Rohrabacher gets flood control funds - Los Angeles Times
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Rohrabacher gets flood control funds

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Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Chris Cox have successfully lobbied

President George W. Bush for continued federal funding of the 20-year

Santa Ana River flood control project.

Bush has included $19.8 million in funding for four such projects

in his budget covering the 2003-04 fiscal year, which would begin

Oct. 1. The money would, local officials hope, go toward removing

Orange County’s flood-plane designation from the area that requires

homeowners to shell out at least $800 per year for flood insurance.

“Anything they can do will certainly help eliminate what seems

like a nonsensical flood plane [designation],” Councilwoman Debbie

Cook said. “Every time we have rain, we have flooding here.”

Rohrabacher, who represents Surf City, and Cox (R-Newport Beach)

are also readying a second round of funding requests for other local

environmental projects. Those would need to be submitted by the end

of the month.

Among those in Bush’s budget include a $15.7 million outlay to

build dams and shore up levies in the river. The federal government

has, with the lobbying of local congressional representatives, been

funding a 20-year effort to protect Surf City, Costa Mesa, Fountain

Valley and other communities that would be hit hard in the event of a

100-year flood.

Significant portions of Huntington Beach lay in a flood plane,

putting many neighborhoods at risk during a catastrophic flood.

Other funding for river projects includes $3.8 million for

flood-control efforts in the river basin, which extends beyond Orange

County’s borders to Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside

counties.

Bush is also requesting $150,000 for an environmental restoration

survey of the river basin and $150,000 for an environmental survey of

the upper Santa Ana River watershed.

The men must, by the end of the month, submit any additional

requests for funding. The second round of funding would be included

in an appropriations bill from the Veterans Administration and

Housing and Urban Development and Energy and Water committees.

-- Paul Clinton

Animal rights group to present new program

A local animal rights organization will unveil plans for a new

program at the City Council meeting Monday that will reduce

euthanasia of animals and help to relocate strays.

Save Our Strays of Huntington Beach was recently granted city

funding for a spay and neuter micro chipping program, the first of

its kind in Orange County.

The program, which will begin Saturday, will make spaying and

neutering animals and installing microchips more affordable for Surf

City residents. It will provide spaying and neutering services for

$30 and microchipping identification for $5.

Microchips are injected under the animals’ skin and contain a

number that can be identified and called into a national database to

obtain permanent information about the animal and its owner.

“Spaying and neutering reduces the number of animals being born

and microchipping reduces the number of animals without homes,” said

Karen Chepeka, president of Save our Strays. “It will mean less

animals going to the shelter and less animals being euthanized.”

Save our Strays will also be hosting microchip clinics on March 29

and April 26. For more information, visit their Web site

www.saveourstrayshb.org.

-- Jenny Marder

Council meeting will focus on labor relations

The City Council will hold a special workshop on Friday to learn

how to better handle labor negotiations.

Richard Whitmore, partner at the firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, a

law firm that specializes in employment and labor relations will host

the workshop.

Topics will include methods for organizing negotiations,

strategies for achieving negotiation objectives and techniques to

manage negotiation impasses. Former state law and court decisions

that involve labor relations will be examined as well as legislation

that deals with labor disputes between local government employers and

employees.

The meeting will be held at 1 p.m.. in rooms C and D of the

Central Library, located at 7111 Talbert Ave.

-- Jenny Marder

OCTA adds several Surf City routes

Changes were made in the Orange County Transportation Authority’s

bus system Sunday, several of which affect Huntington Beach riders.

Route 29, which runs from Brea to Huntington Beach via La Habra

and Beach Boulevard, has added a new short trip on Sundays that will

operate from the Brea Mall at 9:53 p.m. to Beach and La Habra.

Four full-length one-way trips have been added on Saturday to

route 33, which runs from Huntington Beach to Fullerton via Magnolia

Street.

Northbound trips will now run starting at 8:32 a.m. and 7:05 p.m.

and southbound trips starting at 7:17 a.m. and 6:13 p.m. will be

added.

Route 35, which runs from Fullerton to Huntington Beach via

Brookhurst Street will add four full-length one-way trips on Saturday

and four on Sunday. The new northbound trips Saturday will start at

8:08 a.m. and 6:35 p.m. with southbound trips starting at 7:17 a.m.

and 6:13 p.m.

