Police break up homeless camp in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa Sgt. Vic Bakkila, left, and senior Officer Larry Fettis find a pellet gun rifle, among other items, in a homeless encampment under the 405 Freeway near the Santa Ana River. (Don Leach)

A Costa Mesa homeless encampment adorned with animal rights posters and graffiti could shelter suspects connected to a recent spate of burglaries, police said Thursday.

Police discovered the elaborate encampment beneath a San Diego (405) Freeway underpass where the Santa Ana River meets Moon Park, 3377 California St.

Officers believe eight men have been living in the encampment for about two years, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Vic Bakkila.

Police came upon the camp after an officer saw a suspicious-looking man go under the overpass, according to Bakkila.

Authorities had increased patrols in the area because of a recent increase in burglaries.

In the encampment, police found a cache of bikes and watches, although where the items came from and whether they were stolen was immediately unknown. Police were working to determine whether the items were connected to the recent burglaries.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

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‘American Idiot’ musical to hit Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Gabrielle McClinton (Whatsername), center, is joined by other cast members of "American Idiot." (Photo by Doug Hamilton)

Punk band Green Day skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s, but is winning over an entirely new audience with its latest offering: a Broadway musical.

But their “American Idiot” is a far cry from “Camelot.” It’s a gritty, urban-inspired show that uses the same punk songs that made the band famous, and adds more than a smattering of simulated drug use, strong language and other adult situations.

“American Idiot,” which arrives in Costa Mesa on May 29, follows the lives of three disaffected suburban youths: Johnny, Will and Tunny.

The country’s residents are riveted by their television sets, and the boys want a way out. Johnny and Tunny move to the big city, where Tunny soon is brainwashed by an Army recruitment ad, shipped off to war, and wounded. Johnny, in the meantime, discovers heroin — and love. Passive-aggressive Will stays at home to support his pregnant girlfriend, but takes his solace in beer and pot.

The musical is based in part on Green Day’s 2004 “American Idiot” studio album, and more specifically with the song that became “Homecoming.”

The three band members spent a day in the studio creating solo 30-second songs, which later merged and connected into the song, and inspired a full concept album akin toThe Who’s”Tommy” orAndrew Lloyd Webber’s”Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Michael Mayer, the director of the wildly successful modern musical “Spring Awakening,” heard the album and approached the band about adapting it for the stage. It had a successful run on Broadway before being launched as a nationwide touring production.

–Candice Baker, Special to the Daily Pilot

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Tourism conference: O.C. cities should work together

Sibling rivalries are expected, and to a degree, beneficial, but when it comes to tourism in Orange County cities, the message Wednesday was all about working together.

“Of course, we’ll keep working individually too — I still want to keep my job,” Gary Sherwin, president and chief executive of Visit Newport Beach Inc., joked while speaking at the fourth annual Tourism Conference, organized by the Orange County Tourism Council (OCTC) at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.

Overall, speakers encouraged the audience — and each other — to work together to develop “The OC” as a global brand and destination for international visitors.

“We’re talking about this wonderful shared asset called Orange County,” Sherwin said to the audience. “When you hear ‘The OC’ anywhere in the world, you know what they’re talking about — they’re talking about us. And we take a lot of pride in that.”

Panelist Judith Bijlani, president and chief executive of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau, pointed to the county’s miles of beaches, many art museums and galleries, and shopping as several of the key components making up “part of the OC experience,” a tagline she encouraged local businesses to adopt.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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Mansoor accuses opponent of willingness to work with unions

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor speaks at a Surf City Tea-sponosored forum at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) told a conservative group Monday that he believes his Republican opponent in the June 5 primary will bow down to unions and special-interest groups in Sacramento.

During a Surf City Tea-sponsored forum in the Huntington Beach Central Library, Mansoor said Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who is running against him in the 74th Assembly District race, supports unions and raising taxes.

“That’s a clear difference between me and my opponent, who calls herself Republican,” he said.

Daigle said Tuesday that there is no basis to Mansoor’s claims.

“There’s nothing in my record of public service that suggests I’m a tax-raiser,” she said. “I would say that together with my colleagues, we’ve gotten more pension reform [in Newport Beach] than Allan [did when he was on the Costa Mesa council].

“Several of the employee groups are now paying their full share of their employee pension, and we’re in the process of working with police and fire, and we anticipate reaching an agreement by the end of the month.”

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Costa Mesa man, dog found dead in minivan

A 44-year-old man and his dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon in his minivan that was parked in his Costa Mesa driveway, according to authorities.

He could have been there for two or three days, authorities said.

