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.

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!

The Demise Of The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice

R.I.P.

MORE NEWS FROM TOM JOHNSON
My friend, Tom Johnson, gave me a call today to provide me with a little more information about the pending demise of the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice after ten months of operation and the launch of the brand new Newport Independent.


PUBLISHER OF TWO NEW ENTITIES
Tom has joined Firebrand Media in Laguna Beach and will be the publisher of the Laguna Beach Independent and the soon-to-be-launched Newport Beach Independent. The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice will be acquired by Firebrand in this process and will be folded up although many of the features of the Daily Voice will be perpetuated in the Newport Independent.

NO COSTA MESA COVERAGE PLANNED NOW
According to Tom, there are no plans for Costa Mesa coverage by the Newport Beach Independent, which will be a one-day-a-week print publication (Fridays) and 24/7/365 online entity. The Independent will be available at news racks around Newport Beach - it's a freebie - and may be available via subscription for home delivery, too. That model would charge enough for the subscription to cover delivery costs and a slight amount more, which would be distributed to a few select non-profit organizations.

ROGER BLOOM AS EDITOR
Tom is currently building a staff. He just hired Roger Bloom as Editor. Bloom has the chops for this gig - he worked at the Daily Pilot and the Register in years past and more recently was the Managing Editor of the Orange County Business Journal. Tom is excited to have a man of Bloom's experience on his team to help him get this new publication off and running. They are in the process of adding a reporting staff.

LOBDELL NOT A PART OF THIS ENDEAVOR
William Lobdell, former Daily Pilot editor, Los Angeles Times reporter, award-winning author and Tom's partner in the Daily Voice, will not be part of this new endeavor. As reported here earlier, HERE, he's gone a different direction, teaming up with convicted, and apparently repentant, swindler Barry Minkow to report on malfeasance in business. Johnson and Lobdell remain close friends.

LAUNCH AFTER MEMORIAL DAY
Tom tells me that he's looking for a launch of the Newport Independent shortly after Memorial Day this year. The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice will cease operations around that time. I wish him all the best.

Fairgrounds Purchase a Go, Peekaboo Mansoor, Fireworks and Daily Voice RIP

FAIR PURCHASE AGREEMENT APPROVED
OK, here we go! With their reported unanimous vote in closed session tonight the Costa Mesa City Council authorized the purchase of the Orange County Fair and Events Center. Whew!




TRIO TO HAND-DELIVER IT TO SACRAMENTO
Wednesday City Manager Allan Roeder will accompany council members Katrina Foley and Gary Monahan to Sacramento to personally deliver the proposal to the office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, meeting the deadline imposed upon the city during their "exclusive" negotiations.

HOLDING OUR BREATH
No one I've spoken with has a clue whether the State will find the proposal acceptable or not, so there will be lots of crossed fingers around these parts until word is received from the Governor's office.


THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED
Thanks to Roeder, Becky Bailey-Findley and the entire team who has been burning the midnight oil to put this offer together. Somehow, "thanks" seems hardly adequate.

MANSOOR PLAYS PEEKABOO
Tonight's meeting was another strange one. When the council came out of closed session - only about 15 minutes late - Mayor Allan Mansoor was nowhere to be found so Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece took over and began the meeting. Then, during Council Member comments he mysteriously re-appeared and took over.

QUICK PITCH WITH THE AGENDA
The very first thing he did was to suggest moving the Fireworks issue forward - it was the last item on the agenda - to be heard immediately even before the Consent Calendar. He met with opposition by Leece and Foley, who indicated that many people who planned to speak didn't anticipate the issue being heard at the beginning of the meeting and might not be in the auditorium to speak. Those logical complaints fell on deaf ears and the three guys voted to hear it next.

GARY GOT HIS WAY
After much discussion and public input the council voted 4-1 to add another fireworks sales hour on July 4th (Leece voted no) and then voted unanimously to return "hand-held devices" into the inventory of approved fireworks. Man, I hope they don't regret that move.


