Election

In his initial years as president, Barack Obama was quick to blame all of our failures on George Bush. But after three years in office, he takes none of the credit/blame for our financial woes, high unemployment, low wages and our involvement — not in one — but four costly wars. The president rushed to the TV cameras to take credit for his giving the order to the Navy SEALs to take out Osama bin Laden. However, there was no rush to the TV studios to take any blame/credit for the death of 30 Navy SEALs.

The battle between two Republican congressmen for a local seat in 2012 will not happen, according to the state's new legislative maps finalized Monday by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) said he plans to run next year for the new 48th Congressional District, a coastal bloc that includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and parts of Huntington Beach. The 12-term congressman will not have to face off against Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine)

COSTA MESA — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) will run for re-election in 2012, members of his staff said Wednesday, dispelling rumors that he might retire at the end of his current term. The congressman, who last year moved from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa, could face off in a territory reshaped by redistricting. The fiery 12-term Republican is out of the country while a citizens group looks to change his and other representatives' constituencies. Created by state voters in 2008, the 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission is tasked with revamping California's state and national districts with the latest census results instead of leaving the revamping up to lawmakers.

COSTA MESA — Accusations from a city councilman and a resident that police intimidated them during the November 2010 electoral season for supporting then-candidate Jim Righeimer were unfounded, an outside investigation concluded. In a letter to Councilman Eric Bever and resident Chris Eric on March 21, officials with the Costa Mesa Police Department's internal affairs division said that an investigation by Norman A. Traub Associates had cleared officers of any wrongdoing. Bever and Eric claimed that two officers in a squad car cruised by them three times and took pictures of them as they posted Righeimer campaign signs on a chain-link fence off Superior Boulevard and 17th Street.

A Hoag Hospital heart doctor has been elected chair of the Board of Governors for the American College of Cardiology, a 39,000-member national nonprofit medical society, Hoag officials said in a news release. Dr. Dipti Itchhaporia, who has directed disease management for the Hoag's Heart & Vascular Institute since 2001, will work with the College of Cardiology board's immediate past chair and current chair to help set the agenda of the society's state chapters, the release said.

COSTA MESA — Most in the room wanted to know how it came to this. The NCAA men's basketball Championship Tournament was on TV. Half of the place was roaring as Arizona upset Duke. But what made nearly 100 Costa Mesa residents ignore the Sweet 16 game and huddle up inside a room of Skosh Monahan's on a rainy Thursday night to listen to a couple of city officials give a tutorial on city spending? "When government gets too big, people get together," said Tom Pollitt, a Costa Mesa real estate appraiser.

The Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council reelected The Rev. Julie Elkins, pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, as its president for 2011 at the January membership meeting. Serving with Elkins as vice presidents are Greg Kelley, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church; Armand Mauss, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Irvine; The Rev. David Stoner, First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa; and Lane Calvert, Bahai's of Costa Mesa. The Rev. Lloyd Sellers, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, will serve as treasurer.

Newport Beach resident Lawrence M. Higby on Tuesday was voted the new chief executive and board chairman of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, formerly known as the Orange County Performing Arts Center, in an early election. Higby, 64, replaced former Chairman Thomas V. McKernan as the head of the county's largest nonprofit arts organization after an election by the board of directors. McKernan, who was elected chairman in 2008, left his third one-year term early, but is staying on the board of directors, said Tim Dunn, director of public relations.

10. Newport-Mesa election: Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley won a seat on the Newport-Mesa school board and 30-year incumbent Judy Franco dispatched another challenger, showing that voters wanted both familiar and new voices. 9. City attorney arrested: Newport Beach City Atty. David Hunt was arrested following a domestic disturbance call to his home. He was not charged and kept his job. 8. Solar panel glare: Homeowners off Bayside Drive covered their private hillside in solar panels, harnessing the sun and the anger of neighbors irked by the glare.

COSTA MESA — The post-election discussion regarding whether to recall newly reelected Councilwoman Wendy Leece appears to be losing steam. Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, who first floated the idea as something that should at least be discussed, said he doesn't have the time or the desire to mount a recall against Leece. He did, however, say he would support such a move. No one else has stepped forward publicly asking to recall Leece, who was the second-highest vote-getter after Planning Commissioner Jim Righeimer in the Nov. 2 election, but the idea has been discussed in Republican leadership circles.