Retirement

NEWPORT BEACH — Sitting on an oversized plush chair in baseball legend Chuck Finley's Newport Beach home, actress Tawny Kitaen seems to be in a much different place than she was eight years ago. A soccer goal is visible in the backyard, and her daughter's art covers the refrigerator in the family home. Her adopted dog, Woody, nuzzles Kitaen as she talks about a new off-camera passion: helping others. A volunteer at Kathy's House, a shelter for at-risk women in San Juan Capistrano, and a member of the board of directors at Testimony Life Resources, an alternative counseling center, Kitaen appears to be a far cry from her role as the eccentric star of "The Surreal Life," or the woman battling a dependency on prescription pills on "Celebrity Rehab.

Orange Coast College is offering the community the chance to prepare themselves for retirement. OCC is hosting two, two-day retirement planning workshops starting Saturday morning on campus. The seminars are $59 a session and come with a 226-page illustrated textbook. The first session is 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday and the second is 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. June 21 and June 28. Parking is free for the weekend classes, but weekday students must park in metered spots.

I've been retired for four years. On the whole, I like retirement a lot. It has its downsides, however, like not being able to remember what day it is. Recently my wife, Hedy, and I were having dinner at a Newport Beach restaurant after taking in "The Hunger Games" at the Regency Lido Theater. Hedy, a former schoolteacher, has been retired for 3½ years. We had a particularly good server that night. When she stopped by our table to collect her gratuity, Hedy said, "Thank you so much, and have a wonderful weekend.

The Newport-Mesa Board of Education approved an early-retirement incentive budget of up to $150,000 at its Tuesday meeting to benefit those who give early notice of their retirement. The program is limited to employees considering retirement at the end of the current school year; it would give up to $1,200 for each full-time worker who gives retirement notice by Jan. 15. There will be a cap on the number of participants in the first-come, first-served program. The district also approved an agreement to provide confidential student data to the Orange County Department of Education in order to receive grant funds for Davis, Pomona and Whittier elementary schools.

Public retirement is out of control. Private sector employees are working longer. Public employees are retiring earlier because of the retirement formula that gives them 2% of their salary at age 50 to 55, which used to be put off until age 60. That combined with cafeteria health plans, sick leave and vacation, excess cash-outs means most public employees, especially fire fighters and police officers, can retire at...

Amy R. Spurgeon Finding a life after retirement at the Oasis Senior Citizens Center wasn't a challenge for 80-year-old Nathalie Goldstein -- it was a calling. The Corona del Mar resident hustles around the sprawling facility on Marguerite Avenue each day, racking up 1,440 unpaid hours per year. She runs the gift shop, keeps track of the growing membership roster and helps in the kitchen. "If you ask my husband, I am here more than I am at home," Goldstein said.

Andrew Edwards Newport Beach Police Chief Bob McDonell is retiring July 1. But don't expect the longtime peace officer to hang up his badge. If the City Council approves a plan proposed by City Manager Homer Bludau, McDonnell's retirement would only be a formality. McDonell could continue to serve as police chief under a contract that would allow him keep working at his existing salary while drawing a pension from the state's retirement fund. Mayor Steve Bromberg anticipates the council will approve Bludau's proposal.

Deepa Bharath Many memories are fresh in Doug Wilson's mind. The Costa Mesa fire captain, who retired on Saturday, said his 28-year career with the city flashes in his mind's eye as he hangs up his heavy boots and yellow suit. There was the toughest call he ever took -- in 1981, when an airplane crashed in the middle of Victoria Street, killing four people. "I was a fire engineer then," Wilson said. "It was a difficult call because the scene was pretty devastating, with body parts scattered everywhere."

Mel Lindsey, owner of the Giant Step Learning Center in Costa Mesa, recently sold the school in an effort to slow down and officially retire. Lindsey, 78, retired from the Long Beach School District 19 years ago. He and his wife then bought the center, which at that time consisted of about five students, a sandbox and a couple toys. It has since become a preschool and kindergarten facility for children ages 2 through 6. There are now a slew of wheel toys, playhouses and a large outdoor play area, with tire swings and basketball hoops.

The new contract that Costa Mesa’s City Council approved for its firefighters Tuesday night enhances retirement benefits in order to encourage 12 firefighters to retire early. Politicians, activists and observers have different opinions on whether it will save the city money in the long run, though. Here’s the city’s math: Allowing firefighters to retire at age 50 instead of 55 will cost the city an extra $700,000 a year. The city will save $660,000 per year because the firefighters have agreed to forgo a scheduled pay raise of 4.9%.

