Ed Connor

Ever since Irvine attorney Ed Connor was a teenager at a Catholic high school in Nebraska, helping others in need has been a fundamental personal goal. Now that he's the 1998 president of the Orange County Bar Assn., Connor hopes to persuade his fellow lawyers to take up the mantle of volunteerism as well. "Lawyers have been gifted, for whatever reason, with a combination of luck, divine providence and hard work," said Connor, 47.

Ed O'Connor, a Manhattan College basketball star who led the nation in field-goal shooting in 1955 and was the first player from his school drafted by the NBA, has died. He was 68. He died Wednesday of undisclosed causes while on vacation in South Carolina. O'Connor made 60.5% of his shots, making 147 of 243 attempts in his senior season.

Ed O'Connor, a Manhattan College basketball star who led the nation in field-goal shooting in 1955 and was the first player from his school drafted by the NBA, has died. He was 68. He died Wednesday of undisclosed causes while on vacation in South Carolina. O'Connor made 60.5% of his shots, making 147 of 243 attempts in his senior season.

Ever since Irvine attorney Ed Connor was a teenager at a Catholic high school in Nebraska, helping others in need has been a fundamental personal goal. Now that he's the 1998 president of the Orange County Bar Assn., Connor hopes to persuade his fellow lawyers to take up the mantle of volunteerism as well. "Lawyers have been gifted, for whatever reason, with a combination of luck, divine providence and hard work," said Connor, 47.

A deal to buy and preserve most of the land slated for an unpopular mobile-home development in Trabuco Canyon could be complete by August, an attorney involved in the negotiations told county supervisors this week. Ed Connor, president of the Orange County Bar Assn.

Ed Connor, the group's 1998 president, said he is seeking volunteers to work through the bar association's Public Law Center on behalf of poor children needing legal help. Only a little more than 10% of the 11,000 attorneys in the county perform free legal work through the program, a smaller percentage than in many other counties.

In a hearing to determine whether to drop charges against 22 homeless people arrested in two roundups last summer at the Civic Center, a police supervisor testified Thursday that the effort was no different than such police operations as prostitution sweeps. During testimony before Municipal Judge B. Tam Nomoto, Santa Ana Police Lt. Collie Provence said the police initiated two roundups at the Civic Center in August to lower the number of property thefts in the area.

A federal jury on Thursday awarded $1 million to three young black men who accused the Eddie Bauer chain of "consumer racism" for detaining them on suspicion of shoplifting and forcing one man to take off his shirt. The jury of four whites and three blacks in Greenbelt, Md., found that the young men were falsely imprisoned and defamed by store officials and that the outdoor-clothing company negligently supervised its security guards.

Attorney and feminist activist Gloria Allred claimed victory over the Newport Beach Country Club on Friday, saying it had agreed to pay $30,000 in cash and credits to settle a sex discrimination suit she filed last year. "We believe that the club leadership has learned an important lesson about the commitment of women to the concept of equality," Allred said during a press conference at the club's main entrance.

Officials of cities in eastern Ventura County will ask the City of Los Angeles to help pay to revive CalTrain, the Oxnard-to-Los Angeles commuter rail service that ended operations two years ago. The local officials met Thursday at a closed-door meeting at Simi Valley City Hall. Afterward they said the situation had been complicated by the latest Interstate Commerce Commission decision.

Confronted by a civil rights lawsuit, the Santa Ana City Council on Tuesday repealed an ordinance used by code enforcement officers in efforts to evict more than 100 homeless people who crowd into a house used as a shelter. The city attorney's office was instructed by the council's motion to find other ways -- either by drafting a new city law or applying existing ones -- to limit the operations of the shelter, known as the Isaiah House and operated by Catholic Worker.