Briefly in the news

Eron Ben-Yehuda

After making sure everyone was having a howling good time, Huntington

Beach approved a license last week for Dog Beach, ending a yearlong

probation.

City officials have been monitoring the stretch of sand between Seapoint

and Goldenwest streets after complaints were made last year about animal

droppings and animal fights. The problems prompted police and lifeguards

to suggest barring canines, said Ron Hagan, the city’s community services

director.

But the beach has been kept so clean and safe since then that the

Community Services Commission voted 10-0 to allow the dogs to continue to

frolic on their turf, he said.

Much of the credit goes to a nonprofit group named Save Huntington Dog

Beach, which came to the rescue by helping with cleanup and making sure

dogs don’t stray outside the beach boundaries, he said.

“We’ve done all the city wanted us to do and more,” said Martin Senat,

the group’s president.

His group has installed 22 bag dispensers to help collect dog droppings,

which fill up 2,000 bags a day, he said. The city has an estimated 20,000

dogs, he said.

But some rules still need to be better enforced, Hagan said. The dogs

have to remain leashed at all times, even in the water, which bothers

some dog lovers, he said.

Town hall meeting to discuss El Toro

Huntington Beach will host a town hall meeting about the proposed

international airport in El Toro at 7 p.m. today.

The event, sponsored by the Orange County Regional Airport Authority,

will feature Marine Corps pilot Tom Wall, who will offer a history of the

planning process and an overview of the alternative uses for the former

air base in South County.

The meeting will be held in rooms B-7 and B-8 of City Hall, 2000 Main St.

For more information, call 834-5376.