Steel-y Approach; Monkey Business; NB’s Shipyard

Give OC Supervisor Michelle Steel credit on understanding what government can actually do to help the local economy, and for sticking to the task at hand. An example came last week when Steel addressed the annual lunch meeting of the boards of directors and advisors of the South Coast Metro Alliance. She updated the packed banquet room at the Center Club on the possibility of John Wayne Airport—which operates service to Canada and Mexico—getting federal Port of Entry status. It’s a move that would shift the cost of customs operations from tenant airlines to the feds, giving the airport another selling point on international flights. The feds have apparently expressed concern about the relatively paltry cargo numbers at JWA, but Steel told the crowd that she’s determined not to let bureaucrats thousands of miles away stumble on a lack of understanding of OC’s role in a region that has several airports besides the behemoth of LAX, not to mention twin seaports that lead the U.S. in cargo traffic. Steel said she’s in Washington’s ear on a regular basis, emphasizing Disneyland, the beaches and other OC assets that make visitors the main point at JWA … Give FivePoint Communities the Best in Show ribbon when it comes to the slew of Lunar New Year invitations that went out for various events in OC last week, a phenomenon that offered a clear sign of how growing populations of various segments of the Asian-American population here are reshaping the marketplace. Five Point’s invitations for the celebration of the Year of the Monkey at its Great Parks Neighborhoods’ newest phase—Beacon Park—featured this beautifully stylized depiction of the creature for whom 2016 is named in the lunar calendar. Note the brush strokes, which so clearly call Asia to mind—a sort of artistic bow to the cultural assimilation that commerce achieves while arguments grind on elsewhere. Credit FivePoint Marketing Coordinator Paige Glasser for the fine work … Give Cavalia a Best in Show for its Odysseo, which delights under the big tent that’s risen off the 405 and 133. The Montreal-based troupe offers a tour de force of equestrian excellence mixed with ambience, artistry, and education through March 13. Don’t like horses? Go for the wizardry of the stagecraft. Or just to check out the engineering of the tents, which are much more than the word suggests … Give the crowd at Odysseo’s premiere on Feb. 6 credit for politely ushering Irvine Mayor Steven Choi off the stage with an early round of applause as he went on a bit long with his characteristic enthusiasm while the full house waited for the show to start. … Anyone else notice the irony in Newport Beach-based ad shop O’Leary and Partners’ recent sale to an outfit in landlocked Columbus, Ohio, that’s nevertheless called The Shipyard? O’Leary founder Steve O’Leary, an elder statesman of OC’s ad scene, will be vice chairman of the newly combined operation … 2-Paper Town: Headline on OC Register columnist Jeff Miller’s Feb. 10 report on the decision by the L.A. Clippers to suspend forward Blake Griffin over his role in a fight with an assistant equipment manager for the team: “Clippers let Griffin off easy.” Lead-in to L.A. Times’ columnist Bill Plaschke’s piece on the same day: “Clippers make the right move by dealing Griffin a harsh punishment for his punch.”