Arts committee seeks volunteers Costa Mesa is...

Arts committee

seeks volunteers

Costa Mesa is looking for volunteers to serve on the city’s

Cultural Arts Committee, which promotes arts programs, such as a

youth art display at City Hall, the recognition of local artists and

the annual Chalk Art Festival. Committee seats for six members and

one alternate are now open, and the City Council recently expanded

eligibility to include not just residents but also business owners

and people who work in the city.

To apply, pick up a form from the city clerk’s office at 77 Fair

Drive or from the city website at https://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us, or

send a letter of interest to Costa Mesa City Council, P.O. Box 1200,

Costa Mesa, CA 92628. The deadline is July 5.

UCI scientist receives $2.7-million grant

Ivan Soltesz, a UC Irvine neurobiologist who studies epilepsy, has

received the Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences, a prize

for researchers in the field of brain injuries and illnesses.

Soltesz, who joined the UCI faculty in 1995, will receive $2.7

million over the next seven years from the National Institute of

Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke. He was one of

four Javits honorees this year, with the other grants going to

researchers at UC San Diego, Yale and Harvard.

“I am honored and excited to receive the Javits neuroscience

award,” Soltesz said. “The award represents a unique opportunity for

our laboratory to pursue fundamentally novel research avenues into

the mechanisms that underlie post-traumatic epilepsy.”

City offers July 4th street closure permits

Applications are now being accepted in Costa Mesa from residents

who want to close their street for a block party on the Fourth of

July. To close a street, residents must apply for and obtain a city

permit, and anyone using fireworks is required to clean up afterward.

Application packets are available from the city by calling the

city manager’s office at (714)754-5327, visiting the office at 77

Fair Drive, or using the city’s website at

https://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us. Applications must be filed by June

22, and applicants will be notified about their permit by June 27.

Head Start set to

celebrate 40 years

Celebrate 40 years of Head Start, a federally funded child

development program, on May 18 at the Costa Mesa Head Start office,

2352 Canyon Drive. The event is for participants in Orange County’s

22 Head Start programs, and the public is welcome.

Hear about the history of Head Start, see performances by students

in the program and enjoy some birthday cake. The celebration begins

at 9 a.m. For more information, call (949)631-6603.

Share Our Selves receives state award

Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa organization that provides free

food, clothing and services to those in need, was recently recognized

for the quality of healthcare it offers to residents. CalOptima, the

agency that administers Medi-Cal benefits in Orange County, gave

Share Our Selves the Mary K. Dewane Safety Net award on May 3.

Share Our Selves, founded in 1970, serves about 225,000 Orange

County residents and is one of the county’s largest emergency relief

organizations.

Santa Ana production features two locals

Brooke Thompson of Newport Beach and Eve Morris of Costa Mesa are

scheduled to appear in Broadway On Tour’s production of “The Wizard

of Wonderland -- Alice Meets Dorothy,” a one-hour musical for young

audiences.

Thirteen-year-old Brooke is an eighth-grade student at Orange

County High School of the Arts. Eve, 9, is a third-grade student at

St. John the Baptist School.

The show runs May 14 to June 4 at Ebell Theater in Santa Ana.

Tickets are $7. Call (714) 542-6939 or visit www.broadwayontour.org

for more information.