Week in review

NEWPORT BEACHRelay for Life volunteers inspire support for causeRelay for Life volunteers helped kick off the upcoming American Cancer Society fundraiser with Paint Your Town Purple day Tuesday.

Several city employees as well as those involved with the event sported purple T-shirts and some circled the county in a Hummer limousine distributing information about cancer and the event, set for May 19 and 20 at Newport Harbor High School.

Getting ready for work got a little easier for female servers at Lawry’s Five Crowns in Corona del Mar, after the restaurant swapped its elaborate chambermaid costumes for more professional and comfortable uniforms on Tuesday.

The plunging neckline of the former costume — sometimes likened to the look of a “lusty wench” — was replaced by a high-collared blouse and fitted vest, and the short dress and petticoat were scrapped for a black, knee-length skirt.

Although 15 patrons signed a letter indicating they were “heartbroken” over the change, annual surveys of restaurant guests have demonstrated a desire for more conservative and modern attire for the female servers.

“People’s comments have been really positive so far … and servers say it is much more comfortable and they feel much more elegant and professional,” general manager Chris Szechenyi said.

A longtime city police officer recently filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging he didn’t get promotions and was discriminated against because he initiated investigations against other officers, some of whom were fired.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Neil Harvey, a 25-year department veteran, also claimed in the suit that he was harassed because he was unmarried and colleagues said he was gay.

The suit asks for an unspecified amount of money to compensate Harvey for pay and benefits he believes he should have had from promotions, and for pain and suffering.

The city requested an outside investigation of Harvey’s claims, but none were substantiated, City Manager Homer Bludau said.

Leaders of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa last week received recommendations on two areas slated for annexation. Staffers of the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, which decides annexations, on Thursday put out suggestions for West Santa Ana Heights and Banning Ranch, two unincorporated areas the cities have fought over for years.

Commission staffers recommended putting off a decision on Banning Ranch and gave three options for West Santa Ana Heights. Those ideas will be discussed Wednesday, along with a “global solution” from Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach that would get those areas and two others annexed to the cities.

COSTA MESACity Council approves tract map for developmentA housing development planned where the closed El Camino shopping center now stands can move forward, after the Costa Mesa City Council last week approved a final tract map for the project. Residents have been wondering since late 2005 if the project would go forward.

Finalizing plans has taken time, and developers said Tuesday they’re still looking for a builder to construct the 24 homes slated for the site. But city officials said the developers have invested a substantial sum in the project so far and now will have a year to start getting permits to begin building.

A federal immigration agent at Costa Mesa Jail in April found 45 people suspected to have violated immigration laws, according to city police records. In the five months that an agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has checked the immigration status of people booked at the jail, about 218 people have been identified as possibly in violation of immigration laws.

Bloomingdale’s opened its sixth — and largest — Southern California store on Friday at South Coast Plaza. And continuing a company-wide tradition of community involvement, it hosted a fundraising gala Wednesday evening that raised more than $155,000 for the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Education and Community Outreach programs.

The three-level, nearly 300,000-square-foot store offers apparel for men, women and children, a home store, a wedding registry, a Louis Vuitton outlet and more.

The first 100 customers in line for the 9 a.m. opening received breakfast. One lucky shopper received a $1,000 gift certificate in her bag, and others received free samples and complimentary gifts as they shopped.

EDUCATIONFormer President Jimmy Carter speaks at UC IrvineFormer U.S. President Jimmy Carter spoke to students and faculty at UC Irvine on Thursday, answering questions about his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” and urging students to get involved in the Palestinian cause.

Carter, the third president to speak at UCI, spoke to a packed audience in the Bren Events Center.

At one point, he said that politicians were often wary of discussing Palestine because they were afraid that it might cost them support. He said students could help the cause by campaigning for human rights in Israel.

The speech drew a warm reception inside the Bren Events Center, but a number of audience members said afterward that they took issue with Carter’s views. Karin Kahen, the co-president of Anteaters for Israel, said her group was trying to bring pro-Israel speaker Alan Dershowitz on campus to voice the other side of the story.

“We’re hoping that if we find a speaker to present our side, the administration will support us,” Kahen said. “If they don’t, it just shows they come from a biased standpoint and they’re not willing to support both sides.”

UC Irvine has officially disbanded its Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity, nearly two years after a Cal Poly Pomona student died of head injuries sustained in a football game with UCI members of the group.

Kenny Luong, 19, was a pledge attempting to help start a chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon at his school when the incident occurred in August 2005. UCI put the fraternity under suspension soon after and launched an investigation of Luong’s death. Last week, communications director Leslie Millerd Rogers announced that UCI had disbanded the fraternity.

“They were disbanded because of policy violations including hazing and physical abuse,” she said.

Luong’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in April against UCI and the national and local chapters of Lambda Phi Epsilon. UCI officials said the lawsuit did not affect the university’s decision to discontinue the group.