Upper Newport Bay

Alicia Robinson The California Coastal Conservancy announced on Thursday that it will give the county a $12.5-million grant that will allow the restoration of Upper Newport Bay to begin. Design of the project, now underway, should be completed by September 2004, with construction beginning in fall 2005, said Donald Spencer, the project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "We're very excited," Orange County coastal engineer Susan Brodeur said.

The 23rd annual Interfaith Hunger Walk steps off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 from Our Lady Queen of Angels School, at Jamboree Road and East Bluff Drive in Newport Beach. Hundreds of walkers from different faiths, age groups and walks of life will walk along the beautiful Upper Newport Bay, according to Bob Johnston, the lead organizer. There will be live music, games, food, drinks and prizes awarded at the end of the 4K/7K walk. A quarter of the proceeds from the walk will benefit local organizations, including Share Our Selves Jewish Family Services, O.C. Interfaith Shelter, Catholic Worker and Stand Up For Kids.

Several local streams and the Upper Newport Bay didn't meet water quality standards during a recent day of testing around the county, according to data from water quality watchdog Orange County Coastkeeper. The group recently issued results from a May 5 event, when volunteers and water quality experts collected samples from 31 spots along the Orange County Coast and its feeder streams, including several in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. The Upper Newport Bay also had problematic levels of dissolved oxygen and one kind of bacteria.

I recently toured Upper Newport Bay with engineers from the county and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to view the progress of the restoration project to date. These unsung heroes met the challenge of engineering a plan to excavate 2.3 million cubic yards of sediment while minimizing disturbance to wildlife. Together we marveled at the ability of nature to regenerate. The mud flats at 23rd Street are a huge success. Birds are foraging for worms and crustaceans in record numbers.

Earth Day, which officially falls Thursday, is a time for all of us to think about how we can protect our planet. There are many ways to do this: recycling, reusing, conserving resources, preventing pollution. Often simple steps are all it takes. We just need to understand what those steps can be. From 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. Sunday, we, the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends, and our partners at Upper Newport Bay will be holding our 20th annual Earth Day event at the spectacular OC Parks Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, which overlooks the bay. What better place to celebrate Earth Day than at a facility constructed mainly with recycled materials, such as the nearly 200 tons of spent oil filters used in making the steel bars that reinforce the concrete in the floor, walls and roof.

Many of us have at least some impression of, or experience with, a raccoon. Perhaps it comes from some adventure (or misadventure) at a family picnic or while on a camping trip. Maybe you have caught the eyes of one with your car lights on a dark night, had one nesting in your attic or had to discourage one from raiding your garbage at some point. Despite the mischief this "masked bandit" can sometimes cause, the raccoon plays an important role in the ecosystem by helping to maintain healthy populations and distributing seeds from what is caught or foraged.

Earth Day this year is Sunday. Come join your friends and neighbors and help us celebrate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, 2301 University Drive, Newport Beach. It's free, and families are welcome. There is ample free parking, and food and soft drinks will be available for purchase. This is all about enjoying the Back Bay and learning about its local environs through exhibition booths and interactive, educational displays. Many agencies and volunteer organizations from around Orange County will host booths and demonstrations to explain their respective roles in helping to protect Mother Earth.

The Southern California Plein Air Painters Assn. will conduct its fourth annual "Paint the Back Bay" exhibit and sale of original art from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat. and Sun., Oct. 14 and 15, at the Muth Interpretive Center. The center is at 2301 University Drive in Newport Beach. The event is free and open to the public. Local artists will be painting the Upper Newport Bay at various locations through Oct. 13 during this competition. About 60 eligible entries will be juried for awards.

Coastal Cleanup Day, which falls Sept. 16, is an international event at which thousands of volunteers pick up trash in coastal areas. This year marks 20 years that the center has been collecting debris and data in and around the Back Bay and, come the day, we'll be out removing trash just as in the years before. Our goal for Coastal Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay is not only to pick up every piece of trash we can reach, but also to educate the public about the bay's watershed — and we need your help.

A mechanical shriek followed a low rumble as the Boeing 737 came closer, a looming albatross partially obscured by a thin, misty cloud. Within moments, it had passed and was soaring over the gunmetal waters of the Upper Newport Bay and toward the ocean. Then, the jet did something it wasn't supposed to do: It flew straight ahead. "He didn't turn," observed Ken Shapero, a GE Aviation Systems official, peering skyward. The plane, striped in Southwest Airlines' distinctive yellow and red, should have curved left to stay roughly over the bay to comply with a flight pattern aimed at protecting residents from noise.

