Sailing group to investigate Aegean crash

The organization that governs sailing announced Monday that it would conduct an independent review of the incident that killed four during the Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race.

US Sailing appointed a five-person team to the Independent Review Panel at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard of San Diego in response to the April 28 accident, the group said in a statement.

The Aegean’s crash resulted in the first fatalities in the 65-year history of the race. The men killed were Kevin Rudolph, 53, of Manhattan Beach, William Reed Johnson, 57, of Torrance, Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, of Bradenton, Fla., and the boat’s skipper Theo Mavromatis, 49, of Redondo Beach.

The panel will interview sailors who took part in the race and focus on safety and equipment and set forth a set of recommendations, said US Sailing spokesman Jake Fish.

US Sailing is working in tandem with the Coast Guard in the investigation, Fish said.

The results are expected to come in late June.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

Family, friends work to ‘Bring Austin Home’

When Austin Brashears was ready to take off for New Zealand, his mother’s boss lent him a small item for his travels: a backpack. The Huntington Beach resident had arranged a semester abroad, and he didn’t intend to spend all his time outside class lounging in the dorm.

“He was not going to be laying around playing Xbox,” said Debbie Kagawa, chief financial officer of Capital Resources & Insurance, Inc., where Brashears’ mother has worked for more than 10 years. “He was going to be out seeing people.”

Now Kagawa, who joined so many others in seeing Brashears off, is part of a group working soberly to bring him home.

Brashears, who graduated from Marina High School in 2009, died Saturday along with two others when their minivan rolled over on a New Zealand highway. The Boston University student’s family and friends have launched a campaign titled Bring Austin Home to raise the funds to fly his body back to the United States.

Kagawa, who oversees the campaign’s PayPal account, said more than $7,000 has come in since she put it online Sunday.

–Michael Miller, @MichaelMillerHB, HB Independent

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H.B. native among 3 dead in New Zealand accident

Morningside hit with orders to stop operations

Eight properties operated by Morningside Recovery have received letters from state authorities ordering them to stop operations.

If the two facilities in Costa Mesa and six in Newport Beach don’t comply with the cease-and-desist letters dated April 23, the Newport-based company could incur fines of $200 daily per facility, according to the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The letters are among several measures the department has taken to prevent Morningside from continuing normal operations, including a temporary suspension order and documents seeking to permanently revoke the recovery center’s license.

The center received the letters May 1, said Morningside attorney Mary Helen Beatificato.

Morningside allegedly used its sober-living homes, which do not require state licenses, for licensable services that included treatment, counseling and recovery planning, said ADP spokeswoman Suzi Rupp.

Sober-living homes are designed for people recovering from a chemical addiction to live together in alcohol- and drug-free environments to support each other and maintain their sobriety. Such facilities do not need licensing and are protected by federal and state fair-housing laws.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

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Laguna plans budget workshop for Tuesday

The city’s economic outlook and a draft budget prepared by City Manager John Pietig will be reviewed by the council and open to public comment at a 3 p.m. workshop Tuesday at City Council chambers, 505 Forest Ave.

“Laguna is experiencing some economic recovery,” Pietig wrote in his conservative summation of the city’s economy for fiscal year 2011-12 and projections for 2012-13.

Pietig cautioned that the projected percentage of increases in sales, bed and property tax revenue for the current fiscal year are not expected to continue. However, Laguna is keeping its head above the choppy financial waters thanks to reductions in spending over the past few years and the improving revenues from taxes.

The proposed budget is balanced with revenue and net transfers to the General Fund totaling $47,133,000 and expenditures of $47,062,000. Revenue for the beginning of the 2012-13 fiscal year, including dedicated funds, is estimated at $7.7 million, with estimated expenditures of $7.1 million.

Property taxes are the city’s major source of income, accounting for 55% of the revenue in the General Fund.

–Barbara Diamond, Coastline Pilot

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Inspections net 71 violations at massage parlors in H.B.

