Newport Beach to dedicate Reagan statue Oct. 9

With debates about location, partisanship and appropriateness behind them, Newport Beach city officials will dedicate a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan next weekend at Bonita Canyon Sports Park.

The City Council earlier this year agreed to commission the artwork entirely with private donations in honor of 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth. Newport Beach artist Miriam Baker was hired to sculpt a statue that City Manager Dave Kiff has called “a remarkable likeness” of the 40th president and former California governor.

“President Reagan was a transformational leader who inspired not only Americans, but freedom loving people throughout the world,” Councilman Keith Curry said in a news release. “He was a frequent visitor to Newport Beach, and I am proud that our community will join London and Budapest is recognizing the centennial of his birth with a statue honoring his role in extending freedom to millions.” … Continue Reading

Heroin arrests increase in Newport Beach

Heroin arrests are up in Newport Beach, police said in a press release Wednesday morning.

In three months, the Newport Beach Police Department has arrested 13 people on suspicion of selling the drug and 19 on suspicion of  possessing it. In addition there have been 18 arrests for illegal possession of prescription pills.

The majority of the arrests, according to the news release, were for suspects in their late teens and early 20s. Some are as young as 17.

“The heroin being used on our local streets is mostly black tar heroin, which is made in clandestine laboratories in Latin America,” the news release said. “Large-scale sales and distribution of heroin is controlled by Mexican drug cartels and Hispanic street gangs, which smuggle heroin into the U.S. from Mexico and funnel the proceeds back to Mexico.”

Police said the drug is circulating at high school parties.

Newport will remove 100 trees near fatal accident site

Newport Beach officials announced Tuesday evening that the city will remove 100 trees in the area of Irvine Avenue where a felled eucalyptus crushed a car and killed a driver last week.

Blue gum eucalyptus will be removed along Irvine between Dover and Westcliff drives.

Irvine will be closed in both directions through 5 p.m. Thursday. Schools, businesses and residents were notified.

Dover Drive and Tustin Avenue were called likely detours, but the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa police departments were still ironing out the street closure in the area near the cities’ shared border.

Haeyoon Miller, 29, of Tustin, died Friday after a 10-ton tree crushed her Hyundai while she waited at a stop light.

The city of Newport Beach, which maintains the trees inside Costa Mesa city limits, hired an independent arborist to analyze the row of trees.

The arborists recommended that the trees be removed, City Manager Dave Kiff said in a statement.

John.canalis@latimes.com

Twitter: @JohnCanalis

Newport will remove trees in area where driver died [updated]

Newport Beach officials just confirmed that they will remove 100 trees in and around the area where a felled eucalyptus crushed a car and killed a driver last week.

[Update: The city has upped the number to 100 trees.]

The accident at 17th Street and Irvine Avenue in Costa Mesa killed a 29-year-old woman.

Irvine Avenue will be closed between Westcliff and Dover drives until 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Newport maintains the trees for Costa Mesa.

Hoag Hospital plans layoffs

Hoag Hospital announced plans Tuesday today to lay off about 175 employees.

Accounting for about 3.5% of its 5,000-person workforce, the cuts will affect its hospitals and Newport Beach and Irvine as well as its network of health care centers, according to Nina Robinson, vice president of corporate communications.

Hoag blames “the weak economy, high unemployment” and insurance payment changes, according to a written statement. … Continue Reading

Coast Guard calls off search for bodyboarder

Big waves near the Los Angeles-Orange County line could have claimed a bodyboarder. The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday called off a search for Jowayne Bindford, 24, of Long Beach. He went missing off Surfside, a gated enclave between Seal Beach and Sunset Beach.

Bindford, according to an alert from the Coast Guard, was last spotted on his board 200 yards offshore at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

A Coast Guard helicopter dispatched from Los Angeles and a response boat from Long Beach spent nine hours scouring Seal Beach, Sunset Beach and Huntington Beach. Bindford’s family kept vigil along the coast, according to the Orange County Register.

The Coast Guard said it would resume the search if new information about Bindford became available.

Eight- to 10-foot waves rolled into Huntington Beach and some sets reached 12 feet, said Dan Kaiahua, a Huntington Beach city lifeguard, who also warned of riptides.

The high tide prevented beachgoers from watching the surf from many spots and made access difficult for surfers in some spots, he said.

Another factor also kept crowds and the number of surfers to a minimum: school started this week in Huntington Beach.

– Lauren Williams contributed to this article.

O.C. prepares to welcome home Little League world champs

The Ocean View All-Stars, who became the first team from Orange County to win a Little League World Series title, are scheduled to arrive home from South Williamsport, Pa., on Monday night at Los Angeles International Airport. The team then will be bused to the Ocean View Little League playing fields at Murdy Park in Huntington Beach.

Ocean View won the Little League World Series championship Sunday by coming from behind to defeat Japan, 2-1.

Team members Hagen Danner, Anthony Martinez and Nick Pratto, Manager Jeff Pratto and Coach Jose Martinez will not be part of the Ocean View entourage Monday. They are driving from South Williamsport to Cooperstown, N.Y., to play with their So Cal Rebels 12-Under travel team at the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Cooperstown Classic tournament. The tournament started Sunday and runs through Friday.

The Ocean View All-Stars will be honored with a parade Sept. 10 in Huntington Beach, Jeff Pratto said.

“This is all pretty exciting but it still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Pratto said in a phone interview Monday. “We’re driving through small towns in rural Pennsylvania this morning, on our way to Cooperstown, and when we stopped to get some breakfast folks knew who we were. Some wanted to take photos of us. It’s just a great atmosphere here and a pretty neat feeling.”

Ocean View wins first game in Little League World Series

The Ocean View Little League team from Huntington Beach just beat Rhode Island 11-0 in its first game of the Little League World Series. Los Angeles Times sports is at the game with full coverage to come.

Ocean View looks poised to win its first game in Little League World Series

The Huntington Beach team, representing California, is up 9-0 over Rhode Island in the top of the 6th Inning. The game, which was rain-delayed, is live on ESPN.

Letters From The Editor: The kid has big dreams involving animals

At my kid’s recent preschool graduation, she climbed on a box, accepted a ribbon-wrapped diploma and fielded a hard question from her pre-K teacher:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“Pet store owner,” she said.

After the ceremony, I told her that it was OK with me if she owned a pet store, as long as it’s Petco. She’s 5 and, as usual, had no idea what I was talking about.

…Continue reading Letters From The Editor: The kid has big dreams involving animals