BIG SANDBOX: If you want a beach...

BIG SANDBOX: If you want a beach bad enough, you can always build one. The Army Corps of Engineers is now taking public comment on Seal Beach’s plans to bring in 150,000 cubic yards of sand to rebuild its East Beach--between the pier and the west jetty of Anaheim Bay--which has eroded over the years. The sand will come from the Santa Ana River bed. . . . If you’re having trouble figuring out how much sand that is, federal officials say it’s about 10,000 truck trips.

FARAWAY PLACES: The official World Cup guidebook suggests several Orange County hotels as places to stay during the international soccer tournament, which starts this week. Just don’t look for many of them on the official World Cup map. . . . Le Meridien in Newport Beach, the Marriotts in Irvine and Newport Beach, the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, and the Hilton Waterfront in Huntington Beach were all listed as “off the map.” Hotels in the Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland area did make the map.

HER HONOR: For 18 years, Betty Elias has sat on the bench in Municipal Court in Fullerton. She says that’s enough and plans to retire in August. But before she goes, she’ll get a chance to know how much she’s meant to other women in the legal profession. Monday, she’ll be honored by the Orange County Women Lawyers Assn. as “Judge of the Year.” . . . A spokeswoman says its board’s unanimous vote would have come without Elias’ retirement: “But we’re glad that we’re doing it while she’s still on the bench.”

BIG FOOTSTEPS: Maybe you wouldn’t associate Jackson, Miss., with the art world, but it happens to be home to the U.S. International Ballet Competition. And they’re boasting a little at the Coast Ballet Theatre in San Clemente: Three of its members who auditioned are among 120 nationwide selected to attend the competition this week. . . . How prestigious would it be to win its gold medal? One former winner is Mikhail Baryshnikov.