Cox snags $66.7 million

Alicia Robinson

Newport Beach Republican Rep. Chris Cox announced Wednesday that he’s

snagged $66.7 million for environmental projects around Orange

County, but Newport Beach city officials may be crying all the way to

the bank for their share.

The money is promised in the 2006 energy and water appropriations

bill, which the House passed Wednesday.

The bulk of the $66.7 million goes to a Santa Ana River

improvement project.

The city of Newport Beach asked for $13 million in federal funding

for a huge Back Bay dredging project. Officials would have settled

for between $5 million and $7 million, but all they’re likely to get

from 2006 federal appropriations is $2 million.

It’s not much, but when added to some state funds it should be

enough to get the dredging started this fall, Newport Beach assistant

city manager Dave Kiff said.

“It’s a tough year for new projects like this one,” he said.

This year, the city got only $1 million, despite Cox’s best

efforts. Kiff said the city will lobby California Sens. Barbara Boxer

and Dianne Feinstein to add more money when the Senate takes up the

energy and water-funding bill.

Campbell joins the blogging generation

If you’re not getting enough of Newport-Mesa Republican state Sen.

John Campbell through his website and e-mail newsletter, never fear.

He’s about to launch his own blog, featuring frequent postings,

archives and links to relevant websites.

“I’ve had this on my to-do list for probably almost a year,”

Campbell said. “Ours is going to be, we think, pretty leading-edge

stuff.”

And he won’t spare the political rhetoric either. Although some

state legislators have set up blogs using state resources, Campbell

opted not to because political content is restricted on

state-supported sites.

His target date to start the new blog is June 1.

Rohrabacher stems the tide over cells

After what Huntington Beach Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher calls

a “100% pro-life voting record,” the congressman has decided that

life doesn’t begin at conception if conception happens outside a

woman’s body.

Federal legislators who oppose abortion have had to make tough

choices with the advent of stem cell research, and a divided House

voted Tuesday to expand the government’s participation in research on

embryonic stem cells, some of which were reserved for in vitro

fertilization but were never used.

Rohrabacher, who voted for the expanded research, said he has

voted in the past against allowing fetal stem cell research because

it’s difficult to assure the cells would come from miscarried fetuses

and not aborted fetuses.

He disagreed with some Republican colleagues -- including Cox --

on the bill, and he said Wednesday he doesn’t necessarily agree with

them on when life begins.

“It certainly doesn’t begin in a fertilized egg outside the human

body,” he said. “If this is not a potential human being, there’s no

reason why there shouldn’t be scientists working with that.”

But while he supports some stem cell research, it’s not a panacea

to Rohrabacher.

Although stem cell research offers a “reasonable chance” of

benefits to humankind, he said, “I think there’s a lot of people who

are overselling stem cell research right now.”

Making his case for the Commission

Former Laguna Niguel City Councilman Eddie Rose is apparently on

the lookout for another job in case he loses a bid for the fifth

district seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

An e-mail from Rose this week roundly criticized Laguna Beach City

Councilwoman and state Coastal Commissioner Toni Iseman for her

support of development at the Dana Point Headlands, calling her

“unfit to be reappointed” to the commission.

The postscript Rose added said: “If you know of no one you would

specifically like to recommend for appointment to the Coastal

Commission, I have included my qualifications.”