Banning Ranch Development Denied!

A HUGE STORY!
Better late than never, right?  In what is certainly the biggest story in our little slice of the world in many moons, the California Coastal Commission overwhelmingly denied the ddevelopment plans for the Banning Ranch oil field in West Newport Beach at the end of many hours - some reports say 8 hours, others say 13 - of discussion and testimony late last night.  The vote was 9-1!

LOTS OF FREQUENT REPORTS
I confess that I was not watching the live stream of the event, although several friends did text me with highlights and I did see a few images and videos via Facebook throughout the day.  But, that's OK, because there were plenty of very smart folks onsite, poised to report the results of the event.

LOTS OF TIMELY, EXCELLENT COVERAGE
When I head the news - just before 11:00 p.m. last night - I immediately began checking media for reports.  First up was Hannah Fry's excellent coverage, just before 11:00, HERE.  I also checked the Orange County Register and found Lauren Williams' report, HERE, that was timestamped just after 6:00 p.m., so it had been modified for the final result without changing the timestamp.  Win to the Daily Pilot.  There is also a Los Angeles Times story, HERE.  Television was all over the story.  Channels 2/9 had the story at 11:03.  KABC had it a couple minutes later.

THE FUTURE?
Nobody yet knows what the future holds for that chunk of land.  Murmurs of lawsuits, or re-filing in 6 months, float around the ether.  I guess we'll see.

LONG, HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE
The fact remains that, for those activists at the Banning Ranch Conservancy and many others who have battled tirelessly for years trying to save that piece of coastline from development won a huge victory last night.  And it wasn't just a squeaker, either.  Kudos to all those folks who have worked on this issue over the years, and to those who attended this final meeting on this issue yesterday.  Rumors of "cheating" - a Newport Beach official, or former official, may have permitted early admittance to the auditorium so prime seats could be occupied by imported "supporters" of the project - floated around.  It apparently didn't make any difference.

STEVE AND JIM WERE NO-SHOWS
An interesting sidebar - Mayor Steve Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer apparently had filled in speaker cards but failed to present themselves when the time came.  I'm not sure what to make of that - maybe they actually can read public opinion and chose not to oppose it in this case.

OOPS... TIMING IS EVERYTHING
In a bit of ironic timing, the first issue of Stu News Newport - the latest venture for former Daily Pilot publisher Tom Johnson - came out today and there was a featured interview with a Mike Mohler, Senior Project Manager of the Banning Ranch development.  This was the same fellow Tom had on his radio show last Sunday.  Oops!

 A BELLWETHER?  WE'LL SEE...
 Regardless, this is a huge victory for those who would preserve open space for future generations.  And, this may actually be the beginning of a broader movement that will influence the upcoming election in Costa Mesa.

Something's Missing...

BIG CHANGES AT THE DAILY PILOT
This week marks a new era in local news.  As announced earlier by editor John Canalis, beginning today, Monday, November 12, 2012, The Daily Pilot - our newspaper of record for more than a century - has taken another significant step backward as it wrestles with the requirements of producing the best local news while trying to remain fiscally sound and support its parent company's attempts to emerge from bankruptcy.


DOWN TO 5 DAYS PER WEEK
This week The Daily Pilot, which has not been "daily" for some time when it dropped Mondays, becomes even less so as they transition to producing a print product only 5 days per week - Wednesday through Sunday - dropping Tuesdays beginning tomorrow.


COLUMNISTS DROPPED, REDUCED OR SHIFTED
Coincident with this change, we will also no longer see some familiar bylines.  Weekly columns produced by Greer Wylder, Amy Senk, Chuck Cassity, Crissy Brooks and Mona Shadia have all been dropped.  Shadia moved on to the Orange County Register. 
 
Both Jack Wu and Jeffrey Harlan will be published every other week instead of weekly.  Steve Smith's column will be published on Fridays and Jim Carnett's column will be found on Wednesdays.
 
Patrice Apodaca and Bruce Cook will remain as weekly columnists. 

SERNA AND REICHER
These changes come on the heels of the departure of ace reporters Joseph Serna and Mike Reicher.  Serna moved on to the parent newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, and Reicher now covers our area for The Register.


THE REGISTER GOES THE OTHER WAY
Personally, I'm saddened that these changes have been made, but it seems to be representative of changes throughout the print media nationally.  All of them seem to be looking for the right blend of print and electronic media to provide the news promptly and still be able to make money on it.  The exception is the Orange County Register, whose new owner Aaron Kushner, is doing the exact opposite.  He's throttling back the electronic side and is pouring tons of money into revitalizing the print product.  Recently he's advertised for dozens of media types - writers, reporters, editors, etc. - as witnessed by the departure of Shadia and Reicher from The Daily Pilot.
 

BLOOM TO THE REGISTER, TOO

In a related move, veteran newsman Roger Bloom - editor of the Newport Beach Independent and a mainstay at the Feet To The Fire Forums - will also soon join the Register to help establish more local newspapers similar to The Current that it distributes in our area each Friday.  The Indy is part of Firebrand Media in Laguna Beach and is still wrestling with their business model.  Right now they publish daily online and one day per week in print.


WHO'S LEFT - OLD GRUMPY AND ME?

I'm sorry that The Daily Pilot will diminish it's presence in our communities.  I hope they will continue to ramp up their electronic product and provide us with timely, accurate local news.  If "real" news outlets continue to shrink and, in some instances, disappear, it may leave the production of "news" to local blogs like this one and others.  That would be a real tragedy.