A quality education in any language

Wenson Huang, 1, of Irvine, is held by his father Ethan as he reaches out for his mother Blythe during an open house for Renascence School International on Saturday. (KEVIN CHANG, Daily Pilot / August 27, 2011)

COSTA MESA — Local families interested in giving their children a multilingual education gathered in Costa Mesa on Saturday for the grand opening of a new private school.

Renascence School International celebrated the opening of its second location at 2987 Mesa Verde East with a Chinese lion dance, ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours of the school and a speech by the school’s founder Juliann Talkington.

“What we’re trying to do with this school is prepare kids for this new world, new reality,” she said, referring to the global community. “The whole goal of the program is to create a child with unlimited possibilities.”

Talkington opened the first Renascence School in Panama City, Fla., teaching students English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. The private school uses an international curriculum that combines the best from different cultures, she said.

…Continue reading A quality education in any language

Newport library opening late Monday

The Newport Beach Central Library is slated to open late Monday for building maintenance.

The central library, 1000 Avocado Ave., will open at 1 p.m. Monday for work to be completed on its water lines.

The maintenance requires the library’s water turned off and its doors shut.

The library will be open until 9 p.m. Monday.

The Balboa branch, 100 E. Balboa Blvd., and Mariners branch, 1300 Irvine Ave., will be open during their regular hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Former Daily Pilot publisher Bob Weed dies

COSTA MESA — Bob Weed, who served as Daily Pilot publisher during a 20-year span that resulted in several newspaper awards, has died.

Weed died Saturday of natural causes in San Luis Obispo County, family members said. He was 92.

A newspaperman from the beginning, Weed had a long career in journalism that ended with a two-decade stretch at the helm of the Daily Pilot.

“He always had the ink in his blood,” said his wife, Marjorie Weed, 91, in a phone interview.

…Continue reading Former Daily Pilot publisher Bob Weed dies

Police: Man shot himself in Fairview Park

COSTA MESA — An unidentified man allegedly shot himself to death Monday afternoon at Fairview Park after an altercation with police, officials said.

About 1 p.m. while patrolling the Westside park, a Costa Mesa officer determined after checking the license plate of a blue 1990 Honda sedan that its owner had a traffic warrant.

The officer asked the owner, who was sitting in the Honda’s passenger seat, to get out of the car, according to a press release.

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Soccer league gives $2,000 to feed students

A local soccer league wants to help hungry college students from Costa Mesa’s Westside.

The California Youth Soccer League donated $2,000 to the Orange Coast College Foundation on Wednesday to pay for meals for students.

“We’re hoping to help students, especially in the Westside area,” said Humberto Caspa, who urged the league’s board to give back to the community.

The soccer league is a nonprofit with more than 600 kids between the ages of 4 and 12, Caspa said. About 98% of the players are from Costa Mesa.

They money will be used to buy $200 meal cards that students can use in the cafeteria, said foundation Director Douglas Bennett. It translates to about three meals a week, he said.

The idea came from Caspa’s own experiences at UC Irvine struggling to feed himself, he said.

The scholarship will be open to any Westside Costa Mesa resident.

Coastline’s new campus coming together

Once completed, Coastline Community College¿s new Newport Beach campus will replace the existing Costa Mesa campus at Baker Street and Mesa Verde Drive East. (Courtesy Coastline Community College)

Coastline Community College’s new $48-million campus in Newport Beach is starting to take shape as construction of the three-story building begins.

The first phase of construction — demolition, grading and installing underground utilities — is compete. Workers have started construction on the actual building and are expected to start on the walls on the first story Friday, said Dave Cant, director of maintenance and operations

“It’s actually moving along really well … we’re on schedule,” he said.

Coastline broke ground in April on a 3.4-acre site between Monrovia Avenue and Banning Ranch that will replace its existing Costa Mesa campus at Mesa Verde Drive East and Baker Street.

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That’s a wrap, folks

NEON LIGHTS: The spinning Tango and La Grande Wheel illuminate the night in the carnival zone on the last weekend of Orange County Fair, which had a record attendance this year. (Don Leach, Daily Pilot)

COSTA MESA — Southern California residents flocked to the Orange County Fair in record-breaking numbers and ate their way through a heart-stopping number of deep-fried delights this summer.

The fair attracted an unprecedented 1,400,280 visitors, shattering the attendance record set last year.

“My belief is the 2011 edition of the fair establishes that the O.C. Fair has perfected the formula for staging a successful fair,” O.C. Fair & Event Center Chief Executive and President Steven Beazley said in a statement. “That formula will now be applied to educate and entertain our community for years to come.”

…Continue reading That’s a wrap, folks

Pre-K students to show off painting skills

A band of pint-sized artists will have a one-day art exhibit in Costa Mesa — right in the middle of nap time.

Orange Coast College is showcasing “The Language of Paint,” a single-day exhibit of 24 paintings created by the pre-kindergarten students in the college’s Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center.

The 5-year-old students were given disposable cameras to capture the world around them and asked to re-create their favorite photo in paint.

The children had no special arts training, but figured out how to mix the colors themselves and learned through experimentation about different techniques like applying paint with a sponge or Q-tips.

The paintings will be on display from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with a reception from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Children’s Gallery of the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. OCC is at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Admission is free.

STAR results show Newport-Mesa up an average of 2% in four subjects

COSTA MESA — The number of Newport-Mesa students scoring proficient or advanced on state standardized tests continued its upward trend in 2011, according to state data released Monday.

The 2011 Standardized Testing and Reporting, or STAR, results shows the percent of students with an adequate or superior grasp of the curriculum increased from the previous year by an average of 2% in English-language arts, math, history and science, according to the state Department of Education.

The standardized tests are used to gauge how well students comprehend state content standards by grade level.

Students are categorized as either having an advanced, proficient, basic, below basic or far below basic knowledge of the content.

…Continue reading STAR results show Newport-Mesa up an average of 2% in four subjects

Getting an early start on college

COSTA MESA — Harrison Chan, 17, and Neal Lawton, 18, might have missed out on football games, but they walked out of high school with a lot more.

The two Costa Mesa residents are on their way to UC Berkeley this month after earning their high school diploma and associate’s degree at the same time — and the two were named valedictorians at both schools.

“I definitely wanted to get out ahead of the game,” Harrison said.

Harrison and Neal graduated in June from Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Early College High School and in May from Coastline Community College.

…Continue reading Getting an early start on college