PAY HIKE: Newport Beach police’s new labor...

PAY HIKE: Newport Beach police’s new labor contract promises to catapult them from among the lowest paid in the county to among the best paid by 1996. . . . They would hopscotch past officers in 13 cities. . . . The new contract guarantees Newport Beach’s officers that their pay will rank in the top five departments in the county by ’96.

Officers’ Pay

The highest and lowest base salaries for senior officers in Orange County’s law enforcement agencies:

Highest

Santa Ana: $53,376

Irvine: 52,128

Sheriff’s Department: 51,084

Orange: 50,568

Huntington Beach: 49,692

Lowest

Seal Beach: $41,964

Los Alamitos: 43,284

Garden Grove: 44,856

Anaheim: 45,096

Cypress: 45,252

Newport Beach: 45,276

Source: League of California Cities

SURVIVOR: Huntington Beach Councilwoman Linda Moulton-Patterson believes people should know cancer can be beaten. . . . At the Democratic National Convention in New York last summer, she spoke of her bout with breast cancer. . . . And at noon today at Newport Beach’s Hoag Cancer Center, Moulton-Patterson will talk about her recovery as part of the center’s “Celebration of Life” day. “No one knows better than a cancer survivor about what it’s like,” she says.

LOOKING BACK: Robert F. Kennedy was shot 25 years ago today. During his California primary campaign, challenger Eugene J. McCarthy accused Kennedy of using “scare tactics” to get votes in conservative Orange County. . . . The tiff came after McCarthy suggested in a debate that low-income housing be scattered in the suburbs, and Kennedy responded that to “take 10,000 black people and move them into Orange County” would be “catastrophic” without also providing jobs. . . . In the end, McCarthy topped Kennedy among Orange County Democrats, 46% to 41%.

MICKEYTHON: Disneyland is about to get its annual dose of round-the-clock TV coverage--and raise money for sick children in the process. The Children’s Miracle Network broadcasts its telethon from the park from 6 tonight to 3 p.m. Sunday. The telethon raised $106 million last year. And the continuous airplay on more than 190 TV stations around the country puts the Magic Kingdom in the spotlight. . . . “We are participating in something that raises millions of dollars for kids,” said park publicist Barbara Warren.