Whittier Daily News back issues from December 2004:
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Veteran school officials to retire
Dec 01, 2004; Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell ... PICO RIVERA -- Assistant superintendents Anne Eichman and AlfredOgas started working for the El Rancho Unified School District on thesame date 39 years ago and will retire together Dec. 17. Over their years with the district they have seen the studentpopulation change from 60 ...
Leaf it to Mother Nature
Dec 01, 2004 ... Cold overnight temperatures left grass and leaves with a coatingof frost Tuesday morning in Palm Park in Whittier. Highs are expectedto reach the ...
Friendship token turns into scam
Dec 01, 2004; Jason Kosareff ... MONTEREY PARK -- Somewhere in China sits a man who paid $100,000for the American dream. He's now poorer, hopefully smarter, butnowhere near being a U.S. citizen. He's probably not even an honorary citizen. The bizarre transaction happened in June when Councilwoman ...
New library landlocked
Dec 01, 2004; Ben Baeder ... WHITTIER -- For four years, city officials have hoped to build a72,000-square-foot library on a 3.41-acre, city-owned lot on an oldsupermarket site north of Bailey Street, between Comstock and Miltonavenues. But the estimated $30 million project had a catch -- to afford thenew ...
Convictions are reduced for ex-sheriff in gun case
Dec 01, 2004 ... SAN BERNARDINO A former sheriff had his convictions for concealing stolenproperty reduced Tuesday from felonies to misdemeanors despiteallegations that he failed to meet the terms of his plea agreement byhelping to locate hundreds of missing guns. San Bernardino County ...
City hopes to divert funds for paramedics
Dec 01, 2004; Mike Sprague ... LA HABRA HEIGHTS -- Nearly three weeks after asking voters for theauthority to raise the property tax assessment for fire services, theLa Habra Heights City Council has decided unanimously the city doesnot need the extra money after all. Instead, the council Monday decided that all ...
Gangster gets 25 years to life
Dec 01, 2004; Bill Hetherman ... One of five Azusa gang members involved in a 2002 crime spree wassentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison. Pomona Superior Court Judge Philip Gutierrez imposed the term onDonald Sanchez. A jury convicted him Oct. 15 of second- degreemurder. Sanchez, 22, showed no ...
County OKs psychiatric services funds
Dec 01, 2004; Troy Anderson ... After complaints that publicly funded hospitals are swamped withmentally ill patients, Los Angeles County supervisors votedunanimously Tuesday to spend $7.2 million on psychiatric emergencyservices. The number of patients going to psychiatric emergency rooms hasgrown by 16 ...
DA to use extra funds to boost anti-gang unit
Dec 01, 2004; Troy Anderson ... District Attorney Steve Cooley said Tuesday that he will beef uphis anti-gang unit after the Board of Supervisors gave him $5 millionto hire 45 more prosecutors. The $5 million-a-year allocation out of an unexpected $308 millionsurplus will help Cooley restore some of the 142 ...
Romantic interlude
Dec 01, 2004 ... Whittier residents Fidel and Stella Rodriguez shield the WhittierDaily News from ...
City moves to shut down gun club
Dec 01, 2004; Marianne Love ... AZUSA -- The City Council made the first move to close down apopular shooting range by giving the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club 18months to move as officials rezone the entire city. But, gun club members vow to fire back, possibly with a lawsuit.They said they have been good ...
School district will seek approval for parcel tax
Dec 01, 2004; Tracy Garcia ... SANTA FE SPRINGS -- With a $1.2 million shortfall projected innext year's budget, Little Lake City School District board membersvoted Tuesday to place a $145 annual parcel tax on the March ballot. The three board members present Janet Rock, Laurie Rios andRichard Martinez voted ...
Man denies guilt in hit/run death
Dec 01, 2004; Oscar de Leon ... EL MONTE -- A 26-year-old Duarte man pleaded not guilty Tuesday tomanslaughter in the hit-and-run death of a single mother of six. Ricardo Cruz Cruz was arraigned in Rio Hondo Superior Court forallegedly hitting a motorcycle on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway andfleeing the scene, ...
