WEEK IN REVIEW

BUSINESS

Restaurateurs deny receiving bad beef; ‘list not definitive’

Local restaurants and retailers protested their appearance on a government list of possible buyers of recalled beef from a slaughterhouse in Chino.

The list, posted online by the state Department of Public Health, named 16 Newport-Mesa businesses, including Hooters, the Ayres Hotel, Taco Mesa, Taco Rosa and the Albertsons in Corona del Mar. After the list’s publication, several business owners said the information was inaccurate and that they had never done business with vendors who bought from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

“It’s a state list,” said Douglas Ayres, founder of the Ayres Hotel. “How accurate is the state in anything? How well does the government run anything?”

Lea Brooks, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health, said the list was not definitive and that the government had compiled the names by getting customer lists from vendors who dealt with the Chino plant.

 The Airport Working Group spent most of its annual meeting Tuesday night addressing John Wayne Airport and its expiring caps on capacity, its curfew and noise level.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach insisted he was in accordance with the group to keep the caps in place and extend the contract, which is set to expire in 2015.

The airport is not expanding to include a new terminal and other construction priced at about $500 million, Moorlach said. The airport is built to accommodate more than 8 million passengers, but handles more than 10 million. The additions are intended to meet current capacity, he said.

EDUCATION

Student veterans at UCI discuss perspectives on war

The Veterans Student Union at UCI had a public forum Thursday to address myths and stereotypes surrounding the military and the Iraq war. A full lecture hall of students, faculty and community members posed questions to the students who had varying experiences while in the military and overseas.

Students addressed racism, the G.I. bill, military culture, the Iraq war, politics, mental health and transition from life in Iraq to life in the U.S. Audience members listened intently as the students were candid in their opinions.

Students felt the event was a success and were discussing putting on another forum for spring quarter.

COSTA MESA

Board delays research to talk to locals about tower

The Orange County Fairground’s board of directors postponed an Environmental Impact Review that would assess the effects of a controversial sightseeing tower proposed at the fairgrounds, saying they would prefer to talk to the community.

College Park neighbors said it would be a blemish and invade their privacy. Staff insists that the tower would serve as a fun attraction.

NEWPORT BEACH

OK, now it’s official: Council votes to keep ‘B’

Nothing like a citywide referendum and the threat of a lawsuit to unify a City Council fractured by debate. Although they were divided before on where to build a new city hall, the City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to support the voters’ decision to approve Measure B, which dictated city hall will be built on city-owned property next to the central library on Avocado Avenue.

Some speculated the council vote could make moot a local activist’s legal challenge to the measure because the lawsuit asserts that the council, not voters, should decide where the city hall ought to go.

Adopted 1/1 Marines appreciate special dinner

Newport Beach welcomed back its adopted troops from the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines this week. The soldiers, at a dinner in their honor, told their benefactors how much they appreciate the creature comforts sent to them while in battle.

“We truly are the most spoiled battalion in all the Marine Corps,” Lt. Col. Jeff Conner, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines at Camp Pendleton. The troops had been stationed in Habbaniyah, near Fallujah, since last summer.

Former Mayor Steve Bromberg, who adopted the battalion during his tenure, said the City Council’s intention at the time was to provide exceptional treatment for the Marines and their spouses and children. The city adopted the battalion in 2003.

POLITICS

Locals say sewer-fee hike stinks; officials defend vote

The Orange County Sanitation District board of directors passed a 61% raise in sewer rates over the next five years, saying the revenue is necessary to secure aging infrastructure and build necessary projects countywide.

The 17-6 vote will raise rates $20 every year until 2013; single-family residences will pay $201 in 2008-09 — up from the current rate of $182.

Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle serves as an alternate on the board of directors. She voted in favor of the fee hike because it will fund projects residents asked her council to emphasize in a 2007 survey, she said.

“The kinds of improvements that the fee increase will be funding are consistent with what the residents want the council to emphasize: maintenance of the bay and beaches,” she said in an e-mail

Detractors say the raise is too much, too fast, and that projects could be funded with long-term financial planning with a lesser burden on residents.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Former Angels star wanted back for arrest warrant

The St. Louis Cardinals released infielder Scott Spiezio, best known locally for his three-run World Series home run for the Angels, after Orange County officials issued a warrant for his arrest. Spiezio faces charges of hit-and-run, driving under the influence of alcohol, assault and battery after an evening of drinking in a Newport Beach bar. Spiezio, 35, a utility infielder and sometimes outfielder with the Cardinals, is accused of leaving a Newport Beach bar after midnight Dec. 30, getting into his 2004 BMW and then recklessly driving to his Irvine home, according to Orange County prosecutors.

 Michael Conley, Costa Mesa bar owner and singer for the Orange County 1980s punk band MIA, died after he was found with head wounds outside a suburban Chicago motel.

Conley, 48, was discovered lying in the parking lot by a motel guest about 5:40 a.m. Thursday. He was taken to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead 6:25 a.m.

The longtime Costa Mesa resident owned The Avalon Bar and revitalized the Westside economy.

Chicago officials await the result of a toxicology report.