Week in Review

NEWPORT BEACH

City Councilman John Heffernan resigns his seat

City Councilman John Heffernan stepped down from his council seat Thursday, citing the time commitments involved. He said he needs to devote more time to his family, and he also was frustrated by an inability to achieve his goals on the council.

Heffernan was first elected in 2000, and he served as mayor in the second half of 2005. He contemplated resigning early in 2002, but then ran for a second term in 2004. The council will appoint someone to his seat, and he recommended Dolores Otting, who lost to him by 3,125 votes in the last election.

* St. James Church again won a legal victory Thursday when a judge ruled the national Episcopal Church did not have a legal claim to the Lido Peninsula congregation’s property.

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the national Episcopal Church both made legal challenges to St. James and two other Southern California churches that broke away from those organizations in 2004. In August, Orange County Superior Court Judge David Velasquez dismissed the diocese’s case against St. James.

In October, Velasquez made a similar decision regarding the national church’s case, but gave the national church another chance to argue its claims. The national church’s amended argument against St. James and the other two churches was rejected Thursday.

St. James seceded from the Los Angeles diocese and the national church because of those organizations’ liberal views.

* Newport Coast residents heard Monday that a community center planned for the corner of Newport Ridge Drive and San Joaquin Hills Road will likely exceed its $7 million budget by about $800,000. The bulk of the center’s funding is from residents’ tax money, and the Newport Coast Advisory Committee, which represents the residents, wants the city to pay the difference.

Some City Council members say the city should supplement the center’s budget, but it also should take possession of some baseball fields adjacent to the center site. Residents want to retain ownership of the fields. The council will discuss the center once bids are received for the project. The city will seek bids within the next two weeks.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Newport Beach man rescued at sea after falling overboard

Longtime Newport Beach resident Craig McCabe survived hours in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday after he fell off his 55-foot powerboat, Heather. He was rescued about two miles from the Port of Los Angeles by his brother and family friends.

McCabe said he was checking equipment on the back of his boat when he fell off the moving boat, which washed ashore on Catalina Island.

McCabe attempted to hang onto a buoy, but a territorial sea lion wouldn’t allow him to get close. The four Newport Beach rescuers and McCabe’s brother rescued the missing boater at 2:15 p.m.

McCabe had taken off from Marina del Rey, where the boat is based, en route to Newport Beach, where the boat is registered.

Speaking to reporters Friday at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, where he was treated for hypothermia, a tearful McCabe described his hours in the water and said he thought he was going to die on three occasions.

EDUCATION

Eastbluff Elementary School students run part of marathon

Eastbluff Elementary School made a dynamic showing in the Orange County marathon.

In the Sunday marathon, 58 students from Eastbluff ran at least 1.2 miles, with 32 of them winning medals for having covered the full 26.2 miles since practice began in November. Fifth-grader Teddy Parks, 10, finished first in the men’s 12-and-under division with five kilometers in 20 minutes and 54 seconds.

On Thursday morning, the school held a ceremony for the Eastbluff runners, with youth coach Bill Sumner presenting medals. The school, which entered the marathon for the first time this year, plans to participate in the Spirit Run later this spring.

* At the Newport Mesa Unified School District board meeting Tuesday, the Dialog Foundation, a Reseda-based nonprofit group, held a public hearing to present their plan for the Orange Science Academy. The school, which the foundation hopes to start in September, would feature standard curriculum taught in a high-tech environment.

The board is currently considering both the Dialog Foundation’s proposal and another one for the Orange County Academy, a charter school that would combine home-schooling with classroom instruction. The district has no charter schools within its boundaries.

COSTA MESA

Bridge to span Placentia Ave. to Fairview Park

A bridge that will eventually span Placentia Avenue now sits at Fairview Park in two pieces, awaiting installation. The nearly $579,000 bridge will link the two sides of Fairview Park and enable visitors to cross Placentia Avenue without waiting for a traffic light.

Workers are now creating concrete supports for each end of the bridge, which will be installed by late February or early March. The bridge will be suitable for pedestrians, bicycles and light-duty maintenance and emergency vehicles.

Day labor center finds temporary base at OCC

A new, private day labor center opened Monday in a temporary home on the Orange Coast College campus. A group of business, church and community leaders has been working to open a private center to replace the city-run Job Center that was closed Dec. 31 by order of the City Council.

The center will operate from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekdays through Jan. 27. Center operators are still searching for a permanent location. Employers and laborers can call (949) 764-1528 for information.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“I wasn’t too worried to start with. As things developed, about three times I thought I was going to die.”

-- Craig McCabe, the man who was rescued by family and friends after falling off his boat in the Pacific Ocean

“The demands of elected office have remained consistently high, so what was a conflict before has become impossible to juggle.”

-- John Heffernan, now a former Newport Beach city councilman, who announced his resignation from the council last week, citing his inability to spend enough time with his family as a major reason for his decision

“I like him. There was just nobody running.”

-- Dolores Otting, Newport Beach resident and the woman Heffernan suggested the council appoint to replace him, explaining why she ran against Heffernan in 2004: Heffernan decided to run at the last moment.

“It was awful. I’m going to be scared of anyone walking in my shop from now on. They knew exactly where things were. Even in the corner, they did not miss things.”

-- The unnamed owner of a Lido Marina Village boutique that was robbed on New Year’s Day

“I think everyone benefits when five people on your block get a new roof.”

-- Eric Bever, Costa Mesa city councilman, on residents taking advantage of a city program, which ran during the last quarter of 2005, that waived fees for building contracts for people who wanted to remodel their homes

“We’re just thanking God. It’s a big thing off our back. We’re just glad the laws of the land were upheld in such a beautiful way.”

-- Praveen Bunyan, senior pastor of Newport Beach’s St. James Church’s, on a court ruling that says the Episcopal Church of the United States has no right to its property