Trial nears for male nursing home worker
Dec 01, 2004 ... NORWALK -- A tentative trial date was set Tuesday for a 32-year-old male nursing home worker charged with sexually assaulting twosenile female residents. Rommel Amado Sibal appeared in Norwalk Court on Tuesday whereattorneys agreed to begin his trial within 30 days of his next ...
Child-abuse expert shares tips in talk
Dec 01, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... SOUTH WHITTIER -- The retired child-abuse detective stood in frontof 100 law enforcement officers Tuesday with tears in his eyes,talking about cases he had investigated. "You know what's so great about being a kid?" he asked. "You don'tknow the world sucks. Then someone comes along ...
Uptown business group has new honcho
Dec 02, 2004; Ben Baeder ... WHITTIER -- The 500-member Whittier Uptown Business Associationhas hired a new manager. Larry Trujillo, formerly the regional director of the San Gabrieloffice of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, will bring a steady hand to theassociation, said President Nothy Garcia. "I felt he ...
Convicts in crime spree may be resentenced
Dec 02, 2004; Bill Hetherman ... Three of five Azusa gang members already serving prison terms fortheir roles in a 2002 crime spree may have to be resentenced, a judgesaid Wednesday. Pomona Superior Court Judge Philip Gutierrez said he is concernedwhether the law allowed him to hand down 10 more years against ...
Councilman preparing for cancer surgery
Dec 02, 2004; Mike Sprague ... WHITTIER -- Councilman Owen Newcomer has prostate cancer and willgo in for surgery at City of Hope in Duarte on Dec. 17. Newcomer, 56, who was re- elected to a second four-term in April,said he expects to spend a night in the hospital and come home. "I'm going to be cured by ...
Library funding evades Santa Fe Springs
Dec 02, 2004; Ben Baeder ... SANTA FE SPRINGS -- Whittier was not the only city in the area tomiss out on getting state funds to build a new library. Santa Fe Springs had applied to the state for $10 million to gotoward the building of a $15 million, 32,000-square-foot library nearthe Santa Fe Springs Aquatic ...
County honors outstanding firefighters, safety officers
Dec 02, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... INDUSTRY -- Eleven law enforcement officers and firefighters werehonored for service above and beyond the call of duty Wednesday at aluncheon hosted by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe. "I don't think people understand how hard the first responderswork in Los Angeles ...
Police chase ends in arrest of women
Dec 02, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... NORWALK -- Whittier police said they arrested two Norwalk womenTuesday after they led officers on a short vehicle pursuit in anallegedly stolen car from Santa Fe Springs into Norwalk. Officer Alan dela Pena, the Whittier Police Department spokesman,said at about 2 p.m. Tuesday an ...
Schools to keep resource officers
Dec 02, 2004; Tracy Garcia ... WHITTIER -- New federal funding that allows the Whittier UnionHigh School District to keep a uniformed officer at each of its fivecomprehensive high schools is coming just in the nick of time,officials said Wednesday. The School Resource Officer program began in 2000 with a ...
Around Whittier
Dec 02, 2004 ... Leaders of float design to be honored in parade WHITTIER -- Raul Rodriguez, award-winning float designer who iscreating Whittier's entry in the Pasadena Rose Parade, is appearingas celebrity grand marshal in Saturday's 51st annual WhittierChristmas Parade, and the community grand ...
Springstar unveiled
Dec 02, 2004 ... SANTA FE SPRINGS -- City officials and representatives of theGolden Springs Business Center on Tuesday unveiled the city's largestand most expensive art-in-public-places project to date. The $350,000, 43-foot-high piece, dubbed Springstar, was createdby Oregon-based artist Ed ...
Spike in heating bills expected
Dec 02, 2004; Kevin Smith ... Southern California Gas Co. customers will see significantincreases in their monthly utility bills this winter hikes that insome cases could be nearly 50 percent. Company spokesman Peter Hidalgo said monthly residential billsthat last winter averaged around $67 could be as high as ...
Pausing to remember victims
Dec 02, 2004; Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell ... WHITTIER -- At first, only a few candles illuminated names writtenin chalk on a walkway at Rio Hondo College, but as more peoplearrived at the commemoration of World AIDS Day, the number offlickering candles, names and heartfelt messages grew. Monica Alvarado was one of the first ...
