MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2006
Volume 5, Issue 67
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
DAILY LOTTERY
Woodlawn case draws to a close
Seaside songs
SUPER LOTTO 3 9 13 27 33 Meganumber: 13 Jackpot: $7 Million
FANTASY 5 2 4 23 26 30
DAILY 3 Daytime: Evening:
801 603
DAILY DERBY
BY RYAN HYATT
1st: 2nd: 3rd:
07 Eureka! 01 Gold Rush 08 Gorgeous George
Daily Press Staff Writer
RACE TIME:
1:42.46
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the winning number information, mistakes can occur. In the event of any discrepancies, California State laws and California Lottery regulations will prevail. Complete game information and prize claiming instructions are available at California Lottery retailers. Visit the California State Lottery web site: http://www.calottery.com
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
Two men, aged 50 and 36, who had taken a taxicab home so they wouldn’t be driving drunk, were killed when the cab was hit by a 21-year-old drunken driver (Albuquerque, November). And a 21-year-old Mormon man, riding in a truck at about 35 mph with his brothers, who were offending him by cussing, demanded that they stop or he would jump out; one of the brothers, perhaps jokingly, said, Go ahead, and the man did and was killed when his head hit the pavement (South Jordan, Utah, November).
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 30th day of 2006. There are 335 days left in the year. On Jan. 30, 1968, during the Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals. In 1649, England’s King Charles I was beheaded. In 1882, the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “History repeats itself in the large because human nature changes with geological leisureliness.”
WILL (1885-1981) ARIEL DURANT (1898-1981)
AMERICAN HISTORIANS
INDEX Horoscopes Pay your bills, Aquarius
2
Snow & Surf Report Water temperature: 57°
3
Opinion SMC’s growing rift
4
Local Know before you go
7
State Three sentenced in slaying
9
People in the News Ali’s honors
12
Comics Strips tease
13
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Terry Prince, a singer, songwriter and pianist from Las Vegas, sings “Imagine Love” at the Santa Monica Pier last week. Prince has been playing the piano for 20 years. He is a self-taught musician who does not read music. At age 8, he wrote his first song, which he still performs today.
COMMUNITYPROFILES |
Caitlin Meredith: Life without borders BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
MAIN STREET — While the average 16-year-old girl is fascinated with pop music, fashion and that cute guy in her history class, Caitlin Meredith had more important things on her mind at that age. Instead of hanging out at the local mall or lounging at the beach all summer, Meredith chose to fly to Ecuador and build latrines to prevent a cholera epidemic. It was there that she first realized her calling: to provide sorely needed medical services to remote villages all across the world. “When I got there, I looked around and wondered where the nearest hospital was,” she said during an interview near her family’s home on Ocean Park Boulevard,
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
14-15
COMMUNITY PROFILES IS A WEEKLY SERIES THAT APPEARS EACH MONDAY AND DELVES INTO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN SANTA MONICA.
See PROFILES, page 8
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PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING — A decision is pending for the man fired from Santa Monica’s public cemetery for questionable ethical behavior and financial boondoggling, after attorneys on both sides made closing remarks in his case last week. Members of the five-person personnel board have heard the appeal regarding Michael Steen, the former funeral director at Woodlawn, a municipal cemetery located between Pico Boulevard and Michigan Avenue, from 14th to 17th streets. City Hall fired Steen in July after an eight-month investigation concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing on his part regarding financial discrepancies discovered in the cemetery’s books. The personnel board serves as an advisory panel to the City Council and City Hall’s human resources director. It’s a quasi-judicial review body for employee appeals of disciplinary actions. It consists of individuals with legal backgrounds who neither hold public office nor work for City Hall. The personnel board has 10 days to make a decision regarding Steen’s appeal. The group is expected to announce a decision by Feb. 2. Steen was terminated last July after three audits revealed the management of Woodlawn Cemetery’s finances was not in line with general accounting practices. In addition, city officials believe Steen was acting unethically by promoting and benefiting from his See WOODLAWN, page 6
Local youth appeal to council for increased funds BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL — Despite pending final exams, students flooded the City Council chambers Tuesday night in support of increased funding for the Pico Youth and Family Center.
The council is currently considering funding priorities for the remainder of the fiscal year, and students who call the center a “safe haven from violence and drugs” want officials to think about them when balancing the city’s checkbook.
“We have crowded the council chambers. Imagine what it’s like at (the center),” said 20-year-old Alejandro Dana. “We have outgrown our space. We need a larger facility, with an increased budget See PICO CENTER, page 7
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