The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 30

B4 FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1998 LOS ANGELES TIMES A summary of developments across Los Angeles County Community News File Celebrating Purim NEWS BR 4' -r1 1 RICK MEYtiR Los Angelea Times Tzuiki Adlerstein, 9, holds a Purim gift Thursday. Children marked the Jewish holiday by dressing in costumes and delivering presents. can in downtown Los Angeles, and police are seeking the public's help in finding the infant's mother, authorities said. The body was discovered about 7:45 a.m. at Pico Boulevard and Wall Street by a merchant who notified authorities, said Los Angeles Police Capt.

Stuart Maislin. Maislin said an autopsy would be conducted to determine if the baby was born alive and the cause of death. The baby's umbilical cord was still attached, he said. "At this point, we are treating it as a homicide," Maislin said. Police urged anyone with information to call the LAPD's Juvenile Division: (213) 485-4220.

Hawaiian Gardens City Without Police, Budget Gets New Mayor The city staff has dwindled from 105 to 27. The Police Department has been dissolved. And the city doesn't have a formally adopted budget this year because its financial future has been so precarious. But that doesn't bother Ralph Cesena, who was elected the new mayor of Hawaiian Gardens at this week's City Council meeting. He is confident that this square-mile city, which almost closed its City Hall doors last year to be taken over by the county, can make it after the budget slashing.

"Things have been rough, and they will continue to be rough for a while," said Cesena, who was elected to the council in late 1996. "But we plan to pay the people we owe." The recently opened Hawaiian Gardens Casino, with six tables, has handed over $6,800 to the city during its first two months of operation. Irving Moskowitz, owner of the casino and a local bingo parlor, has resumed his $200,000 monthly contributions to the Hawaiian Gardens Public Safety and Police Foundation, which helps the city meet its general operating expenses. Inglewood Peace March Seeks to Curb Gang Violence In response to a recent rash of gang-related shootings in north Inglewood, a peace march will wind through several neighborhoods tonight in hopes of raising public awareness about the violence, organizers said. The peace march, the second this month, is being organized by the Inglewood Coalition, which consists of several community groups, including MAD DADS, No Guns, Unity One and Stop the ViolenceIncrease the Peace.

Daniel Freeman Hospital and the Inglewood Police Department will also participate. "We will be handing out fliers to parents and telling them the phone numbers of gang prevention groups to contact if their kid is in a gang," said Delia Council, the coalition's executive director. "Things had been very quiet in Inglewood last year. Then all of a sudden this year the gangs have gone crazy. We need to make sure the whole community knows about this." The march is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

at Eucalyptus and Beach avenues. Alhambra City Council OKs Plan for 15-Screen Movie Complex Hoping to create an anchor for downtown development, the City Council has approved plans for a 15-screen movie complex to be built with the help of $1.2 million from the city. Edwards Theatres is planning to build the largest multiplex in the west San Gabriel Valley at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Main Street. The vast complex in the central square of the city will house screens with stadium seating and a couple of old movie palace-style screens, officials said. The council voted 3-0 to approve the project, which also calls for a 900-space parking structure and 15,000 square feet of retail stores.

The theater is the latest of dozens of developments completed with the help of federal Housing and Urban Development funds. The city will give Edwards $1.2 million in HUD funds to buy the land for the theater, City Manager Julio Fuentes said. Fuentes said the project may be the most important development in the city's recent history. He said a survey shows that the city has helped create 3,600 jobs in the last few years Carson Cal State May Provide More Parking for Disabled Officials at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson said Thursday that they will consider providing additional parking for disabled students in an attempt to resolve a heated debate over limited parking and where they are allowed to park their vehicles. In recent months, campus police have been issuing.

tickets to disabled students who they allege are breaking the law by parking in loading lones, fiJne zones and visitor and reserved spaces. Police said they began the crackdown this year because too many students were using their DMV-issued disabled parking placards to park in restricted areas. Disabled students have argued that state law allows them to park in any space that is open to use by the public for an unlimited time period, including loading zones, visitor and metered parking. The students contend that the university doesn't have enough disabled parking stalls and that parking enforcement officers are violating the Americans With Disabilities Act in continuing to issue tickets. "They have been very insensitive to disabled people," said Jackie Steve, a graduate student with degenerative disc disease.

