EE FR
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2003
Volume 2, Issue 280
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
L O T T O FANTASY 5 32, 26, 10, 1, 22 DAILY 3 Afternoon picks: 9, 0, 2 Evening picks: 1, 3, 0 DAILY DERBY 1st Place: 7, Eureka 2nd Place: 4, Big Ben 3rd Place: 9, Winning Spirit
Race Time: 1:41.60
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepard
The school district based in Elgin, Ill., decided in August that, although four new schools that cost $40 million were ready to be occupied, the district has no money to operate them and that they will thus stay locked up for the entire school year, at least. And a September General Accounting Office report described (based on undercover work in seven states) the customer-friendliness that motor vehicle offices display when people try to obtain driver’s licenses fraudulently; clerks routinely give “applicants” back their bogus papers (instead of confiscating them) and cheerfully instruct them exactly how to “correct” the applications to assure that they’ll get that license on the next attempt.
Slain teenager’s parents seek psychological records of killer Case set to be heard by a jury in December BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
Psychological records of the teenager who killed a Santa Monica High School sophomore are at the heart of a court case set to go before a Santa Monica jury in December. A lawyer for the parents of Deanna Maran, who was stabbed at a party on Nov. 17, 2001, has asked for the records in a quest to show that Katrina Sarkissian was prone to violence. Sarkissian, 17, stabbed Maran at an unsupervised party in Westwood attended by
teenagers and hosted by a 15-year-old boy whose parents were out of town. Santa Monica residents Harriet and Ilija Maran sued Angelique Sarkissian Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian in May 2002, claiming that they should have known their daughter, Katrina Sarkissian, was emotionally unstable and violent. The suit also targets Sarkissian’s 15-yearold half-sister, whose name is being withheld because she’s a minor. She allegedly kicked Maran while Sarkissian stabbed her in front of dozens of onlookers. According to the Marans’ complaint, Deanna Maran got into an altercation with the See MARAN, page 4
Deanna Maran
Beware of the fire extinguisher ‘repairman’ By Daily Press staff
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I believe that the power to make money is a gift from God.” — John D. Rockefeller
INDEX Horoscopes Be original, Leo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Ponder your purpose . . . . . . . . . . .3
Opinion Local pols should watch backs . . . .6
Entertainment ‘Cruelty’ completely tolerable . . . .8
State Time to act for Arnold . . . . . . . . . .10
National Philly officials bugged . . . . . . . . .14
People in the News Manilow sings happy tune . . . . . .20
Suicidal man on the edge Local authorities talk him off the Palisades Bluffs By Daily Press staff
A homeless man was talked off the Palisades Bluffs Thursday after threatening to commit suicide by jumping onto the Pacific Coast Highway below. Friends identified the man as “J.R.” and said he has been living in Santa Monica for more than a year. He recently began a three-
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month drug binge, regularly shooting up the methamphetamine called ‘crank,’ friends said. The northbound lanes on the Pacific Coast Highway were closed off, which caused traffic throughout Santa Monica to be backed up. Police officers diverted cars off of I-10 at the Fourth Street exit and directed them through Santa Monica Canyon. Some motorists reported that traffic was backed all the way to Crenshaw Boulevard and delays lasted up to 45 minutes. See SUICIDAL, page 4
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Local
Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press
A homeless man holds police at bay while threatening to kill himself by jumping from the Palisades Bluffs to the Pacific Coast Highway below on Thursday.
Police are on the hunt for a man who poses as a fire extinguisher repairman, accepts payment and then makes off without ever completing the job. On Monday, Santa Monica Police responded to the 200 block of Broadway regarding a theft investigation. Officers spoke to a store merchant who said the suspect entered his store and said he was there to service the store’s fire extinguishers. Apparently, he acquired money for servicing the fire extinguishers and left without performing the work. “They’ve had incidents in Beverly Hills, too,” said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. The suspect is described as white, 40 to 45 years old, 5’10”, 280 pounds with brown hair. The suspect was wearing a dark-colored jacket and blue jeans. The Santa Monica Fire Department enforces the California Code of Regulations Title 19 that requires fire extinguishers be serviced once a year. Businesses should check the tag that is affixed to their fire extinguisher for that information, police said. On the tag is the date and month it was last serviced. State-licensed contractors are the only ones approved to conduct this type of service, police said. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8491.
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(310) 395-9922 429 Santa Monica Blvd. Ste. 710 Santa Monica 90401