On Sunday, the schedule will widen to include northbound trips

starting at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and southbound trips starting at 7:30

a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The transportation authority has also discontinued route 80, which

runs from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa via Hamilton Avenue and

Victoria Street and will combine it with route 173.

-- Jenny Marder

Springdale Reservoir up and running

Surf City’s new $9-million gallon Springdale Reservoir has been

filled, tested for leaks and disinfected, and is now in full

operation. The final touches, such as landscaping around the

reservoir, will be completed over the next few weeks.

Springdale reservoir is the second reservoir to be built in

Huntington Beach in the last two years as part of the city’s Water

Master Plan.

Using the same booster pumping station as Peck Reservoir, its

purpose is to provide the city with drinking water and also water for

emergency storage.

A dedication ceremony will be scheduled for June.

-- Jenny Marder

Traffic signals effected by renovation

A city renovation project has resulted in many traffic lights in

the city being out of sync with one another.

Many lights were disconnected from master computers that

synchronize timing between traffic signals, in order to move the

system to a centralized computer, which will be located at City Hall.

Traffic signals will be back to normal within the next two months,

said Bob Stachelski, the city’s transportation manager.

This conversion may result in some prolonged waiting at lights in

the north and west sections of the city.

-- Jenny Marder

Dozens gather for Women’s Day

Several dozen women came together at Harbour View Park Saturday to

celebrate International Women’s Day along with other events

throughout the world.

The Surf City event included peace prayers, crystal bowl

meditations and music, featuring female musicians Elivia Melodey and

Karie Hillery.

About 35 women of all ages and faiths were present, said the Rev.

Melody Heart, co-facilitator for the Huntington Beach event.

Women also brought images and words expressing their vision of

peace, which were combined to create a Gather the Women collage.

Gather the Women is a grass-roots movement that was started in

2002 by members of the group, Women of Vision and Action.

“The purpose was to connect women all over the planet to bring

world peace and to take action in the community on how you want the

world to be,” Heart said. “It’s starting to snowball that women can

make a difference to bring world peace to the planet.”

-- Jenny Marder

Surf City charities each receive grants

PacifiCare Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has donated

$10,000 to two Huntington Beach organizations.

Project Self-Efficiency and Communities in Schools Orange County,

each received a donation of $5,000.

Project Self-Efficiency will use the grant money for job training,

school fees, children’s back-to-school assistance and child care.

Community in Schools Orange County will put the $5,000 toward a

program that is designed to increase self-esteem and improve

performance of at-risk students through counseling.

PacifiCare Foundation has donated millions of dollars over the

past 10 years to community-based organizations dedicated to

charitable educational causes.

-- Jenny Marder

Character awards offered to youths

The Huntington Beach Children’s Task Force is accepting

nominations for awards that will honor children for their strength of

character.

Anyone can nominate a praiseworthy child by completing a

nomination form and attaching a brief statement describing why the

nominee is an example of a good character.

Nominees must be in kindergarten through the 12th grade and must

be Huntington Beach residents.

Nearly 150 youngsters have been awarded with Youth Character

Awards since 2001.

Applications can be obtained from the Community Service

Department, at the Huntington Beach Civic Center and will be accepted

through April 18.

-- Jenny Marder

Art Center opening gets large turnout

More than 120 guests attended the opening for the new art exhibit

at Huntington Beach Art Center Saturday, which has simple forms and

color as its theme.

The artists, Dawn Arrowsmith and Carlos Estrada-Vega, each have

their own exhibition, entitled “Circle Paintings” and “Squares and

Cubes” respectively.

Baja Fresh provided refreshments and Gregg Goodhart played

acoustic guitar.

The exhibition will be at the center until April 12.

-- Jenny Marder

Mobile home board seeks new members

The Mobile Home Advisory Board is seeking applications to fill two

vacancies, created in January when two members resigned.

Applicants are limited to Huntington Beach residents.

The board, which reviews mobile home park issues and provides a

forum for park residents, is made up of residents from Surf City’s 18

mobile homes, park owners and community representatives.

Mayor Connie Boardman and Councilman Dave Sullivan serve as

liaisons to the board and will select the board’s new members.

To obtain an application, contact the Economic Development

Department at (714) 536-5542.

-- Jenny Marder

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