Circle of Service accepting applications The City...

Circle of Service accepting applications

The City of Costa Mesa is currently accepting nominations to

commemorate deceased residents who had contributed their service to

the city. The city encourages families, nonprofit organizations and

businesses to nominate residents who provided significant services to

Costa Mesa.

The Parks and Recreation Commission and the City Council will

consider all nominations and select two award winners from the

applicant pool. The Circle of Service will hold its induction

ceremony at the Mother and Child Fountain in Lions Park on July 29.

Applications are due through Feb. 24. For further information on

the nomination process, contact Robby Waite at (714) 327-7525.

Home buyer program has funds available

The City of Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency announced the

availability of funds for the agency’s Home Buyer Assistance Program

for first-time home buyers. The program offers down-payment

assistance of up to $40,000. To qualify, the home buyers must provide

at least 3% down payment, have sufficient income and qualify for a

first mortgage with a private lender.

To find out more, call the Housing Hotline at (714)754-4892.

Access announces board appointments

Project Access announces its recent appointment of four community

leaders to its board of directors. Project Access is a program

founded in 1999 that provides health, education and social services

to residents of low-income housing developments across Southern

California.

The new members each have their specialties that directly benefits

the goals of the program.

One of its newly appointed board member is Juan Araque, a youth

development specialist and program administer with the Orange County

Department of Education. He also had experience in the fields of

education, inter-organizational relations and statistical diagnostics

for more than a decade. Another board member, Herbert Rosenblum, has

more than 25 years of experience in management of large apartment

developments. Project Access also enlisted the help of Charles Vega,

who is an assistant clinical professor and acting residency director

of family medicine at UC Irvine. The other board member is Michael

Schumacher, who worked for Orange County for more than 30 years as

chief probation officer, director of the Orange County Health Care

Agency, and as county executive officer.

These new members will contribute to the programs provided by

Project Access, including adult literacy, English as second language,

computer and job training.

MLB announces deal with Tickets.com

A company owned by Major League Baseball announced Tuesday a

merger deal with Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com.

MLB Advanced Media, LP, baseball’s Internet company, is slated to

issue an offer to buy outstanding shares of Tickets.com stock for

$1.10 per share. Tickets.com sells tickets to live events over the

Internet and trades over the counter using the ticker TIXX.PK. The

company’s stock price climbed 25 cents to $1.08 Tuesday.

Theater Department chair honored for work

Vanguard University theater arts department chair Susan K.

Berkompas was honored in late January by the Kennedy Center American

College and Theater Festival Board as a 2004 Excellence in Theater

Education Award recipient.

The award recognizes faculty members who have proven themselves to

be outstanding educators. The Kennedy Center board of directors

presented Berkompas with the honor at a festival in Phoenix.

The award came a month after the university learned that its

production of “The Lion in Winter” was one of six shows selected from

a pool of 165 college competitors to perform at the Kennedy Center

festival, a national theater program involving 18,000 students.

Berkompas is the producing art director of the show, which debuted

last spring. In the production, she plays the wife of King Henry II.