Newport Beach seeks to fill vacancies...

Newport Beach seeks to fill vacancies on 2 commissions

Don’t feel like you’re doing quite enough for your city?

Newport Beach has vacancies on two of its most high-profile

commissions: the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission and the

Planning Commission.

The vacancies are due to resignations. The present term on the

parks commission will end June 30, while the term to be filled on the

Planning Commission will expire on June 30, 2005.

The deadline for filing applications is 4 p.m. Aug. 15.

Applications and more information about the commissions are available

at the city clerk’s office at City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd., by

calling (949) 644-3005 or at the city’s Web site at

www.city.newport-beach.ca.us under “News/ Events.”

The City Council is scheduled to nominate two individuals for each

vacancy at the panel’s Aug. 27 meeting, and the appointments will be

made at the following council meeting on Sept. 10.

The appointments will be effective immediately.

UCI names new director for writing, translation center

A prominent Kenyan writer and scholar of African literature has

been named the first director of the International Center for Writing

and Translation at UC Irvine.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o will be a distinguished professor in the School

of Humanities and the director of the year-old center, which fosters

writing, translation and criticism in multilingual and international

contexts. The distinguished professor title is the highest

campus-level distinction and is reserved for senior faculty who have

achieved the highest levels of scholarship over the course of their

careers.

Thiong’o is one of Africa’s most accomplished and prominent

writers. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and

has been honored by many national and international awards.

He comes to UCI from New York University, where his research

interests included African and Caribbean literatures, theater and

film; performance studies; and cultural and political theory.

“To have someone of Ngugi’s prominence as the center’s first

director will bring immediate visibility and stature to our

activities in support of writing and translation,” said Karen

Lawrence, dean of the School of Humanities in a press release.

-- Deirdre Newman

Shakespeare performances come to Newport Beach

Shakespeare lovers of all sizes will get a chance to see one of

the Bard’s plays for free at Grant Howald Park in Newport Beach next

month.

The performance of “Much Ado About Nothing” will be put on by the

Shakespeare by the Sea. The show will begin at 6 p.m. Aug. 11. A

pre-show will be held at 5:30 p.m.

Audience members are encouraged to bring blankets, beach chairs

and warm clothes. The performance is being sponsored by the Newport

Beach Arts Commission. Information: (949) 717-3870.

Westside utilities headed beneath ground in August

Costa Mesa will begin work on moving utilities in the 19th Street

and Placentia Avenue area underground next month.

Work will begin on Aug. 22 with a groundbreaking ceremony at the

Costa Mesa Senior Center, at 695 W. 19th St.

The project will include moving all overhead utility lines below

ground along 19th Street, from Monrovia Avenue to Anaheim Avenue, and

on Placentia Avenue, from 18th Street to 20th Street.

The cost of the work is estimated at $2.3 million.

The project also will include building decorative streetlights

along 19th Street from Park Avenue to 150 feet west of Placentia

Avenue. Construction is expected to be completed in June. Once the

utility work is done, city officials plan to rebuild sidewalks and

gutters in the area.

Newport Beach general plan data headed for mailboxes

The latest information on Newport Beach’s general plan update will

be sent out today.

The newsletter will summarize all suggestions, questions and

comments the city has received during its “visioning process” and

outline the directions the city probably will head, officials said.

“There are still opportunities for more people to tell us what

they want for Newport Beach in the future,” said Assistant City

Manager Sharon Wood. “We hope people will read the newsletter and

give us their reactions to the preliminary findings.”

Residents have several more chances to put in their two cents.

They may log on to the general plan Web site at www.nbvision2025.com,

answer a planned October telephone survey and participate in a

community event scheduled for Nov. 16 at the Oasis Senior Center in

Corona del Mar.

The Web site also includes the report from the January Visioning

Festival, the previous city newsletter, results from neighborhood

workshops and a draft of a “Visioning Statement,” written by members

of the General Plan Advisory Committee.