New trash interceptor will protect Upper Newport Bay, the ‘jewel of the city’
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 12. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
After several years rolling through the city’s project pipeline, a $5.5-million trash wheel intended to help protect the sensitive habitat in Upper Newport Bay has been completed, an achievement heralded with a ribbon-cutting event Friday.
The interceptor is in a fixed position and delivers trash to dumpsters on land. It’s the first of its kind not only in California, but along the entire West Coast.
As much as 300 tons of trash makes its way to the bay from San Diego Creek every year and the structure is expected to intercept 80% of it, according to the Daily Pilot’s story on Friday’s jubilant gathering attended by civic leaders and conservationists.
The initial cost of bringing the trash wheel to reality rose by $1.5 million from its beginning estimated price tag of $4 million, the article noted. Grants from the state and the County of Orange covered about $3.78 million toward the final cost.
“As the sole county board member serving on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board, I’m proud to support this $5.5-million investment, the first of its kind on the West Coast,” Supervisor Katrina Foley said Friday. “Newport Beach residents and visitors deserve to enjoy clean beaches and watershed.”
For a January story on the project’s status, reporter Eric Licas spoke to John Kappeler, a senior civil engineer in the Newport Beach Public Works Department, and learned that care had been taken to build a system that could survive a once-in-a-lifetime storm.
“You’ve got a structure in a flood control channel 800 feet due north of Jamboree Bridge,” Kappeler told Licas then. “So we had to engineer the heck out of this thing. The last thing in the world we want is some sort of catastrophic failure and this thing heading towards the bridge.”
Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton, who was one of the speakers during Friday’s ceremony, told the Daily Pilot last week that Newport’s Upper Back Bay “is the jewel of the city. You talk about the harbor, you talk about the bay, you talk about the beaches, that’s what makes us Newport Beach. And if we don’t protect that, we won’t be Newport.”
MORE NEWS
• Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach has been considering for some years how best to continue to serve the community at a time when church memberships are on the decline. The answer to that may come to fruition soon, as the entitlement phase gets underway with the city for a planned mixed-use development by Related California that would put a 44-unit affordable housing complex and a new spiritual center on the lot. Bill Witte, the chairman and chief executive of Related California, said it’s plausible that construction could begin in April 2026.
• The owner of a day spa in La Palma, where massages had been provided to clients without a city permit, was unable to persuade the La Palma City Council during a recent hearing that nothing sexual in nature had been offered at the business. His assurance came despite the fact that a code enforcement inspection last summer sent his employees and customers exiting out the back door “with haste,” according to this TimesOC report.
• Former Rep. Katie Porter announced Tuesday she’ll run for governor in 2026, although the Irvine resident acknowledged she might reconsider her options if Kamala Harris seeks the job, the L.A. Times reported. Other announced candidates include Democrats Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Controller Betty Yee, state schools chief Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and businessman Stephen Cloobeck, as well as Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
• The Laguna Woods Republican Club invited a pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist to speak at its meeting last Friday, a decision the Laguna Woods Democratic Club strongly objected to. So, they organized a vigil before the meeting, followed by a protest. The controversial guest speaker, Jeffrey Scott Brown of Santa Ana, was found guilty in federal court of seven felonies, among them assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers, using a dangerous weapon and interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.
• Speaking of political protesters, a small group of women calling themselves the Grandma Brigade rallied in front of the Tesla showroom and service center in Costa Mesa to object to Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk’s insertion into federal government affairs. A spokesperson for the recently-formed group told the Daily Pilot they hadn’t “moved to civil disobedience yet, but we probably will eventually.”
• Employees at the Starbucks on Via Lido in Newport Beach submitted a petition to unionize earlier this month as they seek better working conditions and compensation from one of the world’s most recognizable corporations. Organizers at Starbucks Workers United said the move sets the stage for a vote of about 15 baristas at the location who could potentially be represented by the union.
PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIME
• After eight days of deliberation, a mistrial was declared Monday in the murder trial of Jeffrey Ferguson, the O.C. judge who shot and killed his wife after hours of bickering and drinking in August 2023. The deadlocked jury was split 11 to 1 in favor of convicting Ferguson on a second-degree murder charge. Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said he would retry the case, the L.A. Times reported; Ferguson is free on $2-million bail.
