THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2006
Visit us online at smdp.com
Volume 5 Issue 281
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Giving voice to disabled
DAILY LOTTERY 6 19 32 33 40 Meganumber: 39 Jackpot: $25M
BY KEVIN HERRERA
12 15 32 43 45 Meganumber: 11 Jackpot: $30M
Daily Press Staff Writer
2 5 10 23 31 MIDDAY: 4 8 8 EVENING: 5 7 1 1st: 04 Big Ben 2nd: 03 Hot Shot 3rd: 05 California Classic RACE TIME: 1.47.74 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
TITTINGER
Copy cat: DP names editor
MID-CITY — For residents who are blind or have lost their hearing, just walking the city’s streets can be a scary proposition, let alone crossing a bustling thoroughfare like Wilshire Boulevard.
On Wednesday, city officials attempted to lead the way. Standing at the corner of one of Santa Monica’s busiest intersections, officials joined with the disabled for the installation of a new technology that tells those who are blind or hearing impaired when it’s safe to
cross the street. The technology, developed by Polara Engineering Inc., features a male voice that speaks to pedestrians, telling them which street they are on, what direction they are traveling and how
Kevin Herrera/Daily Press
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press
See SIGNALS, page 14
BY KEVIN HERRERA
SHEPARD
Daily Press Staff Writer
In July, according to a Canadian Press report, a Wal-Mart in St.-Jean-surRichelieu, Quebec, received a bomb threat and immediately dispatched about 40 employees on duty to look through the store to find the explosive. (Customers were allowed to leave, though, and ultimately, it was a false alarm.)
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 278th day of 2006. There are 87 days left in the year. President Truman delivered the first televised White 1947 House address. (Speaking about the world food crisis, Truman called on Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry as well as eggs on Thursdays.) President Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of aggressor nations. Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.
DOWNTOWN — A 12-year-veteran of the newspaper business has assumed control over the editorial department at the Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) — the city’s lone daily newspaper. A native of Northeast Philadelphia, Michael Tittinger, 36, has spent the past four years at the SMDP, first serving as a columnist — “Tittinger’s Take” — then as associate editor. Tittinger is expected to hire a second, full-time reporter within the next week, his first major move as editor.
SAFE AND SOUND: Sam Genensky (left), who is legally blind, makes his way across Wilshire Boulevard on Wednesday with See NEW EDITOR, page 12
the assistance of one of Santa Monica’s new talking crosswalk signals. The push-button signs (right) include Braille indicators.
1937 1953
Courtroom for the homeless taking shape
QUOTE OF THE DAY “The usefulness of a meeting is in inverse proportion to the attendance.”
LANE KIRKLAND
BY KEVIN HERRERA
AMERICAN LABOR LEADER (1922-1999)
Daily Press Staff Writer
INDEX Horoscopes Try a new look, Cancer
2
Surf Report Water temperature: 66°
3
Opinion Marketing in the school bus
4
State Time to reboot
5
National Keep the fire burning
8
Business Are you ready for some snowfall?
16
International North Korea’s neighbors nervous
17
MOVIETIMES The reel thing
18
Comics Strips tease
19
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
Feeling blue
Alejandro Cesar Cantarero II/Daily Press Dodgers fans gather at Hooters restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard on Wednesday to watch the club’s opening playoff game at Shea Stadium in New York. The Mets squeaked out a 6-5 win. The two teams meet again today at 5 p.m.
CITY HALL — A Santa Monica Superior Court commissioner with a background in family law will preside over a community homeless court in November, city officials said. One day per month, Commissioner Bobbi Tillmon will hear roughly 15 cases in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. The plan, modeled after a homeless court in New York City, is to connect social service providers with chronically homeless individuals who have numerous offenses for such things as defecating in public, camping, public intoxication and other low-level, “quality-of-life” crimes, city officials said. See HOMELESS, page 14
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