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Santa Monica Daily Press August 26-27, 2006
A newspaper with issues
Volume 5, Issue 246
Squirrels scurry ‘Lefty’ and right
DAILY LOTTERY 3 4 5 7 36 Meganumber: 16 Jackpot: $51M
City-paid exterminator on the job; rodents trapped in public safety scare
11 13 23 28 43 Meganumber: 18 Jackpot: $60M
BY KEVIN HERRERA
6 13 16 32 33
Daily Press Staff Writer
MIDDAY: 6 0 7 EVENING: 1 5 8
PALISADES PARK — It’s a dirty and often thankless job, but someone’s got to do it. That someone is Lefty Ayers, a tall, friendly middle-aged man out of Kern County who was hired by City Hall for an estimated $19,000 to trap and kill ground squirrels that are running rampant along the bluffs here, digging holes and making babies at a clip that has county health officials concerned about public safety. For the last two weeks, Ayers, 51, who owns the pest control company, Heritage Wildlife Management, has
1st: 04 Big Ben 2nd: 07 Eureka! 3rd: 05 California Classic RACE TIME: 1:49.38 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 at http://www.calottery.com
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
News of the Weird has mentioned several times those “yogic fliers” (who sit cross-legged and, by Transcendental Meditation, “fly” by levitating their posteriors). In July, two weeks after Israel began its retaliatory attack on Hezbollah, a former Israeli army colonel, Reuven Zelinkovsky, was critical, alleging that a squadron of yogic fliers could provide a “shield of invincibility” around the country, just as effective as a military campaign. TM experts use the formula of the square root of 1 percent of a country’s population as the critical mass of fliers necessary to affect the national spiritual consciousness (for Israel, 265 fliers).
A Twilight Dance Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Kiran Ahluwalia performs at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday as part of the summer-long Twilight Dance Series. Next Thursday will conclude the series with a performance by the David Grisman Quintet.
SM: A city of three top cops BY KEVIN HERRERA
Kevin Herrera/Daily Press
GETTING SQUIRRELY: Lefty Ayers catches squirrels on Palisades Bluffs overlooking See TRAPPED, page 5
the PCH on Friday. LA County has mandated that the city reduce its squirrel population.
On guard
Daily Press Staff Writer
TODAY IN HISTORY
18
CITY HALL — In the interest of fairness, City Manager Lamont Ewell has decided to let the Santa Monica Police Department’s three top cops serve at the helm until a successor to Chief James T. Butts Jr. is found. “Because there are several of our command staff within the department who are desirous of becoming the city’s next chief of police, and in an effort to demonstrate fairness, beginning this weekend, Deputy Chief Phil Sanchez will begin serving as interim chief for the next 30 days,” Ewell wrote Friday in an email addressed to the mayor and City Council members. SMPD Capt. Mark Smiley, who is in charge of the office of operations, will serve as chief during the second 30-day period, with Capt. Jacqueline Seabrooks, head of the office of criminal investigations, serving during the final shift. Sanchez, who heads the office of administrative services, is responsible for SMPD’s planning and
19-22
See CHIEF, page 7
Today is the 238th day of 2006. There are 127 days left in the year. The19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaran1920 teeing American women the right to vote, was declared in effect.
INDEX Horoscopes Not to be found, Scorpio
2
Surf Report Water temperature: 66°
3
Opinion Boats in SM apier to be a problem
4
State Pavers raze coastal zone
7
National Consumers strapped for cash
10
Travel What a treat: A desert spa retreat
12
International Syria gets demanding
16
MOVIETIMES Catch a flick!
17
Comics Yak it up, yakmeister
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press The color guard runs through some drills during band camp at Santa Monica High School on Friday, the last day of the two-week long camp. Check inside today’s edition for the first-annual Back to School issue.
Warning: Don’t swim near the pipe BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
SM BEACH — For the sixth week in a row, a handful of popular Southern California beaches have
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broken the law by not meeting federal clean water standards, according to weekly statistics compiled by Santa Monica-based environmental organization Heal the Bay. Some of those beaches are in
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