“He was a happy and robust son...

“He was a happy and robust son who was proud to be a Marine. He died

honorably, among all of his Marine companions, like he would have

wanted to.”

-- Simona Garibay, a Westside mother of Jose Garibay, on her son,

who died in combat in the war in Iraq last Sunday

“Here’s a lady that the city chose to be the second black mayor in

Orange County’s history and she now becomes the first black woman

judge in Orange County appointed by a governor. It’s tremendous, and

it couldn’t happen in a better year, because the Post Office has

dedicated its Black Heritage stamp this year to [former Supreme Court

Justice] Thurgood Marshall, and what better honor to Marshall than to

have Karen?”

-- Bobby McDonald, executive director of the Black Chamber of

Commerce of Orange County, hailing the historic nature of Costa Mesa

Mayor Karen Robinson’s state appointment to superior court judge

“I don’t know what’s going to happen here. There’s a lot of things

in the balance with Karen’s vacancy, and so we’ll just kind of play

it by ear and see how it goes.”

-- Chris Steel, Costa Mesa councilman, on projects that may go

different ways without Mayor Karen Robinson on the City Council

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

-- Dick Nichols, Newport Beach councilman, on a landmark ordinance

to help the Port Theatre, which he thinks should be moved to another

area such as Mariner’s Mile

“I feel that we need to support our troops. If we don’t do

something to Saddam soon, he’s going to do something to us.”

-- Marit Zachman, a Corona del Mar High eighth-grader who took

part in a walkout at the school to support the war in Iraq