EDUCATION School board adopts budget that...

EDUCATION

School board adopts

budget that may change

The Newport-Mesa Unified School Board adopted a final budget on

Tuesday, although it is far from final.

There is still the potential that board members will have to make

changes once the state adopts its budget, which is now two months

late. The state is trying to resolve a $24-billion deficit that has

Paul Reed, assistant superintendent of business services, worried.

The district received its scores on the SAT-9 and California

standards tests students took last year, as well as the results of

how seniors performed on the SAT college admissions test.

The district continues to outperform both the state and the

country on the SAT, but the district’s percentile ranks are just

below the county’s in all four areas of the SAT-9.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Woman, 82, injured in

Costa Mesa car crash

A two-car collision on Thursday in Costa Mesa sent an 82-year-old

woman to the hospital with severe lower body injuries.

The accident occurred when she allegedly ran a red light on

Arlington Drive and turned southbound onto Newport Boulevard, where

she was broadsided by another car.

A late night apartment fire Wednesday displaced a family of seven

on the Westside. The stucco apartment caught fire as the family

slept. No smoke detectors woke the family members, though no one was

injured.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.

COSTA MESA

Huscroft House dealt

a substantial setback

If the Huscroft House could talk, it would probably ask council

members to just put it out of its misery. The old house has been

sitting on blocks on Arlington Road for more than a year, as the wood

continues to weaken and the rats run rampant through the

once-beautiful Craftsman-style home.

Council members said last week they were one step closer to

euthanasia for the house built in 1915, which still displays some

semblance of its masterful and handcrafted construction.

Although no formal action has been taken, the council said it has

abandoned any plans to move the house to Fairview Park, saying the

cost of the move and restoration are simply more than the city can

afford, despite $200,000 dedicated to the project in the Home Ranch

development agreement.

City officials said they will continue to negotiate with Home

Ranch developers C.J. Segerstrom & Sons about using the money for

some other purpose.

In other news, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission approved a

second-story addition for the Anderson-Davis family, which has nine

developmentally disabled children. However, the decision is being

appealed to the City Council.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

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