THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2002
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Volume 1, Issue 147
Santa Monica Daily Press Picked fresh daily. 100% organic news.
Dine center court this summer
Flying saucers
8 p.m., and could be split into two sections, depending on demand.
BY ANDREW H. FIXMER Daily Press Staff Writer
Visitors to the Promenade will soon be dining center court. To help showcase restaurants throughout the downtown area, a new staging area will be set up on the Third Street Promenade’s center court so chefs can cook up their specialties. The plan will give downtown restaurants access to the busy shopping corridor. Some city officials believe too many restaurants have been pushed off the Promenade because of high rents, forcing them to move where rents are lower. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for restaurants to showcase their foods right in the heart of the Promenade,” said Kathleen Rawson, executive director of the Bayside District Corporation, which unanimously approved the idea last week. Rawson hopes to have center court dinning in place by this summer, but she said there are still many bureaucratic steps to be taken and health department permits granted before it becomes a reality. The center court will be roped off from 10 a.m. to
“It’s really government at its best. There would be more exposure of restaurants without interruption to people who use the area.” – KATHLEEN RAWSON Bayside District Corporation executive director
Demand from restaurants also would determine how long each restaurant is allowed to occupy the space, but Rawson believes restaurants would change about every week. See DINING, page 3
Santa Monica landlord ordered by judge to return security deposit BY ANDREW H. FIXMER Daily Press Staff Writer
Franklin Smith/Special to the Daily Press
A frequent street performer on the Promenade doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to dishing it out.
A Santa Monica landlord has been ordered to pay $1,350 to a tenant for not itemizing damages to the apartment before seizing the security deposit. Michael Freidgeim took his landlord, Sunnie Han, to Santa Monica Small Claims Court this week to collect his $1,300 securi-
ty deposit which was not returned to him after living in the same apartment at 1328 Euclid Street for eight years. Han claimed an old mattress and a refrigerator were left in the apartment, as well as pictures hanging on the walls, and pots and pans were left in the kitchen cabinets. She said the apartment had to be repainted and a wet bar had to be removed at her expense.
Police not responsible for local man’s death BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
www.dancedoctor.com
A grand jury on Wednesday found no wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement in the death of a Santa Monica man during an attempted arrest. William Wheeler Jr., 41, fatally shot himself in the head March 27 as he faced a blockade of police and Nebraska State Patrol SWAT team officers, authorities said. He was suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend and stabbing her mother to death the day before. Shortly after 6 p.m. on March 26, Santa Monica Police were notified by the Los Angeles Police Department of the murder of Anna Catherine Hughes, 66, of Westchester, who was found dead in her home at about
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2:50 p.m. Hughes reportedly was Wheeler’s mother-in-law. Several hours later, Santa Monica police officers went to Wheeler and his estranged wife’s home on the 2300 block of Ocean Park Boulevard, where they found the body of a 37year-old woman. Neighbors later identified her as Maureen Hughes, Wheeler’s wife. Santa Monica police knew Wheeler had relatives in Kimball and alerted law enforcement there to be on the lookout for a blue Honda Civic with California plates, which apparently was Wheeler’s ex-girlfriend’s car. When Kimball police located the car in front of his father’s residence, they contacted the local county sheriff’s office and the Nebraska State Patrol. swing salsa / latin tango ballroom lindy-hop lyrical dance jazz / ballet hip hop / rave yoga belly dancing boxing kickboxing
Nebraska authorities kept the residence under surveillance for two hours while obtaining a search warrant. At about 6 a.m., (MST,) SWAT teams approached the home when Wheeler attempted to flee. Wheeler was stopped by officers eight blocks away. “No crime was committed that resulted in or contributed to Wheeler’s death,” the grand jury said through special prosecutor Tom Sonntag, the former Cheyenne County attorney. Nebraska law requires a grand jury investigation whenever a suspect dies in custody or when being pursued by law enforcement officers. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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But that proved to be inconsequential. California law requires landlords must provide a list of damages that are deducted from a tenant’s security deposit within 30 days after moving out. Freidgeim had moved out on July 15 and he had not received an invoice from Han until Sept. 12. “No written list was given (on time), at least I have no evidence of it before me,” said Judge Pro Tem Jeffery Clark. “The landlord failed to fulfill her legal requirements.” Han had counter-sued Freidgeim for $825 — one month’s worth of back rent. She said Freidgeim had not given the necessary 30-day notice required by state law that he was moving out. Freidgeim produced a June 9 letter to Han in which he informed her he was moving out of the apartment on July 15, but the letter did not have a date posted on it and had not been sent by certified mail. “He makes up this letter,” Han said. “Cross my heart, I’ve never seen it.”
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