Spirit

When I was growing up in Cairo, there was a rumor that the Egyptian secret service placed an informant in every neighborhood who knew every little move you made, your family history and what you said about the government. Just one bad word about the regime, and you'd be snatched from your bed, never to be seen again. Though I was young and didn't understand politics, the idea of an informant scared me. I didn't really want to believe this rumor - unconfirmed as it was - about my neighbors, who were good and kind people.

Worship location: Grant Howald Community Youth Center at Iris and 5th Streets, Corona del Mar Church telephone: (714) 641-8335 Denomination: Independent Year church established: 2001 Service time: 10 a.m. Sunday Minister: The Reverend Margaret Elizabeth Muegenburg Size of congregation: Approximately 15 Make up of congregation: Muegenburg describes the congregation as a group of...

Tom Forquer While their team valiantly wins or loses on the field, the high school football supporter can be struck by any number of ailments, including fatigue, low morale or even disinterest. Fortunately, the teams and their supporters are looked after by the music and cheerleading programs. One way to keep the spirit flowing is a good fight song. Though it is the official song of the United States Navy, Newport Harbor High has long utilized "Anchors Aweigh" to bolster the spirit of its troops.

Women won’t be the only ones allowed to wear skirts that show off their legs March 9 at Muldoon’s Dublin Pub in Newport Beach. The sixth annual ‘Sexiest Kilt Competition’ will be in the pub’s courtyard at 2 p.m. amid musical performances and entertainment to kick off St. Patrick’s Day week. Past contestants have shown their Celtic spirit by telling jokes, playing an instrument or simply sharing their love of plaid. The winner will be presented with the coveted Sexiest Kilt Trophy and a gift certificate to the Tartan Patch shop.

Richard Dunn NEWPORT BEACH - When President Bush told the country to return to normal, everyday living, he probably didn't have the inaugural Da Dunes Pro-Am Beach Volleyball Tournament in mind. But only if all of America could have seen the event Saturday at the Newport Dunes waterfront resort. From wild outfits in the themed four-person teams to heavyweight championship-type boxing belts for prizes, the sand tournament featured 24 men's squads and eight women's teams in pool play with some of the game's elite, including Misty May, the beach volleyball Olympian at the 2000 Sydney Games and former Newport Harbor High Prep All-American.

S.J. Cahn In September of 1993, the editors of the Daily Pilot -- current Los Angeles Timesmen William Lobdell and Steve Marble -- wrote this about their first Daily Pilot 103: "It was an impossible task, like putting together the best basketball team of all-time." I can only assume that the duo really had no idea how true that would continue to be. As the clock ticks toward deadline on Tuesday night, completion is feeling a bit like an impossibility, although if you're reading this now, we must have made it. And it's like this every year.

Those convinced that American culture is obsessed with celebrity have been given plenty of support in recent months. Shameless publicity stunts, conspicuous party crashing, questionable family planning, and other attempts at warrantless fame have been top stories, when not superseded by the latest celebrity gossip. In the past, such actions would have been embarrassments, but now they are seen as the ticket to the next reality show. So it’s refreshing for me to see that, right here at home, many of our children are still grounded in a different reality, one that seeks to provide comfort and hope to others who are in need.

VERNON WAKEFIELD MONROE Vern Monroe has died.  He departed unwillingly on February 3, 2013 following a long siege with cancer, which eventually won the battle over his indomitable spirit.  He died at home at the ocean's edge in Newport Beach at the age 87 years young.  He is survived by his son Stephen of Costa Mesa and his dear friend Ann Cullen of Newport Beach.                                  A native Californian,...

Christmas decorations are up around our nation. Malls are filled with lines of children taking pictures with Santa as Christmas carols reverberate in the air. Lighted Christmas trees glisten within many homes and schoolchildren are coloring Rudolph's nose, as the story of old St. Nick is told by the fireplace in anticipation of the sound of wrapping paper being torn open on Christmas Day. At its core, Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus...

Andrew Edwards The sound of cannon fire roared across the water and blasts of fire lighted up the gray skies Sunday as two tall ships engaged each other in the waves just beyond Newport Beach. Battle began after Doug Leasure, captain of the Newport Harbor-based Lynx, ordered his crew to make a hard turn toward its rival, the Spirit of Dana Point. The Lynx's two port guns were loaded, and Leasure gave the order to open fire as soon his ship passed the Spirit.

