WEEK IN REVIEW

PUBLIC SAFETY

A San Pedro tailor stands accused of trespassing in actor Nicolas Cage’s Bayshore home wearing only one of Cage’s leather jackets, police said.

Found in the early morning hours outside of Cage’s home, Robert Dennis Furo, 45, was arrested after the actor found the man in his home, police said. Cage escorted the man out of his home and police found him — nude — in the actor’s backyard about 2 a.m., Lt. Craig Fox said.

Detectives found a 2007 Toyota Avalon belonging to the suspect near Cage’s home, Fox said. Furo pleaded not guilty to one charge of first-degree burglary in Orange County District Court on Tuesday. He is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 10.  

 Jennifer Henderson Deleon received two consecutive life sentences without parole Friday for the slayings of Newport Beach yacht owners Tom and Jackie Hawks.

The prosecution contended Henderson Deleon used her children to gain the trust of the Hawkses when she visited the couple’s yacht while pregnant with her infant daughter.

The Hawkses were lashed to the anchor of their yacht, the Well Deserved, and forced to sign over the title of the vessel before they were tossed overboard, according to prosecutors. Their bodies were never found.

 The attorney of a Newport Beach personal trainer charged with sexually assaulting one of his customers says his client is a pillar of the community and has been falsely accused.

Steven Wesley Lovell pleaded guilty in 1999 to misdemeanor sexual battery, but he has since been rehabilitated, Lovell’s attorney Robert K. Weinberg said.

Weinberg further disputed reports from police that Lovell worked as a masseur at his business, Care of the Body, 215 Riverside Ave. The attorney said Lovell has been working as a personal trainer.

A 53-year-old Newport Beach woman claimed that Lovell had her take off her top and bra during one session before attacking her, prosecutors said.

Weinberg countered that the woman visited Lovell twice before making her complaint with authorities, he said.

Lovell faces charges of felony sexual battery by fraud, felony sexual battery by restraint and felony possession of a firearm by someone previously convicted of battery.

 In a recent two-week enforcement operation, federal immigration officials netted 62 people in Orange County and 1,327 people across the Southland who are suspected of violating immigration laws. The action is being called one of the largest enforcement operations in the four-year history of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Close to half of those who were arrested already have been deported. According to federal officials, 530 of the people arrested were picked up in the community at home, work and elsewhere; 797 people were identified as possible violators at county jails.

 EDUCATION

Mariners and Victoria elementary schools and private school Mariners Christian School were three of only 287 schools across the country awarded No Child Left Behind National Blue Ribbons for their academic achievement. Tori Hatada of the U.S. Department of Education made the announcement to Victoria on their campus Tuesday, much to the surprise and joy of Principal Judy Laakso.

Mariner’s Christian School was one of three private schools in California to place in the top 10% of the nationally accepted Stanford 9 test — the standardized test for private schools.

All three schools will be honored in Washington D.C. Nov. 12 and 13.

 UC Irvine received a $25.9-million grant to expand the National Children’s Study — a nationwide, long-term study into child development and health. UCI researchers will lead the Orange County study center, one of the first seven across the nation to begin working with women in 2008.

Researchers will track children from pre-birth to 21 and seek information identifying genetic and environmental causes for children’s most prevalent health problems, premature birth, diabetes, obesity and asthma.

The study will kick off nationwide in 2009 with 105 study centers, each tracking 1,000 children, adding up to 105,000 children to be studied.

The random sampling of the women is meant to provide a diverse database for scientists to sift through.

UCI also received a $14.6 million grant in 2005 to help lay the foundation for the methods and protocols scientists across the United States will follow during the 25-year study.

 COSTA MESA

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday dismissed the city’s case against student activist Benito Acosta, who also goes by the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, because the attorney arguing for the city failed to be sworn in as a public prosecutor.

Judge Kelly MacEachern said City Prosecutor Dan Peelman’s failure to take an oath of office was not “a harmless error. This is a constitutional issue.”

Peelman maintained that the oath was not required for him, but a motion he filed with the superior court’s appellate department was rejected Thursday.

Acosta, who was arrested while protesting a council decision at a Jan. 3, 2006, City Council meeting, cannot be tried again on the same charges.

A civil suit he filed against the city is pending.

 NEWPORT BEACH

City residents may vote in February on whether to build a city hall next to the Newport Beach Central Library on a parcel that’s been promised as a park. The Orange County Registrar of Voters on Monday confirmed that issue proponents collected at least 8,997 valid signatures, the required number to qualify for the ballot.

The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to place the measure on the February ballot. A legal challenge could come from Parks Are Priceless, a group that opposes building a city hall on the park site.

The Ferraris and Maseratis glimmered outside stores, Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” shone on the pavement outside in flowers, and South Coast Plaza kicked off its monthlong “Italy at South Coast Plaza” exposition Thursday morning.

More than two dozen members of the Italian Trade Commission, which planned the event along with South Coast Plaza, attended the grand opening Thursday. The event, scheduled to continue through Oct. 29, features fashion, film, artisan demonstrations and food to celebrate Italian culture.

On Thursday morning, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor and members of the Segerstrom family joined the Italians in touring the mall. One display featured shoes seen in movies and created by Italian designers, while others featured textile art, photos, and dresses worn by famous actresses.