Monarch Beach

A broken sewer line pumped an estimated 10,000 gallons of raw sewage into the ocean off Monarch Beach on Wednesday, forcing the temporary closure of a stretch of Salt Creek Beach, officials said. The broken line, which was along a bike path next to the Links at Monarch Beach Golf Course, was caused by earth movement on a nearby hillside, according to a report from Michael Dunbar, general manager of the South Coast Water District. The leak was discovered about 6 a.m.

With drug violence on the rise in Mexico, business travelers venturing abroad might want to think twice about traveling south of the border. That was the message from more than 570 corporate security professionals, travel managers and human resource executives who were asked to rank the greatest risk to business travelers in 2011. The online survey conducted by International SOS, an international healthcare, medical and security company, ranked Latin America ? and Mexico in particular ?

Developer R. B. McComic Inc. and Home Capital Development Group, a subsidiary of Home Federal Savings & Loan, have acquired and initiated construction on more than 125 acres of property at Monarch Beach. Located across from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel in south Orange County, Monarch Beach is a 550-acre beach-front property.

St. Regis Monarch Beach, the posh Orange County resort tarred in a public backlash to corporate travel spending, has a new owner after a transaction that values the property at about $235 million. Seattle real estate investment company Washington Holdings said Tuesday that it had taken control of the five-star resort and golf course in Dana Point. The venue gained notoriety in 2008 when American International Group Inc. sponsored a luxury retreat there just days after accepting a federal bailout.

Continuing to buy large chunks of coastal property, Capital Pacific Holdings Inc. said Friday it acquired 16 acres in Monarch Beach for $25 million. The newest site, adjacent to the Links at Monarch Beach golf course in Dana Point, will be developed into luxury homes at Ritz Pointe, the Newport Beach developer said.

Robert Trent Jones Jr. says he likes to "reward the bold and punish the timid" on the golf courses he designs. But on some of those courses, such as the Links at Monarch Beach in South County--or more notably at Spanish Bay adjacent to Pebble Beach--boldness by itself doesn't wash. It takes long drives, pinpoint irons and precision putting--and being on pretty good terms with your maker.

A 550-room resort hotel planned for the massive Monarch Beach development in Laguna Niguel cleared its last major hurdle Friday when the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the project. Chris Downey, executive vice president of the SteinBrief Group, the Laguna Niguel-based developer, said construction of the yet-unnamed hotel is scheduled to begin in mid-1986, after the company secures construction financing and a hotel operator.

Japanese Firm's Development Plans Are Breathtaking, but They Must Benefit All Even as Japanese investment in the United States is cooling, Nippon Shinpan Co. Ltd, owner of Japan's largest credit-card company, plans to develop prime Orange County real estate at Monarch Beach in Dana Point. The company plans two hotels of 300 and 100 rooms each, and it also wants to enlarge the already-magnificent Links at Monarch Beach golf course, as well as building about 240 new luxury homes.

A Tokyo-based developer's decision last week to scale back its $500-million resort and luxury housing project in Monarch Beach was in part a response to pressure from its Japanese lenders to quiet local opposition. The Japanese banking consortium that developer Nippon Shinpan Co. Ltd. hopes will finance the project recently warned that it might back out if the plan is opposed by local residents concerned with the fate of one of Southern California's last undeveloped seaside properties.

A $300-million luxury resort in Laguna Niguel was unanimously approved by the county Planning Commission Tuesday in a decision the developers say will bring Orange County a worldwide reputation as a vacation spot. The project is a joint venture between Orange County's Stein-Brief Inc. and the Hemmeter Corp., a Hawaiian-based company that has built several opulent island resorts that are known for their exotic flower gardens, rock waterfalls and luxurious recreational facilities.

The seizure of the St. Regis Monarch Beach, where American International Group Inc. sponsored a luxury retreat just days after accepting a federal bailout, is the most dramatic sign yet of the deep troubles in the market for high-end hotels. Citigroup Inc. took over the Dana Point hotel and golf course Monday after months of negotiations over a $70-million loan that was in default.

For the first time since the Raiders and Rams left the L.A. area in 1994, the NFL is back, this time for its annual March frolic, but how fitting they'd get the cold beach here. AIG stayed at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point last September, spending more than $400,000 in bailout money, and now it's the NFL, meeting here to talk about tough economic times.

Let me get this straight. AIG just hosted a $440,000 retreat at the St. Regis in Monarch Beach for its senior executives just days after receiving $85 billion in a taxpayer-funded bailout. (Consumer Confidential, Oct. 9). Wachovia, teetering on the brink of financial ruin as attorneys for Citigroup and Wells Fargo duked it out, would also receive taxpayer money and yet sent its top brokers on an all-expense-paid cruise to the Greek Isles. Their justification: "This is one way that we recognize our top financial advisors."

Re "Coast Homes Battle Grows," Dec. 1: I bought my property at Niguel Beach Terrace 20 years ago and dutifully lived there alone, never rented, never did anything to take advantage of the discounted sales price offered me many years ago due to my financial status at that time. Years pass, and last year, my father became deathly ill with a disease that required my 24-hour attention; he has since passed away. During this time, I had no income and was unable to cover my mortgage payments.

Re "Watching County Expenses," editorial, June 1: One of the reasons for Orange County's mismanagement seems to be that no one stays in charge of Orange County's government. Our county supervisors always have their sights on their next political office, rather than the people's business. Take Tom Wilson. Even though he was just elected to a new four-year term and appointed board chairman for this year, Wilson has decided to launch a campaign for the state Assembly, another place where there seems to be no one in charge.

Re "On Oscar Night, a Kiss Is More Than Just a Kiss," by Drew Limsky, Commentary, March 28: Lighten up! Adrien Brody's gesture was the highlight of the show and surely not meant as a diminution of Halle Berry. I choose to believe he would have done the same no matter the presenter's racial origins or beauty quotient. Please allow the man the exuberance of a moment he earned through hard work and dedication to his craft. Eloise Harris Villa Park Note to Limsky and to Wilda L. White (letter, Calendar, March 29)

The developers of a proposed $300-million resort complex near Laguna Niguel have decided to scale back their project in response to neighborhood complaints, even though the plans already had received all the state and county approvals needed to proceed. The resort, known as Monarch Beach, includes plans for 850 hotel rooms, a golf course and beach house--all connected by electric tram cars on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The Hawaiian-based Hemmeter Corp.

Hats shouldn't be reserved for special occasions, says Linda Eastwood. "It's important that people have fun with hats," she notes. "A hat shouldn't be a serious acquisition." The word fun perfectly describes Eastwood's direction into millinery. The Monarch Beach designer generously embellishes colorful hats with clusters of silk flowers, netting and fanciful ribbons of grosgrain, sateen or velvet. Brims are trimmed with pearls or gold cord.

Forget regime change -- we need a tradition change. The robotic applause and unearned standing ovations at State of the Union speeches render them as phony as our political conventions. Instead of a speech, how about a State of the Union town hall meeting? Let a sitting president listen and respond -- without looking at notes -- to real questions from real Americans with real concerns. That would be worth watching. Bill Clinton would have loved to be part of such an event. And the current White House resident would hate it more than his father hated broccoli.

Re "Threat by Iraq Grows, U.S. Says," Sept. 9: Do we really have to barge through the front door with our military tactics blueprinted Web-wide to dispose of Saddam Hussein? If the CIA can read a license plate in real time with surveillance satellites, pray tell why can't it insert a spook in range of Hussein and kill him? One man, survival unlikely, versus countless American boys dying and billions of dollars. No United Nations approval, no congressional chitchat and leaks; just take the SOB out. Game over.