MANSOOR AND MONAHAN - "WE'RE OUTTA HERE!"
The reason for moving the issue forward became crystal clear when Mansoor called for a "brief 5-minute break". When it was over both he and Monahan had left the building and were not seen nor heard again for the rest of the meeting! Monahan got his issue addressed early so he could go pull beer pumps and I wonder if Mansoor had a fund raising event scheduled for this evening? Regardless, he didn't earn his pay tonight, for sure.

DAILY VOICE TO FOLD
On another interesting note, Sunday Rick Reiff at the Orange County Business Journal reported that former Daily Pilot publisher Tom Johnson and his partner, William Lobdell will abandon their fledgling news outlet, The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice, after less than a year in operation. According to Reiff's report, Johnson will join Laguna Beach-based Firebrand Media as publisher of two weekly free newspapers - the Laguna Beach Independent and the soon-to-be-launched Newport Beach Independent. No mention was made about a "Costa Mesa" version.

MORE INFO PENDING
I knew this was coming but couldn't talk about it until "official" notification. I guess Reiff's article constitutes that notification. I've tried to contact Tom Johnson for more information but have received no reply yet. We don't know for sure, but assume, that these new efforts will have an online presence, too. No word whether Bill Lobdell will be joining this new adventure. I'll report back when I get more information. In the meantime, I wish Tom well with this new gig.

Reporting Deaths and Tree Mayhem

OK, now I'm getting a little confused. Some would say that's kind of perpetual state for me...

MAN SHOOTS WIFE IN HEAD
Last week a Costa Mesa resident identified as Kenneth Joseph Leake, age 75, was arrested at his Eastside home for apparently attempting to kill his wife of 50 years, Doris. According to published reports Leake shot his wife in the head anywhere from one to five times, depending on which report you choose to believe. Leake is being held on $1 million bail and will be arraigned on October 16th in Harbor Justice Center.

TERRIBLE STORY
This, of course, is a terrible tragedy. It's hard to imagine what prompts a man to attempt to murder his wife of a half century so violently. It's amazing that she has survived this attack.

Here's my problem with this story. It's the way it has been portrayed by various media outlets.

THREE VIEWS OF THE SAME STORY
The Daily Pilot was the first to break this story. You can read their updated story HERE. In the story they identify Mr. Leake and his wife, Doris and describe the shooting, indicating that she was shot in the head three times. The Orange County Register ran a close second, HERE, and said Mrs. Leake was shot once. Today the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice presented a more detailed account of this event, including the fact that Mr. Leake shot his victim not once, but five times - four to the head and one in the wrist. In that story, HERE, they identified the victim not as Mrs. Doris Leake, but as Jane Doe - after two other media outlets had already identified her by name.

I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND
Now, I certainly don't pretend to be a newsman - not even close. I'm just a guy who writes whatever dribbles out of his head on a given day, but tries to be sure it's founded in facts. All of those outfits are staffed by very experienced reporters and editors and yet the stories told are very different. I mean, how many times was the victim shot? Where? Why? And why, for goodness sake, did the Daily Voice not identify the victim as the shooters wife by her name when their headline clearly states that he shot his wife of 50 years?

DAILY VOICE ANNOUNCES DEATH
We had another similar event last week, too, in which Newport Beach socialite Debbie Simon died in her Harbor Island mansion. In this case, the Daily Voice broke the story and did a nice job of explaining who she was, described the good works she had done since arriving from New Jersey a few years ago. But, they didn't mention that she took her own life.

DAILY PILOT ANNOUNCES HANGING AS CAUSE
Joe Serna wrote a good story on this event, too, in which he very discretely mentioned that Simon had taken her life. However, Editor Brady Rhoades subsequently blogged about this death and mentioned that Simon had hanged herself. Rhoades followed that up with a column last Friday's print edition in which he reaffirmed her death by hanging.

WHO DECIDES WHICH "FACTS" ARE TOLD?
The question on this one is, "What determines when the complete facts of a story are told?" Personally, I think the fact that Simon took her own life is relevant to the story - the Daily Voice apparently did not. Considering the fact that she was a highly visible socialite who, from all reports, spent her wealth freely on many good causes in the area and was still in the midst of a very sticky divorce after something like six or seven years makes the fact that she died by hanging an important element of the story.

