WEEK IN REVIEW

BUSINESS

The Resort at Pelican Hill, a lavish Newport Coast destination planned by the Irvine Co., has another member on its management team, as the company announced Tuesday nationally renowned chef Thomas Ryan would oversee the resort’s Pelican Grill.

Ryan, who grew up in New York and trained in New York and Munich, has worked on the openings of seven luxury hotels. His career has included stints with the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, the Ritz-Carlton company and a number of independent hotels.

The Pelican Grill, along with the resort’s golf club, is expected to open in November, with the rest of the grounds to start operations next year.

 PUBLIC SAFETY

The 24-year-old Garden Grove man arrested last month on suspicion of stabbing a sea lion in Newport Beach that later had to be euthanized was charged by the federal government Thursday with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Hai Nguyen was charged with a misdemeanor count, filed Thursday morning in United States District Court, accusing him of illegally taking and attempting to kill a marine mammal.

Nguyen will be summoned to appear for an arraignment in September. The charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of one year in federal prison and a $20,000 fine.

 Southern California Edison officials asked the public to cut back on electricity, especially air conditioning, to avoid brownouts over the weekend.

Newport Beach should only see temperatures in the high 70s to 80s throughout the weekend, but further inland the heat will rise to the upper 80s and 90s, according to the National Weather Service. And the humidity makes the heat more suffocating.

Costa Mesa City Hall employees were asked to turn off fans, radios, and work in natural light — if possible — during the afternoon.

  Former Los Angeles Raiders and USC quarterback Todd Marinovich pleaded not guilty to charges of felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of unauthorized possession of a hypodermic needle and resisting a police officer.

The 38-year-old Newport Beach resident, in an interview in jail Friday, called this latest run-in with the law a “bump in the road” to sobriety. The former football star has had several brushes with the law over the years. He is being held without bail because of a number of arrest warrants issued against him for probation violations.

 Newport Beach Lifeguards christened a new rescue boat Wednesday morning at the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol Station in Newport Harbor.

The new craft — called Sea Watch II — will replace a boat rescue workers have used here for 30 years.

Costa Mesa-based Crystaliner Corp., the same company that built the old boat in 1977, equipped the new 30-foot craft with two 8.1-liter motors, each with the power to produce 385 horsepower.

 POLITICS

Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street said Monday he won’t resign, despite a call from county Supervisor John Moorlach to step down or face losing control over the county’s investment pool. On Tuesday, Orange County Employees Assn. head Nick Berardino proposed a bipartisan committee be formed to recall Street.

Since his 2006 campaign, the treasurer has been surrounded with questions about a private-sector bankruptcy case in which he was accused of mismanagement and greed, and more recently he has been investigated by county and federal authorities.

 NEWPORT BEACH

Corona del Mar residents on Monday vowed to fight to keep their branch library, which city officials have considered closing. One proposal is to put a small library operation in the planned new Oasis Senior Center and raze the nearby branch, but residents said that option won’t provide enough services.

The Corona del Mar library is old and needs renovations, and the adjacent fire station needs more space. Officials now are considering five options, some of which would save the library. The City Council likely will discuss the issue at a September study session.

 EDUCATION

Newport Harbor High School alumni watched the demolition of Robins Hall bell tower Thursday. Closed in 2003 because it was found structurally unsound to withstand an earthquake, the district found it more fiscally responsible to knock down the old one and build a new one rather than retrofit the original. The tower was built in 1930 and will cost roughly $35 million to replace, Deputy Supt. Paul Reed.

 The state Department of Education released the state’s scores for school improvement and the federal scores for meeting No Child Left Behind’s benchmarks.

As usual, Newport-Mesa Unified performed better than the state average, with low-income schools showing significant improvement in the most needed areas. Two schools subject to sanctions under No Child Left Behind met the federal benchmark this year.

COSTA MESA

Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa celebrated its 50th birthday with an all-day bash last Sunday, but the venerable liquor store didn’t take home many gifts. Instead, Hi-Time repaid the community for a half a century of support, with a charity chili cook-off to raise funds for the Boys and Girls Club of the Harbor Area.

More than a dozen contestants, including Mother’s Market, Jack Daniels and the Costa Mesa Police Department, set up booths in the Hi-Time parking lot with their own homemade pots of chili. In the end, however, the two-person panel of judges gave the top prize to Todd Johnston, the wine bar manager of Hi-Time, who won a sterling silver cup he planned to use for customer tips.

Dan Monahan, the executive director of the local Boys and Girls Club, said the proceeds from the event — including a $5 gate fee and raffle ticket sales — would go toward the club’s educational programs.