Key lawmaker pulls support for fairgrounds deal

COSTA MESA — Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) has decided not to stand by Costa Mesa City Hall’s attempt to purchase the Orange County Fairgrounds and is asking the governor to drop the sale all together.

The statement comes as a blow to sale supporters, as Solorio has become the point person in the Assembly on the issue and was expected to carry or support legislation that would enact the city’s deal. Another politician could pick up the legislation without his support, but no one has stepped up yet.

Solorio, who has been heavily invested in the issues surrounding the sale and was expected to file legislation to allow Costa Mesa to buy the fairgrounds, said in a prepared statement released Tuesday that he made many suggestions to help address the fate of the 80 full-time state employees who work at the fairgrounds and has provided ways to strengthen the governance provisions in the deal.
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Two girls critically hurt by alleged drunk driver in Santa Ana

OC Family to Offer Reward for Woman Missing in Hawaii

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — A reward fund was being set up Tuesday to help find an Orange County woman who has been missing in Hawaii since September 1st.

45 year old Nola Rebecca Thompson disappeared on the island of Kauai.

Friends and relatives said the Rancho Santa Margarita woman flew to the Hawaiian island on Aug. 28, where she was planning on spending her birthday on Aug. 31.

In the Pipeline: A look at Endless Food & Fun, which is coming to Huntington Beach

By Chris Epting, Huntington Beach Independent columnist

“The buffet will be about 100 feet long and will extend down that way.”

Andrew Pereira, a local entrepreneur, is guiding me through the vast space of a single-story structure that seems to stretch for miles. The building is adjacent to the Thomasville Home Furnishings store at 7227 Edinger Ave. in Huntington Beach, and though it is hot and sunny outside, inside it is cool and dark and small earthmovers are clearing mini-mountains of dirt.

Construction workers are making like busy bees throughout the complex, welding, hammering, sodering and, in general, converting the empty space into something Pereira hopes will help transform the city – or at least this part of the Edinger corridor.

But I ask to ask again. A 100-foot buffet?
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Newport Beach pedestrian hurt in L.A. accident

A Newport Beach man was hospitalized in stable condition after he was hit by an SUV while running across the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles early Sunday morning.

It happened just after midnight Saturday near Barham Boulevard.

The 31-year-old man was running east across the freeway when he was hit by a 200 Ford Explorer driven by 33-year-old Canoga Park woman.

Neither of their names has been released.

Investigators are trying to determine what the man was doing on the freeway.

The freeway’s northbound lanes were closed for about an hour as the CHP investigated.

Orange County D.A. fires the man he was grooming to succeed him

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas has fired the man he was grooming to succeed him and, in a departure from what he promised voters earlier this year, will run for reelection in 2014.

Rackauckas had previously announced that 2010 would be his last term. Five years ago, he said the same thing about the 2006 term.

Todd Spitzer, a former assemblyman and Orange County supervisor, was at one point Rackauckas’ hand-picked successor and has worked at the prosecutor’s office since last year, moving between assignments apparently to get on-the-job experience.

First day of school in Corona del Mar

From Corona del Mar Today

Harbor View’s largest student body in recent years arrived at school Tuesday morning for the first day of the new year. Camera-toting parents escorted them to class, then gathered in the school’s multi-purpose room for coffee and volunteer sign-ups.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited about the first day of school,” said Principal Charlene Metoyer. “The first day has been wonderful. The children are happy, the parents are happy and the teachers are happy.”

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2 Costa Mesa teens stabbed at Santa Ana party

Two Costa Mesa teenagers were stabbed early Monday morning during a melee at a party in Santa Ana, authorities said.

Officers responded to a house party at about 1:15 a.m. and found people fighting in the street, according to Santa Ana police Cmdr. Steve Colon.

Ultimately, they found two youths, age 14 and 18, with multiple stab wounds to their upper bodies.

An investigation determined that the pair was leaving a party of 50 to 75 people, Colon said, when someone threw a beer bottle and hit the older teen in the head.

Fighting ensued.

The Costa Mesa teens were transported to a local hospital. Colon said that the younger teen was in more serious condition, and at one point his survival was in question.

After doctors stabilized both victims Monday they have been steadily improving, he said.

Huntington Beach police, firefighters announce endorsements

The Huntington Beach police and fire unions have endorsed nearly the same candidates for this year’s election, with the two groups differing only on a single council member.

The Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. and the Huntington Beach Firefighter’s Assn. announced this week that they support incumbent Joe Carchio, former Mayor Connie Boardman and Planning Commissioner Fred Speaker for the council. The police union gave its fourth nod to Jim Katapodis, a sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department, while the firefighters tapped Planning Commissioner Blair Farley as their fourth choice.

The unions also favored incumbent Jennifer McGrath for city attorney, city Treasurer Shari Freidenrich for Orange County treasurer and Mayor Cathy Green, who will be termed out in November, for the Orange County Water District board. The groups also recommended a “no” vote on Measure O, which would amend Huntington Beach’s charter.
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Huntington Beach logistics firm needs to find its niche

Marc Schnell is a fixer.

Companies such as Quiksilver Inc. and Smashbox Cosmetics have hired his logistics firm to take care of problems with incoming goods. He has, to cite some examples, hired temporary workers to replace too-small snaps on a shipment of 10,000 shorts that came into a company from Asia, repair 200,000 kids’ lamps with faulty wiring and shrink-wrap thousands of individual boxes of cosmetics for distribution to exacting retailers.

But now Schnell needs a fixer himself.
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