Around Town: Meeting Thursday will discuss possible new animal shelter for Newport

Representatives of the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter will appear at the Wake Up Newport meeting Thursday to outline a proposed public-private partnership that could lead to a new city-owned animal shelter.

The meeting will be held from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. at the Newport Beach Central Library’s Friends Room, 1000 Avocado Ave. A few adoptable animals might be there.

The free event will include a continental breakfast.

Ocean View School District appoints temporary trustee

The Ocean View School District appointed a temporary board member last week to fill a vacancy created after trustee Joseph Gaglione resigned in February.

The school board selected Patricia Singer by a majority vote after conducting interviews and receiving public input during a special meeting. Singer assumes the role through Dec. 7. The seat is up for election in November.

Singer has two children in the district and serves as the Parent Teacher Organization president at Lake View Elementary School in Huntington Beach.

Clothing drive for unemployed collects 500 suits

Seventy-four Orange County law firms and other legal organizations provided more than 500 suits and thousands of pieces of business and casual attire during a month-long clothing drive to help job seekers served by the nonprofit WHW.

The eighth annual Suits for a Cause drive in March was designed to help unemployed and underemployed people get and keep a good job. It was one of WHW’s biggest clothing drives of the year.

For more information about Suits for a Cause and the full list of groups and companies that participated this year, visit whw.org/contribute/suits-for-a-cause.

Four area campuses get state Distinguished School status

Four schools in area districts are among 287 elementary campuses recognized by the state Department of Education as 2018 California Distinguished Schools for making “exceptional gains” in areas such as test scores and English-learner progress.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Newport Coast Elementary and Sonora Elementary in Costa Mesa received the honor, as did the Ocean View School District’s Star View Elementary in Midway City and Circle View Elementary in Huntington Beach.

More concerts added to Pacific Amphitheatre’s summer list

More shows are on sale for the 2018 Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa.

They include rockabilly legends the Stray Cats with guests the Paladins on Aug. 17; Earth, Wind & Fire on July 27; America and Jefferson Starship on July 28; the Psychedelic Furs, X and the Fixx on July 19; the Retro Futura concert, including Belinda Carlisle, ABC, Modern English and Tony Lewis from the Outfield on July 26; Supertramp’s Roger Hodgson on July 25; Pink Floyd tribute Which One’s Pink? on July 21; comedian Jim Gaffigan on July 22; Rebelution, Stephen Marley, Common Kings and Zion I on Aug. 10-11; El Fantasma, Voz de Mando and Kanales on July 7; and Pacific Symphony concerts with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons on July 12 and with Brass Transit playing the music of Chicago on July 4.

To see the full schedule and to buy tickets, visit pacamp.com.

Newport school gets two new water bottle filling stations

Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach recently received two new water bottle filling stations from Newport-based Arbor Real Estate and the Rob Machado Foundation.

The FloWater stations were installed in the cafeteria and near the gym. The stations dispense cool water directly from the school’s water source.

Each student received stainless-steel water bottles donated by Arbor Real Estate and the foundation.

The two organizations have collaborated to install FloWater stations in every school in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Free workshop will discuss Community Choice Energy

Industry experts working with Community Choice Energy groups throughout California will present a public workshop April 11 at UC Irvine.

The workshop will discuss benefits of Community Choice Energy to Orange County residents and businesses. CCE allows local governments and some special districts to pool their electricity load in order to buy and/or develop power on behalf of their residents, businesses and municipalities. Sixty-three cities and nine counties in California have signed on for Community Choice Energy. None is in Orange County.

Speakers at the workshop will include state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). Howard Choy, retired sustainability manager for Los Angeles County, will moderate the sessions.

The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the UCI Student Center. A networking happy hour will follow at 3 p.m.

For more information, visit OCCleanPower.org.

Newport City Hall giving out college scholarships

The Newport Beach city scholarship program is accepting applications.

The city has seven $700 scholarships to award this year to children who live in Newport Beach or are the children of full-time city employees. Applicants must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and be graduating from high school this year and be accepted by an accredited two-year community college or a four-year college. They also can be transferring from community college to a four-year school this fall.

Applications are available at newportbeachca.gov and are due to the Human Resources Department by April 23.

Newport city boards looking to fill openings

The city of Newport Beach is accepting applications to fill vacancies on several boards and commissions.

The Board of Library Trustees, Arts Commission, Civil Service Board and Planning Commission have one available seat each. The Parks, Beaches & Recreation Commission and Building and Fire Board of Appeals have two seats each. The Harbor Commission has three seats available.

Terms will begin June 30. All terms are four years, expiring in June 2022.

Applications are available at newportbeachca.gov and are due May 9.

Free compost Saturday in Newport Beach

Newport Beach and trash hauler CR&R will give away compost from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Big Canyon Reservoir parking lot, 3300 Pacific View Drive.

There is a two-bag limit per household. Proof of Newport Beach residency may be required.