WEEK IN REVIEW

PUBLIC SAFETY

Rapper Snoop Dogg copped a plea deal Thursday in Orange County Superior Court before a hearing could be held to determine whether he should stand trial on charges of carrying an illegal weapon through security at John Wayne Airport last September.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, after airport security screeners found a collapsible baton in his laptop case.

The judge ordered him to perform 160 hours of community service and three years of unsupervised probation, but the rapper can’t do the service with children, gangs or football clubs because he already does volunteer work in those areas.

 Joshua Matthew Drougas, a Costa Mesa man accused of trying to suffocate a 91-year-old convalescent home resident with a pillow has had the attempted murder charges against him dropped. The charges were dismissed because the court ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he intended to kill the man, prosecutors said. Drougas still faces charges of elder abuse and residential burglary.

 A car crash near the playground at Eastbluff Elementary School Tuesday just before parents dropped off their children renewed calls for speed bumps around the campus.

Kurt Reiter, 44, of Newport Beach, was westbound on Vista del Oro in a white Toyota 4Runner when he swung across traffic for an unknown reason and sideswiped a Honda Civic parked under a tree in front of the elementary school, police said. Newport Beach police arrested Reiter on suspicion of driving under the influence.

 BUSINESS

The Panini Cafe in Corona del Mar, which applied to move to a new location amid the protests of many neighbors, got approval for its relocation Thursday, as the Planning Commission voted 6-1 to grant the owners a permit.

A number of residents and neighboring business owners petitioned the plan, saying the restaurant would worsen traffic problems in the area and increase the number of alcohol-serving businesses on the block.

 Fashion Island announced plans to open Dean & DeLuca, a New York-based gourmet food chain, in 2009.

 COSTA MESA

After deliberating for months, the City Council last week approved new tougher standards for subdividing rental apartments and industrial parks for sale to individual owners. Building owners who want to sell off individual units will now have to get extensive inspections showing the condition of the building, provide an amount of parking set by the city and meet a list of other standards.

 NEWPORT BEACH

City officials are putting the moratorium on new group homes to its first test, asking the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to consider a proposal for two side-by-side smaller drug rehab facilities like a single, larger one. Miramar Health is seeking to open two recovery homes on adjacent parcels in Corona del Mar, and the applicant suggests the two homes will be operated separately, exempting them from the city’s moratorium, city officials said.

 POLITICS

Orange County Supervisors last week picked law firm Kirkland & Ellis to represent the county in a possible challenge to a retroactive pension benefit granted to sheriff’s deputies. Led by Supervisor John Moorlach, the board has been mulling a legal challenge to the benefit, which Moorlach has said violates the state constitution.

 EDUCATION

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake on Monday rehired Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky as founding dean of UCI’s Donald Bren School of Law, which is set to open in 2009. Chemerinsky signed a contract on Sept. 4 and was subsequently rebuffed a week later when Drake visited him in North Carolina. The news quickly gained national attention as speculation grew that conservatives pressured Drake to change his mind, an allegation the chancellor denied.

 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports on Tuesday awarded a gold medal to Newport Heights Elementary school principal Kurt Suhr. Suhr’s accomplishment culminated with a luncheon Tuesday and a $10,000 reward to the elementary school.