MIDDLE GROUND: Irvine politics is often a...

MIDDLE GROUND: Irvine politics is often a struggle between conservative and liberal forces. These days conservatives control its City Council. But in an effort to go beyond partisanship, the council this week appointed Paula Werner as mayor pro tem. She’s considered the last of the “Agranistas”--a reference to liberal former Mayor Larry Agran, whose forces once were in control. Says Werner: “I hope this is the end of the divisiveness and the idea of ‘us versus them.’ ”

BREAKING SILENCE: “The Story of Truong Chi,” based on a Vietnamese folk tale, will be part of Seattle Mime Theatre’s presentation tonight at Fullerton’s Plummer Auditorium (F2). The touring troupe often encounters children of Vietnamese immigrants “who come up and say they’ve heard a version of the story in their families,” says troupe co-founder Bruce L. Wylie. Don’t expect complete silence: The mime company breaks with tradition by adding spoken word to its interpretations.

GENTLE FIGHTER: Bob Pusavat, county redevelopment director, is fighting gangs his own way. He’s recently helped a group of 40 El Modena gang members organize a carwash, then used the money to take them to Big Bear. Around a campfire, the youths listened to former gangbangers decry that lifestyle. Says Pusavat: “There, up in the mountains with the trees, they could see things they can’t see on the streets. They can see things around them, and inside themselves, too.”

A NO-SHOW: La Habra officials were beaming proudly this week at the outdoor party for their new community health clinic at Las Lomas Elementary School. But why did Kathleen Hurwitz, the clinic’s doctor, skip the ceremonies? . . . Because she was inside the clinic, treating a 9-year-old girl for pneumonia. “Patient care never stops to party,” Hurwitz said later. The new clinic, designed to help the low income or uninsured, expects to treat 3,500 children a year.