FR EE
MONDAY, JULY 5, 2004
Volume 3, Issue 201
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY CHUCK SHEPARD
■ Canadian researchers writing in the journal, “Neurology,” in June reported that 18 of 122 dogs belonging to epileptic children were able to sense, minutes ahead of time, when a child was about to have a seizure, and about 30 others showed unique reactions to a seizure event (including in some cases trying to protect the child from danger). Also in June, researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute reported that Rico, a border collie they have studied for several years, can distinguish by name more than 200 objects and can even figure out the names of unfamiliar objects associated with familiar ones (attributed, as in the epilepsy cases, to the dog's high sensitivity to sight, sound and motion). ■ Ken James, 64, died in February when he fell off a stolen bicycle in Melbourne, Australia, and hit his head; police later found 435 bicycles and hundreds of parts in his home, stacked to the ceiling in every room (with only a few of the bikes having been legitimately acquired). And in May, a court in York, England, banned Norman Hutchins, 53, from all National Health Service hospitals and doctors' offices, based on 40 complaints since January of his attempting to grab surgical gowns and masks for his collection; he was described by his lawyer as "not a well man." ■ Andre Lamar Henderson, 30, was arrested after allegedly robbing a Madison Bank branch in Norristown, Pa., in June and coming away with $50; his holdup note had demanded "all your hundreds and fifties," and, as the teller later said, there was lots of money in the drawer but unfortunately for Henderson, no hundreds and only one fifty. And Knute Falk, 54, allegedly robbed a Bank of America in Beaverton, Ore., in June but was arrested when his getaway was delayed; he had demanded a bank customer's car keys, walked out, then returned after a minute or two, with his mask off, to ask the customer which key opens the door.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “They’ll talk about me showing cleavage and my belly, but they don’t say anything about the artists who accept an award and can’t even talk because they’re so drugged out. After the awards show, I go home, drink my tea and go to bed. “
Erasing the waste is a multi-million dollar clean up $5 million education campaign will launch next month BY SHRADDHA R. JAISWAL Special to the Daily Press
With millions of people visiting and living near the Santa Monica coast each year, millions of dollars must be spent cleaning up after them. And millions more are now being spent to educate people on how to stop their trashy ways. The second phase of a two-year, $5 million campaign will launch in August to teach coastal residents how to keep their waters unpolluted. The program, “Erase the Waste,” which is funded by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), is geared toward protecting the ocean, bay and city waters from seemingly innocent acts that create pollutants which go directly into storm drains. “Part of it’s getting people to understand first that whatever you throw in the street or leave in the street goes directly to the ocean,”
INDEX Horoscopes 2
Surf Water temperature: 70°
5 6
National Bush riding high on democracy
11
Comics/Crossword Natural selection
12
Classifieds $3.50 a day
13
People in the News ‘9-11’ heats up in Nebraska
BY JOHN F. MULLER Special to the Daily Press
Opinion Common Scents
Fisher Lumber’s gate keeper happily keeps ‘em moving
3
State Language laws levied
See WASTE, page 4
Owen Weslowski/Special to the Daily Press
Susi Shapiro shows her patriotism for the Fourth of July festivities held at Santa Monica College on Saturday.
COMMUNITYPROFILES | COMMUNITY PROFILES IS A WEEKLY SERIES THAT APPEARS EACH MONDAY AND DELVES INTO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN SANTA MONICA.
– BRITNEY SPEARS
Libra, run errands tonight
said Richard Katz, a member of the SWRCB. “It doesn’t get treated somewhere, it doesn’t get picked up by somebody, it doesn’t get sorted.” Erase the Waste attempts to remind people of how their actions can result in devastating consequences. Pesticide use, the improper disposal of motor oil, or leaving behind dog feces on the beaches and streets, along with cigarette butts, can cause millions of dollars in damage, beach closures and viral infections like hepatitis, according to the campaign’s research. When pollutants flow in to the city’s storm drains, officials said it mixes together to form a type of “toxic soup” that eventually finds its way into the Santa Monica Bay. “It’s one of those issues where many people don’t realize the consequences of their actions,” Katz said. “People don’t even think about ‘Oh, it’s a cigarette butt, or it’s a styrofoam cup.’ They don’t think about a million other people doing the same thing in a month.”
A patriot act
20
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Bill Spruell loves to talk. Day in and day out, he stands in the Fisher Lumber parking lot, yelling greetings and instructions to pedestrians, sedans and trucks as they pass through. “Comin’ in, comin’ out,” his voice booms over the traffic as people and vehicles weave through the tricky corner. “Hello, sir. On your right. Through, through. Heads up! Comin’ in, comin’ in.” Spruell has been working as the gate guard at Fisher Lumber since 1997. He plans to stay with the Santa Monica company until it shuts down next March. He is in charge of directing traffic, watching for thievery and making sure that there are no accidents or injuries in the bustling lumber yard. “To the faint of heart, he seems like the crazy man out there at the end of the yard,” described one co-worker of Spruell, “but we all assure (customers) he’s on the payroll.” Now 56, the Kentucky native moved to the Santa Monica-West Los Angeles area in 1965. After See PROFILES, page 8
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