EDUCATION Court accept two petitions regarding KOCE...

EDUCATION

Court accept two petitions regarding KOCE sale

The battle over the fate of KOCE-TV continued Monday, as the

Fourth District Appellate Court accepted two petitions -- one from

the Coast Community College District, the other from the Daystar

Television Network -- each asking for a rehearing regarding the sale

of the station.

The district asked the court to reconsider its June 23 decision,

which nullified the sale of KOCE to the station’s foundation and

ordered the district to either keep the station or sell it to the

highest cash bidder. Dallas-based Daystar, meanwhile, demanded that

the court immediately award it ownership of the station’s license,

which the foundation currently holds.

On Monday, the court accepted both petitions. In the next month,

it will have to either issue a new opinion on each one or set up

rehearing dates.

* The Orange County Performing Arts Center concluded the second

week of its 14th annual Summer at the Center, a program in which

at-risk teenagers participate in music and dance workshops and give

three public performances on the final day. Forty students from

around Orange County participated in the program this year, out of

110 total who applied and went through an interview process.

Among the young singers and dancers this month was Sandy

Hernandez, a junior at the Mesa Education Center in Costa Mesa.

Sandy, 15, was inspired to apply for the show after seeing one of the

performances last summer.

“I just liked it -- all the singing and dancing,” she said. “I

just felt really glad for all of them.”

ENVIRONMENT

After stinging hundreds, jellyfish leave Newport

The jellyfish that stung area beachgoers and drove some people out

of the water started leaving toward the end of the week.

The waters off Newport Beach were crowded with the reddish-brown

globs, identified as black jellyfish, until midway through the week,

when Newport lifeguards reported seeing fewer and fewer of the

stinging jellies.

But the jellyfish did not depart without leaving a lasting

impression. Newport lifeguards treated hundreds of people for

jellyfish stings, an ouch often compared to that of a wasp or bee

sting. Lifeguards stocked towers with spray bottles of vinegar, a

quick antidote for anyone who came in contact with the stinging

tentacles.

POLITICS

U.S. Senate confirms Rep. Cox as SEC chairman

The U.S. Senate on Friday voted to confirm Newport Beach Rep.

Chris Cox as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a

move that will end his nearly 17-year career in the House of

Representatives. Cox said he will resign Tuesday, and that departure

will likely set off a chain of events that starts with the governor

calling a special election to fill Cox’s U.S. House seat.

Earlier last week, Newport Beach attorney Steve Young, a Democrat,

announced that he will run for Cox’s seat. In an open primary -- when

voters can pick candidates regardless of party -- Young will vie for

votes with state Sen. John Campbell and former Assemblywoman Marilyn

Brewer, both Republicans.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Officials honor two boys for rescue heroics

Costa Mesa Fire Department officials commended the quick thinking

of two young boys who saved a little girl from drowning.

Kenneth Ottens, 11, and David Davis, 12, were given the city’s

first citizen rescuer awards for pulling David’s 9-year-old sister,

Jessica, from the Halecrest neighborhood pool July 24 when they

noticed that she was motionless at the bottom.

Kenneth grabbed Jessica by the leg and pulled her to the surface

and David helped drag her to safety.

Adults called 911 while Jessica’s father, Scott Davis, and others

began performing CPR. By the time paramedics arrived, Jessica was

conscious and breathing.

Firefighters credited the youngsters and the team of community

rescuers with doing all the work -- adding that paramedics

essentially acted as a taxi to the hospital.

Kenneth’s heroics may have started him down a career path; he’s

already planning to take CPR classes.

* An Orange Country Superior Court judge Tuesday denied a new

trial to Keith Spann, one of three young men convicted in March of

sexually assaulting an unconscious 16-year-old girl. Judge Francisco

Briseno denied a new trial to the other two defendants, Greg Haidl

and Kyle Nachreiner, on July 22.

In a hearing held Friday in Orange County Superior Court, defense

attorneys asked that the three defendants be sentenced as juveniles.

They will be evaluated, and a hearing to decide whether they will be

sentenced as adults or juveniles is set for Sept 30.

Haidl, Nachreiner and Spann were each under 18 when the crimes

were committed; they were tried as adults. They are now 20.

“For me, it’s a release. It’s fun and I stay in better shape. It’s

a full-body workout.”

-- Richard Saeger, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist who, at 41,

regularly trains at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high school

pools. He set a world record July 3 in the 100-meter freestyle in the

40-44 age division at the Mission Viejo Masters Meet.

“It’s apple versus orange, literally, at this point. West Coast

versus East Coast. But obviously, we have a long way to go before we

make that claim. They do a good job in New York.”

-- Rich Goodwin, who is planning an Orange County New Year’s Eve

party at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center.

“It was like the birth of my fourth child. This was a long time

coming. It’s such a good feeling to look at it every morning.”

-- Jim Gray, of Costa Mesa, on the $1-million, 15,000-square-foot

Volcom Skate Park of Costa Mesa that has .

“Chris has historically always been free enterprise. Let the

marketplace take care of itself, and it usually does.... When those

egregious fraud cases come up, you still have remedies, because

you’ve got criminal charges.”

-- John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, on Rep.

Chris Cox, as Cox and others waited to hear if he could be confirmed

to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Over the years, entertainment has played a big part in the

success of the event.”

-- Jeff Parker, Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce vice president,

on the Taste of Newport, where this year Macy Grayand Hootie and the

Blowfish will perform.

“You need to get on the kids’ level. For each person, it’s a

different situation.”

-- Tadpole the Clown, one of the many entertainers at the Orange

County Fair.