NEWPORT BEACH City receives big grant for...

NEWPORT BEACH

City receives big grant

for Big Canyon Creek

The city of Newport Beach last week netted a $500,000 grant from

the state Coastal Conservancy to restore Big Canyon Creek between the

Upper Newport Bay and Jamboree Road. The money will pay for plans and

design of a project to dredge the area, remove nonnative plants and

replace them with native species and construct wetlands to help clean

urban runoff.

The design should take about a year, after which the city will

seek the $3 million to $5 million needed for construction of the

restoration project. Once built, the project should last for years

with proper maintenance.

-- Alicia Robinson

POLITICS

Cox may be in running

for intelligence post

Rep. Chris Cox last week declined to comment on whether he’s being

considered as a replacement for CIA Director George Tenet, who

announced his resignation in June, but political insiders said Cox’s

name is on the short list. Cox has some experience with intelligence

matters -- he headed a 1999 investigation into alleged Chinese spying

and now chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.

Cox has been mentioned before as a candidate for high-level posts,

but those never came to fruition. He’s been suggested as a candidate

for vice president and U.S. Senate, and in 2001 he was up for a spot

on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. He withdrew his name from

consideration when faced with opposition from Senate Democrats.

-- Alicia Robinson

PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS

Jury in Haidl trial

deadlocks on rape charges

An Orange County jury deadlocked on a high-profile, gang-rape case

Monday afternoon, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. But the

Orange County district attorney was quick to refile the case the very

next day.

The eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for close to 15 hours

before sending a note to the judge stating that they were unable to

reach a verdict.

Greg Haidl, son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle

Nachreiner and Keith Spann were accused of raping an unconscious

16-year-old and sexually assaulting her with various objects as she

lay on a pool table in the garage of the assistant sheriff’s Corona

del Mar home. The defendants also captured the July 5, 2002, incident

on videotape.

Jurors ruled 11-1 not guilty on the first four counts, which is

two counts each of rape by intoxication and oral copulation by

intoxication. They were split on all others, voting 3-5-4 on most of

the remaining 20 counts. Court officials said that the exact

breakdown on the split votes is not available.

Joseph Cavallo, Haidl’s lead attorney, has said that he will not

be representing his client in the retrial. A pretrial hearing has

been set for Aug. 6.

* Coast Highway was shut down for about eight hours Monday morning

when a police pursuit ended with officers shooting a Santa Ana man

multiple times. Three Irvine police officers shot 21-year-old

Bernardo Ibarra after he led them on a 30-minute chase that ended in

Corona del Mar. Newport Beach Police arrested Ibarra, whose injuries

are non-life-threatening, police said, on suspicion of felony evading

and assault with a deadly weapon, and the Orange County District

Attorney’s Office is investigating the three officers involved in the

shooting, as is their procedure.

-- Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA

Councilman has energy to back bill in Sacramento

City leaders are adamantly supporting a state energy bill touted

as having the power to prevent future blackouts despite not being

drastically affected by rolling blackouts during the energy crisis of

2001. The bill, called the Reliable Electric Service Act of 2004,

would establish a framework of electrical service that supporters say

will entice investment in power plants in the state.

To show Costa Mesa’s support for the bill, Councilman Mike

Scheafer testified before a Senate energy committee Tuesday in

Sacramento. City officials like the bill because they are concerned

about the negative effect of potential future blackouts on things

like public safety, traffic and schools, Scheafer said.

* The city’s year-long birthday celebration, dubbed CostaMazing,

culminated at City Hall with the dedication of a tree that was

planted last week.

Costa Mesa was incorporated in 1953. The kickoff to the city’s

birthday celebration featured last summer’s unveiling of a new city

flag, which displays the “City of the Arts” motto below the words

“Costa Mesa” on a tableau of a mesa overlooking the ocean.

-- Deirdre Newman