As many as 35,000 people, including participants, spectators and volunteers, will be out in force for the 13th annual U.S. Bank OC Marathon. The full and half marathons will take place in the morning on Sunday, May 7, necessitating temporary closures of several main Orange County thoroughfares.

Click here for more information.

In Newport Beach, southbound MacArthur Boulevard will be closed from San Joaquin Hills Road to East Coast Highway. Coast Highway will also be closed from MacArthur Boulevard to Orchid Avenue, as will Bayside Drive in both directions from Jamboree Boulevard to Marguerite Avenue. Other temporary closures will include portions of Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road in Costa Mesa, among many other smaller roads throughout the course that traverses Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.

Thousands of runners from more than 20 countries and all 50 states are expected to compete at the 3-day Running Festival that includes the full and half marathons, the Wahoo’s OC 5K, and one of the biggest kids’ races in the country, the Kids Run the OC presented by Nutrilite, which expects about 9500 local school-age children. The full and half marathons begin early Sunday morning at the starting line in Newport Beach’s Fashion Island, culminating in the Ultimate Finish Line Festival at the OC Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa.

More than 12,000 spectators will come out to enjoy the race from various vantage points along the route, cheering on runners and offering moral support in the form of signs, balloons and water stations.

The Wahoo’s OC 5K will take place on Saturday, May 6 at 5:00 pm. Westbound traffic on Merrimac will be closed, as will Fairview Road at Merrimac between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

For more information about road closure times, shuttles and spectating opportunities, please visit the U.S. Bank OC Marathon website at ocmarathon.com or email us at traffic@ocmarathon.com

The Orange County Transportation Authority wants to know what vision do the residents of Costa Mesa have for transit in and throughout Orange County.

Do residents want trains, buses, shuttles or something different?

The Orange County Transportation Authority is asking for the public’s help in shaping the future of transit.

Participants can design their own transit system with the fun and interactive Build Your Own System survey that allows them to select from various transit features that could enhance transit in Orange County.

These features include stops, stations, vehicle types, and service.

By developing a personalized transit system, residents can see the benefits – such as enhanced ridership, travel time, accessibility, or passenger experience – change in real-time.

Check it out at https://octransitvision.com/.

For more information, visit www.octa.net/octransitvision.

City Manager Tom Hatch presented firefighter paramedic Giovanni La Placa with the April City Manager’s Leadership Award at the monthly Meet and Greet event.

“Like his colleagues on our Fire & Rescue team, I very much appreciate Giovanni’s passion for having a well-trained EMS team,” Hatch said. “On top of that, his dedication to service, volunteerism and family outside of his job is very admirable. I’m happy to present him with this Leadership Award.”

La Placa began his career with the City of Costa Mesa in 2006 as a firefighter paramedic and he currently holds the position of chair of the EMS Committee. He attends the Orange County Fire Chiefs EMS meetings and Community Paramedic Advisory Committee meetings representing the organization. Since his arrival here, he has been committed to the organization and was a part of the strategic planning committee and was a paramedic evaluator during the last recruitment process.

La Placa has a passion for teaching and has obtained his American Heart Association BLS/ACLS and PALS instructor certification, teaching CPR, first aid, ACLS and PALS to current employees and Costa Mesa Fire Explorers. He’s very adept at patient care and was recognized for a great save in 2014 by the Orange County base hospital coordinators.

La Placa’s emergency medicine path started at the age of 14 when he began volunteering as an explorer for the City of Monrovia Fire Department and he later graduated from the Rio Hondo Fire Academy in 2002.  He continued his education and became a paramedic, graduating from UCLA-Daniel Freemen in 2004 and went on to work as a paramedic in San Diego County and a reserve firefighter for the City of Poway.

La Placa holds two degrees from Mt. San Antonio College in Fire Technology and Emergency Medical Services. He holds multiple professional certifications and continues to strive to grow professional daily. When his not at work, he volunteers at church and at the Orange County Children’s Theater making sure he is a part of his family and daughters lives.  He is also a successful business owner and recently finished his first sprint triathlon last year.

In addition to honoring La Placa, City Manager Hatch also recognized several new and newly promoted employees.

The new employees included from the City Manager’s Department Stacy Bennett an Office Specialist who works in the City Clerk’s Office, Heidi Jacinto, a Code Enforcement Officer in the Economic and Development Services Department, Miranda Gonzalez, a Recreation Leader III in the Parks & Community Services Department and Aura Wardle, a new Communications Officer in the Police Department.

Recognized for their promotions were Andrea Granadoes, an Office Specialist in the Fire Department and David Nguyen, an Office Specialist II in the City Clerk’s office.

The Public Services Department has contracted RJ Noble Co. to construct a new asphalt concrete surface layer for Adams Avenue from Fairview Road to Peterson Place.

Work will take place this Saturday, April 29 from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

At least one lane of traffic will be maintained in both directions along Adams Avenue, however, it is highly recommended that motorists and pedestrians use alternative routes to the OCC Swap Meet and neighboring areas.

The construction to fields 3 and 4 at Jack Hammett Sports Complex began this week and progress has been steady.  The upgrades include work to bring the fields up-to NFL quality standard so that the Los Angeles Chargers Football Organization can use the space to host the team’s Summer Training Camp, which will also feature practices that are open to the general public.

The enhanced field space will also benefit the many youth sports leagues that practice and play games at the complex.

