Mail taxes in the safety of police...

Mail taxes in the safety of police supervision

Here’s hoping the next sentence won’t make you gasp or slap your

forehead.

Today is the deadline to file federal, state and local tax returns

on 2003 earnings, so if you forgot to do your taxes, grab a

calculator and figure them out while you wait in the expected long

lines at the post office.

Newport-Mesa post offices will be collecting mail until 5 p.m.,

but those who are running behind can swing by the post office in

Santa Ana at 3101 W. Sunflower Ave., which will offer retail service

until 9 p.m. and will collect mail until midnight.

Don’t worry about getting run over in the mad rush to the

mailboxes -- a police officer will be directing traffic to ensure

orderly proceedings.

Orange County capable of having the big one

Earthquakes eclipsing the magnitude of the 1994 quake that

devastated the Northridge area could happen in Orange County,

researchers at UC Irvine have found.

Orange County has the same type of fault in the earth that

Northridge does, and it places the Puente Hills, San Joaquin Hills

and Santa Ana mountains at the highest risk of generating an

earthquake, according to a study by UC Irvine assistant professor of

environmental health, science and policy Lisa Grant and doctoral

candidate Eldon Gath.

Their research examined hilly terrain and canyon streams of Orange

County to find the size and pattern of past earthquakes that created

the hills. An earthquake along the county’s fault, called a “blind

thrust fault,” could have an impact two or three times greater than

the 6.7 magnitude Northridge quake, the researchers concluded.

They began presenting their findings at the annual meeting of the

Seismological Society of America Wednesday in Palm Springs, and will

continue until Friday.

Two PIMCO board members reelected

Shareholders of PIMCO Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust Inc.

voted Wednesday to reelect E. Philip Cannon and former Orange County

Chief Executive William J. Popejoy to the investment fund’s board of

directors.

Cannon has been on the board since 2000 and Popejoy has served

since 1993 with a brief interruption in 1995. They will serve terms

that end in 2007.

Shareholders also voted against liquidating the mortgage

securities investment fund, a move that can ensure investors get the

net value of the fund’s assets even if shares are selling for less.

PIMCO Vice President Mick Willemsen said a provision that gives

investors the option to liquidate the fund in certain years was

included when the fund was set up.

The fund’s current market value is higher than the net value of

its assets, so there is no advantage to shareholders to liquidate, he

said.

Boating bigwigs inducted into new hall

Three big names in Orange County pleasure boating will be the

first inductees into the Newport Boat Show Hall of Fame, a creation

of Sea Magazine Publisher and boat show producer Duncan McIntosh.

Dick Valdes of Mediterranean Yachts, Jack Cole of Skipjack Yachts

and Roger MacGregor of MacGregor Yacht Corp. will be inducted in a

ceremony at noon today at Lido Marina Village, site of the Newport

Boat Show.