Costa Mesa High senior Alyssa Dasca admitted being nervous just before trying out to be a cheerleader for UC San Diego this past weekend. The three-day tryout didn't seem so intimidating to Dasca, the Mustangs' cheer captain. The stress really came from not knowing the San Diego area too well. But once she found the spot, she was fine. "It was different than something I was used to," Dasca said. "But I just did my best. " Dasca made the team to be a Tritons cheerleader. She went to UC San Diego Sunday to be fitted for her cheerleading gear.

I'm no sailor. As a matter of fact, I've been known to lose a meal over a vessel's heaving (no pun intended!) deck. It's a practice guaranteed to win few friends. But I do love a good maritime narrative that depicts human courage and conflict and can be calmly read from my Kindle screen in the safe anchorage of my sun-splashed living room. Some months ago that's exactly how I read historian Walter Borneman's World War II nonfiction work, "The Admirals. " Borneman's book details roiling sea battles waged throughout the Pacific Theater and focuses on the distinctive careers of U.S. Navy Adms.

It's time to put away those cell phones or risk getting a ticket. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments are keeping an eye out for drivers who focus more on their cell phones than on the road. Distracted driving, which can cost $159 for the first offense and $279 for each subsequent ticket, killed more than 3,000 people in 2011, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The month-long campaign proclaims "It's Not Worth It!"

At a noontime Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, the priest told parishioners the selection of Pope Francis provided a moment of jubilation for the church during an otherwise precarious time. "This is why we are rejoicing," Father Thai Trinh said in his homily before the few dozen congregants. "Our Lord is at work. " Trinh then asked the congregation to pray for the new pontiff so that he might serve "with great humility, great love and also with great courage as he guides the church through the stormy waters of our time.

Ask Jody Williams about Howlin' Wolf's legacy, and he'll rattle off remarkable numbers about the old Chicago bluesman. Not chart statistics. Measurements. "Well, he was a pretty big man," said Williams, 78, who played guitar for Wolf (a.k.a. Chester Arthur Burnett) in the 1950s. "He wore about a size 16 shoe, I think. He was a good showman, a really commanding presence. I mean, he had about a 100-foot cord on his microphone. That meant he would walk all around the club, up and down the bar. " Wolf, who died in 1976, made a shtick out of being large and fearsome; a typical snarled lyric went, "When you come home, you can eat pork and bean / I eats more chicken any man seen.

Drivers headed toward Fashion Island Sunday morning should take San Miguel Drive into the area from MacArthur Boulevard or Avocado Drive, as some roads in the area will be closed for the 30th annual Newport-Mesa Spirit Run, according to a Newport Beach Police Department news release. Roads, including eastbound San Joaquin Hills Road and parts of Newport Center Drive at East Coast Highway and around Fashion Island, will be blocked off from 5:30 to 11:15 a.m. Some roads may open earlier.

Runners and students from schools across Costa Mesa and Newport Beach will lace up and then line up at Fashion Island on March 3 for the 30th year of the annual Newport-Mesa Spirit Run. This time, some elite runners may join them. The Spirit Run is offering a cash prize for the first time, after being accepted into the Southern California USA Track and Field Grand Prix Road Running Championship Series. The top six finishers will split $1,250, and participants can earn points toward the 11-event road-race series.

VERNON WAKEFIELD MONROE Vern Monroe has died.  He departed unwillingly on February 3, 2013 following a long siege with cancer, which eventually won the battle over his indomitable spirit.  He died at home at the ocean's edge in Newport Beach at the age 87 years young.  He is survived by his son Stephen of Costa Mesa and his dear friend Ann Cullen of Newport Beach.                                  A native Californian,...

It's nearly impossible to say no to Diane Daruty. That, it turns out, is a very good thing. Daruty, a Newport Beach mom who has worked as a lawyer and certified public accountant, pretty much single-handedly rescued the Spirit Run from certain death. What's more, she reworked the annual school fundraiser into a bigger, more ambitious event, and she has lots of ideas and plans for more expansion and improvement. I know about Daruty's tenacity from first-hand experience. After last year's Spirit Run, she contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in writing about the resurrection and reimagining of the race.

The holiday season still sparkles at Newport's Ritz Restaurant. Stopped in for lunch Tuesday to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary and found that the Christmas lights were still ablaze as Ritz restaurateur Ray Jacobi greeted the arriving crush, wishing his patrons a happy and healthy New Year. As we settled in to our black, tufted-leather booth, surrounded by all the tradition we have come to know as familiar in a world where the old standards have vanished, I thought for a moment about the legacy of Ritz founder Hans Prager . It is interesting how one life can impact so many people, even in a relatively small community.