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NEWPORT BEACH - The sighting of an 8-foot hammerhead shark off the Newport Beach pier led lifeguards to close nearby beaches Monday. Lifeguards were alerted to the shark around 11 a.m. near the end of the pier, according to Jennifer Manzella of the Newport Beach Police Department.

A large storm hundreds of miles to the south, typically not seen until midsummer, is expected to create the potentially dangerous conditions along the coast, according to lifeguard Capt. Jon Mitchell. ... The biggest swells are expected to hit south-facing beaches Sunday and Monday before tapering off Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

... [Jake] LaMotta has been the subject of several books, a film considered one of the greatest in American cinema, and a failed stage show called "Lady and the Champ." Now there's a second feature film about his life, this one titled "LaMotta: The Bronx Bull." LaMotta will be in Orange County on Saturday when the new movie, produced by Irvine-based Main Street Films, premieres as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival ...

It has been years since audiences have been given a horror movie that wasn't a carbon copy of another film—big-budget film producers aren't exactly flowing with ideas. Thankfully, the Horror Showcase at the Newport Beach Film Festival, running April 23-30, aims to counter that fatigue with a new crop of filmmakers outside of the Hollywood milieu, presenting seven short films and one feature film that not only break the mold of clichés, but also eat their brains . . . or something. Because if there's one thing we can be mindful of, it's that some of the best, most memorable...

1. Orson Welles was born on May 6, 1915. 2. As a filmmaker, his three greatest pictures, in order, are Touch of Evil (1958), Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). 3. Ah, yes, but Citizen Kane tops many lists as the greatest film of all time (with Welles filling the top slot on many directing lists). The fictional story of a megalomaniac newspaper magnate (loosely based on William Randolph Hearst) and innocence lost is indeed a masterpiece . . . albeit a dated one. Newspaper magnates? Not in this century, bub. 4. John Houseman wrote in his 1972...

Recently, the House passed, by an overwhelming margin, a resolution to condemn the Russian Federation for actions considered hostile and aggressive within its sphere of influence, specifically with regard to the politically torn country of Ukraine. Ten Members voted “nay,” myself among them. I wish to explain why I took this unpopular position. Above all, while Vladimir Putin’s government may well have engaged in questionable behavior toward neighboring countries, Resolution 758 was nothing more than gratuitous, needlessly provocative and shortsighted. Moreover, reasonable observers the world over can see it as tantamount to a declaration that Russia is America’s enemy. The...

NEWPORT BEACH – Two people were in the Orange County Jail this week, after police stopped them in a van with automatic rifles and ammunition. The van contained seven AK-47 assault rifles, six 30-round high-capacity 7.62 caliber magazines, two 10-round magazines and more than 350 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition inside, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said. Manzella said the arrests are significant because of the weapons seized. All of the guns were modified to fire in fully automatic mode, and one had a barrel less than 16 inches in length in violation of California state law, she said....

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Investigators with the Orange County Health Department were working Friday to determine what may have caused several people to get sick after eating at an upscale Newport Beach restaurant. KNX 1070’s Ron Kilgore reports authorities say six diners came down with the intestinal bacteria Shigella after eating at the True Food The self-billed healthy living restaurant was shut down on Aug. 28 for two days over what county inspectors labeled an “imminent health risk” due to at least one confirmed case of Shigella. Following the closure, True Food reopened after the entire restaurant was sanitized and...

Two very different police recruitment videos: Decatur, Georgia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIgt8pmh7CUNewport Beach, California: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_rKA6ROAVk Where would you rather live: in a place which polices like Decatur, or a place which polices like Newport Beach?

David Bahnsen of Newport Beach, California is a Senior Vice President of Morgan Stanley, and also serves on the Board of Advisers of the California Recovery Project with Dr. Arthur Laffer. Bahnsen has abandoned his earlier support of the Ron Paul crusade, and now describes himself as an "economically literate Republican." He is the author of "The Undiscerning and Dangerous Appreciation of Ron Paul." Bahnsen says "It is the ironic that Ron Paul's alleged praiseworthiness comes from his devotion to the Constitution, when in fact, he has emphatically rejected it." Bahnsen has many family and business connections with libertarians. His...

NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) — The City of Newport Beach has decided a recent presidential trip really fit the bill. Literally. Newport Beach’s revenue division is charging the Obama campaign — specifically Obama For America — $35,043.04 for extra police officers, reserve officers and overtime pay to cover a recent fundraising visit. The fundraiser was held in a Newport Beach home, causing traffic closures and security issues in the neighborhood. Scott Mason has lived for 20 years on the street where the fundraiser was held. “I don’t care what the political party is…I am not in the President’s party…if you are...

NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) — A bronze statue of former President Ronald Reagan was vandalized early Sunday, according to officials. Police received a call at approximately 5:30 Sunday morning about a possible vandalism in progress at the Bonita Canyon Sports Park. A witness saw a suspect tie something around the top of the statue and the other end to the front of his vehicle. The witness said the suspect then got into his vehicle and put it in reverse in an attempt to pull the statue down. The suspect, described as a male in dark clothing, fled the scene before officers...

Public outrage over lavish government employee compensation and pensions is becoming more heated as new revelations about excesses seem to crop up every week. The latest: Newport Beach, California, where some lifeguards have compensation packages that exceed $200,000 and where these "civil servants" can retire with lucrative government pensions at age 50. Newport Beach has two groups of lifeguards. Seasonal tower lifeguards cover Newport’s seven miles of beach during the busy summer months. Part-time seasonal guards make $16 to $22 per hour with no benefits. They are the young people who man the towers and do the lion’s share of...

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Aug. 4, 2005 – In an effort to support the troops, the Liberty Baptist Church here opened its doors to Marines, sailors of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment and their families during the Family First Seminar. The purpose of the day-long seminar was to provide advice and counseling to couples to help them better cope with the stress brought on by deployments. Those in attendance listened to speakers offer advice on subjects such as love, improving communication skills and the role of spirituality in a relationship. Other speakers quoted passages from the bible and offered personal...