Carolyn V Cavecche

The special election in Orange on Tuesday turned out not to be just about filling a vacant City Council seat. It was also an unofficial referendum on the county's plan to build a commercial airport at the closed El Toro Marine base. And voters in the once overwhelmingly pro-airport city elected, by a landslide, the candidate fiercely opposed to the county's airport plan. Carolyn V. Cavecche's victory now means a majority of Orange council members is opposed to the county's plan.

The special election in Orange on Tuesday turned out not to be just about filling a vacant City Council seat. It was also an unofficial referendum on the county's plan to build a commercial airport at the closed El Toro Marine base. And voters in the once overwhelmingly pro-airport city elected, by a landslide, the candidate fiercely opposed to the county's airport plan. Carolyn V. Cavecche's victory now means a majority of Orange council members is opposed to the county's plan.

Dr. Maureen Sayres Van Niel's understanding of motherhood is quite simplistic and a little naive ("Mom as Metaphor," Commentary, June 11). Does she really believe that all women who choose to stay home as full-time mothers and wives are "relatively unambivalent" about their choice and that the "fulfillment of our passions and attending of our family's daily needs are fortuitously synonymous"? Get real! A lot of us have put our careers on hold because we realize the responsibility of being a parent.

Dealing with several large new developments and keeping the city's finances in balance are the top issues in the City Council race in Orange. Mayor Mark A. Murphy is running unopposed, but seven candidates have lined up for two seats up for grabs on the council, including incumbent Carolyn V. Cavecche, who won a bruising special election earlier this year. "One of the biggest challenges facing all cities in California is the upcoming budget crunch," Cavecche said.

On the heels of unveiling plans to develop its land in east Orange, The Irvine Co. announced Tuesday that it intends to donate 190 acres for a youth campground that would be managed by the Boy Scouts of America. The camp would adjacent to Irvine Regional Park. The announcement came the same day that the developer presented the Orange City Council with the first details of the proposed 4,000-home development, which needs council approval. Officials from both the City Council and The Irvine Co.

The Orange County Vector Control District on Thursday authorized a direct-mail ballot measure giving property owners the chance to reestablish funding for the red imported fire ant eradication program. The campaign to rid the county of fire ants -- known for fierce bites that leave painful, itchy welts -- was dropped in February after the state stopped contributing funds and district officials said they could not support the program alone.

For the last year, Orange County transportation leaders have recited the same mantra: Increase rail service. But with a new chairwoman elected Monday to head the county's largest transportation agency, that may change. Orange Mayor Carolyn V. Cavecche, the new Orange County Transportation Authority chairwoman, said she would like to see the agency address the "negative impacts" of adding rail projects.

Opponents of a housing development in Orange began collecting signatures Wednesday to force an unprecedented citywide referendum that could overturn the city's approval of the project. On Tuesday, a split City Council passed a series of resolutions giving the final go-ahead to Fieldstone Communities Inc. to develop 183 homes on a sand-and-gravel field in eastern Orange. The 110-acre site is in a potential flood area and next to the closed Villa Park Landfill, which continues to emit methane gas.

Grass-roots GOP activist Carolyn V. Cavecche, a fiscal conservative and fierce opponent of an airport at El Toro, soundly defeated the county Republican establishment's favored candidate Tuesday in the Orange City Council election. Cavecche, outspent nearly 2-to-1 by opponent Scott Steiner, will fill a seat left vacant after Councilman Mark Murphy was elected mayor in November. Cavecche won 61% of the vote, with Steiner getting 35% and Michael Vogelvang capturing just over 3%.

The Irvine Co. has dramatically scaled back its development plans for the hills east of Orange, deciding to build no more than 2,500 homes and eliminating a proposed commercial center, city officials said Wednesday. Company officials unveiled their plans to cut the development about 75% in private meetings with city leaders this week, just days after Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren announced the donation of 11,000 acres of ranch land for permanent open space. In doing so, the Irvine Co.

Hundreds of political hopefuls across the county have met the final extended filing deadline for the November election. Last Friday's deadline was extended to Wednesday in races where incumbents did not file for reelection, thus giving nonincumbents a grace period for completing the necessary paperwork. Some of the late filings were delayed again by computer problems at the registrar of voters office.