About 3:15 p.m., a gardener went to the man’s house in the 2600 block of Riverside Drive to do some work when he found the man apparently dead in his Toyota minivan.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies said that the man appears to have died from health-related issues, and his death was not considered suspicious. All the windows in the van were up, and authorities could not immediately say how the dog died.

The man’s father had last been seen him alive two or three days ago, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Hazardous Materials team initially responded to the scene but was later called off.

The man’s identity was not immediately available. The coroner was responding to the scene.

— Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

Eat Chow expands to West Newport

Eat Chow has opened a second location on 62nd Street in West Newport, pictured here. (Don Leach)

A popular Eastside Costa Mesa restaurant has expanded into Newport Beach with a menu geared toward the grab-and-go surf crowd.

Eat Chow’s new location — described by owner Brian McReynolds as “modern Californian cuisine, like a gastropub with Mexican food” — on 62nd Street in West Newport is having an invite-only, grand-opening party Thursday to celebrate. The restaurant is Eat Chow’s second, the first being at Newport Boulevard and 18th Street, which opened about four years ago.

A soft opening in Newport was held April 23. So far, the response has been positive, McReynolds said.

“We’re keeping the same menu as Eat Chow One, but we’re slowly incorporating more beach food and hand-held food,” he said. “More tacos, more sandwiches, and for breakfast, more grab-and-go items for surfers and people in the community.”

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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O.C. couple plead guilty to faking death to get benefits

Santiago and Rosa Carrasco. (Orange County district attorney's office)

A Santa Ana husband and wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of faking the man’s death to steal more than $400,000 in death benefits, authorities said.

Santiago Carrasco, 52, and Rosa Carrasco, 54, were accused of traveling to Mexico in the summer of 2004 to obtain a phony death certificate stating that he died of a heart attack there, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

In September 2004, Rosa Carrasco began collecting death benefits on behalf of her husband, according to prosecutors. She was charged with receiving the money while the couple were living together in Santa Ana.

Rosa Carrasco worked at a retail store in South Coast Plaza, while Santiago Carrasco was a truck driver based out of Fontana.

Prosecutors said the Carrascos were collecting the benefits up until their arrest Aug. 1, 2011.

Each was sentenced to two years in custody and two years of mandatory supervision after they are released, the district attorney’s office said. The couple was also ordered to pay more than $413,000 in restitution.

— Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times

Fitzpatrick resigns from Costa Mesa Planning Commission

Jim Fitzpatrick reacts after hearing that his fellow board members at the Costa Mesa Sanitary District voted in closed session to seek a court order to have him removed from the board Feb. 28. (Scott Smeltzer)

Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Jim Fitzpatrick resigned from his post Tuesday to keep his seat on the city’s Sanitary District board, according to a letter sent to Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever.

“My colleagues feel that I have violated my franchise with the voters and have sued me personally and as a director for allegedly serving in an ‘incompatible’ office as city planning commissioner,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “They are using ratepayer monies to sue me, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills, with the goal of overturning the results of last election [sic].”

Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick’s fellow directors on the sanitary district took aim at his dual roles, pointing to two separate legal opinions — one from the district’s counsel and another from an outside consultant — which found there was a potential conflict of interest in the two positions.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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19th Street bridge back on map

The proposed bridge between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach originally thought to be deleted from Orange County’s master plan is back after a vote by the Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday.

Following a motion by Huntington Beach Mayor Don Hansen and seconded by Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, the OCTA board voted 17 to 0, with Supervisor Janet Nguyen abstaining, to pull back from deleting the 19th Street bridge from the county’s master plan, which dates back to the 1950s.

The change could be only temporary, OCTA officials said.

The board is expected to take up the issue again within six months, after OCTA staff work with the county, California Department of Transportation, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach on a traffic study to find other congestion-relieving options besides a bridge over the Santa Ana River in Westside Costa Mesa.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Costa Mesa continues outsourcing efforts

The Costa Mesa City Council will consider Tuesday whether to outsource five city services, more than a year since the wheels were first set in motion amid furious protests from city workers and local activists.

City staff are recommending Costa Mesa outsource its jail services and street sweeping but keep its animal control, building inspections and video production in-house.

Staff recommend that the city contract with G4S Secure Solutions, a worldwide company owned by Danish security firm Group 4 Falck. According to the city staff report, the city ignored an unofficial offer to partner with Newport Beach for jail services and picked G4S over one other private bidder.

The company’s proposal could save Costa Mesa more than $600,000 annually in the long run, but in the short term it would be about $410,000 because the city would likely have to keep a police sergeant on staff for the first year to oversee the transition to the firm.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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