Intercommunity Child Guidance Center
Dec 02, 2004 ... 10155 Colima Road , Whittier, CA. 90603 (562) 692-0383 Contact: Renee White Who We Are: Intercommunity Child Guidance Center provideschildren, adoles cents and families affordable, culturally sensitiveand professional ...
Around Whittier
Dec 03, 2004; 'The All Music Guide' as ... Deputies shoot man during traffic stop NORWALK -- A 19-year-old man was shot and wounded by deputies fromthe sheriff's Norwalk Station Wednesday night after he allegedlypointed a gun at the officers. The deputies pulled over a pickup truck containing two men at 10p.m. in the ...
Community pride, holiday cheer
Dec 03, 2004; Valerie Marrs ... WHITTIER -- Community pride will be as evident as holiday cheerSaturday when the 51st annual Whittier Christmas Parade takes overGreenleaf Avenue in historic Uptown with nearly 100 bands, groups andcommunity leaders. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Greenleaf ...
Agencies win grants for sobriety checkpoints
Dec 03, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... Because alcohol-related traffic collisions increased five years ina row, state officials have announced grants of more than $4.7million to 156 California law enforcement agencies. Two local law enforcement agencies and the Los Angeles County sheriff's local stations will ...
Bus ride to the future
Dec 03, 2004; Ben Baeder ... WHITTIER -- City leaders played fortune teller Thursday, but theyused a bus instead of a crystal ball. About 35 people took a bus tour sponsored by the WhittierBeautiful Committee. During the ride, city leaders told thepassengers about upcoming development. The bus stopped at ...
Teacher puts grant money to use
Dec 03, 2004; Tracy Garcia ... WHITTIER -- Students in Brian Shrout's classroom at the LowellJoint School District are giving new meaning to the word "energetic"this semester, thanks to a new $10,000 grant. Shrout, a Macy Elementary teacher who now heads up the district'sOpportunity Learning Center, was among ...
Dog distemper poses pet threat
Dec 03, 2004; Kerry Cavanaugh ... Los Angeles Animal Services officials urged pet owners Thursday toget their dogs vaccinated against canine distemper after an outbreakof the potentially fatal virus was detected at Southern Californiashelters. Puppies younger than 6 months old and unvaccinated older dogs ...
Holiday concert set for tonight
Dec 03, 2004 ... WHITTIER -- The city will light up with seasonal lights and songtonight with the annual Holiday Concert and Grand Illumination. This year, the Holiday Concert, sponsored by the city's CommunityServices, will feature the Faith Lutheran School "Bell-ievers'children's bell choir and ...
Extra CHP officers added to DUI duty
Dec 03, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... SANTA FE SPRINGS -- Beginning tonight, extra California HighwayPatrol officers will be on the streets and freeways, looking fordrunken drivers. "Jokingly I say this, but our officers will be running over eachother on Friday and Saturday evenings in an effort to get ...
Home Depot plan scorned by residents
Dec 03, 2004; Mike Sprague ... LA MIRADA -- Residents who live near the Marshalls Shopping Centertold city officials Thursday at a community meeting that they don'twant a Home Depot to be built at the location. About 25 people were present at the meeting at La Mirada CityHall. The meeting was called by city ...
Women in Transition Center
Dec 03, 2004 ... P.O. Box 186 , Pico Rivera, CA. 90660 (562) 463-5878 Contact: Lucelly Galvan Who We Are: The Women in Transition Center provides clothing,food, hygien e items, diapers, etc., to women and children victims ofdomestic violence. Needs: Shampoo, ...
Trustees to choose Shryock's successor
Dec 04, 2004; Mike Sprague ... NORWALK -- Norwalk-La Mirada school trustees will choose fromthree candidates to fill one vacancy on the board at their 6:30 p.m.Monday meeting. A vacancy was created when former trustee Leonard Shryock resignedOct. 25 because he was one of two finalists for the Norwalk ...
Ruling limits woman's sentence
Dec 04, 2004; Bill Hetherman ... LOS ANGELES -- A Diamond Bar woman who shot her husband to deathlast year cannot be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, aprosecutor conceded Friday. Marta Ramirez, 45, was originally charged with murder, but wasconvicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter May 24. She ...
