Week in review

One more City Council member voting against it and the

250,000-square-foot Koll Center expansion project wouldn’t have made it

beyond City Hall.

But Tuesday’s 4-3 vote in favor of the plan pushed the expansion onto

the Nov. 20 ballot. A special election -- paid for by Koll officials --

will be held on that day.

The citywide vote is required under Greenlight, the city’s new

slow-growth law, which puts certain general plan amendments before

residents.

Tuesday’s close vote -- council freshmen Steve Bromberg, John

Heffernan and Gary Proctor rejected the project -- seemed to reflect

growing opposition against the expansion from vocal community activists.

Greenlight supporters have said that they’ll campaign against the

project, but Koll officials countered that they will put out the facts

and let residents decide. The expansion, which includes a 10-story office

tower and two parking structures, would be located at Koll Center’s

southern tip, near the intersection of Jamboree Road and MacArthur

Boulevard.

The two sides are likely to use the city’s Nov. 3 “visioning festival”

as a venue to get their message across. City officials will host a

get-together for residents on that day to talk about the city’s pending

general plan update.

-- Mathis Winkler covers Newport Beach. He may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at mathis.winkler@latimes.com.

Fighting fire, safely

Following a fire at a UC Irvine science lab last week, Newport-Mesa

Unified School District officials assured that their classrooms were

safe.

But like UCI’s labs, Newport-Mesa does not install sprinklers in

science labs. All of the classrooms do, however, have the required fire

extinguishers. Newport-Mesa officials also assure that all schools are up

to code.

Following the UCI incident, college administration announced that

while that lab was not supposed to have sprinklers, two thirds of the

buildings on campus, including dormitories, are also without sprinkler

systems.

-- Danette Goulet covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.

Another worm doesn’t turn

Dennis Rodman’s arraignment on criminal misdemeanor charges at the

Harbor Justice Center was continued from July 24 to Aug. 8.

The former NBA star is accused of using loud amplifiers on a public

beach without a city permit during a party in May on the eve of his 40th

birthday.

Officials said Rodman has asked for more discovery on the case, hence

the postponement.

On Thursday, a 20-year-old man rammed his car into the glass window of

a furniture store on Fairview Road. Witnesses said the car was pulling

into a parking stall when the driver suddenly accelerated, causing the

car to jump the sidewalk and crash into the window.

Police said the driver then got off the car and fled. Officials said

they had no reason to believe the car was stolen or that the driver was

involved in any criminal activity.

Also on Thursday, a woman drove her Volvo into a sidewalk, into a wall

and over a speed limit sign on West Coast Highway about 600 feet west of

Dover Drive after another car collided into hers, officials said. The

woman was taken to Hoag Hospital and was treated for a sprained neck. She

was released the same day.

-- Deepa Bharath covers cops and courts. She may be reached at (949)

574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.

Poll favors pro-airport forces

The pro-airport crowd got a shot in the arm this week when a new poll

showed a 7% increase since March in support for an airport at the closed

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The poll, commissioned by the Orange County Business Council and Cal

State Fullerton, was released on Wednesday.

Fullerton pollsters asked a sample of 532 Orange County households

whether they support at airport at the base -- 46.8% said they would,

53.2% said they would oppose it.

Pollsters also asked whether they would support Irvine Mayor Larry

Agran’s Great Park at the base -- 62.4% said they would, 37.6% said they

would oppose it.

Of the households sampled, 80% were in North County and 20% were in

South County.

-- Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at paul.clinton@latimes.com.

THINK about the future

THINK Together, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that oversees the Shalimar

Learning Center, learned a bit of news of its own last week.

It got a new executive director: Stephen Erkelens.

Erkelens will be responsible for the group’s operations, volunteer

development and fund-raising efforts.

Erkelens, who was born in Argentina and raised in Guatemala, said that

the Westside is in need of after-school programs to give children

academic support.

-- Daily Pilot staff