CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday — and Newport Beach firefighters are reminding residents to change their smoke alarm batteries when they move their clocks forward.

According to the fire department, smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half, but batteries need to be changed so the smoke alarms work.

Clocks move forward at 2 a.m. Sunday; for more information on Daylight Savings Time, click here.

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More than 100 applicants are expected to try out on Sunday for a job as a seasonal ocean lifeguard, Newport Beach Fire Department officials said.

Applications are due today by 5 p.m., said Jennifer Schulz, a department spokeswoman. Lifeguard hopefuls must compete in both a 1000-meter swim and 1000-meter run-swim-run, she said, and the top finishers will be invited to a training academy.

The tryouts will begin at 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning with a check-in at the Newport Pier, then the swim will begin at 9 a.m. and the swim-run combo will begin about 10 a.m.

The top finishers will be invited to a 125-hour training academy to be held on weekends this spring, Schulz said, and must pass a background check. Starting pay for seasonal ocean lifeguards is $16.76 per hour.

Call (949) 644-3177 for more information.

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Chef Rochelle Taylor will add a little Italian flavor to the What’s Cooking at the Library series on Tuesday March 16.

Taylor will demonstrate her skills by creating five dishes, including a re-imagined Caprese Salad, made with tomato paper and Burrata cheese, and an olive oil cake made with strawberries, basil and limoncello. (Yes, guests get to sample.)

The event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Central Library Friends Room, is part of an ongoing series that previously featured Executive Chef Dennis Brask of Five Crowns and SideDoor and Chef Zov Karamardian from Zov’s Bistro and Zov’s Café Bakery and Bar.

Taylor, a graduate of the Culinary Arts Program at the Art Institute of Los Angeles/Orange County, is the culinary manager at Sur la Table in the Corona del Mar Plaza. Previously, she has worked at Charlie Palmer’s, Wild Fish, and The Clubhouse and is the former owner of The Ohh Factor, a private catering company.

The event is $20 to cover food costs. Reservations are required, and past events have sold out. For more information, call (949) 717-3800, extension 2 or visit the library’s website. The library is located at 1000 Avocado Ave.

Upcoming experts to be featured in the What’s Cooking series include cheese ace Pamela Thompson from Bristol Farms, plus Trader Joe’s wine buyer James Vorse on April 20; Alan Greeley, owner and chef of The Golden Truffle on May 18; and Chris Russom, owner and cake designer of Christopher Garren’s Let Them Eat Cake on June 15. All events are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

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The Airport Working Group is holding its annual meeting at 5 p.m. tonight at the Balboa Yacht Club, organizers said.

The meeting will include a no-host bar and dinner along with speakers Professor Mario Mainero, who is chief of staff to Orange County Supervisor John M.W. Moorlach and Moorlach’s airport assistant; and Larry Agran, Irvine’s mayor pro temp.

The Balboa Yacht Club located at 1801 Bayside Drive. AWG is a citizens advocacy group in Newport Beach that is a signatory to the 1985 Settlement Agreement; the group monitors the impact of aircraft operations at John Wayne Airport (JWA) on the community.

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A burglar used some kind of tool to pry open the door of a home in the 700 block of Jasmine Avenue, stealing $74,595 in items, a police report states.

The victim told police the burglary occurred between 6:30 a.m. Friday and 10:10 p.m. Sunday. He reported the crime ten minutes later, the report states. The burglar stole numerous pieces of jewelry, seven pairs of sunglasses, a laptop computer, hard drive, mp3 players and a GPS, police said.

In other police news, a 34-year-old Anaheim man was arrested on suspicion of providing a false i.d. to officers just before noon Monday at Dahlia and Fifth avenues. His bail was set at $500.

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The Newport Beach Task Force on Cycling Safety met Monday afternoon, fine-tuning a report that covers education, road improvements and ways to encourage cycling in the city.

The group will meet one more time before handing over the report to the City Council, where it will likely be discussed in an April study session.

The report includes a proposed meeting between police and bicycle advocates. “A concern of cyclists is that motorists are unaware of cyclists’ rights and that in the case of conflict or accidents the police are not as sensitive to the cyclists as they might be,” the report states.

