OC Blog News Roundup - July 3, 2008
Posted by: Jubal | 07/03/2008 8:34 AM
Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:Secret Tapes Of Former OC Sheriff Contain Racist And Coarse Language (LAT)
Partial transcripts reveal Michael Carona repeatedly using a slur and calling 'phenomenal' sex one of the perks of being sheriff.
School District Gets $1.5 Million In Flooding Lawsuit (OCR)
A flood at Yorba Linda school in 2004 left classrooms and school grounds unusable.
New Sheriff Tells South County Residents To Stay Alert (OCR)
Sandra Hutchens warns those in safe communities to avoid complacency.
Pastor Celebrates 5 Years As Mission's Leader (OCR)
Pastor and executive director have brought big improvements to historic Mission San Juan Capistrano, with more on the way.
Buena Park Opts Out Of Animal Control (OCR)
City using outside service to gather, shelter strays.
Where Does OC Rank In Hi-Tech Job Market? (OCR)
Orange County has more than 100,000 high-tech jobs, ranking it 14th nationally among major metropolitan areas.
Price Spikes For Upper Newport Bay Dredging (OCR)
Delays and rising fuel costs lead to multimillion-dollar increase. Project will be halted if more funding doesn't arrive soon.
Traffic Flow Not A Problem In Lake Forest Master Plan (OCR)
City Council approves general plan amendment and zone changes for city's long-awaited Opportunities Study.
Methods Detailed For Curbing John Wayne Airport Noise (OCR)
New report recommends different flight paths, state-of-the-art planes, to bring relief to Costa Mesa and Newport Beach residents.
City Staffer Works To Reduce Irvine's Carbon Footprint (OCR)
Chandra Krout is helping draw up a climate change action plan to reduce Irvine's carbon footprint. Once complete, she'll let other cities make copies.
Condos Near Completion, But Will There be Buyers? (OCBJ)
Skyline at MacArthur Place, the twin condominium towers developer Nexus Cos. is putting up in its hometown of Santa Ana, is expected to wrap up construction by September.
Perspective With The NB Police Chief (DP)
Tuesday marked one year to the day that Newport Beach Police Chief John Klein was sworn into office.
Congressman To Present Bill For A Break (DP)
Seeking to fight the high costs of fuel for many commuters, Rep. John Campbell unveiled a plan Wednesday that would return to workers some funds spent on commuting.
Citizen Of The Week (OC Weekly)
Naked burglar attempts murder because Satan told him to.
CATEGORY:
Daily News Roundup - 2008
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
When former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona was indicted on federal corruption charges, he proclaimed loud and clear that he would be vindicated. Since then, his attorneys have worked long and hard (and up till now unsuccessfully) to get most of the evidence excluded from the trial (scheduled for August). First they tried to get tape recorded conversations between Carona and his former crony, Don Haidl, thrown out on legal grounds. Now that that has failed, they are still trying to get certain tapes thrown out on the grounds that they "likely to offend and anger the jury".
I'll say!
In these conversations, Carona (who has called himself an evangelical Christian) is heard using racial epithets, vulgarity and bragging about his high-flying life style and sexual exploits as OC Sheriff.
"......Not that I haven't, you know, drank some great wine, and had great booze and ...got some, you know phenomenal (sex) along the way."*
Of course, the issue to be decided is whether the tapes prejudicial nature outweighs their probative value. As today's Orange County Register pointed out in its editorial, the very corruption charges leveled against Carona revolve around his acceptance of various gifts and favors while in office. Carona's attorneys argue that these conversations are irrelevant.
Meanwhile, Orange County has appointed a new sheriff, Sandra Hutchens, to try and clean up the squalid mess left behind by the man Larry King on Life Support once called, "America's Sheriff".
* OC Register editorial Local p 6 dated July 7, 2008
gary fouse
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