* EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is a...

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is a look at stories that we think will

continue to make headlines in 2003, along with an actual headline

likely to appear in the Daily Pilot.

FORMER PACIFIC AMPHITHEATER RETURNS, NEIGHBORS UNHAPPY

It may be missing a berm, big name bands and a few hundred seats,

but the concert venue formerly known as the Pacific Amphitheater is

destined to make a comeback.

It will be music to people’s ears, literally, but not necessarily

figuratively.

Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods of College Park and

Mesa Del Mar will fight for stringent noise restrictions, limited

performances and no rock bands.

With plans for a Fairgrounds face-lift, officials have said they

will revive the now sleeping giant.

While the opposition can’t necessarily stop it, they will do

everything possible to keep it from being the hub of late-night

noise-a-palooza, as it was in its hey day.

HUSCROFT HOUSE TEETERS ON BRINK OF DESTRUCTION

Should auld craftsman-style homes be forgot and never brought to

mind? Should auld Huscroft House be forgot because public support

declined?

Despite the best intentions of many, look for the arguably

historic Huscroft House to be demolished this year. Although city

officials have tried to negotiate with a willing buyer, even if the

terms were right, residents are bound to oppose the large home

joining three other houses on a lot. City officials are going to put

the poor dilapidated structure out of its misery and eat the $35,000

it will cost them to demolish it.

WESTSIDE IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS RETHOUGHT

Under heavy scrutiny and criticism, members of the committee set

up to forge a new future for the Westside will prove they will not

crack under pressure.

The final report from the Westside’s Community Redevelopment

Action Committee -- lovingly nicknamed the CRAC committee -- is due

to hand over a report to the City Council with recommendations of

what should become of the Westside.

So far, the troubled committee has been criticized by its own

members, some city leaders and residents at large for being too

large, unorganized and divided.

Look for the report to include a recommendation to rezone the

bluffs from industrial to residential, to study the possibility and

feasibility of a bridge at 19th Street and create a major shopping

center on 19th Street.

STATE BUDGET HAS COSTA MESA TIGHTENING ITS BELT

Costa Mesa leaders will take a hard look at the next fiscal year’s

budget, scrutinizing various social programs in light of state belt

tightening.

The Job Center may be up for reevaluation, as Councilman Chris

Steel has already voiced his opposition to the city-run employment

hub, and his colleagues Allan Mansoor and Gary Monahan have expressed

interest in charging more for the services instead of taking the

money from city coffers.

After-school and other recreation programs may get cut to provide

more funds for the basics, such as road repair, public safety and

code enforcement.

IKEA OPENS AT HOME RANCH

Little tiny Allen wrenches capable of constructing an entire

kitchen will abound as the new Costa Mesa Ikea will open its doors

for business this spring.

The Costa Mesa Ikea is proposed to be much larger than its

Southern California counterparts and will boast three eateries,

professional design consultants, three life-sized home models and a

supervised children’s play center, which includes a learning center.

Depending on whom you talk to, the Ikea portion of the Home Ranch

project proposal will bring in one of two things: a big-box retailer

with lots of traffic or a responsible corporation that’s a good

neighbor. Regardless of the actual outcome, the Swedish are coming.

TRIAL BEGINS FOR FORMER NEWPORT EMPLOYEE

Trenton Veches, the former Newport Beach recreation coordinator

accused of sucking young boys’ toes, is expected to face jury trial

in March. Veches, 32, faces 28 criminal felony charges of indulging

in lewd contact with minors and one misdemeanor count of possessing

child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts. Also,

three parents of boys said to have been molested by Veches have filed

a civil lawsuit against the city seeking damages for alleged

negligence in hiring Veches. That case will likely be heard this year

as well. Veches faces multiple life terms if convicted.

TRIAL STARTS FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHER

A 35-year-old substitute teacher accused of sexually assaulting

several female students -- at least one of them a Newport-Mesa

student -- is expected to get a jury trial later this year.

The Huntington Beach resident faces 17 felony counts of sexual

assault and one count of witness intimidation. He was first arrested

Sept. 13 after a therapist who treated one of the victims told police

about it. Haluch posted $250,000 bail the same day.

A second warrant on four fresh charges led to another arrest on

Sept. 30. Haluch is now in Orange County Jail. He has pleaded not

guilty to all charges.

TRIAL BEGINS FOR ASSISTANT SHERIFF’S SON AND FRIENDS

Yet another trial to expect this year is the case of three teenage

boys accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a Corona

del Mar home.

Gregory Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann -- all 17-year-old

students at Rancho Cucamonga High School -- allegedly drugged the

victim’s drink and then raped her while a video camera filmed the

incident on the evening of July 5 in the home of Don Haidl, an

assistant sheriff for Orange County. All three have pleaded not

guilty to 21 felony charges.

