WEEK IN REVIEW

BUSINESS

Mortgage crisis forces families to part with pets

Kathryn Ecdao has an interesting take on the foreclosure crisis. She and her family lost their home in Anaheim Hills, which forced them to part with two items they weren’t able to move with — their pet dogs Roxy and Bear.

The Ecdao family’s misfortune shows another sad side effect of the growing mortgage crisis.

The Ecdaos’ new rental doesn’t allow pets, and they couldn’t find any takers.

Fortunately for the family, DiAnna Pfaff-Martin runs the Community Animal Network, which works to find pets a new home. Pfaff-Martin saw an influx of pets whose owners lost their homes since the beginning of the new year. Unlike the Ecdaos who worked with Martin to find their pets a new home, some families leave their pets behind.

Nordstrom expected to bring big bucks to Fashion Island

Fashion Island announced last week that it plans to open a Nordstrom in 2010.

The Seattle-based clothing retailer already operates locations at South Coast Plaza and the Irvine Spectrum Center, but Irvine Co. officials have attempted for years to acquire a store of their own. Nordstrom will join fellow anchors Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s at Fashion Island.

“On the coup scale, I think this is big,” said Keith Eyrich, the Irvine Co.’s president of retail properties. “It’s going to be an important new day for Fashion Island. Nordstrom is a terrific retailer, and I know it will resonate with our customer base.”

The 138,000-square-foot store is set to open in a new building in the space formerly occupied by the Macy’s Women’s store.

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NEWPORT BEACH

Hoag neighbors want cleaner air and less machinery noise

Residents who live near Hoag Hospital aired complaints to the Newport Beach Planning Commission Thursday about industrial noise and the plumes of exhaust and steam from a power station that block their ocean views.

Hoag wants permission from the city to shift up to 225,000 square feet of building space from its lower campus, which stretches along Pacific Coast Highway to its upper campus bordering Newport Boulevard. The reallocation of unbuilt space would allow the hospital to expand in-patient services on its upper campus, Hoag officials said. Hoag officials also want some slack on city-imposed noise limits. Noise generated by loading docks and rooftop mechanical equipment exceeds the 55-decibel limit, according to a city-commissioned report on noise levels.

Residents at the Villa Balboa condominium complex, which borders Hoag on two sides, say the hospital needs to make an effort to give them a quieter neighborhood with cleaner air before the city grants Hoag’s requests. The discussion is expected to continue at the next meeting, Feb. 7.

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?Retired Newport Beach businessman Jack Croul donated $150,000 in the past week to the City Hall in the Park political campaign, records show.

In total, Croul has given the pro-Measure B camp more than $600,000. The opposition group Newporters Vote No on B has raised about $150,000, most of it from heiress Audrey Steele Burnand, campaign disclosure records show. Measure B would require the next city hall to be built on a piece of city-owned land next to the central library on Avocado Avenue. Newporters head to the polls Tuesday to vote.

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PUBLIC SAFETY

Missing intern found dead; toxicology tests pending

The body of a missing Dane Williams, 23, a marketing intern for Costa Mesa-based Hurley International, in a San Diego alley. An autopsy was inconclusive, and investigators are waiting for toxicology tests. Authorities believe his body was moved after he died.

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?Dallas police arrested Newport Beach artist Michael Schofield Friday after local authorities issued a $50,000 warrant. Schofield, who was accused of using a Picasso drawing he did not own as collateral for a $40,000 loan, was charged with two felony counts of grand theft and one felony count of fictitious instruments, prosecutors said. He could face up to four years and four months in prison if convicted.

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POLITICS

Bush’s State of the Union speech gets gentleman’s ‘B’

Newport-Mesa’s representatives in Washington gave President Bush’s State of the Union a poor assessment.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a speechwriter for the Reagan Administration, said the remarks lacked substance.

“He gets a big fat D — barely a D — in his first part. For his second part, I’d give him a B, because he did talk about the progress that’s been made in his foreign policy,” he said. “So, he barely — barely — gets a C.”

Rep. John Campbell said he was pleased with Bush’s pledge to veto any tax hikes, but wasn’t sure how the president would balance the budget and lower taxes, while still providing the new services laid out in the remarks.

“I was least pleased when he — in spite of calling for a balanced budget — laid out half dozen or more entirely new spending programs,” Campbell said. “So, I don’t know how that’s going to work. How are you going to veto all tax increases, spend more money and balance the budget?”

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EDUCATION

District trashes beef products due to slaughterhouse video

Newport-Mesa school officials dumped its beef after reports surfaced of inhumane practices at a distributor’s slaughterhouse.

Slaughterhouse workers were shown in a video broadcast by the Humane Society of the United States forcing downed cows with electric prods to stand and moving some animals with forklifts and chains. Westland Meat Company, a slaughterhouse partner, distributes breakfast and lunch through a government contract to schools.

The fear is the cattle may carry disease such as E. coli, Salmonella or mad cow disease. The USDA has suspended contracts with the company and restricted them from operations.

The company reportedly fired both employees pictured in the vehicle and suspended the supervisor pending investigation.

Newport-Mesa Director of Nutrition Services said beef will be off the menu indefinitely and a new February menu is already in the works.

It is unknown how much, or if any, beef from Westland and the slaughterhouse in question has been distributed to Newport-Mesa schools.