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Santa Monica Daily Press February 11-12, 2006
SUPER LOTTO 2 3 6 9 35 Meganumber: 1 Jackpot: $13 Million
BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
FANTASY 5 21 22 24 31 32
DAILY 3 434 253
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
05 California Classic 07 Eureka! 09 Winning Spirit
RACE TIME:
1:41.17
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
Volume 5, Issue 78
Boardwalk braces for peacemakers
DAILY LOTTERY
Daytime: Evening:
A newspaper with issues
CHUCK
SHEPARD
Adding to the list of stories that were formerly weird but which now occur with such frequency that they must be retired from circulation: (75) People who are so enticed by the money they can make selling scrap-metal copper that they break into electrical substations to steal wire, at night, and touch the wrong thing, as the man did in Bellmead, Texas, two days before Christmas. (He “never even knew what hit him,” said a utility employee.) (76) And animals in mating season (especially deer) that crash into homes and storefronts in their crazed search for sex, as did deer that appeared in January in an Evansville, Ind., video store and an Arkansas City, Kan., elementary school.
VENICE BOARDWALK — Community activists are optimistic that efforts to manage the free spirit of this 1.5-mile stretch may prove more successful by this summer than it has in recent years. In particular, they anticipate boardwalk “peacemakers” becoming a reality. The peacemakers would be a team trained in conflict resolution and assigned to settle territorial disputes among those vying for space along the renowned boardwalk. The group’s power would come from community consent. However, if successful, the peacemakers might prove to be an effective first line of defense, handling situations before the police are called in. It’s hoped the peacemakers may be assisting with boardwalk issues in time for this summer’s tourist season, said Stephen Friske, a Venice resident and musician who See BOARDWALK, page 12
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press COME TOGETHER: David Lasker, 36, paints the ‘Abbey Road’ album cover recently on the Venice Beach boardwalk. A new ordinance aimed at eliminating commercial activity on the west side of the boardwalk should help ensure that artists and expressionists have ample room along the popular 1.5-mile stretch.
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 42nd day of 2006. There are 323 days left in the year. On Feb. 11, 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.
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Snow & Surf Report Water temperature: 59°
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Opinion Streams of conciousness
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Commentary What about us?
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State ‘Date’ star gets sentenced
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National Energy to spare
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Comics Strips tease
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Classifieds
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Ad space odyssey
DOWNTOWN — Optimism is apparently waning in Santa Monica, or at least any organized form of it. Since 1924, the Optimist Club of Santa Monica has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through raffles, ballroom dances and silent auctions, all to help children in need create healthier lives for themselves. But the tables have turned somewhat recently as optimists, many since retired, have had to cut back the number of hours they volunteer and are now turning
to the very youth they’ve helped for assistance. The optimists are characteristically hopeful a younger generation will pick up the torch by joining the club and keeping the legacy of optimism alive for future generations. “We are a small organization and as much as we do, it’s still not enough,” said Donna Lady, president of the local chapter, during an optimist lunch at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in which roughly a dozen members celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Optimist Youth Home, a foster home for troubled kids in
BEST ON THE WESTSIDE
LOS ANGELES — The carjacking suspect shot dead by Santa Monica police on Thursday has been identified, but the cause of his death won’t be known until an autopsy is conducted this weekend, according to the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office. Jeffery Smith, 23, of Venice, was shot by SMPD officers shortly after 5 a.m. on Thursday after he fired at police with a shotgun. Minutes earlier, he stole a car at gunpoint from a man driving on Michigan Avenue in Santa
See OPTIMISTS, page 13
See SUSPECT SHOT, page 10
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Highland Park. Members of the club presented a check for $2,000 to representatives from the group home, for a total pledge of $5,000. “It feels as if we are dog-paddling as fast as we can,” Lady added. “We need to attract younger members, but that has been very hard to do, not just for us. Every organization is having trouble.” On the international level, optimists are concerned about shrinking membership as their ranks grow older. “It is a major concern and one
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SINCE 1972
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Gunned down suspect was Venice resident
Century-old community service group hopes to pass the torch to next generation Daily Press Staff Writer
Horoscopes Easy does it, Cancer
Optimists being tested BY KEVIN HERRERA
INDEX
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