Lilly Nguyen

Work outlined in a habitat restoration plan submitted by the Orange County Transportation Authority for the Pacific Horizon Preserve in Laguna Beach can get underway following approval by the city Planning Commission on Wednesday. The state Coastal Commission approved the plan in September.

The three-story, 95,000-square-foot building will house English, psychology, communications, world languages, journalism, English as a Second Language and economics classes, among others, along with labs for geography and anthropology courses, a new newsroom for the student newspaper and faculty and administrative offices.

The Costa Mesa campus commemorated the pan-African holiday ahead of schedule Wednesday with an evening celebration at the campus Multicultural Center and a discussion by Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa’s creator.

Possible changes include road widening, reconfiguring lanes and shoulders, adding bicycle lanes, improving drainage and landscaping and placing overhead utility lines underground.

The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday night chose sitting Mayor Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow to serve a second consecutive one-year term in their positions.

Consultant SWA Group gave the City Council a presentation Tuesday detailing possible projects for the downtown area that could involve changes to tree wells, pavement, stormwater harvesting practices, crosswalks and bicycle infrastructure.

The UC Irvine e-sports program presented a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament on Tuesday night as part of Giving Tuesday to benefit hospitalized children and their families.

The action plan is intended to coordinate specific street tree, “streetscape” and related improvements in the downtown. The city awarded a contract to SWA Group, a landscape architecture and urban design firm, to prepare the plan in April.

Marc Wiener comes to Laguna Beach after 11 years with the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, most recently serving as its community planning and building director.

The task force was formed in April, soon after an off-campus incident in which Newport-Mesa students were pictured making Nazi salutes over a swastika made of red plastic cups.