escalating situation could be deflated if Moore is "willing to apologize for calling [Schelssinger] a liar and take responsibility." The bitter war of words between the radio personality and the business owner began nearly two months ago when Schlessinger took her son shopping at the South Coast Plaza store and saw a copy of Big Brother, a skateboarding magazine published by Larry Flynt.

Ahoy. On Saturday morning, I will fly north to the San Francisco Bay area for a yacht delivery from Ballena Isle Marina in Alameda to Anacapa Isle Marina in the Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard. I will be joined on this delivery by Capt. Chandler Bell, an experienced captain with Bongos Sportfishing and the advertising director for my radio show. The weather forecasts look passable, with the San Francisco buoy reporting swells smaller than 5 feet, and once again, this voyage will require rounding Point Conception, but this time traveling downhill.

They say news is never convenient. It wasn't this day either, as I was finishing up a very long Sunday shooting the annual Spirit Run and final round of Toshiba Senior Classic. I literally had just hung up the phone after making dinner plans with the family when, in the background, I heard radio talk about a structure fire in Costa Mesa. I was waiting for the normal response of "nothing showing, investigating," which is a majority of fire calls. I was gathering my stuff to leave when the radio dispatcher warned units racing to the scene that several calls continued to come in about the fire.

The nearly one-acre lot at 2400 Santiago Drive in Newport Beach is unassuming and barely noticeable as you approach it. It doesn’t give up much from the street view, shielding its house and yard from peering eyes. The house is tucked deep in the rectangular lot and was built by contractor Ken Bone in 1956. The all original home is done in a style of architecture similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans. The property not only enjoys a great location, it boasts a rich and storied past.

For three hours a night, anyone with a radio dial or an Internet connection can get a glimpse into the mind of John Ziegler. Weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m., he hosts a no-nonsense talk radio show on KFI-AM (640). Those who think Ziegler's biting sarcasm and straightforwardness on air is an act need only listen to his answering machine for evidence to the contrary. "Hi, you have reached the voicemail of John Ziegler from KFI," the message says.

-- Compiled by the Daily Pilot staff There are some days when the adrenaline is really pumping in the newsroom. You know, it kind of happens on days when we have freeway crashes, robberies and fires happen all at once. It's even harder to figure out what's going on when you don't have the luxury of eavesdropping on local police and fire officials using a radio since the departments went digital this year. We still get some sporadic information from the radio.

A Costa Mesa radio station shut down its weekly program on medical marijuana Sunday amid concerns that the show's host presented a one-sided view on a contentious topic, representatives said. Not long before it was to air, the nonprofit KOCI 101.5 FM pulled the plug on "Cannabis Community," hosted by Robert Martinez, a former marijuana dispensary owner and Army veteran. However, a station official said the show had actually been canceled a week prior. Controversy surrounded "Cannabis Community" after a Jan. 8 broadcast from a bar owned by Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan, who said on air that he supports legalizing and regulating the pot dispensaries operating in the city.

SANTA ANA - Leigh Steinberg's visit to Morton's The Steakhouse at the South Coast Plaza Village was billed as, "Lunch With A Legend. " Steinberg, the renowned sports agent and Daily Pilot columnist, delivered a legendary-type shot while on 710 ESPN Radio with Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley Thursday. Kellerman served up the topic of Frank McCourt to Steinberg and the 62-year-old slam dunked it. "He needs to go back to Boston," Steinberg said of the infamous Los Angeles Dodgers owner.

For the past nine seasons, John Ireland has been the Los Angeles Lakers' sideline reporter for KCAL 9 television. But that has changed because the Corona del Mar High alumnus will now be calling the action. Ireland, a 1981 graduate of CdM, will be the play-by-play announcer on 710 ESPN radio alongside commentator and former Laker Mychal Thompson, it was announced Tuesday. Ireland, 47, who has been with KCAL since 1995, replaces Spero Dedes, now with the New York Knicks. Corona del Mar High must be proud of its alumni.

COSTA MESA — A 23-year-old pedestrian has died of head injuries sustained when she was struck by debris from a car crash near South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa police confirmed Wednesday. Jessica Hoke, a recent UC Irvine graduate and Santa Ana resident, died Friday — three days after she was hit in the head by debris at 8 a.m. as she was standing at a corner and waiting to cross the street, police said. The Nov. 30 crash allegedly was caused by a 17-year-old driver who ran a red light in a pickup truck and collided into two cars near the intersection of Sunflower and Stevens avenues.

A taped forum hosted in Costa Mesa this week by public radio station KPCC sought to address conflicts between the Muslim and Jewish communities at UC Irvine. But in the end, the discussion seemed only to distill the political disagreements that have them at loggerheads. Former campus student leaders, community members, and Muslim and Jewish organization leaders met at South Coast Repertory’s Julianne Argyros Stage in front of an audience of 100 people to also find ways for students to interact more constructively.

A taped forum hosted in Costa Mesa this week by KPCC, the public radio station, sought to address tensions between the Muslim and Jewish communities at UC Irvine. In the end, though, the discussion only seemed to distill the political disagreements that have them at loggerheads. Former campus student leaders, community members and Muslim and Jewish organization leaders met at the South Coast Repertory’s Julianne Argyros Stage in front of an audience of 100 people to discuss the ongoing tensions between Muslim students, supporters of Israel and the UC Irvine administration and to find ways for students to engage with another more constructively.

The recent storms became emergency incidents to us at various levels, depending on whether we lost power, were in a car stuck in water or had floodwater or tree branches coming into our homes. Fortunately, most of us carry cell phones, which were able to function if the power went out at this level of minor emergency. But now is the time to act on a plan to have back-up emergency communication if you need help, and you can’t run to get it, and there is no phone service of any kind.

It’s a typical Saturday at KOCI. Brent Kahlen, general manager and director of the nonprofit community radio station is trying to figure out what’s wrong with the station’s Internet feed, but he’s also has to engineer local real estate agent Troy Davis’ weekly radio show on the economy. This week, Davis is interviewing Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street. Luckily, the station’s attorney Barry Jorgensen, whose goes by the DJ name “Dr. Barry” can play engineer, so Kahlen can call the phone company.