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”

The City Council gave preliminary approval at the workshop on Tuesday to a budget drafted by the city manager that totals $65.8 million for operations and capital projects, with $47 million of it in the General Fund, over which the council has discretion. The approval included some tweaking by the council at the hearing, attended by seven members of the public.

“I found the public attendance at the workshop disappointing,” said Councilman Kelly Boyd. “It is the time for them to express their opinions, but when you have the hearing at 3 p.m., it is hard for people to get there.”

The council made it worth the while of two members of the public who did find the time to attend.

The South County Cross-Cultural Council’s David Peck was on hand to hear the council approve a request for $30,000 toward the Day Laborer Hiring Area, which his nonprofit runs, off Laguna Canyon Road. The Cross-Cultural Council will a still be included in the applications for community service grants to be vetted by Boyd and Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson.

–Barbara Diamond, Coastline Pilot

…Continue reading “Laguna council gives initial approval to proposed budget”

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”

Debbie Kagawa and Sage Russo, the leaders of the Bring Austin Home campaign that has raised funds to transport his body home, said Brashears’ parents are in New Zealand and plan to return to the United States with the remains Sunday.

Kagawa, the longtime boss of Brashears’ mother, said the campaign’s PayPal account exceeded $20,000 in donations Friday morning. She did not know how much had been raised in cash and checks.

The Brashearses, she said, would have to make arrangements for the flight and coordinate with mortuaries in California and New Zealand.

“They’ll come back when everything they have to do on that end is done,” Kagawa said.

The paddle-out is set for sunset May 25 between lifeguard towers 2 and 4 near the Huntington Beach Pier. Russo, a high school friend of Brashears, advised participants to arrive at 7 p.m., with the paddle-out expected to start about 8.

–Michael Miller, @MichaelMillerHB, HB Independent

…Continue reading “Memorials set for Austin Brashears in H.B.”

Chris Shawkey is applying to become the top cop in Des Moines, a suburb of about 29,000 located about 15 miles from Seattle.

He resigned from the Costa Mesa Police Department in 2011, telling the Daily Pilot at the time that he “never shied away from the difficult issues” and was “proud of the job [he did in his] four years at the department.”

Shawkey was placed on leave in November 2010 by then-City Manager Allan Roeder after allegations surfaced that he had expensed mileage to Arizona, where he used to live, and other states. There were also allegations of chronic absenteeism.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “Former Costa Mesa police chief up for new post”

Nicholas Hernandez works on a sculpture of Chapman University Chancellor Ruebén Martinez in 2011. (DON LEACH)

Chapman University this month is offering a rare glimpse at Laguna Beach artists, curated by local sculptor Nick Hernandez.

Hernandez was given the opportunity to curate two shows at the college’s Guggenheim Gallery.

The first show, “Immortal Coils,” will focus on Hernandez, Mia Tavanotti and Jorg Dubin. Other artists include Mark Garry, Sia Abderazai, Chris Santley, Josh Hoy, Cassey Parlette and Christiana Lewis.

His second show, a Latino showcase, will open June 9. “We’ve got the fight, we’ve got the insight” will feature Felipe Castaneda, Nadia Jaime and Arturo Guevera among others.

Hernandez was given this opportunity after he received some other exciting and very unexpected news.

When he picked up his mail on Feb. 29, he thought it was any other day, so he put it aside and continued working in his studio.

The sculptor opened the letter, addressed from Chapman University that announced he would receive an honorary doctorate on May 19. The commencement coincides with the show’s opening night.

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot

…Continue reading “Laguna artist will curate show at Guggenheim”

Nanette Packard is led out of the courtroom after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for plotting to kill Newport Beach's Bill McLaughlin in 1994. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

SANTA ANA — A woman who plotted with a former NFL linebacker to kill her Newport Beach boyfriend received a life sentence without the possibility of parole Friday.

Nanette Packard, 46, sat stone faced in Orange County Superior Court as the verdict was read. Dressed in a pink cardigan, with a black shirt and skirt, and with a faded blond streak in her curly brown hair, Packard did not speak or apologize to the 40 or so people gathered in the courtroom, many of them family and friends of the victim.

Packard and Eric Naposki, 45, were convicted in January and July, respectively, of plotting the murder of Bill McLaughlin, a Newport Beach millionaire. Packard was dating both men at the same time and had hoped to benefit financially from the 1994 murder.

Naposki refused to come out of his holding cell during proceedings, leaving him to shout his answers to Judge William R. Froeberg.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy said Naposki was “a coward for not coming out of his cell, a coward for not facing” McLaughlin’s family.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading “Woman who helped murder Newport Beach boyfriend gets life”

A May 15 letter from Senior Deputy District Attorney Aleta Bryant, which the office released to the media Friday, concludes that Officer Richard Nilos, Det. Kham Vang, Det. Pat Estes and Sgt. Kurt Ulrich acted legally and reasonably when they shot David Dinh in an apartment complex courtyard.

The office reached its findings after interviewing 69 witnesses and examining incident reports and other evidence, the letter states.

Spokeswoman Farrah Emami said her office’s Special Assignment Unit automatically investigates any officer-involved shooting in which a person is injured or killed, regardless of whether anyone questions the officers’ actions.

“Whether there is any type of attention or not, it’s our responsibility to review officer-involved shootings to determine if there’s any criminal culpability on the part of the officers,” she said.

–Michael Miller, @MichaelMillerHB, HB Independent

…Continue reading “D.A.: Fountain Valley officers’ shooting of teen not criminal”

Owner EG Fratantaro, marketing manager for industry biggie Sector 9, opened the shop last month at 1025 S. Coast Hwy.

The small shop dedicates one wall to a skate artist, with 100% of the proceeds going to the featured artist. Right now, it’s showcasing the photography of Jorge Salas, who lives in Dana Point, and is hosting a celebration for him May 27.

Kris Markovich, a pro skater and painter, will be featured beginning June 2.

Fratantaro, 42, calls it half skate shop, half art gallery — a fitting mix for the art colony that makes national news for its skateboarding community.

A skateboarder since the age of 8, Fratantaro said he thinks the full-service skate shop is filling a “missing void” in Laguna Beach.

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot

…Continue reading “Handplant skate shop mixes skateboarding, art”

Following almost

four hours of deliberations, a jury of nine women and three men convicted Nanette Packard-McNeal, 46, of murder for financial gain in the 1994 shooting of her then-boyfriend, Bill McLaughlin.

Eric Naposki, a former NFL player, was convicted last summer of pulling the trigger. While Packard-McNeal was with McLaughlin, she was also dating Naposki on the side.

– Lauren Williams, @lawilliams30, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading Woman convicted of plotting boyfriend’s murder