John Wayne Airport

An electrical contractor struck a gas line at John Wayne Airport about 7:30 a.m. today, forcing authorities to block traffic into part of the airport and to evacuate some areas, according to emergency responders. No one was injured by the leaking gas. By 8:30 a.m. workers from the Southern California Gas Co. had capped the 2-inch line and vehicle traffic was allowed to flow again, airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said. No flights were canceled but some may have been delayed as passengers had trouble reaching the terminal, she added.

COSTA MESA - About two weeks ago, Jackie Marquez walked out of her local Wells Fargo bank branch in Irvine and saw an Occupy Orange County protest on the corner. Disenchanted with big banks and government, the 61-year-old said she was immediately drawn to the protestors, even though she wasn't sure what they stood for. "I was getting so frustrated with government, I didn't want to vote anymore," she said. "This economy has hit me hard. I've had to crawl my way back. " Thursday night, Marquez was still with the Occupy movement, this time taking part in a national day of action by joining more than 60 protestors at John Wayne Airport.

Paul Clinton JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Taxiway improvements were a no-brainer Tuesday to county Supervisor Tom Wilson, who joined fellow board members in unanimously approving $9.4 million worth of work at the airport. "It's making sure John Wayne remains a top-notch, first-class airport," Wilson said. "I just want us to keep a focus on John Wayne and the quality of the airport." Airport Director Alan Murphy proposed that four related projects be completed in the next two years.

June Casagrande The aging and seismically obsolete Fire Station No. 33 at John Wayne Airport will soon be replaced with a modern airfield rescue and firefighting facility that meets state safety guidelines. The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $6-million contract to replace the station with a 15,000-square-foot building with state-of-the-art safety facilities. The 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Bill Campbell absent, means work will begin around Nov. 11 and, once begun, will take no more than 400 days to complete.

Paul Clinton SANTA ANA -- The Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a package of improvements this week to dress up John Wayne Airport. At its Tuesday meeting, the board approved seismic retrofitting work for two parking structures, repaving of a taxiway and the hiring of a public relations firm. The board also laid the groundwork to rebuild the airport's Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting facility by hiring an engineering firm to relocate 28 tie-downs for private aircraft.

Passenger levels at John Wayne Airport appear to have pulled out of a year-long nose dive, jumping 5.1% last month from the same time a year ago, according to new statistics released this week. John Wayne served 769,373 passengers in October, up from 731,985, according to the latest numbers released by airport officials. Passenger levels at John Wayne dropped nearly 10% in 2008 from 2007. October marks the third straight month passenger levels have grown at the airport, after a year of declining numbers.

When John Wayne Airport was designed, it was an act of faith that airplanes would take off into prevailing winds over the ocean. What they failed to accept, or did not wish to admit, was that there was a city between their county airport and the ocean. So the torture of residents began. Over the years, airport apologists focused on Upper Newport Bay, where nobody lives, as a pathway for the airplanes to the sea, but try as they might, pilots could not follow the corkscrew shape of that bay, and they smeared over houses along the way. By the time they got to Balboa Island, their tracks covered the whole of the island, but apologists wrote this off as collateral damage, and besides, the 65 dB CNEL contour was at Anniversary Lane by the airport miles away.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors decided this week to explore alternatives to using county firefighters at John Wayne Airport. Board members had considered replacing the contract with the Orange County Fire Authority, reducing current staffing levels and creating a specific airport fire department, but decided to maintain the status quo for the next year while researching alternatives. On the heels of the airport opening its new Terminal C, which is part of a $543-million expansion and renovation project, the supervisors considered a reduction to staffing.

With national unemployment idling at about 9% and the federal government in perpetual gridlock, select cities in Orange County were recognized this week by the business community for cutting bureaucratic tape and boosting local economies. The Orange County Business Council honored public agencies Thursday with the "Turning Red Tape into Red Carpet Awards," which lauded business retention and expansion, adjusting to globalization and creating sustainable environmental programs, among other successes.

COSTA MESA - About two weeks ago, Jackie Marquez walked out of her local Wells Fargo bank branch in Irvine and saw an Occupy Orange County protest on the corner. Disenchanted with big banks and government, the 61-year-old said she was immediately drawn to the protestors, even though she wasn't sure what they stood for. "I was getting so frustrated with government, I didn't want to vote anymore," she said. "This economy has hit me hard. I've had to crawl my way back. " Thursday night, Marquez was still with the Occupy movement, this time taking part in a national day of action by joining more than 60 protestors at John Wayne Airport.

Agreeing to lift constraints on affordable housing development, Newport Beach officials have received tentative approval of the city's housing blueprint. Regulators from the state Department of Housing and Community Development said last month that the city's moves would bring it into compliance with state law. If the City Council adopts the plan next month, affordable housing developments near John Wayne Airport would be automatically approved if they meet certain requirements.

The recent half-page ad in the Daily Pilot against the John Wayne Airport by Kay Rackauckas contains a misleading statement. I am a captain for American Airlines and have been flying our various aircraft out of Orange County/SNA since 1997, and am currently doing so on the 737. The flight path has remained the same for the last 14 years: take off on the runway heading, then shortly make a turn to the left to fly down the Back Bay. The only thing...

John Wayne Airport can now mostly rely on itself for power, after firing up four generators to produce up to 7 megawatts of electricity. Officials on Thursday morning dedicated a $31-million central utility plant at the south end of the airport. It will provide 95% of the airport's energy and a steady stream of cool water for the air-conditioning system. Part of JWA's $540-million expansion and improvement program, officials say the plant was designed to save the airport energy costs in the long-run, and to be self-reliant.

Travelers and visitors at John Wayne Airport may see emergency responders treating victims of a simulated plane crash Friday morning. Airport officials announced they will be conducting a mandatory drill between 10 a.m. and noon. Various emergency personnel will be participating, including JWA Operations, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, and Airport Police Services. The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial airports to conduct a full-scale drill every three years, according to the airport announcement.

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT — The barrel-vaulted ceilings of the new terminal at John Wayne Airport were nearing completion this week, as construction crews entered the final stretch of an almost five-year airport improvement project, an airport spokeswoman said. Terminal C will duplicate the look given to Terminals A and B, which were built at JWA almost 20 years ago. It will incorporate natural stone, neutral colors and the same vaulted ceilings, as much as new building codes allow, said project manager Khatchig Tchapadarian, of McCarthy Building Companies.

CORONA DEL MAR — The saying goes that you're not supposed to let any good crisis go to waste, and Newport Beach city leaders are taking it to heart. At their annual goal-setting workshop Saturday morning at the OASIS Senior Center, Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff announced the city will adopt a whole new philosophy when it comes to short- and long-term goal setting: increased accountability through quarterly, public reports on city projects and finances. "The rhetoric is that government should be run more like a private business, I think this is the step," said Councilman Rush Hill.

Updated February 2, 2011 3:03 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that it has successfully completed tests for a new John Wayne Airport flight path, and planes will start flying the new route in February. The procedure is the result of a nearly one-year tussle between Newport Beach residents and FAA officials, who agreed to modify a new satellite-based navigation system after residents complained about jet engine noise in the skies above some Newport homes.