Tis the season of giving back

COSTA MESA — The Internal Revenue Service is looking for more than 1,300 Orange County residents — not to collect from them but to deliver them their uncollected refunds.

In all, 1,349 checks totaling $1.6 million in refunds have gone uncollected in Orange County, with the average refund check amounting to $1,229, said Raphael Tulino, a spokesman for the IRS’ Southern California and Nevada region.

“Basically, we can’t find them because there’s been a change in address,” Tulino said. “We’ve tried to deliver the checks, but they came back undeliverable.”

…Continue reading Tis the season of giving back

Travel tips to follow at John Wayne Airport

Travelers flying out of John Wayne Airport for Christmas and New Year’s Eve are being advised to pack all snow globes and not wrap any presents if they plan to take bags containing them into the plane’s cabin, according to JWA Spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.

“All carry-on luggage is subject to a search, so you don’t want to wrap something that could potentially be unwrapped,” she said.

Although Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the airport — with Christmas and New Year’s Eve following closely behind — passengers should try to get to the airport at least 90 minutes before their scheduled flights, Wedge said.

…Continue reading Travel tips to follow at John Wayne Airport

Foley’s contract motion dies

In her first school board meeting, Trustee Katrina Foley pulled two contract extensions for discussion from the consent agenda, saying she had a problem with requested increases.

The rest of the school board voted against her, 6 to 1, to approve a year extension on the contracts with a fencing company and emergency bus transportation company.

A-1 Fence Co. based in Anaheim, and Student First Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, have been operating on a stand-by basis under a five-year contract, with the option to renew at the end of each year.

Fiscal 2010-11 is the final year of the contract.

…Continue reading Foley’s contract motion dies

Hubbard’s arraignment scheduled for Tuesday

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard is to be arraigned Tuesday on two felony counts for his alleged involvement in the criminal misappropriation of public funds during his previous job as superintendent of Beverly Hills schools, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Hubbard is expected to appear at Beverly Hills Superior Court, where he is to surrender to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and be placed under arrest, Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said Wednesday.

Bail for Hubbard has already been set at $50,000.

…Continue reading Hubbard’s arraignment scheduled for Tuesday

No action taken against Hubbard

COSTA MESA — Trustees with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District met behind closed doors Monday night to discuss the recent felony charges filed against embattled Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard.

Hubbard, who was charged last week with misusing public funds four years ago as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District, plans to take the week off, the last before Christmas break, it was learned late Monday. He remains superintendent of Newport-Mesa schools.

No reportable action was taken, board President Karen Yelsey told the press after the emergency meeting at district headquarters.

…Continue reading No action taken against Hubbard

Passing gifts to Puerto Rico

The Newport Harbor boys' basketball team visited a cancer clinic in Puerto Rico. Here, a player visits one of the patients. (Daily Pilot / December 11, 2010)

Craig McKennon plays point guard for the Newport Harbor High School Sailors in what essentially is the sunset year of his high school life.

But over Thanksgiving break he and the rest of the Sailors focused on something much more important than their jump shots: The hoops squad delivered a duffel bag’s worth of pencils to orphans living in Ponce, Puerto Rico and a pediatric cancer center in San Juan.

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School board planning closed session about superintendent [updated]

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was charged Thursday with two felony counts of misappropriation of funds related to his previous job in Beverly Hills, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. (Kent Treptow | kent.tretpwo@latimes.com)

COSTA MESA — The school board will hold a special closed session meeting some time before its regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday to figure out how to handle the recent felony charges filed against Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard while he was the Beverly Hills Unified School District superintendent four years ago.

Board of Education President Karen Yelsey said one option would be to put Hubbard on administrative leave, but that nothing has been decided yet, and that the board still needs to talk with the district’s legal counsel, Spencer Covert, on its options.

…Continue reading School board planning closed session about superintendent [updated]

School board to meet about superintendent Monday

The school board will hold a special closed session meeting at 8:30 a.m. Monday to figure out how to handle the recent felony charges filed against Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard while he was the Beverly Hills Unified School District superintendent four years ago.

Board of Education President Karen Yelsey said one option would be to put Hubbard on administrative leave, but that nothing has been decided yet, and that the board still needs to talk with the district’s legal counsel, Spencer Covert, on its options.

…Continue reading School board to meet about superintendent Monday

Newport-Mesa supt. faces 2 felony counts

Acting as an advocate

M.C. Sungaila, a lawyer and former Corona del Mar High School student, talks to students at the school about disappearances of the Ciudad Juarez women and a lawsuit she filed on behalf of Amnesty International in July 2009. (Scott Smeltzer)

CORONA DEL MAR — One person can make a difference. You just have to believe in yourself, be patient, put in many hours of work, and, sometimes — just sometimes — search far and wide for Spanish translators.

That was the message delivered to students at Corona del Mar High School on Tuesday by M.C. Sungaila, a graduate of the school and an appellate attorney.

Tuesday’s visit was her first visit to her alma mater since Sungaila graduated from there 25 years ago. She joked to the students that the last time she was in the Little Theatre was when she performed a burlesque dance in the high school’s production of “Cabaret.”

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