Two Whittier men face 'chop shop' charges
Dec 04, 2004 ... NORWALK -- Trial will begin in the first half of January for twoWhittier men accused of participating in a stolen car "chop shop'operation. Manuel Avalos, 24, and Felipe Vega Montes, 35, who gave adifferent name to police when he was arrested, appeared in NorwalkCourt on Friday ...
City drops plan for new facility after losing library grant bid
Dec 04, 2004; Ivy Dai ... DIAMOND BAR -- The city struck out on a $6.5 million library grantthis week, but the bedroom community was ready with a Plan B. "We knew coming into the process that chances were slim, but we'realways optimistic,' Diamond Bar Mayor Bob Zirbes said. "Earlier thisyear, I created a ...
Thin- shelled challenge
Dec 04, 2004; Kimm Groshong ... LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- From elaborate maze-like contraptions tosimple wooden ramps with a decorative flair, the devices in JPL'sseventh annual Invention Challenge on Friday demonstrated there arethousands of ways to approach a problem. The challenge this year was to design a ...
Immigration question makes for spirited debate
Dec 04, 2004; Stephen Wall ... CLAREMONT -- Opponents and supporters of legalizing undocumentedimmigrants squared off Friday in a debate at Pomona College. The estimated 10 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in theUnited States drive down wages and drain money from the nation'seducation and healthcare ...
Cold can be fatal for Fido pets
Dec 04, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... WHITTIER -- The thin German Shepard-mix couldn't find a warm placeto sleep this week in his fenced yard on Milton Avenue in Uptown. Concrete steps were too cold at night and frost formed on thegrass in the early morning hours. So, Lucky's owners took pity on the cold canine and ...
Pump prices head south
Dec 04, 2004; Brent Hopkins ... After six weeks of declines at the pump, experts projectCalifornians should enjoy cheaper prices when filling up for the restof the year. A series of natural disasters and international turmoil pushedcrude oil prices to record highs this fall, but the retail gasolinemarket has ...
Students get college aid reminder
Dec 04, 2004; Tracy Garcia ... WHITTIER -- It's about that time of year again and no, we're nottalking about Christmas shopping or New Year's resolutions. 'Tis the season for high-school guidance counselors, who are busykeeping track of application deadlines for their college- boundseniors, including one very ...
Two men sought in bank, jewelry robberies
Dec 04, 2004; Ruby Gonzales ... Investigators dubbed them the "Cash and Carat" bandits since theypulled several takeover robberies of banks and jewelry stores inthree counties. They remain on the run. On Friday, the FBI offered a reward for information that wouldlead to the arrest of the two suspects: ...
El Monte leader Carol Trujillo dies
Dec 04, 2004; Karen Rubin ... Carol Lynne Trujillo was the master fund- raiser and savvypromoter for the city of El Monte. If you wanted a children's parade, a slick ceremony to launchanevent or happening, Trujillo knew how to get it done. After almost 15 years of working in El Monte's government ...
Huff to be sworn in Monday
Dec 04, 2004 ... Editor's note: It's Politics reports Saturdays on the ins and outsof Whittier-area politics and city government. On Monday, Assemblyman-elect Bob Huff will be sworn into officeready to go to work. Huff, R-Industry, has hired his chief of staff and districtdirector. He will ...
Eagle Scout project soars
Dec 04, 2004; Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell ... WHITTIER -- Building a labyrinth is much more than a labor oflove, it's actually a lot of labor, as Boy Scout Steven Reimerlearned in August when he started building one as his Eagle Scoutproject. "I learned that labyrinths are easier to walk than build,' saidReimer, standing ...
Joy in the morning
Dec 04, 2004; Ben Baeder ... WHITTIER -- Harpist Greg Buchanan played Christmas carols at the25th Annual Greater Whittier YMCA prayer breakfast and he alsoplucked at a few heart strings. Buchanan, an accomplished harpist, played renditions of "Joy tothe World,' "Little Drummer Boy' and about 10 other hymns for ...
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Dec 04, 2004 ... 13513-A Telegraph Road , Whittier, CA. 90605 (562) 777-2475 Contact: Sonia Coralles or Veronica Hernandez Who We Are: Neighbor Helping Neighbors Family Assistance Centerprovides f ood, clothing and other ...
