Costa Mesa

Earlier this month, Peggy Gardner added a bench to her outdoor garden. That bench faces a large wall. The Costa Mesa resident enjoys sitting on the bench and staring at the wall. That's where this story ends. Artistic inspiration is where the story began. This spring, Gardner's next-door neighbor asked for her permission before erecting a dividing wall -- eight feet high and 70 feet long -- between the two properties. The wall replaced a nine-foot-tall hedge that was knocked down along with the neighbor's home to prepare for reconstruction.

A two-car crash at Newport Boulevard and East 17th Street early Sunday resulted in the death of one passenger and left two people injured, police said. The person killed has been identified as Nacheli Garcia-Torres, 23, of Garden Grove, said Leslie Meader, Orange County supervising deputy coroner. Garcia-Torres was a front-seat passenger in a 1987 Acura LS driven by Jaime Grenado, 21, also of Garden Grove. Grenado is in police custody on suspicion of drunk driving, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Larry Hicks.

Thomas Schriber -- a co-founder of the Costa Mesa real estate company that played a major role in the redesign of Fashion Island -- plans to reduce his activities with the firm at the start of the new year. Schriber, currently chief executive and chairman of Costa Mesa-based Donahue Schriber, announced Monday that he intends to hand the chief executive's post to Patrick Donahue the firm's president and chief operating officer. He is also the brother of company co-founder Daniel Donahue, who died in 2002.

Fifty years ago, a group of Costa Mesa churchgoers met at a resident's home and decided to form a new congregation. They had no building at first, so members held services at Vanguard University and then at the Orange County Fairgrounds. "It was a close-knit group that started out here," said Gordon Sutterfield, whose eldest brother was a founding member. "They were like a family." Many of the 84 charter members of Harbor Trinity Church aren't alive to tell stories of the early days of the Costa Mesa congregation.

o7These people have been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. They are considered innocent until proved guilty.f7 COSTA MESA Aug. 31 Dean Hiruto Kohara, 21, Costa Mesa Janelle Marie Waltmire, 18, Costa Mesa Thursday Fred Vincent Dunphy, 49, Costa Mesa Friday Francisco Benitez Mercado, 33, Costa Mesa Saturday Benito Martinez Gonzalez, 35, Costa Mesa ...

Freda Cozad, 88 A memorial service will be held today in Porterville, Calif., for former Costa Mesa resident Freda Cozad. Mrs. Cozad, born in Oklahoma, lived in Costa Mesa for 33 years with her husband, Ray Cozad. They owned Cozad and Son Welding in Costa Mesa for more than 30 years. The Cozads moved to Springville, Calif., in 1980. Mrs. Cozad died Saturday of a stroke. She was 88 years old. Mrs. Cozad is survived by three children: Fay Acton of Trabuco Canyon; Dennis Cozad of Costa Mesa; Jeff Cozad of Springville, Calif.

GLENDALE — There’s one imposing number regarding the Orange Coast College football team that should figure centrally in Glendale Community College’s 7 p.m. nonconference meeting with the Pirates today in Costa Mesa. Negative 14. That’s the average amount of rushing yards per contest allowed by Orange Coast’s defense over the first three games of the season, the top mark in the state. Saturday’s 24-21 win over Golden West, in fact, was the first time this year in which a Pirates opponent has finished a game with positive yardage on the ground.

The songs of the Coasters, the Drifters, the Swallows and the Platters still get the doo wop dreams a hummin’ for myriad music minded individuals across the country, including local resident Jan “Deke” Detanna, lead singer for Deke and The Blazers. The group includes Detanna — using his old high school nickname of Deke — his longtime friend, Rick Budd, of Portland, OR, Larry D’Angelo, of Detroit, MI, and Lenny Blasso of Baltimore, MD. Deke and The Blazers will perform live at 7 p.m., Valentine’s Day at Segerstrom Hall in the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, as part of Canterbury Productions’ Ultimate Doo Wop Show.

SEGER ? BORDERS Emma Seger and Randall Borders of Costa Mesa have announced their engagement. The bride-to-be is the daughter of David and Beverly Seger of Glendale. She graduated in 2003 from Crescenta Valley High School and graduated in 2008 from UC Irvine with two bachelor?s degrees, one in film and media studies from the school of humanities and the other in studio art from the school of fine arts. The groom-elect is the son of Phil and Marianne Borders of La Mirada.

William Greene has a blue, model plane with an 8-foot wingspan sitting in his garage, and he is ready to fly it — if he could only find a place. Greene, who takes pride in his newest hobby, said he thinks he may be able to set his radio-controlled sail plane into the air at Hansen or Sepulveda dams. Greene has been a resident of Glendale for 42 years. Reporter Nicole Charky sat down with Greene to discuss his model plane and how he ended up in California at the end of World War II.   What were you doing before you started building planes?

GLENDALE — Gordon Tomaske, publisher of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, La Canada Valley Sun and Crescenta Valley Sun, has been promoted to director of operations for the Los Angeles Times’ Targeted Media Division little more than a year after he took over in March 2007 as the third publisher in as many years. The Targeted Media Division oversees Times Community News, of which the News-Press is a part. Together with its sister publications, the Burbank Leader, La Canada Valley Sun and Crescenta Valley Sun, the News-Press will be placed under the more direct purview of Times Community News General Manager Tom Johnson, who is based in Costa Mesa.

Cirque Du Soleil will return to the Southland after a four-year absence with the big top touring show "Corteo," under the trademark blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau in Los Angeles and Orange County. Created and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, "Corteo" will premiere in Los Angeles on August 23 for a limited engagement at the Forum. On November 8, "Corteo" will open at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center in Costa Mesa. These engagements celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil in Los Angeles and the United States.

The engagement of "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" scheduled at the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills March 27 to April 1, has been canceled. This date was an addition to the show's original national tour schedule. Both the show's producers and the presenters found that a longer marketing period was needed to promote this engagement. The show's only Southern California engagement will be at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, March 20-25 For exchanges: Los Angeles tickets will be honored at any performance of "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa March 20-25 by presenting tickets at The Center's box office, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

GLENDALE — State officials are investigating whether adequate safety training was provided at the Americana on Brand site, where a 40-year-old Lancaster man died Wednesday after he was struck by a bulldozer. Eddie Francisco Montoya was pronounced dead at the scene due to "severe, traumatic injuries" shortly after he was hit by a bulldozer at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Glendale Fire Capt. Jim Frawley said. "We just couldn't believe it," Montoyo's sister Sandra Velasco said.

Before I go any further, let me make it clear that I really don't like farewell columns. I guess I come from the school of thought that people don't read newspapers because of bylines. After all, it's the people and stories that we write about that matter, everything after that should remain out of the limelight. But for some reason, just about every journalist that's been in my position ? be it at this paper or any other ? has written one, and I don't like breaking tradition, so...

It is one of the grand social and charitable events in Southern California. It is equally one of the most significant fundraising efforts in support of people perhaps most in need of advocacy. The Thalians Ball attracted a sellout crowd to celebrate 50 years of service to those suffering with all forms of mental illness. The Saturday evening gala presented at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, was a gala to top all galas, supported by generous patrons from around the nation, and the Southland, including Orange County.