Residents want KOCE as it is

More than 80% of Orange County residents favor keeping KOCE-TV as a

PBS affiliate, committed to airing local programs, rather than

selling it to a religious broadcaster for a higher price, according

to a phone survey conducted by the Cal State Fullerton’s Center for

Public Policy.

Of the 506 Orange County residents who participated in the survey,

18% backed the highest bidder, which is a religious broadcaster.

KOCE-TV, Orange County’s only public television station, has been

broadcasting educational programs from Golden West College in

Huntington Beach for 30 years. Coast Community College District is

considering selling the station because of financial strains caused

by state budget cuts. The station costs the district more than $2

million every year, officials said.

The district is considering five bids, four from televangelists,

including Costa Mesa-based Trinity Broadcasting Network. The fifth is

a joint bid from the KOCE Foundation and L.A.-based public TV channel

KCET, a PBS station.

Phillip Gianos, professor of political science at Cal State

Fullerton and a member of the survey team, said that he was surprised

at how many people supported keeping KOCE-TV as a PBS outlet.

“I was surprised by the magnitude by which people felt that way,”

Gianos said. “My best hunch for that is that people in Orange County

have come to look highly upon having their very own public TV station

on the air ... . People seem to want to have Orange County’s own

operation and seem to feel very strongly for that.”

The data was collected from a random digit dialed survey

administered between Aug. 26 and Sept 10.

The Center for Public Policy does three or four surveys every

year, with a focus on public policy issues of interest to people in

Orange County.

-- Jenny Marder

Hispanic chamber expands into Surf City

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has opened a satellite office in

the Union Bank Of California on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach

as part of its expansion in Orange County.

The chamber hopes to be more accessible to small business owners

in Orange County.

“Our primary objective is to help Hispanic small business owners,

but you don’t have to be Hispanic to be a member,” said Viola Mirez,

office manager for the chamber. “We provide networking opportunities.

We partner with the other ethnic minority groups and promote unity.”

The chamber promotes business, offers opportunity for small

businesses to network and get their companies name in the public eye.

“There are 24,184 Hispanic-owned companies in Orange County,”

Mirez said.

Avila’s El Ranchito restaurant, a successful Hispanic-owned

restaurant, caters many events for the chamber.

“Anything we can do to promote business is good,” manager Gestavo

Tirrado said. Working together benefits the chamber and the business,

as well as the other companies that attend workshops and events.

“With today’s economy, we need each other and we help each other,”

Tirrado said.

For more information on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, call

(714) 953-4289.

-- Danielle Lagana

Fourth of July committee is thinking ahead

It seems just yesterday that people were donning patriotic hats

and waving American flags as marching bands, miniature horses and

colorful floats sailed down Main Street.

But no sooner had the flags been folded, the floats dismantled and

the sidewalks cleaned of streamers than plans for Huntington Beach’s

centennial Fourth of July celebration were already underway.

Since its inception in 1904, Surf City has boasted the largest

Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi. Organizers are

saying that next year’s 100th parade will be even more spectacular

than usual.

The centennial Fourth of July committee is pushing again for

fireworks at the pier. What would have been the second-largest

fireworks display in the nation was canceled last February by a

divided City Council that feared a repeat of civil unrest that took

place Downtown in years past.

This year, the board is starting early and hoping to bring the

vote to the City Council by the mid-October, said Pat Stier, chair of

the centennial Fourth of July Commission.

Actor and gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger has been

asked to serve as the grand marshal.

“It’s not political at all,” Stier stressed. “He’s just another

big name for us. We had Mickey Rooney last year, and we’re hoping to

have Arnold Schwarzenegger next year.”

Local Huntington Beach restaurants, including Duke’s and Don

Ramon’s, have agreed to sponsor the event and provide the food, and

centennial merchandise will be sold all year long, Stier said.

At the recent elections for the centennial Fourth of July

Commission, Stier, a local businesswoman, was reelected as board

chair and Mary Ellen Cianciabella, program manager of Huntington

Youth Shelter, was elected vice chair. Other returning board members

are Margie Bunten, Diane Heyden, Michael Ali, Karen Pedersen and

Carole Ann Wall.

-- Jenny Marder

City planning to put utility wires underground

Plans are being drawn up for burying a series of utility lines in

an effort to cut back on eye pollution in Surf City.

The city has plans to put underground all electrical lines along

Pacific Coat Highway, Newland Street, Magnolia Street, Hamilton

Avenue and Beach Boulevard.

Representatives from Southern California Edison, the state

Department of Beaches and Parks and the city’s Economic Development

and Public Works departments met earlier this month to designate the

locations of utility lines and transformers.

The main reason for doing this is aesthetics, City Engineer Dave

Webb said.

“Wires and poles and things tend to be an eyesore to the

community,” he said. “There’s also some additional protection:

They’re a safeguard from windstorms.”

Placing utility lines underground has become more common.

“A lot of cities really like that look, and particularly in

coastal communities, it gets in the way of views,” Webb said. “Newer

cities don’t have utilities overhead.”

The project is in the preliminary stages of design, but Webb

predicts that construction will start within the next year.

-- Jenny Marder

In-N-Out on its way to Surf City at last

Those who have been trekking to Seal Beach and Garden Grove for a

double-double burger and a strawberry shake will be thrilled to know

that In-N-Out’s day in Huntington Beach is almost here.

Surf City’s very own In-N-Out burger restaurant will be on Beach

Boulevard, south of Talbert Avenue.

Permits have been issued and work is underway on the new site.

Workers are installing water and sewer laterals, and staff from the

city’s public works department is reviewing grading plans.

In-N-Out has owned the land and had plans to build for years, but

it is the company’s policy to give priority to restaurants built on

property it leases.

In-N-Out Burger has been a staple in the West for more than 50

years. The restaurant prides itself on using no microwaves or

freezers and preparing everything fresh to order. French fries are

cut from hand-diced, fresh potatoes and shakes made from real ice

cream.

-- Jenny Marder

Archeologists to speak on Bolsa Chica tonight

Archeologists will speak tonight at the Waterfront Hilton Beach

Resort on the significance of the 8,000-year-old village and burial

site found on the Bolsa Chica mesa.

The Bolsa Chica Land Trust will host John Foster, chief

archeologist of the California Parks Service, and Archeologist

Patricia Martz of Cal State Los Angeles, who will speak on the

importance of Surf City’s local archeology.

Known as ORA 83, the area contains evidence of a Native American

village site and burial ground. It is the last remaining Early

Holocene coastal village in Orange County. It was also believed to

have been the primary manufacturing site of cog stones, hand-carved,

star-shaped stone objects that have been found in abundance on the

mesa.

The presentation, titled “Archeological Treasures of Southern

California,” will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Cielo Mare Room

of the Waterfront Hilton, at 21100 Pacific Coast Highway.

For more information, call the Land Trust at (714) 960-9939, ext.

3.

-- Jenny Marder