LAKE FOREST : Forum on Violence to Be Held Sunday

After one of Orange County’s bloodiest weekends, a community group working to curb youth violence will hold a public forum Sunday.

Karen Lott, who started a green ribbon campaign against youth violence about a year ago, said she hopes the forum will let people know what they can do to “get involved, rather than feeling helpless.”

Lott’s teen-age son was injured in a drive-by shooting as he walked home from school.

The Town Hall-style meeting starts at 2 p.m. at Best Western Inn, 23702 Rockfield Boulevard.

The forum will include information on Lott’s green ribbon campaign and presentations from experts on gang and youth violence.

In addition to the grass-roots effort to reduce violence--symbolized by the green ribbons--Lott said a major goal is to seek stiffer penalties for juveniles convicted of violent crimes.

The recent attack in San Clemente that left 17-year-old Steve Woods in a coma--a crime that shocked the community and sparked involvement from parents and students at San Clemente High School--is likely to be discussed during the forum.

Woods was gravely injured Oct. 15 when a group of young men and teen-agers stood at the Calafia Beach County Park exit and pelted several carloads of students with rocks, bottles and other items as they tried to drive away.

During the melee, someone plunged a metal rod from a paint roller through the skull of Woods, who had gone to the beach with friends after a football game.

He remained in critical condition Friday at Children’s Hospital at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Six young men, some of whom told sheriff’s deputies they were members of a San Clemente gang, have been charged with felony counts of assault and throwing an object at a moving vehicle in connection with the case.

Prosecutors said there is no evidence, however, that the attack was gang-related or racially motivated.