Trela To Lead The Newport Beach Independent

TRELA REPLACES BLOOM
In case you missed it, Christopher Trela has been named editor of the Newport Beach Independent, replacing Roger Bloom, who moved to the Orange County Register this week as editor of several local editions, including The Current, that serves Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

MORE INFO
You can read the announcement of Trela's appointment in the "Indy" HERE, and you can read a little more about Trela HERE.

He's Baaack! Tom Johnson Takes Over "The Current"

TOM JOHNSON RETURNS
As announced in the Orange County Register yesterday, HERE, former Daily Pilot publisher Tom Johnson has reached an agreement with the Orange County Register to run the Newport-Mesa weekly publication, The Current.


GOOD NEWS FOR US
This is good news for those of us who read the Register regularly. The Current needed some serious freshening and Johnson's the man to do it. If you only read a local newspaper one day a week The Current might have met your needs. It has basically been a summary of news from the area over the past several days. Seldom did we see new content. In the article Johnson promises a new look and, we hope, fresher content.

THE FACE OF LOCAL NEWS
Tom Johnson has been a pillar of the Newport-Mesa community for decades. During his tenure as publisher of the Daily Pilot he was THE face of local news. As the Los Angeles Times - the Pilot's parent company - began to have financial difficulties in the last part of the last decade Johnson found himself at odds with the direction planned by the then-owners and left.

HE AND LOBDELL
He next surfaced in 2009 when he and former Daily Pilot Editor and current Costa Mesa Director of Communications, Bill Lobdell, launched a start-up online newspaper, The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice. That effort lasted a few months, then it folded up and the concept morphed into the Newport Beach Independent - a hybrid online/weekly publication. Costa Mesa coverage was abandoned. He left "The Indy" last year.

WISHING HIM WELL
We hope Tom Johnson is able to build The Current into a strong, locally-focused publication. With Daily Pilot resources spread thin and its recent expansion into Irvine, there seems to be a need for a tighter local news focus in our area. We look forward to watching this new enterprise evolve.

Hubbard Goes To Trial, Placed On Leave

HUBBARD AND CHRISTIANSEN TO GO TO TRIAL
According to reports in the Orange County Register and the Daily Pilot, late this afternoon Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solorzano has concluded that there is enough evidence to warrant a criminal trial for Newport Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard and his former employee at the Beverly Hills School District, Karen Anne Christiansen.

TWO FELONY COUNTS
Hubbard is accused of providing a $20,000 stipend for Christiansen and raising her car allowance from $150 per month to $500, both without school board knowledge or approval. He pleaded not guilty on January 3rd to the two felony counts.

NMUSD BOARD AGREES TO HUBBARD LEAVE
At it's meeting tonight the Trustees of the NMUSD placed Hubbard on paid administrative leave effective today. According to Britney Barnes in the Daily Pilot this evening, the board voted 6-1 to approve Hubbard's request for leave. Katrina Foley voted no.

MOVING FORWARD
This case is far from over, but at least the actions taken today will permit the school district to move forward - and permit Hubbard to focus on his case.

WHAT ABOUT THE NEWPORT INDY?
As an aside, I find it extremely curious that the Newport Beach Independent, a relatively new publication that focuses on all issues involving Newport Beach and published by former Daily Pilot publisher, Tom Johnson, has not printed a single word about this situation - not one! Certainly, this is a newsworthy issue in Newport Beach, right? How do we explain that absence of coverage? I don't expect any news source to cover every single story in it's reporting area, but this one is BIG. But, there is only a void - not even a link to other media outlets. Very curious, indeed.

OCLNN is History!

THAT WAS QUICK!
After only four months of operation, the fledgling Orange County Local News Network is gone - poof!

SHUT DOWN YESTERDAY WITHOUT NOTICE
As reported HERE in the Orange County Business Journal, OCLNN ceased operations yesterday, Monday, May 24th. Calls to their number went directly to voicemail.

YEP, THEY'RE ALL GONE
The reported 20 staffers were domiciled adjacent to the Daily Pilot and other Times Community News entities in the Los Angeles Times facility on Sunflower in Costa Mesa. A call to the Daily Pilot confirmed that the entire OCLNN staff was laid off yesterday and that the space they occupied now holds only echoes.

