Costa Mesa students shine at Les Miller event

Costa Mesa High School student Matthew Morgan, left, listens as Principal Phil D'Agostino speaks of his outstanding achievements, including a 4.68 GPA, during the 33rd annual Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce Les Miller Outstanding Student Awards and Scholarship Recognition Breakfast. (DON LEACH)

Impressive. Incredible. Amazing. These are words to describe the scholars and student-athletes honored at the 33rd annual Les Miller Outstanding Student Awards presented by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce on Friday morning at the Costa Mesa Hilton.

The words certainly fit Matthew Morgan. Those and one more: genius.

Matthew, 15, is set to graduate from Costa Mesa High two years early with a weighted 4.68 grade-point average. In the fall, he’ll attend California Institute of Technology to major in mathematics.

He said he was encouraged to move to higher grades when he was in the fourth grade at Killybrooke Elementary School. Three years later, he was tackling ninth-grade classes and those were too easy.

When reading off Matthew’s accomplishments, Principal Phil D’Agostino said Matthew missed three questions on his SAT practice test.

“He can levitate objects,” D’Agostino joked.

–Steve Virgen, @SteveVirgen, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “Costa Mesa students shine at Les Miller event”

H.B. Art Center, Festival of Arts team up for show

Kate Hoffman, left, and Pat Sparkuhl stand in front of a painting by Bradford Salamon called "Bowtie." (STEVEN GEORGES)

Huntington Beach artists can forget about entering their work in Laguna Beach’s Festival of Arts open-air show, unless they can prove that they live in one of 34 ZIP codes outside of Surf City.

Under the Festival’s present-day rules, Surf City and points in Orange County north and west of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine lie outside the zone of residential eligibility for the annual juried summertime fine arts exhibit.

But Kate Hoffman, executive director of the Huntington Beach Art Center (HBAC), hopes that a new collaboration with the Festival may lead to a more accommodating change in the rules.

“This may open the way for local artists to apply,” Hoffman said. “I am hoping that they will recognize our local artists.”

On Saturday, the HBAC — the spacious and high-ceilinged facility on Main Street — and Festival will jointly open an exhibition at the HBAC that showcases 48 paintings and sculptures by 18 artists from South Orange County.

The featured artists — including Scott Albert, Ken Auster and Mariko Ishii — have either exhibited at past festivals or will do so at this summer’s festival, which is set to run from July 1 through Aug. 31.

–Imran Vittachi, @imranvittachi, HB Independent

…Continue reading “H.B. Art Center, Festival of Arts team up for show”

‘American Idiot’ musical to hit Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Gabrielle McClinton (Whatsername), center, is joined by other cast members of "American Idiot." (Photo by Doug Hamilton)

Punk band Green Day skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s, but is winning over an entirely new audience with its latest offering: a Broadway musical.

But their “American Idiot” is a far cry from “Camelot.” It’s a gritty, urban-inspired show that uses the same punk songs that made the band famous, and adds more than a smattering of simulated drug use, strong language and other adult situations.

“American Idiot,” which arrives in Costa Mesa on May 29, follows the lives of three disaffected suburban youths: Johnny, Will and Tunny.

The country’s residents are riveted by their television sets, and the boys want a way out. Johnny and Tunny move to the big city, where Tunny soon is brainwashed by an Army recruitment ad, shipped off to war, and wounded. Johnny, in the meantime, discovers heroin — and love. Passive-aggressive Will stays at home to support his pregnant girlfriend, but takes his solace in beer and pot.

The musical is based in part on Green Day’s 2004 “American Idiot” studio album, and more specifically with the song that became “Homecoming.”

The three band members spent a day in the studio creating solo 30-second songs, which later merged and connected into the song, and inspired a full concept album akin toThe Who’s”Tommy” orAndrew Lloyd Webber’s”Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Michael Mayer, the director of the wildly successful modern musical “Spring Awakening,” heard the album and approached the band about adapting it for the stage. It had a successful run on Broadway before being launched as a nationwide touring production.

–Candice Baker, Special to the Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “‘American Idiot’ musical to hit Segerstrom Center for the Arts”

Mansoor accuses opponent of willingness to work with unions

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor speaks at a Surf City Tea-sponosored forum at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) told a conservative group Monday that he believes his Republican opponent in the June 5 primary will bow down to unions and special-interest groups in Sacramento.

During a Surf City Tea-sponsored forum in the Huntington Beach Central Library, Mansoor said Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who is running against him in the 74th Assembly District race, supports unions and raising taxes.

“That’s a clear difference between me and my opponent, who calls herself Republican,” he said.

Daigle said Tuesday that there is no basis to Mansoor’s claims.

“There’s nothing in my record of public service that suggests I’m a tax-raiser,” she said. “I would say that together with my colleagues, we’ve gotten more pension reform [in Newport Beach] than Allan [did when he was on the Costa Mesa council].

“Several of the employee groups are now paying their full share of their employee pension, and we’re in the process of working with police and fire, and we anticipate reaching an agreement by the end of the month.”

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

…Continue reading “Mansoor accuses opponent of willingness to work with unions”

H.B. eateries hosting fundraisers for Brashears family

Marina High School has announced a series of fundraisers in the coming weeks for the family of Austin Brashears, the 2009 graduate who died Saturday in a crash in New Zealand.

