THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006
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Volume 5, Issue 244
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Making the grade
TWILIGHT DANCE SERIES
DAILY LOTTERY 3 4 5 7 36 Meganumber: 16 Jackpot: $47M 11 14 23 28 43 Meganumber: 18 Jackpot: $60M
ON THE RISE: Student test scores showing promise
9 23 24 36 38 MIDDAY: 5 8 6 EVENING: 5 7 2
14 15-19
See TWILIGHT DANCE, page 10
SHEPARD
Steven Buelow, whose Vermont prison sentence is up for a rape-murder he committed at age 15, still cannot be released until he proves that he has a place to live, and according to an August report on Burlington’s WCAX-TV, the keenest idea he had was to pick women at random from the Burlington phone book, write them letters describing himself and his prison status, and asking them to take him in (with a total of 15 letters going out). Not surprisingly, at least one woman contacted by the station said she was terrified by the letter and considered moving away, and Buelow said he wouldn’t send out any more.
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is the 236th day of 2006. There are 129 days left in the year. Hurricane Andrew smashed 1992 into Florida, causing record damage; 55 deaths in Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas were blamed on the storm.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Of the 20 or so civilizations known to modern Western historians, all except our own appear to be dead or moribund.
ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE
ENGLISH HISTORIAN (1889-1975)
INDEX Horoscopes Vanish tonight, Libra
2
Surf Report Water temperature: 66°
3
Opinion The NASA potential
4
State Global warming heats up
5
National Cracking illegal immigration
9
Business Social Security Q&A
12
People in the News Nelson’s wild horses
13
MOVIETIMES Catch a flick!
13
Comics Yak it up, yakmeister
By Daily Press staff
SM PIER — There’s only two free outdoor concerts left for the Twilight Dance concert on the pier, so come hear Kiran Ahluwalia perform her regeneration of traditional Indian music, along with DJs didJital and eccodek and visuals by Amanda Boggs. Kiran Ahluwalia is an IndoCanadian singer who has devoted much of her life to learning the art of Indian vocal music. Accompanied by tabla, guitar and harmonium, Ahluwalia adds the drone of the tanpura to her voice to fill out an ensemble capable of both delicacy and power. Trained in classical Indian singing, she found herself drawn to the ghazal form and folk songs of Punjab, her family’s home region. It started with learning songs from her parents, both ghazals as well as Punjabi folk songs. “When I was growing up in India, very few people had recordings of any kind,” Ahluwalia said. “There were state-sponsored concerts that people from all over would walk to and crowd into. While some children would get bored, I was perfectly content taking it in, even if I had to stand up the whole time. We had lived in New Zealand for a time, and on the way back to India my father bought a reel-to-reel tape player in Hong Kong. We would listen to tapes of Indian music. We would also listen to Bollywood on the radio, and when a song came on that I wanted to learn, my mother would quickly write down the lyrics for me.” Ahluwalia specializes in gazhal, a poetic song form that came to the Indian sub-continent from Persia in the 14th century. The word “ghazal” is an Arabic word that means “to talk to women.” Unlike the physical
NEWS OF THE WEIRD CHUCK
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
Daily Press Staff Writer
India on the pier
RACE TIME: 1:48.34 Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the winning number information, mistakes can occur. In the event of any discrepancies, California State laws and California Lottery regulations will prevail. Complete game information and prize claiming instructions are available at California Lottery retailers. Visit the California State Lottery web site at http://www.calottery.com
BY
BY KEVIN HERRERA KIRAN AHLUWALIA
1st: 11 Money Bags 2nd: 08 Gorgeous George 3rd: 12 Lucky Charms
THIS WEEK IS NATIONAL FRIENDSHIP WEEK
GABY SCHKUD The name you can depend on! Serving sellers and buyers on the Westside. 2444 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 102 Santa Monica, CA 90403
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SMMUSD HDQTRS — The number of students in the Santa MonicaMalibu Unified School District who are proficient in English and math has increased significantly over the last five years, with double-digit gains at nearly every grade level, according to a recent analysis of
standardized test scores. What is more encouraging, district officials said, are the increases seen in the scores of African-American and Latino students, two groups that have been the focus of a district-wide effort to close the achievement gap and raise graduation rates. Last year, only 27 percent of black students met the state’s definition of proficiency in English, according to
figures released by the district. That number jumped to 40 percent in 2006. For Latinos, the level of proficiency was raised to 39 percent from 26 percent in the same time period. The district has been under fire from black and Latino parents for failing to raise grade point averages and keep students from dropping out. See TEST SCORES, page 6
Scootin’ along
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Six models from the Do It Outdoors marketing group ride blue electric scooters down Seaside Terrace in Santa Monica as part of an Intel marketing campaign called “Believe the Hype.” The scooters can hold an eight-hour charge and do an average of 30 miles per hour.
SM temp agency enters illegal immigration battle BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
MID CITY — In what may be the first in a series of lawsuits to curb illegal immigration, a Santa Monicabased temp agency specializing in the hiring of foreign laborers is suing a Central Valley blueberry grower and two competing companies for alleged-
ly using undocumented workers. Filed under the state’s unfaircompetition law, the suit claims companies that hire illegal immigrants make it almost impossible for others to compete unless they too break the law. Undocumented workers typically are paid lower wages than those who are here legally, and they don’t demand pensions, health
Izzy says,
See LAWSUIT, page 10
FREE MUSIC STAND!
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OPEN 24 HOURS 1433 Wilshire Blvd at 15th St.
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insurance or workers’ compensation. Similar cases claiming violations of federal anti-racketeering laws have seen mixed results.The current suit is believed to be the first based on a state’s unfaircompetition laws, legal experts said. National anti-immigration groups are helping finance the legal actions,
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