CITY ROUNDUP:Reduce water consumption

The Huntington Beach Public Works department’s utilities division is warning of a possible water shortage in the city this summer, as a dry winter and a lack of water in the Sacramento River Delta have cut into supplies.

As a result, residents have been asked to reduce consumption voluntarily by 10%. The city’s suggestions include watering lawns only every other day and using a broom rather than a hose to clean up the driveway.

Average residential water use in the city is 11,250 gallons per month; watering on alternate days saves 1,100 gallons, while using a garden hose 10 minutes less saves 100.

For more information on conservation, visit www.bewaterwise.com or mwdoc.com, or call (714) 536-5921.

KOCE promotes Miskevich to manager

Huntington Beach-based public television station KOCE has promoted Ed Miskevich to station manager and chief operations officer. Miskevich has been assistant station manager there since 2001, and has worked in public broadcasting for 30 years. In his career as a producer of mostly public affairs series and documentaries, he won two Los Angeles Emmy Awards, two Golden Mike Awards, and eight Orange County Bar Assn. media awards.

Miskevich will now be responsible for all programming at the station, as well as production and engineering. He will mainly oversee programming and fundraising.

“Through my new role, I will continue to enhance the local programming that KOCE is known for, which gives Orange County a community hub as well as the blend of educational, cultural and societal perspectives they have come to expect,” Miskevich said in a statement released this week.

Amigos de Bolsa Chica receives national award

Wetlands preservation group Amigos de Bolsa Chica received a national award in Washington, D.C., last week, as the group was honored at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Awards.

The Coastal Habitat Restoration Award went to the Huntington Beach organization for acquiring, restoring and preserving 1,200 acres of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. When the awards were announced in April, officials said they were impressed by 30 years of work to save the area despite strong pressure to develop the coast. The achievement reached its height in 2006, when workers let ocean water flow into the wetlands for the first time in about 90 years.

The awards are meant to honor groups and individuals that promote stewardship and sustainable use of the country’s marine resources.

Harman likens governor, Dems to Paris Hilton

While talking about budget shortfalls, state Sen. Tom Harman took a page from current events and compared Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Democrats to Paris Hilton, whose ups and downs while attempting to avoid jail were ubiquitous in the media last week.

Harman said all the named parties did not understand when they had to face consequences. He said Democratic budget proposals did not take falling revenues into account.

“Many of my Republican colleagues and I clamored that our state was about to hit a revenue wall, and that we must reduce spending and make program cuts,” he said in a statement. “Like Paris Hilton, however, the governor and the Democrats’ response was that rules do not apply to them.”

Silva warns against Dems’ reform plans

Assemblyman Jim Silva spoke in opposition to state Democrats’ healthcare reform plans, calling them dangerous to business.

Silva called AB 8, a healthcare plan sponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), the biggest tax increase on business the state would ever see.

“A multi-billion dollar tax increase on an already overtaxed employer base will not only prevent new businesses from opening, but will close existing businesses and lead to lay-offs and stagnating wages,” Silva said in a statement released to reporters last week.