Construction began in early April to remove and replace damaged concrete sidewalks, curb, gutter, and wheel chair ramps on both the north and south sides of Adams Avenue between Fairview Road and Peterson Place.

Following completion of this work, street paving operations will be initiated, which includes grinding the existing roadway pavement and replacing with new, rubberized hot mix asphalt, and restriping of lane lines and legends.

Work will be conducted during daytime off-peak hours. A minimum of one-lane of traffic shall be maintained in each direction at all times.

All work is tentatively scheduled to be completed by mid-May.

Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue recruits continue to progress in their academy training.  Recently, the academy cadre was led by Captain Joe Noceti and the recruits trained with live fire. Recruits learned about fire behavior, fire attack principles and the dangers of attacking a fire.

Some of the recruits had eyes as wide as saucers as this was their first time attacking a fire in a controlled environment.

The former Souplantation at 1555 Adams, in the Mesa Verde Shopping Center, will be demolished and replaced by a new, three to four restaurant tenant building.

The building will face the south and will be located at the end of a new walkway to connect this building with the rest of the shopping center as well as the Azulon Apartments.

As required by the California Environmental Quality Act, an Initial Study and Negative Declaration have been prepared for the project and is available for review and comment from through April 17, 2017 either online or at City Hall or the city’s two public libraries.

Please contact the Planning Division at 714-754-5245 if you need any information.

Even the times Elmore McBride found himself homeless, he remained a very meticulous man who preferred things neat and orderly.

Still there was something holding him back that wasn’t so orderly – his lack of teeth.

“I was afraid to smile,” he said.

But that was about to change. The 62-year-old McBride was in a transitional program at the Lighthouse Church in Westside Costa Mesa when he met Muriel Ullman, Costa Mesa’s housing consultant who works to help the city’s homeless residents and Stacy Bowler, one of the city’s Community Outreach Workers.

He mentioned to Ullman that he wanted new teeth.

“She and Stacy are just two awesome people,” McBride said. “I wanted to get my teeth fixed and I told Muriel. Three days later, Stacy gave me a number to call for SOS and I was home free.”

McBride is very thankful for SOS, which stands for Share Our Selves, a local nonprofit that provides dental services for those who are not insured or have emergency need for care.

He also is most thankful to Pastor Phil Eyskens at the Lighthouse Church, who assisted him when he most needed it and while he was attending school at Orange Coast College.

“The type of person I am I would have succeeded eventually,” McBride said. “But it happened a lot faster because of the Lighthouse.”

Eyskens is a key member of Costa Mesa’s Network for Homeless Solutions, which is made up of representatives from the City Manager, City Attorney, Police, Fire, Planning and Code Enforcement offices, as well as clergy, those from non-profit agencies and community volunteers.

The Network for Homeless Solutions implements a range of strategies, including law enforcement, street outreach, prevention, rehabilitation, housing assistance and volunteer coordination. Since its inception in 2013, the Network for Homeless Solutions housed and/or reconnected 269 people as of December 2016. Of the 269, 70 were reconnected to their community of origin or to a place of their choice to end their homelessness.

After four years of assisting McBride through tough times, Pastor Eyskens said he left the Lighthouse and Costa Mesa for a short time, but recently returned and started attending church services again.

“He came to a church service and he had new teeth looking like a million bucks,” Eyskens said. “I’m so proud of him. He is just a real success story. What a perfect example. You got to hope for the best for this guy because you never know what the day is going to bring you.”

For McBride, the days have been getting much better. He now works for the County of Orange In-Home Supportive Services and really enjoys his job. The Boston native is also glad to be living in Costa Mesa, a place he has called home for about 11 years.

“I like the laid-back atmosphere here,” said McBride who is now living in an apartment in the city. “The people are awesome. The police are like the Beverly Hills police. They are so friendly.”

McBride’s advice for those who are struggling financially or homeless is pretty simple.

“You can’t give up,” he said.  “You have to keep plugging. The time I was there at the Lighthouse I talked to a lot of homeless people and I always said keep walking forward. Even when you are stagnant, you got to go forward.”

For more information about the Network for Homeless Solutions visit the website here or the Facebook page here or call the Network for Homeless Solutions hotline at (714) 754-5346.

On Friday, April 14, John Wayne Airport will be conducting a Triennial Emergency Operations Exercise from the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  This full-scale exercise is mandated by the FAA and is designed to evaluate the operational capability of the emergency management system in a stressful environment.

The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department will be an active participant with a number of other agencies in this drill since we share a border with the John Wayne Airport and routinely respond to emergencies on the airport campus.

The public should be aware that Airway Avenue will be shut down from Baker to Paularino from approximately 8 a.m. to 12 noon to accommodate the exercise. Also, the CMPD Helipad will be used during the exercise.

This is an excellent readiness exercise for the airport and CMF&R is a proud participant.  It will increase interagency operations and communication between all the public and private resources.  Most importantly it will enhance the safety and security for the tenants and passengers using the airport.

The City Council approved moving forward with the Placentia Avenue Median Improvement Project. Public services was able to secure a grant in the amount of $738,400 from the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program to begin construction on the project.

The project will result in new landscaped medians on Placentia Avenue between Wilson Street and Adams Avenue. This project will improve the streetscape and also the traffic operations along this corridor. Due to the wide nature of Placentia Avenue, there have been numerous accidents as a result of high vehicle speeds.

Implementation of medians will provide a narrow feel for the street and minimize high-risk accidents.