EDUCATION District brings back drug-sniffing dogs The...

EDUCATION

District brings back drug-sniffing dogs

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District announced last week that

for the first time in several years, drug-sniffing dogs will patrol

the middle and high school campuses. The dogs, provided by the Costa

Mesa and Newport Beach police, will inspect only lockers and cars and

not students’ clothes or backpacks.

* On Wednesday, Jaime Castellanos, the district’s assistant

superintendent of secondary education, announced that he will leave

his post in July to become the new superintendent of the William S.

Hart Union High School District in the Santa Clarita Valley. During

his time at Newport-Mesa, Castellanos implemented a number of

programs, including the READ 180 unit for seventh- through

12th-graders and online courses for high school students.

ENVIRONMENT

Dolphin death leads to call for better water protection

Lab analysis of tissues from a dolphin that was found dead last

year in Newport Harbor revealed the animal had consumed multiple

toxins. A necropsy was performed on the dolphin in December at Orange

Coast College, and professor Dennis Kelly said scientists found

multiple poisons in the animal, including mercury and DDE, a

contaminant formed by the chemical breakdown of DDT, a banned

pesticide.

Kelly said the dolphin’s death shows a need for more robust

policies against pollution caused by urban runoff. The Santa Ana

Regional Water Quality Board is slated to release a plan to implement

stricter pollution controls next month.

GOVERNMENT

Marinapark debate

gets a new start

The fate of the Marinapark site was discussed at the first meeting

of an ad hoc committee including three Newport Beach city councilmen

and 11 other citizens on Tuesday. Marinapark, now home to a mobile

home park, Girl Scout house and American Legion post, is city-owned

land. Voters in November rejected a plan to rezone the property for a

commercial hotel.

The committee will compile a list of options to give the City

Council. Preliminary ideas for the land included space to hand-launch

boats, water-based recreation facilities, public parkland and boat

slips that would bring money to the city. The committee will meet at

4 p.m. the third Thursday of every month in the City Council

chambers, 3300 Newport Blvd. Mayor Steve Bromberg, who chairs the

committee, expected its work to take about a year.

* The latest news in the saga of the Costa Mesa Job Center was a

request on Tuesday from Councilwoman Katrina Foley that the council

rehear the decision to close the center. The council voted March 15

to close the job center, which has operated since 1988 as a place

where day laborers can get picked up by employers for short-term

jobs.

Foley asked for the rehearing because no notice was given to job

center users that the council would discuss the issue, the

description on the agenda was vague and misleading, and insufficient

information was available on alternatives. The council will decide on

Tuesday whether to rehear the job center issue. A majority vote is

needed to set a rehearing.

Also last week, more than 100 workers who use the job center came

to a meeting Wednesday to express their concerns and offer

suggestions on keeping the center open. Some said they’ll have to

solicit work on the streets and in public spots if the job center

closes, and they offered to contribute money toward the center’s

operations and fix up the building if it remains open.