COSTA MESA Transportation Authority pulls light rail...

COSTA MESA

Transportation Authority pulls light rail line

* The Orange County Transportation Authority pulled the CenterLine

light-rail line off line last week.

Officials have been studying plans for a light-rail system since

1991 and have spent $63 million on the project. Originally planned to

be more than 20-miles long, it ended as a 9.3-mile route from Santa

Ana through Costa Mesa to John Wayne Airport.

The transportation agency will study converting the light-rail

project to another rapid-transit system, but board members made sure

to include options besides a bus-based system. A 9.3-mile bus rapid

transit route was estimated to cost $80 to $100 million, versus $121

million for CenterLine.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Judge releases juror questions

The judge in a high-profile gang-rape case released blank copies

of the lengthy juror questionnaire this week.

More than 100 prospective jurors filled out the 100-question,

23-page questionnaire last month, which asked them their views on

teen sex, alcohol consumption and date rape. The jury was selected in

late January and testimony by Jane Doe, the alleged victim, will

resume Tuesday.

* Costa Mesa Fire Department is looking for volunteers -- that is,

those who served as volunteers in the department’s early days.

After doing some research, the unofficial department historian,

engineer Fred McDowell, discovered that volunteers started fighting

fires in the city in 1925. The department is looking for surviving

members or families of members for special recognition at their May

Fire Expo.

Call (714) 754-5106 for more information.

EDUCATION

Newport looks good in education study

A statewide report released this week found that many school

districts allocate more money for teacher salaries at more affluent

schools than those with more low-income students.

According to the report, which compared estimated average teacher

salaries in districts throughout the state, the gap between pay at

low-income and affluent schools in Newport-Mesa Unified School

District is $1,352 and it is $801 between minority and predominantly

white schools. Other districts had disparities as high as $7,000.

* UC Irvine professor R. Duncan Luce has been awarded the 2003

National Medal of Science, regarded as the top scientific honor in

the United States.

Luce, a 20-year UC Irvine faculty member, founded the Institute

for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences in 1988 and served as director

for 10 years.

The 79-year-old is one of eight American engineers and scientists

to receive the lifetime achievement award, established by the U.S.

Congress in 1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation.

President Bush will honor the winners at a March 14 ceremony at the

White House.

* Construction on the $5.5-million Donna and John Crean Mariners

Branch Library began this week, with completion expected in February

2006. The 15,000-square-foot library will replace the existing

Mariners Library, which opened in 1963, and it will house library

facilities for the adjacent Mariners Elementary School.

NEWPORT BEACH

Rhine Channel as dirty as expected

Preliminary results from Rhine Channel testing show pollution

levels discovered in the waterway were consistent with scientists’

expectations.

Exact levels of Rhine Channel pollution were not released because

testing results are still in the preliminary stages, said Steve

Cappellino, a partner with Anchor Environmental, the company tapped

to test Rhine Channel sediments by Orange County CoastKeeper.

A draft report containing proposals about decontaminating Rhine

Channel is expected to be ready by March 15, Orange County

CoastKeeper executive director Garry Brown said. More testing of the

area is planned before the report is published, Brown said.