MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2005
Volume 4, Issue 245
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
DAILY LOTTERY SUPER LOTTO 4 10 11 12 32 Meganumber: 13 Jackpot: $9 Million
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
■ Lawyer Cindy Baker’s client, Mike Koster, was charged with methamphetamine and marijuana possession and set for trial in October in Berryville, Ark., but he was also charged with possession of a bomb. Baker’s trial strategy was to downplay the latter charge by bringing the actual bomb into the courtroom as evidence, but the horrified judge cleared the building and put out a call for the nearest bomb squad, and according to a source for the Carroll County News, the bomb was taken away and detonated. The judge also declared a mistrial and set a contempt of court hearing for Baker. ■ All four of the Seminole County, Fla. (suburban Orlando), judges who hear drunk-driving cases have routinely tossed out all challenged breath-alcohol readings since January (a total of more than 700), according to a September Orlando Sentinel story, because the judges believe the defendants should be given access to the machines’ computer code. (Without the readings as evidence, about half the DUI defendants go free.) The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says the machines are accurate and that, anyway, manufacturers protect the codes as trade secrets.
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 318th day of 2005. There are 47 days left in the year. On Nov. 14, 1889, inspired by Jules Verne, New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) set out to travel around the world in less than 80 days. (She made the trip in 72 days.) In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick” was first published. In 1900, Aaron Copland, one of America’s leading composers of the 20th century, was born in New York City.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.”
Move essential to tri-party agreement BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL — Santa Monica College gained a victory last week in its ongoing political gridlock with City Hall when elected officials agreed to let the educational institution continue to have restricted access to its Bundy campus. After hearing comments from more than 40 members of the public over the course of a nearly four-hour debate, the Santa Monica City Council decided to move forward with a tri-party agreement between City Hall, SMC and West LA that had been discussed, but not approved, during previous meetings among the three groups. The agreement will allow students to continue to have access to SMC’s 10.4-acre satellite campus, located at 3171 S. Bundy Dr. Specifically, the council will allow students to continue to park at the Santa Monica Airport lot — as construction on the new Airport Park will permit — and walk
CHINESE WRITER (C.369 B.C.-C.286 B.C.)
INDEX Horoscopes 2 3 4
Local Know before you go
9
State Tunneling under traffic
10
National Shutting out molesters
11
Comics Strips tease
13
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
Suspected bank robber foiled during taxi getaway BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
MID-WILSHIRE — A suspected bank robber was nabbed by police Saturday after he attempted to use a taxi as his getaway car. Gkur Shawn Skylark, 26, of Wilmington was arrested by Santa Monica Police shortly before noon after he allegedly robbed the Union Bank in the
BY JASMIN PERSCH Special to the Daily Press
Opinion The war of the renters
See SMC CAMPUS, page 7
Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press (Top) SMPD officers on Saturday arrest Gkur Shawn Skylark following the robbery of Union Bank on Wilshire. (Right) Officers recovered a bag of money from the cab in which they say Skylark tried to make his getaway.
2000 block of Wilshire. “What an idiot,” said one passerby who watched the scene unfold on the sidewalk in front of Cellular Fantasy. According to the preliminary investigation, Skylark entered the bank, displayed what appeared to be a handgun and demanded money. After receivSee ROBBERY, page 8
Kirra Kehoe: Santa Monica’s singing surfer girl
Surf Report Water temperature: 64°
across the street to attend classes at Bundy until Dec. 20, the end of the fall semester. In return, SMC will be required to make its Bundy campus as insular as possible to prevent traffic flow through residential neighborhoods to and from its main campus at 1900 Pico Blvd. The City Council authorized limited rightturn-only vehicular exiting from the Bundy campus onto Airport Avenue until the end of the spring semester, as long as West LA is able to fulfill its terms of the agreement. West LA must install a half-turn signal on northbound Bundy Drive before the end of the spring semester, which will allow student motorists to more safely exit the satellite campus. As part of the agreement, SMC — whose legal representatives attended the meeting — must waive any property right claim to an easement from Airport Avenue to the Bundy Campus and indemnify the city from liability related to provid-
COMMUNITYPROFILES | COMMUNITY PROFILES IS A WEEKLY SERIES THAT APPEARS EACH MONDAY AND DELVES INTO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN SANTA MONICA.
CHUANG-TZU (JWANG DZOO)
Keep your own counsel, Scorpio
City Council allows temporary exiting from SMC campus
14-15
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When Sean Kehoe named his daughter after Kirra Point — a world-famous surfing spot in Australia — he knew she was destined to become a surfer girl. And at age 11, Kirra Kehoe now holds the West Coast title for longboarding in her age group. She “kind of” remembers her first surfing experience, at 3 years of age, riding, or rather clinging to, the nose of her father’s surfboard while wearing a life jacket. “Pictures and video tapes help [remind me],” Kirra said.
A strong swimmer since she was 8, Kirra switched her focus to surfing last year, her father said. She has collected top titles in the numerous competitions she has entered since then. Last year, she won a West Coast competition and became a champion at the California State Games. Kirra surfs every day in the summer and trains on land in the winter. She keeps busy with the many surfing competitions held from December through October. According to her father, her greatest accomplishment was See PROFILES, page 8
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