POLITICS Protesters want California first lady to...

POLITICS

Protesters want California first lady to relay message

More than 30 Orange County parents and Fourth District PTA members

gathered in front of the Balboa Bay Club and Resort on Thursday to

protest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s handling of state education

funds.

It was the latest in a series of events sponsored by the PTA that

urge Schwarzenegger follow the guidelines of Proposition 98, a

measure that guarantees a minimum amount of state money for public

schools.

Inside the waterfront club, first lady of California Maria Shriver

addressed a crowd of more than 650 people at a fundraising event for

Women of Vision, a Christian service organization whose Orange County

chapter includes many Newport Beach and Costa Mesa residents.

Protesters said they hoped Shriver noticed their efforts and that

she would return the message to her husband.

* Perhaps it was the Republican air of Orange County, but on

Thursday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein presented a dour message focused on

the nation’s nearly half-trillion-dollar deficit and the eroding

relations in the Senate.

In her talk to about 400 people at an Orange County Forum lunch at

the Sutton Place Hotel, Feinstein also addressed identity theft, the

dangers of methamphetamines, and the privatization of Social

Security, which she opposes.

COSTA MESA

The City Council’s continuing Westside story

The City Council on Tuesday voted not to allow a construction

contractor set up shop in a building that housed a lawnmower repair

business on West 19th Street. Council members said the contractor’s

office would not be compatible with future plans for the Westside.

The decision was a reversal of the Planning Commission vote to permit

the contracting business.

In March the council agreed to a conceptual plan to revitalize the

Westside with new zoning for mixed-use developments and live-work

spaces, but no specific changes have been approved yet. Some

residents and council members disagreed with the council’s decision,

saying that allowing the construction contractor to move in would get

the now-vacant property fixed up sooner and wouldn’t impede overall

Westside improvement plans.

* The City Council also rejected plans for an assisted-living home

for the elderly, to be built on 23rd Street. James Sutherland

proposed the 16-bed care facility, and when the Planning Commission

denied his project, he appealed to the council.

Neighbors on 23rd Street told the council that several group homes

are already located on their street and that they don’t need another.

Gerontologist Jacqueline DuPont-Baum, a partner in Sutherland’s

venture, later said she was surprised by what she considered ageist

attitudes among the residents and council members. She still plans to

buy the property and build some sort of facility, she said. The land

is zoned to allow two houses, and no special permits are needed to

build and operate homes for six or fewer people.

NEWPORT BEACH

Heiress gives Hoag Hospital a $700,000 contribution

A local theme park heiress gave Hoag Hospital $700,000 for its new

nursing education center and invited others to do the same.

Newport Beach resident Marion Knott’s donation will help pay for

the Marion Knott Nursing Education Center at Hoag Hospital, which

will let current nurses and new hires train in hospital room

mock-ups. Knott, whose family founded Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena

Park, said she hopes others will match her contribution to the

roughly $2 million project.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Boy, 3 drowns in spa at Newport condo complex

A 3-year-old boy died at a local hospital shortly after his father

found him at the bottom of a Newport Beach condominium complex spa

Tuesday evening.

Taylor Troy Ackroyd drowned in the gated poolside spa at the

Newport Terrace condominium complex at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Police believe that Taylor drowned as a result of a miscommunication

over who was watching him, leaving the boy alone for only two or

three minutes.

* A two-alarm fire gutted two units of a Balboa Peninsula

four-plex Wednesday and drew firefighters from four cities.

The fire started just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 500 block

of West Bay Avenue and was fully extinguished by about noon. Nobody

was injured, and the cause is still under investigation.

BUSINESS

Hitting Wall Street young, Volcom files to go public

Youth clothing maker Volcom has announced plans to shed its

anti-authoritarian image a bit: The company wants to go Wall Street.

Volcom filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission

last week to take the company public. The filing included a

prospectus stating the company’s intention to issue $86.25 million in

common stock.

Company executive Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall founded Volcom

in 1991 to outfit surfers, skaters and snowboarders, proclaiming

“youth against establishment” as the company’s credo. The pair funded

their start with a $5,000 loan from Woolcott’s father, and in the

early days, Volcom was headquartered in Woolcott’s Newport Beach

bedroom.

The company has grown dramatically since then. During its first

year, it sold $2,600 worth of clothing. In 2004, Volcom reported

$24.6 million in net income.