See Update No. 2 on page 2 about a proposal from the mayors of Santa Ana and Newport Beach to reduce the number of fire rings in the beach city and convert some remaining into cleaner-burning pits. Update No. 1 on the next page is about air-quality regulators softening their hardline stance before this afternoon's town hall meeting.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 5, 8 A.M.: The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), whose board could vote on whether to ban beach bonfires at a July meeting, will collect public sentiments on the burning issue June 13 in Newport Beach. That's fitting since Newport Beach set the events in motion that led to the AQMD getting involved in the first place.

And yet, Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry, who favors removing the cement fire rings from his shoreline, had expressed no interest in hosting the AQMD. Anyone else confused?

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See the update on page 2 with the Costa Mesa City Council approving privatization of the city jail and the city workers union finding the Weekly's coverage of last night's vote lacking.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 4, 1:05 P.M.: Those concerned about keeping their jobs at the Costa Mesa city jail have a full day on their metal plates (better to clank against the bars, ya screws!). Attorneys for the Costa Mesa City Employees Association went to court this morning in an unsuccessful bid to get a judge to stop the City Council from outsourcing jail jobs tonight. Next stop: the Costa Mesa council chambers this evening.

These enemy combatants know one another well. The same City Council--well, pretty much the same one--attempted to slash its entire workforce by a third and privatize as much as possible before backing off after the last election.

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Call it "A Tale of Two City Takeaways:" Newport Beach and Huntington Beach's mayors, at opposite ends on whether to remove fire rings along their beaches, heard--and reacted differently to--state data indicating what's emitted from a pit over one evening equals the pollution spewed by a heavy duty diesel truck driving 564 miles.

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Round 2: FIGHT!

Next Tuesday, after much speculation, the divisive $158 million GardenWalk hotel subsidy will return before the Anaheim city council for a vote. The agenda for the meeting spells it all out as there will be "discussion and action" on a resolution for the economic assistance agreements (aka developer welfare!) so that the City Manager can potentially "execute and administer" them.

A quick call to the City of Anaheim by the Weekly confirmed as much. It's happening!

Last year, the council voted 3-2 to approve the massive subsidy on January 24, 2012 only to have an Orange County Superior Court judge rule it void in response to a lawsuit filed alleging, among other things, that the Brown Act had been violated. This time around, the language is clear and the public is on notice. What that means is that there is sure to be one hell of a contentious council meeting next week! Count on hours of lengthy public comments!

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Benito Acosta, who as a Latino rights activist goes by Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, won a partial victory from the state's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Friday.

The court upheld previous rulings finding Acosta was legally removed from a 2006 Costa Mesa City Council meeting, but the city's law against "disorderly, insolent, or disruptive behavior" at council meetings was deemed unconstitutional.

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Poor Stanton. It's the only city in OC that has a worse reputation than SanTana, having been the butt of politician jokes ever since Anaheim tried to turn it into its sewage farm almost 100 years ago. Any coverage it receives is almost universally negative--and that's if Stanton ever gets covered in the first place. I think the last time we ever covered the city in earnest was back in 2006, when we used the city as an example of the coming housing crisis that destroyed us all.

Poor Stanton. Well, the city's going to try to become cool for the umpteenth time thanks to those hep cats at the City Council.

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Jason Troia

Jason Troia is the Long Beach City College administration's worst nightmare. "I just really like doing research," the student trustee says with a little laugh that accompanies most stories when he talks about LBCC. Troia began poring over reams of documents he's compiled in the months since hearing that 11 of the school's vocational programs had been cut due to budget problems: Auto Body, Aviation, Audio Production, Interior Design, Welding, Automotive Technology, Real Estate, Photography, Air Conditioning/Refrigeration/Heating, Diesel Mechanics, and Carpentry. These are programs that have an incredibly high success rate compared to other non-vocational programs at LBCC--and programs the trustees axed with little regret.

"If there's anywhere that really needs trade programs - it's Long Beach," Troia says, "It's always been a blue collar town, and the jobs are here."

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Connie Boardman

Huntington Beach Mayor Connie Boardman and her Orange County-adjacent colleague Bob Foster in Long Beach are among 25 California mayors who have signed a Courage Campaign letter supporting gay marriage.

All the other OC mayors--it seems as if there are 50 or so--apparently could not find pens with ink in them.

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Trophy wives have been sent packing from Huntington Beach following action by the City Council Monday night.

The esteemed panel enacted a ban on plastic bags.

And so, bleach-blond bombshells from Huntington Harbour to The Bluffs must now leave the . . . um . . . check that.

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