Around Town: Part of 405 Freeway in Costa Mesa to close overnight for bridge demolition this weekend and next

A section of the 405 Freeway in Costa Mesa is scheduled to close overnight the next two weekends to accommodate planned demolition work on the Fairview Road bridge.

Weather permitting, the freeway will be completely cordoned off between Fairview Road and the 73 Freeway from about 10 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday this weekend and next. The work was scheduled to begin last weekend but was postponed by rain.

Several ramps and connectors in the area also will be inaccessible during the construction period, including Fairview Road between South Coast Drive and McCormack Lane, the northbound 73 to northbound 405 connector, the northbound 405 off-ramp to Susan Street, the northbound 405 off-ramp to Harbor Boulevard, the northbound 405 on-ramp from Fairview, the southbound 405 to southbound 73 connector, the southbound 405 on-ramp from Fairview and the southbound 73 on-ramp from Fairview.

For more information, visit octa.net/405improvement.

Laguna Beach to celebrate Arbor Day

Laguna Beach will host an Arbor Day celebration from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday at Main Beach at Broadway Street and South Coast Highway.

The event will include plant and seed giveaways, face painting and a planting of a New Zealand Christmas tree.

The Community Garden Band and April Walsh will perform.

Laguna Beach gardening event to feature talk on heirloom tomatoes

A Laguna Beach Garden Club event Friday will feature a talk from Julie Bawden-Davis, a garden writer and University of California Cooperative Extension master gardener.

The event is slated for 10 a.m. at Laguna Presbyterian Church, 415 Forest Ave.

Bawden-Davis will discuss the history of heirloom tomatoes and how to grow them.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2EGILxY.

Camera basics class to be held at Sawdust Festival grounds

Mary Hurlbut, a professional Laguna Beach photographer, will present a class on camera basics from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at the Sawdust Art & Craft Festival grounds, 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach.

Hurlbut will walk guests through the various modes and functions of a camera during the class, which costs $75.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2tTEWAy.

Summer concert series announces more shows

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday for three newly announced shows coming to the Orange County fairgrounds during this year’s Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre.

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo will bring their 40th-anniversary tour to Costa Mesa with Melissa Etheridge at 7 p.m. July 20. Tickets start at $40.

Kool & the Gang and Evelyn “Champagne” King will perform beginning at 7:30 p.m. July 31, and the B-52s and Dead Man’s Party, an Oingo Boingo tribute band, will play at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1. Tickets for those concerts start at $27.50.

Tickets go on sale March 16 for another newly announced show featuring rock bands Live and Bush celebrating the 25th anniversary of their respective albums “Throwing Copper” and “Sixteen Stone.” The concert will begin at 6 p.m. Aug. 10, with Our Lady Peace as guest. Prices start at $45.

So far, the concert series has shows lined up between July 7 and Aug. 18. For the full schedule, visit pacamp.com.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster and include admission to the fair, which will run Wednesdays through Sundays from July 12 to Aug. 11.

Kite party this weekend at Huntington Beach Pier

A free kite party will be held all day Saturday and Sunday at the Huntington Beach Pier, 200 Pacific Coast Hwy.

There will be various kite demonstrations and lessons throughout the weekend. The public is invited to watch, but only experienced kite fliers can register to participate.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2NHHUBv.

Costa Mesa to host community meeting on Lions Park playground project

The city of Costa Mesa will present a community meeting Saturday to collect public input on the renovation of the playground area at Lions Park.

New play equipment, landscaping, irrigation, lighting and walkways are planned as part of the project. The playground’s most recognizable feature — a Korean War-era Grumman F9F Panther jet installed in 1960 — will remain.

The meeting will run from 10 a.m. to noon at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, 695 W. 19th St. For more information or take a survey, visit costamesaca.gov/LionsParkPlayground.

Fundraiser set for Laguna Food Pantry

The Laguna Beach’s Women’s Club will hold a food and music fundraiser Saturday evening to support the Laguna Food Pantry.

Fundraiser organizers are asking guests to donate $75 per person to support the pantry. The event will feature food, a no-host bar, dancing and music by Jason Feddy and his Mad Dogs Band and will run from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 286 St. Ann’s Drive.

The volunteer food pantry staff of 125 served 7,500 people last year, according to a Women’s Club news release.

For more information, visit wclb.org/events.

Youth dance event comes to Orange Coast College

Orange Coast College will host dancers from about 30 area high schools and studios at a Dance Invitational at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the college’s Robert B. Moore Theatre.

“The focus of this invitational dance concert is to provide students with a high-quality dance performance opportunity in a big theater setting with full lighting and sound. This can add to their technical and dance experience,” OCC dance instructor Jose Costas said in a statement.

Several dance styles will be represented at the concert, including ballet and hip-hop. The public is invited. Orange Coast College is at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Tickets are available for $12 at occtickets.com or $20 at the door.

Surfin’ Sundays Concert Series to bring music and shopping to H.B.

The Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum will present the Surfin’ Sundays Concert Series from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Huntington Beach Pier Plaza, 200 Pacific Coast Hwy.

The event will feature vendors on Saturday and live music on Sunday.

The concert series will be held on various weekends through the summer. For more information, visit bit.ly/2ISpVJS.

