Laguna Beach Weekend Events - Part 1

Once again the weekend will be detailed in two posts due to meetings and the paper-person's habit of sleeping in! I hope everyone out there is wonderful, I just did a marathon drive to Vegas (to Vegas on Wednesday and back on Thursday) to spend a day with my wife who was already there for business. The misty, almost rain like conditions of Laguna on Wednesday were very calm compared to the winds there were out in the high desert going to Vegas! Ok, on to business:

Friday:

1. Woman of the Year Luncheon-The Laguna Beach Woman's Club will hold the luncheon at 11:30am at 286 St. Ann's Drive, Laguna Beach, CA. Cost is $40 & must be purchased in advance. For more information, call (949) 497-1200.
2. Sunset Serenedes-Bob Hawkins will play the Blues Guitar from 6:30 to sunset on Main Beach.
3. Laguna Beach Rotary Club Meeting-12pm to TBA at Hotel Laguna will be discussing current Real Estate Market and Financing in Laguna Beach. Cost for luncheon is $25. For more information, call Club President Jan Herkelrath (949) 499-2309 or email at seajan1@verizon.net.

Saturday:

1. Island Party-No Square Theatre presents the 3rd annual Laguna Resource and Relief Center Island Party from 6-10pm. Live entertainment, door prizes, silent auction, tropical refreshments and a sampling of Lagunatics. Tickets $50 in advance and at door. Proceeds benefit the Laguna Resource and Relief Center. Sponsors packages are available.
2. Adopt Your Street/Beach Pick-up-ZeroTrashLaguna, the grassroots community movement working to keep our streets and beaches free of trash, invites you to join in on the 1st Saturday of each month from 8am to TBA.
3. Farmers Market-Going on down next to City Hall in the parking lot on Forest 1st thing in the morning.

Sunday:

1. Wine Seminar-In the Loft Bistro of the Montage Resort & Spa from 2-4pm. Cost is $25 per person. Call (949) 715-6420
2. Chorale Concert-The Laguna Beach Chorale will present a concert at 7pm at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 428 Park Avenue, Laguna Beach. Works will include Mozart's "Solemn Vespers" and folk songs arranged by Luboff and Rutter, complete with chamber orchestra. General admission $15, Students and Seniors $10. Child care provided. For more information, call Resch at (949) 218-0973.

As I have more to add, I will bring it out here. Have a wonderful and safe weekend and if you see me wandering around Laguna in my little grey Subaru, please say hi! Cole

Aliso Canyon Redevelopment Plan

The Athens Group gave us the access and the tour, but I still feel skittish about this redevelopment plan.

Are we allowing them to alter nature? I'm split on that. I know there is non-indigenous plants in the creek, but if we remove the plants and "clean" the creek by clearing it out, will the animals return. The construction that will happen will change animals way of life and those that have gone (because of the state of the current creek) or that are still there, may not return if the area is unsafe and unusable for them for a few years!

I know that amelioration is important for the land, the economy and society, but are the costs too high. I am just not sure!

What should we do? What are your thoughts out there in cyber-land? Convince me one way or the other, because I don't feel like we have enough information yet!!!

I look forward to your thoughts and compelling arguments, and if you see me wandering around Laguna in my little grey Subaru, please say hi and then convince me that we should or shouldn't let this happen.

Local School API scores released

Hello all. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I have been dealing with clients, who have children, and the topic of schooling almost always works it's way in. So I was glad to see the coverage that the news sources have given.

Now, the local schools scored in the top end of the state grading scale. Some were at the "9" level, which is considered nearly perfect and the majority received the "10" or perfect score. It was of interesting note that when compared to other "similar" schools, which they describe as student's ethnicity, socioeconomic status, average class size and number of credentialed teachers, to name some of the criteria, many of the same "perfect" or "nearly perfect" school received some of the lowest rating. I guess that makes them the "worst" of the "best"!

To give an example, I will compare the Laguna Beach High score with the Dana Hills High score. Dana Hills High was rated as a "10" in both the overall and comparative rankings and it's score was 825. Whereas, Laguna Beach High was rated as a "nearly perfect 9" in the overall, but a worst possible "1" rating in the comparative. Laguna Beach High's score was 811. If I were to look at the score comparison of 825 to 811, I wouldn't think that there was that much of a gap between those two schools. But that's just me. If you would like to get more information on a particular school, please go to API School Level Reports.

So, maybe it isn't a bad thing to be "nearly perfect" with a ranking of "9" and the worst of the best!!! If it is only about a 1.5% increase in test scores to be the "Best of the Best", it seems to me not only that much too worry about, but also, a extra few minutes of studying to reach the top!!!

Good luck out there students and keep up the good work!!! Thanks for reading and if you see me wandering around Laguna in my little grey Subaru, please say hi! Cole