TOO MUCH TV DRAMA?
I don't know - maybe I've watched a hundred too many episodes of the CSI series and The Sopranos, but this kind of curious reporting just bothers me. I do know that I don't trust any single source if information any more - on almost any subject - for the very reasons illustrated above.

TREE BUTCHERY
And, to end this post on an even more sour note, how in the world do we explain the recent vandalism in Fairview and Canyon parks in which someone, or a group of someones, chopped a bunch of trees in half? You can read Candace Baker's story in the Daily Pilot HERE. Certainly, these crimes do not compare to the deaths mentioned above, but what kind of a strange, demented person attacks a specific species of tree in two different municipal parks for no apparent reason? We're living in strange times, my friends.

(All photos used in this entry courtesy of the Daily Pilot)

Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight!

courtesy of David Simms via CBS

ABOUT THOSE FIREFIGHTERS PENSIONS...
So, shall we all complain at once about the "outrageous" pensions we provide to our firefighters? No? I didn't think so. Two firefighters lost in the Station fire - so far...


LOCAL TELEVISION FAILS WITH COVERAGE
What a weekend! The only thing that might have made it more harrowing would have been some actual television coverage of the fires that are burning around southern California. All our local stations chose to provide us with sports and infomercials instead of giving us coverage of those fast-growing fires that have threatened thousands of homes in Los Angeles County. KCAL Channel 9 is doing a good job providing coverage Sunday night, but dropped the ball along with all it's peers earlier in the weekend. Every one of those stations should have their licenses reviewed!

JPL courtesy of Erik Brandon via CBS

FRIENDS IN JEOPARDY
I know the area of The Station fire very well - it's my old stomping grounds when I was a kid - a long, long time ago. In fact, my best friend - about whom I've written frequently - lived in the Briggs Terrace section of La Crescenta that was threatened over the weekend.

Phoscheck Bomber courtesy Keith Bohanan via CBS

MT. WILSON THREATENED
As I type this Sunday night the communications towers and observatory on Mt. Wilson are threatened - one briefer said it's possible we will lose them tonight because that peak is being approached by fire on two sides! If that happens not only will most local television networks go dark, but many police and fire communication networks will be severely hampered. Monday could be very interesting.

FREEDOM COMMUNICATIONS TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today, Sunday, that Freedom Communications, the parent of our very own Orange County Register, will file for bankruptcy later this week. That really doesn't come as much of a surprise - they have been in free-fall for more than a year. If they do, in fact, file for bankruptcy they will join our other print news source, the Tribune Company, in that condition. The Tribune Company is the parent of the Los Angeles Times and Times Community Newspapers (The Daily Pilot).

DAILY VOICE TO SHIFT PLATFORMS
Speaking of local news, our friends over at The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice announced over the weekend that they are shifting platforms for their fledgling online publication. In fact, they will be using the same platform that is utilized by the Daily Pilot. It will be interesting to see how that move goes.

HOW TO REPLACE FISLER?
This week brings us another Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Tuesday. Although the meeting may turn out to be brief, among the things to be discussed will be how to replace Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jim Fisler, who resigned last week when he was appointed to the Mesa Consolidated Water District Board of Directors.

The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice Growing...

FINDING THEIR PACE...
It's been an interesting couple weeks for my friends, Tom Johnson and William Lobdell, since they announced the launch of their new venture, The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice.

"BORROWING" CONTENT
They've been busily snatching news for their online publication from other local sources - the Daily Pilot, Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times and a few others - and have included most of the Daily Pilot bloggers in their blog roll. Curiously, they've chosen not to link to Paul Anderson's very entertaining blog, Supplied To Anderson.

GROWING PAINS
They've generated some breaking news coverage on their own - to be expected from such seasoned newsmen - and launched their daily weather report using neighborhood kids giving a video weather report... very cute. They are making creative use of locally-generated videos, too.

TOO CASUAL?
They were interviewed on Fox News about this new venture. As I watched the video clip I found myself wishing they'd tried to be just a smidgen less casual. I suspect some of the national viewers wondered whether they had just come in from a morning on the golf course for the interview. Don't get me wrong - as anyone who knows me can attest - casual is just fine with me, but I kept wishing they'd worn a dress shirt and tie above their shorts for the interview...

