Featured Articles from the Huntington Beach Independent

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.

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.

Some programs at Golden West College could have to cut back after a new bookstore contract allows the district to take revenue dollars that would normally be used to fund athletic, performing arts and academic programs. The Coast Community College District, which also oversees Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley, consolidated its three campus bookstores in April, changing the route of bookstore revenues from the colleges to the district with no direction as to whether the money will go back to the students.

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.

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.

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.

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.

By his own admissions, Jake Bauers has called the past few weeks nothing short of "crazy. " The Marina High senior will tell you, he'd have it no other way. On the cusp of the month of June, Bauers and the Marina baseball team played for a CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship. Since that May 31 night at Dodger Stadium, so much more has transpired for the 17-year-old. Although the Vikings were denied the program's third Southern Section baseball title on the final day of May, Bauers did realize another dream of his when he was taken in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Friday by the San Diego Padres.

Known for attracting top programs from across the southland, this year's Battle at the Beach will offer up another outstanding batch of teams in the 12th annual summer high school football passing league tournament Saturday at the Edison High football fields. Sixteen high school teams will compete in Edison's combination Pool Play/Tournament Playoff format. Four pools of four teams each play three games starting at 9 a.m. with games to follow at 10 and 11 a.m. Following a break for lunch at noon, the top two teams from each pool advance to the Gold Division tournament playoff bracket and the third- and fourth-place teams from each pool advance to the Silver Division tournament playoff bracket.

Two Huntington Beach women died in separate traffic incidents Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to police. Kelly Morehouse, 25, died at UCI Medical Center after she and a male motorcyclist were reportedly hit by a Lexus sedan around 8:35 p.m. Saturday in the intersection of Goldenwest Street and Rio Vista Drive, according to a news release. The 24-year-old man, who was driving a Harley Davidson, and Morehouse were heading south on Goldenwest while Tadashi Mizutani, 68, Huntington Beach, was driving north on the same street.

Ryan Rodriguez had two location options to choose from for his leg of a countrywide relay. His choices were the city of Banning, in Riverside County, or the town of Amboy, in the Mojave Desert. Regardless of which area he ran through, the 41-year-old Huntington Beach resident wanted to participate in One Run for Boston - a continuous relay from Los Angeles to Boston that started June 7 and ends June 30. "Amboy is the hottest place on earth, practically. It can get up to 120 degrees out there," said Rodriguez, who eventually picked Banning as his portion of the relay.

This may be the year when Huntington Beach votes on what HB Reads. The organizers of the annual program, which encourages students and others to read a book with a diversity theme, have opened up the 2014 selection for public input. Between now and July 1, any member of the public can visit hbreads.org and nominate a book that's about 300 pages long, priced at $15 or less and appropriate for ages 15 and older. Of course, it's harder than that: Anyone submitting a title for consideration must also answer the question, "What makes this a book you cannot put down?"