COSTA MESA When the fireworks end, the...

COSTA MESA

When the fireworks end, the cleaning begins

After selling fireworks, many of the groups who had stands helped

clean up the city Monday morning. The effort was organized by Evan

Spencer, a Costa Mesa High school student and his dad, Gary.

For the groups that sold fireworks, some sparkled financially

while others fizzled compared to last year. The ones that saw

lackluster sales this year attributed it to the City Council not

being more flexible after only 28 groups qualified to sell fireworks

when the maximum was 40 and the school district’s ban of fireworks

stands on school properties.

* Ideological differences thwarted further exploration of three of

the four new means of raising money that the City Council considered

Tuesday.

The only one the council will consider looking at is a

fire-medical subscription fee, a voluntary fee intended to improve

the quality of emergency medical services.

-- Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT BEACH

City Council faces empty seat on the dais this fall

City Councilman Gary Adams will be leaving the council and Newport

Beach for a job promotion in Washington, D.C.

Adams informed his colleagues Tuesday that he will be resigning

from the council this fall.

City leaders said no decision had yet been made about how they

would fill Adams’ seat -- either by appointment or through an

election.

* The premiere of “Riding Giants,” a surfing documentary film,

attracted surfing legends and surfing fans to the Regency Lido

Theater Thursday night. Among the legends: Laird Hamilton, Greg Noll

and Sam George. The film explores the American surf culture and

surfers’ penchant for big-wave surfing.

* The Newport Beach Central Library on Avocado Avenue geared up

for a week of celebrations beginning Saturday for its 10th

anniversary.

The week kicked off with a gala at the Newport Beach Marriott

Hotel and includes an art exhibit, talks with authors and a day of

activities for children.

Daily Pilot staff

BUSINESS

After a year-long wait, Svelte is open for dinner

A new restaurant opened last week in Corona del Mar, but not after

a bit of drama.

Svelte -- which is in the Heliotrope Avenue location of the closed

Pirate’s Inn, Trees and Mistral -- took a year longer than expected

to open. But owner Kurt Conrad still was raring to go.

“I wanted to have a kind of ‘wow’ factor with everything you

looked at,” Conrad said of a sculpture that greets guests. “I wanted

everything to be a conversation piece.”

-- Daily Pilot staff

POLITICS

Local political parties weigh in on the new face in the race

Local politicians and political watchers echoed national sentiment

about presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry’s

vice presidential pick: Democrats like the idea of Sen. John Edwards

on the ticket, and Republicans were quick to question his experience

and his ties to trial lawyers.

“In terms of the mainstream of the party and the direction that

the party wants to go, he was by far the best choice,” said Jim

Toledano, a Costa Mesa attorney and past chairman of the Orange

County Democratic Party.

Few are predicting an easy race, however.

“I think Bush is clearly the favorite, but I’m absolutely not

going to say that it’s a lock by any stretch,” Assemblyman John

Campbell said. “Kerry and Edwards are not out of it.”

* The GOP kicked off a drive to attract more female voters Tuesday

night in Costa Mesa.

To get women more active in Republican politics, the state GOP

launched Women-Count, a program of events, advertising and outreach

geared toward women. The kickoff event, held at the Shark Club in

Costa Mesa, drew about 80 people, including a few men.

-- Daily Pilot staff