Villa Park

Marc Christian MacGinnis, who won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1991 from the estate of his ex-lover, actor Rock Hudson, after convincing a jury Hudson had knowingly exposed him to AIDS, has died. He was 56. Known as Marc Christian, he died of pulmonary problems June 2 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The details were confirmed Friday by his sister, Susan Dahl, who said she did not publicly announce his death earlier because of her brother's wish for privacy.

Deborah Pauly, the outspoken Villa Park councilwoman who drew community ire when she protested outside an Islamic charity event, was removed this week from a leadership position with the Orange County Republican Party's central committee. Party officials said Pauly, who is running for county supervisor, has been a divisive figure. Her removal comes a month after Orange businessman Bob Walters mailed out letters supporting Pauly's candidacy on a "George Wallace for President" letterhead.

The Villa Park Women's League Newcomers group will have an "Old Fashioned Cocktail Party" at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at a Villa Park residence. Information: (714) 289-2392.

The political mailer that arrived recently in Orange County mailboxes seemed from a different era, embossed with a tiny portrait of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's face and the campaign slogan "Wallace for President, Stand up for America. " But the letter contained no direct mention of the fiery Southern politician, who gained a national reputation as a segregationist during the civil rights era, mounted four failed presidential campaigns and died in 1998. Instead, it was a plea to American Independent Party members to elect Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly to a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

  Federal regulators warned of a new scam in which so-called phantom debt collectors harass people into paying bills they don't even owe, typically preying on Americans already burdened with financial problems. Officials said Tuesday that they had shut down a Villa Park operation that they alleged in a lawsuit fraudulently collected about $5 million in phantom debts. In a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission, a court froze the assets of American Credit Crunchers, an affiliated company called Ebeeze and their owner, Varang K. Thaker.

They call Villa Park "The Hidden Jewel. " Bound on all sides by the city of Orange, this 2.1-square-mile city is something of a well-kept Orange County secret, residents say: affluent, welcoming, conservative, and quiet. In recent weeks, it's also been the center of heated controversy after video of a protest at an Islamic charity event captured a city councilwoman's angry words. Speaking outside a community center in nearby Yorba Linda during the February event, Councilwoman Deborah Pauly pointed at the center and said, "What's going on over there right now ?

HAWAII I found safe, clean and inexpensive lodging in Hawaii: the Banana Bungalow Maui Hostel. There are dorm-style rooms, but I had a private room. Washer and dryer, kitchen, free airport shuttle, fine even for an older traveler. Banana Bungalow Maui Hostel, 310 N. Market St., Wailuku, Maui; (808) 244-5090, http://www.mauihostel.com. Single rooms from $65 a night; dorm-style rooms from $25 a night. Beverly Marsh Villa Park

The risk: more damage to an already severely injured knee, and a future of arthritis. The reward: a senior season of high school football. To Garret Dressel of Placentia El Dorado High, the risk is worth the reward. That's why Friday he will again strap a brace over the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and play in the Golden Hawks' Century League game against Tustin. He did the same thing last week and caught four passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in El Dorado's 24-7 victory over Villa Park.

Foul play is not suspected in the death of indicted financier Danny Pang of Newport Beach, the Orange County coroner's office said Sunday. But no cause of death was given after an autopsy on Pang, 42, who had been charged with a series of frauds, including bilking millions from investors. The cause will not be given until the completion of toxicology tests, said Deputy Mitchell Sigal of the coroner's office. "That could take two to three months," he said. Paramedics arrived at Pang's home Friday afternoon and found him not breathing, police said.

Re "Insulting stereotype, or harmless holiday feast?" Nov. 25 As the mother of two young girls and as a holder of a doctorate in Native American arts and cultures, I have asked myself how I would explain to my children the encounter between native peoples and Puritan Colonists that we celebrate on Thanksgiving Day. Were it not for native peoples' assistance to the early Pilgrims, the latter would likely not have survived. It is this generosity that we purportedly celebrate on Thanksgiving.

Southern Section Commissioner James Staunton said Wednesday he has initiated talks with California Interscholastic Federation State Executive Director Marie Ishida to recommend new rules that will better define -- and penalize -- wrongful interaction between club and high school coaches. Staunton, responding to a story Monday in The Times in which the mother of an Anaheim Esperanza High basketball player said her son's club coach arranged a private meeting she attended with Villa Park High Coach Kevin Reynolds, said the allegation "underscores a problem that exists . . . in several hundred of our gyms."

A 14-year-old Orange girl recounted a harrowing story Monday of being stabbed in the back with a 6-inch steak knife by a transient as she walked down the street on an otherwise ordinary Sunday morning after breakfast with a friend and her parents. The girl, who asked to be identified by her first name only -- Melissa -- said she had just left the Bagel Me on Santiago Boulevard in Villa Park and was walking up the street with her friend when they were approached by a transient, who seemingly crossed the road to confront them.