Snoopy House begins move to City Hall

COSTA MESA — With the help tow trucks and community volunteers, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang began the move Friday from the Eastside to their new holiday digs at City Hall.

In the spirit of the special occasion, city staff put up different Christmas lights around the building this year, said city spokesman Bill Lobdell.

Jim Jordan, 59, owner of the elaborate Peanuts-themed Christmas display that for 44 years welcomed families to the corner Santa Ana Avenue home, said the display will be built by Monday.

The city put out a call for volunteers this week to help Jordan put together the decorations, including a giant doll house, a faux ice skating rink, a photo booth for Christmas memories. Santa Claus will be on hand next week to take pictures with kids.

Jordan had to move the display after the home he used as a rental property went into default and was foreclosed on last year.

He was officially locked out from the property last week, but Wells Fargo gave him an opportunity to collect the beloved Christmas display for the neighborhood.

There is more work to be done. Jordan needs volunteers at 9 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. Monday to help build the set, as well as people to help operate its 19-day run.

In a call for help Friday, the city said Jordan needs a number of supplies he regularly provides at the annual attraction.

Jordan needs 10 cases of hot apple cider concentrate, five cases of 6-ounce Styrofoam cups, one case each of red, green and blue tinsel, five boxes of 4-by-six photo paper, 4,000 candy cases, 100 gallons of water, and a 10-by-10 foot tent with four sides.

The Christmas display will open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and remain open from 5 to 10 nightly through Dec. 23.

—Joseph Serna

Twitter: @JosephSernahttp://twitter.com/josephserna

Supes explore firefighting options at JWA

The Orange County Board of Supervisors this week decided to explore alternatives to using county firefighters at John Wayne Airport.

Board members considered replacing their contract with the Orange County Fire Authority, reducing current staffing levels and creating an airport fire department, but decided to maintain the status quo for the next year while researching alternatives.

On the heels of the airport opening its newest area, Terminal C, part of a $543-million expansion and renovation, the supervisors considered a reduction to staffing. The OCFA’s union pushed back on the suggested cuts. … Continue Reading

JWA travelers give thanks — for short lines

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT — Foothill Ranch couple Elysia Eberhart and John Sleeper knew they’d have to wait for hours if they were going to fly the day before Thanksgiving.

But the wait wasn’t where they expected. John Wayne Airport’s newly minted Terminal C was virtually empty when they walked in Wednesday afternoon.

About 10 minutes passed from the time they got in line for Southwest Airlines’ ticket counter and headed over to the security line.

Instead, their wait was on the other side, as they waited for their 3 p.m. flight to arrive. … Continue Reading

City Council vote paves way for smoking ban

COSTA MESA — Smoking will be banned at 25 of the 29 city parks, should the City Council in two weeks cement its vote.

Going along with a Parks and Recreation Commission suggestion, the council in a 4-1 vote Tuesday night approved the first reading of an ordinance that prohibits smoking cigarettes within 50 feet of the 25 city parks containing playground equipment, the city’s three athletic fields, two community gardens and Balearic Community Center’s children’s area.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece dissented.

It will be up to police and park rangers to enforce the ordinance, which carries a $100 fine for a first offense, $200 for a second, and $500 for each subsequent citation in a 12-month period.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece dissented.

…Continue reading City Council vote paves way for smoking ban

Salon owner ‘loved life and people’

A photo posted by Mary Stearns shows salon owner Randy Fannin giving her daughter a haircut. (Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times)

Two Laguna Beach residents were among the eight victims of a shooting spree at Salon Meritage in Seal Beach on Wednesday.

Scott Evans Dekraai, of Huntington Beach, was charged Friday with eight felony counts of special-circumstance first-degree murder and one felony count of attempted murder. The rampage is the worst massacre in Orange County’s history.

Among the first killed that day was salon owner Randy Fannin, 63, of Laguna Beach. Witnesses reported Dekraai first shot his ex-wife, her client, then Fannin.

