Boeing orders ethics training

Thousands of Boeing employees on Wednesday -- 78,000 nationwide and

5,000 in Huntington Beach -- halted their workday and underwent an

intensive interactive ethics training session.

The abrupt seminar, a first in the aerospace industry Boeing

spokesman Dan Beck said, comes less than a week after the Air Force

banned Boeing Co. from competing for government contracts for its

rocket program and gave seven of its military satellite launches to

rival Lockheed Martin Corp. as a penalty for document theft.

Boeing officials say it’s too early to tell how operations at the

Huntington Beach plant, where 1,300 employees are involved in program

management, engineering, design and mission support for the Delta IV

and Delta II rocket programs, will be affected by the $1 billion in

contracts that were halted.

Boeing is being punished for illegally obtaining information from

Lockheed Martin in the 1990s, while the two were steeped fierce

competition for control over the rocket launch program. The two

employees accused of stealing the documents, one a former Lockheed

Martin employee, were fired years ago, but current employees could

also be feeling the blow.

“We have no plans to reduce the [Huntington Beach] programs in any

way,” said Beck. “We’ve still got rockets to launch. We’re still in

the process of assessing what the impacts are.”

The suspension could be lifted in as early as two months if the

firm demonstrates that it is taking corrective actions, Air Force

officials said.

“To cease working to focus undivided attention on ethics and what

the repercussions of actions by a handful of employees can be, is

unprecedented for Boeing,” Beck said.

Former U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) has been asked by Boeing

officials to put together a team to assess existing ethics programs

at Boeing. The company already has ethics officers in all business

units and ethics hotlines that employees can call to report

activities they find unethical.

“Boeing operates within the highest ethical standards,” Beck said.

“But this shows that even the misdeeds of a small handful employees

do have repercussions.”

Residents invited to vent air traffic concerns

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Long Beach

Airport and JetBlue Airways will gather tonight to provide

information and answer residents’ questions about flight patterns,

aircraft altitude levels and air traffic noise.

Surf City residents irritated by noisy planes will have the

opportunity to air their concerns at the meeting, a follow-up to a

presentation by Long Beach Airport officials that was held April 21

at a City Council study session.

Since the arrival of JetBlue two years ago, the number of planes

flying to and from the Long Beach Airport has doubled, resulting in a

flood of complaints from Huntington Beach residents. Homeowners have

vented frustration about several aspects of increased flight

activity, including noise pollution, aircraft altitude levels and

hours of transit.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. today in rooms C and D of the

Huntington Central Library, at 7111 Talbert Ave. For more

information, contact Sharon Diggs-Jackson at (562) 570-2636.

Harman to match donations to Shipley

Assemblyman Tom Harman has come out in strong support the Shipley

Nature Center with a $1,000 donation and a list of incentives for

those who can match this amount.

Anyone who matches his donation will be offered a trip to

Sacramento for two on Southwest Airlines and have lunch with the

assemblyman, as well as a VIP tour of the state Capitol.

Gates to the Shipley Center reopened on July 20 for the first time

since the city cut funding to the center in September 2002. The

center will be open for tours on the third Sunday of the month, for

the next three months. School tours will begin again in the fall.

With the help of its volunteer group, Friends of the Shipley

Nature Center, the park is no longer threatened by permanent closure.

A $10,000 grant from the Santa Ana River Watershed Program combined

with a $15,000 grant from the Orange County Conservation Corps and

$5,000 from the Friends treasury will pay a three-member crew to

continue removal of invasive nonnative plants.

For more information on the Shipley Nature Center, or to join as a

volunteer, call (714) 842-4772 or log on to www.fsnc.org.

Distance Derby

to take off soon

Orange County’s oldest road race is about to close out its fourth

decade.

Known for its fast, flat and scenic oceanfront course, the 49th

Huntington Beach Distance Derby will start and finish Aug. 9 at the

Huntington Beach Pier Plaza Amphitheater.

There will be a 10-mile run or a five-mile run/walk and a Surf

Kids’ Fun Run for children. Proceeds from the race, which is

sanctioned by USA Track and Field, will benefit the Junior Lifeguards

Program.

Sign-ups will start at 6 a.m. for the 10-mile run, 7 a.m. for the

5-mile run and 10 a.m. for the Surf Kids Run. The cost is $25 for

adults and $15 for children through Aug. 1, and $30 for adults and

$20 for children after that.

For more information, call (714) 375-8490.