Westminster

Westminster Little League won the 2002 District 62 Tournament of Champions Senior Minor Division title Monday night as the league's No. 1 entry held off the league's No. 2 entry, 2-1, at Robinwood Little League in Huntington Beach. It was the closest of the three games Westminster No. 1 played in the tournament, as they ran away from Robinwood No. 2, 24-9, and Huntington Valley No. 1, 14-3. SENIOR MINOR SCOREBOARD (at Robinwood Little League)

A head-on crash on Newland Street near Edinger Avenue Monday afternoon killed one Westminster man and sent two others to the hospital. The Orange County Coroner?s Office confirmed Mario Alberto Cruz, 21, of Westminster, died of his injuries at the scene. He was driving south with passenger Osvaldo Olvera, 19, of Westminster in a Honda Accord when the car crossed the center line into the northbound lanes, police said. The car hit a Toyota 4Runner head-on and was ripped in half, according to police.

It may be the fourth week of prep football action, but Friday night proved to be the start of a new season for Marina High's Ray Mietkiewicz. Having suffered a break to his left wrist in a Sept. 16 tie with Newport Harbor, Mietkiewicz returned to action for the first time in 15 days Friday against Westminster. The 6-foot-1, 235 senior fullback announced his return in a big way as he rushed for four touchdowns - three of which came in the first half - and 249 yards on just 15 carries as the host Vikings cruised to a 42-26 nonleague victory over the Westminster Lions at Bill Boswell Field.

Westminster police Wednesday night were investigating whether speeding or horseplay were factors in a traffic accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old high school student. Kody Kessler, a Westminster resident who attended Ocean View High School, was pronounced dead at the scene at Rancho Road near Spa Drive, police said. The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Kessler was a passenger in the Chevrolet pickup that smashed through a chain-link fence and plunged into a flood-control channel, said Officer Van Woodson of the Westminster Police Department.

It's refreshing to encounter an Agatha Christie mystery play that hasn't been overproduced to the point where most audience members are aware of the killer's identity before the lights come up. Unlike the familiar "Ten Little Indians" or "The Mousetrap," Christie's "The Hollow," now on stage at the newly refurbished Westminster Community Theater, will be a stranger to most patrons. And its performances are convincing enough to keep its audiences guessing until its climactic moments.

Having reached the milestone of its 50th season, the Westminster Community Theater is making plans for its 51st, which will get underway next month. Things will get started on a prestigious note with a play that won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award back in 1977. That would be Michael Cristofer's "The Shadow Box," set in a hospice and focusing on three terminally ill patients. Lenore Stjerne, president of WCT, is directing this heavy drama laced with tension-breaking humor, which contains adult subject matter and language.

What the Tonys are to Broadway, the Abbey Awards are to the Westminster Community Theater, which recently wrapped up its 50th anniversary season by honoring two shows that are older than the playhouse itself. Sunday night, WCT handed out its annual Abbeys. "The Pajama Game" and "The Philadelphia Story" dominated the field, winning eight and six of the 16 total trophies up for grabs, respectively, with one honor being shared by two actresses in a tie vote. Although "Pajama Game" won more awards, "Philadelphia Story," directed by Kirk Larson, copped the prize as best show of the season.

When a musical theater production fervently stirs the hearts and souls of its audiences — such as "West Side Story," "Les Miserables" or even the more modern "Rent" — chances are it has its roots in the classics of a bygone era. "Man of La Mancha," which took Broadway by storm in 1965 and remains one of the most beloved of musicals, is such an example, taking its cue from Miguel de Cervantes' 17th-century novel "Don Quixote. " It's been around the local block a few times since, but never quite so fully realized as the current production at Westminster's Rose Center Theater.