stores to Sears, Roebuck and Co. for as much as $621 million. K-Mart
stores will still operate in Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Orange.
Candidates show what's in their wallets
Financial information for City Council candidates who waited until
the Aug. 11 deadline to file to run has been released.
In total, five Surf City residents have completed the reports,
which require candidates for office to disclose all their sources of
revenue within the municipality they seek to represent.
Only two candidates, Planning Commissioner Steve Ray and
substitute teacher Rex Ricks have reported earning any income within
city limits. Candidates Robert Kliewer, John Earl and Tim Reilly all
report not earning any money in Huntington Beach for 2003.
Ray's form shows that he works as an environmental consultant for
Ultra Systems and makes less than $100,000 a year. Ricks wrote that
he works for Pasha Maritime as a superintendent, earning less than
$10,000 a year. He also works a substitute teacher in the Northern
California town of Gilroy.
Farmers & Merchants Banks opens new branch
A new Huntington Beach bank threw itself a grand party Tuesday to
celebrate the opening of its newest branch.
Farmers & Merchants Bank recently opened an office at the corner
of Yorktown Avenue and Goldenwest Street with a grand Hawaiian-themed
soiree, complete with ukulele music, luau dancers and a raffle for a
Farmers & Merchants surf board.
"Huntington Beach now has a new partner in community service with
the opening of this newest branch," marketing executive Linda Coss
said. "We're looking forward to working with our neighbors and
providing the highest level of service available."
The bank has operated in Southern California for more 90 years and
offers traditional checking, savings and market accounts.
Sanchez praises defense contractors at fair
U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) asked
executives from major defense firms gathered at Boeing Huntington
Beach on Tuesday to continue outsourcing the production of weapons to
smaller U.S. firms to reduce costs and provide weapons for the war on
terror.
Companies like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and
United Technologies are adopting strategies to outsource between 80%
to 90% of their production to smaller firms, many which operate in
Orange County, Sanchez noted.
"In the north and central parts of Orange County, there are over
1,000 mostly small companies that supply to the nation's defense,"
she said. "We're beginning to find two important things about these
companies that make them stand out against the larger firms. Often
they're more innovative because they don't have the red tape and
bureaucratic pressures that bigger firms face, and they're also
usually faster, turning out products at a quicker rate."
Tuesday's conference, the Aerospace and Defense Supplier Fair,
featured the first face-to-face meeting of senior-level defense
executives with members of the Department of Defense, the House Armed
Services Committee and the Select Committee on Homeland Security.
