Huntington State Beach

Mike Sciacca Armed with sun block and a community service spirit, 15 Brownies from Troop 627 descended by caravan Saturday on Huntington State Beach. The gaggle of girls from Whittier were joined by volunteers statewide who participated in the seventh annual California State Parks Foundation's Earth Day 2004 Restoration and Cleanup Projects. Huntington State Beach was one of four county beach or parks, and eight areas in Southern California, overall, to undergo cleaning and maintenance Saturday.

HAPPENINGS Worthwhile walk Thousands get in stride to help multiple sclerosis Sunday at Huntington State Beach for the MS Walk. B1 ALSO: Reel Critics review "The Punisher" and "The Whole Ten Yards." B2 Tom Titus offers a glimpse of Golden West's upcoming production of "Sylvia." B3 The Bread Crumb reopens in Huntington Beach. B1 EDUCATION Algebra waivers Huntington Beach Union High School board members grant 40 seniors permission to graduate despite not meeting a new state standard that requires them to pass the basic math class.

Jenny Marder Volunteers along the coast will scour beaches this weekend for soda cans, cigarette butts, Styrofoam and anything else that litters the sand and surf. Several different organizations are launching events for Earth Day, which is today. Huntington and Bolsa Chica state parks will join 42 other California state parks and thousands of other volunteers in a massive statewide cleanup Saturday. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to take part in the California State Parks Foundation's annual Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup.

Mike Sciacca Valerie Hardy and Rosanna Starr know the talk and walk the walk when it comes to multiple sclerosis. The two Huntington Beach residents joined thousands of others for the 2004 MS Walk on Sunday. The walk was staged by the Orange County chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and was held at three sites. Sunday's walk was at Huntington State Beach, starting in the parking lot at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street.

Andrew Edwards Treacherous currents likely caused a Huntington Beach drowning on April 15, lifeguards said. At about 5:15 p.m., lifeguards at Huntington State Beach were alerted that a swimmer was in trouble near the Talbert Channel, lifeguard supervisor Mike Broushard said. Lifeguards could not resuscitate the swimmer, who was identified by the Orange County Coroner's Division as 18-year-old Son Bao Nguyen of Anaheim. By the time lifeguards arrived for the rescue attempt, two surfers had already brought Nguyen's body to shore, Broushard said.

City officials are balking at a request by pop cable channel MTV to host summer programming from Surf City beaches. Others feel that this is exactly what the city needs. "I think it would be great for the city," Surf City resident Julie Plozai, 22, said. "People that watch MTV are going to be the people taking vacations here." But city officials aren't interested. "Bringing a whole lot of kids in the summer is really not something we need to do," Mayor Cathy Green said.

Surf City's latest beach report card is one that a child would be willing to bring home, while expecting Mom and Dad to ask the inevitable "What happened here with the state beach at Magnolia Street?" The city and state should be proud of its coastal water grades here -- lots of A's, three Bs. There's just one problem -- a D at Huntington State Beach at Magnolia Street. To be fair, Magnolia has pulled that grade up from an F in 2002, so that's showing improvement.

Jenny Marder The fourth drowning this summer was reported last week at Sunset Beach when a Lakewood resident was discovered floating face down in the water. Richard Brown, 25, was unconscious by the time two beachgoers found him at 3:45 p.m. and pulled him from the water. Several lifeguard units began CPR and continued until the paramedics arrived and rushed him to Los Alamitos Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. The drowning occurred near 24th Street, between lifeguard towers 21 and 26, a notoriously busy stretch, said Patti Schooley, a parks district supervisor in charge of coastal facilities for county operated beaches.

An 18-year-old high school football star from Moreno Valley is presumed to have drowned off Huntington State Beach between Magnolia and Brookhurst avenues at just after 8 p.m. Monday. The disappearance of Drean Rucker is believed to have been the second drowning death at Surf City beaches in less than a week and the third this summer. Rucker was reportedly swimming with a friend when he disappeared underwater just after sundown. Lt. Mike Brousard, lifeguard program supervisor for Huntington State Beach, where Rucker disappeared, said it sounds as though the young man walked into an inshore hole while wading close to shore and was knocked down by a wave and pulled into the current.

Jenny Marder From the ground, it looked like nothing special, merely restless shuffling, giggling, and children weaving back and forth. But from the sky, the bodies formed a perfect sea turtle, surrounded by a simple message: "Ocean = Life." Orange County students efforts were mimicked by thousands from cities up and down the California coast who gathered Thursday, May 22, for the Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup to simultaneously send messages to the sky, calling for protection of our oceans and beaches.