WEEK IN REVIEW

POLITICS

GOP package targets illegal immigrants, their services

Republican Assemblymen unveiled a wide-ranging plan to deal with California’s illegal immigration problem in Sacramento on Tuesday, packaging 22 GOP bills their sponsors say will help solve the state’s budget crisis.

Local Democrats said the approach is misguided and will do more to hurt state revenues than help it.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it would be a big mistake to blame illegal immigrants for the state’s fiscal woes.

“Both Republicans and Democrats are getting pressure on the budget issue, and there are a lot of programs that have to be cut,” said Assemblyman Jim Silva, who organized the plan and news conference. “What we’re trying to do here is take out the loopholes in the budget process where we’re losing money and make sure it goes to the citizens of California.”

Assemblymen Chuck DeVore and Van Tran had legislation included in the plan.

A full list of the proposed bills are available at: https://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a67/Index.aspx?page=PR≺=4516

McCain visits Newport, does not discuss ticket

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain made a campaign stop Tuesday in Newport Beach, speaking at a fundraising luncheon at the Island Hotel by Fashion Island.

McCain, the presumed GOP nominee, also addressed a gathering of Latino business owners at a print shop in Santa Ana that morning.

McCain declined to give any definite comment on whether he’d pick former Newport Beach Rep. Christopher Cox as a potential running mate.

“Chris Cox is a very fine man, but we’re certainly not going to talk about our list of potential running mates,” McCain said.

The luncheon at the Island Hotel netted about $800,000, according to Assemblyman Van Tran, who attended the private event.

COSTA MESA

OCTA pushes meetings back to hear more resident voices

The Orange County Transportation Authority rescheduled two open houses to address residents’ concerns about the 55 Freeway project this week.

The meetings, rescheduled for later in the evening, are intended to further accommodate the work schedules of citizens who may be interested in attending, spokesman Ted Nguyen said.

One event will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 31 at the Victoria Room in the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Center at 1845 Park Ave. Another will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 2 at the council chambers in City Hall.

EDUCATION

Learning program autistic integrates kids in sports

Newport-Mesa Unified School District is battling autism with good old-fashioned fun. A program at Harper Preschool uses a sports league to teach autistic children social skills and give them the opportunity to play sports at a young age.

Parents of children in the program attest to its benefits. One father credited the program with completely changing his son’s behavior.

On Wednesday afternoons, five soccer teams have been battling it out from preschool programs at Adams, Harbor View, Harper and Killybrooke.

The league is filled with about 75% children with autism, and the rest are “typical” children. The typical children function as social role models for the children with autism, who also have the ability to establish friendships before entering kindergarten, an important part of the development process, according to school officials.

The typical children, in return, learn tolerance that will benefit them throughout their school years.

Next for the league will be tee ball.

NEWPORT BEACH

City hires lobbyist to help with upper harbor dredging

City Council members voted to hire a prominent Washington D.C.-based lobbyist group as federal funding for dredging Upper Newport Harbor runs dry. The city also wants help to gain jurisdiction over Newport Harbor in exchange for one last federally funded cleanup of the Army Corps of Engineers-controlled waterway.

With no more funding lined up after the first phase of the dredging in Upper Newport Bay, scheduled for completion in late April, the project is short about $13.8 million, according to the city’s latest estimate.

The council voted Tuesday to pay $60,000 for the lobbying services of Van Scoyoc Associates, the largest independent government affairs firm in Washington, the firm’s website states.

 City officials are speeding up plans to improve traffic on city streets after residents ranked clogged intersections as their top concern in the results of a recent survey.

As part of the traffic improvements, the city will install remote-controlled cameras later this year at a few strategic intersections that can be monitored from City Hall — the first of their kind to be used in Newport Beach.

The cameras will allow city staff to monitor roads and change traffic signals in a matter of seconds in response to what is happening at city intersections.

The first phase of the traffic improvement project will include replacing traffic controllers at 22 intersections and installing the city’s first cameras at some of the city’s busiest intersections like MacArthur Boulevard and East Coast Highway and MacArthur Boulevard and San Miguel Drive.

More traffic controllers and cameras will be installed in subsequent phases of the project over a period of several years. The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion in December.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Case on Hurley intern still unsolved; police seeking tips

The toxicology report was released Tuesday for a 23-year-old surfing intern for the Costa Mesa-based Hurley International company.

The cause of death for Huntington Beach resident Dane Williams is still undetermined, a rare occurrence for the San Diego County Medical-Examiner, officials said.

Williams’ blood alcohol level was .17, more than twice the legal limit, and trace amounts of chemicals found in tonic water and Valium were also there. The mixture was minimal and likely not enough to cause death, officials said.

Williams disappeared on a late January night after drinking with friends in San Diego, where they attended a marketing convention. His body was found three days later in an alley miles from the last place he was seen alive. There were no obvious signs of a homicide.

Police are relying on forensic experts to find leads from the little evidence left at the scene, and any witnesses who step forward. So far, no one has come forward with information, police said.