BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Boy survives but...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Boy survives but has fractured skull

A 2-year-old boy who suffered serious head injuries in a traffic

accident that killed his 19-year-old mother was expected to be

released from the hospital Monday, Costa Mesa Police officials said.

Norma Ruiz-Zanabia died on the scene after she pulled out of her

apartment complex onto Victoria Street into the path of a moving

pickup truck Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Her 15-year-old brother, who complained of severe pain, was

released from Western Medical Center in Santa Ana over the weekend,

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Ciszek said. Both boys remained

unidentified because they are minors.

The 2-year-old suffered a fractured skull but is expected to

recover, Ciszek said.

The driver of the pickup truck, who was traveling westbound on

Victoria, couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting Ruiz-Zanabia’s 1989

Honda Accord, officials said.

No arrests were made and no citations were issued because traffic

investigators concluded, based on preliminary investigation, that

Ruiz-Zanabia caused the accident, officials said.

Little Corona closes after sewage spill

Little Corona Beach remained closed Monday after a break in a

sewer line resulted in a 3,000-gallon sewage spill Sunday morning.

The raw-sewage spill was stopped within 90 minutes after it

started, but workers from the Irvine Ranch Water District didn’t find

the cause -- a 3-inch hole at the bottom of an iron pipe -- until

Monday because the pipe is deeply buried, water district spokeswoman

Marilyn Smith said.

The line broke under Newport Coast Drive between Ridge Park Road

and Vista Ridge Drive, causing sewage to back up out of manholes and

run into storm drains. The line appears to have corroded, possibly

because a protective coating was incorrectly applied when the pipe

was installed, Smith said. Officials hoped to fix the pipe by

midnight Monday and repair the road today.

The beach will reopen after the Orange County Health Care Agency

collects water samples with normal bacteria levels for two days.