Corona del Mar Today: Harbor View students hold annual Field Day

Harbor View Elementary School students marked the last Wednesday of school with their annual Field Day — a series of competitive but friendly games and races.

“I really think it’s fun,” said fifth-grader Chris King as he finished hula-hooping and prepared to take the boys’ side in a tug-of-war. “You get to get out and have a little fun outside.”

Parent volunteers helped rotate each classroom through game stations, explaining the rules, holding hoops for footballs to be thrown through and lowering the limbo pole closer and closer to the ground.

A pizza box relay was among the more popular events.

“I can’t see! I can’t see!” shouted fourth-grader Rome Sutton as he tried to run with a stack of empty boxes.

“You can still smell the pizza,” said fourth-grader Ellie Schoen. The wind blew empty boxes off the stacks as students scrambled to the finish line.

Sixth-graders Grace Kramer and Ava McKenzie said they were feeling nostalgic as they prepared to leave Harbor View for Corona del Mar Middle School.

“I love all the games,” Grace said.

“It’s fun — I love it,” Ava added. “We will miss it.”

Fourth-grade teacher Kristin Botta said she nearly crashed into a wall on a tricycle. Her student, Paris Paz, said her side fell to the ground in a tug-of-war, and at first they though their opponents had let go of the rope and were laughing.

“But they were on the ground too,” she said. “The rope broke. It was so funny.”

Cynthia Dickinson, co-president of the school’s Parent Faculty Organization, said Field Day was always a highlight of the year-end activities.

“I love all the relays, with the kids working together,” she said.

Fourth-grader Emma Till said the noise was intense, but it didn’t matter.

“Everyone is cheering, and it’s a little noisy, but it’s fun at the same time,” she said.

“It’s a fun way to exercise,” classmate Rebecca Armstrong said.

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Just Graphics closed for business

The Just Graphics framing shop at 2854 E. Coast Hwy. has closed after more than three decades in business.

“We are so sorry that after years in business we had to close our doors,” said a sign posted in the window. “Thank you for all your years of patronage.”

The shop’s logo, written beneath its address above the door, declares it was “One of the Oldest Stores in CDM.”

According to Newport Beach city business license records, the shop’s license expires June 30. The Just Graphics website states the business opened in 1976.

Attempts to reach the owner for information about why the shop closed were not successful. The shop’s sign refers clients to Scene Gallery at 2620 San Miguel Drive.

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Preliminary hearing set in CdM abuse case

A 62-year-old Newport Beach man has been scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 16 related to a charge that he failed to obtain medical care for his wife as she lay ill in bed in her Corona del Mar home.

The man was arrested June 1 at 3550 Fifth Ave. and was charged with dependent elder abuse.

He is accused of failing to care for his wife, 59, when she became ill and was unable to care for herself, said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.

“She was in need of some medical attention,” Emami said. “It’s unclear how long she was in need of medical attention.”

The daughter of the victim and suspect visited the woman and found her in bed in unsanitary conditions, apparently dehydrated and ill, Emami said.

“She hadn’t been cared for in some time, and it was extremely obvious she was in need of care,” she said. “She was in a physical state where she just couldn’t care for herself” or seek help. The crime occurred between April 10 and 16, according to a police report, and police then obtained an arrest warrant.

The woman’s medical condition was unexpected to the daughter, she said. The woman continues to receive medical treatment. Emami said she “could not say at this point” whether the victim was expected to recover fully. She declined to elaborate on the details of the woman’s illness.

Family members who live in the same home are legally responsible to seek medical care for one another when a person is incapacitated, Emami said.

The suspect remains free on $50,000 bail.

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Entryway traffic study set to start

Newport Beach will begin implementing a traffic lane configuration on East Coast Highway at MacArthur Boulevard next week, city officials announced in a statement.

The test will examine how traffic flow changes when the squeeze lane, where three lanes merge to two, is moved. The results could determine the fate of an entryway beautification project that has been considered since the early 1990s.

“There will be a transition in the southbound direction from three lanes at Avocado Avenue to two lanes at Begonia Avenue,” the city statement said. “The roadway will then consist of two lanes south of Begonia Avenue.”

The Corona del Mar Business Improvement District had agreed to pay for the trial project as part of its efforts to go forward with a beautification project that would widen sidewalks and add landscaping in the area. Nine parking spots would be eliminated but replaced elsewhere, officials have said.

“The changes are intended to make the entry to Corona del Mar more pedestrian friendly and more aesthetically pleasing,” the statement said.

A contractor will install temporary traffic control devices that will include 36-inch tall orange “stick-down” delineators, as well as striping and advance signage announcing the lane reduction.

“During the trial period, there be will a loss of eight, on-street parking spaces between Begonia Avenue and Carnation Avenue,” the city statement said. Parking between Avocado and Begonia will not be changed.

For more information about the traffic lane reduction test, click here or call (949) 644-3344.

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