WEEK IN REVIEW

Newport Beach lifeguards dragged a dead 60-foot gray whale back into

the ocean Friday afternoon to prevent it from washing ashore.

Officials said it was probably the biggest ever marine creature to

wash ashore in Newport in a long time. Lifeguards dropped off the dead

whale near Sunset Beach. Great white sharks attacked the carcass even as

the 30-foot rescue boat lugged the animal.

In other news, three men were thankful they took their cellular phone

along on their boating trip Wednesday night. They used it to call Coast

Guard when their Bayliner powerboat sank 2 miles off the harbor entrance.

Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor patrol deputies found the men 6.7 miles

away from the harbor entrance drifting away on a life boat. They were

brought back ashore and released.

On land, a 21-year-old Dana Point man led Costa Mesa and Newport Beach

police on a 20-mile chase as he carjacked a delivery truck and drove down

the Corona del Mar Freeway before he got stuck in traffic and was

arrested in Laguna Niguel.

No one was hurt and there were no weapons involved in the incident.

The alleged carjacker, officials said, pulled the driver of the truck out

near 27th Street and Newport Boulevard and drove away.

Police said they did not know why the carjacking took place.

-- Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached

at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

AN OFFER OF $2 MILLION

Costa Mesa school officials are still reeling over the possibility of

receiving $2 million in educational funds if the Home Ranch project is

approved by the city.

In an effort to raise community support for the Home Ranch project --

proposed for the final piece of farmland held by the dynasty family --

the Segerstroms offered Wednesday to set up, or contribute to,

educational funds for students in seventh through 12th grades.

Costa Mesa High School, which serves those grades, will receive $1

million and the other $1 million will be split evenly between Estancia

High School and TeWinkle Middle School, officials said.

With the $2 million-carrot dangling in front of them, principals at

both Costa Mesa and Estancia High Schools were making out their wish

lists last week.

Kiosks to complement county effort

There might be a little information to go with Fashion Island shopping

soon.

Newport Beach officials are considering purchasing several kiosks

being used by the county to promote an airport at the closed El Toro

Marine base.

“I think there’s still a multitude of misinformation about what is

being proposed and what are the options,” said Councilman Gary Proctor.

The kiosks, which cost $9,973 a pop, are an interactive device that

herald the benefits of an airport at the base.

The idea, which figures to be popular in City Hall, isn’t winning the

support of the anti-El Toro crowd. They say such spending is an

inappropriate use of public funds.

-- Daily Pilot staff. To contact the newsroom, call (949) 642-5680 or

by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

A clean way to go

Standing at the mouth of Buck Gully on Wednesday afternoon, Orange

County CoastKeeper Garry Brown unveiled a pumping system to divert

polluted runoff heading into the ocean off Little Corona.

Brown’s group is leading the way on an interim plan to reduce the

approximately 150,000 gallons flowing down the gully each day.

The pumping system, which cost about $35,000, will stop urban runoff

from reaching the beach and pump it back up the hill and into the

county’s sewer system.

The pumping system can stay in place until Oct. 15, when the permits

run out. In the meantime, the Newport Beach chapter of Surfrider and city

officials are working hand-in-hand with Brown to develop a permanent

solution to the runoff problem.

Right now, Buck Gully has a long-standing health warning posted due to

high bacteria counts in the runoff.

-- Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .

Defense planning to think civil

Costa Mesa Councilman Chris Steel’s attorney is not going to let his

client go down without a fight.

Defense attorney Ron Cordova says he is poised to make a motion next

month to get one of the two felony charges against Steel dismissed.

The Orange County district attorney in May charged the councilman with

perjury and accused him of allowing resident Richard Noack to sign the

2000 election nomination papers on behalf of his wife and for supplying

his own signature in place of a legally blind woman in 1998.

Cordova said he will base his motion on the Superior Court Judge

Thierry Patrick Colaw’s decision to throw out a civil case against Steel.

The motion is scheduled to be heard at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 12 in Judge

Carla Singer’s courtroom at the Orange County Superior Court in Santa

Ana.