CUP OF SUGAR? Residents of the gated...

CUP OF SUGAR? Residents of the gated Irvine Cove community in Laguna Beach didn’t seem to mind tabloid TV helicopters recently whirring about the $5-million fixer-upper in their midst. They figure that the new owner being who she is--Elizabeth Taylor (Hot Properties, K1)--can’t hurt their property values. . . . Marketing consultant Bill Stratemen, who’ll be living around the corner from Liz, says “It’s always nice to have a new neighbor. And it’s equally nice to see real estate sell in our community.”

CAFFEINE FREE: What if your boss said you couldn’t drink coffee at work any more? Or worse, you could drink only water? That’s the plan when the Tustin City Council meets for the first time Tuesday at the finally refurbished Civic Center. . . . “We don’t want coffee stains to spoil our investment,” explains City Manager William A. Huston of the water-only rule for staff and council members. After two years in temporary quarters--and $11.3 million on the refurbishing--city business returns to 300 Centennial Way on Monday.

TALK DOCTOR: When the Monarch Beach Sunrise Rotary Club was searching for a dynamic fund-raising speaker, one member remembered hearing Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s noontime KFI-radio show. Talk about dynamic, they all decided. . . . Arrangements were made: Schlessinger will dazzle the Rotarians on Sept. 7 at the Dana Point Resort. Her topic: “Help, My Family’s Driving Me Crazy.” Says a spokesman: “We can seat 950, and we’re a sure sellout. She’s got quite a following.”

BEST NOODLER: T. Jefferson Parker, the best-selling Laguna Beach mystery author, has chalked up another honor: Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa is inducting Parker into its Alumni Hall of Fame on Nov. 19. along with three others. . . . Parker recalls that he was only “noodling” with becoming a novelist during his mid-’70s stint at OCC: “I did have a writing class with Larry Carlson (who still teaches there); he was very encouraging. I just had terrific teachers there.”