John Wayne Airport passenger levels increase for...

John Wayne Airport passenger

levels increase for March

Passenger levels at John Wayne Airport continued to increase as

759,365 travelers passed through the airport in March, a 15.7%

increase compared to the same month in 2003.

So far, 2.1 million passengers have used the airport in 2004, a

13.8% increase compared to 2003.

“We expect our passenger levels to continue to rise as we enter

the summer travel season,” said Alan Murphy, the airport’s director

said in a press release.

Total aircraft operations also increased 1.5% to 30,239 takeoffs

and landings.

Commercial carrier and commuter flights also rose, thanks in part

to the addition of Atlantic Southeast Division/Delta Connection,

which began service in September.

Newport places second

at law enforcement relay

The Newport Beach Police Department’s running team placed second

in their division at the Baker-to-Vegas 120-mile relay in April, a

competition that drew 218 law enforcement running teams from across

the country.

In temperatures that were as high as 90 degrees and as low as 40

degrees, the Newport team, which had 20 runners, four alternates and

20 support staff, started the race at 6:30 p.m. April 24 in Baker and

finished at 10:10 a.m. April 25 at the Silverton Hotel in Las Vegas.

A team from Orem, Utah, beat the Newport team, which had won first

place in 2001. Newport has placed in the top three for three of the

past four years.

This year’s runners were: Dave Darling, Mark Fitzpatrick, Bob

Foss, John Freeman, Matt Graham, Bill Hartford, Neil Harvey, Paul

Henisey, Mike Hyams, Darrin Joe, Jon Lewis, Dave Miner, Mike

O’Beirne, Paul Sarris, Brian Schrieber, Ron Vallercamp, Penny Varela,

Bob Watts, Dave White and Justin Yee.

Weekend conference on

Alzheimer’s in Costa Mesa

The Alzheimer’s Assn. of Orange County and UC Irvine’s Institute

for Brain Aging and Dementia hosts the 2004 Regional Alzheimer’s

Disease Educational Conference Friday through Sunday at the Hilton

Costa Mesa.

The conference kicks off Friday with Thomas H Crook III, who will

speak on the progress of Memantine clinical trials at 6 p.m.

Conference speakers also include the Mayo Clinic’s Ronald Petersen

and Eric Dishman, Intel’s proactive health project manager.

Cost for the conference varies from $60 to $175. For more

information, call Joyce Lowder at (714) 293-1984, ext. 222.

Big Brothers Big Sisters to

host board dinner May 12

The second Big Brothers Big Sisters yearly board dinner is

scheduled for 6 p.m. Wed., May 12, at Villa Nova restaurant in

Newport Beach.

The dinner will acknowledge and honor the county’s top business

leaders and their contributions to the nonprofit organization. The

night also celebrates the Big Brother Big Sisters of America’s 100th

anniversary.

For tickets and more information, call Christy Breen at (714)

544-7773, ext. 14 or log on to https://www.bigbrooc.org.