Lions Park receives upgrades for field

Lantz Bell, 10, who plays on a team in the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn., looks at the lights Thursday above Davis Field during a ceremony to celebrate the improvements made for the facility at Lions Park in Costa Mesa. (SCOTT SMELTZER, Daily Pilot / February 2, 2012)

Lions Park in Costa Mesa was the site of a lighting ceremony Thursday evening, where new eco-friendly lights illuminated the upgrades.

Some $520,000 of Costa Mesa’s redevelopment agency funds was used to provide Davis Field with new vinyl-coated perimeter fencing, 50-foot baseball netting and a new lighting system, according to a city news release.

The lighting system for the West 18th Street facility will cut energy use by about 1.2 million kilowatt hours and 873 metric tons of carbon dioxide over a 25-year period. The system can also be turned on and off via phone and online.

– Sarah Peters, @speters01, Daily Pilot

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CHP responds to two crashes on 405 at Euclid

Multiple people were sent to the hospital after two separate vehicles crashes on the San Diego (405) Freeway on Thursday morning, according to California Highway Patrol.

The first crash occurred at 8:57 a.m. on the northbound lanes at Euclid Street when an SUV struck the center divider, partially blocking the left lane. There were no known injuries, according to CHP.

A second crash occurred at 9:12 a.m. at the same location, involving two taxi vans, with possible injuries.

Costa Mesa Fire crews responded and were still at the scene as of 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

It is not known if the two crashes were related.

— Sarah Peters, @speters01, Daily Pilot

Former superintendent takes on job for the interim

Robert Barbot, left, will serve as interim superintendent for Newport-Mesa Unified. In 2006, he passed his duties to Jeffrey Hubbard, right. (Don Leach, Daily Pilot)

The Newport-Mesa school board named Rob Barbot the interim superintedent Wednesday evening.

Board President Dave Brooks announced that the board approved Barbot, who served as the school district’s top leader for eight years, according to Daily Pilot archives, for the position during the continuance of a special closed session meeting.

The district has been without its top leader since former Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was unanimously fired Jan. 23 after being convicted of two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds related to his previous job as head of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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Costa Mesa police change shift structure

The Costa Mesa Police Department earlier this month switched to a new schedule that officials say will give the city coverage at times it needs the most.

But one outside expert who has studied police shifts cautioned that fatigue can be an issue for officers assigned to longer days.

About half the city’s patrol officers are now working 12 hours three days a week, Friday through Sunday, said Lt. Bryan Glass.

The rest put in 10-hour shifts four days a week, Monday through Thursday.

City CEO Tom Hatch said in an email that the shift changes do not affect the department’s budget, but instead provide for more coverage in the field for responding to emergency calls.

– Lauren Williams, @lawilliams30, Daily Pilot

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New friends from a land down under

A delegation of high school students from Australia meet with students from Victoria Elementary School in Costa Mesa on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER / January 30, 2012)

COSTA MESA — With big smiles and waving hands, Victoria Elementary School’s fifth- and sixth-grade student council members welcomed a delegation of high school students from Australia.

“I’m so excited,” said Arielle Esparza,10, as she waited for the Aussies. “I might explode.”

Victoria Elementary was one of the stops Monday morning for a group of seven students from Hoppers Crossing Secondary College in Wyndham, a Melbourne suburb, during their nearly monthlong visit as part of the Sister City Education Exchange program between Costa Mesa and Wyndham.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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Water district hosts study group

COSTA MESA — Mesa Consolidated Water District officials are looking for a few good water ambassadors.

Mesa Water is offering a free water issues study group starting Feb. 15 through May. The classes lead by Mesa Water experts will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month in the boardroom, 1965 Placentia Ave.

“So many people turn on their tap and have no idea how the water gets there,” said Mesa Water Board President Fred Bockmiller.

– Sarah Peters, @speters01, Daily Pilot

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Daigle requests for Newport to reexamine 19th Street Bridge

Despite passionate public outcry from Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa residents about revived talks of the proposed 19th Street Bridge, Newport Beach council members are slow to distance themselves completely from the project.

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle is requesting the city reexamine the bridge — which would alleviate traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway and Victoria Street bridges — ahead of either reaffirming the city’s position to support it or come out against it.

“We’re taking it up as an accommodation to our neighbors in H.B. who are impacted by traffic,” Daigle wrote in an email. “I indicated to them Newport may affirm their position, but I would get them a yes, no or alternative solution.”

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Group wants Ellis off Fair Board

COSTA MESA — It seems all the dust hasn’t settled from the state’s failed attempt to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds and the Fair Board’s effort to buy it in 2009.

The Orange County Fair Preservation Society, a grass-roots group of residents and various fairgrounds stakeholders, is circulating a petition that calls for Gov. Jerry Brown to remove David Ellis from the Fair Board.

“We just feel that we can’t really turn our backs on what occurred with the fairgrounds,” said society member Greg Ridge, referring to Ellis’ role in creating a nonprofit to buy the property after it went on sale in 2009. “We feel that he’s lost the trust [of the public].”

The petition began circulating about a month ago but its backers did not know Tuesday how many people had signed it.

– Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Hurley, Costa Mesa team up for charity

Jason Maloney, a renowned artist and art director at Hurley, designed a new Costa Mesa city seal that will be used for T-shirts, the proceeds of which will go to Waves For Water. (SCOTT SMELTZER, Daily Pilot / January 24, 2012)

Jason Maloney’s art is no stranger to the city of Costa Mesa. His artwork, which he calls “Tim Burton meets Dr. Seuss,” greets patrons at Wahoo’s Fish Taco on Bristol Street as a mural encompassing an entire facade.

Now his hand will be seen in a piece integral to the city: its seal.

The city approached Maloney, who is Hurley’s art director, about reinterpreting the visual representation of the “city of the arts” and Maloney jumped at the chance.

The seal incorporates Maloney’s recognizable linework and character Tippsy the elephant. He ditched the boats and orange groves from the original seal, opting for a spray can, headphones, a surfboard and skateboard — what he calls “pillars” of the Costa Mesa he knows.

“The stuff in there doesn’t really make sense anymore. The oranges exist only in the grocery store,” he said with a laugh. “Costa Mesa has a certain grit to it that I wanted to bring out.”

– Joanna Clay, @JoannaClay, Daily Pilot

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School board fires Hubbard

Acting Supt. Paul Reed, left, school board President Dave Brooks and school board Vice President Dana Black report their decision to terminate Supt. Jeffery Hubbard after a special closed session Tuesday. (KEVIN CHANG, Daily Pilot / January 24, 2012)

Newport-Mesa Unified’s convicted superintendent was terminated Tuesday afternoon in a special board meeting, the board’s president said.

Board President Dave Brooks said the board unanimously voted in closed session to terminate Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard effective Monday, when he was convicted of two of three felony charges.

A jury convicted Hubbard, 54, of misappropriation of public funds related to his previous job as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

Hubbard wasn’t at the special board meeting Tuesday.

The board also unanimously approved a motion to add an item to appoint an interim superintendent to its regular closed session agenda.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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