WEEK IN REVIEW

No hula skirt yet for John Wayne

Hello may turn into goodbye for Aloha Airlines.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a cargo flight deal

for John Wayne Airport on Tuesday, but two members said they wouldn’t

approve leases for Aloha -- or the two cargo operators for that matter --

unless the deal was reworked.

Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson, who represents Newport Beach,

objected to language in the deal that opens the door for the cargo

flights to transfer to an airport at El Toro if possible.

Just another case of the never-ending El Toro debate.

Skate parked

After cutting hair to raise money for victims of the El Salvador

earthquake on Sunday, Costa Mesans returned their focus to the city’s

business Monday.

The City Council approved the 54-acre Town Center project, which had

been in the works for months, at the same meeting that it ended plans to

build a skateboard park at Charle and Hamilton streets.

The city has been trying to build a skateboard park for years, and the

council had settled on the site in October after it discarded plans to

build at Lions Park in 1999.

The Town Center project will transform South Coast Metro into the

city’s new cultural arts district, with a new symphony hall, an expanded

South Coast Repertory and an art museum or academy, as well as

restaurants, office space and improved parking.

In a frantic flurry of nominations, substitute nominations and

interruptions that left some commissioners and community members feeling

embarrassed, the council also selected new planning and parks

commissions.

The money’s in sight

If the community is smart, it might ask the new citizen oversight

committee that’s charged with making sure the $163-million school bond is

spent correctly to hold the district’s feet to the fire to get things

done.

The new committee was supposed to be formed in October, but it took

the district until February to actually get the group together. But, now

that it’s here, members are ready to work. Having already chosen a chair

and a panel to interview project managers, the committee plans to waste

no time, they said. Perhaps they should have been in charge of the

construction of Newport Coast Elementary School.

Talks also continue about another possible new school in Newport-Mesa.

Parents trying to open a charter school in the Mesa Verde area of Costa

Mesa said district officials are giving them great feedback at long last.

Although there is no longer time to open the school by September as

they originally planned, they have high hopes for September 2002.

A wild ride in store

So it’s official. Wild guy Dennis Rodman has forked out some money to

help out one of his buddies who’s in need of some cash. Kevin Finegold,

who owns Josh Slocums Restaurant on West Coast Highway, said that the

flamboyant ex-basketball star has given him a personal loan to get the

seafood joint back into shape.

The duo plans to give Newport Beach a “casual, kicked-back restaurant”

with a “very cool, eclectic menu,” Finegold said. He’s aiming for “nuevo

Latino cuisine.” The leopard skin and red velvet sofas have already

arrived, so the grand reopening can’t be too far away.

Giving it away

Newport Beach police spent the latter part of the week trying to give

back to the community.

Officers alerted victims of a string of burglaries that they had

caught a suspect, John Robert Hershowitz. Searching his house and several

pawn shops, police say they have recovered about 250 lost items.

All that loot was on display at the Newport Beach police station,

where some victims were surprised to find items that hadn’t even realized

were missing.