Orange County

An Irvine man died and a woman suffered head trauma and fractured ribs after the car they were traveling in crashed into a tree in front of a Costa Mesa hotel Friday night, Costa Mesa police said. The driver was 33-year-old Tyler Cohee, according to the Orange County coroner's website. The passenger, a 21-year-old Irvine woman, is in critical condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, a Costa Mesa police press release said. The collision occurred at 9:03 p.m. in front of the Ayres Hotel & Suites, 325 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

Two very glamorous Orange County women, Pat Rypinski and Patricia Ann Marshall, both of Newport Beach, greeted the arriving crush Thursday evening on the patio fronting the new Bridge of Gardens at South Coast Plaza. Some 150 guests converged on the terrace in support of the Candlelight Concert, a major holiday fund-raiser benefiting the Orange County Performing Arts Center and presented by the Center's board of directors. The terrace was transformed from its stark contemporary landscape into a magical European topiary garden replete with living statues.

Orange County's representative on the state Board of Equalization officially began her campaign this week for a seat on the county's Board of Supervisors. Michelle Steel, a Surfside resident, is running for the District 2 seat during the June 2014 primary election that will be vacated by Supervisor John Moorlach, who is prevented from seeking another term after serving on the five-member board since 2006. District 2 includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and portions of Fountain Valley.

A magnitude 3.5 earthquake hit the Newport Beach area early Thursday morning. The temblor occurred at 2:56 a.m. in the San Joaquin Hills area about two miles from Newport Beach and four miles from Irvine. It was felt over a large swath of Orange County, mostly notably Irvine and the South County region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no reports of damage. —From LATimes.com Twitter: @LATimes

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County and New York's Carnegie Hall this fall will present JapanOC: a festival celebrating Japan's culture and arts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, according to a news release from the Philharmonic. The festival is the second in a partnership that began last year between Henry Segerstrom and Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of the Carnegie Hall. Working together, the philharmonic society, Segerstrom and Gillinson brought Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture to Orange County.

Summer on the Orange Coast is alive with people, parties and purpose. All that and amazing food and entertainment to go right along with the fun in the sun season. On Tuesday evenings in Newport Beach the venerable Ritz, in the capable hands of Ray Jacobi , features an amazing Southern barbecue and concert on the patio. On a recent Tuesday evening, the Fabulous Baker Boys in from Las Vegas entertained as the chef created the best barbecue this side of any Texas county line.

UC Irvine's Anteaters are about to start chowing down on a lot more oranges. Anteater athletes planted a grove of the citrus-bearing trees Wednesday afternoon near the Crawford Athletics Complex along West Peltason Drive. "They will grow there for years and years," said women's tennis team member Stephanie Hammel of the trees. "The fruit will give members of the community or athletes the opportunity to come here, pick the fruit and enjoy it. " The 24 trees were donated by the Orange County Great Park and are part of a project to upgrade the pool score board and beautify the surrounding area, said Cathy Lawhon, university director of media relations and community outreach.

On a Monday in mid-April, a handful of students piled into a couple of cars in Costa Mesa and headed north. For some of the high schoolers it was their first time outside Orange County. They were on a trip with Save Our Youth, or SOY, the nonprofit that boosts education and combats violence for minority students on the Westside of Costa Mesa. After a three-hour drive, they arrived at UC Santa Barbara where a student took them on a personal tour. "He didn't just show us around, he explained some signification places of the school and what they had to offer," said Ricky Herrera, a junior from Estancia High School.

DANA POINT - The Corona del Mar High boys' lacrosse team stayed perfect and it pulled off the feat in a game it failed to win the last two times. The contest is the biggest one in Orange County every year. In their third trip to the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division finale in four years, the Sea Kings can call themselves champions. Top-seeded CdM grabbed the lead first and never trailed. The Sea Kings finished their opponent this time, beating third-seeded San Clemente, 9-6, at Dana Hills High on Wednesday night.

PETER BUFFA Every two years, the world throws a party, and everybody comes. A few thousand athletes from a few hundred countries pack their bags and travel a really long way to wherever, compete like all get out for two weeks, then go home. It's called the Olympic Games. A few athletes are famous before they get there, or will be when they leave, but most will never be heard of, or from, before, during or after. Why do they do it? No one knows.

Orange County's representative on the state Board of Equalization officially began her campaign this week for a seat on the county's Board of Supervisors. Michelle Steel, a Surfside resident, is running for the District 2 seat during the June 2014 primary election that will be vacated by Supervisor John Moorlach, who is prevented from seeking another term after serving on the five-member board since 2006. District 2 includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and portions of Fountain Valley.