Fannin opened the business almost 10 years ago with his wife, Sandy.

The pair loved to travel, said Ross Vacca, Fannin’s neighbor at his Murrieta home. The Fannins visited Tuscany, Italy, three years ago, and Randy Fannin just returned from Myrtle Beach a couple of weeks ago.

“He was just a wonderful person in the neighborhood, liked by everybody,” Vacca said.

… Continue Reading

Costa Mesa P.D. extends front desk hours

Former Newport city attorney charged with DUI

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has charged former Newport Beach City Attorney David Hunt with misdemeanor drunk driving.

Hunt was driving with a blood-alcohol level of .11 when he hit a parked car last month, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday. The legal limit is .08 in California.

Hunt, 54, was arrested Sept. 30 by Newport Beach police after he allegedly hit a car parked in a lot on the west end of Ford Road near Mesa View at about 7:30 p.m.

He’s scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 14 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Hunt left his position as city attorney Sept. 6 because of concerns over his office’s escalating budget. The city kept his services through a contract with Irvine-based Friedman Stroffe & Gerard.

City Atty. Aaron Harp, however, terminated that contract following Hunt’s arrest.

This is Hunt’s second run-in with police in two years. In March 2010, he was arrested at his Santa Ana home on suspicion of domestic violence. No charges were filed in that case.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Woman in trip-and-fall case seeks damages from Costa Mesa

COSTA MESA — A married couple has filed a claim against the city alleging losses of earnings and consortium after the wife hurt her ankle tripping on a Harbor Boulevard pothole, records show.

In a claim filed Aug. 17, Karen Olson, 40, is seeking $95,000 from the city for loss of earning power and treatment after she tripped and fell crossing Harbor at Wilson Street on June 25.

According to the claim, Olson suffered “a painful wrenching, tearing and laceration of ligaments.” She was treated at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Orange and at the Bristol Medical Group in Costa Mesa. She is unemployed.

Her husband, Mark Olson, 44, is seeking $65,000, claiming a torn ligament in his wife’s ankle that requires a brace and crutches disrupted the couple’s sex life, leading to the loss of consortium.

An attorney for the Olsons did not return calls for comment.

The claim offered Costa Mesa the chance to settle for $160,000, but that expired at the end of September without the city responding. The duo has yet to file a claim in civil court, records show.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

BREAKING NEWS: Fair Board evicts swap meet operator

The Orange County Fair board voted 6-3 Thursday to evict Tel Phil Enterprises, which has operated the Orange County Market Place for several decades.

Board members are apparently displeased with a decline in revenue and other factors.

The lease will conclude in 18 months. Fair Board members decided to put a requests for proposals to replace Tel Phil.

2 protesters seek to save trees slated from removal on Newport-Costa Mesa line

As crews worked Wednesday to remove 100 eucalyptus trees from the area a motorist was killed by a felled tree along the shared border between Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, they were met by two protesters who want to save the trees.

“Obviously, this tragedy was horrible, but there might be a way to replant them, make them more stable,” said Margie Dorney, a Newport Beach resident, who with her husband, was protesting Newport Beach’s decision to remove the trees for safety reasons from street medians along Irvine Avenue between Westcliff and Dover drives.

The cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa announced Tuesday evening that contractors were going to remove between 100 and 107 trees that arborists determined potentially unsafe. A 29-year-old Tustin woman was killed Thursday afternoon when a 10-ton eucalyptus tree fell on her car at Irvine, north of 17^th Street.

The trees are technically inside Costa Mesa city limits, but Newport Beach has the contract to maintaining the trees.

“It could very well be that there’s a problem with the roots, I don’t think we’ve done enough discovery yet to figure this out,” said David Hayes, a 61-year Newport Beach resident who lives up the street from the accident. “It just seems to me we need cooler heads to prevail.”

Dorney said only about 15 trees were remaining when they arrived to protest Wednesday morning.