GAINS & LOSSES

GAINS

NEIGHBORS LEND BAND A HAND

Hyundai Motors America donated more than $6,000 to the Fountain Valley

High School band last week, helping the group replace thousands of

dollars of equipment that was stolen earlier this month. About $6,200 in

musical equipment was stolen from the campus on Nov. 9. Another anonymous

$6,000 donation to the band brought the total to more than $12,000. The

extra cash will be dedicated to installing a security system to protect

against future break-ins. The Fountain Valley Police Department is

investigating the case but has not made any arrests.

A NEW START

Huntington Beach resident Shelley Wilt had trouble making ends meet, so

she turned to Project Self-Sufficiency two years ago. The program, with

government funds and private donations, helps single parents by offering

a wide range of services, including education, job training, counseling,

child care and housing. The 22-year-old Huntington Beach native works and

goes to school while raising her child, Drake, as a single mother. Before

entering the program, Wilt could only afford to rent one room. But with

subsidies from Project Self-Sufficiency, she moved into an apartment.

FERTILITY TREATMENT

Fourteen months ago, Lowell Gavito became the first woman to give birth

after receiving a blastocyst culture, a fertilized egg that divided into

several cells before it was inserted into her uterus, at West Coast

Fertility Center in Fountain Valley. On Nov. 16, Gavito received five

embryos into her uterus. If her second induced pregnancy is successful,

she will become the first woman in the United States to give birth as a

result of a frozen egg transfer.

SHELTER IS BIG WINNER

Despite heavy fog, high winds, rain and low temperatures, this year’s

13th annual Top Gun Tennis Tournament saw a record number of players and

donations. And the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter is the biggest winner

this year. A final tally was unavailable, but the tournament likely will

meet its goal of raising $15,000 for the shelter.

LOSSES

COUPLE IS KILLED

A Huntington Beach couple, anesthesiologist Kenneth C. Stahl, 57, and

optometrist Carolyn Oppy-Stahl, 44, were found shot to death in their car

parked along Ortega Highway about nine miles east of San Juan Capistrano.

Relatives said the couple were good Christians and two of the most

beautiful people in the world. Stahl, who gave free medical care to

indigent people, owned a private medical practice in the Pacifica

Hospital building and had worked 17 years at Huntington Beach Hospital,

including a stint as chief anesthesiologist. Oppy-Stahl treated patients

at Lakewood Eye Physicians and Surgeons clinic.

ARREST RULED LEGAL

A judge on Monday upheld a law that sent a Huntington Beach resident to

jail for maliciously disclosing the home address of the city’s police

chief. The judge decided that police acted legally when they charged John

Merzweiler, 49, with a misdemeanor after catching him handing out fliers

on the corner of Main and Walnut streets last July 4. The fliers had

police Chief Ron Lowenberg’s picture on them, as well as directions to

his home.