CITY ROUNDUP: Pribram awarded for efforts

Laguna Beach resident, surfing activist and Coastline Pilot columnist James Pribram was given a John Kelly Environmental Achievement Award by the Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter Thursday in Honolulu.

The John Kelly Awards are presented by the Oahu Chapter of Surfrider to promote environmental activism by honoring the efforts and achievements of individuals and organizations. Categories for the awards are Lifetime Achievement, Professional Surfer and Local Company.

Pribram will receive the Professional Surfer award. Pribram is a professional surfer, writer, television commentator, owner and operator of the Aloha School of Surfing, and environmental activist. He co-founded They Will Surf Again, an organization that raises money for people who have suffered from ocean-related spinal injuries, and is a spokesman for Project Wipeout Ocean, Brandy’s Friends Drug Awareness Foundation and the Surfrider Foundation.

In 2000 he was elected to the Laguna Beach Water Quality Committee, and in 2005 he was appointed to the Laguna Beach Environmental Committee and as a board member for the Clean Water Now! Coalition of Laguna Beach. He has been traveling the world with the Eco-Warrior project for the Save the Waves Coalition.

Also honored was surfer and shaper Randy Rarick, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Rarick heads the Triple Crown, the longest-running surf contest series in the world and is credited with helping to organize surfing into a professional sport.

Bob and Kelly King’s Pacific Biodiesel company was honored as the Most Environmentally Friendly Hawaii-based Company for creating clean-burning fuel from waste cooking oil and other biofuels.

John M. Kelly Jr., for whom the award is named, was a surfer, shaper and grassroots activist who for decades led many human rights protests, land battles and environmental crusades on Oahu. Kelly, who recently passed away, was the original recipient of the Lifetime Achievement category.

Seniors invited to holiday lunch and card exchange

Laguna Beach Seniors will lunch with Even Start Preschool children from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 20.

The children will entertain with holiday songs, distribute handmade greeting cards and lunch with the seniors in the upper level of the Laguna Beach Senior Center, 384 Legion St., Laguna Beach. There is a suggested donation of $3.50 for those 60 years and older and the cost is $5 for those under 60 years.

For more information call (949) 497-2441.

Donations sought for homeless breakfast Saturday

Several Laguna Beach community and church organizations are planning their seventh annual Homeless Breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday at Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann’s Drive, Laguna Beach.

Ed Sauls of Laguna Relief will serve as emcee for the event, at which some of the homeless guests will entertain, and all will be given sleeping bags and backpacks with hygiene kits prepared by Girl Scouts.

Donations are needed to cover the costs of the gifts. Tax-deductible donations may be made by writing a check to “Laguna Presbyterian Church, Attention: Homeless Breakfast,” and either mail or deliver to the church office at 415 Forest Ave.

Others involved in planning the event include: Ric Shoemaker, Laguna Presbyterian Outreach Committee; Barbara Williamson and Mary LaRusso, Congregational Church; Lorna Cohen, Laguna Relief and Laguna Presbyterian Church; Erica Waidley, Girl Scouts, Troop 283; Girl Scouts Teen Troup 575, and Troop 2311; Boy Scouts Troops 35, 38; and Cub Scout Pack 38.

Christmas trees can be recycled after holiday

Waste Management of Orange County is providing customers the opportunity to recycle their Christmas trees at no extra charge.

Waste Management customers with curbside service can recycle their Christmas trees by placing the trees at the curb or in their green waste carts on their scheduled pick-up day; trees greater than 6 feet must be cut in half. Trees will be picked up for recycling during the two weeks following Christmas, beginning Dec. 26. All decorations, including ornaments, tinsel, lights and the tree stand, must be removed. Flocked trees cannot be recycled, but will be taken if they are placed at the curb.

“Every year in California, more than 40,000 tons of Christmas trees require handling at the end of the holiday season. We recognize that these trees can be put to more creative uses than simply being piled whole into landfills,” said David Ross, senior district manager of Waste Management of Orange County. “If you have a live tree in your home, please recycle it when the holidays are over.”

Trees collected in the curbside program will be mulched for reuse as alternative daily cover, which is the cover material placed on the active face of a landfill at the end of each day to protect against fires, odors, blowing litter and scavenging.

For more information, visit www.wmorangecounty.com

Water Board names officers for 2008

Richard Dietmeier was reelected 2008 board president and Ingrid McGuire as 2008 board vice president of the South Coast Water District Board of Directors Dec. 7. The two directors were the only nominated board members, and the votes were unanimous (5-0.) Dietmeier and McGuire held the same offices in 2007.

The district serves South Laguna and other areas.

“The District’s core mission continues to be the provision of 100% safe supplies of drinking water to the community, and the removal of wastewater for treatment in an environmentally-sensitive and fiscally-responsible manner,” said Dietmeier.

“In support of this mission, my top goals for 2008 are the ongoing maintenance of our water and sewer infrastructure and the prevention of sewer spills. We will also work to enhance water reliability and storage, which is crucial at this time when drought, climate change, changes in government policy and court decisions are restricting the flow of imported water to Southern California.”

Dietmeier has served a total of five years as a South Coast Water District Director, and McGuire has served a total of 12 years. Their current terms end in 2010 and 2008, respectively. Directors are elected at-large and serve four-year terms.

The District will continue to hold regular board meetings on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at 6 p.m. at its main office, 31592 West St., Laguna Beach. Regular meeting agendas and staff reports, approved minutes, and an annual meeting calendar are posted on the District’s website ( www.scwd.org).

Dietmeier retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1987 following a 25-year career. He was a consultant to the defense industry for 15 years. The Dana Point resident has been an active member of the Dana Point Ocean Water Subcommittee and the Dana Point Historical Society.

McGuire is the former mayor of the City of Dana Point. She served on the city council for six years, including the charter council when the city was formed in 1989. McGuire also served as a charter member of the Women’s Advisory Council for South Coast Medical Center and is a lifetime member of the Dana Point Lighthouse Society.

Key projects completed in 2007 include the opening of the Groundwater Recovery Facility and the stabilization of a tunnel housing a major sewer line that serves north Dana Point and South Laguna.