NEWPORT BEACH Planners face two tough decisions...

NEWPORT BEACH

Planners face two tough decisions in coming months

Two of the biggest battles to hit the Planning Commission since

the Mormon temple steeple erupted last week.

Recovery home operators and supporters faced off against Balboa

Peninsula neighbors tired of the noise they say these facilities

produce. The commission will continue to explore whether amendments

to city zoning laws could give the city some control over these

facilities.

An even bigger crowd came out to Thursday’s Planning Commission

meeting to take part in talks on plans to expand St. Andrew’s Church.

Neighbors say the expanded facility doesn’t belong in their quiet

neighborhood and that it will bring too much traffic. Church

officials say that the new youth and family center they’re adding

will be a benefit to the entire community.

* City Councilman Steve Rosansky announced he would run for

election to his District 2 seat. Rosansky was appointed last year

after Gary Proctor resigned. His seat is up for grabs this November.

-- June Casagrande

EDUCATION

Vega says ‘Dubai’ to community college district

Coast Community College District Chancellor William Vega, who

retires next month, announced last week that he has an accepted an

offer to serve as director of Dubai Men’s College in the United Arab

Emirates.

Vega’s new post will be similar to that of a college president in

an 11-school public education system, which uses Western methods to

teach technology and business with all classes in English. He served

as chancellor for nine years and president of Coastline College for

nine years.

* Nine students who were arrested in a campus protest and nine who

protested but were not arrested all received an official warning from

UC Irvine officials.

The students were protesting the impending closure of the Irvine

Meadows West, a campus trailer park that provides low-cost housing

for students, to make way for a parking structure. The warning

letters will remain in their files and could lead to disciplinary

action if the students get into more trouble.

* Teachers at Victoria Elementary School got some heartfelt

support from students, administrators and the community.

The school has a reputation for going all out for its Teacher

Appreciation Day and Wednesday was no exception, with games, gifts

and special guests. Members of the Costa Mesa Police Department took

part in a game of kickball-basketball with students and teachers and

the department’s helicopter circled the school’s courtyard.

* Inventor, scientist, philanthropist and Renaissance man Arnold

Beckman, whose name graces academic buildings on college campuses

throughout the country, died Tuesday at the age of 104

A longtime Corona del Mar resident, Beckman donated more than $400

million for scientific research to institutions including UC Irvine.

Beckman was a famed inventor whose creations, like the pH meter, are

a staple in many scientific laboratories.

-- Marisa O’Neil

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS

‘Yellow Jacket Bandit’ allegedly returns for more

Costa Mesa Police arrested Michael Wade Dunkovich, a man

previously convicted of a series of liquor store robberies in Costa

Mesa and Huntington Beach, on Wednesday outside a liquor store.

Officers recognized the Newport Beach resident also known as the

“Yellow Jacket Bandit,” as he pulled into a parking lot at the corner

of Adams Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. He was wanted in connection

with a series of robberies in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and

Westminster, starting on May 15, police said.

Dunkovich earned the name “Yellow Jacket Bandit” because he wore

or carried a yellow denim jacket during the robberies that occurred

in 2000. He targeted liquor stores, pulling his T-shirt over his face

and pretending to hold a handgun.

If convicted of the recent crimes, he could face 25 years to life.

* A girl, who was allegedly gang-raped in a Corona del Mar home

two years ago, took the stand on Tuesday.

The girl, now 18 and only identified as Jane Doe, talked about how

defendants Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann handed her a

bluish-green mixed drink that she said knocked her out. The girl said

she did not remember anything after that.

She also testified that she had consensual sex with Haidl and

Spann a day before the alleged rape. Defense attorneys say she also

had sex with Nachreiner then, but the girl denied it.

Haidl’s attorney Joseph Cavallo cross-examined her Wednesday and

Thursday. He is expected to continue on Tuesday when the trial will

resume in Santa Ana.

-- Deepa Bharath