Newport Beach firefighters could start contributing significantly more to their pension costs, officials said Friday. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a plan that would gradually move firefighters toward paying the full portion of their contributions to a state retirement fund. A second, lower retirement tier would go into effect for new hires that would eventually prove less costly for the city. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version incorrectly reported the meeting would be held Monday.

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray, who writes a regular column for the Daily Pilot, has received the Libertarian Party's nomination for vice president. The Newport Beach resident earned the nomination at the party's weekend convention in Las Vegas. Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, is party's the pick for president. Gray announced the news to friends in a letter, which the Pilot published Friday. His Sunday Forum column, It's A Gray Area, will be suspended while he campaigns through November.

The Orange County education superintendent on Thursday announced his intent to retire at the end of the year. Superintendent of Schools William M. Habermehl will retire June 29 after 11 years on the job, he told the Orange County Board of Education at its meeting, according to a new release. "It has been a great honor and privilege to have served as superintendent of this exceptional county," Habermehl said, according to the release. "I have had the opportunity in this position to work with outstanding staff, educators, board members, parents and community members who are doing incredible work for the students of Orange County.

I've been retired for four years. On the whole, I like retirement a lot. It has its downsides, however, like not being able to remember what day it is. Recently my wife, Hedy, and I were having dinner at a Newport Beach restaurant after taking in "The Hunger Games" at the Regency Lido Theater. Hedy, a former schoolteacher, has been retired for 3½ years. We had a particularly good server that night. When she stopped by our table to collect her gratuity, Hedy said, "Thank you so much, and have a wonderful weekend.

The Orange County Fair Board has promoted Jerome Hoban, vice president of operations, to the fairgrounds chief executive officer. Hoban, 38, will take over as interim CEO for Steven Beazley on Tuesday. He will take over the position permanently pending a background check. UPDATE: [This version clarifies that the position is an interim one for now.] "What I liked about Jerome is he has institutional knowledge of the fair history," said Fair Board member Stan Tkaczyk.

IRVINE - UC Irvine junior Kevin Tillie grew up in France and played his first two collegiate men's volleyball seasons in Canada. So, when it came to assessing the storied NCAA championship history of the Anteaters' Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal opponent on Saturday, UCLA was not so much an imposing force as a pain in the rear. Rather than 19 NCAA titles and the swan-song 50th season of legendary Bruins Coach Al Scates, all Tillie could think about was his woeful negative .222 hitting percentage (two kills on nine attempts with four errors)

What do you do once you've very nearly cast a play but can't produce it due to a lack of male talent in its key roles? If you're director Terri Miller Schmidt at the Newport Theatre Arts Center, you simply choose another, female-centric play and use the actresses you have. Schmidt, facing such a predicament with the originally scheduled "Crown Matrimonial," picked "Ladies in Retirement," a murderous melodrama she'd staged quite successfully a decade ago at the Huntington Beach Playhouse, and the transition is a seamless one. This vintage drama, a period piece when it first hit Broadway in 1940, is set in 1885 in the English marshes, Agatha Christie territory.

In an office, or on the pool deck coaching girls, Doug Volding has long been a counselor for Corona del Mar High. He resigned as CdM girls' swimming coach in 2009. A year later, he retired from counseling at the high school. Retiring from counseling made sense to Volding. Leaving the girls' swimming position was something harder to take, but necessary as he battled health issues. A comeback seemed unlikely. "I really never wanted to leave the sport, but I was feeling so rotten," Volding said.

Pictures of delicate blossoms, children innocently kissing and elaborately gowned women grace the walls of Ivan Eugene "Danny" Dan's Costa Mesa home. The framed pictures, bursting with color and romance, are not as they first appear. Rather than oil paints and brush strokes, the nuanced shading and detail that form the images are from tightly interwoven threads from countless skillfully placed needlepoint stitches. Perhaps even more astonishing to those unfamiliar with Dan, a retired operator of a Newport Beach automotive detailing and wax business, is that he is the artist.

Peyton Manning has been a dominant player in the NFL since 1998. He has led his team to a Super Bowl title, gone to multiple Pro Bowls, earned MVP honors and set multiple passing records. His critical importance to his team was highlighted in his absence this past season as the Colts lost 14 games. He has earned enough money in his player contracts and endorsements to last multiple lifetimes. He has a wife and kids and a loving extended family. He is a sure first-ballot inductee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.