Is Kimberly and Michael Caspino’s invitation for a fundraiser this week at the Coto de Caza Golf & Raquet Club a case of oversell or understatement? “This is the only time you will have the chance to have an intimate dinner with Congressman Paul Ryan in Orange County. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!” That could be taken as a “this-deal-won’t-last” pitch or a soft-peddle on a swan song for the 2012 Republican nominee for Veep—a sort of de facto concession that he has no further national ambitions. The Insider has a hunch that Ryan still entertains top-of-the-ticket dreams and will be available for intimate dinners in OC in the future if the right donors get hungry for his brand of politics …
The Caspinos’ local ties run deep, including their role as co-chairs of the Orange Catholic Foundation Bishop’s Campaign Cabinet. Other co-chairs: Tim and Steph Busch and Rob and Berni Neal …
Betcha Ava Kuhn is the youngest OCer to get star treatment in the Wall Street Journal. The year-old daughter of Dr. Erica Kuhn, an internist in Newport Beach, was pictured on the front and an inside page of the Aug. 30 Mansion section of the Journal, which highlighted the $40,000 “girlie girl” nursery done by Little Crown Interiors in Huntington Beach. Our latest Luxury Homes column goes outside with a lead item on land sales, which have added to the ongoing pickup at the high-end (see page 15) …
Kudos to Eric Beach of Frontline Strategies in Costa Mesa, who organized the inaugural Under Armour Brothers in Arms Classic with high school football games spread over two months and 12 states. The event honors Navy Seal Brendan Looney, who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010. Beach is a graduate at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland, as was Looney. Funds raised by the Brothers in Arms Classic will help pay for the education of children of veterans who die in combat …
The only OC school in the mix is JSerra, which was set to take on visitors from Nevada and New Jersey. DeMatha got star billing, with ESPN slated to carry its Labor Day game against a Florida high school at the University of Maryland’s stadium …
Beach’s father-in-law, Larry Thomas, takes a circumspect look at OC’s coastal culture, from fire pits to the recent fracas on the streets of Huntington Beach, in his “Making Waves” column for Coast Magazine—which lives up to its name with a classy touch …
A reminder to Register Publisher Aaron Kushner, who continues to hint that he’s interested in buying the LA Times: Rupert gets what Rupert wants. That’s media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who wanted the 13-acre Moraga Vineyards estate overlooking Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and got it last week for $28.8 million. The buy also offers a clue that Murdoch might have made a decision to go after the Times in earnest …
Hats off to Jim Kline of Surterre Properties in Newport Beach, who had the listing for the estate, which was built for Hollywood director Victor Fleming in the 1930s.
