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
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.