El Toro Marines Corps Air Station

Airport politics, a staple of South County civic life for the last seven years, has spread north to Orange, where allegiances over the county's plans to build an airport at El Toro affected one election and could influence a second. Orange voters will decide June 5 who should fill the council's fifth seat, left vacant after Councilman Mark Murphy was elected mayor in November.

In Southern California, there's nothing like a very large piece of real estate to cause discord. And the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is nothing if not a large piece of real estate. Ever since the military decided to unload the base in the 1990s, Orange County residents have been bickering over what to do with the land, and the decision in 2005 to turn it into the Great Park hasn't ended the conflict. But first the history. Even before the military moved out, county residents divided into two bitterly opposing camps: those who supported using the site for a commercial airport and those who envisioned it as a vast and impressive park.

President Clinton has approved a recommendation by an independent commission to close 35 major unneeded military installations across the United States, including the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and six other bases in California, White House officials said Thursday.

Airport politics, a staple of South County civic life for the last seven years, has spread north to Orange, where allegiances over the county's plans to build an airport at El Toro affected one election and could influence a second. Orange voters will decide June 5 who should fill the council's fifth seat, left vacant after Councilman Mark Murphy was elected mayor in November.

The Navy is studying the possibility that some naval and Marine Corps bases scheduled to be closed could be kept open by showing Congress that the military installations are vital to national defense or that closing them would be too expensive. In a June 1 Navy memo, base commanders were told that they are welcome to "propose changes to the previously approved . . . base recommendations of the . . . (congressionally appointed) commissions."

About 90 Police Explorers graduated Monday from the Orange County Law Enforcement Explorer Academy held at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station over the weekend. The four-day program, held twice each year and staffed with volunteers, is for male and female Explorers ranging from 14 to 20 years in age who want a career in law enforcement or related fields, said Janie Walker, academy director and police reserve officer for the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, in a time when orange groves still stretched alongside dusty farm roads from the Santa Ana Mountains to the sea, the U.S. Marines put their boots down in the heart of Orange County. They wanted a training ground for hotshot pilots destined to do battle in the Pacific Rim. It would change everything. The site they selected was smack in the middle of James Irvine's finest 28,000-acre lima bean field, then the world's largest.

Laguna Niguel City Councilman Thomas W. Wilson was selected Wednesday to succeed Marian Bergeson as Orange County's 5th District supervisor, and he immediately vowed to fight the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport, the county's most divisive issue. "Many of my constituents want me to vote 'no,' " said the 56-year-old retired Rockwell International aerospace engineer. "I am going to work diligently on their behalf to keep [an airport] from happening."

For three years, Steve Stavrakakis has flown a jet in the El Toro Air Show and enjoyed a special camaraderie with other pilots whose steel nerves and split-second timing have made the event a thrilling tradition for 47 years. This year, however, is the final show at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which is closing in 1999. "I hate to see it happen," Stavrakakis, 39, said, adding that the Marines are "like a family to us."

The Orange County Grand Jury urged local leaders Wednesday to take control of the decade-long problem of jail overcrowding, warning that further delay could seriously erode the future effectiveness of law enforcement officers. The grand jury found a shortage of 3,615 beds in the county system, which has resulted in the release or turning away of "tens of thousands" of people who would normally spend time in jail.

Just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, in a time when orange groves still stretched alongside dusty farm roads from the Santa Ana Mountains to the sea, the U.S. Marines put their boots down in the heart of Orange County. They wanted a training ground for hotshot pilots destined to do battle in the Pacific Rim. It would change everything. The site they selected was smack in the middle of James Irvine's finest 28,000-acre lima bean field, then the world's largest.

For three years, Steve Stavrakakis has flown a jet in the El Toro Air Show and enjoyed a special camaraderie with other pilots whose steel nerves and split-second timing have made the event a thrilling tradition for 47 years. This year, however, is the final show at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which is closing in 1999. "I hate to see it happen," Stavrakakis, 39, said, adding that the Marines are "like a family to us."

Laguna Niguel City Councilman Thomas W. Wilson was selected Wednesday to succeed Marian Bergeson as Orange County's 5th District supervisor, and he immediately vowed to fight the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport, the county's most divisive issue. "Many of my constituents want me to vote 'no,' " said the 56-year-old retired Rockwell International aerospace engineer. "I am going to work diligently on their behalf to keep [an airport] from happening."

The Navy is studying the possibility that some naval and Marine Corps bases scheduled to be closed could be kept open by showing Congress that the military installations are vital to national defense or that closing them would be too expensive. In a June 1 Navy memo, base commanders were told that they are welcome to "propose changes to the previously approved . . . base recommendations of the . . . (congressionally appointed) commissions."

The Orange County Grand Jury urged local leaders Wednesday to take control of the decade-long problem of jail overcrowding, warning that further delay could seriously erode the future effectiveness of law enforcement officers. The grand jury found a shortage of 3,615 beds in the county system, which has resulted in the release or turning away of "tens of thousands" of people who would normally spend time in jail.

As if on cue, the brooding skies that hovered over El Toro Marine Corps Air Station Tuesday suddenly burst with sunshine, as the plane carrying Richard Nixon to his final homecoming taxied to a stop. Storm clouds had threatened to dampen an already somber military ceremony planned for the arrival of the former President's body. But the rain that fell on much of Southern California Tuesday eased long enough so the brief ceremony, which is steeped in military tradition, could proceed.

In Southern California, there's nothing like a very large piece of real estate to cause discord. And the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is nothing if not a large piece of real estate. Ever since the military decided to unload the base in the 1990s, Orange County residents have been bickering over what to do with the land, and the decision in 2005 to turn it into the Great Park hasn't ended the conflict. But first the history. Even before the military moved out, county residents divided into two bitterly opposing camps: those who supported using the site for a commercial airport and those who envisioned it as a vast and impressive park.

As if on cue, the brooding skies that hovered over El Toro Marine Corps Air Station Tuesday suddenly burst with sunshine, as the plane carrying Richard Nixon to his final homecoming taxied to a stop. Storm clouds had threatened to dampen an already somber military ceremony planned for the arrival of the former President's body. But the rain that fell on much of Southern California Tuesday eased long enough so the brief ceremony, which is steeped in military tradition, could proceed.

President Clinton has approved a recommendation by an independent commission to close 35 major unneeded military installations across the United States, including the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and six other bases in California, White House officials said Thursday.

About 90 Police Explorers graduated Monday from the Orange County Law Enforcement Explorer Academy held at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station over the weekend. The four-day program, held twice each year and staffed with volunteers, is for male and female Explorers ranging from 14 to 20 years in age who want a career in law enforcement or related fields, said Janie Walker, academy director and police reserve officer for the Costa Mesa Police Department.