Gains & Losses

GAINS

FOUNTAIN VALLEY HONORS

Fountain Valley High School’s mock trial team took top honors in a county

competition, beating 48 teams, including its hometown rival Los Amigos.

“These two teams are the elite of the elite,” Judge James Stotler said of

the two local teams.

The victory entitles the Fountain Valley team to proceed to a state

competition in March.

‘SURFHENGE’ CONTROVERSY

City officials will hear more from residents about a proposed sculpture

-- said to resemble England’s Stonehenge, only with surfboards -- before

deciding its fate. The artwork would be part of the city’s South Beach

improvements and would stand at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Pacific

Coast Highway. However, some locals say the $400,000 piece isn’t worth

the expense.

LOSSES

THREE LIVES LOST

Police believe drunk driving may have been the cause of a two-car

accident that killed a 5-month-old baby and two adults last week in

Fountain Valley. Agustin Gonzalez Galindo was arrested in connection with

the crash and booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony

hit-and-run and drunk driving. Police say his car collided with a second

car at Newhope Street and Warner Avenue, killing the baby’s mother, Maria

Reyna Cano, 28, and the driver of the car they were in, Nestor Rameriz

Suastegui, 24, both of Huntington Beach. The baby died a few days later.

CLASH ON THE COUNCIL

For years, the Fountain Valley City Council has been a quiet, cohesive

group, conducting meetings that often take place in a snap. But the calm

was shaken last week when Councilman John Collins accused Mayor Guy

Carrozzo of securing votes from others on the council to boot Collins out

of his nine-year seat on the Orange County Sanitation District board.

DONATING TIME

City employees donated accumulated time off so officials could shave

about $15,000 off the cost of a holiday party that at one point hit the

$20,000 mark. The party price got out of hand when the city began making

repairs -- on the taxpayers’ clock -- to the Huntington Center mall,

where the event was held. Now that the workers have donated their time

off to the cause, the price has fallen to $5,657.36 -- good for the

taxpayers, not so good for the city workers who forfeited the time.