BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

Costa Mesa Police arrested eight people Friday night on suspicion of

driving under the influence after they were stopped at a sobriety

checkpoint.

Police said 931 cars passed through the checkpoint on Harbor Boulevard

south of Victoria Street, and 878 drivers were screened. Of those, 83

were given field sobriety tests.

Police also arrested five others on suspicion of drunk driving in the

surrounding area and one passenger on allegations of being under the

influence of dangerous drugs.

The checkpoint was funded by a grant from the California Office of

Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Hispanic Bar Association fund-raiser planned

The Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County is having its annual

Installation Dinner and Scholarship Fund-raiser at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Victor E. Chavez, last year’s presiding judge at Los Angeles Superior

Court, will be the keynote speaker for the event, which costs $700 for a

table seating 10 people or $75 per person, with a $25 discount for

judges.

The dinner will benefit the bar association’s scholarship fund, which

provides financial aid for Orange County law school students who are

Latino and have demonstrated involvement in the Latino community.

Information: (949) 794-9200.

Costa Mesa’s budget wins awards

Costa Mesa won three awards from the California Society of Municipal

Finance Officers for its 2000-2001 budget, City Manager Allan Roeder

said.

The city is the only agency to receive three budgetary reporting

awards from the society this year -- winning in all of the categories it

was eligible for.

The awards included the Excellence in Public Communications award,

which the city has never won before; the Innovative Excellence in

Budgeting award, which city won in 1996; and the Excellence in

Operational Budgeting award, which the city won in 1995 and 1998.

A total of six public agencies received the communications award,

three public agencies received the innovative excellence award and 62

public agencies won the award for operational budgeting.

The society also has an Excellence in Capital Budgeting award, but

Roeder said Costa Mesa was not eligible to receive the award since it

does not publish a separate capital budget document.