POLICE DEPARTMENT EXPANSION BEGINS

The Costa Mesa Police Department is likely to start its expansion

project, which got the City Council’s blessing in November.

The 11,000-square-foot project proposes renovation of 75% of the

police facility, including a seismic upgrade, construction of an

additional single-story building, a new parking lot and changes in

landscaping. It is expected to make more room for additional office

space, storage and a new emergency operations center. Officials have

made the project a priobecause the current facility, built in the

mid-1980s, is overcrowded.

MEASURE A SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS BEGIN

In early February, the sounds of jackhammers and drills will be

heard on some Newport-Mesa Unified school campuses when construction

finally starts on Measure A facilities upgrade improvements.

All schools will receive upgrades, including seismic strengthening

of structures, handicap-accessible drinking fountains, repair of

stucco, painting, and replacement of all ceilings in permanent

classrooms. The bond, passed in June 2000, provided $110 million of

the total $173.3 million.

SCHOOLS MAY GET HOME RANCH EDUCATION MONEY

The Costa Mesa City Council may loosen its grip on the $2 million

in educational funds obtained during the Home Ranch negotiations.

On Jan. 20, the council will revisit the issue and consider

options, including handing the money over to the schools that will

benefit Costa Mesa High School, Estancia High School and TeWinkle

Middle School; establishing one guiding foundation with two

committees or establishing a foundation with extensive city

involvement.

The Home Ranch development agreement, adopted last year, called

for the Segerstroms -- the dynasty that owns the development site --

to give $2 million in a lump sum to Costa Mesa high schools and

middle schools when the first building permits for the project were

issued.

Costa Mesa High will receive $1 million and Estancia and TeWinkle

will split the other $1 million.

ONE ANNEXATION FOR SURE, MORE COULD FOLLOW

They’ve been waiting for years, and in July, the wait will be

over.

There will probably be a lot of celebrating when East Santa Ana

Heights officially becomes part of Newport Beach. But others haven’t

been so lucky, at least not yet. West Santa Ana Heights, the Santa

Ana Country Club and a small residential area south of Mesa Drive

have been bucking hard for the privilege of adding Newport Beach to

their addresses.

These areas were originally designated to become part of Costa

Mesa, but widespread opposition has caused the county to put the

breaks on those plans. If the momentum continues, it’s possible that

they will get their wish.

In the meantime, East Santa Ana Heights annexation could bring

some controversy. Questions of who will pay for a fire station there,

whether the city will manage a portion of Santa Ana Heights’

$30-million nest egg and whether the state budget crunch will cause

the area to be a financial liability to the city have y.

MORMON TEMPLE BREAKS GROUND QUIETLY

For the Mormon temple, the big news will probably be silence.

After a year and a half of hot controversy over the proposed temple,

it’s likely that the groundbreaking will be peaceful by contrast.

Church planners have said that they’re anxious to begin

construction, but they haven’t set a date because they are waiting to

cut through a few routine bits of red tape.

The temple debate came to a peaceful resolution after church

planners agreed to bring down its steeple to roughly 90 feet. Plans

that had originally called for a 124-foot steeple were met with

outrage from the community.

A compromise of 100 feet didn’t get the support church planners

had hoped because, around the same time, it came to light that the

existing stake center’s steeple was much shorter than official

documents showed. The 90-foot height proposal was a way to make peace

with residents.

DAVE ELLIS, DAVE ELLIS, DAVE ELLIS AND MORE DAVE ELLIS

Even before he admitted creating a phony campaign telephone

message, murmurs had Dave Ellis pegged as a powerful, almost sinister

backroom player in local politics.

Now that foul play is documented, the inquisition could go

farther. Greenlight leaders have filed a complaint with the district

attorney’s office about the message Ellis says he created, but never

used, in the 2002 City Council election.

That message, they say, was an attempt to confuse Greenlight

supporters, thereby splitting their votes between candidates Rick

Taylor and Ron Winship. The idea, accusers say, was to help Ellis’

client, Councilman Gary Adams, in the election.

Now, other questionable campaign tactics are coming to light. For

example, there was a similar phony message in the 2000 race between

Steve Bromberg, Patricia Beek and Bob Schoonmaker.

Ellis is also a target of a movement to create new

conflict-of-interest rules in the city.

DESIGNING OF MARINERS LIBRARY BEGINS

State money for the joint-use Mariners Library is essentially in

the bag, but in 2003, the city will get down to the details. That’s

where it could run into problems.

Some community members have worried about the project because it

would serve as the school library for Mariners Elementary School and

as the new Mariners branch public library. The proximity of school

kids to the general public makes some wonder whether the kids will be

in any danger.

In their conceptual design, city planners made sure to keep the

kids and the public areas separate. But until the blueprints are

drawn up, no one will know exactly how this will be done.

The City Council will consider creating a citizen committee to

help with the design, that public input and oversight will result in

a project everyone is happy with.