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VOLUME 27 NUMBER 14
ASB accounts bring in major money for schools
BY MARSHA SUTTON Contributor Local schools raise hundreds of thousands of Associated Student Body dollars each year, money collected from students and parents to support specific programs and school activities. Different from nonprofit education foundation money, ASB funds are used for student activities such as dances, competitions, clubs, academic teams, rallies, assemblies, yearbook and other literary publications. But often this money is insufficiently monitored. ASB funds are “the number one area for findings in an audit report,” according to School Services of California, an education advocacy organization. Because of this, SSC recommends “that district- and site-level staff receive training in this area on a regular basis to ensure that the district as well as the employees are being protected.” Eric Dill, San Dieguito Union High School District associate superintendent for business services, said the district’s independent auditors conduct annual audits of all the schools’ ASBs, and any findings or recommendations are included in audit reports. Although auditors have had findings, Dill said it has been many years since they discovered anything significant. “They have never had See ASB, page 6
APRIL 7, 2011
‘Pump Up the Volume’
CV mother and former fugitive shares her unique story in new book BY KAREN BILLING STAFF WRITER
Chris Jaczko, Donna Wilson and Wendy Burgoon have their paddles ready for the auction during the Torrey Pines High School Foundation’s spring fundraiser, “Pump Up the Volume,” held April 2 at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. See page B10. PHOTO: RENAY JOHNSON
First medical marijuana cooperative opens in DM BY JOE TASH Contributor Del Mar’s first medical marijuana cooperative opened on Friday, April 1, and city officials swiftly took the initial steps to shut the operation down. Before the end of the day, Adam Birnbaum, the city’s planning manager, hand-delivered a letter to Patrick Kennedy, managing director of the 1105 Cooperative at 1105 Camino Del Mar, stating that his business license had been revoked and the cooperative does not comply with city zoning rules. “The gentleman who applied for a business license has been advised that medi-
cal marijuana cooperatives or dispensaries are not an allowed use at that location or any location in the city of Del Mar,” said Birnbaum. “We’ve advised the property owner as well. The city attorney has been advised and will take the necessary enforcement actions.” At issue is whether the city has the right to prohibit medical marijuana cooperatives. According to Kennedy, 55, a building and solar energy contractor who runs the 1105 Cooperative, the answer is “no.” “State law gives us the right to administer medical marijuana,” said Kennedy. “You can’t have an outright ban. The courts will side
with me.” But according to a spokesman with the state Department of Justice, the See MARIJUANA, page 6
She was only 19 years old when she landed in a Michigan prison on a drug charge, 21 when she scaled a barbwire fence to escape. Thirty-three years later, Susan LeFevre’s past came to her doorstep in Carmel Valley where she had created a new life living as Marie Walsh, a wife, mother and secret fugitive. Taken back to prison in 2008, Walsh has been out since April 2009. A new book, “A Tale of Two Lives: The Susan LeFevre Fugitive Story” tells her unbelievable story and the “Fugitive Mom” has again captured the nation’s attention—she will be featured on Oprah on April 7 and appear on The Today Show on April 8. Walsh once thought the “Fugitive Mom” label was crass but has embraced it now, it’s the way people know her and the platform she has been given to tell her story, one that carries a message that the prison system needs to be reformed. Proceeds from her book will go toward re-entry programs for women released from prison. “(Prison) was unbeliev-
ably painful and the only way to take care of that pain is to use it for good,” Walsh said. “There needs to be more rehabilitation and education in prison, more than just a façade of it like it is now. It is almost devastating for some women to get out, the transition is very hard if they’re poor or don’t have a family like I did.” Walsh’s story begins in 1974, when she was arrested with two and a half grams of heroin, about $20 worth of drugs. She maintains that she was not guilty of selling drugs but was just taken advantage of for her age and naiveté by her co-defendant, a 22-year-old who ended up serving three-and-a-half years for the crime. “I wasn’t a drug dealer but I did use drugs. I was on a wrong path,” Walsh said. In her book, Walsh writes how she later found out the Saginaw, Mich., judges had made a pact that every drug offense would get 10-20 years—it was a kind of a “witch hunt,” she said. “I thought it was a misunderstanding,” said Walsh, who was so unaware that See FUGITIVE, page 7
Ocean Air Carnival Ocean Air Elementary School held its second annual Spring Carnival on April 3. Look for more photos in next week’s paper (April 14 issue). (Left) Among those who enjoyed the event were Liana Merk, Kragen Metz and Jaden Watkins PHOTO: ROB MCKENZIE
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