EE FR
MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2004
Volume 3, Issue 177
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
SUPER LOTTO PLUS
Funeral home seals Reagan legacy
3 11 16 42 46
BY JOHN WOOD
Meganumber: 05 Jackpot: $8 million FANTASY 5 8 18 23 36 37 DAILY 3 Afternoon picks: 9 4 3 Evening picks: 9 4 4 DAILY DERBY
Daily Press Staff Writer
MID-CITY — The last two men to see former President Ronald Reagan spent the weekend carefully preparing the 40th president’s body in a Santa Monica funeral home. Funeral directors Bob Boetticher and Mike Ross dressed the former president and laid him in a solid mahogany casket to prepare him for
1st Place: 06 Whirl Win 2nd Place: 09 Winning Spirit 3rd Place: 05 California Classic
Race Time: 1:48.55
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepard
INDEX Horoscopes Vanish if you want, Pisces . . . . . . . .2
Local Giving grads a celebration . . . . . . .3
Opinion Examining immigration . . . . . . . . .4
State State to buy Hearst Ranch . . . . . . . .7
National Candidates depress nation . . . . . . .9
Legal Notices
Nicky Five Aces/ Special to the Daily Press
Onlookers add to the growing makeshift memorial outside the Gates Kingsley & Gates Moeller-Murphy Funeral Home, where former President Reagan was taken following his death.
Presidential circus comes to town BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
MID CITY — Thousands of people converged on this quiet residential neighborhood over the past two days to pay their respects to one of the most popular presidents in U.S. history. The blocks surrounding Gates Kingsley & Gates MoellerMurphy Funeral Home at the corner of 20th Street and Arizona Avenue have been closed to traffic since early Saturday afternoon when it was announced that former President Ronald Reagan died at his Bel Air home. Reagan’s body was transported to the funeral home a few hours after he died. When news hit that Reagan had passed on and his body was being brought to Santa Monica, hundreds of people began congregating at the intersection. Cathy and Frank Bennett, and their friend Tom Gorman, who all live north of Montana Avenue, saw
People in the News Killer art on exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . .20
See CIRCUS, page 11
John Wood/Daily Press
The president’s men: Funeral directors Bob Boetticher and Mike Ross said preparing the president’s body to be buried was the pinnacle of their careers. Reagan’s casket will be taken to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley today.
See REAGAN, page 10
Taxpayers might be asked to buck up By Daily Press staff
SMC — A recent study suggests that there aren’t enough recreational facilities in Santa Monica — but for $175 million in taxpayer money, the shortage can be met, officials said. Recognizing that Santa Monica College and the Santa Monica and Malibu communities face a short-
age of parks, physical education, recreational and other facilities, college officials are considering a $175 million bond measure for the fall ballot to fund a wide range of local projects. The projects would use “cooperative partnerships” — formal agreements with other entities — to operate the facilities. See BOND, page 6
SMPD investigates mysterious weekend shooting By Daily Press staff
DBAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
the news on TV and immediately came to the funeral home with American flags in tow. They were some of the first people to arrive on the scene — with only a few news trucks already there and broadcasting live. Within a couple of hours, news trucks lined the middle lanes of 20th Street and Arizona Avenue. By Sunday afternoon, the media outnumbered citizens by 3 to 1. “I could have watched it on TV, but I wanted to contribute,” said Gorman, who works in the music industry. “I’m here for the celebration of a life that accomplished a lot and was well lived — he left a mark on the planet.” Santa Monica resident Nancy Morse, who was walking off her lunch, stuck around to watch the events unfold. She said she was surprised that President Reagan would have chosen Santa Monica. “I don’t live in that upscale of a neighborhood,” she said. “I would
14TH STREET — Santa Monica Police responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon Saturday night. Officers arrived to investigate a call from the 1400 block
of 14th Street at around 7:20 p.m. Upon arrival, they spoke to the victim, who claimed to have been walking northbound on the east sidewalk when he felt a sharp pain in his right rib cage area and realized that he had possibly been shot.
The victim was taken to a local hospital by a family member and is listed in stable condition. The victim told officers that he did not see or hear anything and could not offer any further details on the incident. Anyone having additional infor-
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UNDIGNIFIED DEATHS A 61-year-old retired biochemist who had been teaching high school chemistry in recent years was killed while stirring homemade marmalade on his kitchen stove, after inadvertently inhaling carbon monoxide from the stove's faulty gas line (Walk, England, April). And a 16-year-old honor-roll student, and member of her school's anti-drinking organization, passed out and died at her cousin's birthday party, with an empty vodka bottle nearby and a blood-alcohol reading of 0.439 (legal limit, 0.08) (Bartonville, Ill., April).
a series of funeral events in California and Washington, D.C., which will conclude with a Friday burial at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Gates Kingsley & Gates Moeller-Murphy, at Arizona Avenue and 20th Street, is one of the closest funeral homes to the Reagans’ Bel Air home. It’s also used frequently by the grieving families of Hollywood celebrities and high-profile political players. Reagan had personal ties to it. “When the president returned to California he was asked to choose a funeral home, and this one fit the bill,” said Joanne Drake, a spokeswoman for the Reagan family, who have grieved privately since the 93-year-old president died Saturday afternoon. Gates Kingsley & Gates Moeller-Murphy was founded in 1932. Mark Gates, son of the founder and later funeral home director, served as mayor of Santa Monica decades ago. His son was chairman of the 1970 Los Angeles County reelection campaign for Reagan as governor. For Boetticher and Ross, the task of preparing Reagan was humbling. “It’s a huge responsibility, and
mation is encouraged to contact the Robbery-Homicide Unit of the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8451. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may also call the We-Tip national hotline at (800) 78-CRIME (27463).
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