El Toro

Stephen Stewart's letter provides his partisan beliefs about air traffic in Orange County ("Sounding Off: El Toro airport would have been a loser," Sept. 2). Stewart asserts that since John Wayne Airport (JWA) traffic is down 8% (due to the recession), this proves that there was no need for a larger airport at El Toro. This reasoning does not include all the facts. JWA is a small airport with a single 5700-foot runway that can accommodate only medium-sized airplanes. El Toro has two 10,000-foot runways and two 8,000-foot runways (they are still there)

Let me be the first one to give kudos to Donald Nyre for finally writing a letter without his tired old trademark mention of "turn on the lights" at El Toro ("Mailbag: More JWA passengers not wanted," Aug. 27). Also, kudos to Nyre for finally realizing what most of the county has known all along: we never did and never will need additional airport capacity. He affirmed this by saying, "Next year's capacity limit of 10.8 million annual passengers is not expected to be reached until 2022, according to the FAA's latest Terminal Area Forecast for John Wayne Airport.

In her eloquent letter about El Toro, Bonnie O'Neil seems to assume Newport Beach will remain an airport victim if El Toro is not opened, ("Losing the airport war will spoil our community," Jan 8.) I believe somewhat the opposite is true, since 60% of Irvine is closer to John Wayne Airport than it is to El Toro. You see, the runway at John Wayne Airport points in the wrong direction for flights to the east, and without El Toro, pilots can turn and will turn before flying on and on the wrong way. The upside for no El Toro is that South County becomes available for aviation flying to and from John Wayne Airport.

I am 100% in favor of the use of El Toro as an international airport. I think Mayor James Hahn should be commended for his latest attempts to save this valuable asset. All of Orange County would benefit from the use of the existing airport when converted to an international one. Rep. Christopher Cox should hang his head in shame for not representing the entire population of his district instead of the monied few he seems to prefer. I hope the voters will remember this when election time comes around.

COSTA MESA -- A tribute can mean more than victory. In the case of Newport Harbor High boys basketball coach Larry Hirst, it's the journey that will last over the end result. "We were willing to give away home-court advantage for the experience of playing on this floor," Hirst said, referring to the hardwood at Vanguard University, formerly Southern California College, where Hirst and El Toro Coach Todd Dixon played their collegiate ball. In the championship finals of the Bill Reynolds Tournament, Dixon's Chargers defeated Hirst's Sailors, 57-44, on neutral ground at VU. With a big fourth quarter, revved up El Toro (7-0)

Hold on to your seats. And your caps. The grounded roller coaster has been patched up enough that we can take another ride on the El Toro Express. Meanwhile, the Agran Ark launched on the lake in the Great Park has sprung a leak. And the victory champagne Rep. Chris Cox was sharing with his Navy and development pals has gone flat. The new ride may be bumpy, but at least there's movement. So climb aboard. All this, of course, because Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has asked the federal government to allow him to run a commercial airport at the closed El Toro Marine Air Base, where Cox and his beloved "private sector" are setting up shop.

Esther Fine Charles H. Loos may have been a journalist at one time, but his Aug. 2 letter (Community Commentary, "El Toro isn't the only option for an international airport," Friday) certainly lacked the required investigative qualities necessary for providing good reporting. Loos questioned the money spent on the planning and promoting of an El Toro airport, finding it a waste that could have gone for more welfare programs or infrastructure projects.

Steve Virgen Momentum was a huge factor in a high-powered, evenly matched CIF Southern Section Division I boys water polo quarterfinal Saturday morning. Almost every time Newport Harbor High seemed to have grabbed it, El Toro was there to steal it back. Coach Don Stoll's Chargers were also opportunistic and made more key plays to earn a 10-7 victory over Newport at El Toro. The Chargers (23-6), champions of the South Coast League, collected three goals in which each of the tallies came less than 19 seconds after the Sailors had scored.

Susan McCormack SANTA ANA -- Elected officials from two counties, aviation experts, activists, academics and more convened Tuesday to do something virtually unheard of in recent months: discuss the past and future of the El Toro issue in a peaceful, organized fashion. However, state Assemblywoman Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) managed to incense Newport Beach airport supporters by suggesting that after John Wayne Airport's noise and size restrictions expire in 2005, it be expanded to between 18 million and 24 million passengers a year to meet the county's air transportation needs.

IRVINE - El Toro High senior goalie Garrett Danner called it a risk. Newport Harbor Coach Robert Lynn called it a gamble. When Danner came out of the cage in the closing seconds of Wednesday night's CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal match, there were two possible outcomes. The first was that the Sailors' Dan Stevens would beat Danner in the closing seconds for the second time this year, possibly forcing overtime. The second was that Danner would steal the ball, helping ensure a Chargers victory.

