INSIDE SCOOPS

Newport Coast resident Martha Redfearn has been selected to represent

California in the upcoming Mrs. United Nations pageant to be held in

Florida in August.

The 38-year-old mother of two won after getting the top score in the

following categories: community service, interviewing, evening wear and

tennis wear.

She said that her primary mission, this year, is community service and

she would like to get involved in more local charitable events.

Too much press can be a bad thing

Sarah Vure, the assistant curator of the Orange County Museum of Art, was

having trouble talking about Walker Evans last week.

The problem wasn’t that she disliked Evans, who is the subject of a new

exhibition at the museum.

It was just that everything had been said already. Evans has been the

subject of a flurry of articles in the press in recent weeks, including

coverage in “The New Yorker,” “The New York Review of Books,” “Newsweek”

and “Vanity Fair.”

To make matters worse, Evans himself was a strong critic of his work.

“I just can’t think of anything to say that somebody else hasn’t already

written,” Vure said.

Newport Coast principal agrees with parents

Having made one visit to the construction site of Newport Coast

Elementary School, Monique Van Zeebroeck, the incoming principal, agrees

with parents estimation that there is a potential traffic problem.

“I can tell you, that I think besides making sure children are learning

in school, our job is keeping them safe,” Van Zeebroeck said. “I read

through all the correspondence that the PTA has had and from what I see

there is definitely a safety issue -- [Newport Coast Drive] is a huge,

wide, busy, fast street.”

The heavy traffic surrounding the new school site will be one of many

issues Van Zeebroeck will tackle when she arrives next month from

Lancaster.

-- Daily Pilot staff