Safety

The Costa Mesa Police Assn. is holding a Halloween safety event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday outside of the Stater Bro.'s grocery store, 1175 W. Baker St. Hotdogs will be served for lunch and candy will be given away to city residents, said Allen Rieckhof, president of the association. Residents will also have a chance to meet members of the Police Department to discuss safety tips. The Police Department members will also be giving away glow sticks for children who are getting ready to trick or treat on Halloween, Rieckhof said.

When I moved to Costa Mesa, I fell in love with the small-town feel and the people living here. I became involved with my community and the city because I truly believe we all must play a part in making our city a great place to live. Becoming involved gave me the great benefit of meeting and working with city staff and members of the Costa Mesa Police Department. The community-oriented policing approach taken by CMPD is a valuable asset to our communities. Cpl. Doug Johnson has been active in my neighborhood as well as others on the north side.

Families can stay up to date on how to keep their kids safe online with a special presentation Wednesday. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District is offering all families a Cyber Smart presentation from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Education Center, 2985 Bear St., Costa Mesa. The event will feature guest speakers, including a crime-prevention specialist with the Newport Beach police and a community consultant to explain how parents can protect their children online with different monitoring and filtering options.

The Fourth of July is a holiday that most public safety officials don't get to spend with their families. Everyone's on. With crowds, drinking and fireworks, Uncle Sam's birthday has historically meant quite a headache for Newport-Mesa's police and fire departments. This year, they're warning the public early and making sure that everyone ? visitors and residents alike ? knows the rules. In Newport Beach particularly, there is a huge influx of people coming to the beach for the holiday.

Elderly drivers interested in increasing their safety on the road are encouraged to attend the Automobile Club of Southern California?s CarFit Program, where participants older than 65 will receive tutoring sessions. The effort is part of a national program to improve road safety, spokeswoman Elaine Beno said. It was developed with the American Society on Aging, the AARP, and the American Occupational Therapy Assn. ?When older drivers are in crashes they tend to have more injuries and fatalities because they are older,?

The Costa Mesa City Council considered measures aimed at improving fireworks safety during a study session last Tuesday, reviewing a number of ideas on which the board is slated to vote sometime this month. Councilwoman Wendy Leece, who had championed stronger protections to “celebrate American’s independence in a safer environment,” said she was pleased with the list of ideas considered by the board, and she hoped they would pass. The list of 15 possible measures included the establishment of citizen fireworks patrols, a hotline to report the illegal use of fireworks, and even cash rewards leading to the arrest and conviction of illegal fireworks dealers.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials met with regional public service agencies and animal control specialists throughout Southern California Thursday to discuss pet travel safety, a growing concern in Orange County. According to the animal safety advocacy group Bark Buckle UP, first-responders to car accidents have seen a three-fold increase in incidents where an animal is involved. The meeting focused on the problem of unrestrained animals traveling in moving vehicles and offered a variety of available solutions for safeguarding animals, owners and others should an accident occur, such as strapping in the dog. — Joseph Serna

Thanks to State Farm Insurance, Costa Mesa firefighters have a little more insurance that they’ll get out of dangerous situations safely. The department recently received a $5,000 grant from the company to buy newly mandated high-visibility vests for first-responders. The vests are part of a new decision handed down from the federal government that first-responders working on federal highways — such as in traffic accidents — must wear the high-visibility vests for increased safety.

Sporting only red shorts, 9-year-old Joe Ruiz jumped up and down to keep warm. But nothing, not even the missing sunshine on Monday, was going to take away his excitement on his first day of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard program. Joe is one of about 1,250 junior lifeguards who signed up for the program this summer. "It's good. It's great. It's fun. It's really, really fun," he said — still jumping up and down. Joe hadn't done much yet, but he couldn't wait to do all the things junior lifeguards try and learn during the 8-week, 4-day a week summer program.

The death this week of a Newport Harbor High School freshman, killed Monday when he was ejected from an SUV, has underscored a basic safety rule: Seat belts save lives. "Wearing a seat belt ? is the single easiest thing somebody can do to improve the chances of surviving a" crash, said Mike Marando, spokesman for the state office of traffic safety. Fifteen-year-old Dylan Ayres ? the son of Douglas and Michele Ayres and the grandson of Ayres hotel chain chairman Don Ayres Jr. ?