Orange County will not seek repayment of the $160,000 spent rescuing two Costa Mesa hikers who went missing Easter weekend in Trabuco Canyon, officials said Wednesday. Supervisor Shawn Nelson said the county does not have the legal authority to seek reimbursement. "We don't have a basis to go after them today - we didn't a month ago," he said. Rescue workers from Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties spent five days searching for Nicolas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18. The pair went missing March 31 in Trabuco.

Most scholarships are typically awarded to students with unique talents, exceptional grades or dire financial need but not so for 100 Women Making a Difference of Orange County. Members of 100 Women seek out and award students they believe have the potential to make a difference in the future even without a high grade point average. "We're not a traditional scholarship," said Joan Sabatino, who started the organization in 2009. "We're looking for someone who will make an impact in the future.

"I always thought that I'd see you again. " Those words, steeped in irony, were penned by singer-songwriter James Taylor and describe a condition of life that many of us have experienced.  In my situation, they depict a relationship I've had with an old Army buddy.   I've never forgotten Ralph and have always felt that one day we'd meet up again.  In fact, I've periodically attempted to contact him, naturally assuming he was still among us. Never did I postulate that I might be deluding myself.

A mechanical shriek followed a low rumble as the Boeing 737 came closer, a looming albatross partially obscured by a thin, misty cloud. Within moments, it had passed and was soaring over the gunmetal waters of the Upper Newport Bay and toward the ocean. Then, the jet did something it wasn't supposed to do: It flew straight ahead. "He didn't turn," observed Ken Shapero, a GE Aviation Systems official, peering skyward. The plane, striped in Southwest Airlines' distinctive yellow and red, should have curved left to stay roughly over the bay to comply with a flight pattern aimed at protecting residents from noise.

On a Monday in mid-April, a handful of students piled into a couple of cars in Costa Mesa and headed north. For some of the high schoolers it was their first time outside Orange County. They were on a trip with Save Our Youth, or SOY, the nonprofit that boosts education and combats violence for minority students on the Westside of Costa Mesa. After a three-hour drive, they arrived at UC Santa Barbara where a student took them on a personal tour. "He didn't just show us around, he explained some signification places of the school and what they had to offer," said Ricky Herrera, a junior from Estancia High School.

I have been a resident of Orange County for 37 years and have frequently enjoyed the beach and the fire rings. Never have I heard of a problem until this year. It appears that the rich of Newport Beach have convinced themselves that they are being inconvenienced again (special airport regulations) and have discovered that they can use the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to their advantage. I urge you to reject any attempts to ban the use of the wood-burning fire rings on Orange County beaches.

The first annual KidWorks Classic Golf Tournament took over the greens at Aliso Viejo Country Club this week, raising more than $90,000 for the educational enrichment programs of an Orange County organization that impacts the lives of underprivileged youth in significant ways all throughout the year. KidWorks, led by the super-dedicated Ava Steaffens , joined forces with an impressive list of civic and corporate sponsors supporting the golf tournament in a big way. At the top of the list were Steve Craig and Citadel Outlets, Payday Workforce Solutions, CBRE, Wells Fargo Bank, Paul Capital, Deloitte and Toyota Financial Services, to name only a few. The impressive list of Orange County businessmen and women took over the greens with a contingent of celebrity players from the world of sports, including Paul McDonald , Brandon Hancock , Thomas Williams , Wayne Cook , Matt Stevens and Laird Hayes . Super OC philanthropist Sandy Daniels was also front and center for KidWorks, along with the folks from Fletcher Jones Motorcars and Donahue Schriber, who have been a mainstay of support for the organization for many years.

A 20-year-old woman found dead in March in Newport Beach was the victim of a homicide, officials said Monday. The Orange County coroner's recently office determined Tina Hoang was a murder victim, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said. Lowe declined to release the cause of death, citing the integrity of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's report did not change the scope of the department's investigation, which the NBPD investigated as a suspicious death from the start, Lowe said.

Amid recent media reports and public scrutiny over developing changes at the Mesa Water District, its board president elaborated on the state of the district in a recent public speech. President Jim Fisler told attendees of a Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce breakfast April 18 that the district is financially strong, preparing itself for the future and, with the help of a bolstered communications department, committed to transparency and outreach. Fisler's nearly 40-minute speech at the Costa Mesa Country Club - which was planned before the April 14 publication of an Orange County Register investigation about the district's marketing expenditures - addressed the Register's story in part, but he also commented on it in a follow-up interview with the Daily Pilot.