Principal Paul Morrow said the school has partnered with a pair of eateries and plans to collect funds on campus to send to Brashears’ family, which is trying to raise enough to have his body transported back to the United States.

The first fundraiser is from 2 to 11 p.m. Wednesday at Hot Off the Grill at 16522 Bolsa Chica St. in Huntington Beach. All proceeds from customers who wish to donate will go to the Bring Austin Home campaign, as it’s formally known on PayPal. Restaurant management has asked that customers staple a document with Brashears’ name on it to their receipt for bookkeeping purposes.

Cherry on Top, a frozen yogurt shop at 7011 Warner Ave. in Huntington Beach, has a fundraiser planned from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday. The shop will donate 30% of proceeds from any customers who mention the campaign.

The school also plans to gather donations through a Miracle Minute fundraiser, in which the student body passes around a bucket for 60 seconds and classmates drop in donations. The date has not yet been set.

–Michael Miller, @MichaelMillerHB, HB Independent

…Continue reading “H.B. eateries hosting fundraisers for Brashears family”

Charm House tour is back in Laguna

Organizers Johanna Felder, left, and Charlotte Masarik, right, chat in the garden court of owner Pam Hagen, middle, as they plan the Charm House Tour, which will go through Hagen's early California/Monterey-style home. (DON LEACH)

This year’s 40th annual Charm House tour on May 20 will feature homes that have weathered some difficult points in Laguna Beach’s history.

Event spokeswoman Barbara Picheny said Village Laguna, which hosts the tour, is looking forward to two Bluebird Canyon homes in the tour that endured the canyon’s devastating landslides.

One home in particular, she said, had actually been pushed to the roadway and had to be rebuilt. An architect heard of the homeowner’s plight and volunteered his services so that they could once again enjoy their space in the canyon. This home will be the site of refreshments.

Picheny said the result was a completely different home than the one prior to the landslide.

“In this town people deal with some very unusual threats,” she said. “People do love Laguna Beach and when these things happen, they do pull together.”

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot

…Continue reading “Charm House tour is back in Laguna”

Photo Gallery: Wings of Freedom Tour at JWA

A crew member rides atop the WWII B-24 Liberator heavy bomber "Witchcraft" as it arrives to the Lyon Air Museum after it touched down at John Wayne Airport Friday as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour. The display was in town through Sunday. (Don Leach)

For more photos, click here.

Taste of OC will return

The Taste of Orange County will return in June after a more than 15-year hiatus, an event producer confirmed this week.

Not only is the countywide, five-star culinary festival emerging from retirement, but artisan cocktails, locally brewed beer, sommeliers, cooking demonstrations, celebrity chefs, arts and musical entertainment are in the festival’s corner this time around.

“With the explosion of restaurants and chefs and food and wine, we do [festivals] all over the country in individual cities,” said Judy Gray, one of the event’s producers. “But we really need to do something all together. The time has come again. I think this is going to shine a light on how the culinary scene has grown and what it has to offer.”

The two-day festival will be held June 16 to 17 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine.

It previously was held in an industrial complex’s parking lot near the Irvine Spectrum Center, Gray said.

While it’s not clear why past festival organizers hung up their aprons, Gray said the new organizers have a comeback in the works, with plans extending five years out.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “Taste of OC will return”

Charlie Palmer to host Second Harvest event at South Coast Plaza

The Second Harvest Summer Food & Wine Event returns to Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s South Coast Plaza from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, an event organizer said.

The event at the Costa Mesa shopping center features award-winning wines and gourmet food, a silent raffle and music by KCRW 89.9 DJ Jason Bentley.

And, because the event is sponsored by South Coast Plaza, 100% of the ticket sales will benefit Second Harvest’s food bank, said Anton Segerstrom, a shopping center executive who serves on the Second Harvest board.

“They can produce about three meals for every dollar,” Segerstrom said. “So when you think about it, that leverage is incredible. It’s not only a good time, but the effect and change they make with one ticket is incredible.”

A presale ticket costs $75 through the Second Harvest website, feedoc.org, and $100 at the door.

Guests will be offered a 10% discount on select wines by the case.

A portion of those proceeds will be donated back by Charlie Palmer to Second Harvest.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “Charlie Palmer to host Second Harvest event at South Coast Plaza”

Mayor’s walk draws crowd in CdM

Mayor Nancy Gardner leads residents on a walk around Corona del Mar on Saturday. (Courtesy CdM Today)

About 35 people joined Mayor Nancy Gardner on Saturday morning on a 2.75 mile walk through Corona del Mar, which featured stops to review a few public works projects, local beaches, some history and updates on city issues like fire rings.

“This is active, outside and so informal,” said Corona del Mar resident Jacqueline Wittmeyer. “It’s a way to stay in touch. If you want to talk to the mayor or to the city manager, there they are. I love that.”

City Manager Dave Kiff and Kimberly Brandt, the city’s community development director, joined the walk, which began at 9 a.m. at the OASIS Senior Center. The group then walked along Fifth Avenue toward the new Upper Buck Gully trail head off Poppy Avenue, where Gardner explained the new trail that will be open to the public on May 30.

–Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

…Continue reading “Mayor’s walk draws crowd in CdM”