Baglin arraignment delayed

The scheduled Nov. 15 arraignment of Mayor Wayne Baglin was

postponed to 9 a.m. Dec. 6 in Courtroom C-5, according to the

district attorney’s media relations office.

Baglin is to be arraigned on charges of violating a state law

prohibiting an elected official from benefiting from a contract with

the city. Baglin, who accepted a reported $36,000 commission from

clients who sold property to the city, has denied any wrongdoing.

Previous hearings involving Baglin were held Oct. 30 and 31 and

Nov. 12 in C-5, over which Superior Court Judge Ron Kreber presides,

according to a court clerk. Kreber is a resident of Laguna Beach.

Thanksgiving potluck set for Bluebird Park

It’s time for the turkey dinner in Bluebird Park. For more than 15

years, the Crosscultural Council and the Laguna Resource Center has

provided plates, silverware and napkins for the community potluck.

Everyone is invited whether they bring food or not, and there is no

cost.

The meal will begin at noon on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 at the

park at Cress and Summit streets.

Volunteers are welcome. Please arrive before 11 a.m. to set up tables, put out the food, drinks and desserts and to carve the

turkeys. Those brining a cooked turkey, please call Ellin at

497-2239. For information, call David at 497-3936.

Group still fighting to get word out about HIV

The City Council received an update on the activities of the HIV

Advisory Committee after it voted to table appropriations totaling

$20,000 from the General Fund Reserve to Community Assistance AIDS

Services and up to $200 for a memorial bench placard.

The funding was continued to an undetermined date, giving city

staff an opportunity to find surplus monies it expects to receive

after an audit.

Committee Chair and Laguna Beach Community Clinic physician Korey

Jorgensen thanked Police Chief James Spreine for his assistance.

“The HIV Advisory Committee is really impaneled by the city in

order to provide input on matters of HIV. As a result, it makes

Laguna Beach a really unique place. It’s the only city I know of that

has an HIV Advisory Committee.”

The primary objective of the committee, Jorgensen said, is to get

people educated and secondly, get services to HIV patients.

He spoke of a collaborative relationship with the high school that

started last year when the committee underwrote an educational

brochure written by students. This year, he reported, students are

designing an advertising campaign to educate the public about HIV.

The committee has opened the door to a relationship between the

high school and the community clinic. The teen clinic personnel

present a series of educational presentations to students.

“Where we spend the bulk of our money is on organizations that

provide services,” he said.

He reported that the committee supports organizations such as the

community clinic’s anonymous HIV testing center, Laguna Shanti, the

AIDS Service Foundation, the Laguna AIDS Care Team and Lifeguard, a

program that makes safe sex brochures and packets available to local

bars and nightclubs.

The committee plans to commemorate World AIDS Day with a church

service and hanging memorial ribbons in the trees. They had hoped

that the bench placard honoring the memories of those who have died

and those who may lose their lives to AIDS could be part of the day.

“The bench is both a memorial and also an educational thing,”

Jorgensen said. “[It will] remind people to protect themselves from

getting [the] HIV infection.”

Earlier that day, Jorgensen told the council how he had the

experience of talking with a 19-year-old who was HIV positive.

In past years, Laguna Beach was number one in the highest per

capita of AIDS in the country, confirmed Kim de St. Paer, co-chair of

the committee and supervisor of anonymous HIV testing and counseling.

After consulting with Spreine, City Manager Ken Frank proposed

that the council reconsider appropriating funds for the bench.

“When you carried over and reappropriated funds from last fiscal

year, you carried over about $1,000 that the HIV committee had for

its purposes and didn’t spend,” he said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the dedication of the

bench.

-- Mary A. Castillo

Food donations sought for shelter

The Friendship Shelter will join in National Hunger and Homeless

Awareness Week by asking the commu- nity to contribute food to the

shelter.

Suggested items are: large cans of fruit and vegetables, canned

chili or stew, dry goods, juice, pancake mix, syrup, hot cereal, ice

tea, coffee, crackers, mayo, mustard, ketchup, rice, tuna, cold

cereal, sugar and frozen meats or vegetables.

Serving more than 250 people annually, the shelter is the only

year-round shelter in South Orange County that provides housing,

three daily meals and a comprehensive rehabilitation program,

Executive Director Janet Larkly said.

For more information, please call (949) 494-6928.

-- Mary A. Castillo