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Santa Monica Daily Press
April 17/18, 2004 L O T T O FANTASY 5 26, 27, 31, 32, 35 DAILY 3 Afternoon picks: 0, 4, 2 Evening picks: 2, 3, 5
DAILY DERBY 1st Place: 9, Winning Spirit 2nd Place: 5, California Classic 3rd Place: 1, Gold Rush Race Time: 1:48.45
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepard
The Japanese navy created a TV ad in February to encourage enlistments and public support for its mission of sending security troops to Iraq. In the spot, according to a Reuters reporter, seven actors dressed, Village People-like, as sailors dancing on the deck of a ship, singing (roughly translated), “Nippon Seaman Ship, Seaman Shipo, For Love ... For Peace” and “I Love Japan, I Love Peace, The Maritime Self-Defense Force.” (The ad is needed, said a senior officer, because “there are a lot of young people and women who don’t seem interested (in the navy).”)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“From the sublime to the rediculous, there is but one step.” – Napoleon
INDEX Horoscopes All about you, Taurus . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Local Seniors get their groove back . . . .3
Opinion Signs of dissension . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
State Coast is clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
A newspaper with issues
Fire season poses considerable threat to SM Mountains BY LAUREN BONIFACIO Special to the Daily Press
While spared from the devastation of October’s wildfires, the Santa Monica Mountains and other local forest areas will be at risk amid the upcoming fire season, officials say. San Diego and San Bernandino counties were hit the hardest last year, but strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity could combine to make areas in Los Angeles County prime targets for wildfires in the coming months, said LA County Fire Department
spokesman John Mancha. “We always prepare for the worst,” he said. Firefighting agencies across Southern California are gearing up for the fire season, an eight-month period beginning in mid-May that typically consists of dry conditions and rising temperatures. Along with the Santa Monica Mountains, areas in Malibu, Topanga Canyon and the Antelope Valley are overgrown with trees that could fuel a potential fire, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at See FIRE SEASON, page 5
Well, what’s the holdup? . . . . . . . .11
International What’s old is new again . . . . . . . .15
People in the News
For keep’s sake
Del Pastrana/Daily Press
As part of a weekly contest, the Daily Press will give away a free prize to the first reader who can accurately describe where this photo was taken. E-mail answers to sack@smdp.com.
EcoFest an energetic Businesses signing on celebration of Earth to alter consumer law By Daily Press staff
While Earth Day is officially April 22, there is plenty of celebrating and educating going on today. Thousands are expected to attend “Clean Energy Now,” which will be held all day on the Third Street Promenade. In honor of the 34th anniversary of Earth Day, the Promenade between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard will be transformed into an EcoFest from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. in efforts to demonstrate how greater Los Angeles puts ecological lifestyles into practice.
There will be 60 environmental exhibits and a solar-powered stage, featuring environmental speakers including Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown, and Earth Day LA Director John Quigley, who gained a modicum of recent fame by sitting in the Old Glory Oak Tree in Santa Clarita for months. There will be eclectic world music performances by Electric Skychurch, Champa 51, Stephen Longfellow Fiske, Peter Alsop, Rob MacMullan of VH-1’s “You Rock” series, virtuoso violinist Jennifer See EARTH DAY, page 6
SM not making world a smaller place By Daily Press staff
National
Volume 3, Issue 135
A recent study reveals that Santa Monica uses 5.7 percent less of the Earth’s resources than it did a decade ago. City Hall has released a study analyzing the change in the city’s “ecological footprint,” which tracks its use of the Earth’s resources in terms of water and land area. Results showed its use shrank by 167 square See RESOURCES, page 7
Duchovny doesn’t dress part . . . .20
By staff and wire reports
A business group seeking to amend a decades-old California law against unfair competition said it has begun submitting more than a half-million signatures to county election officials as a prelude to putting its initiative before voters in November. The initiative by “Californians to Stop Shakedown Lawsuits” would require that private attorneys represent a client when they file a lawsuit alleging a violation of the state’s Unfair Competition Law. But a Santa Monica-based consumer watchdog group calls the initiative “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” “This is the biggest threat to consumer and environmental protection we’ve faced in California,” said Jamie Court, a spokesman for The
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“This is the biggest threat to consumer and environmental protection we’ve faced in California.” — JAMIE COURT Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. “This isn’t about helping Santa Monica’s businesses.” Court contends the change has more to do with big corporations wanting to free themselves from the law’s accountability. The 1933 law allows private attorneys to sue on behalf of the public to stop deceptive business See LAW, page 7
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Opponents label change ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’
2004 Santa Fe