Red County/OC Blog News Roundup -- March 22, 2007

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Expert: Review Electronic Votes -- OCR and LAT
Trung Nguyen's lawsuit focuses on 124 votes in superintendent race.

Is Disney Ready To Make Big Thunder? -- LAT
The company's recent battles with the city lead to speculation that it wants to import its Florida blueprint.

Frank Mickadeit: Twas Two Courtrooms, No Waiting -- OCR
Franks writes on the next-door Nguyen v. Nguyen and Gilchrist Trials.

Alicia Robinson's The Political Landscape: Support For Rehab-Home Reform Bills -- DP
A bill to better regulate drug and alcohol recovery homes got a boost Tuesday when Dana Point City Council members voted unanimously to support it, but some Newport Beach residents are hoping to see the bill changed before it reaches a vote in the state Senate

Gilchrist Makes His Case -- OCR and LAT
A judge urges bickering anti-illegal immigration activists of the Minuteman Project to work out their differences.

639 Arrestees Flagged For Immigration Violations -- OCR
During one month, 10 percent of people sent to O.C. Jail were flagged as possible illegal immigrants.

Great Park Spells Out Business Plan -- OCR
Proposed business plan to be presented to the Great Park Board today estimates that $446.8 million will be spent on the project in the next five years.

Journey To A Film -- OCR
A filmmaker finds financing for his story of the Vietnamese boat people in the Orange County communities where they settled.

Shea Center Opens Renovated Facilities -- OCR
A $4.5 million project brings a new barn, arenas and upgrades to the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano.

Park Restrooms -- OCR
A look back at the restrooms purchased by AVCA, and the association's current plan to install them in Foxborough and Woodfield Park.

Rosary, Mass Set For Rev. Daniel Johnson -- OCR
Father Daniel Johnson resuscitated an ancient, elaborate, all-Latin mass at a Huntington Beach church in a move to bring back a more traditional and spiritual ambience.

Report: Raise Walls To Stem Tide -- DP
This is the first article in an occasional series on Newport Harbor and its future.

Tear Down, Build Up -- DP
As the Irvine Co. begins demolition on the former Macy's women's store building in Fashion Island, the developer continues to make the Newport Beach shopping center even more attractive to shoppers.

Congress Allots $5 Million For Back Bay Work -- DP
A promised $5-million chunk of funding for the Upper Newport Bay dredging project finally came through Wednesday, after nearly falling victim to congressional squabbles.

Comments

Interesting story that has been developing that somehow got overlooked on this posting. Thanks Moorlach.....looks like your boy will do a great job for the County tax payers here in OC!:

Thursday, March 22, 2007
Treasurer wants trust to pay his legal bills
Chriss Street says bankrupt fund should pay as much as $600,000.

By RONALD CAMPBELL
The Orange County Register

Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street wants the bankruptcy trust he ran for seven years to pay $600,000 in legal bills he faces for allegedly mishandling the fund.

The Fruehauf Trailer Corp. trust paid him $1.8 million over seven years but also saddled him with big legal headaches.

Street had to resign as trustee in August 2005. The trust is suing him in a Delaware bankruptcy court for $7 million, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary trust.

In a motion filed this week, Street objected to a plan to give the trust's one big asset, a Mexican truck trailer manufacturer, to creditors. He said if the trust gives up the Mexican company, it may not have enough left to pay his bills. Street wants to buy the Mexican company himself.

Street said in court papers that he expects to beat the trust's lawsuit against him. When he does, the trust will have to pay his legal bills, he said.

Street did not say how much he already has paid in Fruehauf-related expenses. He said past and future bills likely will top $600,000.

Street repeatedly has accused his successor as trustee, Los Angeles investment banker Daniel Harrow, of waging a vendetta against him.

Street spokesman Brett Barbre said Street would not comment on the case but would "let the legal process take its course."

Harrow also declined to comment.

Street also wants the trust to pay his fees in connection with a pending U.S. Labor Department investigation into his handling of Fruehauf's pension fund. The Labor Department opened the investigation in July 2001, soon after Street used assets from the fund to buy the bankrupt Dorsey Trailer Co. Dorsey collapsed three years later, forcing a federal takeover of the pension fund.

Street wants the trust to pay his expenses for a fraud lawsuit filed by a former Dorsey customer. He settled that suit on undisclosed terms last year.

Contact the writer: 714-796-5030 or rcampbell@ocregister.com

[@Baldassare]

There isn't even any proof that Street has done anything wrong. Just a pissing match between two rich guys. I don't see how this affects the job Street could do as Treasurer.