WHAT HAPPENS IF...?
It's way, way too early to tell if this is going to be a successful venture, but it looks like it's got a shot. I keep wondering, however, what happens if local readers abandon the Daily Pilot for the Daily Voice - where will Johnson and Lobdell get their content if they drive their competition out of business? Just wondering...

"LOSING MY RELIGION..." IN 4TH PRINTING
And, it's been an even bigger week for Lobdell, who announced on his blog that his book, Losing My Religion..." is now in it's 4th printing. Way to go, Bill! I've read his book and found it to be a fascinating story of his journey to and from religion. And, since it's really a travelogue of his journey on that path and he's still got a whole lot of livin' to do, I suspect there could be a sequel somewhere downstream. If he, for example, decides Zoroastrianism is an interesting choice of theology, he might write about that. Regardless, Bill's book is worth a read.

Newport-Mesa Daily Voice Is Launched!

WE HAVE LIFT OFF!
Yesterday evening, at a meeting of Speak Up Newport, former Daily Pilot honchos Tom Johnson and Bill Lobdell announced the launch of their new "hybrid" news publication, the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice.

EFFORTS TO BUY THE DAILY PILOT FAIL
Some will recall that this effort began as "Operation Local News", conceived to fill a perceived need in local news coverage as a result of the decline of the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and, to some extent, the Daily Pilot. According to Johnson, he and his team exhausted all efforts at locating funding to buy the Daily Pilot from the bankrupt Tribune Companies - their first choice. They apparently couldn't interest the bankruptcy court in entertaining their offer.

BARE BONES TO BEGIN
So, as of yesterday, they've launched this new endeavor with, in Johnson's words, "No large backers. No deep pockets. Just a group of us committed to providing Newport-Mesa with more local news, commentary and information at a time when many news organizations are folding up shop."

I'LL LINK TO THE SITE
I will carry the link to this new site over there on the right of this page - just below the Daily Pilot link. I thought that was an appropriate location since it appears that they are beginning life as an online aggregator - linking to other news sources as a springboard for their operation. Much of what they've linked to is directly from the Daily Pilot and its stable of bloggers.

VIEW THE VIDEOS
When you visit this new site - and I hope you will, early and often - you'll find some video clips from the meeting at Speak Up Newport, including seven minutes of Tom Johnson providing some perspective on the future of news presentation. You'll also hear his formal announcement of the launch of this new site.

You'll also hear Orange County Register Central Editor Paul Danison provide his view, including his opinion that the local market isn't big enough for three news outlets.

And, you'll hear Daily Pilot Editor Brady Rhoades respond to the new competition and give his views of the future. Each of these are worth a look.

A LEAP OF FAITH...
Times are tough financially everywhere, but particularly in the arena of trying to fund a new venture. Johnson and Lobdell have chosen to leap off this cliff without a parachute, assuming that "if we build it, they will come." They've signed up an exceptionally strong advertising team and have provided a way for the "little guy" to donate to the success of this venture.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
I don't know if this new venture will succeed. I think the Newport-Mesa needs and deserves to have it's stories covered professionally, whether we're talking about hard news, sports, or community events. For more than 100 years that role has been fulfilled by the Daily Pilot and it's predecessor publications. I have strong mixed emotions as I think about this new venture displacing the Daily Pilot and, perhaps, forcing it out of business. I'm not comfortable with that, but life is competition. I hope this new competition will further motivate the management of the Daily Pilot to do an even better job for it's readers.

THEY'RE OFF AND RUNNING
In any event, it's going to be very interesting to see just what impact the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice will have on our local news. My understanding is that they plan to publish a print version once or twice a week once they get off and running. We'll see...

BYRON'S ON BOARD
Apparently they have recruited my old pal, fellow blogger and multiple-tour Daily Pilot columnist, Byron de Arakal, as a feature columnist. If that works out, his contributions alone will be worth the price of admission.

GOOD LUCK!
Good luck to Tom Johnson, Bill Lobdell and the rest of their team. Life is going to be very interesting for them for awhile.