• Orange resident Joseph Sanberg, who is accused of defrauding investors out of more than $145 million, was taken into custody last week, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Sanberg, known for his anti-poverty activisim, is the co-founder of Aspiration Partners, Inc., according the L.A. Times story on the arrest.
• The force of a 7:10 a.m. collision in Fountain Valley Tuesday between a school bus and a sedan caused the bus to roll over, City News Service reported. There were no students aboard the vehicle at the time, its driver sustained only minor injuries and the driver of the sedan was not harmed, police said. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the F.V. Police Department’s traffic bureau at (714) 593-4481.
• The trial got underway this week of Nelson Anibal Saavedra, who is charged with a dozen felony counts of sexual assaults of two girls when he was living in their Costa Mesa home with their mother. Saavedra is accused of molesting the sisters from 2015 through 2022.
• In upbeat public safety news, the Huntington Beach Police Department recently celebrated the opening of its new training center. The facility features a 6,000-square-foot K9 training field and a 2,500-square-foot Simunitions and Tactical Training Building for the use of recruits, officers and the city’s SWAT team.
LIFE & LEISURE
• After a three-year absence, the Wango Tango concert is returning. On Friday, iHeartRadio announced this year’s event will be held May 10 at Huntington City Beach. Gwen Stefani and Dojo Cat will headline the show, with Meghan Trainor, DJ David Guetta, Katseye, Nmixx, Xikers, A20 May and Hearts2Hearts also performing. On-air personality Ryan Seacrest will host the concert.
• Ocean Institute is partnering with Rivian to bring a free monthly program to Laguna Beach called “Little Currents: Powered by OI + Rivian” for kids 2 and younger beginning Wednesday, April 2 at the Rivian Theater on South Coast Highway. The program, which will meet from 10 to 11 a.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, will introduce little ones to ocean-inspired themes through play, crafts and more. For more information about the program visit oceaninstitute.org.
• The newest drop-off donation center for Goodwill of Orange County is at the Costa Mesa Farmers Market at the OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Lot D. The center will be open every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to accept donations of clothing, household items and other gently used goods.
CALENDAR THIS
• Bowers Museum in Santa Ana will join more than 30 museums and cultural institutions in Southern California in this year’s Museums Free-for-All day this Sunday. For the occasion, Bowers will offer full access to its featured exhibition, “The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art by Aka Chen.”
• If the weather cooperates, visitors are welcome to view this week’s blood moon lunar eclipse at Orange Coast College Planetarium’s Telescope Farm. The full eclipse will start at 11:26 p.m. Thursday and end at 12:31 a.m. on Friday. Admission is free. Orange Coast College is located at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Reservations are not required, but they are encouraged. Visit occtickets.universitytickets.com to register and for more information.
• More than 70 sports legends are set to play in the inaugural Newport Beach Celebrity Classic golf tournament this Sunday, March 16 at Newport Beach Country Club to kick off the Hoag Classic tournament week. The beneficiaries of the tournament are Steadfast LA and the Newport Beach Fire Department Foundation, which have been offering support to victims of L.A. County fires. Tickets, priced at $100 for adults and $40 for children 15 and under, can be purchased online. For tournament information and tickets visit HoagClassic.com.
A Reader Writes
Last week’s lead-in item about proposed cuts to the much-loved Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center at Orange Coast College resonated with one of our newsletter readers:
The article on the Children’s Center in trouble brings back many memories of my time there as an assistant teacher. I started there so many, many years ago and loved it. My degree in early childhood education was from OCC. Fast forward from the center that started with a few teachers to [today, when] teachers are now being paid a sort of living wage!
Never when I was at the first one did I think my daughter would attend the premiere school at the time. She went to preschool at OCC and then ended her high school education at the Middle College high school that was then on campus. She then graduated from OCC, after years on the debate team.
So very sad that these resources that young folks need are slipping away. I bet there could be some [teachers] I worked with standing strong! — Annie B. James, Camano Island, Wash.
Thank you for writing, Annie! This would be a good place for me to correct an error I made last week when I misnamed the campaign organized to fight the reduction of offerings at the center. The correct name for the grassroots effort is “Steele the School Back.”
Stay well until we meet here next week,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to [email protected].
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