Month: March 2014

A story is emerging that on Feb. 20th, a little league coach at Robb Field prevented a very bizarre kidnapping attempt of a 7-year boy by a man who was later arrested by police.

Coach Scott Hedenkamp is reported to have placed his body in between the boy and a man later identified as Jarrod West to prevent West from grabbing the boy. The incident occurred during little league practice at the OB park.

The man who committed sexual assaults against two women in OB pleaded guilty on Monday, March 3rd, and agreed to be sentenced to 30 years in state prison.

On the day he was to go to trial, Richard C Butts, 26, plead guilty to to one count of oral copulation with a kidnapping allegation and one count of forcible rape with a multiple victim allegation. He’ll be formally sentenced April 17th.

Surfs up! Hey, large swells are coming to local beaches and they’re expected from 2 p.m. today – Tuesday, to 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 5th. Five to 8-foot surf is predicted with sets to 10 feet.

A large long-period west-to-northwest swell is approaching SoCal.

The National Weather Service has scheduled a high surf advisory for local and County beaches during those hours, which means above average waves are coming, bringing rip currents and beach erosion.

Also on Agenda : 4766 Brighton Project

The OB Planning Board will be hosting a “Candidates’ Forum” at its monthly meeting this Wed., March 5th. This will give candidates for the Board running for the March 11 election a chance to address the community.

The Board meeting will start at 6pm sharp and is held in the meeting room at the OB Rec Center, 4826 Santa Monica Ave. on this Wednesday. Scheduled for 7pm, the Candidates Forum may be especially important as a number of people are running as “write-in” candidates, individuals not on the official ballot.

By Southern Border Communities Coalition

Southern border communities continue to call for transparency from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the Los Angeles Times published a story on a report critiquing the agency’s use of force policy.

The PERF Report – an independent review by the Police Executive Research Forum commissioned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection — evidently says border agents deliberately provoked confrontations that led to avoidable violence.

By Matt Stannard / Nation of Change

Editor: There are too many links in the original for us to provide them, so please go to the original article for those links.

For some, the postal service has become an ideological punching bag, proof that “government programs” don’t work and that the state inevitably bureaucratizes services better left to the private sector. In the case of the postal service, this narrative lacks a critical element: fidelity to truth.

Here’s what the Zen manual advises for a stress-free existence: notice… let it go… then smile.

Truth is, I’m not ready for bliss. And it’s not for lack of trying. You know how it is once you’ve noticed certain things… how can you let them go? Maybe tomorrow.

Right now I can’t help noticing someone’s big bad joke. Here’s how it goes:

A guy walks into a bar, orders a beer on tap, and announces that the annual advent of Sunshine Week is just around the corner.

Ocean Beach is digging out of palm fronds up to our ankles after the weekend’s big storm.

The Pier was closed Saturday morning and there’s no time table for reopening it after waves crashed over it throughout the weekend.

Things got a bit dicey during the weekend’s biggest rain and winds, but could have been worse. Most businesses stayed open as usual, despite most places on Newport putting out sandbags.

By Jim Miller

Just when you thought the Obama administration’s education policy couldn’t get any worse, it did.

Last week Obama nominated founder and CEO of New Schools, Ted Mitchell, to the second highest post at the Department of Education.