Briefly in the news

-- Paul Clinton

Members of the South County group working on the Great Park initiative

for the closed El Toro Marine Air base are expected to submit 175,000

signatures to the Orange County registrar of voters today.

The Committee for Safe and Healthy Communities has gathered the names

to get the measure put on the March 5 ballot. The group was given a

deadline of Sept. 18 by the registrar.

The measure, formally known as the Orange County Central Park and

Nature Preserve Initiative, would alter zoning at the closed base to

permit open space and parkland at the property.

The measure must still get clear of some legal tangles. On Aug. 24, a

state appellate court shelved an earlier ruling that invalidated the

signatures. As a result, signature gatherers are submitting their measure

with clearer minds. But the court is still expected to offer a formal,

final ruling.

Superior Court Judge James Gray on July 31 had invalidated the

measure, calling the ballot title and summary “affirmatively misleading.”