Beach

There are people who think Newport-Mesa residents live a charmed life, what with "The OC" and other such glossy portrayals of life in this part of Orange County. Truth be told, however, it's been a tough summer around here, particularly at the beach. There have been red tides keeping people out of the water, and black jellyfish to sting those who got too close. In the water, there was the surf, or more accurately, the lack thereof. Until this week.

Jackie Conley This summer, children will take to the beaches to surf, swim, boogie-board, Jet ski and more. The Aloha Beach Camp is an aquatic-activity-based program to help children have fun while putting safety first. "I started the program because I felt that the children of Glendale and Burbank didn't get access to the beach as much as other areas," said Eric Naftulin, founder of Aloha Beach Camp. Burbank and Glendale kids are picked up between 8 and 9 a.m. at the Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles; and drop-offs are between 4 and 5 p.m. Eric and his wife, Teri Naftulin, started the camp in 1999 to give kids and teens an alternative to traditional day camps.

Tim Willert LA CRESCENTA -- They gathered at the corner of Foothill and La Canada boulevards last week, surrounded by boogie boards and beach towels, coolers and beach umbrellas. Tujunga resident Tobie Columbus and her 12-year-old daughter, Mia, were among the dozen or so people waiting to ride the La Crescenta/La Canada Flintridge Summer Beach Bus to Santa Monica for the day. Columbus said convenience is the primary reason she's taken the beach bus for years.

The cool weather Friday morning didn't discourage the students at La Crescenta Elementary School who arrived at school in shorts and flip-flops, carrying beach towels. "They were in shorts, and they had their sunglasses and beach chairs and little beach umbrellas," said Principal Bev Johnson, who took the idea for a beach day from Faith Ringgold's book, "Tar Beach." The annual beach day is a reward for after-school reading. Collectively, the 530 students at La Crescenta Elementary read 1.18 million minutes, passing the million-minute mark necessary to earn the beach day. The students spent their 45-minute lunch period outside, throwing Frisbees, blowing bubbles and listening to music.

Will Rogers It seems we keep learning of new candidates for Glendale's City Council, and some estimate as many as 20 will chase three open seats in the spring. But today we'll subtract one, a frequent candidate who has announced he's leaving town. Anyone watching a council meeting in the past decade has seen John Beach, proudly wearing the gadfly label, the dishevelment of his gray hair often indicating his mood. He's run for City Council five times, garnering 9,393 votes.

If you don't happen to have time to tour the entire state of California, we found a place that almost seems like a microcosm of the state. You have your beaches, your surfers, your Redwood forests and, just an hour away, one of the state's largest and most cosmopolitan cities. Give up? Try Santa Cruz. Hugging some of California's most scenic coastline, this city offers a sampling of some of the state's most interesting attractions all in one relatively small area. We were amazed, for example, when we topped off a morning of beach sightseeing with a little seven-mile drive up to the sleepy town of Felton.

Over the Labor Day weekend in Laguna, life at the beach was a busy affair for the 53 city lifeguards on duty. With surf coming in at three to six feet, there were 171 rescues reported, including one major incident involving an airlift for a swimmer who injured his back and neck after a wave dropped him to the bottom of the ocean, lifeguards said. A total of 237 lifeguard medical assists, both major and minor, was reported. There were 3,481 advisements given to beachgoers for various infractions, including dogs on the beach, drinking alcohol, and not adhering to the city's marine ordinances.

If you’re going to name a town for its greatest asset, the town fathers of Oceanside seem to have got that one right. Today more city than town, Oceanside is dressing up the city’s three and a half miles of wide, sandy beaches by bringing in new waterfront hotels, trendy restaurants and expensive homes and condos that all combine to beckon tourists from literally around the world. The old rap on Oceanside, home to Camp Pendleton, was that it was a military town and not the place to invest millions in your new beachfront home.

When “Rain Man” was in the theaters, Billy Ocean was rocking the pop charts, Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers were appalling oenophiles far and wide, and I was a college senior eagerly looking forward to the standard-issue six-figure job and company BMW I was sure to receive upon graduation. My interest in the English language was buried under a heap of career confusion typical of college graduates who weren't raised by college graduates (or even around any, for that matter). And the “whoever dies with the most toys wins” mentality of the 1980s wasn't helping.

