March Beach News Today

The book Don Quixote is considered one of the greatest novels ever written. Its author, Miguel de Cervantes, created a new way of storytelling, hence the origin of the word “novel.”

The US Postal Service traces its roots to 1775 when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General. Local postmasters were commonly appointed to reward political supporters; newspaper editors and local politicians were often named. In small towns such as Laguna Beach, the job often fell to a local storekeeper and the post office was located in his store.  

The ocean and the beach were constants in the lives of the Alley Kids and introduced them to new people, even those from Hollywood. 

Has a hurricane occurred before in Laguna Beach? According to Laguna Beach Historical Society board member Eric Jessen, "The great Chubasco (Spanish for hurricane) of Sept. 29-30, 1939 took the pier out forever. The temperature that afternoon in Laguna is reported to have reached 119 degrees F." 

You likely read that real estate mogul Mo Honarkar’s creditors are circling. It appears Mo is in arrears on a $195 million loan mainly secured by his downtown properties. I’m concerned for Mo. He’s got a lot on his plate, including the remodel of the Hotel Laguna, which got me thinking about how that hotel has shaped our town. It’s a long and winding story, so get comfortable.

Here’s a story that has always puzzled me. Before there was much in Laguna Beach, century-old photos show an impressive two-story structure fronted by Greek columns. Known as the Pomona College Marine Laboratory, it’s across from Main Beach and next door to “Tent City,” an array of forty tents that served as dorms. How did this come about?  

Much to the disappointment of early developers, the railroad never came to Laguna. When the ATSF railway extended from Santa Ana to San Diego in the 1880s, there was hope it might come down Aliso Canyon, where a resort hotel was contemplated. When Heisler and associates developed north Laguna in the early 1900s, they hoped the electric railway connecting Long Beach to Los Angeles might extend this far, and the first plans for Cliff Drive called it “Electric Way.” This brings us to a little-k...

At first, it seems we don't need any more red tape bureaucracy. We now have in place height limits, parking requirements, dozens of other regulations and rules, Village Laguna, Planning Commission, Design Review Board, Coastal Commission, and City Council

Friday 16 April 2021 What a funny little island this is. What a curious, luminous, blusteringly beautiful speck of a place. Alderney is the Channel Island that no one has heard of. It is not the biggest one, or the smallest, or the one with famous cows or without any cars. Alderney is the beguiling one. The one you lose your heart to. It is like joining a secret society, flying here in a tinpot 12-seater, buffeted by every breeze. Three square miles, just off France – yet so much space, so...

Laguna Beach Local News The Muses of Arch Beach Ever felt the joy of writing something that transcends your normal stuff? It’s a sweet moment, isn’t it? Writers, caught by the beauty of their words, may credit one of the Greek muses. In Laguna, we have the muses of Arch Beach, which leads to a story from Laguna’s early days. Canyon Acres was homesteaded by Harvey Hemenway who had two sisters, Sylvia and Elizabeth. Elizabeth married a Connecticut boy named Henry Goff whose three brothers, ...