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THE DAILYCOMMUTERPUZZLE

By Jacqueline E.Mathews

Tribune MediaServices

For answers to the crossword, see page A4.

Delays were expectedthroughout the day on the405 Freeway near TalbertAvenue in Fountain Valleyafter construction equip-ment caught fire Wednes-day morning, according tothe Fountain Valley Fire De-partment.

Fountain Valley firefight-ers arrived on the scene af-ter receiving a call at8:52 a.m. They were as-sisted by Costa Mesa, Hunt-

ington Beach and OrangeCounty Fire Authority fire-fighters, the Fountain ValleyFire Department said.Fountain Valley police andthe California Highway Pa-trol helped with traffic flow.

The crews knocked thefire down by 9:14 a.m., con-fining it to the “object of or-igin,” the department said.

Flames reached nearbypower lines and outageswere expected until South-ern California Edison per-sonnel restored power.

Both directions of the 405were temporarily shutdown. No injuries were re-ported.

The construction equip-ment that caught fire waspart of the 405 Freeway$1.9-billion widening proj-ect to expand 16 miles ofthe 405 between the 73Freeway in Costa Mesa andthe 605 Freeway near Ross-moor.

Constructionequipment fire results indelayson405Freeway inFountainValleyBY BEN BRAZIL

benjamin.brazil@latimes.comTwitter: @benbrazilpilot

A Newport Beach womanset to serve her sentence forher role in the college ad-missions bribery scandalhas petitioned to serve herconfinement at home inlight of the coronaviruspandemic, which has alsotaken root inside federalprisons.

Michelle Janavs, 49, wassentenced in February tofive months in prison forpaying $100,000 to fix herdaughters’ college entranceexams and agreeing to paytwice that amount to getone girl into USC as a bo-gus beach volleyball player.She pleaded guilty in Octo-ber to conspiring to com-

mit fraudand mon-ey laun-dering, ad-mittingshe paidschememaster-mindWilliam“Rick”

Singer to rig her daughters’college admissions.

But Janavs, known for be-ing an heiress to the HotPockets frozen food for-tune, had not yet startedserving her term — and be-cause she is a nonviolent,first-time offender with anunderlying health condi-tion that could make hersusceptible to COVID-19,

the disease caused by thecoronavirus, she shouldn’treport at all, her lawyers ar-gued in a court filingWednesday.

“In sum, if Ms. Janavswere to surrender to [Bu-reau of Prisons] custody,she is highly likely to be-come infected withCOVID-19. And because ofher underlying health con-dition, she faces a muchhigher risk than others ofserious complications, hos-pitalization, or death fromthe virus,” her lawyerswrote. “By contrast, homeincarceration in lieu of BOPcustody for the same periodwould impose sufficientpunishment without thecorresponding risk of dis-

ease and death.”The exact nature of

Janavs’ health issues wasredacted.

The kind of strict phys-ical distancing publichealth officials and localgovernments advise totamp down the virus’spread is not possible in theconfines of group settingslike prison, and the U.S. at-torney general has in-structed the Bureau of Pris-ons to consider transferringvulnerable, nonviolent of-fenders to home confine-ment.

“Indeed, if Ms. Janavswere in custody now, it islikely that she would beprocessed for release tohome confinement,” her

lawyers wrote.As of Wednesday, no

cases of COVID-19 were re-ported at FPC Bryan, theminimum-security Texasprison camp where she’ssupposed to serve, accord-ing to online records. Morethan 560 inmates and 340Bureau of Prisons staffnationwide have testedpositive for the virus, theagency says. Twenty fourinmates have died.

Janavs’ attorney reachedout last month to the war-den where Janavs is set tobegin her bid in May toseek conversion of her sen-tence to home confine-ment, according to courtdocuments. A lawyer forthe prison system said it

would not move for a modi-fication because Janavs wasnot yet in custody, althoughit would not object to de-laying her surrender dateby 60 days.

Her lawyers, however, saythat would not solve theproblem, as health expertspredict a second wave ofthe virus in the winter.

“She accepts the five-month sentence the courtimposed and wishes to be-gin serving it now, but theconditions within the BOPmake it unsafe to do so,”they said.

The Associated Press con-tributed to this report.

Newportmomseeks toserveprison termathomeBYHILLARYDAVIS

hillary.davis@latimes.comTwitter: @dailypilot_hd

MichelleJanavs

The Fountain ValleyCity Council on Tuesdayunanimously confirmed agrant program to helpsmall businesses with low-and moderate-incomeworkers and an ordinancethat allows first respond-ers to use recreational ve-hicles as alternative hous-ing to keep their familiessafe from COVID-19.

