Week in Review

August 10, 2006

(Page 3 of 4)

The median prices of new and resale houses and condos in Costa Mesa climbed 5% in June 2006, compared with June 2005 figures.

Newport communities ? except Corona del Mar, which showed a 1% increase ? showed a slump in the prices of new and resale houses and condos sold in June, with Newport Coast decreasing more than 5%. Firsttime buyers competing for entry-level housing in Costa Mesa, Galitski said, may be driving prices up. Speculators may also have an effect on the sliding prices in Newport Beach, Galitski said.

WEEK OUT

PUBLIC SAFETY

Drive-by shooting leaves 1 dead, 4 wounded

A Costa Mesa neighborhood was shocked by a violent shooting that resulted in one man's death and the injuries of four others Wednesday night. As of Friday, police had not arrested a suspect and had provided little information about the events that night.

Israel Maciel, 23, was killed, and four others were shot in the alley behind an apartment complex in the 1300 block of West Baker Street Wednesday. Witnesses told police the shots came from a Chevrolet Impala that left the area. Maciel, who worked at Jack's Surfboards in Huntington Beach, died at the scene.

The shooting was Costa Mesa's fourth homicide this year. In all of 2005, there were three reported homicides.

Skylar Deleon, the Long Beach man accused of masterminding the plan to murder Newport Beach couple Tom and Jackie Hawks, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he solicited the murder of two of his relatives.

Deleon, 26, was charged July 28 with putting a hit out on his father, John Jacobson Sr., and his cousin, Michael Lewis. Deleon, who has been in custody since December 2004, allegedly asked a fellow inmate to carry out the murders.

Police believe Deleon schemed with others to kill Tom and Jackie Hawks, a retired couple who lived aboard their yacht in Newport.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

"When you have job centers, soup kitchens and a high concentration of downscale rental units, it drives the city down, and I favor a multifaceted approach to include stronger gang enforcement and overlay-zone revitalization, and I also think a social worker holding the hand of a hardened gang member has not worked in other cities."

? Allan Mansoor, Costa Mesa mayor, reacting to a drive-by shooting in an alley off West Baker Street on Wednesday that left one dead and four injured

"I grew up here, and I've never heard anything like this before. And there's no reason; that's the sad part."

Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next

|

|

|