NEWPORT BEACH It takes developers to replace...

NEWPORT BEACH

It takes developers

to replace a village

Lido Marina Village could be replaced by a luxury hotel and

time-share condominiums if two local developers have their way. Some

property owners in the village, however, don’t want to sell, and

members of the slow-growth Greenlight committee also showed their

opposition last week.

* An eelgrass-planting program in Newport Harbor could provide

relief for private pier owners who want to dredge under their docks

but can’t afford the high cost of replacing eel grass. The Army Corps

of Engineers should begin work by early May to plant beds of eelgrass

in eight spots in the harbor.

* Morning Canyon is eroding, threatening to damage the 22 homes

that line its banks. The city wants to help fix the problem, but some

leaders say that residents should chip in part of the $2-million

cost.

* Hoag Hospital chief executive officer of 29 years Michael

Stephens has announced he will retire next year. The hospital will

launch an executive search for a replacement.

-- June Casagrande

EDUCATION

Test scores show increase over last year’s results

Nearly all Newport-Mesa Unified schools showed improvement on last

year’s statewide tests, according to scores released Monday. The base

scores of the 2003 Academic Performance Index, on a scale of 200 to

1,000, represent the latest data based on last year’s standardized

tests in California schools. In the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District, 22 of 29 schools showed improvement over last year’s base

scores. The lowest-performing schools in the district -- Whittier,

Wilson and Pomona elementary schools and Estancia High School -- all

showed the biggest improvements.

* Members of the Newport-Balboa Rotary Club planted a seven-foot

Australian willow on Tuesday at Kaiser Elementary school in Costa

Mesa to celebrate Arbor Day.

An older pine tree, planted by Rotary members some 20 years ago,

sits just on the other side of a bank of classrooms. Each Arbor Day

during the last 35 years, the club has given seedling trees to all

third-graders in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

-- Marisa O’Neil

PUBLIC SAFETY

Delay in arraignment from early-morning accident

The arraignment of a man accused of driving under the influence

and hitting two men who were crossing the street after leaving a

popular Costa Mesa bar was postponed last week.

Pawel Stanislaw Wiater, who was allegedly driving the Mitsubishi

Eclipse that killed Andre Felipe de Oliveira Braga, 31, of Laguna

Beach, and injured John Garazulis, 25 of Westminster, will enter a

plea on charges of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving on

March 19, court officials said.

The 22-year-old Costa Mesa man will be represented by a public

defender.

* California Supreme Court judges heard arguments on Wednesday

morning about a civil lawsuit filed by the parents of two toddlers

who died at a preschool after a man intentionally ran them over with

his car five years ago.

The case is before the Supreme Court to decide if the Wiener and

Soto families have a legitimate civil case against Southcoast Early

Childhood Learning Center, where the children were killed, that

should be heard. The case was thrown out of a lower court.

Attorneys expect the Supreme Court to make a decision within the

next 30 days. The Wieners, Sotos and their legal counsel could not be

reached for comment by press time but have always expressed

confidence in their argument.

-- Lolita Harper

POLITICS AND ENVIRONMENT

Making a quick flight home and back again

Local congressmen announced their support for a request from Aloha

Airlines to obtain four of 12 available slots at Washington Reagan

National Airport, which would be used to add two direct flights daily

between Washington, D.C., and John Wayne Airport.

Rep. Chris Cox and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher signed a letter urging

transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to approve Aloha’s request. If

the flights are approved, the airline will have to bump two other

flights to stay within quotas set up by the airport’s operating

agreement.

* A grant to Orange County CoastKeeper that funds a kelp

reforestation program will be renewed, keeping the program going for

three more years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

told CoastKeeper it will continue the grant, which since 2002 has

provided about $50,000 a year for growing and planting kelp in

Crystal Cove.

CoastKeeper spends about $125,000 annually on kelp reforestation,

supplementing the federal grant with other funds. The group also

hopes to raise as much as $200,000 to build its own lab that would be

used to grow kelp and provide educational programs.

-- Alicia Robinson