NO REASON GIVEN FOR THE CLOSURE
I've followed the OCLNN since it launched earlier this year and thought they were doing a pretty good job of providing timely original content and relevant aggregated local news from other sources. No reason for its failure was given in the OC Business Journal article, although some might speculate that they had difficulties attracting advertising revenue, without which any news organization will fail.

WHAT ABOUT THE NEWPORT BEACH INDEPENDENT?
I cannot help but wonder about the future of the former Newport Mesa Daily Voice, which recently morphed into the Newport Beach Independent when former Daily Pilot publisher, Tom Johnson, sold the Daily Voice to an outfit in Laguna Beach and is now operating the Independent. There will be no Costa Mesa component in this modified venture and, based on its new look, it will continue to aggregate content from other sources with a little original content in the form of columnists. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that this venture succeeds.

Daily Voice, Adieu & "Mansoor's A Liar", Too

DAILY VOICE BECOMES "INDEPENDENT"
Well, it's official, I guess. Today Tom Johnson announced in the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice that his fledgling publication is no more. It will morph into the Newport Beach Independent. Although we covered this story almost two weeks ago, HERE, you can read Johnson's official announcement HERE. A print product will begin publication on June 4th - one day a week on Fridays.

COSTA MESA ABANDONED
With the launch of the Newport Beach Independent Johnson and his Firebrand Media partners will abandon Costa Mesa for the time being. Quite honestly, unless there's another Police Department scandal, every day is going to be a slow news day for Johnson and his team. In the past couple years Costa Mesa has generated far more newsworthy stuff.

TOUGH CALL FOR JOHNSON
I suspect this is going to be a very big deal for Tom Johnson. Ever since he took over the Daily Pilot as publisher he has been deeply involved in Costa Mesa. He has been a true civic leader, involved in many charities over many years.

GOOD LUCK, TOM
We do wish him well in this most recent new endeavor.

MANSOOR'S FIRST LIE THIS CAMPAIGN SEASON
Yesterday I received my sample ballot for the primary election next month and with it I hold in my hands the evidence of the first big lie told by Allan Mansoor during this election season. Well, maybe not the first, but the only one in print that he authorized that I know of.

HE'S NO LONGER A DEPUTY SHERIFF!
Yep, next to his name on the ballot it shows his designation - Mayor/Deputy Sheriff. Funny thing is, he's not a Deputy Sheriff any longer. According to his pal, Jim Righeimer, Mansoor left the Sheriff's Department as of 12/31/09. He alluded to no longer being a Sheriff Deputy at his press conference last week, too. The ballot language had to be submitted by March of this year, which means that our mayor intentionally lied about who he is on the ballot - probably hoping nobody would notice. Ha! Fat chance of that, Mr. Mayor.

ONLY THE FIRST OF WHAT MAY BE MANY
Now, this might not be the very first lie Mansoor has told, but it certainly is the most flagrant. Of course, following right on the heels of those whoppers he told at his press conference last week, it's not really a surprise. You remember those lies, right? When asked if his immigration scheme announcement was in any way a result of the new Arizona law he said "No." When asked if it had anything to do with his campaign for Van Tran's Assembly seat he said "No." So, that's three lies in less than a week. I supposed we should really start counting them now.

POLLY WANT A CRACKER?
Speaking of counting, let's play a game while watching the City Council meeting tonight. Every time the mayor says, "These are complex issues", shout out the number. The first time shout out "One!" The second time he says it, shout out "Two!", and so forth. That's the phrase implanted in his skull by his political handlers for when he gets into trouble. He, like a parrot wanting a cracker, just repeats the phrase instead of answering the question. All together now, "Squawk, these are complex issues." "Three!"

HE MAY BE THE "PERFECT" ASSEMBLYMAN
So, dear neighbors, that's what you're going to get with Allan Mansoor - fabrication of issues for political expediency and flat-out lies. Come to think of it, he might just fit in perfectly in Sacramento. He's a guy with no leadership skills, limited intellectual capacity, no history of accomplishment and a liar, to boot. Perfect!