COSTA MESA City Council votes to dissolve...

COSTA MESA

City Council votes to dissolve Westside committee

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, voted

Tuesday to dissolve the committee that worked since mid-2003 to

create a plan for improving the city’s Westside. The Westside

Redevelopment Oversight Committee presented its recommendations to

upgrade the Westside in January and the Council adopted a modified

version of its plan in March.

* The council could again revisit the decision to close the Job

Center, after resident Mike Berry on Tuesday filed a request for a

rehearing of the council’s April 6 vote on the issue. Council members

in March voted to close the center, where day laborers meet with

employers, at the end of June.

They decided on April 6 to keep it open for three more months and

form a task force to look at alternative locations, funding and

operators. Berry cites nine reasons for requesting a rehearing,

including that the motion the council approved April 6 was unclear

and that discussion of the issue violated various city ordinances.

* Spot inspections and guidelines for care will help keep the

city’s contracted animal shelter in good shape, City Council members

heard Tuesday.

The recommendations came at a study session examining past

troubles at the Huntington Beach shelter used by Costa Mesa and

Westminster. Past inspections of the shelter have revealed drainage

problems that left feces in some cages, a rat infestation and

improper disposal of dead animals.

ARTS

Performing Arts Center releases schedule highlights

Orange County Performing Arts Center officials announced

highlights of its opening ceremonies lineup that celebrates the debut

of the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater,

scheduled to open in 2006.

The six-week gala includes a 17-day stay by the Kirov Orchestra,

Ballet and Opera from St. Petersburg, Russia. The Kirov Opera is

performing Richard Wagner’s four-part “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (The

Nibelung’s Ring) for the first time in the United States.

Two world premieres, including Philip Glass’ “The Passion of

Ramakrishna,” hit the stage in the first two days. Ceremonies begin

Sept. 15, 2006.

NEWPORT BEACH

A sign of the times, gone

A familiar sight at Balboa Island was taken down Thursday when the

orange Union 76 ball above Island Marine Fuel was removed to make

room for a new sign that advertised fuels with additives designed for

boat engines. The old sign had loomed over the fuel station since

1990.

* Orange County Coastkeeper executive director Garry Brown

announced he has decided to resign from a consulting post with Iger &

Associates, a Newport Beach company that lobbies for business

interests. Brown said he joined the firm in January with permission

from his board of directors with the condition that he would leave

Iger & Associates if others questioned the propriety of his

employment with the firm.

EDUCATION

School board passes St. Andrew’s debate to city

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education voted

Tuesday to put off a $3.5-million proposal by St. Andrew’s

Presbyterian Church to renovate the parking lot of Newport Harbor

High School. Board members ruled, 6-1, that the issue at stake was

more municipal than educational, though they said they would be

willing to hear the matter once the church had resolved the issue of

its expansion.

* The district made a controversial decision to prevent the

display of a Newport Beach Public Library flier advertising a weekend

lecture by author Eric Schlosser. Although none of the schools in the

district had received a copy of the flier, Asst. Supt. Jaime

Castellanos said the district would not approve it due to a number of

parents’ concerns about Schlosser’s views about U.S. drug laws.