Dubious distinctions

JANUARY

* Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn made an unsuccessful Hail Mary pass at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Base, offering to lease the property as a commercial airport the day before federal officials were set to put the base property on the auction block.

Hahn, who later lost his bid for reelection in L.A., offered to add El Toro to the four-airport system that includes Los Angeles International Airport and equip it to handle 30 million passengers a year -- more than three times the number of travelers served by John Wayne Airport.

Newport Beach’s then-Rep. Chris Cox scorned the plan as a “hostile takeover” and military officials in charge of the base property remained intransigent.

* Why you should always look where you’re going: five men ended up in the water after the 20-foot power boat they were riding crashed into the jetty near 32nd Street in Newport Beach, and Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol officials said it was probably because they didn’t see it in time to turn.

Three of the men were coming back from a surfing trip and picked up the other two by the Santa Ana River.

They were on their way to the harbor entrance when they hit the jetty, and all the men jumped out of the boat. The men had been drinking, but officials said there wasn’t probable cause to arrest them.

* One man’s hare-brained idea to float around Newport’s coast on an inner tube annoyed three public safety agencies, which tried to rescue the man after friends who were videotaping his exploits reported him missing.

The unidentified 20-something man launched his tube from the beach at 56th Street and got washed out to sea by heavy flow from the rain-swollen Santa Ana River.

The Fire Department, lifeguards and Harbor Patrol personnel all searched for the man, who turned up in Huntington Beach an hour after friends raised the alarm.

FEBRUARY

* Margaritaville, a Mariner’s Mile bar and restaurant that was a popular stop for surfers and bikers riding along the coast, closed unexpectedly after 15 years.

Owner Jim Bellino closed the cantina in January, apparently for renovations, but in February a sign offering sale or lease of the building went up. And it’s still wasting away -- no plans for the property have been announced.

* The rumors of Centerline’s death finally proved not to be exaggerated in February, when the Orange County Transportation Authority board voted to shift attention away from plans for the 9.3-mile light rail system that would have run through Costa Mesa.

Though some in the city encouraged the project and the transportation authority spent $63 million trying to develop it, Centerline never picked up the widespread support it would have needed, and some criticized it as costly and pointless.

When Congress in late 2004 chose not to give the project $483 million in funding, many saw that as the nail in its coffin. But transportation officials waited a few months -- until they’d considered alternatives -- to sign Centerline’s death certificate.

OCTA officials are now considering three bus rapid transit lines and an expansion of existing Metrolink service.

MARCH

* Newport Harbor is loaded with enough pollution to kill a dolphin, at least according to Orange Coast College professor Dennis Kelly. After a young dolphin died on Lido Isle in 2004, Kelly had its tissues analyzed, and results showed they were full of toxic chemicals of the types found in boat paints and pesticides.

He believes the dolphin ingested the chemicals while living in the bay. That conclusion followed a 2004 study by the orange County Health Care Agency that said five local fish species could be contaminated.

* Newport Beach city officials had to disappoint more than 300 kids by shutting them out of the junior lifeguard program because it was too full.

In previous years Costa Mesa kids were allowed to participate in the summer water safety program, but with more enrollees from Newport Coast and Santa Ana Heights, the city gave priority to 1,200 of its own residents.

After complaints from parents, the City Council in October discussed plans to include 800 more kids by splitting the eight-week program into two four-week sessions in 2006.

APRIL

* While the air in Orange County wasn’t quite as bad as in Los Angeles, it still got a failing grade from the American Lung Assn. for being full of smog and soot.

A report blamed the pollution on cars and trucks and said O.C.’s air could pose health risks, especially to people with respiratory ailments. The good news was Newport-Mesa’s air is cleaner than many cities farther east, because ocean breezes blow the pollution inland.

* Some drivers pinched by soaring gas prices came up with a creative solution to avoid paying: steal cars. Costa Mesa police reported a 31% increase in March auto thefts over the same month in 2004.

One theft victim who’d left his cell phone in the car called it and was told the culprit just needed a ride to Santa Ana -- and where to find the car when he was done with it.

* After pellet gun attacks in Costa Mesa killed 12 birds in 1997 and five birds in 2000, a gaggle of geese that had lived in TeWinkle Park were relocated to a Northern California animal sanctuary for their own safety.