Recent inspections of 20 massage parlors in Huntington Beach uncovered 71 municipal code and building safety violations, and at least three parlors are facing temporary closure.

The May 5 inspections were part of an ongoing investigation regarding allegations of prostitution and human trafficking, according to a report posted on the Huntington Beach Police Department’s Facebook page. The social media posting was confirmed by Police Chief Ken Small.

No arrests were made for prostitution or trafficking.

“Everybody knows that trafficking is taking place,” Small said, adding that it’s often difficult to get victims to cooperate with police out of fear of retaliation.

Women involved in prostitution at massage parlors are often forced into it as a way to pay off the debt they owe to those who brought them to the United States, he said.

Employees performing massages with customers’ genitalia exposed were among the violations noted during the inspections, as were masseurs and businesses operating without proper licenses.

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Women who traveled to NYC on stolen check sentenced

A pair of roommates who stole a check from a Newport Beach law firm were convicted and sentenced to three years of formal probation and 305 days in jail Thursday, authorities said.

Alexa Antonella Polar, 35, and Robin Johzen Pabello, 34, lived together in Garden Grove in 2011 when they stole a $19,500 check and changed the amount to more than $285,000, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The women used the money to charter a private jet to fly them and several friends to New York, pay for five hotel rooms near Times Square, and go on a spending spree at Tiffany & Co. and Montblanc, prosecutors said.

The check was addressed to a Newport Beach law firm, where Polar worked as a paralegal at the time of the theft, prosecutors said.

Polar and Pabello also used fraudulently obtained cashier’s checks to buy a 11,000-square-foot house in Murrieta, according to the D.A.’s office.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

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Students plan to protest social host ordinance in Laguna

Laguna Beach High School students are challenging a proposed municipal law that would hold adults responsible if underage drinking takes place in their homes.

The proposed social host ordinance would fine adults whether or not they are present when teens drink.

LBHS students opposed to the proposal say they are not advocating for underage drinking — quite the contrary. They argue that the proposed city law does little to combat the root problems of underage drinking and that the community needs to provide more activities for minors.

The City Council, citing other cities adopting similar ordinances, directed staff to draft the ordinance May 1. The ordinance does not refer to parents, only to anyone 18 or older who controls the property where underage drinking occurs.

Groups such as the PTA, local principals and the city’s Community Coalition spoke in support. Out of the 17 speakers, 13 were in favor.

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot

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Two men killed in separate collisions in H.B.

Two men were killed and several people including an infant were injured in two separate Huntington Beach car crashes that happened within 24 hours of each other.

Abraham Perez, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday after a collision at Bolsa Chica Street and Tasman Drive, Lt. Mitch O’Brien said. The driver of an orange 1973 Ford Bronco lost control, crossed over the center divider and hit Perez’s silver 2000 Honda Civic.

The 20-year-old Bronco driver, whose name has not been released, was in the car with her 7-month-old daughter. The woman was treated for minor injures, but the baby sustained severe injuries and remains in critical condition, according to police.

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Foley: Stephens will run for Costa Mesa City Council

Attorney John Stephens will run for Costa Mesa City Council in November, school Trustee Katrina Foley confirmed Thursday.

“I can tell he’ll do a great job, he’s community-minded, he’s smart,” she said.

Stephens, who practices law in Newport Beach, could not be reached for comment.

Stephens, 49, raised his political profile in March when he teamed up with Foley, a friend, to legally challenge Costa Mesa’s push to get a proposed city charter on the June ballot after it missed the filing deadline.

Stephens and Foley, a former councilwoman, were among others who petitioned the court to not give the city a deadline exception. The judge sided with them and pushed the city charter onto the November ballot at the earliest.

Stephens has lived in Costa Mesa for 23 years and has run his own law firm for 14 years. Foley said he plans to file candidacy papers next week.

—Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot