CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:Gun range lawsuits are settled

Huntington Beach settled two lawsuits relating to contamination of its gun range, receiving about $615,000 from the major users of the range, City Atty. Jennifer McGrath said in a news release on Tuesday. The city resolved the case that it filed in 2001 against the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. and a related suit filed by American States Insurance against the police officers’ association.

In 2005, the city collected $55,000 from the U.S. government to help pay for the cleanup. Federal agents once used the range along with police officers from neighboring cities, private security companies, public agencies and individuals.

In 1971, the city leased five acres in Central Park to the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. to be used as a gun range. The city closed the open-air range after it was deemed a safety hazard.

During its 25 years of operation, millions of rounds of lead ammunition were fired, causing extensive lead contamination. The city discovered the extent of the damage when it closed the range in 1998 and sued the police officers association.

The city received $150,000 in damages from them, including about $77,000 from the state government. Coast Community College District shelled out $150,000 along with smaller amounts from 12 cities, including Fountain Valley, Irvine, Huntington Park and others. The city attorney is now planning to dismiss the case, having settled with the major parties.

Midget-car driver ‘Dapper Dan’ dies at 95

Huntington Beach resident and well-known midget-car driver Danny Oakes died Jan. 18. Oakes, 95, died of an unknown cause.

Oakes, wildly popular in the 1940s for his racing skills and guts, won about 100 races in the country, including the American Automobile Assn. Southern California Midget title in 1947 and the United States Auto Club Pacific Coast Midget championship in 1959. In 1996, he was installed into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Midget cars were smaller but more dangerous versions of cars that raced in Indianapolis. Oakes, born in Santa Barbara, lived in Huntington Beach for the last 20 years. Better known as “Dapper Dan” for his love of silk shirts and white trousers, Oakes once drove a blue and white midget car and con- tinued to learn dancing until his 90s.

Hearing tonight for area code change

The California Public Utilities Commission will be holding a public participation meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Huntington Beach City Council chambers at 2000 Main St. to discuss a possible area code change and other options that may affect people in Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa who use the 714 prefix.

Anticipating a shortage of 714 phone numbers, the commission has developed three alternatives, including an overlay zone that could add 657 as another area code in the area. If this option were implemented, everyone would have to dial a “1” and the area code before every call.

The other two options would split the 714 area into two geographical regions — one would have to use the new area code, while the other would keep 657. At this point, the commission does not know which half would keep 714.

For more information, go to www.cpuc.ca.gov/714areacode.

Marathon expects 12,000 runners to participate

It’s that time of the year again, when the Pacific Shoreline Marathon will attract thousands to Huntington Beach. The 11th annual marathon, scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 4, is expected to draw more than 12,000 participants. Nonprofit organization Free Wheelchair Mission and marathon planners are getting together to raise money to buy wheelchairs for indigent disabled people in developing countries. Last year, they raised more than $140,000 during 105 fundraisers.

The marathon has already been sold out, although openings are available in the half-marathon and the 5K runs, organizers said in a news release. The event will also include weekend highlights such as the two-day Active Lifestyle Expo, free Salomon Shoes to all marathon finishers, the $11,000 Half-Marathon Speed Bonus Prize Pool and classic surfboard medals for all race participants. More than 30,000 people are expected to visit Huntington Beach to watch the marathon runners along the city’s shores.

The Pacific Shoreline will kick off the marathon with a celebratory dinner on Feb. 3 at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. Guest speakers include Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah of the documentary “Emmanuel’s Gift,” with narration by Oprah Winfrey and Don Schoendorfer, president and founder of the Free Wheelchair Mission.

Neuroscientist Dr. William Tan, also a top-flight wheelchair athlete, will be present at the dinner. He is a marathon veteran, raising funds and awareness for children’s health issues. In 2005, Tan completed 10 marathons on 7 continents in 65 days. This year, he will participate in the Pacific Shoreline to support Free Wheelchair Mission. For more information on fundraising, visit www.runformobility.org. To register in the marathon, visit www.psmarathon.com.

Harman assigned Senate committees

Huntington Beach state Sen. Tom Harman has been assigned to work on several Senate committees in the 2007 legislative session. Harman is set to be the vice chair on the judiciary and human services committee. He will also be a part of the business and professions, local government and revenue and taxation committees.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we tackle some very tough, but very important, issues for the citizens of California,” Harman said in a news release.

Harman was the lead Republican on the Assembly Judiciary Committee during his six years in the state Assembly and plans to continue fighting against frivolous lawsuits to “help bring much-needed tort reform to the legal system.”

Harman represents the cities of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Rossmoor, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and portions of Buena Park, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Westminster.