The 10 expatriate geese, including Mr. and Mrs. Peepers, were domesticated birds that had been abandoned. When the city drained the park’s ponds for renovations, people decided the birds should be sent to the 300-acre Farm Sanctuary.

MAY

* A whodunit about the destruction of a sand dune may never end up as a bestselling paperback, but Newport Beach and California Coastal Commission officials were faced with just that sort of mystery.

Newport Beach staffers learned in May that a West Newport sand dune was illegally leveled some time in April. Newport Beach was faced with the prospect of paying to restore the dune if the responsible parties could not be found.

A police investigation alleged that West Newport residents paid a worker involved in the Santa Ana River dredging project to flatten the dune.

In late November, the Coastal Commission named five West Newport property owners who could be ordered to rebuild the dune. The commission has indicated a willingness to reach an agreement with those five, but so far, there has been no word of a deal.

* Being late to school is bad enough, but blaming your tardiness on imaginary kidnappers is something else entirely.

Two brothers made a small mistake -- missing their bus -- but Costa Mesa police said the children compounded their error by claiming that a man tried to abduct one of the brothers on Baker Street. Fortunately, the incident never happened, and police figured out the boys’ scheme after talking to both children.

Paularino Elementary School principal John Sanders said the incident gave his school a chance to emphasize safety.

* As long as the USC Trojans football team keeps piling up wins, Newport Beach’s USC faithful can’t seem to fly enough cardinal and gold flags. But let’s face it, the life of a football player isn’t always filled with victories and glory.

Former USC and Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police officers after briefly trying to evade police on a bicycle.

Officers had found the former athlete in a public bathroom with what appeared to be drug paraphernalia in a bag.

Marinovich ditched the bag and tried to escape but was caught. Police said officers found a needle and a spoon in the bag during a search the next day.

The incident was far from the first time Marinovich was in trouble with the law. Before that incident, a warrant had been issued for his arrest for alleged probation violations related to an earlier drug offense.

JUNE

* When you ask someone on a date, it’s poor etiquette (and a crime), to offer cash. Costa Mesa police found a few men who allegedly ignored that rule during a sting operation on Harbor Boulevard.

Officers nabbed four suspected prostitutes, 24 guys who allegedly tried to pay for sex, and a suspected pimp.

Undercover female police officers posed as prostitutes by trading their police garb for more revealing outfits. Some men approached the disguised officers, but thought better of it. Others got a trip in a paddy wagon.

Police released the arrested johns after they promised to appear in court.

Police found a wedding band in one suspect’s car, and another told police he was on his way to pick up some grub for his girlfriend.

How those guys tried to work out the situation with their significant others was a story that did not make its way into this newspaper.

JULY

* Aren’t waves supposed to have a beautiful aquamarine color that welcomes swimmers into the ocean on a hot summer day? That would be nice, but things don’t always work out the way people want.

This summer, the waters near Newport Beach were plagued by an unwelcome red tide.

The red tide, which actually gives the surf a dingy brown hue, was caused by algae blooms.

Lifeguards said the algae wasn’t a major safety concern as long as people avoid eating local shellfish that ingested algae-generated poisons.

But who said algae was the only unwelcome visitor this summer?Beachgoers had to share the ocean with black jellyfish, whose sting is about as severe as a wasp’s. Lifeguards reported hundreds of swimmers felt that sting personally.

Ocean conditions were hardly ideal this summer, but there was one upside. At night, the algae that caused the red tides generated a phosphorescent light that glowed as the water moved. When waves broke on the shore, a faint electric-blue could be seen around the foaming waters.

* How powerful are the staffers at Newport Beach City Hall? Not even an emperor can resist their authority. OK, the “emperor” in this story was only a 20-foot inflatable emperor penguin, but it got the boot nonetheless.

Operators of the Lido Theatre on the Balboa Peninsula put up the inflatable bird to promote “The March of the Penguins,” a popular documentary.

City officials didn’t care that the flick was a hit. City rules say no inflatable signs are allowed in Newport without a permit, and the inflatable penguin had to come down.

AUGUST

* When you’re tired, the ringing of your alarm clock can be bad enough. But imagine what it would be like to wake the sound of your yacht crashing against the rocks.

That’s what happened to a Laguna Beach man and a woman who slept while aboard a 57-foot powerboat that had been set on autopilot. The vessel ran aground at Crystal Cove State Park in the early morning and removing the boat was an all-day effort.

