Millennium Plan

In a remarkable signal that the county's airport fight may be far from over, nearly two-thirds of Orange County voters want another chance to cast ballots on whether to build a commercial airport at El Toro, according to a new Times Orange County Poll. Moreover, most voters prefer a proposal to put a park, technology center and university on the site over any of the county's airport plans, the poll said.

South County airport foes have hired a political consulting firm in San Diego to begin crafting a 1999 ballot initiative asking voters to choose between a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine base and a non-aviation plan. Tom Shepard, a political consultant who heads the firm Campaign Strategies, was retained this month by a coalition of anti-airport business groups and individuals in South County.

The city of Irvine has assumed control of a proposed ballot measure aimed at repealing plans for an airport at El Toro, nudging out a coalition of South County cities that had hoped to steer the future of the retired Marine base. Last year's anti-airport Measure F, which passed with 67% of the vote, was written by the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority that includes Irvine and eight other South County cities.

A London-based Algerian has been arrested and charged by U.S. authorities with being one of the masterminds of a plot by Islamic terrorists to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium, federal officials said Sunday.

A federal judge, declaring that an Algerian man "created a grave risk to the safety and well being of the American people," sentenced him Wednesday to 24 years in prison for supporting a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport. After stating, "No. I don't say anything," Mokhtar Haouari, 33, stood impassively while Judge John F.

On Nov. 3, Irvine citizens will vote on the advisory Measure D--a measure that provides them with their first opportunity to demonstrate support for the non-aviation Millennium Plan. This is an important step in the fight to defeat the disastrous El Toro International Airport plan. Measure D helps educate citizens about the reuse options for the 4,700-acre El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. It does so by making a strong case for the economically and environmentally superior Millennium Plan.

First, those opposed to a civil airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station ran out as their alternate the Millennium Plan. When it was discovered that it generated more automobile traffic than the county's airport plan, they shelved it in favor of Millennium Plan II. Millennium Plan II decreased the size of the commercial area and increased the park and open space to over 2,500 acres, more than half of El Toro's total of 4,700 acres....