Baker Street

Young Chang A reported robbery at a frozen yogurt shop on 17th Street in Costa Mesa unfolded into a short chase that ended in the 100 block of Baker Street on Saturday morning. Joseph Michael Fanelli, 39, was arrested on charges of robbery when Costa Mesa police caught him a few minutes after he allegedly fled the store. Officials said the Aliso Viejo resident asked for change at the yogurt venue, grabbed the cashier's arm and took money from the open register.

AREA 1 - Baker Street: An act of vandalism was reported in the 1300 block at 10:51 p.m. on Saturday. Harbor Boulevard: A petty theft was reported in the 2200 block at 6:26 p.m. on Sunday. Baker Street: An act of vandalism was reported in the 2800 block at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday. AREA 2 Bristol Street: A petty theft was reported in the 3300 block at 8:37 p.m. on Saturday. Irvine Avenue: A grand theft was reported in the 1600 block at 3:58 p.m. on Sunday.

For 10 hours a day, Hildegard Provence could be found at Mutter's, a Costa Mesa cafe that dished up plates of bratwurst, fried potatoes, stuffed cabbage, and other hearty delights. The German proprietor subscribed to the belief that her customers "had to be well-fed and they have to be happy." Provence ran the Baker Street cafe for 20 years before plans to create a condominium project forced her to close her doors in 1979. The yellow Formica counters and German travel posters that decorated the cafe were torn up, but Provence took the stove of the restaurant with her. "My stove is coming with me," she said.

COSTA MESA — Police continued the search Tuesday for a bank robber. A man walked into a Chase bank in the 1400 block of Baker Street about 1:15 p.m. Monday and slipped a teller a note demanding cash and threatening to brandish a gun, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Phil Myers. The man took off with $700 without revealing his gun. No one was injured in the incident, Myers said. Police described the man as white, with a bandage over his nose, 160 pounds, between 26 and 27 years old, and 5 feet 10 inches tall.

Alicia Robinson For some residents of Baker Street in Costa Mesa, success at petitioning the city for parkway trees has bred a new petition drive. This time the goal is one many Newport-Mesa neighborhoods share -- slowing down traffic. After getting the city to plant trees in the public right-of-way earlier this year, about three dozen residents -- mostly on Baker Street between Royal Palm Avenue and Mesa Verde Drive East -- are taking a quick next step.

A downed power line slowed traffic and forced a number of drivers onto the freeway following a construction-related accident in Costa Mesa on Friday morning. Costa Mesa Transportation Service Manager Raja Sephuraman said the power line went down during construction on Fairview Road just south of the 405 Freeway. The city’s contractor, Griffith Company, was working on the project to widen the road when a crane came into contact with a control line — a line used to support the pole.

Costa Mesa police arrested a man Thursday on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting his ex-wife's boyfriend. Carmen Mendez-Silva, 34, of Santa Ana and a second man beat the victim with a pipe or bat Wednesday and threatened him with further harm if he did not move out of his Costa Mesa apartment, police said. The victim was then allegedly placed in the trunk of a car and driven to Huntington Beach, where he was released. Police were initially called to the Fillmore Way home of Mendez-Silva's ex-wife on a child custody issue.

COSTA MESA — Police continued the search Tuesday for a bank robber. A man walked into a Chase bank in the 1400 block of Baker Street about 1:15 p.m. Monday and slipped a teller a note demanding cash and threatening to brandish a gun, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Phil Myers. The man took off with $700 without revealing his gun. No one was injured in the incident, Myers said. Police described the man as white, with a bandage over his nose, 160 pounds, between 26 and 27 years old, and 5 feet 10 inches tall.

AREA 1 - Baker Street: An act of vandalism was reported in the 1300 block at 10:51 p.m. on Saturday. Harbor Boulevard: A petty theft was reported in the 2200 block at 6:26 p.m. on Sunday. Baker Street: An act of vandalism was reported in the 2800 block at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday. AREA 2 Bristol Street: A petty theft was reported in the 3300 block at 8:37 p.m. on Saturday. Irvine Avenue: A grand theft was reported in the 1600 block at 3:58 p.m. on Sunday.

COSTA MESA — Poop is her biggest seller. To be exact, fake poop is the most popular item year-round. It's sold by the piles, said Sherry Newberg, owner of House of Humor. The magic, gag gift and costume shop on Baker Street has been a backbone of Costa Mesa festivities for decades. While Newberg has owned the store for 27 years, its history goes back about 50 years with a prior owner, she said. "[The prior owner] made a lot of money before there were pop-up stores and Party City," Newberg said.

Closing and selling the Baker Street firehouse to save money and cut costs is out of the question for Fire Chief Mike Morgan as it would reduce response time and create long term problems for the department. The proposal to sell the firehouse is one of 19 suggestions the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. came up with to help the city close the projected $16.4-million budget deficit it is facing next year. "It would increase paramedic response time into those residential areas south and north of Baker," Morgan said.

Elsie Pauly died at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian on April 6, 2010 after a short illness. Born in Wahpeton, ND in 1923, she was the youngest of eight children. She is preceded in death by her husband, Leo Pauly and six of her brothers and sisters. Surviving is her sister, Edith Thimjon of Omaha Nebraska. Also surviving Elsie are her daughter and son-in-law, Cynthia and David Hughes of Newport Coast, CA. Family was most important to Elsie and she dearly loved her three granddaughters and their families: Heather and Jack Flanagan and their children, Hannah and Sean; Melissa and Chris Evans and their daughters, Tatum and Reagan; and Holly and Tom Horning.

Submitted by C. Colley  Bristol Park Medical Group, one of Costa Mesa’s oldest and most respected primary care medical groups is re-opening its Costa Mesa location with a new building on June 15, 2009. The original office was torn down last year with the plan to rebuild on that spot. Located at 722 Baker Street, on the northwest side of the Bristol and Baker Street intersection, the new office will house four family medicine physicians and a pediatrician. Like its other locations, the Costa Mesa office will offer the convenience of laboratory and routine x-rays services available on site.