Family files civil lawsuit against driver
Dec 05, 2004; Bill Hetherman; Jason Kosareff ... HACIENDA HEIGHTS -- Sara Dich had a wide smile that glistened. But the sparkle dimmed forever Oct. 15, 2003, when a van driven byRogers Chui sped down Stimson Avenue and struck the 16-year-old Dichas she crossed at Lujon Street. Dich was walking to a 7 a.m. history class at ...
Two Lutheran churches closing
Dec 05, 2004; Christina L. Esparza ... WEST COVINA -- The changing demographic of the San Gabriel Valleyis causing numbers to dwindle at some Lutheran churches. Two Lutheran churches in the Valley have recently announced theywill close Redeemer Lutheran Church in Rowland Heights after 43years, and Shepherd of the Valley ...
Around Whittier
Dec 05, 2004 ... El Salvador peace advocate to speak WHITTIER -- Jose "Chencho" Alas will appear at St. MatthiasEpiscopal Church Thursday to talk about his life leading to the peaceand reform movement in El Salvador. The title of his address is:"From a Theology of Liberation to a Theology of ...
Learning center plan gains support
Dec 05, 2004; Ben Baeder ... WHITTIER -- In 2000, a few local conservationists had an idea tocreate an educational center near the San Gabriel River. What they did not have was land or money. Since then, however, two water districts and the local landfillhave contributed $1.6 million to the ...
Santa Claus comes to town
Dec 05, 2004; Susan McRoberts ... WHITTIER -- When Whittier's 51st annual Christmas Parade kickedoff at 9 a.m. Saturday, the sun was shining and the air felt warm. Slowly, clouds interrupted the sun's warming rays. By the time theCarden School Bell Choir escorted Santa Claus and his elves downGreenleaf Avenue, it ...
Rail safety inquiry urged
Dec 05, 2004; Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell ... NORTH WHITTIER -- After two train derailments in eastern LosAngeles County in the past 16 months, California Sens. Barbara Boxerand Dianne Feinstein have asked the Federal Railroad Administrationto take a closer look at rail safety here. The senators made the request after a Union ...
Rain a likely precursor to SoCal storms
Dec 05, 2004 ... People going outside today should prepare for the first chillytickle of rain expected to turn into a series of storms that willslap the Southland later this week. A cold front from the Gulf of Alaska dusted the mountains inNorthern California Saturday and today it may bring about ...
Book auction has holiday touch
Dec 05, 2004; From staff reports ... WHITTIER -- Several Christmas books are included in the Friends ofthe Whittier Library's December auction. "The Story of the Other Wiseman' by Henry Van Dyke is number 2400of the Memorial Edition, published in 1920, and tells the story ofthe fourth wise man who carried a message of ...
The SKILLS Foundation
Dec 05, 2004 ... 7315 S. Painter Ave. , Whittier, CA. 90602 (562) 945-8287 Contact: Lori Hentcy Who We Are: The SKILLS Foundation, Supporting Kids in Living andLearning Successfully, exists through the Whittier Police Departmentto create partnerships between parents, schools, businesses, ...
Trip back in time
Dec 06, 2004 ... Whittier resident Agripina E. Palacios displays the Whittier DailyNews at a memorial honoring the Holocaust victims killed by Nazis atBabi Yar concentration camp. Going on a trip? Take your Daily News with you. Just get a ...
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Dec 06, 2004 ... fternoon: 7, 4, 2; Evening: 2, 4, 3. 9, 24, 27, 30 and 35. 1st Place: 8, ...
Season sees battle of sweat, sweets
Dec 06, 2004; Karen Rubin ... Mike Donelan broke a sweat on the treadmill at World Gym FitnessCenter in West Covina. The 44-year-old family man managed to fit in a workout betweenlaying carpet and picking up his children from school. And with his love of Godiva chocolate, Ding Dongs and doublechocolate ...
Area cities eye stem-cell funding
Dec 06, 2004; Gene Maddaus ... PASADENA -- Pasadena and Duarte are poised to try to capitalize onthe passage last month of the voter initiative authorizing $3 billionin state funding for embryonic stem-cell research. Both cities have long-standing plans to lure biotechnologycompanies to the area anchored around ...