The Irvine City Council approved an advocacy letter this week lending its support to increased safety regulation and licensing measures surrounding the reopening of San Onofre. The letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) called for new measures in re-licensing the facility, including regulations surrounding "seismic and tsunami hazards, operational issues, plant security, emergency preparedness, spent fuel storage options and other elements," according to a staff report citing a similar letter sent out by Sen. Dianne Feinstein last year.

Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer wants to reallocate $5 million to $6 million in the city budget for improvements in the city's infrastructure, such as roads, sidewalks, sports fields and flood-prone areas. But that could mean cuts to public safety, personnel and other crucial services, warned Councilwoman Wendy Leece. During the March 20 council meeting, Righeimer asked city CEO Tom Hatch to suggest about $5 million in reductions that could then be reallocated toward the $12.2 million in unfunded projects planned for 2012-13.

The Costa Mesa City Council approved a reformed pension model for the city's nonpublic safety workers this week that could save the city millions compared in the long run, according to a city staff report. About 185 workers in the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn. (CMCEA), along with department supervisors, agreed to create a two-tier retirement plan. Current workers remain under the 2.5% at 55 years old formula, and employees hired after March 11 will be on a 2% at 60 plan. It would take longer for new city workers to max out their retirement benefits, and the new formula creates an incentive for them to work later into their career, city officials said in October when discussing retirement plans.

Contracts between Newport Beach and the city's public safety unions are set to expire Saturday, and officials said they have not yet agreed on how much workers' retirement benefits should be scaled back. Newport Beach police, firefighters and lifeguards will continue to operate under their existing contracts until a deal is brokered in 2012. The delay in negotiations shows the difficulty in reforming public employee pensions, a priority established by the City Council in recent years.

The city of Irvine has again ranked as one of the safest cities in the nation compared with cities of its size. A annual study by CQ Press ranked Irvine No. 1 among cities between 100,000 and 499,000 people, a jump since the 2009-2010 ranking, which placed the city as No. 2. Irvine placed above five other Southern California cities which ranked among the top 10 cities, and included Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Murrieta, Orange and...

NEWPORT BEACH — Following a crash that critically injured a teenager last week, school and city officials are working on traffic safety fixes at Newport Harbor High School. They plan to teach pedestrians and drivers to pay closer attention, herd cars to zones designated for drop-off and parking, and install lights and other crossing aids at the intersection where Crystal Morales was hit. On Dec. 6, an allegedly intoxicated driver struck Morales, 17, as she was walking across Irvine Avenue at Margaret Drive.

I have to imagine there are a number of public safety employees in Newport Beach, both police and fire, who are embarrassed by the ridiculous mass mailer recently sent to residents by the Newport Beach police and firefighter associations. The mass mailer completely ignores the issue before the City Council, whether or not to increase the percentage public safety employees contribute to their retirement programs. Never mind that there are no proposed layoffs and no programmatic budget changes proposed.

The Newport Harbor High School senior who was hit by a car driven by an allegedly intoxicated woman remained in critical condition Wednesday, school officials said. Crystal Morales, 17, was placed in a physician-induced coma at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana to help her recover from head trauma, internal bleeding, brain swelling and other internal injuries, according to an email Harbor High Principal Michael Vossen sent to parents, students and others at the school. She would be on assisted breathing "for the next two weeks so she can be in the best possible recovery setting," he wrote.

Newport Beach's public employee unions and city officials normally keep quiet about contract disputes - a more restrained, "Newport" way of doing business. Not this time around. As police, firefighter and lifeguard contracts expire at the end of the month, city officials have asked employees to contribute more to their pension funds, and unions are striking back publicly. Union officials sought to rally residents with a mailer last week, and city administrators countered with an open letter explaining why they think employees should pay more toward their retirements.

COSTA MESA — A 21-year-old man was pepper sprayed and detained after allegedly selling drugs at Orange Coast College, school authorities said Thursday. A student alerted public safety officers that a man was selling marijuana and looking into cars at the campus about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Communications Director Jeff Hobbs. After public safety officials approached the suspect, he began to quickly walk, then run away and was pepper sprayed after raising a fist to officers, Hobbs said.