World Trade Center

Even before the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden, the photo of the flaming World Trade Center towers had been removed from a Newport Beach man's wall. It once served as a bin Laden "wanted" poster for Dover Shores resident Lyle Davis, who hung it prominently in his office until he recently redecorated. "Unfortunately there is very little closure for me until Osama bin Laden is confirmed dead or is killed," he told the Daily Pilot close to the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Lolita Harper The Super Bowl has been an American tradition for 37 years, but in the past couple years one topic has evoked even more passion: the World Trade Center attacks. On Sunday, both will be on display in the city as the Orange County Museum of Art hosts a lecture by New York Gallery owner Max Protech about the future of the World Trade Center site, from a wide variety of inventive view points. Protech, who wrote "A New World Trade Center," documented an exhibition showcasing design proposals from some of the world's top architects.

Costa Mesa firefighters collected donations this weekend for widows and orphans of the public safety workers who perished in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Firefighters set up tables to accept donations and sell wrist bracelets at the four entrances of the Orange County Fairgrounds, firefighter Dan Stevenson said. About $5,000 has been raised so far by both the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana fire departments, Stevenson said.

-- June Casagrande Newport Beach residents with questions for their congressman about America's war on terrorism will have a chance to phone them in Thursday evening. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) will appear on a local cable call-in show on Cox Cable, "America at War: A Washington View." The broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. on Cox Channel 3 and will be rebroadcast throughout the following week. It will address issues such as Congress' support of the president in dealing with this month's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and what future presidential actions might be approved.

I can't believe they're gone. I know they are. I saw the news footage. But I just can't believe the twin towers have fallen with thousands of lives trapped between the floors. It's like a knife has been plunged in my heart and I'm so cold. So cold. The twin towers of the World Trade Center are -- were -- my personal connection to New York. I was born, along with my twin sister Lara, on a September day in 1973 on the island of Manhattan. That same year, Tower Two of the center was completed.

TeWinkle Intermediate School commemorated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by taking time to remember every victim of the terrorist attacks. The Costa Mesa school held a ribbon memorial Thursday where each student had the chance during their physical education class to place a ribbon for the 3,023 victims. Students placed 2,652 red ribbons for the victims of the World Trade Center, 245 blue ribbons for the victims of the hijacked planes and 126 white ribbons for the victims of the Pentagon.

Deepa Bharath Valerie Kristlibas moved to town almost exactly a year ago. She is originally from New York City. And her father, who works for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 when the first airplane hit. Kristlibas' father survived, but the day and its memory, she said, makes her "incredibly sad." Kristlibas was among those who attended a city-held memorial service Wednesday outside Newport Beach City Hall.

Newport Beach resident David Paine has lobbied for the last seven years to transform Sept. 11 into a national day of service after his friend’s brother died trying to help victims of the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. After years of campaigning, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Serve America Act later this month, which would designate Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteerism. Paine is the co-founder of the online nonprofit group www.mygooddeed.

Young Chang JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Ed Marino sat on a bench outside John Wayne Airport on Tuesday morning with a junk novel in his lap and tired creases on his face. He asked futile questions, one after the other. What's the hurry to die? Aren't we all supposed to anyway? What's all this for? For religion? Politics? Both? "I don't know, there are no answers," the 57-year-old conceded. Forget when he might get home, to Miami. Or how his business deal might end on this trip that's been delayed indefinitely.

Alicia Lopez OCC CAMPUS -- An Orange Coast College assistant professor was put on administrative leave Thursday after Muslim students said he called them all terrorists. Students in Kenneth Hearlson's political science class said he shocked the class when he pointed to one of his Muslim pupils and said: "You drove two planes into the World Trade Center. You killed 5,000 people. You are a terrorist." CC Abdel Muti, Ramsey Nashef and Mooath and Zayneb Saidi said they were sitting together in Hearlson's Tuesday night class when he began talking about the Sept.

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was on the 61st floor of the south tower at the World Trade Center. This was the second building hit and the first to fall. I evacuated through the stairwell and was out of the building for about one minute when it dropped. Ten years later, I continue to struggle with the violence, destruction and death I directly witnessed that day. I struggle for meaning and a sense of purpose from it all. I've lived somewhat meek, reticent and fearful when I should have been more thankful, gracious and bold.

TeWinkle Intermediate School commemorated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by taking time to remember every victim of the terrorist attacks. The Costa Mesa school held a ribbon memorial Thursday where each student had the chance during their physical education class to place a ribbon for the 3,023 victims. Students placed 2,652 red ribbons for the victims of the World Trade Center, 245 blue ribbons for the victims of the hijacked planes and 126 white ribbons for the victims of the Pentagon.

In the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, I remember with pride and celebrate those who acted with bravery and heroism searching for victims and their remains following the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Like most people, I'll never forget where I was on 9/11. When I realized America had been attacked, my first thought was for my wife, Robin. At that time, she was working in a high-rise building across the street from the Sears Tower in Chicago, a potential target. I was pleading with her to come home when an announcement came over her company's P.A. system directing employees to leave.

Even before the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden, the photo of the flaming World Trade Center towers had been removed from a Newport Beach man's wall. It once served as a bin Laden "wanted" poster for Dover Shores resident Lyle Davis, who hung it prominently in his office until he recently redecorated. "Unfortunately there is very little closure for me until Osama bin Laden is confirmed dead or is killed," he told the Daily Pilot close to the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Just like most of you, I get lots of unsolicited e-mail messages. Some of them I look at, and some of them I don’t. But I received one recently that really caught my attention about something called the “Monument to the Struggle Against World Terrorism.” The monument is titled “Tear Drop,” and it is located on a peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, N.J., in full view of the Statue of Liberty and the former site of the World Trade Center. It was created to honor those who died in the Sept.

Newport Beach resident David Paine has lobbied for the last seven years to transform Sept. 11 into a national day of service after his friend’s brother died trying to help victims of the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. After years of campaigning, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Serve America Act later this month, which would designate Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteerism. Paine is the co-founder of the online nonprofit group www.mygooddeed.

Our military mission in the Middle East, writes Tom Williams (“Columnist fails to see both sides of war,” Sept. 15) is to “stop the madmen Osama Bin Laden and Mahmoud Amadinejad of Iran before they can attack us.” “It’s called pre-empting,” he adds. Right. Our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan have been such a smashing success that we should recycle them in Iran. Moreover, “Within a few short years,” Williams says, “there will be a strong, self sufficient, vibrant democracy at work in Iraq that will be the showpiece of the Middle East.

When a horrific rampage, such as the one at Virginia Tech this week, happens, how do you help your flock make sense of it from a religious perspective? No matter how we try to shed light on the tragedy at Virginia Tech, we would still be falling short of rationalizing any part of it. For any rational person, such an act cannot make any sense. It was a senseless act, and certainly God had no part in it. This was done by a callous, vindictive and deranged person. All that we can do is to pray that God gives us much patience as we all endure the pain of loss.

On Monday I flew the flag in front of my house on a 30-foot flag pole, and beneath it I raised another flag, that of the Pearl Harbor Survivors' Assn. After Sept. 11, 2001, so many, many people in the fervor of patriotism did much the same. And it lasted about four to six months and then dwindled to a very few. Having been at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, I knew full well what was facing those in New York and what the aftermath would entail. Since then I have displayed the flag every day from 8 a.m. to sundown, except in inclement weather.

Americans should come together to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, just as they rallied around New Yorkers after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, New York First Lady Libby Pataki said Wednesday. Pataki discussed the events of Sept. 11 publicly for the first time in a speech that headlined the first-ever Orange County Conference for Women at the Balboa Bay Club. By the time the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept.