PUBLIC SAFETY Kobe Bryant case could come...

PUBLIC SAFETY

Kobe Bryant case could come to Orange County

Attorneys for the woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape said this

week that they are considering filing a civil suit in Orange County

against the Los Angeles Lakers star and Newport Coast resident.

That move would give the 20-year-old woman the chance to collect

more money in damages because Colorado law caps the amount of money

awarded in civil cases. Attorneys said they would decide in the next

30 days whether or not to file in California.

* A mystery sickness struck 57 people attending a conference at

the Hilton Costa Mesa Hotel Thursday morning.

A food inspector found no immediate cause for the illness, which

caused vomiting and diarrhea, and the kitchen at the hotel remained

open. Epidemiologists with the Orange County Health Care Agency are

investigating the cause.

EDUCATION

School district setting its five-year plan

The Newport-Mesa School District board approved a preliminary

draft of its Strategic Plan as a framework of goals and objectives

for the next five years.

District officials proposed a redesign of the high school

structure, meaning night and online classes would be added to the

regular curriculum. The board will vote on the plan at its Nov. 23

meeting.

* Researchers from UC Irvine’s biomedical engineering department

unveiled seven inventions to business people on Tuesday in an attempt

to secure the funds to market them. The OCTANe@UCI technology

coalition was designed to transfer the technology phase to industry.

The medical breakthroughs included a lab-on-a-chip that enables

consistent and efficient drug delivery to a diseased site; a low-cost

cochlear implant that improves the ability to understand speech and

music; and a dental device called a periometer, which increases

dental implant success and can measure structural integrity in teeth.

COSTA MESA

Basketball’s bad boy Dennis Rodman is back

Former NBA superstar and ace rebounder Dennis Rodman on Tuesday

signed with the Orange County Crush, an American Basketball Assn.

team based at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Rodman, who moved from his West Newport home to Huntington Beach

in September, played just three games for the Long Beach Jam, another

ABA team based in Long Beach, last season.

The Orange County Crush will play its home games in the grandstand

arena at the Orange County Fairgrounds. The first of 18 home games

is scheduled for Nov. 18 in an arena with an expected capacity of

4,211. Details of Rodman’s contract are expected to be revealed

during a news conference on Tuesday.

NEWPORT BEACH

City to study new plan for Marinapark

The resounding defeat of a plan to build a resort on the

harbor-front Marinapark site has left more questions than answers.

The City Council on Tuesday called for a study session on various

issues surrounding the site including how best to get public input on

what its future should hold.

* The council gave the city’s park rangers the authority to

enforce permits for parks and other city facilities. It also

established safety zones for its after-school programs at parks. In

the past, when staff members were concerned about adults bothering

children in the parks, they couldn’t do anything about it.

* Some City Council members were irritated that the cost for a

road meant to reduce traffic near Newport Coast Elementary School

jumped 47% over the original bid. The increase happened mainly

because the city rushed to finish the road before school started,

Public Works Director Steve Badum said.

* Cell phone reception will soon be possible at the intersection

of Superior Avenue and West Coast Highway now that the City Council

approved permits for Cingular and Sprint to mount antennas on 32-foot

light poles along Superior Avenue. Residents in the area had opposed

the 35-foot high poles the companies had suggested previously.

* The Environmental Nature Center this week dedicated a butterfly

house built with donations from the Rotary clubs of Newport-Balboa

and its sister city of Okazaki, Japan.

Right now, the 1,300-square-foot, screened-in house holds only

native plants and a few moths. More than 300 native butterflies will

live in the house, probably starting in March.