Quiksilver

The three-year cleanup of the contaminated Ascon dump site will begin later this month, state officials said. More than four decades of dumping have contaminated soil and groundwater at the 38-acre site, at the southwest corner of Hamilton Avenue and Magnolia Street. Five dark, oily lagoons and a covered styrene pit surrounded by piles of tires, pipes, wood piles and other construction debris make up the dump site. The eight companies responsible for the waste are in the process of extensive testing of the soil, air and groundwater, said Jeanne Garcia, spokeswoman for the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the state agency overseeing the investigation and cleanup.

The Huntington Beach Rotary Club has completed it's fundraising to purchase an inflatable band shell at Central Park and plans to make its dedication this weekend The band shell project has a long history of community involvement. In 2000, a local group called Friends and Neighbors of Sea Cliff put together a proposal to build a community bandstand for Huntington Beach Central Park. Summer band concerts and other community events are held each year in the area near the Library and Cultural Center, with the audience seated on the hillside.

--Jose Paul Corona Despite the objections and concerns of more than a dozen residents, the Planning Commission gave initial approval to the Parkside Estates project, that would build 171 new homes on Graham Avenue, south of Kenilworth Drive. Traffic congestion and the noise and inconvenience associated with the long duration of construction were just some of the concerns cited by residents who want to see the area saved and restored as wetlands.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was the keynote speaker Saturday when the Republican Party of Orange County opened a satellite campaign headquarters in Huntington Beach and three others in Lake Forest, Placentia and Irvine to gear up for November elections. The office is at 16541 Gothard St., but headquarters will be on Katella Avenue in Orange. The operation centers are for Get-Out-The-Vote efforts, the party's precinct organizations and phone banks. Scott Baugh, Republican Party of Orange County chairman, said in a news release the party is "preparing an unprecedented Get-Out-The-Vote effort for this fall."

Diane?s Beachwear will open a new store at Bella Terra this month. ?While Huntington Beach has always been the heart of our market, it only makes sense that we are opening our second location in Huntington, located in the new Bella Terra Plaza. We are anticipating that Bella Terra will appeal to the local Huntington families that dislike dealing with the heavy foot traffic from tourists and beachgoers on Main Street,? said Melanie Michaud, the company?s marketing director, in a news release.

Tag Team surfing will come to the Huntington Beach Pier later this month, courtesy of Ocean Pacific, which announced earlier this week that it will host the Op T3 Tournament. The $20,000 OpT3 (Tag Team Tournament) will run Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at the south side of the Pier and will be comprised of 30, four-man teams consisting of two Pro/Am competitors, one woman, and one Grom (16 and under). The tournament will pit manufacturer teams from companies such as Billabong, Quiksilver and Hurley against retailers such as Huntington Surf & Sportand Jack's.

The Huntington Beach Independent went to Marina High School and asked students in Marilyn Cunneen's business enterprise class, "What real-life company would you want to work for and why?" "Probably Hurley. It's a lot like this company; they're really nice there." DIANA SHELTON, 17 Huntington Beach "Microsoft, because it's a well-known name across the country." VICTOR ORDONEZ, 17 Huntington Beach "I surf and skate myself, so I would work for anything like Hurley or Quiksilver."

VAN HEE-RENO Tonya Van Hee and Russell Reno, both of Newport Beach, exchanged vows on Moorea, Tahiti, on July 27. The bride is the daughter of Orville Van Hee of Canyon Lake, Calif., and Linda Reynolds of Arizona. The maid of honor was Krissy Diaz. The bridesmaids were Andrea Edwards, Karen Horrocks, Mechele Thayer and Renee Difilippo. The bridegroom is the son of Rex and Camille Reno of Newport Beach. The best man was Poncho Lozano. The groomsmen were Kent Greeley, Kirk Smith, Dave Atkins and Joe Roberts.

A truce has been declared in the "Surf City" war. Democratic state Sen. Joe Simitian has dropped a resolution recognizing Santa Cruz as Surf City after lobbying by Huntington Beach Assemblyman Tom Harman. "I thought Tom [Harman] made a really good case," Simitian said. "I decided to hold off and give the two cities a chance to work this out, maybe find some common ground." The bill was believed to be just days away from a Senate floor vote.

Williams named to national roster Alys Williams of Edison High has been named to the USA Women's Youth National Water Polo team. Williams, who starts her senior year at Edison in the fall, will train with the team in Hungary from July 16-27. "Alys has trained extremely hard over the past few years, and that hard work finally paid off this past week," Edison Coach Diggy Riley said. "This is a huge accomplishment for her and we are so very proud of her. It's a great feeling as a coach knowing you have a student-athlete from our program representing our country in this sport.