Featured Articles from the Huntington Beach Independent

A handful of Huntington Beach residents told council members Monday that they're fed up of waiting for a new senior center. The proposed facility at Huntington Central Park that was approved in 2006 and planned to be complete in 2009 has yet to break ground after years of lawsuits and the loss of funding. A group of residents aired their complaints about the Rodgers Seniors' Center at 17th Street and Orange Avenue, saying that the facility is falling apart and is doing more harm than good to its patrons.

The Huntington Beach Park where a man was allegedly beaten with a skateboard is no stranger to crime, according to police. "It's an area where we need to keep a high visibility of police presence," Huntington Beach Police Chief Ken Small said. "Those kinds of incidents can happen pretty quickly. " Drug possession, loitering, battery and a single murder are among the crimes reported in the last five years.Nineteen counts of battery have been reported, five of them in 2012, along with eight cases of minors loitering and nine incidents of drug possession.

The class started out with 34 recruits -- upon graduation, there were only 20. "It takes a lot of effort, heart and help to complete this course," said Gary T. Knostman, graduate of Golden West College's Criminal Justice Training Center. "I couldn't have done it on my own." The 125th graduating class of Golden West College's Criminal Justice Training Center held its ceremonies in the larger and more spacious Robert B. Moore Theater at Orange Coast College on Friday.

Jeanne Tennant couldn't hold back her tears June 23 as she waited to see her son's name and picture raised up a light pole across from Huntington Beach City Hall. "It takes me back, and all my feelings, when he was there," she said. "I was a very nervous mother. " Her son, David Tennant, was among the first set of U.S. military personnel whose names and pictures were featured on the banners. He toured Iraq twice, his mother said. The city installed the first seven banners in its Hometown Hero program on Main Street's center median between Yorktown and Utica avenues.

Patrick Cottle does most of his work in a small shop in Norwalk, but he stays on call 24 hours a day. After all, he never knows when somebody is going to need a drum. Cottle, the owner of BoneYard Drums, has had bands call him at 10 p.m. en route to a gig, needing a small part for their drum kit. He’s had producers phone him at odd hours from the recording studio. Sometimes, drummers land at the airport and call him to provide an entire set for their upcoming show. For nearly three years, Cottle has made a living finding old and beat-up drums, outfitting them with new parts and selling them back to the music industry.

K aren Shaw remembers the day 12-year-old Robin Samsoe went missing in 1979. More than 30 years later, the Huntington Beach resident is working to make sure her own 12-year-old daughter isn't abducted and killed, as Robin was. Shaw is spearheading a Huntington Beach Super Signature drive on Saturday to urge legislators to crack down on violent child predators and pass Chelsea's Law. The proposed legislation would increase the punishment...

His nickname could be "Aqua Lung." His slogan could be: Banker by day, world-class swimmer by night. He is Richard Saeger, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist who has recently delved, or dived, back into the pool, breaking records all over again. Saeger, 41, who regularly trains at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar High school pools, is fresh off a world-record performance in the 100-meter freestyle in the 40-44 age division at the Mission Viejo Masters Meet July 3. An Irvine resident since 1999, Saeger got back into competitive swimming in 2000 after taking a 14-year hiatus to focus on his career -- banking, basically.

It was just the perfect fit. That's why Nothing Bundt Cakes co-Founder Dena Tripp decided to bring her company, which franchised a few years ago, to 16622 Beach Blvd., Suite 102 in Huntington Beach, just a few miles from her hometown of Fountain Valley. She and her husband, Blaine, both graduated from Fountain Valley High School. "There was only one choice in my mind as to where the perfect bakery would be and that was Beach Boulevard," said Tripp, who moved to Las Vegas to start a family and her business in the late 1990s.

A developer with local ties will try to make a long-delayed project - which eventually would bring condominiums, businesses and a hotel to downtown Huntington Beach - a reality. DJM Capital Partners announced in a press release last week that it purchased about 11 acres of the vacant 31-acre site designated for the Pacific City project. It will be the fourth developer to become involved in the project in the last eight years. Pacific City seeks to bring 516 residential units, shops, restaurants and an eight-story hotel to the site downtown on Pacific Coast Highway between First and Huntington streets.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Cops aren't like regular people -- at least that's what most people seem to think. It seems that most people have a bad opinion of cops, or none at all. I have to admit that I haven't always had a very good opinion of them. That changed when I got into journalism. My first job at a newspaper put me in contact with police officers on a weekly basis and I learned a lot about them. They are just like everyone else. They have families, they have lives outside of the police department and the same things that bother us, bother them.

Ocean View Little League's magical summer began last year with a District 62 title and ended with a World Series championship in Williamsport, Pa. But there was a changing of the guard Monday night at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. Huntington Valley dug its way out of a three-run hole against Ocean View and went on the dethrone the reigning champs, 8-3, to win the District 62 Major Division All-Star Tournament. Huntington Valley, which went undefeated in the tournament, advances to Section tournament play July 14 at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo.

The playoffs are upon us. I'm not referring to the NBA or the NHL, though there are some terrific series taking place in those leagues. I'm talking about Little League baseball here in Huntington Beach, where, as the Jeff Pratto-led Ocean View team showed us a couple of seasons ago, it is never too early to start dreaming about the World Series in Williamsport. Surf City, USA could just as easily be called Little League City, USA given the strength of our local teams. But beyond playoff baseball, there are some other things going on within the Seaview Little League district that transcend the sport in a number of thoughtful ways.

For some, living near the beach in Orange County is a priceless luxury. But actually going to the beach — by car, anyway — is about to get a little pricier. The California Dept. of Parks and Recreation announced this month that annual vehicle passes at state parks will increase from $125 to $195. Among the locations affected are six in Orange County: Crystal Cove State Park and Bolsa Chica, Huntington, Corona del Mar, San Clemente and Doheny state beaches. The department announced April 12 that it would raise the price of several annual passes, including those for vehicle use, on May 1. The cost for single-day use and camping fees will remain the same in most areas, although some regional superintendents may adjust fees for specific parks, spokesman Roy Stearns said.