The 23rd annual Interfaith Hunger Walk steps off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 from Our Lady Queen of Angels School, at Jamboree Road and East Bluff Drive in Newport Beach. Hundreds of walkers from different faiths, age groups and walks of life will walk along the beautiful Upper Newport Bay, according to Bob Johnston, the lead organizer. There will be live music, games, food, drinks and prizes awarded at the end of the 4K/7K walk. A quarter of the proceeds from the walk will benefit local organizations, including Share Our Selves Jewish Family Services, O.C. Interfaith Shelter, Catholic Worker and Stand Up For Kids.

Date of Birth Feb. 12, 1929 Passed away 5/7/11 Born in Santa Ana, CA to Fred and Cleo Hein, Ron was raised mostly in Chino, CA, graduating from Chino High School in 1947.  In 1949 he married Marilynne (Shanks) Hein, also of Chino.  They raised their two children there, and moved to Newport Beach in 1969. They were happily married until her death in 1999, just shy of their 50th anniversary. Following his father Fred Hein into the Department of Fish and Game, Ron spent a long and fulfilling career as a wildlife manager, in Orange, San Diego, and LA County.  He was proudest of his efforts  connected with the fight to preserve the Upper Newport Bay from development .  He co-authored a report by California Dept of Fish and Game that favored conserving the bay, and asked the question “what kind of legacy does this generation want to leave to those of the future?

NEWPORT BEACH — From pulling people from burning cars to hauling a downed plane out of mud and water, business leaders and Newport Beach city officials were regaled Wednesday with stories of police officers' actions in the last year. The stories were part of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce's 40th annual Police Appreciation Breakfast. "These awards are representative of a great many more acts by our Police Department every day," said Mayor Mike Henn. Officers were lauded in two categories: lifesaving and merit.

Editor's note: This corrects the cost of the regional project to filter selenium. City and county officials have hit some setbacks in an ambitious effort to reduce the amount of selenium, a naturally occurring yet potentially toxic element, that enters Upper Newport Bay. Because of regulatory hurdles and strained city budgets, a $22-million regional project to filter selenium from creeks and tributaries is now in doubt. Scientists have detected the element in bird eggs and fish tissue taken from the Newport Bay Watershed, an area that spans from Orange Hills to Laguna Woods.

NEWPORT BEACH — While waiting for her turn to speak Saturday, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-California) shielded her eyes from the sun and looked over her shoulder, taking in the view. Between Fashion Island's towers to the left, homes to the right and commercial airliners soaring overhead, Upper Newport Bay was at high tide and full of life. If some politicians had their way years ago, this 750-acre watershed would look vastly different, probably with homes and baseball fields.

Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff has requested an extension of the deadline that requires him to move into the city limits. Part of Kiff's August 2009 employment contract stipulates that he had to make his "best efforts" to move into the city within 12 months. Even though that contract provision is considered unconstitutional, Kiff has agreed to move from Laguna Beach to Newport Beach and is remodeling a home near the west bluff of Upper Newport Bay. The remodel is taking longer than expected, Kiff said, so he has requested an extension until Dec. 31, according to a city report.

Newport Beach City Council candidates will spar Tuesday night at an election forum, the third of six community debates leading up to the November election. Most political observers are watching the match-up between Rush Hill, an architect who is tied into the Newport political establishment, and Ed Reno, a pharmaceutical lobbyist who is positioning himself as an outsider. They're running for the District 3 seat, which represents the west side of Upper Newport Bay. City residents can vote for all district races.

The Orange County Coroner's office has identified a decomposed body found floating in Upper Newport Bay as that of Swee Ai Oh, 50, a Newport Beach woman who was reported missing earlier this month. Oh's body was found in the water Sunday morning about 150 yards west of Jamboree Road, according to the coroner. The body was discovered by fishermen at about 7:15 a.m. near Bayview Way, said Newport Beach police Sgt. Keith Krallman. Oh, was last seen leaving for a walk near the Back Bay in at about 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 12. Her family reported her missing to police the next day. She was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, gray pants and possibly a watch.

It's not quite like Detroit and autos, but Newport Beach is known for producing Balboa Bars, boardshorts, frozen bananas and boutiques. Now wine? If the Planning Commission approves its plans next week, the Newport Beach Wine Co. will become the second vintner in the city. It would press, ferment, blend, bottle, label and sell wine all from a 2,500-square-foot space in an industrial complex. This terra firma near Placentia Avenue and 16th Street is even more unlikely than the other Newport winery, which has its own vineyard on the bluffs of Upper Newport Bay. Gus DeFalco, owner of the Floor Guys flooring company in Costa Mesa, is taking the gamble to open the business.