With the U.S. economy in a big slump, many companies are laying off good people. And the signs of the economic slowdown will be even more visible during the holidays. But it is not all doom and gloom. Or at least, it doesn’t have to be. We can be proactive with the challenges that face us during these difficult times. I have come up with a list of suggestions to do the best we can with the sour reality. First, I would suggest taking a drive to the beach. I have made some of the most important decisions of my life while I was trying to grasp the infinity of the ocean.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Angel Rodriguez had never experienced pitching nine innings in his career. On Friday night, the Glendale Angelenos starter found out what it's like to accomplish the feat. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, his effort fell just short, as he surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the ninth in Glendale's 3-2 loss against the Long Beach Legends in an independent summer collegiate game at Stengel Field. "I wanted the ball in the ninth, and I felt stronger than any point before," said Rodriguez, who struck out five in a 120-pitch performance.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Neither Chris Stroh or Julian Jarrad are one of the 25 pitchers listed on the Glendale Angelenos roster, but they were both called upon by Angelenos Coach Tony Riviera to close out Friday's game. While the pair let one run slip through, Jarrad retired the final two batters of the game to pick up the save in the 4-3 victory over Long Beach Legend at Stengel Field. "Stroh has been fantasy pitching in the outfield the entire season and I got a little tired of seeing it so I thought I'd let him put his money where his mouth is," said Riviera, whose team improved to 19-6 with the win. "We try to do stuff differently all the time to make the team feel a little bit loose and confident.

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Christian Bergman (St. Francis High, 2006) starting pitcher, Modesto Nuts: Quality starts are nothing new of late for the former All-Area Player of the Year and UC Irvine graduate. With Bergman on the mound, the Nuts, a class-A advanced affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, have thrived. Bergman (7-4) turned in another impressive performance during his last start on Wednesday against the visiting Inland Empire 66ers at John Thurman Field.

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Ryan Sherriff (Glendale Community College, 2011) starting pitcher, Palm Beach Cardinals: Sherriff, who helped the Vaqueros reach the state playoffs for the first time in the program's history in 2011, continues to impress with Palm Beach since being promoted May 20 to the Class-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals of the Florida State League. Sherriff, a left-hander who began the season with the Class-A Short Season New York-Penn League Muckdogs, struck out five and allowed two runs (one earned)

Once the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls' basketball team got past mid-court, something would go wrong during Friday night's championship game against Huntington Beach in the Costa Mesa Tournament. Most of the time, it resulted in a turnover. "We had 21 turnovers, most of which came in the front court," said Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez, whose team fell, 59-36. "We'd get across mid-court and something would happen, like the ball bouncing off a foot. "They have a running team and they also hit some long three-pointers.

The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level. Rosa Del Toro (Glendale Community College, 2010) senior, Long Beach State cross-country: The former Vaquero finished off her collegiate career in the NCAA West Regional the way she started her senior season - out in front for Long Beach State. Del Toro was the 49ers' top runner in the 6,000-meter race at Stanford Golf Course on Nov. 12, as she finished 19th overall in 20 minutes 49 seconds. She missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship by one place and one second.

When “Rain Man” was in the theaters, Billy Ocean was rocking the pop charts, Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers were appalling oenophiles far and wide, and I was a college senior eagerly looking forward to the standard-issue six-figure job and company BMW I was sure to receive upon graduation. My interest in the English language was buried under a heap of career confusion typical of college graduates who weren't raised by college graduates (or even around any, for that matter). And the “whoever dies with the most toys wins” mentality of the 1980s wasn't helping.

IRVINE - All season long, the La Cañada High boys' water polo team relied on a balanced offense, while Laguna Beach has leaned on its goal-scoring standout Nolan McConnell for offense. The Breakers' offensive strategy proved more effective when both teams met up in the Southern Section Division III semifinals at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday. McConnell had a game-high five goals and drew double-teams all game, which opened things up for his teammates, in a 14-5 Laguna Beach victory.

As August draws to a close, so does another season of the Summer Beach Bus service that transports foothill residents to Santa Monica Beach, and then back home, for just $3. The drive, traffic congestion and the high price of gasoline can keep a day at Santa Monica from being, well, a day at the beach. But with a round-trip ticket on the Summer Beach Bus costing $3 - just $1.50 for riders age 60 and up and the disabled - residents have been taking advantage of the service since 1994.