See Update No. 2 on page 2 about a proposal from the mayors of Santa Ana and Newport Beach to reduce the number of fire rings in the beach city and convert some remaining into cleaner-burning pits. Update No. 1 on the next page is about air-quality regulators softening their hardline stance before this afternoon's town hall meeting.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 5, 8 A.M.: The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), whose board could vote on whether to ban beach bonfires at a July meeting, will collect public sentiments on the burning issue June 13 in Newport Beach. That's fitting since Newport Beach set the events in motion that led to the AQMD getting involved in the first place.

And yet, Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry, who favors removing the cement fire rings from his shoreline, had expressed no interest in hosting the AQMD. Anyone else confused?

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Courtesy LA Boxing

Hulk not want leave Orange County

Steve Williams and David Malone purchased the LA Boxing off of Collins Avenue and Tustin Street in Orange in 2009, and along with hundreds of vinyl wrapped bags and sweat residue, they came to own a great, green beast. The Hulk is made out of "poly-something, some kind of fiber-glass," Williams says and stands at a hollow but burly 9-feet-tall. He's been stretching his pectorals and calling out in rage to drivers and pedestrians ever since--but now it's time for him to go.

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A joint resolution to honor California beaches and protect access to them as well as their fire rings was adopted today by the California Legislature with unanimous consent.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 52 by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) does not go to the governor for a signature and has no bearing on air-quality regulations currently being debated (and softened) locally.

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The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is closing, it will take years to decommission, but it's never too soon to think about what should become of the all-new SONGS.

After the jump, five potential (and no-nukes!) re-uses for the nuclear power plant.

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In a conference call with reporters this morning, Edison International President and Chief Executive Officer Theodore Craver, Jr. essentially blamed bad luck on the company's historic decision today to shutter its controversial, problem-plagued San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, or SONGS.

"I assume you've seen our announcement that we've no longer decided to seek restart of Unit 2 and Unit 3 of SONGS," Craven told reporters. He then cited "continuing uncertainty around future of the plant, particularly how long the approval process might continue to be" as the main reason for not reopening the plant. "The other part of the reason is when we originally proposed to restart Unit 2....last October," he added, "there was a clear cost advantage to continue to operate the plant, but over time that economic advantage diminishes."

But when asked what the company did wrong, Craver struggled to answer.

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There are some fights in Orange County that are as futile as the old Spy vs. Spy of MAD Magazine infamy, and one of them was the fight to permanently shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). How many generations of activists staged protests, attended town hall meetings, and did God-knows-how-much-else to shut down the nuke boobies? And how many times did Southern California Edison insist it would never shut it down, no way, no how?

But this morning, SCE announced defeat. WHOA...

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At a June 19 hearing, OC's Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) is hoping to win approval from the San Diego Regional Water Control Board for a controversial extension of the 241 toll road that would cut a path between Oso Parkway and Ortega Highway.

According to TCA, the 5.5-mile extension would pose no harm to the environment thanks to four passages that would allow animals to cross under the highway, as well as costly water runoff and treatment systems that would prevent hazardous chemicals from spilling from the road into local groundwater. Environmental activists with groups such as Surfrider, however, say TCA's real plan is to connect the toll road to the coastline, a move that would ruin the celebrated Trestles surf-break at the nearby San Onofre State Beach. According to San Clemente Patch, the groups plan to show up at the upcoming hearing to protest the move.

Now, Surfrider has a powerful ally in its fight.

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Surf will definitely be up at The Wedge in Balboa, according to wave trackers.

Sets with 7- to 11-foot waves are expected Wednesday and Thursday, while waves as tall as 15 feet are said to be rolling in Thursday and Friday.

Put that cow in your bunga!

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Three years ago, the Orange County District Attorney announced a massive $27.6 million settlement with Wal-Mart, Inc., one of the largest payouts involving environmental pollution in state history. In Dec., 2010, the Weekly interviewed a whistleblower in the case, former manager Kathrine Shimaji, who complained that the illegal dumping of pesticides and other hazardous chemicals had been carried out at a Foothill Ranch store in 2005 at the instruction of other managers, and that higher-ups had ignored her complaints and covered up evidence of the crimes.More »

Orange County beaches once again scored well on Heal the Bay's annual survey, with 95 of 102 testing spots being given an A or B during the summer. By the way, our county leads the state in number of testing spots.

But it's not all sunshine and clean waves as two perennial dirty South County beaches made Heal the Bay's Top 10 Beach Bummers.

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