DUBIOUS DISTINCTIONS

Compiled by Mary Beth P. Adomaitis

In newsroom lore, some editor somewhere came up with a name for the

little yarns that keep readers amused. He called them the “Hey Ethel,

look at this story” stories.

So to keep you amused, the Independent presents a rundown of the

shameful, the wretched, the curious, the funny, the very funny -- the

moments that are worth a second glance and the headlines that gave you

double takes.

JANUARY

The new year started on a bad note for hundreds of Surf City

residents, including James Gallagher, who after retuning home from a

holiday vacation found an unwelcome surprise from the city on the

windshields of his cars -- two parking tickets. The city began issuing

the tickets in January to enforce new parking restrictions to accommodate

additional street sweeping. Gallagher wasn’t the only one caught. From

Jan. 3-8, the city issued 2,297 $32 tickets to people who failed to move

their cars.

FEBRUARY

The home of former Huntington Beach resident Elena Zagustin, who was

at the center of a cluttered and dirty controversy, finally had some new

owners. Neville and Anne Belle Radcliffe of Surf City moved four blocks

to take over the former Cal State Long Beach professor’s notorious home.

Zagustin’s neighbors had sued her for turning the place into a public

health hazard. The Radcliffes paid close to $500,000 for the house, and

Zagustin was last heard to be on the lamb in Las Vegas.

MARCH

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Surf City artist Michael

Roberts has made a niche for himself -- turning old surfboards into

three-dimensional art. With the beach just walking distance from his

doorstep, all he needs to create a piece of art is a broken surfboard, a

paring knife, an emery board and a small drill. His work has been

featured at the Huntington Beach Art Center and the Huntington Beach

International Surf Museum.

APRIL

Former Surf City Councilman John Thomas faced 33 felony counts of

dumping dredge or compost into a portion of the Bolsa Chica wetlands that

killed 14 birds. The dumping also killed vegetation in small pockets of

wetlands divided by roads, which are known as cells. In addition, Thomas

is also charged with a felony count for dumping oil into national waters

and a misdemeanor for altering a stream bed. The former councilman, whose

case is still pending, also ran unsuccessfully this year for another

round on the City Council.

MAY

Lori Roberts, 22, is Surf City’s reigning burrito-eating queen.

Roberts pounded down a foot-long burrito in 1 minute 45 seconds to win OC

Taco House’s seventh annual burrito-eating contest, held in conjunction

with Cinco de Mayo. This was the fifth year in a row Roberts won this

honor.

A cup of joe and a chat about Jesus is what patrons found at

Streetlife Espresso Cafe in Huntington Beach. The coffee shop has been

owned and run by a succession of pastors, including Kevin Dedmon of

Church 24/7, Steve Purdue of Coastline Foursquare Church and Oden Fong of

Poiema Chapel. The cafe offers Bible studies and prayer sessions, as well

as a good cup of coffee.

JUNE

The Huntington Beach City Council agreed to place filters on several

computers at the Central Library in an attempt to limit access of

pornographic Internet sites. Some council members said the measure would

prevent children from being exposed to sexually explicit material

available on the Internet. On a separate note, about a month later, the

all-nude Flamingo Theater opened for business in Huntington Beach.

Former teachers and students at Fountain Valley Elementary School

received a soggy surprise when they dug up a time capsule they planted 10

years ago and found it to be waterlogged. However, compared to the recent

experience at a Westminster school where officials could not find the

time capsule they buried 30 years ago, the Fountain Valley school did

pretty well.

JULY

Krispy Kreme is coming to Huntington Beach. The City Council voted 4

to 1 to allow this drive-through bakery to be part of the plans for the

redevelopment of Huntington Center. Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff

dissented. And if the city doesn’t already see enough traffic Downtown,

especially during the summer months, it can expect roughly 300,000

visitors annually to the doughnut chain.

AUGUST

Huntington Beach resident Melanie Petersen really must hate bugs now.

While she was cooking dinner one Sunday afternoon, 15,000 adult paper

wasps invaded her home. The wasps and their eggs were found in the living

room ceiling of their Jardines Drive home. One of the residents was

stung, but no serious injuries were reported.

SEPTEMBER

Ocean View School District Supt. James Tarwater almost found himself

in a controversy when it was proposed the district pay him an additional

$200 a day to cover the extra work he was doing as the assistant

superintendent of business. Tarwater axed the issue, saying it was best

for the district for him to do so.

OCTOBER

Concerns were raised over gun-toting Fountain Valley Councilman Chuck

Conlosh, who was embroiled in a jousting match with city officials over

his allegations of wrongdoing. He was also questioned by his colleagues

for his practice of placing his service revolver on the dais during

meetings. However, Conlosh, who is also a Surf City police officer, said

he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Talk about a heated election. Vandals reportedly attacked the campaign

signs of Huntington Beach City Council candidates Connie Boardman, Bill

Borden, Debbie Cook and John Thomas -- defacing, removing and even

igniting the political message boards. Early one morning, resident Jerri

Nelson came home from her night job to find a Boardman campaign sign

aflame on her front lawn. Cook said about half of her signs were either

removed or stolen, while others were defaced to form a vulgar word.

Despite these “signs,” Boardman and Cook were elected along with Pam

Julien, to the council.

NOVEMBER

The Huntington Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors

chose a new publisher for its guide book but again found itself embroiled

in controversy as one bidder withdrew her proposal, claiming then-Mayor

Dave Garofalo made threats against her. Natalie Carlson of Century

Publishing withdrew her bid to publish the guide, saying she had a

personal dispute with Garofalo after a Sept. 24 letter to the editor she

wrote for a local newspaper concerning the bureau. Carlson filed a

complaint with the Huntington Beach Police Department that alleges

Garofalo “threatened her with revenge” and used foul language regarding

the letter. Garofalo dismissed the claims, calling them “absurd.”

Garofalo said Carlson’s letter contained references to a “public

official with major political indiscretions,” although Carlson never

tried to speak to him directly.

DECEMBER

If you didn’t find a PlayStation 2 under your tree this Christmas, you

may have Gametek of Fountain Valley to thank. The Internet entertainment

game company is under investigation by the FBI, police and U.S. postal

inspectors for allegedly processing up to 3,000 orders for the video game

system and then leaving town. The company, which closed its doors

immediately after the investigation began, was also charging $349.99 for

the Sony system, which retails at $299.