WEEK IN REVIEW

Newport Beach’s leaders went “tough on noise” this week and approved

changes to the city’s noise ordinance for good.

While council members were eager to emphasize that the revised law

applies to all residents and will be applied throughout the city, the

move received a lot of attention since ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman’s

loud parties prompted it.

After realizing the the Orange County district attorney’s office

hesitated to prosecute noise offenders in the city because of Newport

Beach’s softly-worded noise ordinance, city officials made some additions

they hope will make it easier to press criminal charges.

The new version states that anyone can face prosecution after a police

officer has issued a warning to stop the noise. It also makes it clear

that property owners may be accountable for noise that occurs at their

home.

But even without the revisions, Rodman, who protested against the

changes at the May 22 council meeting, is already in trouble. The

district attorney’s office has charged Rodman with three counts of

criminal misdemeanor, alleging he used amplifiers illegally during his

40th birthday party at his West Newport Beach home. His arraignment is

scheduled for arraignment at Harbor Justice Center on June 20.

Harbor patrol’s drawn-out standoff

Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol deputies stationed in Newport Beach handled

the longest standoff ever in the harbor in the wee hours of Friday after

a distraught Costa Mesa man led them on a high-speed chase.

Deputies had to wait until the crack of dawn to arrest 39-year-old

Philip Frazier, who was allegedly driving his boat around the harbor

without navigation lights. He was arrested for driving a boat under the

influence of alcohol or drugs and also referred to psychiatric

counseling.

The pursuit, which began inside the harbor, took the deputies into the

ocean south of the harbor. Crisis negotiators and additional deputies

from Dana Point also came in to help.

Police in Costa Mesa, meanwhile, continue to battle the nagging

problem of auto thefts in the city. Although recently released FBI

statistics showed a decline in crime in every category, it contained a

21% increase in auto thefts. The numbers compare 2000 with 1999.

According to numbers released by Costa Mesa Police, there was another

7% increase in 2001 compared with the previous year. Officials say the

best way to counter the problem is heavy police patrol in problem areas

and residents exercising more caution.

A harsh tour through Ellis Island

As the school year draws to a close, teachers are finding ways to tie

up the ends of lessons that are more fun and spectacular than ever.

Each day we seem to be hearing about another cute thing that students

are doing. But one of the greatest, because of the way it was carried

out, happened last week at Lincoln Elementary.

Prepared by teachers and executed mostly by parents, students lived

out what it was like for immigrants coming through Ellis Island.

Parents were in top form. They played their roles to a “T,” being

horrid and nasty to children -- just as immigration workers would have

been to immigrants.

Starting up the litigation

Bob Caustin proved on Monday the second half of his motto: “water

quality through education and litigation.”

The Defend the Bay founder is suing the Irvine Co., the Irvine City

Council and a handful of other agencies to stop a high-density industrial

center from being built off the northern edge of the El Toro Marine base.

The council, on May 8, approved its own preliminary environmental

report on 10.2 million square feet of industrial, research, medical and

scientific uses. The behemoth project would add 16,000 new jobs to the

county.

But Caustin is concerned the complex would lead to dangerous increases

in air pollution, traffic and waste. It could also drain power usage

during the state’s power crunch, Caustin said.

Irvine Councilman Greg Smith said Caustin is “barking up the wrong

tree.”

Bridging the greasy traps

Grease and bridges took center stage last week in Costa Mesa.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District approved a letter stating its intent

to pass an ordinance requiring restaurants to install grease traps.

The possible future ordinance is controversial because of the high

cost of the traps -- between $10,000 to $40,000 -- and also because of a

dispute about whether the district or the City Council has the authority

to pass such an ordinance.

The Orange County Transportation Authority decided to release the

long-awaited Santa Ana River Crossings study for public comment Monday,

but is holding it until later this month.

A summary of the study released Thursday, however, found that building

bridges across the river at 19th Street and Gisler Avenue would increase

noise levels but would reduce the overall distances drivers would have to

travel.

The authority will be accepting public comment on the study starting

June 21.