NEWPORT BEACH Statue of dolphin dives from...

NEWPORT BEACH

Statue of dolphin dives

from centennial party

Planners for Corona del Mar’s centennial celebration scrapped the

idea to erect a dolphin statue after neighbors to several proposed

sites objected. The time capsule that was to accompany the statue,

however, will probably still be created. All over events for the

centennial are on track.

* Greenlight leaders have said they’re worried that the process

for approving the Balboa Theater could set a precedent for

sidestepping a Greenlight vote on future theater projects. At the

same time, Greenlight leaders were trying to reassure observers that

they nonetheless support the Balboa Theater.

* Businesses with ugly, oversized or poorly placed signs could

soon be forced to do something about them. The city is planning

workshops on its sign ordinance to determine how to make business

signs more attractive and more useful.

* City Manager Homer Bludau is up for a 4% raise that could bring

his salary up to about $186,000. A committee of three council members

recommended the raise, which the council will likely approve on

Tuesday.

-- June Casagrande

COSTA MESA

City Councilwoman decides to take leave of absence

Councilwoman Libby Cowan announced Thursday that she would take an

immediate leave of absence for about a month. Cowan is taking the

time off to help take care of her ailing mother. She expects to be

back on the dais for the first City Council meeting in April.

* The City Council upheld the approval of a two-story residence on

Myran Drive on Tuesday despite tremendous opposition to the project

from those who don’t want to see the historic charm of the one-story

street destroyed.

* Costa Mesa city leaders put Newport Beach on notice that they

still intend to annex a portion of unincorporated county land that

Newport Beach has already made a preliminary move to annex. This area

includes West Santa Ana Heights, the Santa Ana Country Club and an

area south of Mesa Drive between Santa Ana and Irvine avenues.

* Thomas and Deirdre McCrory are getting accustomed to their

renovated house, which they saw for the first time Wednesday after

the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” crew transformed it for them.

Their house’s square footage was also expanded by 423 feet.

-- Deirdre Newman

PUBLIC SAFETY

Car accident claims the life of 18-month-old

Police on Wednesday arrested a 24-year-old Santa Ana woman who was

allegedly speeding and driving recklessly right before an accident on

Tuesday afternoon that killed her 18-month-old sister.

Araceli Vega has been charged with one count of vehicular

manslaughter and two felony counts of child endangerment.

Vega was driving on Sunflower Avenue heading to a day-care center

to pick up her relatives’ children.

Her infant sister, Diana Vega, was in the back secured in her car

seat. Witnesses told police that Vega was going 70 mph, about 30

miles faster than the posted speed limit. Investigators said skid

mark analysis revealed that she was doing at least 62 mph. Vega was

also weaving in and out of traffic and that she was tailgating at

least two vehicles, officials said.

As she was trying to make an unsafe lane change, Vega lost control

of the vehicle, and her right front tire struck the curb, causing the

car to veer off the street, roll several times and crash into a

concrete wall.

The wall collapsed, smashing in the roof of the vehicle and

crushing the head of the little girl in the car seat.

Officials said Vega was in a hurry to get to another day-care

center, which typically makes parents pay fines if there is a delay

in picking up their children. No alcohol or drugs were involved in

the incident.

-- Deepa Bharath

BUSINESS

Fashion Island department store opens restaurant

Fashion Island gained an eatery on Tuesday when Neiman Marcus

opened Mariposa as part of a storewide remodeling project set to be

completed in 2005. The new restaurant, on the store’s third floor

replaced the old second-floor restaurant, Zodiac, but retained some

of the most popular menu items.

* Operations of the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road and Foothill and

Eastern toll roads won’t be consolidated just yet. Member of the

boards that govern the toll roads on Thursday delayed a vote on the

merger for the second time in two weeks. Officials have been eyeing a

merger of the two toll road systems for nearly two years as a way to

prop up the financially ailing San Joaquin Hills Toll Road.

The merger entails the sale of $3.9 billion in bonds and a

restructuring of the agencies’ debts. A subcommittee of the toll

roads’ governing boards will look at financial alternatives for the

merger and a vote could come in April.

-- Alicia Robinson