OC Sheriff Mike Carona fires back at his under-funded rivals starting this week when he unleashes a $1 million election campaign of mailers and phone calls that will highlight gang prevention, anti-illegal immigration efforts and a declining crime rate. “It’ll be entirely positive,” says adviser Michael Schroeder. What about corruption allegations against Carona’s department? Schroeder says polling indicates the controversy registers with less than a tenth of voters. (Carona passed on the invitation, but sheriff challengers Bill Hunt and Ralph Martin were scheduled to debate this week on “Inside OC”) …
Schroeder went to Cabo to celebrate his 50th birthday …
A retired UC Irvine economics prof has weighed in for embattled slugger Barry Bonds. Arthur De Vany, now living in Utah, says the recent home run exploits of Bonds,and of OCer Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa,demonstrate the “universal law of genius.” To attribute their feats to steroids “is about as silly as saying you could create a Mozart or Beethoven by injecting them with a music drug.” De Vany argues his premise with mathematical formulas and historical baseball references in a 46-page research paper on his Web site, www.arthurdevany.com. De Vany said a professional journal is planning to reprint the piece, and a lawyer for Bonds has sent a copy to the ballplayer, as well as to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and baseball’s drug investigator, retired U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. The brainy De Vany said he’s part of an upcoming L.A. Times magazine piece, too, but for his research on the movie industry. De Vany said the studios are terrible at predicting hits and “no (movie) star is worth $20 million.” Could a baseball star such as Bonds be worth that much? Quite possibly, but De Vany said he’d have to research it to be certain …
The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has deals with the British Museum and other major institutions that should ensure there will be plenty of mummies and other attractions to fill the new wing that is scheduled to open this fall. But Bowers Chairman Donald Kennedy said on “Inside OC” that there is “very little” chance of the once hoped-for idea of having the British Museum’s name attached to the building: “The British are very courteous but it’s difficult and time-taking to get an agreement so I wouldn’t even try” …
Dale Dykema, Reed Royalty and John Jolliffe are older than they look …
Little Saigon actress/media personality Kathy Nguyen says the Screen Actors Guild required her to change her screen name because somebody already was using it. So she opted for her middle name: “That enabled me to keep my culture and still be me.” The renamed Kathy Uyen sparkles in “Asian Stories (Book 3),” a comedic romance by first-time directors Ron Oda and Kris Chin that delighted a packed house at its Hollywood premier. All it needs is a distributor.
