SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2003
Volume 2, Issue 93
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Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Command center set up for missing woman search
L O T T O FANTASY 5 07, 21, 27, 35, 39 DAILY 3 Afternoon picks: 5, 7, 5 Evening picks: 5, 9, 1 DAILY DERBY 1st Place: 06, Whirl Win 2nd Place: 04, Big Ben 3rd Place: 02, Lucky Star Race time: 1:45.89
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by Chuck Shepard
■ Benny Zavala, 34, was convicted of animal abuse for dissecting his daughter's pet guinea pig because he said he thought it was a government spy robot (Oxnard, Calif., October). ■ Christopher Campbell, 42, was arrested and charged with mutilating his beloved house cats because, he said, he thought they were supernatural entities that had changed shapes (Cedar Crest, N.M., November). ■ Gary Damon Stephens, 28, admitted that he killed his parents five years ago but said he stands by his earlier explanation, that the deceased were not his real parents but only the pod people of his parents (Harlan, Ky., October).
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The most dangerous food is wedding cake.
INDEX Horoscopes Take a nap, Pisces . . . . . . . . .2
Local Legendary teacher dies . . .3
Opinion Politics goes Hollwyood . . .4
State Tourist falls from balloon . .8
National Shuttle video released . . . .9
International Iraq may comply . . . . . . .10
Sports KKK backs Masters . . . . .11
Classifieds The classiest gig in town . . .13
BY CAROLYN SACKARIASON Daily Press Staff Writer
As the investigation for a missing Santa Monica woman continues, a search center has been established in Culver City at the Ramada Inn. Terry Wark, the mother of 22-year-old Kristine Johnson who has been missing since Feb. 15, has enlisted the help of a missing person’s organization that aided in the search of Danielle van Dam, the missing San Diego girl whose body was found last year. Wark made a plea on Friday for someone to donate a facility to serve as the nerve center in the search for Johnson. The Ramada Inn, located at 6333 Bristol Pkwy., offered a room where volunteers and search organizers will work out of. Phone lines have been established so people can call in with tips. Anyone interested in volunteering in the search should call (310) 484-7000 and ask for the Kristine Johnson flyer distribution center, or show up at the hotel today after 11 a.m. The hours of operation for the weekend Photos courtesy of Terry Wark will be today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Kristine Johnson, pictured above and below, with her mother, Terry Wark, has been missing since Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Johnson, who turned 22 years old on Feb. 15. Thursday, disappeared two weeks ago after she reportedly went to meet a man claiming to be a photographer for a film audition at the Century City Mall.
Wark is working with the Texas-based Laura Recovery Center Foundation, a missing person’s organization that helps form community-based search efforts. The organization offers support, guidance and trains volunteers in missing person searches. People are asked to help post flyers throughout the westside and answer phones with potential tips. See MISSING, page 6
To help find Kristi Johnson: To volunteer in the search, contact the command center at the Ramada Inn in Culver City at (310) 484-7000, or contact the Laura Recover Center Foundation via its Web site, www.lrcf.org., or call (281) 482-LRCF (5723) To get the word out about Johnson’s disappearance, log onto www.lrcf.org, go to the missing person’s flyer link and click on Kristi’s image. Send the information in mass e-mails and blast faxes. Anyone with information about Johnson’s disappearance is encouraged to call the SMPD’s tip line at (310) 458-8449. Johnson is 5’9”, 140 lbs., has blonde hair and blue eyes. The man who may know her whereabouts is described as a white male in his early- to mid-30s with a slender to medium build and a cleanshaven face.
Man accused of Employees get a break at rape arrested Bayside stores, restaurants
By Daily Press staff
Local police have arrested a transient who allegedly raped and robbed a woman in her Santa Monica home earlier this week. Santa Monica Police officers arrested Samuel Arias Jr., 28, on Thursday after police connected him to the sexual assault of a 28-year-old woman in her home located in the 1300 block of 14th Street at about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The woman reported to Santa Monica police that she was sexually assaulted and robbed at her residence located between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard on 14th Street. On Thursday at about 7 a.m., SMPD officers responded to a call from Santa Monica Place security personnel who requested assistance with a transient who refused to leave the area. Responding officers recognized Arias from a law enforcement bulletin and took him into custody. Santa Monica Police investigators recovered evidence which connected Arias to the crime and he also matched the physical description provided by the victim. Arias was arrested and transported to the Santa Monica Jail.
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Daily Press Staff Writer
Santa Monica merchants are making it less expensive for local workers to shop downtown this spring. Hoping to drum up business during a typically slow time of year, almost 50 businesses have agreed to give employees of local businesses a break. The Bayside District Corp., a non-profit that manages downtown in conjunction with the city, announced earlier this month the “Downtown Santa Monica Employee Discount Program,” which will run until May 31. Forty-seven retailers and restaurants — from Arcana Books to Planet Funk to Zales Diamond Store — are offering discounts to Santa Monica residents and workers through the program.
The vast majority of the businesses are offering either a 10 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent discount on their goods, with some limitations. Santa Monica workers hoping to capitalize on the discounts must show a business card or pay stub to verify their local employment. David Munyon, managing partner of Ocean Avenue Seafood, said he has high hopes for the discount program. “It’s such a good deal,” he said, who is encouraging his employees to take advantage of the deals at other retailers. “We all share and give back to each other and keep the business in downtown. I think that’s what we should all be doing.” Eddie Guerboian, whose store, Readers Fine Jewelers, has been in Santa Monica for 76 years, said the program is
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