Chuck Smith

Atlanta Falcon defensive end Chuck Smith has been fined $25,000 by the NFL for his third-quarter tackle of Carolina Panther quarterback Kerry Collins during last Sunday's game. Collins was hit from behind in his left knee by Smith and forced from the game. Smith said he spoke with NFL director of football development Gene Washington on Tuesday and received written notice of the fine Wednesday.

WHEN Chuck Smith, founder of the worldwide Calvary Chapel movement, decided to invest big in radio, the Orange County evangelist joined forces with a pastor he trusted. Mike Kestler was one of his proteges, a folksy preacher with a ponytail who had ridden the Calvary phenomenon to a pulpit in Twin Falls, Idaho. Smith had presided at Kestler's wedding. He'd helped Kestler keep his job after a churchgoer complained that Kestler had begged her to run away with him.

From his pulpit in Santa Ana, Chuck Smith's voice thunders with certainty. He denounces homosexuality as a "perverted lifestyle," finds divine wrath in earthquakes and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and promises imminent Armageddon in a deep, sure voice. If his message is grim, the founder of the Jesus People and the Calvary Chapel movement bears the ruddy good cheer of a 79-year-old believer who insists he has never known a day's doubt or despair.

Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith is expected to return to the Board of Supervisors next month after he recovers from open-heart surgery and pneumonia, an aide said Friday. Smith, 72, a supervisor for seven years, had a quadruple bypass in December; his recovery was hampered by pneumonia. He talks to his staff daily from his home in Westminster and keeps up to date on issues facing the county, said James Campbell, an executive assistant to the supervisor.

The chief executive of Orange County's largest biomedical company wants Supervisor Chuck Smith to reconsider his effort to allow county employees to buy discounted prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies. David Pyott, president and chief executive of Allergan, told the supervisor in a letter received last week that importing drugs from Canada was dangerous and a threat to the state and local economy.

A move to put Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith back on a regional planning board was tabled Monday after protesters argued that he would use his position to promote an airport at El Toro. The board of the Orange County Transportation Authority decided unanimously to refer to its committees the decision on whether Smith should be appointed to the Southern California Assn. of Governments. Designating a member on SCAG -- the authority's first -- would cost OCTA $25,000 a year.

Re "O.C. Officials Seek Audit of Union's Fund," Nov. 7: It saddens me to read that two Orange County politicians, Chris Norby and Chuck Smith, have taken to beating up on Orange County deputy sheriffs and district attorney investigators. According to The Times, the deputy sheriffs have saved Orange County taxpayers up to $6 million every year since they started managing their own health plans 16 years ago. And to make matters worse, Norby and Smith point to the many physical ailments and injuries these cops experience on the job as a way for the county to save money!

Supervisor Chuck Smith withdrew a proposal late Monday that would have asked Orange County voters in November to authorize another vote on the fate of the closed El Toro Marine base. Smith's move came as Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad picked up support for her plan to ask voters to urge the Navy to completely clean the base before it is sold to private developers.

Re "2 Supervisors Propose a Fifth Ballot Measure on El Toro Planning," Aug. 1: At this point, it comes as no surprise that supervisors Cynthia P. Coad and Chuck Smith are still not convinced that the El Toro International Airport idea is a bad idea and dead. After literally having wasted millions of our tax dollars and displaying wanton disrespect for the residents of Orange County, they supposedly wish that we, the voters, should actually have a say in what goes on in Orange County.

Chuck Smith has that unflappable look to him. For someone rapidly becoming the point man for the proposed El Toro airport, that's a good look to have. He should paint it on, because if there's one thing he can count on, it's that the airport flap isn't ending any time soon.