The council voted to al-locate grant money tosmall businesses becausemany were forced to closeor reduce services afterGov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order last month.

The council’s vote wasconfirmation of a grantthat Fountain Valley CityManager Rob Houston ap-proved on April 13. TheCity Council grantedHouston “emergencypowers” on March 17 torapidly respond to emer-gencies during the pan-demic. However, thecouncil still needs to con-firm his actions “at theearliest practicable time.”

The Small Business Em-ployee Retention Grantwill pay up to $10,000 amonth, or up to 75% ofpayroll costs, for up to twomonths to businesses with10 employees or less.However, businesses mustpledge to keep low- andmoderate-income workerson staff for at least twomonths. Businesses mustalso be operating duringthe crisis and show 25%revenue loss.

Orange County workersare considered low- andmoderate-income if theymake less than $66,500 ayear, according to the U.S.Department of Housingand Urban Development.

There are about 25 ap-plicants tentatively ap-proved for the grant. Theaverage amount that willbe granted to each busi-ness is about $11,400.

The council voted totemporarily lift prohib-itions against living in rec-reational vehicles and thelength of time that RVscan be parked on citystreets. The decision wasmade to support first re-sponders who may useRVs as alternative housingin order to not exposetheir families to COVID-19or contaminate theirhomes.

The council’s vote wasconfirmation of an ordi-nance that Houston ap-proved on April 9.

A local organization,RVs for COVID, is donat-ing vehicles to first re-sponders to use duringthe crisis.

Emergency RV permitsstill have to be obtainedthrough approval by thePolice Department. Theordinance will expirewhen the city’s local emer-gency declaration or New-som’s order ends.

Both items were ap-proved with little councildiscussion.

F.V. council OKs helpfor small businessesand first respondersBY BEN BRAZIL

benjamin.brazil@latimes.comTwitter: @benbrazilpilot

Ahead of what is de-scribed as “unseasonablywarm weather” due at theend of the week, LagunaBeach Mayor Bob Whalenasked the Orange CountyBoard of Supervisors to ap-prove the closure of countybeaches and trailheads insouth Orange County.

Forecasts by the NationalWeather Service predicttemperatures will begin toclimb from 71 on Wednes-day to a high of 79 on Fri-day and 78 on Saturday inLaguna Beach.

In a letter to SupervisorLisa Bartlett, who overseesthe 5th District which in-cludes several south countycities, dated for April 20,Whalen asked the Board of

Laguna Beach mayor asks Board ofSupervisors to close county beaches

Don Leach / Staff Photographer

FAMILY AND friends gather on a mostly deserted Main Beach in Laguna Beach recently.See Beaches, page A3

BY LILLY NGUYEN

The Laguna Beach CityCouncil unanimously ap-proved the formation of atourism marketing districtto replace the previousbusiness improvement dis-trict.

The conversion of thedistrict, which includes alllodging businesses withincity borders, does not affectthe distribution of assess-ments, but only changesthe governance guiding thedistrict, Cultural Arts Man-ager Sian Poeschl said.

An annual assessment of

2% of gross short-termroom rental revenue wouldfund sales, marketing andcommunications and pro-grams by the city Arts Com-mission, Laguna College ofArt + Design, Laguna Play-house and Laguna Art Mu-seum.

The business improve-ment district was adoptedin April 2001 with the intentof using additional taxes onbusinesses to promote off-season cultural events andencourage hotel occupancy.

Converting to a tourismmarketing district allowsthe district a five-year term

instead of having to renewannually.

The term of the LagunaBeach Tourism MarketingDistrict will begin on July 1and last through June 2025.

Though the City Councilreceived public input at itsMarch 31 meeting, resi-dents called in on Tuesdaynight to raise concernsabout the clientele that Vis-it Laguna Beach would ap-peal to. Callers raised con-cerns about the potentialfor increased numbers of“day-trippers” as opposedto overnight stays by visi-tors.

The city will remain re-sponsible for collecting theassessment on a quarterlybasis and distributing thefunds. Visit Laguna Beachwill be responsible for man-aging the tourism district’sprograms and reporting an-nually to the City Council.

WASTEWATERFINANCINGOPTIONS TABLED

The city of Laguna Beachalso considered Tuesday al-ternative financing optionsto pay for a wastewater sys-

LagunaBeach tourismmarketing district approved

See Tourism, page A3

BY LILLY NGUYEN