Week in review

A contractor for the Balboa Bay Club paid $60,000 in fines for causing

sulfide levels in nearby waters to reach unacceptable limits. The

construction company, Snyder Langston, said it accepts full

responsibility for the violations.

City Councilman John Heffernan said he will wait to get a look at the

field of City Council candidates for the upcoming election before

deciding whether to vacate his post early. Heffernan had announced in

April that he would resign two years into his four-year term, then

changed his mind, saying he had some things to consider before he made a

final decision.

The city’s Environmental Quality Affairs Citizens Advisory Committee

announced it will ask council members to look for ways to stop

“mansionization.” Some say the issue should be addressed in the city’s

general plan update process, but others say the matter can’t wait.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .

Guilty verdict in fast-food murder

The jury came out with a guilty verdict for 42-year-old Ramadan

Dokovic Wednesday. Dokovic was convicted of shooting and killing Miroslav

Maric, a 49-year-old Newport Beach resident.

The shooting, billed by Costa Mesa Police as the most public one ever

in this city, was witnessed by several people going about their everyday

lives. It happened the afternoon of May 18, 2001, in the crowded parking

lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant at the corner of 17th Street and

Tustin Avenue.

The prosecution maintained that Dokovic committed the crime during a

robbery because the purpose of his meeting was to secure a few stolen

Rolex watches. Investigators and attorneys alike said the case was

complex and convoluted because of Dokovic’s and Maric’s involvement with

a credit card fraud ring that operated in the Newport-Mesa area.

The fraud ring was reportedly operated by Mike Dokovic, also known as

Ilmija Frjlukcic, Ramadan Dokovic’s nephew.

The defense argued that Ramadan Dokovic shot Maric in self defense. It

took the 11-woman, one-man jury a little over three days to reach the

verdict. Dokovic could face anywhere between 25 years to life in prison.

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 28.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .

Relief for Costa Mesa businesses

A handful of business owners breathed a sigh of relief last week as

the Costa Mesa City Council voted not to impose any further regulations

on cyber cafes and also allow the in-home business on West 19th Street to

continue operating indefinitely.

In separate actions, council members secured the future of a dozen

city businesses by endorsing business as usual.

The council voted to allow 10 in-home businesses on West 19th Street

to operate even after the property title is sold, and even though the

small section of the street -- formally known as the transitional zone --

was returned to strictly residential.

Likewise, the council opted not to enforce more stringent regulations

on two city cyber cafes, saying the unique business offered a safe form

of entertainment that was not subject to stricter enforcement.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .

Nothing quiet on the coastal front

The Orange Coast Assn. meeting last week didn’t turn out to be as

quiet as most folk expected.

An appearance by Newport Beach environmentalist Rodolphe

Streichenberger, a commission nemesis, sparked a confrontation over the

legality of the agency on Wednesday.

Standing up in the luncheon room of the Newport Dunes Waterfront

Resort, Streichenberger accused the commissioners of having too much

power.

“I announced to her I am a critic,” Streichenberger said later about

his stir with the commissioners. “I said, ‘You [commissioners] are

outmoded, you are backward.”’

Streichenberger’s five-year battle against the state commission came

to a head in April 2001, when a state Superior Court judge agreed with

the environmentalist’s claim that the agency is unconstitutional.

He sued the commission in April 1997, shortly after it refused him a

permit to operate a marine habitat about 300 yards off the Balboa Pier.

He founded the Marine Forests Society.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and

politics. He may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .

Library plans inch forward

Supporters of a new Mariners Branch Library are celebrating the fact

that they met their fund-raising goal last week, raising $1 million in

three months, including a $500,000 chunk from Donna and John Crean. This

coup makes the project eligible for $2 million in state funds.

The proposed school-public library would replace the aging branch

library and be used as the sole school library for Mariners students.

Newport Beach and school district officials unveiled the design for

the library project on Wednesday.

To address safety concerns, the 2,000-square-foot school children’s

section will be separated from the public children’s portion of the

library by a roll-down door during school hours.

The HOPE program celebrated its official opening on Thursday at its

headquarters on the Whittier Elementary School campus in Costa Mesa.

The district created HOPE -- Health, Opportunity, Preparation and

Education -- to redouble its efforts to get pre-schoolers ready for

kindergarten on a variety of levels. The program merges existing and new

resources including hiring Lorie Hoggard, principal of Sonora School, as

the new director of early childhood education.* Deirdre Newman covers

education. She may be reached at (949) 574-4221 or by e-mail at o7

deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .