Gains and Losses

GAINS

WHERE SMILES ARE NEEDED

It started with just six people and has grown to 43. The Volunteer Clowns

of Orange County -- a group of locals who visit foster homes, hospitals

and senior centers -- brings joy to whomever needs it. “Wherever the need

is, we want to go,” said Bunny Richards of Fountain Valley, who founded

the group.

CRIME TAKES A DIVE

The latest statistics from the FBI show that crime in Huntington Beach

dropped 21.4% from January to June of last year. Violent crimes such as

rape, homicide, assault and robbery dropped even more -- 30.2%.

LUNCHTIME LEARNING

About a dozen fifth-graders at Plavan Elementary School in Fountain

Valley forgo their lunchtime antics so they can learn more about their

friend, Evelyn Carballo, a visually impaired classmate who helps teach

them Braille. “I sit next to Evelyn in class, and I thought it would be

fun to learn how to write notes to her,” said Ammon Orgill, one of the

students in the group who call themselves the Braille Club. About a third

of Plavan’s students are in special education programs, and many -- like

Evelyn -- are mainstreamed into regular classrooms.

LOSSES

BACTERIA STILL A MYSTERY

Results from a UCI study into the bacteria that forced the closure of the

city beach last summer did little to pinpoint a cause. While the study

showed Talbert Marsh to be a “significant” source of the contamination,

it suggested there are other sources to the problem. “The smoking cannon

is still out there somewhere,” said Stanley Grant, who led the study.

Even worse, he warned there could be a repeat of the problem this summer.

“I have no reason to believe that history won’t repeat itself,” he said.

WAL-MART DEBATE

They gave their arguments and contradicted each other’s points, and in

the end it’s going to be up to the voters to decide which side they

believe in the Wal-Mart debate. Measure I asks voters whether the closed

Crest View school site should be rezoned from commercial to residential.

If the voters say it should be rezoned next month, then Wal-Mart will

have to abandon its plan to build a 150,000-square-foot complex there.

The two sides of the issue faced off in a debate that is airing on

HBTV-3.