Housing

With a three-year commitment and $100 down, police officers now can buy homes in this city for half price. The City Council on Tuesday decided to enroll Fullerton in a federal program aimed at encouraging officers to buy homes in the cities they serve. Dubbed the "Officer Next Door," the Department of Housing and Urban Development program offers police officers across the nation the chance to buy foreclosed properties in troubled areas where a police presence can make a difference.

The tale began when county leaders first approved a developer's plan to build a community of 705 mobile homes on the untouched hillsides and ravines of Trabuco Canyon. Over 20 years, five more developers failed at the project, and the cast of characters opposing it grew to include the neighboring Ramakrishna monastery and a Roman Catholic abbey, motorcycle riders who frequent the stunning canyon and a former Miss Texas.

A proposed subdivision next to the Costa Mesa Freeway that has drawn objections from neighbors and school officials faces a final vote tonight by the City Council. The development would sit on a 12-acre triangular parcel, with Taft Avenue on the north, the freeway on the west and Morningside Street on the east. Hundreds of neighbors protested Hearthstone Development Corp.'s original plan for 61 homes.

Arab Israelis will hold a general strike in their towns in northern Israel today to protest what they say was police brutality during a clash over house demolitions, an Arab spokesman said Sunday. Abed Anabtawi, general secretary of the Land Defense Committee, who represents the 850,000 Arab Israelis, said 20 Arabs were hurt Saturday when police used tear gas and batons to stop them from rebuilding three homes that Israel said were built without permits.

Dozens of residents told the Planning Commission this week that they oppose plans by Shell Oil Co. to build 2,100 homes next to Carbon Canyon Park. The residents said they are concerned the development would bring excess noise and too many cars through the quiet neighborhoods at the foot of the Chino Hills, just below the proposed development. Tom Martin, a member of a citizens group called OUCH!, characterized the planning meeting Tuesday as "frustrating."

A developer unveiled plans Tuesday for 436 homes on a large coastal field, drawing opposition from about 150 residents at a crowded Planning Commission hearing. In addition to the homes on the 250-acre Marblehead Coastal site, the Lusk Company Inc. is proposing a 61-acre entertainment center, including a theater and restaurant with Spanish-style architecture, and a small park.

Our first morning on St. Barts, I woke to blue skies, a sweeping view of the sea and the sound of my friend, Julie, talking to a parrot. The parrot was sitting on the roof of the lanai, pointedly less interested in conversation than in the baguette in Julie's hand. Another friend, Mary-Alice, called to the parrot in French. He perked up but refused to reply. "These Frenchmen are all alike," Mary-Alice laughed.

[To our readers: Below is a list of vacation home rental agencies that appeared in the October 1997 issue of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, published by the nonprofit Consumer's Union organization. Please note that some telephone numbers or other information may have changed.] All agencies in our list rent to the public. We also provide information on travel clubs that specialize in vacation rentals, and directory sources.

We didn't make any fast friends during our week's stay in the English countryside, but it felt like we left one behind: the cottage. The two-bedroom rented stone house had been a perfect companion: quiet, comfortable and cozy. On the morning we left, each of us said goodbye in our own way. I lingered longest at the kitchen window, trying to press the views into my memory like flowers in a book.

If you're the type to book luxury all-inclusive vacations without a second glance at your checkbook, then just take my word for this and skip down to the telephone number now. You will never stay at a Caribbean resort so seriously, memorably indulgent--and yet so congenial with the neighborhood, both socially and ecologically.