Westside

The Daily Pilot falls far short of its usual accurate and objective reporting in the article about Newport-Mesa Unified School District's out of sequence meeting Tuesday ("Trustees Waver on Rea Health Center," Thursday). First of all, there was no wavering on the part of the board. The three trustees who voted to approve the contract with Children's Hospital of Orange County voiced unwavering support from the beginning. The lone trustee who voted "no" also made clear his concerns related to the contract, as presented, from his first statement on the matter.

"Eyesore: n. 1. Something offensive to look at. 2. An enduring cause of vexation or disgust." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Family Edition.) My eyes hurt when I look at the eyesore down 19th Street toward the Santa Ana River. Just before I turn left on Whittier Street, I get a quick glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and my eyes stop hurting a little. Over the 30 years I have lived in Costa Mesa, I have watched the gradual deterioration of 19th Street from a pleasant American middle-class city street to one that looks like it could be in a Third World country.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- Citizens for the Improvement of Costa Mesa is scheduled to hold its first open meeting this evening. "We've had lots of little meetings, but this is our first big one," Chairwoman Janice Davidson said Monday. "The meeting is about getting things done in the city, and doing it better and faster. Whether we have 25 people show up or 100, I'll be pleased. It'll be a fast and quick meeting." The group, which supported Councilman Chris Steel's election and continues to support many of his platform ideas, is dedicated to improving rundown areas in the city.

Deepa Bharath SANTA ANA -- An agitated gang member who blindly fired a round of bullets into a Westside garage that tore through a 15-year-old girl and her unborn child killing both, was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in state prison. Eduardo Yepez Guerrero, 20, plead guilty in July to two counts of second-degree murder and a charge of committing murder for the benefit of a street gang in the May 29, 1999 murder of Yuridia Balbuena and her fetus.

Pat Tenore founded RVCA, a clothing design company associated with surf and skateboard culture, in his Costa Mesa garage eight years ago. Now RVCA is a household name in the surf industry, and despite the ailing economy the company has seen double-digit revenue growth each of the last two years, and its workforce has ballooned from 40 employees to 60. At the end of this month, Tenore is moving his company across town to a bigger building, the...

While Jello Biafra and other punk legends have expressed their condolences over the death of local punk icon and club owner Mike Conley, the late singer also received a eulogy from an unusual source: the Costa Mesa City Council. Following his days as an anti-authority punk rocker, Conley settled down in Costa Mesa and opened the Avalon Bar on the city’s Westside — from there, the council members said, he became a passionate and impressive advocate for rehabilitating the area.

COSTA MESA ? It's been more of a trickle than a flood, but the city is getting the first wave of plans for redevelopment projects on the Westside and the Bristol Street area called Sobeca. The City Council in April approved plans that encourage housing development, including mixed-use, on more than 600 acres of the largely industrial Westside as well as the Sobeca area. In the last month, preliminary plans for three projects in Sobeca and three on the Westside have been filed with the city.

Costa Mesa is once again trying to come up with a specific plan for the Westside. Will the longest running comedy since "Seinfeld" continue, with the only changes being some new players on the program? Last year, they hired analysts to come up with a proposal. Then they held a lot of meetings for citizens to give their opinion. They then threw it all away when no one liked the plan. The last plan reminded me of a bow tie on a pig. It may have cutesied up 19th Street and Placentia Avenue, but it wouldn't have solved most of the Westside problems.

Jennifer Kho Former Costa Mesa Mayor Bob Wilson remembers a time before John Wayne Airport opened, a time when Sky Harbor Airport reigned at 19th Street. "One of the owners of the airport was Lana Turner," Wilson said. "Howard Hughes was one of the famous aviators who flew out of there. There was no Orange County Airport. This was it: the Costa Mesa airport." Then, in 1951, the airport was shut down to make way for the Freedom Home development in what is now considered the Westside of Costa Mesa.

Letter writer set progress back 40 years Eureka! Ila Johnson (Community Commentary, "There's no good reason to march," Tuesday) has discovered a time machine that has transported her back to the 1960s in the deep south. If you just substitute "Negro" for "homosexual" within her angry article, you will discover Johnson's secret to time travel. DEVAN MULLINS Newport Beach Music was too loud for this reader's Taste I read with interest "Taste of Newport a little Sugar Ray," in Saturday's Daily Pilot.