THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2005
Volume 4, Issue 191
FR EE
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Utility hikes passed
DAILY LOTTERY SUPER LOTTO 4 6 7 34 39 Meganumber: 9 Jackpot: $7 Million
FANTASY 5 2 3 19 23 27
DAILY 3 Daytime: Evening:
585 607
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
11 Money Bags 04 Whirl Win 04 Big Ben
RACE TIME:
1:41.56
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
BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
According to a February report in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, Itzik Simkowitz is suing a pet shop owner in Beersheeba for selling him a sickly Galerita-type cockatoo (price: the equivalent of about US$2,000) that died shortly after Simkowitz got him home. As in a classic Monty Python sketch, the shop owner initially insisted that the parrot was merely lethargic and needed time to adjust to his new surroundings, but when the parrot (to use the Python dialogue) was shown to be “a late parrot,” “an ex-parrot,” “a stiff,” and to have “joined the choir invisible,” the shop owner still refused to return the money.
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 174th day of 2005. There are 191 days left in the year. On June 23, 1969, Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief U.S. justice by the man he was succeeding, Earl Warren. In 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for his “TypeWriter.” In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was established.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Suffering without understanding in this life is a heap worse than suffering when you have at least the grain of an idea what it’s all for.”
MARY ELLEN CHASE
AMERICAN AUTHOR (1887-1973).
INDEX Horoscopes Talk to a pal tonight, Gem
2
Surf Report Water temperature: 65°
3
Opinion Right and wrong one and same
4
State Father, son claim innocence
5
National Losing trust
7
Business Long-term relationship
8
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
13-15
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Santa Monica High School’s Class of ‘05 will celebrate on campus tonight, entering through this makeshift cruise ship following commencement ceremonies. Planned for inside the event area are a casino, food, entertainment and dancing.
Class of ’05 shipping out Close to 1,000 students bid adieu to their schools BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
CITYWIDE — School officials said hundreds of graduating seniors have much to look forward to as they prepare to toss their tassels. Close to 1,000 students between Santa Monica’s three public high schools will be taking part in commencement ceremonies today, amid a forecast that calls for clear and sunny weather. It’s also the last day of school for thousands of other local students who will return to school in the fall. But for the graduates, parents and students are set to share tears of joy and sorrow — both relieved and sad that four tumultuous, hormonally-driven years are winding down. The commencement ceremonies will be followed by the traditional “grad nite” celebrations, starting at about 9 p.m. and lasting well into the pre-dawn hour, according to organizers. The parties are to be held at Malibu and Santa Monica high schools, for which parents and teacher volunteers raised thousands
of dollars and dedicated untold hours of time to help make an event their children should remember fondly for years. When the party ends and the sun rises, students said they will be gearing up for an adult life that will take some of them to fouryear universities and others more directly into the local workforce. As many as 175 students are expected to walk the line at Malibu High School at 2 p.m. today. More than 59 percent of Malibu’s graduating class is set to attend four-year universities. “We have kids off to Stanford, Princeton ... a lot of them going to college back east,” said Mark Kelly, Malibu High School principal. About 37 percent of the students will be attending two-year colleges in the fall. “Several of them will be going to Santa Monica College,” Kelly said. Malibu will be honoring six students who received a 4.0 gradepoint average during their high school careers — Elizabeth Beryt, Beau Campbell, Paget Kegy, Nicole Oida, Eva Post and Kelly Stewart.
By Daily Press staff
Local police are cracking down on drunk drivers tonight in anticipation of graduates possibly celebrating too much. The Santa Monica Police Department will conduct a saturation patrol today, meaning more officers will be on the streets looking for drunk drivers. Hundreds of students are graduating from Malibu and Santa Monica high schools today. (See related story). More than 59 percent of fatal car crashes among teens involving alcohol or other drugs happen during prom and graduation season, SMPD officials said. The saturation patrol is part of the “Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws” grant and is funded in cooperation with the state of California, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, Office of Traffic Safety and the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Justice.
See HIKES, page 9
City Hall OKs ’05-06 budget BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL — Santa Monica groups vying for a slice of City Hall’s $433 million pie made their last-minute appeals late Tuesday before next year’s budget was adopted. Dozens of speakers associated with several organizations partially funded by City Hall took their turns at the podium to tell the Santa Monica City Council why their requests for a boost to their See BUDGET, page 10
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SMPD has sobering thoughts for grads
CITY HALL — Santa Monicans can expect to pay more utility fees as early as July, and City Hall officials expect to explain to them why. The first part of a series of expected utility rate increases were approved at Tuesday’s City Council meeting after elected officials — expressing concern how the rate changes were proposed — directed staff to undertake a serious study that will explain the costs of City Hall’s solid and water waste services in coming months. City Hall’s solid waste, water, wastewater and stormwater fund balances have been decreasing by varying degrees over the last four years and need to be corrected in order to keep the bonds that support the funds in legal compliance. In order to begin restoring the funds to a healthy level, the City Council adopted a rate schedule that will increase the cost of water rates
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