EDUCATION Victoria teachers honored with ballgame Victoria...

EDUCATION

Victoria teachers honored with ballgame

Victoria Elementary School in Costa Mesa honored its 32 educators

with a mini-baseball game in front of the entire school before Supt.

Robert Barbot and Trustee David Brooks of the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District inducted them into the Victoria School Hall of Fame.

Vanguard University held the first in a series of substance abuse

conferences on Wednesday, using a portion of the nearly $100,000 it

received from a contract with the federal government. The contract is

the first partnership the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health

Services Administration has made with a private, Christian university

to assess the effectiveness of Teen Challenge, a worldwide

organization that takes a faith-based approach to rehabilitating drug

users and others struggling with life-controlling problems.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].

NEWPORT BEACH

City needs more family housing, state says

A state agency has said that Newport Beach puts too much emphasis

on senior housing to meet its low-income housing requirements. The

state’s Department of Housing and Community Development is requiring

the city to rezone a portion of the Banning Ranch project for

higher-density housing, where affordable homes for families could be

built.

Newport Beach resident Kay Ziplow was the only woman competing in

the Best Western People vs. the Pros Tournament in Las Vegas last

week. She could get to play against pro John Daly the first week of

June.

City, county and resident leaders are moving forward to buy land

for a fire station to serve Santa Ana Heights. Some residents are

hesitant about footing the entire $3.6 million for the station and

say that, in return, they want help getting a community center.

The Balboa Island Parade will celebrate its 10-year anniversary as

it marches all of 2 1/2 blocks along Marine Avenue on June 1. This

year’s celebration will include a rededication of the fire station.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].

ENVIRONMENT

Plan calls for seven more pump-out stations

Water quality regulators unveiled a plan to install seven

additional sewage pump-out stations in Newport Harbor to discourage

boaters from evacuating septic tanks into the water.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board floated the

plan at a May 16 board meeting. It was prompted by an investigation

by Newport Beach-based Orange County CoastKeeper.

There are 11 pump stations in the harbor for about 10,000 boats.

On Wednesday, Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay released its Beach

Report Card. Most Newport Beach and Newport Harbor beaches got good

grades. Thirty-eighth Street and 43rd Street beaches were singled out

as “county bummers.”

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].

PUBLIC SAFETY

New Costa Mesa Police chief begins June 16

John D. Hensley, head of the Cypress Police Department for five

years, will succeed David Snowden as Costa Mesa’s police chief, City

Manager Allan Roeder announced Tuesday.

Hensley, 47, is expected to begin June 16 as the city’s fourth

police chief, at a salary of $138,588.

The search for a new chief began in January. Snowden, Costa Mesa’s

chief for 16 years, has worked part-time for the city since retiring

in June 2002.

The jury deliberated for about a day and a half to convict Trenton

Michael Veches, a 32-year-old former Newport Beach recreation

coordinator, of 22 felony counts of performing lewd acts on children

and three misdemeanor counts of sexual assault. The defense argued

that Veches, found guilty of sucking the toes of boys enrolled in the

city’s after-school programs and camps, didn’t do it for sexual

gratification.

Veches faces 300 years in prison, but could become eligible for

parole in 15 or 45 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].