Motorcycle driver killed after collision on Brookhurst

A man was killed Tuesday after his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck on Brookhurst Street south of Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach.

The motorcycle driver, whose name has not been released pending next-of-kin notification, sustained severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a release from the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Police responded to the report about 1:50 p.m. when it is believed that the driver of the black-and-orange 2009 Yamaha motorcycle was going south on Brookhurst before colliding with a 1982 Silverado pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup was a 20-year-old Huntington Beach resident whose name has not been released.

The motorcycle driver was wearing khaki pants, a black leather jacket, a camouflage backpack and a black, white and red helmet.

Police did not issue a citation or make any arrests, but the investigation is ongoing, the release said.

Police are asking any witnesses of the accident or those with any information about the drivers’ behaviors to contact Officer Barr at (714) 536-5666.

Huntington Beach City Council selects new mayor

Forming a foundation that would fundraise to maintain the arts and address city issues such as homelessness was among the goals incoming Mayor Don Hansen proposed for his mayoral term.

Hansen, voted by the Huntington Beach City Council on Monday to serve as mayor for the next year, took the reins from former Mayor Joe Carchio, now a councilman, in a packed ceremony that was standing room only. Councilman Devin Dwyer was appointed as the mayor pro tem.

The ceremonial positions are rotated among council members each year.

Before handing his title over, Carchio counted the city’s achievements and challenges in the last year.

He said he appreciated the cooperation received by all of the city employees and that they made his “year as mayor easier.”

“They saw the challenge, they accepted the challenge, and they made the concessions we needed to help us balance our budget,” Carchio said.

Hansen pledged to help make Huntington Beach the crown jewel in the county, if not the state. He said it’s time for Huntington Beach, the fourth largest city in the county, to lead regionally.

Hansen’s other announced goals included economic growth and fixing the city’s infrastructure. He asked the council, staff and residents to help achieve them.

His said his proposals, such as forming an ad hoc committee for the Pacific City project, would prepare Huntington Beach to take off as the economy recovers and the project comes to fruition.

Hansen thanked his wife, Sara, for keeping him grounded; his mother, Josie Hansen, who was present during the induction ceremony; and his three children for motivating him to make a difference.

He said the work he’s setting out to do is not just for him or his generation, but for his children and their generation.

“When I look at the three of you and all the potential and all the optimism that you share, each in your own unique way, the answer is clear,” he said. “The work I do in this chamber is mainly for you.”

Alleged Seal Beach shooter Scott Dekraai pleads not guilty

The man accused of walking into a Seal Beach salon and shooting and killing eight people pleaded not guilty Tuesday in front of a packed courtroom full of family members and friends of the victims.

A preliminary hearing was set for Scott Dekraai, 42, on April 24, but his public defender said it’s unlikely he will be ready on that day.

Dekraai allegedly walked into Salon Meritage in Seal Beach on Oct. 12, shot and killed eight people and injured a ninth. He was allegedly targeting his ex-wife, Michelle Fournier, with whom he was involved in a custody battle. Fournier was among those killed.

Dekraai faces eight counts of special-circumstances first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is seeking the death penalty.

Huntington council limits campaign, political signs

The Huntington Beach City Council voted 6-1 Monday to restrict the number of days campaign and political signs can be posted.

The decision came as an effort to reduce clutter and blight during the summer season.

The restriction allows candidates 50 days to display signs. The previous amount was 75 days.

In addition, the signs must be removed no later than 10 days following Election Day. Signs on the public’s right of way and on public property can be removed by anyone on the Friday following Election Day.

City Attorney Jennifer McGrath recommended against the day restrictions.

“There’s a case that says it can’t be less than 60 days,” she said.

Where no woman has gone before

Jenny Huntsinger has been named this year’s Huntington Harbour Boat Parade grand marshal. It’s an honor in more ways than one.

Huntsinger, a retired nurse, is the first woman to be named grand marshal in the parade’s 49 years of existence.

“I wasn’t sure how I would be received as a woman,” said Huntsinger, 62. “And I know in this day and age, you’re not supposed to feel this way, but I’m from the generation where there was a glass ceiling.”

And it’s an honor to serve as grand marshal, she said.

The fact that the parade hadn’t had a woman serve in the capacity before Huntsinger wasn’t intentional; it just happened that way, said Calvin Free, who served as grand marshal last year and recommended Huntsinger for the post.

In fact, women have always dominated and led the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee, which puts on the parade. So at the end of the day, the women call the shots, Free said.

“The men are just figureheads,” Free said. “We go around like a bunch of big-headed roosters, but the hens are making all the rules. They have the power.”

…Continue reading Where no woman has gone before

H.B. City Council prohibits registered sex offenders from parks

An emotionally charged Huntington Beach City Council voted Monday to ban all registered sex offenders from entering city parks, a move that went against the city attorney and police chief’s recommendations and made the city’s law even more stringent than the county’s.

Following the Board of Supervisors’ adoption of a similar law and a letter from Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas urging cities to pass their own sex offender bans from parks, Mayor Joe Carchio and Councilman Matthew Harper asked the rest of the council in May to adopt one.

