BUSINESS Home prices continue to rise; county...

BUSINESS

Home prices continue to rise; county median is at $603,000

Real estate statistics released last week showed that home prices

continued to climb during June in most Newport-Mesa neighborhoods. In

the ZIP Code that includes Newport Coast, the year-over-year rate of

appreciation for homes and condos was more than 110%, according to La

Jolla-based DataQuick Information Services. The median price for a

home or condo around Newport Coast in June was almost $2 million.

For Orange County as a whole, DataQuick reported that the median

price for homes and condos had climbed to $603,000. In Newport Beach,

no neighborhoods had median prices less than $1 million. The median

price for Costa Mesa homes and condos in June also exceeded the

county figure.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Newport Coast doctor, aide face federal indictment

A Newport Coast doctor and his former assistant face a 29-count

federal indictment. Physician George Steven Kooshian, 54, and

Virgilio Lopez Opinion, 45, face multiple charges stemming from

allegations that they defrauded patients and insurers by dosing

patients with treatments that included diluted or no medicine. The

men were indicted Wednesday.

A federal grand jury alleged that Kooshian instructed Opinion to

mistreat patients who were being treated for AIDS, HIV and hepatitis

at four clinics in Orange County and Long Beach. In 2001, Opinion

sued Kooshian in Orange County Superior Court. Opinion’s court filing

alleged that Kooshian ordered him to treat patients with saline

solution instead of prescription drugs.

Kooshian and Opinion are expected to be arraigned in August at the

U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

* An Orange County Superior Court judge denied a new trial Friday

for Greg Haidl and Kyle Nachreiner, two of the three young men

convicted in March of sexually assaulting an unconscious girl.

The third defendant, Keith Spann, did not have a lawyer present

and will receive a separate decision from Judge Francisco Briseno on

Tuesday.

EDUCATION

UCI contracts with state for prison research center

UC Irvine announced this week that it had signed a three-year,

$1.95-million contract with the state Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation to create a prison research center on campus. The

Center for Evidence-Based Corrections will collaborate with state

officials in studying ways to improve rehabilitation of adults and

juveniles.

UCI is the first university in the state to undertake a prison

research program. The ultimate goal of the center, university

officials said, is to decrease California’s number of repeat

offenders by better rehabilitating them while behind bars.

* The fight over KOCE-TV, Orange County’s only public broadcasting

system, intensified this week as the Coast Community College District

petitioned for a rehearing regarding the sale of the station, and the

Daystar Television Network sued the district and the KOCE-TV

Foundation for what it calls anti-Christian bias.

Since the district sold KOCE to the foundation last November,

Daystar has claimed that it is the station’s rightful owner because

it made the highest cash bid. In June, an appellate court ruled in

favor of Daystar, ruling that the district had to either sell the

station to the highest bidder or not sell it at all. The foundation

already holds the license for KOCE, and the district has spent much

of the foundation’s $8-million down payment.

Daystar attorney Richard Lloyd Sherman said the network would be

willing to devote 20% of airtime to “Real Orange” and other popular

KOCE shows.

COSTA MESA

City Council abolishes human relations committee

The City Council on Tuesday axed the human relations committee, an

11-member panel that since 1987 has worked to increase communication

and understanding among different cultures in the city. In June the

council cut the group’s $3,700 of annual funding from the city

budget, and Mayor Allan Mansoor last week proposed dissolving the

committee.

Mansoor, who served on the human relations committee when he ran

for the council in 2002, said he thinks the group’s work should be

handled by a private organization. Councilwomen Linda Dixon and

Katrina Foley voted against dissolving the committee.

POLITICS

Poll shows lead change in race for Rep. Cox’s seat

A recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies showed former Newport

Beach Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer leading a group of candidates to

replace Rep. Chris Cox in Congress, when and if Cox is confirmed as

head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A memo on the poll’s

findings said Brewer’s support of abortion rights and stem cell

research put her in line with more “mainstream” views of voters in

the 48th Congressional District.

A leading opponent of Brewer, state Sen. John Campbell, said the

poll -- which was commissioned by Brewer’s campaign -- was

“ridiculous.” That was the same way the Brewer camp described an

earlier poll by Probolsky Research that showed Campbell in the lead.

A hearing to confirm Newport Beach Rep. Chris Cox as chairman of

the Securities and Exchange Commission has been scheduled for Tuesday

in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.