Public Safety

With officials sounding upbeat about the coming fiscal year, the City Council is set to give final approval tonight to a $29.4-million budget that calls for spending more money on capital improvements and public safety. City leaders say the financial picture has begun to brighten for Laguna Beach and that residents face no increases in fees or taxes.

After eight years of lobbying for a traffic light at a tricky intersection, Father Kevin Larkin of St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church will have his prayers answered today. As of this morning, a traffic light with a left-turn arrow will be operational at the T-shaped intersection of Dixie Canyon Avenue and Moorpark Street, where Larkin thinks three fatal accidents have occurred over the years. The site is home to Larkin's church, Dixie Canyon Elementary School and the St.

The president of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission has helped orchestrate a "whitewash" of concerns regarding the stadium's new press box, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky charged Friday. Yaroslavsky accused President Roger A. Kozberg of withholding pertinent documents from commissioners, the public and the news media. The soundness of the press box welds has come under review in response to a May 5 Times article reporting difficulties during construction last year.

Seven Orange County cities have agreed to consolidate emergency dispatch operations at one facility in Anaheim. Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach's city councils approved the plan last week, and Garden Grove joined in Tuesday. The other cities involved are Anaheim, Fullerton, Newport Beach and Orange. Under the plan, Central Net Communications Center in Huntington Beach will be consolidated into North Net Communications Center in Anaheim.

City officials, medical personnel and a fireworks victim teamed up Thursday, a week before the Fourth of July, to hammer home the dire consequences of playing with fireworks and the need for parents to make sure their kids don't. L.A. City Fire Battalion Chief Rick Garcia conducted a news conference at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, kicking off the department's 1996 anti-fireworks campaign.

For the past year, Jack Carey has been delivering meals to senior citizens in their homes, and he has made some disturbing observations. "I would see things that I thought were dangers," said Carey, 62. So when Carey learned about a new city endeavor called Project SHIP--for Senior Home Inspection Program--he signed up. Now he and about 40 other volunteers are working to eliminate home safety hazards and provide basic fire safety education to seniors.

Laws that restrict the ownership of certain breeds of dogs but fail to address the actions of their owners are likely to be ineffective in reducing the number of fatal dog attacks, according to a study by federal health officials published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics. Dr. Jeffrey J. Sacks, an injury prevention specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his colleagues analyzed data from 109 deaths caused by dog bites reported between 1989 and 1994.

The City Council has agreed to pay outside law enforcement agencies about $37,000 to help the Police Department monitor this year's Fourth of July activities. The city will pay the California Highway Patrol $14,470 and the Orange County Sheriff's Department $22,653 to provide public safety services. CHP officers will help to manage traffic during the July 4 parade, and the Sheriff's Department will assist in booking prisoners and staffing street barricades.

The City Council has approved a financing plan to pay for Tustin's share of a new countywide radio system and to expand a park. The city will join a countywide financing authority that will issue bonds for Tustin's $1.4-million share of the $80-million radio project, which will allow police, fire and other emergency services to communicate. The total financing package will be about $2.4 million, officials said.

Another step toward possible demolition of St. Vibiana's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles was taken Tuesday when city inspectors red-tagged the entire 120-year-old landmark, declaring it an extreme hazard because of seismic damage, a Roman Catholic archdiocese spokesman said. The adjacent bell tower was red-tagged last week. The archdiocese has closed the cathedral at 2nd and Main streets to the public for a year.