“I don’t want to be sitting up here and say that I had the ability and didn’t use it, and some child was abused,” Carchio said.

Although City Attorney Jennifer McGrath and Chief of Police Ken Small gave the council several options from which to choose, the council with a 4-3 vote — with Connie Boardman, Keith Bohr and Joe Shaw dissenting — elected to pick the toughest alternative.

The version the council adopted, however, would likely violate the constitutional rights of offenders and open the door for lawsuits against the city, said UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the nation’s foremost constitutional scholars.

“It’s the most restricted ordinance that’s been adopted in the county,” McGrath said.

…Continue reading H.B. City Council prohibits registered sex offenders from parks

Waitress pleads guilty to aiding drug sales

The waitress who was accused by Huntington Beach police of selling cocaine from a downtown restaurant and bar pleaded guilty Monday to aiding in the selling of drugs.

Brynn Ashley Boucher, 24, was sentenced to three years of formal probation and a day in jail, the latter of which she has credit for, and ordered to pay fines and $2,000 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

Initially, police said Boucher sold cocaine to undercover officers on three different occasions in March, April and May while on the job at Killarney Pub & Grill in downtown Huntington Beach. Those felony charges were dismissed, however.

She’s still employed by Killarney, according to her attorney, Ron Chrislip.

Boucher did not deal drugs, Orange County district attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

“She was not responsible for actually selling drugs to undercover officers,” Emami said. “She was working in a bar and she put the officers in contact with the other defendant, the male defendant. She was an accessory in that she put the officers in contact, but she herself did not sell drugs.”

…Continue reading Waitress pleads guilty to aiding drug sales

Fountain Valley woman charged with sex with 12-year-old boy

A Fountain Valley woman has been charged with having sex with her son’s 12-year-old friend, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Patricia Ann Serrano, 43, is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 with sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child and faces a maximum of 12 years in prison if convicted.

Serrano is in custody in lieu of $100,000 in bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

Serrano allegedly had sex twice in October with her son’s friend, once in her home and once in a car, prosecutors said. Serrano allegedly also kissed the boy in a locked room.

The boy’s mother contacted police after she found her son in a room with Serrano and became suspicious of their relationship, although she didn’t observe any sexual contact, according to a release from the district attorney’s office.

Serrano was arrested Tuesday following an investigation by the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Anyone who has additional information or thinks he or she might have been a victim of Serrano is encouraged to contact supervising district attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794 or Fountain Valley Police Department Det. Jesse Hughes at (714) 593-4480.

Iranian American women find success, celebrate heritage

Hundreds of Iranian-American women gather for a groundbreaking women's conference in Orange County. (Daily Pilot / October 25, 2011)

COSTA MESA — Soheila Karimi Motamed, an engineer, survived an accident that left a bullet lodged in her brain.

Parisa Khosravi is the senior vice president of international news gathering for CNN Worldwide.

Nadereh Chamlou is the Wold Bank senior advisor to the chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa region.

Shohreh Aghdashloo, an Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning actress, through her films tries to empower the women of the country that exiled her.

On Sunday, about 40 of these successful Iranian American women — all leaders in their fields from every corner of the globe — came together at the second Iranian American Women’s Leadership Conference: Pathways to Success at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel to inspire young women to make a difference.

– Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, Daily Pilot

…Continue reading Iranian American women find success, celebrate heritage

Accused Seal Beach shooter changes counsel

SANTA ANA — The man accused in Orange County’s deadliest shooting rampage will be represented by a public defender.

Scott Evans Dekraai, 42, told Judge Erick L. Larsh in a brief court appearance Monday that he could not afford legal counsel. He had been represented in an Oct. 14 court appearance by a family lawyer.

Public defender Scott Sanders has taken over the case.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons, who is co-prosecuting the case, said the change of attorneys will not delay the case.

Dekraai will be arraigned Nov. 29 in Orange County Superior Court.

Sanders would not comment on the case or say whether the court has allowed Dekraai, a Huntington Beach resident, to take his anti-psychotic medications or use a spinal cord stimulator to ease pain from a 2007 boating accident.

“I know that people are experiencing tremendous pain, and it’s very sad,” Sanders said in an interview. “But I don’t want to disrespect this whole process or talk about a case that I’m just coming to at the earliest point.”

The district attorney is expecting an insanity defense, but Sanders said it’s too early to tell what type of defense he will mount.

Some relatives of the eight victims attended the hearing. Paul Wilson, the husband of salon employee Christy Lynn Wilson, 47, donned a black suit with two round pins with photos of his late wife.

Dekraai allegedly walked into the Salon Meritage at 1:20 p.m. Oct. 12 with a bulletproof vest and three guns and shot and killed eight people and injured a ninth. He was allegedly seeking revenge on his ex-wife, whom he had bitterly fought over the custody of their 8-year-old child.

Dekraai faces eight counts of special-circumstances first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is seeking the death penalty.

mona.shadia@latimes.com

Twitter: @MonaShadiahttp://www.twitter.com/monashadia