THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2006
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Volume 5, Issue 136
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Apartments in West flat out expensive
5 13 15 20 45 Meganumber: 8 Jackpot: $9 Million
FANTASY 5 0 0 29 31 33
DAILY 3 159 392
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
01 Gold Rush 10 Solid Gold 07 Eureka !
RACE TIME:
1.49.73
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
In February, the Missourian newspaper reported that Columbia resident Adam Ballard, 22, now in his second year in the Army, is overeating and under-exercising so as to gain weight rapidly and exceed the Army’s body-fat requirement, which will force his discharge rather than his deployment to the Middle East war zone. According to The Columbian, 3,285 soldiers were discharged for excess body fat in 2004 (although not all were warzone shirkers). Ballard said he had no qualms because recruiters had originally assured him a desk job.
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 110th day of 2006. There are 255 days left in the year. ■ On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Littleton, Colo., as two students shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives. ■ In 1889, Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Taste. You cannot buy such a rare and wonderful thing. You can’t send away for it in a catalogue. And I’m afraid it’s becoming obsolete.”
ROSALIND RUSSELL
AMERICAN ACTRESS (1911-1976)
INDEX Horoscopes Ever playful, Libra
2
Snow & Surf Report Water temperature: 55°
3
Opinion In further developments
4
Commentary Bent over a barrel
5
State Inking a deal for voters
6
National Columbine survivor writes it down 9
People in the News Jackson eases on down the Gulf 15
Comics Laugh it up
16
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE
BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON
AP Business Writer
Daily Press Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO — Apartment rents are increasing more rapidly in many of the West’s major markets as the economy produces more jobs and rising interest rates prevent more people from buying homes, according to statistics being released Thursday. The average apartment rent in March rose by at least 4 percent in nine of the 20 Western markets surveyed by RealFacts, a Novato, Calif.-based real estate research firm. Rents rose fastest in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, an inland Southern California region that has become a refuge for people who can’t afford to live in the Los Angeles metropolitan area — the West’s most expensive rental market, according to RealFacts. Apartments in San Bernardino and Riverside have climbed by 7.3 percent in the past year to an average of $1,097 in March, RealFacts said. Renters paid an average of $1,484 for an apartment in Los Angeles and Orange counties, a 6.7 percent increase from last year. Southern California has ranked among the West’s hottest rental markets for several years. But landlords also appear to be gaining more leverage in once-slumping markets such as the San Francisco Bay area, where a revived high-tech industry and high-priced homes are fueling rental demand. In the five-county Bay Area tracked by RealFacts, rents averaged $1,374 in March, a 5 percent annual increase, while rents in Santa Clara County — Silicon Valley’s hub — averaged $1,359, a 5.8 percent increase. Rent increases also are accelerating in Seattle and Nevada’s major markets, RealFacts said. Colorado emerged as one of the major exceptions to the general rental trends in the West. Average rents in Denver rose by less than 1 percent to an average of $856 while rents in Colorado
DOWNTOWN LA — Capital murder charges have yet to be filed against the two imprisoned gang members who are accused of randomly killing two men in Santa Monica nearly eight years ago. Santa Monica Police detectives filed their cases against David
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
17-19
See FLAT OUT PRICEY, page 11
GABY SCHKUD
27, and Anthony Juarez, 19, on Oct. 27, 1998. The Juarez brothers were visiting their cousin’s business, Westside Clothing on Lincoln Boulevard, when masked gunmen stormed into the store and fired numerous rounds from an assault rifle and pair of handguns. Robles and Garcia are expected See MURDER CHARGES, page 10
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Pier and Harbor Service Officer Matt Anderson gets set to cut through some half-inch iron chain with the use of his 'cutting torch' on the Santa Monica Pier. The chains will be used to anchor down buoys.
Those going the distance may get some relief BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
THIRD STREET PROMENADE — When you gotta go, you gotta go. But finding a clean, public restroom here can be difficult — some say impossible — which is why business owners and city officials are once again looking to provide
some relief. This time around, that relief may come in the form of a new, centrally-located restroom facility, complete with ample bathroom stalls, baby-changing tables and an attendant to make sure urinals are pristine and soap dispensers full. The idea was flushed out earlier this week during a meeting between
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See GOTTA GO, page 8
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city officials and members of Bayside District Corp., a publicprivate management company that works in partnership with City Hall on issues impacting downtown. Bayside members pushed for City Hall to consider creating the new bathroom facility in downtown
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Robles and Jessie Garcia, both 29, with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office last Friday, but formal charges have not been levied, said DA spokeswoman Jane Robison. “The case is still under review, but it will be filed shortly,” she said. Robles and Garcia, cousins and noted gang members, are alleged to have fatally shot Michael Juarez,
An officer and a welderman
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