WEEK IN REVIEW

ORANGE COUNTY FAIR

Fair sees record-breaking attendance this year

The 2007 Orange County Fair closed up shop Aug. 5 with a record-breaking attendance of 1,069,052.

Fair staffers are already planning for next year, when the theme will be “Say Cheese.”

Since opening day:

PUBLIC SAFETY

Newport Beach police show off their equipment

Newport Beach police showcased their best gadgets and tools when they with the public for the annual National Night Out Tuesday, which was held in Bonita Canyon Sports Park.

Hundreds of area residents stopped by to get to know their local law enforcement officials. Kids crowded around booths where Crime Scene investigators showed them how they lift fingerprints off of a clear surface.

The team also displayed a number of their techniques, including a magnetic fingerprint powder that almost stands on end when magnetized and ultraviolet flashlights that are used to detect harder-to-see evidence, such as traces of blood.

Three men arrested in alleged credit card fraud

Costa Mesa police arrested three men on suspicion of credit card fraud at South Coast Plaza on Thursday evening.

The men were stopped by police after fleeing Bloomingdale’s and stepping into a getaway car, police said. Investigators found about 30 fraudulent cards and credit and debit card counterfeiting equipment in their vehicle, police said.

EDUCATION

Harbor High landmark Robins Hall comes down

The walls finally came tumbling down at Newport Harbor High School Thursday morning, as a construction crew began demolishing Robins Hall, the iconic building that has dominated the Newport Beach campus since 1930.

The rest of the building, including the famous clock tower, waited to be torn down at a later date. Craig Scaringi, the project manager for McCarthy Building Co., said the entire demolition should be complete by September.

BUSINESS

Triangle Square to undergo major renovations

Triangle Square, the Costa Mesa mall that has struggled to make ends meet since opening in 1992, announced plans for a sweeping renovation Friday. Under the proposal, the shopping center would eliminate nearly half of its retail space, demolish the Edwards movie theater, redesign its exterior and walkways and add residential units.

Greenlaw Partners, the Newport Beach firm that purchased the mall last year, had previously mentioned a desire to overhaul the property and install housing, but Friday marked the first time the owners had specified their plans.

If the city approves the redesign, construction could begin as early as next year, spokeswoman Kelly Foster said.

City officials, who have watched Triangle Square lose tenants and business over the years, said they were excited by the proposal.

OCPAC sees record profits from ticket sales, donations

The Orange County Performing Arts Center announced a number of milestones for the 2006-07 fiscal year, officials announced before their annual members meeting Thursday.

The nonprofit earned a record $22.2 million in ticket revenues over the last 12 months, in part because of the opening of the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in September and the Samueli Theater in October. The Center Fund also raised $10.8 million in donations.

NEWPORT BEACH

St. James Church continues legal battle with diocese

St. James Church filed a petition with the California Supreme Court on Monday, continuing a legal battle with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles that began in 2004.

St. James was one of three Southern California churches to appeal to the high court, hoping to reverse an appellate court decision that gave the diocese control of the churches’ properties.

St. James disassociated with the Episcopal Church in 2004 to affiliate with the Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican Province of Uganda.

Investigation continues in golf course crash

California Highway Patrol investigators are looking into a spectacular crash Tuesday evening that ended with a Ford Mustang flipped over on the Newport Beach Golf Course.

A Ford Mustang and a Ford Taurus collided on Bristol Street as they approached the Irvine Avenue/Campus Drive intersection.

Investigators are considering whether it was a case of road rage.

No one has been cited in the case, but the drivers of the two cars involved in the collision are offering different accounts of what happened, authorities said.

COSTA MESA

Sanitary District board raises sewer fees by 50%

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District board voted Monday to raise sewer fees to customers by 50%, retroactive July 1. The fee hike will cover sewer system maintenance and compliance with mandates to avoid sewage spills.

Under the new fees, single-family homeowners will pay nearly $19 more a year, so the annual bill would be a little more than $56.

Fireworks ban, hotel bed tax won’t be on 2008 ballot

Measures to ban fireworks and hike the city’s 6% hotel bed tax won’t appear on the ballot in 2008, after the council voted 3-2 to nix the proposed issued from Councilwoman Linda Dixon.

Dixon said she brought up the fireworks issue because residents have complained about it often over the years, and Mayor Allan Mansoor in July sought to place an elected-mayor measure on the ballot after only one person suggested it. But the council majority, led by Mansoor, didn’t see the need to put the question of fireworks to voters.

POLITICS

County should have no trouble with voting machines

As other counties face extensive lists of changes to get their electronic voting machines recertified by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Orange County will have fairly smooth sailing, said Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley. Bowen decertified all systems statewide Aug. 4 and set conditions under which each system could be recertified for use in upcoming elections.

Notable Quotables:

“I don’t think it’s changed a lot. Much of it has stayed the same. I’ll tell you, though, the weird thing is, they’re doing way too much with the fried foods these days.”

— Marla Long

longtime Costa Mesa resident visiting the fair on closing day Aug. 5.

“I was up in that bell tower years and years ago. It’s hard for me to believe it isn’t safe anymore.”

— Ed Richardson

a 1940 graduate of Newport Harbor High School, watching Robins Hall being demolished Thursday.

“We’ve had 21 consecutive years in the black, which is a remarkable number for an arts organization.”

— Michael Gordon

chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s board of directors.

“You muy amable somebody, you’re getting free chips and salsa.”

— Spanish teacher William Harvey

instructing students on how to speak to waiters during a session at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center (“muy amable” means “I appreciate it”)

“My father was a salesman for many years, and he told me, ‘If you’re honest, and if you believe in what you’re selling, it’s not difficult to do.”

— Michele Roeder

of Newport Beach on successful fundraising

“Basically when you have an experience like that, it turns you upside down.”

— Jan Harzan

director of the Orange County chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, on a close encounter he had when he was 10.

“I guess people don’t expect a politician to lampoon themselves.”

— Assemblyman Chuck DeVore

on the reaction he got when he took a family portrait and had it transformed so that he and his loved ones would look like Simpson characters.