PUBLIC SAFETY Reports of violent crime are...

PUBLIC SAFETY

Reports of violent crime are up in Costa Mesa

Property crimes in Costa Mesa for the first six months of this

year were down slightly in the city, but violent crimes are up 8.9%

from last year, according to data released this week by the state

attorney general.

In raw numbers, that boils down to 11 more violent crimes -- 124

last year compared to 135 this year from the month of January through

June. Costa Mesa had 909 reported property crimes, compared with 924

in the first six months of last year.

* Prosecutors are asking for a bail hearing for 19-year-old Greg Haidl, son of former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, after he was

involved in an alleged alcohol-related traffic collision Oct. 30.

Greg Haidl’s car crossed a double-yellow line on Bristol Street in

Santa Ana and struck an oncoming car just before 10:30 p.m.,

officials said. A preliminary test showed that he had a blood-alcohol

level of .02%, according to police. Prosecutors say that violates

conditions of his bail while he awaits retrial in a gang rape case.

* A Costa Mesa man was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly

attacked a woman as she walked to her car in an apartment complex.

The woman got away after he grabbed her from behind, and police

found Joseph Anthony White, 19, hiding nearby. He was arrested on

suspicion of two counts of felony sexual battery for the attack in

the 2700 block of Peterson Place in Costa Mesa and a similar one in

October at a nearby parking lot.

* A successful drug and weapons bust in Costa Mesa on Wednesday

night also turned up three illegal immigrants being held against

their will, police said.

Police found three illegal immigrants, as well as drugs and guns,

in raids on two separate homes on the north end of town. Costa Mesa

Police arrested five gang members in the raid, and immigration

officers arrested a sixth man and took the three immigrants into

custody.

EDUCATION

College district trustees approve station sale

Coast Community College District trustees unanimously approved to

finalize the $28-million sale of Orange County’s only public access

television network, KOCE-TV, to the KOCE-TV Foundation. Foundation

representatives Wednesday presented an $8 million down payment to the

district, which will use some of the money to add more courses to its

three community colleges’ schedules.

* Student leaders at Newport Harbor High School said they were

upset about what they called a freedom of speech violation, after

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. of Secondary Education

Jaime Castellanos told them they couldn’t present a report to the

school board about plans for the school’s homecoming fireworks show.

District officials called it a misunderstanding because the

district hadn’t had formal talks on fireworks shows. They said that

further miscommunication arose because the students had called their

report a “presentation,” because it wasn’t listed on the agenda, and

because the students likely didn’t receive word that the district had

banned fireworks from campuses in May.

POLITICS

Newport-Mesa polls bustled on Election Day

Poll workers faced record voter turnout Tuesday, and some voters

faced waits of more than two hours to cast their ballots. In races

for state and federal offices, Newport-Mesa voters selected

Republicans across the board.

Newport Beach Rep. Chris Cox and Huntington Beach Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher will return to Congress, and John Campbell will become

the 35th District state senator. Garden Grove City Councilman Van

Tran will represent the 68th Assembly District, which includes Costa

Mesa, and first-time officeholder Chuck DeVore will represent the

70th Assembly District, which covers Newport Beach.

Newport Beach Libertarian Jim Gray, an Orange County Superior

Court judge, was disappointed in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat

that Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer successfully defended.

NEWPORT BEACH

A good day for incumbents, a bad one for Measure L

On Election Day, voters in Newport Beach spurned City Council

hopefuls John Buttolph, Catherine Emmons and Dolores Otting, and

instead reelected incumbent councilmen Steve Bromberg, John Heffernan

and Steve Rosansky. Voters also said no to Measure L, the

controversial proposal to change the city’s general plan to allow a

waterfront hotel on the Balboa Peninsula.

* City planning commissioners will try to help St. Andrew’s

Presbyterian Church negotiate with neighbors to achieve a middle

ground on its expansion plan.

Commissioners had called for church administrators and dissenting

neighbors to give them a proposed list of operating conditions, which

both sides submitted on Thursday. It was no surprise that the lists

didn’t match. Commissioners said they will intervene in an attempt to

achieve a balance whereby the church can fulfill its needs while not

significantly affecting its neighbors.

Some of the key points of contention are the church’s hours of

operation, occupancy, parking, excessive noise and traffic. The

church has had almost two years of discussions with neighbors, and

the Planning Commission has been through two size reductions and plan

revisions.