NEWPORT BEACH Seven residents vying for City...

NEWPORT BEACH

Seven residents vying

for City Council seat

Seven people have stood up to be counted as possible replacements

for Councilman Gary Proctor. District 2 residents David Goff, Michael

Kite, Dennis Lahey, Earl Miller, Steven Rosansky, Gerald Scarboro and

Merritt Van Sant all filed applications by the noon Thursday

deadline. The City Council will decide at its meeting Tuesday how and

when to interview the applicants.

The Balboa Island Museum and Historical Society is making strides

toward making history. The upstart organization has begun a speaker

series and is seeking donations of memorabilia about the Island’s

history.

The days of the Rendezvous Ballroom will come back to Newport on

Oct. 23 through 26 as the L.A. Jazz Institute presents “Balboa

Rendezvous: Celebrating the Musicians and the Music That Created the

Stan Kenton Orchestra Legacy.” The event will take place at the Hyatt

Newporter and will include concerts, talks and films about the glory

days of the one-time live music venue.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].

EDUCATION

The test scores are in for Newport-Mesa’s schools

Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials heard the first

round of reports on last year’s school testing results Tuesday.

Principals from half of the district’s schools presented their

results and plans for the upcoming year at the special study session

for the board of trustees. The presentations, which are open to the

public, will finish at a second study session starting at 2 p.m.

Tuesday at the District Education Center.

* Officials from KOCE-TV announced Wednesday that they were

submitting a new, higher bid in an attempt to retain the station’s

public broadcasting format.

Surrounded by some of Orange County’s most powerful

businesspeople, including former gubernatorial candidate and

ex-baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, KOCE representatives said

that overwhelming community support allowed them to “sweeten” their

offer right before the deadline. Details were not disclosed, but

representatives said it would be “extremely competitive with the four

bids previously submitted by religious broadcasters.

The Coast Community College District, who owns the station, is set

to decide its fate at the Oct. 15 board of trustees meeting.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].

COSTA MESA

Several Westside companies cited for air quality violations

Five industrial property owners in an area of the Westside that

the city is considering adding to the downtown redevelopment zone

violated air quality rules within a one-year period ending in May.

From July 2002 to May 2003, a total of nine companies within the

area receive Notices of Violation, that come with penalties of up to

$50,000 a day. Industrial property owners have been accused of

spewing toxic chemicals into the air and causing myriad health

problems. Some of these owners said they feel vindicated by this

information since it is such a small number that received violations.

* City officials have finally persuaded the county to consider

putting a portion of the proposed light rail system underground in

the South Coast Plaza area. The proposed part of the CenterLine rail

system would go 1,100 feet under Avenue of the Arts at a cost of

about $50 million, with no underground stations. The Orange County

Transportation Authority can’t vote on the issue until the

environmental report on the entire light rail proposal is released

and the public has an opportunity to comment on it.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].