Learn about the ‘teenage mind’ at Sage Hill forum

Sage Hill School, in partnership with the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, is hosting “The Teenage Mind: What Every Parent Needs to Know” at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 on campus, 20402 Newport Coast Drive.

“Sage Hill School is pleased to welcome the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation to our campus to provide cutting edge information on the important issue of teenage mental health,” Jason Gregory, Sage Hill director of community life and public purpose, said in a statement. “As an educational institution, we are committed to providing purposeful opportunities to educate and empower our students, our families and our community.”

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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Newport Coast Elementary finds a ‘Starfish’

Newport Coast Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Ingrid Ohanian nominated her student, Angela Pham, for the district's Starfish Award. (SCOTT SMELTZER, Daily Pilot / January 30, 2012)

NEWPORT COAST — Angela Pham works hard and performs well in school, but she doesn’t want to see her peers left behind.

So the fifth-grader at Newport Coast Elementary School in her free time helps her classmates with their work and answers their questions.

“I always admire the fact that Angela is not only diligent, hardworking and has everything in … she looks to help others,” said her teacher, Ingrid Ohanian. “She has her eye out to constantly help others.”

Angela, 10, was one of 10 students across the Newport-Mesa Unified School District recently recognized with the district’s Starfish Award. Ohanian nominated Angela for the award that recognizes students for exceptional citizenship, character and community service.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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Five restaurants vie for Big Corona concessions business

Five restaurants submitted applications for the Big Corona State Beach concessions business, and city officials say they are hopeful that one of them will be selected this week.

The five applications were from Babe’s Cafe, Beach Snack Bar, The Porthole, Rooster Cafe and Zack’s Beach Concessions and Catering. Four of the five proposers interviewed with city staff Friday, said Tara Finnigan, a city spokeswoman.

“I hope we will have a selection by the end of this week / early next so a lease can be negotiated and the item can go to Council in February,” Finnigan said in an email.

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Newport’s Cochran to throw for UC Berkeley

Newport Harbor High senior discus thrower Ethan Cochran said he plans throw for the UC Berkeley men's track and field program after high school. (Scott Smeltzer, Daily Pilot)

Newport Harbor High discus thrower Ethan Cochran said he plans to sign a national letter of intent with the UC Berkeley men’s track and field program on Wednesday, which is National Signing Day.

Cochran, the CIF State champion in the boys’ discus last season, said he chose the Golden Bears over Oregon, UC Irvine and Alabama because he felt the school is the all-around best fit for him.

National Signing Day for track and field, football, boys’ water polo, soccer, cross country and field hockey marks the first day high school seniors can sign with a college.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza, @DCPenaloza

Commission to discuss fire rings at Feb. 7 meeting

The future of Newport Beach’s 60 beach fire rings once again will come up for discussion at a Feb. 7 meeting of the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission.

No agenda has been posted for the meeting and is expected to be available Friday. But a public notice mailed to residents who live near the fire rings states that the commission “discuss solutions related to beach fire ring issues and forward a recommendation to the City Council.”

The city’s website states that while many beachgoers like rings, their smoke can impact nearby residents’ and other beach visitors’ health, can cause injuries and lead to beach curfew violations.

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Motor home catches fire on Southwest Cypress Street

No one was injured and the total damage was estimated at about $15,000 after a motor home caught fire Friday. (Courtesy Newport Beach Fire Department)

Newport Beach firefighters extinguished a motor home that was fully engulfed in flames Friday morning, authorities said.

The 27-foot home was ablaze when firefighters arrived at the scene on Southwest Cypress Street about 9:22 a.m. Initial reports said horses in a nearby corral were endangered by the fire, Newport Beach Fire Department said.

Firefighters found one horse in a corral at the rear of the property, but the animal escaped uninjured and was moved by neighbors, the department said.

– Lauren Williams, @lawilliams30, Daily Pilot

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Albertsons wine tasting license approved

Albertsons in Corona del Mar has been granted an “instructional tasting license” by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, paving the way for wine and beer tastings at the store at 3049 E. Coast Hwy.

“We will have our first ‘tasting’ this Saturday,” said Store Director Robin Begley. The free event will feature Yellow Tail and Ruta 22 wine in the liquor department, she said, and will be open from 2 to 6 p.m.

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Daigle requests for Newport to reexamine 19th Street Bridge

Despite passionate public outcry from Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa residents about revived talks of the proposed 19th Street Bridge, Newport Beach council members are slow to distance themselves completely from the project.

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle is requesting the city reexamine the bridge — which would alleviate traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway and Victoria Street bridges — ahead of either reaffirming the city’s position to support it or come out against it.

“We’re taking it up as an accommodation to our neighbors in H.B. who are impacted by traffic,” Daigle wrote in an email. “I indicated to them Newport may affirm their position, but I would get them a yes, no or alternative solution.”

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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CdM car show faces crosstown rival

The Coastline Classic Car Show fills Big Corona State Beach’s parking lot each September with hundreds of vintage cars and thousands of enthusiasts — but a new car show that would benefit Newport Elementary School on the peninsula is being planned for the same month, causing concerns among two City Council members and CdM Chamber organizers.

“I’d just like to go on record that I don’t think that’s a very good idea for that second car show to be held close in time to the Corona del Mar show that’s been going on for a long time, has achieved real critical mass and success,” Councilman Mike Henn said in a study session Tuesday at City Hall. “I’m not against Newport El having a car show, that’s for sure, but I don’t think we want it in such close competition with Corona del Mar.”

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Ringing in the Lunar New Year

Members of Mrs.Archibald's kindergarten class parade past upper grades as they perform a Dragon Dance in honor of the Chinese New Year at Harbor View Elementary in Corona Del Mar. (DON LEACH, DAILY PILOT / January 25, 2012)

CORONA DEL MAR — Antsy to begin, the 5- and 6-year-old students — some wearing red paper conical Chinese hats and holding musical instruments or accordion dragons on two Popsicle sticks — lined up.

“We’re going to ring in the Lunar New Year,” kindergarten teacher Michele Creason cheered with a ring of a handbell.

Harbor View Elementary School’s annual kindergarten dragon parade began Wednesday afternoon with a cacophony of celebration as the student shook maracas, rang bells and triangles, and banged blocks and wooden sticks.

“Gung hay fat choy,” shouted kindergartner Garrett Peard, 6. He was wishing his peers a happy new year in Chinese as he made his way around campus.

Led by a student wearing a decorative paper mache headpiece of a smiling man, followed by a dragon with sharp teeth, the parade snaked its way across campus. It was met with thunderous cheers from older students eating lunch. Others came out of their classrooms to join the festivities and celebrate Chinese New Year.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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