It also asks that the city establish a policy requiring bike racks for all public development, and add more “Share the Road” signs throughout the community.

At the Monday meeting, task force members also discussed how specific the report’s recommendations should be, or whether the report should leave room for city staff to apply its own research.

“I feel heartbroken as I read this,” said member Frank Peters, referring to the section on sharrows, or marked lanes where motorists and cyclists must share the roadway. “Why does it not read Corona del Mar?” Peters reminded the group that in the first meeting where the group discussed sharrows, they agreed that Corona del Mar would be a good test location; read our story here.)

The group discussed why the city staff might prefer a test of the sharrows lanes in another part of town, which led to more discussion about whether any of Corona del Mar’s cycling safety issues would be addressed as result of the task force’s work.

“There are really perceived safety issues for Corona del Mar,” Councilwoman Leslie Daigle agreed. “Cyclists do think, ‘Oh no, I have to ride through Corona del Mar…’”

City staff will have budget restraints as well as the legal considerations, making it impossible to force sharrows or any other changes in a specific area like Corona del Mar, the group decided. They then agreed to ask the City Council to implement the suggestions within one year.

City Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, who sought the creation of the task force in response to a bicyclist’s death last summer, told the group not to be discouraged. “I know it’s frustrating, but by taking this measured approach, I think we have a much better chance of getting buy-in” from other council members, she said. “The council, hopefully, will say this is a priority.”

The final task force meeting will be 4:30 p.m. March 22 in the Council Chambers at 3300 Newport Blvd.; the public is welcome.

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A fire caused $100,000 in damage to five retail spaces in the Newport Coast Shopping Center on Monday night, fire officials said today. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but it appears to have started in an attic space, and to be electrical in nature.

Firefighters had a waterflow alarm call at 9:50 p.m., said Jennifer Schulz, a Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman. When firefighters arrived on scene at 21161 Newport Coast Drive, sprinklers were activated in the business and light smoke was coming from the roof. Firefighters entered the shops and found smoke but no flames, but firefighters on the roof discovered flames and quickly extinguished them, Schulz said.

Five retail spaces had water and smoke damage, she said, adding that the sprinklers significantly helped prevent the fire from spreading. A total of 28 firefighters from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and the Orange County Fire Authority responded as well as Newport Beach Police units, Schulz said. No injuries were reported.

On Tuesday morning, clean-up crews were at the scene, removing debris and setting up big fans. The damaged businesses include the Bellagio Spa and Pink Laundry, near the Bank of America branch. The space occupied by the now-closed Fiore Flowers also was damaged.

Top photo courtesy of the Newport Beach Fire Department.

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The Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Board of Education is poised to adopt a resolution that endorses last week’s teacher protests, calling state budget cuts to education “historic” and “unlike anything we’ve seen since the Great Depression.”

On March 4, teachers, parents, students and administrators throughout the state wore blue, handed out fliers and rallied to protest “against the state budget cuts that are destroying the future for a generation of students and the future of California,” according to the district’s agenda for tonight’s meeting. The resolution also states that investing in public education is essential to the future of this state and that it is “crucial to find a solution to ongoing and long-term assaults on public education funding.”

Read the entire resolution by clicking on the district’s website’s agenda for tonight here. Read our stories from last week’s protesthere and here.

The Board of Education also will present employee Super Star Awards, including award to Kristin Botta, a fourth-grade teacher at Harbor View, and Brandon Fischer, a math teacher and student government advisor at Corona del Mar High School.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 2985 Bear Street in Costa Mesa and is open to the public.

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Saying that Corona del Mar retail is “totally dead,” the owner of Siena Interiors Art & Antiques confirmed she is closing her shop on March 15.

“I feel really bad about doing it,” said owner Karmela Stimac. “I was hoping I could turn it around, but the rent is much too high.”

The shop at 2711 East Coast Highway opened 11 years ago. A sign in the window announces a moving sale, with items up to 75 percent off.

Siena Interiors will continue as a design business, Stimac said. She hopes to relocate to an office on Newport Center Drive, where she will focus on working with private clients.

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