Following the crash, an Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol sergeant cautioned that autopilot technology is not advanced enough for the equipment to know if hazards are in the boat’s way.

* At least 600 people reported losing phone service after phone lines were accidentally sliced in West Newport.

Three cables that contained about 6,000 phone lines were mistakenly severed during construction work. Hoag Hospital was spared, but not City Councilman Steve Rosansky, who said he lost two of three phone lines in his office.

SEPTEMBER

* Move over Rupert, Newport Harbor might have a new mascot. Although not entirely welcome, the sea lions have been the most talked about critter in Newport Beach this year. Harbor residents complained about the pesky pinnipeds all summer, but in September the sea lions became more difficult to ignore when a group of them climbed aboard a sailboat and sunk it.

Some residents blamed a sea bass barge for attracting the noisy sea lions.

While some consider them annoying, the sea lions are protected under federal law and not much can be done to physically remove them.

* It was like a scene from an old Western.

When a group of beachgoers were being too loud, a Newport Beach man reportedly came out of his house and fired a gun into the air.

Edward Joseph O’Neill, owner of the Ho Sum Bistro restaurant on Newport Boulevard, allegedly fired one shot toward the water and retreated inside his Balboa Peninsula home.

When police arrived, he hid inside for more than an hour and then tried to escape out of a bathroom window. He didn’t get very far. By that time, police had set up a perimeter around his home.

OCTOBER

* Who knew that cooking soup can land you in jail? Seven members of the Piecemakers, a Costa Mesa religious sect, found out how tough the health department can be when they were arrested for allegedly denying entrance to health inspectors and operating without proper permits.

The Orange County district attorney’s office later filed charges against four members, including the Piecemakers’ 84-year-old founder, Marie Kolasinski.

The Piecemakers, who operate a tea room and country store at 1720 Adams Ave., have long been at odds with Orange County Health Care Agency. Even in the face of potential jail time, the Piecemakers continue to defy the health department’s order to stop preparing and serving food.

* It was all tricks and no treat for one Balboa Peninsula business owner this Halloween. Debbie Rodgers, who owns Balboa Bikes N Stuff, spent time and money transforming her store into a haunted house for kids, only to be shut down by the fire marshal.

Although the haunted house may have been scary, the Newport Beach Fire Department didn’t want anything truly frightful to occur. Fire officials said the building didn’t meet safety requirements for such an event.

The mishap left Rodgers with a spooky store and hundreds of dollars in lost revenue.

NOVEMBER

* Perhaps 44-year-old Timothy Pollock was trying to do the right thing when he climbed into an unlocked car at the Newport Dunes Resort and tried to sleep himself sober.

If only he had climbed into his own car.

A security guard called the police because Pollock was sleeping inside an employee’s car. When the security guard approached Pollock, he punched the guard in the face and made a run for it. Right into the water.

Pollock made it 75 yards before the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol fished him out. He was treated for hypothermia and shipped off to Orange County Jail on outstanding warrants from San Diego County.

* Costa Mesa’s finally made it. The city has joined the ranks of other cities important enough to have their own theme song. Move over Los Angeles. Watch out New York.

After a little number named “Costa Mesa U.S.A.” was played at a Nov. 1 City Council meeting, the council approved the song as the city’s official ditty.

The lyrics were penned by Studio City resident Floyd Levin, who said he was inspired by attending the Orange County Classic Jazz Festival, held annually in Costa Mesa.

As the song goes, “The fun has just begun in Costa Mesa.”

* Anyone driving by the Back Bay in November was likely greeted by a strong smell. And we’re not talking about flowers and sea breeze.

Along Jamboree Road south of the Corona del Mar Freeway (73), the smell was putrid and rotten. City officials said the stink was not the result of a human-caused accident but rather the fault of dying algae.

Customers at nearby Fletcher Jones Motorcars were even asking about the smell.

But good news for passing motorists and anyone else who travels through the Back Bay -- the smell is seasonal and noticed mostly during warm and sunny weather.

DECEMBER

* Corona del Mar High School was partially evacuated and locked down for an hour Dec. 10 while the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad inspected a suspicious package found next to a car in the school’s parking lot.

When the bomb squad “neutralized” the package, all they found was a bunch of broken beer bottles.

If it was a student prank designed to cancel classes, it didn’t work. Second period was canceled, but after that it was back to school.20051229ioj8dsknDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Lightning illuminates the sky behind First United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa on Oct. 16.