Litter

Some Costa Mesa residents are getting annoyed with the amount of trash on local freeways. They want answers, and Caltrans, the body responsible for keeping the freeways clean, will try to give them what they want tonight at the City Council study session. The presentation was initiated by councilwomen Linda Dixon and Wendy Leece, according to City Manager Allan Roeder. Mainly, the problem is excessive trash on the 55 Freeway between 19th Street and the junction with the 73 Freeway.

Polluting the human body -- even killing it -- with cigarettes is one thing. But there is no need to kill a beach and the life on and around it with those little burned-out butts that belong in an ashtray -- not buried in the sand waiting for some coastal clean-up or a sea creature's digestive tract. That's why, for those who care what washes back into the ocean and what pollutes our shores, the Newport Beach beach-smoking ban -- passed by the City Council in September that took effect last week -- is something to be cheered.

June Casagrande In response to complaints from neighbors of a peninsula drug- and alcohol-recovery home, council members will hold a study session on rehabs and the laws that govern them. City Attorney Bob Burnham will give a report on fair housing laws that may govern such group homes and shed light on lingering questions about exactly what powers the city has to regulate residential treatment facilities. "We'll be looking at two things," Burnham said.

June Casagrande About a third of the city's streets are designated as no-parking zones for a few hours each week for street sweeping. Soon, these parking restrictions could be much more widespread. The city's Coastal/Bay Water Quality Citizens Advisory Committee might recommend that the city restrict parking on more streets during street sweeping times. The idea, committee members say, is to intercept litter before it gets into the storm drains. But first, they'll have to pinpoint the areas where the parking restrictions would help.

After four weeks studying ecology, Cristina Waterman became an opponent of nurdles. Nurdles, the 11-year-old Waterman explained, are bits of plastic that sea animals and birds can mistake for food. "Birds eat plastic, and it chokes them," Cristina said. "Dolphins and sea lions are really cute, and they do not deserve to be killed by us. Same with birds." Cristina was one of 60 girls who participated in four weeks of science study with Girls Inc. of Orange County's Eureka Program.

Community Animal Network has been asked to help with a property that is exploding with rabbits. One of our trappers is working on site, and there seems to be a dispute on what should happen to the breeding bunch. Two opposing views are trying to work together with great difficulty. The owner of the property has a conservator of the estate who feeds the rabbits that believes that the rabbits should have a natural life cycle; Darwin's theory of "natural selection" and Community Animal Network believes in TNR (trap, neuter and release)

Noaki Schwartz The rides are being dismantled, stuffed animals packed and litter swept away as carnies clean up the remains of the 108th Orange County Fair. As expected, this year's event drew 808,562 fair-goers to the turnstiles, topping 1997's record of 785,944 visitors. And now that the fun is over, the lengthy cleaning process begins. "There's a perception and a reality," said Steve Beazley, deputy general manager of the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Chloe Chloe is a 6-year-old short-haired tabby with white markings. The cat has been spayed and declawed and enjoys being brushed. She is very petite and feminine with big green eyes, said DiAnna Pfaff-Martin, founder of the Community Animal Network. Unhappy with her previous living arrangements with two other cats, Chloe is in need of a new home where she can have all the loving attention to herself, Pfaff-Martin said. Chloe, however, is not the only cat looking for a home this time of year.

Beauty Beauty is an 84-pound German shepherd that loves being part of an active family with children to play with. Her current family has more activities away from home, and Beauty has begun to feel unhappy about the limited attention she's been receiving. At 3, Beauty doesn't dig or chew, but she does love being petted and being around a fun family. Like Beauty, Little Munchkin (last week's Pet of the Week) and four of the kittens recently abandoned at the veterinarian hospital are still looking for new homes.

Kittens These kittens need a home, says DiAnna Pfaff-Martin, founder of the Newport Beach-based Community Animal Network. "Because of our wonderful foster home program, our organization is known for delivering very loving and affectionate pet quality rescue animals," Pfaff-Martin said. "However, this group's caring but unknowing new foster mom remembered her dad saying, 'Don't Touch The Babies.' So she didn't, causing them to be so afraid that they actually tremble in fear with touch.