Recommendations

-- Susan McCormack The Planning Commission approved a recommendation for a selective moratorium on development on the West Side at its Monday night meeting. The moratorium focuses on 19th Street between Federal and Pomona avenues and Placentia Avenue between 18th and Victoria streets. The recommendation will now go to the City Council. This year the council has rejected several moratorium proposals, with Mayor Gary Monahan being the most adamant opponent.

Fourteen civil rights organizations, including the Jewish Voice for Peace and the Center for Constitutional Rights, sent a letter Thursday to UC Irvine condemning its recommendation to suspend the Muslim Student Union on campus. The groups, which represent a wide range of races, ethnicities and religions, say suspending the MSU will alienate the students, especially in the post 9/11 era. "Following Sept. 11, Muslims in America have faced intensified hate crimes, violence and discrimination, as well as racial, ethnic and religious profiling by local and federal law enforcement," the letter reads.

UC Irvine has suspended its Muslim Student Union following February's incident where several MSU members repeatedly interrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech while on campus, said Cathy Lawhon, UCI's media relations director. Campus police arrested 11 students then released them. UC Irvine has suspended its Muslim Student Union following February's incident where several MSU members repeatedly interrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech while on campus, said Cathy Lawhon, UCI's media relations director.

A jury recommended the death penalty Wednesday for a Stanton man who strangled, raped and physically assaulted women around Orange County - including a masseuse in a Costa Mesa motel room - according to prosecutors. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of the story incorrectly said the masseuse in Costa Mesa was killed. The same jury found Waymon Livingston, 29, guilty Feb. 27 of one felony count of special-circumstances murder in the commission of sodomy, three felony counts of forcible rape and one felony count of aggravated assault, the Orange County district attorney's office said in a news release.

As with many of its votes, the Costa Mesa City Council adopted the Homeless Task Force's recommendations with a majority on one side and a single dissenter on the other. But this time, the rebel wasn't Councilwoman Wendy Leece, who often finds herself in the minority on the council dais. Instead, during the March 20 meeting she was part of the majority alongside Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Councilman Steve Mensinger. Councilman Gary Monahan was absent from the 3-1 vote. "Wendy and I go way back," Righeimer said, adding that it shouldn't be surprising that they voted together on this issue.

NEWPORT BEACH — Warring business owners fought a bizarre property-rights battle in the City Council Chambers on Tuesday night. The owners of the Newport Beach County Club property and the owner-operators of the club itself presented competing redevelopment plans. Ultimately, the council agreed with the Planning Commission's recommendation to approve a hybrid plan, allowing the groups to replace 17 tennis courts with 27 luxury hotel suites and five homes, and to significantly expand the clubhouse.

Potentially killing a proposal to add toll lanes to the San Diego (405) Freeway, an Orange County Transportation Authority committee voted this week to recommend a different expansion plan. The Regional Planning and Highways Committee unanimously voted Monday to endorse an alternative that would add one general-purpose lane to both sides of the 405 between the San Gabriel River (605) and the Corona del Mar (73) freeways. The full OCTA board still has to approve the plan. The roadway has been the subject of much debate among city officials and residents opposed to toll lanes.

Deirdre Newman The CenterLine light rail project received from the Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday a "recommended" rating that will allow it to be considered for federal funding. The rating came in the administration's Annual New Starts Report for the 2004-05 fiscal year. The New Starts program reviews new and existing transit systems and makes funding recommendations based on an evaluation of a project's likelihood of moving forward in the shortest possible time.

Flu season got off to a late start this year with the first case just confirmed last week, Orange County Health Care Agency officials said. Physicians reported the first case for 2006 in September. “Essentially, flu activity throughout the state remains low this year, although we still recommend that you go out to get your flu shot,” said Deanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department. “It takes two weeks after a flu shot for your body to develop its natural protection.