Advisory Committees

Mayor Richard Riordan received the resignation of Airport Commission President Daniel Garcia on Thursday, but he still declined to press embattled City Councilman Richard Alatorre to step down from the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. According to sources close to the mayor and councilman, however, Alatorre has discussed with Riordan the possibility of leaving the agency, which he serves at the mayor's pleasure.

A panel of medical experts voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to endorse the controversial weight-loss drug Qnexa, clearing the way for the Food and Drug Administration to approve a new prescription obesity medication for the first time since 1999. The FDA will issue a final ruling later this year, but the agency typically follows the recommendations of its advisory committees. The 20-2 vote in favor of Qnexa was a surprising reversal from 2010, when the same advisory committee decided that the drug's risks of heart problems and birth defects outweighed its weight-loss benefits.

Melanie Horwath phoned the California Tomato Board with what she assumed was a simple request. She needed promotional materials that her family's tomato packing company could display at a Salinas Valley agricultural event called Taste of the Valley. Do you have posters or recipes? she asked. We don't have that. What kind of promotion do you guys do? We don't do that kind of promotion. That's odd, Horwath thought.

In another public demonstration of concern about the struggling economy, President Obama will meet in Pittsburgh on Tuesday with the business and labor leaders he has chosen to counsel him on job creation. But many of the chief executives have cut American jobs and adopted tactics that weaken organized labor -- even as their businesses post record profits. The executives are members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which Obama created in January by appointing 26 leaders of companies including American Express, Comcast and Intel.

The City Council is accepting applications for two of its advisory committees. Members are needed for the Child Care and Youth Services Committee, which makes recommendations to the council on issues that affect young people. The committee is working on a directory of child care and teen services. There are three openings. Also needed are members for the Redevelopment and Residential Rehabilitation Committee, which advises officials on housing issues.

Eleven people were appointed this week to a committee that provides input to the Orange County Transportation Authority on promoting public transit and communicating with commuters who have special transportation needs. OCTA board members made the assignments to the 28-member Special Needs in Transit Advisory Committee on Monday, after receiving more than 1,400 applications from throughout the county. The appointments are for staggered three-year terms.

The City Council is seeking applicants for eight posts in various advisory committees. Laguna Beach residents may apply by July 10, said City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger. All applicants will be interviewed by the council at the July 15 meeting at 6 p.m. The unpaid positions fill current vacancies that expire in January, but committee members may be renominated for an additional one-year term. Applications are available at the city clerk's office, 505 Forrest Ave., or by calling (714) 497-3311, Ext.

Elections will be held Thursday for a 19-member community advisory committee that will recommend commercial redevelopment strategies along the Western Avenue Corridor. Candidates for the election at Mount Tabor Missionary Baptist Church, 6614 S. Western Ave., must bring proof of residency in the community, such as a tax bill or rent receipt, along with photo identification. Registration begins at 6 p.m., with the election scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Crescenta Valley sheriff's officials are asking for residents to help form a new law enforcement advisory panel. A similar committee formed last year folded earlier this year. That committee did not fare well because of a lack of organization, said Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Lt. Bob Dixon. "We really didn't have a cohesive plan together (for them)," he said.

The city is accepting applications from residents interested in serving on three citizens' advisory groups. Two seats are available on the Parks and Recreation Commission, which advises the City Council on development plans in the city, as well as on the maintenance of parks and recreational facilities. Three positions are open on the Human Affairs Committee, which advises the council on needs within the community.

Physicist John H. Marburger III, who served as President George W. Bush's science advisor at a time when most researchers considered science to be under attack by the government, died July 28 at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y. He was 70 and had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He also served as dean of USC's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, as president of State University of New York at Stony Brook and as head of Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. "Jack Marburger was a superb advocate for science, a visionary leader, and a highly skilled administrator who successfully led three vital institutions," said Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr., the current president of Stony Brook.

A controversial and often risky corner of the municipal bond market should be subject to more oversight, according to a new report by an advisory committee appointed by the Internal Revenue Service. The report released Wednesday said the IRS has provided insufficient rules and guidance for issuing so-called conduit bonds, an increasingly popular way for private entities to access low-cost, tax-free municipal bond financing. State and local governments are paid fees to issue these bonds on behalf of companies or nonprofits for projects to boost economic development.

It is not very often that meetings of the Certified Farmers Market Advisory Committee are the stuff of high drama. But such was the case Thursday at a meeting in Sacramento at which the committee voted to recommend a substantial increase in fees paid by market vendors, in order to fund a more effective market enforcement program. The vote is the latest step in a process started last November in the wake of news reports of rampant cheating at Southern California certified farmers markets.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee Wednesday recommended that the agency extend approval of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil for protection against anal cancer in males and females ages 9 through 26. The agency is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees, but it generally does so. Anal cancer is relatively uncommon, striking about 5,000 Americans each year. About 90% of cases are thought to be caused by HPV. Gardasil protects against four of the most common strains of HPV. It is already licensed for protection against cervical cancer in women and against genital warts in both sexes ages 9 to 26. The new indication was based primarily on a clinical trial conducted among 4,065 men, 602 of them gay. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either three doses of the vaccine or a placebo.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Wednesday recommended that adolescents receive a booster shot of the meningitis vaccine at age 16 because the effects of the vaccine fade more quickly than had been anticipated. [ Updated Wednesday, 11:15 a.m.: The original version of this story incorrectly said that it was an FDA advisory committee that made the recommendation.] Researchers had originally thought that the benefits of the vaccine persisted for at least 10 years, but new evidence presented to the committee Wednesday suggests that its benefits begin to wane after five years.

Faced with conflicting and less-than-conclusive scientific evidence, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended Wednesday that the controversial diabetes drug Avandia remain on the market — but with tighter supervision and increased warnings about the danger of heart attacks. Advisory recommendations are not binding and the FDA is expected to take at least several weeks to consider its response, but the panel's expression of increased concern is likely to further reduce doctors' reliance on what was once the drug of choice for treating Type II diabetes.

In its first meeting, the North Tustin Advisory Committee selected officers and voted to meet at in North Tustin instead of Santa Ana as county officials had requested. The five-member committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors is responsible for advising the county on proposed land development projects in North Tustin. In a cost-cutting measure, the committee was created to replace an elected body, the North Tustin Municipal Advisory Council.

A federal health panel is considering changes to a long-standing ban on blood donations by most gay men amid a growing body of evidence that the sharpest restrictions may no longer be necessary. Some lawmakers are calling for a fresh look at the policy, and key gay advocacy groups and organizations representing hemophiliacs and other heavy users of blood products also have narrowed their differences over the need to adjust rules for donors. At issue in a two-day hearing starting Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services' Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability will be the quarter-century-old donor policy, which bars any man who has had sex even once with another man since 1977 from ever giving blood.

State regulators voted unanimously Thursday to create an advisory committee to consider increasing regulation of California's porn industry, including mandating the use of condoms and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Guy Prescott, director of safety for Operating Engineers Local Union #3 and one of six members of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health's standards board, said he had planned to vote against the measure but changed his mind after hearing from performers and others in the porn industry.