Interfaith youth festival Sunday in Newport Beach

The 15th annual Faith Forum & Festival presented by the Interfaith Youth Council of Orange County will be held from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2150 Bonita Canyon Drive, Newport Beach.

The festival gives teenagers an opportunity to express their faith through art, music and dialogue, according to a news release.

For more information, email iycocorg@gmail.com.

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue appoints chaplain

The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department has launched a new chaplain program and appointed former Rockharbor church pastor Josh Harrison for the role.

“The chaplain program is a long-overdue addition for us and we are very fortunate to have Josh and his family as a part of our fire family now,” Fire Chief Dan Stefano said in a statement. “We look forward to the leadership and support Josh will share with us and the community.”

The chaplain’s job is to support the health and wellness of firefighters in times of crisis, the department said.

Newport Beach Rotary Club to hold two events in March

The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will hold events this month about environmentally friendly art and a camp that helps children with serious illnesses.

Local architect Ron Yeo will discuss art made of recycled materials on Tuesday, and philanthropic volunteer Glenn Bozarth will talk about the Painted Turtle camp on March 26.

The meetings are slated for 7:30 a.m. at Five Crowns restaurant, 3801 E. Coast Hwy., Corona del Mar.

Costa Mesa Boys & Girls Club to get spruce-up

Brown-Forman — a Kentucky-based spirits and wine company — will partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast on Tuesday for day-of-service projects at several locations, including in Costa Mesa.

Projects planned at the Costa Mesa club, 2131 Tustin Ave., include a new garden planter so students can learn about agriculture, a staff resource training room and a “custom-designed cafe environment” for children to become more familiar with business and develop interaction skills, according to a news release.

Newport police to discuss science and social media innovations

The Newport Beach Police Department will offer a glimpse of how advancements in science and social media have contributed to reviving two cold-case murder investigations.

Court Depweg, a homicide detective, and Jennifer Manzella, administrative assistant to the chief, will be the featured speakers in a presentation from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Community Room at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive. A reception with appetizers will precede the event at 5:15. Admission is free.

Last year, the department launched major social media campaigns in an effort to solve the 1973 slaying of 11-year-old Linda Ann O’Keefe and assist the search for fugitive Peter Chadwick, who disappeared while out on bail in connection with the 2012 killing of his wife, Q.C. Chadwick.

In the O’Keefe case, in addition to a July Twitter campaign with tweets written in Linda’s “voice” narrating her final hours, investigators turned to DNA profiling. A suspect in Linda’s death, James Alan Neal, 72, was arrested in February.

In September, the department released a podcast series, “Countdown to Capture,” tracing the Chadwick slaying and Peter Chadwick’s arrest and 2015 disappearance. He has not been found.

St. Patrick’s Day event coming to Fountain Valley senior center

A St. Patrick’s Day luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 14 at the Center at Founders Village Senior and Community Center, 17967 Bushard St., Fountain Valley.

Tickets are available for $7 at the center’s reception desk.

Laguna Beach photo contest highlights protecting marine life

Entries will be accepted until March 15 for the eighth annual Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest, which intends to raise awareness about Laguna Beach’s Marine Protected Areas.

Photos for the contest must be taken within Marine Protected Areas in Laguna that span the area between Abalone Point and Table Rock. They can be taken between Feb. 15, 2018, and March 15 this year.

Submissions can be uploaded to contest.lagunabluebelt.org.

UCI to help organize work of veterans assistance groups

UC Irvine will launch a three-year pilot project with the Orange County Veterans and Military Families Collaborative to help organize the work of more than 100 groups and agencies serving veterans.

The partnership will streamline delivery of care services to more than 130,000 veterans living in Orange County, UCI said.

Student entries sought for water awareness poster contest

The Mesa Water District is inviting students in its service area to enter the Water Awareness Poster Contest sponsored by the Municipal Water District of Orange County.

This year’s contest, themed “Water is Life,” encourages participants to create original artwork exploring the daily benefits of clean drinking water.

The contest is open to all Orange County elementary, middle and high school students. Rules and information on how to enter are available at mwdoc.com/postercontest. Entries are due April 5.

Mesa Water provides service to about 110,000 people in Costa Mesa, parts of Newport Beach and sections of unincorporated Orange County, including John Wayne Airport.

Mesa Water receives statewide safety awards

The Mesa Water District recently received two H.R. LaBounty Safety Awards from the Assn. of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority in recognition of steps it has taken to reduce the risk of work injuries.

Those steps include installation of “flexible rubber and steel steps and hand-holds” on its vehicles and a fall protection net at a reservoir drain vault, according to a news release.

Newport library hosts Witte Lecture April 12-13

Photographer Joel Sartore will speak April 12-13 as part of the Witte Lecture Series at the Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave.

The lecture, titled “Photo Ark: The Groundbreaking Effort to Document Vanishing Species,” will begin at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Friday lectures are $63 ($58 for members of the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation) and include a Q&A session after the talk, followed by a light supper and book sales and signing. Saturday lectures are $43 ($38 for foundation members) and include a Q&A followed by dessert and coffee and book sales and signing

For more information, call (949) 717-3890 or visit npblfoundation.org.