Sign of Better Times: Newport Beach says it expects to rake in $15 million in bed taxes this fiscal year, up from an initial projection of $13.7 million. It doesn’t break down data on 20 hotels that pay bed taxes, but a reliable source says Irvine Company’s Pelican Hill Resort and Island Hotel combine for about a third of the total …
What do Robert Ingram, Bill Thompson, William Wang, Maurice Dewald, Jeff Kearl and John Major have in common with House Speaker John Boehner, rapper Jay Z, actor Will Smith and basketball great Bill Walton? All those names are expected to come up in some fashion at the Forum for Corporate Directors’ annual awards dinner on March 1 at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, with Emulex CEO Jim McCluney as emcee …
John McMonigle, real estate agent of Villa Del Lago fame, got another 10 minute’s worth on the Real Housewives of Orange County. He’s apparently representing actress Heather Dubrow, and showed her a vacant lot in Newport Coast listed by Housewives cast member Tamra Barney …
The Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America recently landed a passel of big OC business names for its new Board of Regents. The OC Council has been adding Hispanic names at quite a clip, too, confounding common perceptions. OC has 6,079 Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts who self-identify as Hispanic—the most in the nation, about 20% more than LA, and even a few hundred more than Puerto Rico, says OC Scout Master Jeff Herrmann. OC has 3,428 Asian-American scouts, nearly three times the total in LA. And it’s making strides with African-Americans, including a new troop at Christ Our Redeemer AME in Irvine, where Pastor Mark Whitlock also serves on scouts’ local board …
Putting the R&R in EE RR: Our own Rick Reiff will emcee an invitation-only cruise out of Newport Harbor on Bill and Sue Johnson’s 100-foot-yacht for a Feb. 21 fundraiser for the American Red Cross/OC. Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré of Hurricane Katrina renown is slated to talk about the Red Cross mission. The Johnsons own Johnson Machinery in Riverside County …
Sign of Better Times II: The lunchtime crowds are bigger at the Palm Café Food Court at Michelson & Bixby lately, something Luong Luu, owner of The Chippy Fish & Chips, attributes to a pick-up in office leasing in the airport area. California Republic Bank offers a bird’s-eye confirmation of Luu’s street-level outlook. It just took the top floor and a bit more at 18200 Von Karman, right up the street from the food court. California Republic is expected to get its name atop the building, part of the Irvine Co.’s Irvine Towers. It’s an expansion for the bank, which is keeping its current digs in Newport Center and the Irvine Marketplace for now …
Another Cal State Long Beach grad made good in OC: Steve Beazley, who’s wrapping up a four-year stint as chief executive of the OC Fairgrounds.
