WEEK IN REVIEW

BUSINESS

More eateries upset over inclusion on bad beef list

The state Department of Public Health updated its list of restaurants and retailers that may have bought recalled beef from a slaughterhouse in Chino, adding more than three dozen Newport-Mesa businesses.

Among the better-known names added to the list were the Resort at Pelican Hill, the Automobile Club of Southern California and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. As with the first version of the list, which came out in February, a number of retailers said they were included inaccurately. The state compiled the list by tracking down customers of the meat vendors who bought from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., but officials have acknowledged that the retailers on the list may not have gotten the recalled beef.

“The list is misleading,” said Jennifer Hieger, the senior director of public relations for the Resort at Pelican Hill. “We, like many others, appear on it simply because a supplier had a relationship with this company, and we are not aware of receiving any meat from them.”

Randy Zupanski, the general manager of the Fairmont Newport Beach, said he understood why the state wanted to be prudent.

“They need to be cautious in these type of situations,” he said. “So I don’t think they’re unfair in putting us there.”

POLITICS

Republicans point to local colleague for vice president

Former Newport Beach Rep. Christopher Cox got named — apparently not for the first time — as a possible vice presidential candidate. Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak wrote that members of Congress were pushing for Cox as a running mate for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

Efforts to reach Cox for comment were unsuccessful, but a number of Newport-Mesa Republicans said they would gladly vote for him as the nation’s second-in-command.

“It would help McCain if he had someone whose credentials were on the economic and business side rather than the military side,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. “It would balance the ticket, and I think he’d make a great vice president.”

ELECTIONS

Mayor sued for using title calls lawsuit an attack

A prominent Republican attorney sued Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook and the Orange County Registrar of Voters this week, alleging Cook illegally refers to herself as “the Mayor of Huntington Beach” in conjunction with her campaign to unseat Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Election code stipulates that candidates may not identify themselves with titles that are “only nominal, pro forma, or titular in character,” or as officials not elected by “the people” of their district. As Cook was selected — not elected — as mayor by her peers on the Huntington Beach City Council, the Democrat’s campaign is not entitled to title, attorney Michael Schroeder said.

While Republicans like Assembly candidates Jeff Miller and Neil Blais in the 71st district employ the title as well, Schroeder said he had no comment on whether they were also in violation of election codes.

“I was not aware of that,” he said. Cook was quick to turn the suit around, calling it an attack that diverted from the issues and using the suit as a fundraising pitch to supporters.

COSTA MESA

Bark Park to see expansions due to immense popularity

The City Council directed the Parks and Recreation Commission to consider amendments to the TeWinkle Park master plan that will permit the expansion at Bark Park.

The park, opened in 1994, is the city’s only designated non-leash zone for dogs. As such, Bark Park Foundation Vice President Terry Tyson said, its popularity has grown a bit too quickly.

A rough count a few years ago revealed at least 1,000 park visitors on a weekend day, he said, adding that the count is consistent with today’s volume.

“With all the people standing around, I’ve actually seen people hit by a group of running dogs and knocked flat down!”

The Parks and Recreation Commission will now schedule a discussion of the proposal during a future meeting.

EDUCATION

UCI looks within to find new dean, medical center CEO

UC Irvine named history professor Vicki Ruiz the new dean of the School of Humanities and named Maureen Zehntner chief executive of the UCI Medical Center as well as the vice chancellor for medical center affairs.

Zehntner became interim chief executive in 2005 and the medical center’s chief operating officer in 1996, until she took over as chief executive.

Zehntner will make $550,000 annually, while Ruiz will pull in $221,300.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Man robs Newport bank with note; police seek tips

Newport Beach police are asking for the public’s help in tracking a man who robbed a Pacific Premier Bank Tuesday. The armed robber gave a teller a note at about 4 p.m. demanding she put money in a briefcase he brought.

The man is described as a blond, white, in his mid-30s, 5-feet-10 and 200 pounds. He wore a black, hooded sweat shirt, faded black slacks and running shoes. He wore black sunglasses over reading glasses, police officials said. He was reportedly driving a white, four-door sedan, possibly a Buick or Pontiac.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call police at (800) 550-NBPD or the FBI at (310) 477-6565.

NEWPORT BEACH

Historic shipping site honored at ceremony

City officials broke ground at the base of Newport Pier Monday on what is believed to be the largest public art project in the city’s 102-year history.

The McFadden Square Centennial Legacy Project will commemorate the city’s 2006 centennial with a bronze sculpture and a circular walking path marked with dates historic to the city.

“This area represents the growth of Newport Beach — this is the spot where Newport Beach originated,” Mayor Ed Selich said before the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s a symbol of the growth of our city.”

The location marks where the McFadden brothers began shipping from Newport Beach and developed McFadden’s Wharf more than a century ago.

The square is slated for completion in late spring or early summer.The Newport Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously to allow Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to shift up to 225,000 square feet of building space from its lower to upper campus, a move the hospital said would allow for construction of more operating rooms and care facilities.

The commission’s vote came after a meeting at Newport Beach City Hall, in which a number of residents in the neighboring Villa Balboa condominium complex said they wanted Hoag to reduce its noise and air pollution levels before the city approved its new project. In the end, the commission approved the proposal and also voted to encourage the City Council, which will hear the matter next, to include a requirement that would minimize the amount of steam and vapor emitted from its power plant.