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NEWPORTBEACHINDY.COM
JULY 19, 2024 | VOLUME XVI, ISSUE 14
Sherman Library & Gardens Launches Grow the Gardens Campaign
Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
Newport Beach City Manager Update
Rendering of the new Sherman Library & Gardens bell tower entrance along Pacific Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.
By Christopher Trela | NB Indy Gardens are meant to grow and flourish, especially if they are carefully cultivated with a little water and a lot of love. Sherman Library & Gardens, a nonprofit organization and destination in Corona del Mar that serves as an educational and cultural center (including a premier botanical garden and outstanding research library) has been nourishing visitors for nearly 60 years. It too is ready to grow and flourish. Last month, Sherman Library & Gardens launched its Grow the Gardens campaign, which seeks to raise at least $13 million to
reconfigure, renovate and reimagine the property. To date, more than half of the total estimated funding for the campaign has been raised. According to information from Sherman Library & Gardens, the Grow the Gardens campaign will support improvements designed to create more opportunities for the community, including: • A new education space and programs that will enhance the community’s encounter with the botanical and historical wonder of the Pacific Southwest. • The tropical conservatory and the shade
house, both used extensively in the education programs, will be renovated to protect the health of the valuable plant collections such as Orchids. • These improvements will make Sherman Library & Gardens the most accessible and walkable botanical garden in Southern California, enabling its visitors to see a vast array of global beauty on a calm and relaxing stroll. • The 3,000 member households and 8,000 individual members of the Sherman Library & Gardens will greatly benefit LIBRARY Page 3
Times Media Group Acquires Newport Beach Independent, Firebrand Media By NB Indy Staff Arizona-based Times Media Group (TMG) has acquired Firebrand Media as of July 1, 2024. Firebrand Media is the publisher of Newport Beach Independent, Laguna Beach Independent, and the Coastal Real Estate Guide, as well as regional publications Laguna Beach Magazine and Newport Beach Magazine. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to add the Firebrand team and its great products to Times Media Group,” said Steve Strickbine, TMG’s founder and president, in a TMG release. “Firebrand’s commitment to excellence and good journalism makes them a perfect fit for partnering and moving
forward with our overall growth plans. Add to that the custom publishing arm of their business, and Firebrand introduces a whole new set of opportunities for us to bring value to our advertisers and readers.” Steve Zepezauer, the founder and general partner of Firebrand Media, will join TMG as its director of custom publishing. Zepezauer has lived in Orange County for more than 20 years, launched Laguna Beach Magazine in 2007 and acquired the Laguna Beach Independent in 2009. Shortly after, he launched the Newport Beach Independent, the Coastal Real Estate Guide and other custom publishing projects. “Hyper-local journalism and targeted, branded content is at the core of everything
we do,” Zepezauer said. Times Media Group, based in Tempe, Ariz., owns more than 35 weekly publications in Arizona and California. In August of 2023, it acquired Picket Fence Media, home of the Dana Point Times, San Clemente Times and Capistrano Dispatch. “Every week, more than a million readers in communities large and small turn to our pages and websites for the news and happenings in the neighborhood they call home,” Strickbine said. “Ten years ago, I never would have imagined we’d grow to have such a large footprint and so many loyal readers. We are honored to be the stewards of that trust as a true source for news in a rapidly changing media environment.”
By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager Last week the City Council approved a $1.4 million, five-year contract for 69 Flock cameras that will be installed throughout Newport Beach -- the first of several planned public safety technology enhancements to improve crime prevention and investigations. The Flock cameras (also known as ALPR, or automatic license plate readers) will be placed at all Newport Beach inbound and outbound gateways. The cameras scan license plates and vehicle characteristics as vehicles pass through their field of view on public roadways. The images captured by the ALPRs are then processed, encrypted and uploaded to a secure database where they can only be accessed by the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD). The database allows police officers and investigators to search by date, time, location, direction of travel, and vehicle description to identify vehicles used in crimes. The system includes access to nationwide data and flags “hotlisted” vehicles that have been used in crimes. The NBPD will receive alerts on stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, missing and endangered persons, and more. With respect to privacy CITY MANAGER Page 10
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