NEWPORT BEACH - The Newport Harbor High boys' water polo team fell behind for the first time midway through the fourth quarter. The Sailors' three-goal halftime lead was long gone. They needed something to counter the momentum of visiting El Toro in Saturday afternoon's key nonleague game. In fact, the Sailors waited until the waning seconds to deliver the counterpunch to knock out the Chargers. It came, fittingly enough, on the counterattack. Junior Dan Stevens scored with 15 seconds left as Newport Harbor won the wild game, 10-9, in a battle of CIF Southern Section Division I powers.

IRVINE — Laguna Beach artist Jorg Dubin looked at the weathered El Toro Marine Corps Air Station runways and saw not decay or land seeped in political controversy, but a "Blue Heaven. " His unique perspective will be unveiled to the public Saturday at the inaugural exhibition of the newly constructed Great Park Gallery and Palm Court Arts Complex. Sculptures and 18 oil-on-canvas representations of the Marine air base, including "My Blue Heaven," "House of Blue Lights" and "LVF-18," are included in the show "Plane Air Power," which runs through Oct. 16. The exhibit's title is a play on words derived from the 20th century style of California plein air painters and incorporating the history of the base and those who lived there.

IRVINE — The City Council has approved a $250,000 master plan to build the Orange County Great Park Museum of Heritage & Aviation. The Orange County Great Park Board Corp. had approved the plan in December. The museum will commemorate Marines and other military personnel who served at and visited the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, according to a staff report. After the council's approval during Tuesday night's regular meeting, city staff were directed to come back to the park's board of directors in 180 days with a proposed plan for implementing the project and building an interim site for the museum, according to the report.

Less than a month into his new job as Corona del Mar High's football coach, Scott Meyer has assembled a staff. And he is very happy about his assistants. Dan O'Shea joins the Sea Kings as the defensive coordinator after spending six years at Trabuco Hills. O'Shea helped Trabuco Hills reach the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division finals in 2009 and in 2007 as well as advance to the semifinals in 2006 and 2008. Kevin Hettig is the offensive coordinator and will be in charge of the wide receivers.

"The Great Picture" made its international debut at the Art Museum at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing on March 8. The world's largest silver gelatin print, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records, captures the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and future Great Park in Irvine. At three stories high and 11 stories wide, the photograph was developed in 2006 using a developing tray the size of a swimming pool. The muslin that it's printed on was imported from Germany from one of only two mills in the world that could create it. A hanger converted into a pinhole camera took the shot.

NEWPORT BEACH — The ball rarely touched the water as the Newport Harbor High girls' water polo team passed it along the perimeter early, waiting for the right opportunity. First junior Maddy McLaren buried a shot from about seven meters, then senior Catherine Carpenter scored bar-in from about eight. Even unplanned plays were working. As the first quarter drew to a close, senior Mary Rose Wight found the corner of the net from mid-tank. Everyone got into the action as the Sailors posted perhaps one of their most impressive wins of the season, 14-5, over El Toro on Saturday morning at Newport Harbor.

EL TORO — No matter how hard Chris Whitelegge tries he can't block out the painful memory of last year's loss in the CIF Southern Section Division I boys' water polo game. But to him it isn't so damaging. No, instead it serves as motivation for this season. When Saturday came and El Toro (16-2) played host to Newport Harbor (15-2), Whitelegge, the Sailors' goalie, chose to block out the Chargers from his cage. Whitelegge recorded 14 saves and led a relentless defense that shut down the Chargers for a 6-4 nonleague win. "I thought about it a lot before the game to get myself motivated," Whitelegge said of last year's 11-9 loss to El Toro in the Division I title game.

IRVINE — The U.S. Navy did not detect toxins beneath the former El Toro Marine Base's runways and progress is steadily being made on a plume of contamination beneath other sections of the former base, residents were told at last week's City Council meeting. The Navy plans to reevaluate its findings every five years, and if traces of trichloroethylene (TCE), a chemical solvent used on the base in the 1970s, are detected in new areas, the Navy will continue to clean it up, said Jim Callian, Navy Base Realignment and Closure environmental coordinator for El Toro.

Stephen Stewart's letter provides his partisan beliefs about air traffic in Orange County ("Sounding Off: El Toro airport would have been a loser," Sept. 2). Stewart asserts that since John Wayne Airport (JWA) traffic is down 8% (due to the recession), this proves that there was no need for a larger airport at El Toro. This reasoning does not include all the facts. JWA is a small airport with a single 5700-foot runway that can accommodate only medium-sized airplanes. El Toro has two 10,000-foot runways and two 8,000-foot runways (they are still there)