Week in review

PUBLIC SAFETY

Murder trial gets new plot

At least one suspect in the murder of Newport Beach couple Tom and

Jackie Hawks was also involved in a plot to kill a witness in the

case, a prosecutor said in court Friday.

The prosecutor asked defense attorneys in the case to ensure the

five defendants in the case don’t have access to witness information.

Defense attorneys at the hearing for Skylar DeLeon and three other

defendants waived their right to a speedy trial, rescheduling the

hearing for May 27. An attorney for DeLeon’s wife, who is also a

defendant, objected to the delay, which was granted anyway by the

judge.

* Costa Mesa saw a 31% increase in car thefts in March compared to

the same month last year and gas prices may be to blame.

Some thieves are still taking cars to strip for parts, but some

are stealing just to get where they need to go, dumping the cars once

they run out of gas, police said. More sophisticated criminals are

using identity theft or other fraudulent means to rip off

gas-guzzling cars that dealers are eager to sell as gas prices rise,

police said.

* The cafeteria at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa was closed

April 11 after health inspectors found dead cockroaches and a dead

mouse.

County health inspectors found rodent droppings and food storage

violations during a visit a month earlier, but the problems were soon

fixed. The April 11 inspection forced them to close the cafeteria,

which was opened two days later when it received a clean bill of

health.

COSTA MESA

United by millions

The City Council voted unanimously early Wednesday to give $1

million to an effort to build a new athletic stadium at Estancia High

School and a swimming pool at Costa Mesa High School. Costa Mesa

United, a community group, already has raised about $3.5 million of

the estimated $9.4 million needed to build the facilities.

City officials will see how much of the funding will fit into the

2005-06 budget, which they’ll begin discussing in May, but the $1

million donation may have to be spread over several years. Costa Mesa

United will continue its community fundraising with an event in late

May.

* Also last week, the Costa Mesa City Council in a 3-2 vote

quashed a new program that would have charged residents an annual

membership fee or else billed them $300 each time they use the city’s

emergency medical services. Nonresidents already are billed for those

services, and everyone in the city is charged if they need an

ambulance because a private company, not the city, provides that

service.

Councilman Gary Monahan said after the meeting he’d ask his

colleagues to reconsider the program because he thinks they had

questions that can be answered. Most other Orange County cities have

similar emergency medical subscription programs.

NEWPORT BEACH

Crowded harbor

Newport Harbor was packed with boats Friday for the start of the

Newport to Ensenada race.

Hundreds set sail in the annual race, as onlookers gathered above

Big Corona State Beach, traditionally the best view of the race’s

start.

* The cost to clean the Rhine Channel could get as high as $22

million -- and no sources for the fund have been found yet.

Officials with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

said last week that, within the next few months, talks will be needed

to figure out how to pay for the cleanup of the polluted piece of

Newport Harbor.

Under other cleanup scenarios, the job could cost $12 million or

even just $7.3 million.

* The Environmental Nature Center last week opened a new butterfly

habitat, the first educational butterfly garden in Orange County.

The butterfly habitat largely was funded by the Okazaki Rotary

Club and the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa. The cost of installing

the garden was about $35,000.