Sage Hill student is honored by magazine...

Sage Hill student is honored by magazine

Eric LaMotte, a senior at Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, was

named by OC Family magazine as one of Orange County’s 20 Shining

Students for 2005.

LaMotte, 18, of Huntington Beach, had the highest grade-point

average this year at the Newport Coast private school and also

founded its Honor Committee. He plans to attend Wesleyan University

in Connecticut this fall.

The magazine’s website quoted LaMotte as saying that he often

races to class “because I want others to see that they, too, can let

themselves be free at school, and I know that this freedom is a truly

remarkable thing.”

OC Family has run its Shining Students profiles in the June issue

for the past seven years. Schools send nomination letters to the

magazine, evaluating students on educational achievement, involvement

on campus and potential for the future.

Minimum wage hike bill passes Assembly

A bill that would mandate automatic increases in the state’s

minimum wage passed in the Assembly on Thursday over the objections

of Newport-Mesa representatives.

Assembly members Van Tran and Chuck DeVore both voted against the

bill, which passed by a 42-26 vote, according to a preliminary tally.

If signed into law, the bill will raise the minimum wage from $6.75

to $7.75 by July 2007. The bill calls for annual minimum-wage

increases based on inflation.

The bill has yet to be approved by the state Senate or Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger. Last year, the governor vetoed a minimum-wage

increase proposed by San Jose Democrat Sally Lieber, who also wrote

the current minimum-wage bill.