PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS Former UC Irvine...

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS

Former UC Irvine student sentenced to life in prison

A judge on Tuesday declined former UC Irvine student Brian Dance’s

request for a new trial and sentenced him to life in prison with the

possibility of parole after 25 years.

Dance, now 22, who had met the 15-year-old girl on the Internet,

took her from the Block at Orange to a UCI parking lot where he

assaulted her for two hours, whipping her with his belt and carving a

swastika on her face. Dance also sexually assaulted her.

Dance’s new attorney Stuart Faber argued last week that his

client’s former attorney, Marlin Stapleton Jr., misguided and

misrepresented him by telling him to opt for a nonjury trial after

which he was found guilty of all charges.

Dance testified last week saying that the victim asked him to whip

her and begged him to have sex with her as part of a “humiliation”

fantasy.

But Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel did not accept that argument

and said Stapleton made the best possible decision for Dance.

-- Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH

In with the old mayor as

Ridgeway returns to post

Tod Ridgeway is mayor once again, and Gary Adams is vice mayor.

Council members on Tuesday voted for Ridgeway and Adams to serve

through the end of 2004.

* The city will send a letter to state officials saying that the

El Morro Village trailer park should be removed and the land turned

into public open space. An agenda item on the county board of

supervisors that would have made camping at the park illegal was

removed from the agenda before the supervisors’ meeting.

* The possibility that the city could help run or even take over

John Wayne Airport became slightly greater when council members

agreed to create the Sphere Issues Committee. Ridgeway, Steve

Bromberg and Steve Rosansky were appointed to the committee, which

will start talks on ways the city can play an expanded role in some

county functions.

-- June Casagrande

ENVIRONMENT

Back Bay gets a helping hand

from conservation group

A $12.5-million grant from the California Coastal Conservancy will

allow more dredging in the Upper Newport Bay to begin by fall 2005.

The more than $38 million restoration project will be headed by

Orange County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has pledged

$25 million to the work.

Now in the design phase, the project will include dredging more

than 2 million cubic yards of sediment from the 1,000-acre bay,

deepening some bay channels and creating a new island for endangered

least terns. The restoration project is expected to take three years.

-- Alicia Robinson

COSTA MESA

Replaced named for recent

planning board vacancy

Eric Bever will replace Joel Faris on the Planning Commission

starting Monday. Councilman Allan Mansoor announced the appointment

Friday. Bever was one of the two finalists in the effort to replace

former Mayor Karen Robinson. He graciously stepped down, paving the

way for Mike Scheafer to be appointed.

* The city wants to capitalize on momentum by the parties involved

in the 1901 Newport Boulevard lawsuit and will finally hold the

rehearing on the controversial high-density apartment project on Jan.

19. In August, Rutter Development sued the city and Costa Mesa

Citizens for Responsible Growth, claiming that a rehearing on the

downtown project was granted illegally, without the required

presentation of new evidence.

* The City Council received the result of an independent review of

the city attorney’s office which recommends keeping legal work

in-house and having the city manager oversee the department.

-- Deirdre Newman