NEWS
By Joseph Serna | May 18, 2012
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.
NEWS
From Staff Reports | May 8, 2012
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.
NEWS
May 4, 2012
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.
NEWS
By Jim Carnett | April 30, 2012
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.
NEWS
By Joseph Serna | April 27, 2012
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.
SPORTS
By Barry Faulkner | April 21, 2012
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)
ENTERTAINMENT
By Tom Titus | April 5, 2012
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.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo | March 12, 2012
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.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Sarah Peters | February 14, 2012
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.
SPORTS
By Leigh Steinberg | February 11, 2012
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.