"They think we're so lucky because we get to park close to the building. They don't understand that a lot of us can't walk that far. They need to be more sensitive to the problems we're having." Mark Cartwright, parking manager for the university, said the university has more disabled parking spaces than required by law. Downtown Body of Newborn Boy Found in Trash Can The body of a newborn boy was found Thursday morning in a trash Official Business Long Beach Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Killer After deliberating for three days, a jury Thursday recommended the death penalty for a man found guilty of shooting and killing a woman on her first day working at a grocery store. Sentencing is scheduled for April 17 for Andre Gerald Wilson, who was the subject of an intensive six-month manhunt, court officials said.

Wilson was discovered hiding in an Oakland attic last year after his case was broadcast on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries." Police were outraged by the killing of Sary San, a 38-year-old mother of seven who had just taken a job at the Seng Heng Market on 10th Street in Long Beach. A surveillance video showed that the killer approached the counter, pulled out a handgun, demanded money, pushed San's head to the counter and shot her. Long Beach Mandatory Classes Weighed for Restaurant Workers For now, Long Beach restaurants will not be required to post health inspection grades in their front windows showing how they ranked after their kitchens were examined. Instead, the city's health department is leaning toward setting up mandatory food handling classes for all restaurant kitchen workers rather than issue grades that range from A for good to for bad. In January, the county Health Services Department began a new system of issuing grades to restaurants in unincorporated county areas and asked cities to adopt their own ordinances requiring that the grades be posted.

Diana Bonta, director of Long Beach's Health and Human Services Department, said the grading system has not been rejected yet. Instead it is being evaluated. Any changes in the health inspection system would have to be approved by the City Council. Haliba Meeting Will Discuss Progress of Storm Repairs City officials will hold a public meeting today to discuss progress in repairing areas damaged by landslides, surf and drainage problems resulting from recent storms. City Manager Harry Peacock said Thursday that the meeting will address damage to Tuna Canyon Road, Big Rock Drive, Las Flores Canyon Road, Calle del Barco, Malibu Road, Malibu Country Estates, Broad Beach Road, Encinal Canyon Road and various other locations.

Peacock said all concerned residents and property owners should attend the meeting, which will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Michael Landon Center at Malibu Bluffs Park, 24250 Pacific Coast Highway. Residents who wish to hear reports on repairs can call (310) 456-2489, Ext. 600. The recorded message will be updated every few days, Peacock said.

The Malibu traffic report hotline number is (310) 456-9982. South Los Angeles Suspect Hijacks Postal Truck With the Mailman A suspected gang member running from a car crash Thursday kidnapped a mailman and hijacked his Postal Service truck, racing through South Los Angeles before a passerby grabbed him as he was about to dump the postman, authorities said. The suspect was arrested and booked for investigation of carjacking, LAPD Officer Mike Par-tain said. "The mailman is OK," he added. The incident began about 11:50 a.m.

with a car crash at Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, police said. Four passengers in one of the vehicles began fighting with people in the other car, and "apparently there was a display of weapons," Partain said. "I guess they decided they better get out of Dodge and they fled on foot" One of the suspects commandeered a mail truck with the postman on board and drove off, stopping eight blocks away at 79th Street and Van Ness Avenue, Par-tain Said. Apparently the suspect was about to force the postman from the vehicle when a witness "apprehended himj and held him for police," Partain said. No injuries were reported.

Venice Firm Donates Computers to Community Center A company that operates self-storage facilities donated 10 computers to a nonprofit community service center Thursday, officials said. Visitors to the Vera Davis McClendon Youth Family Center will have access to the computers for job training and other uses, said Niki Tennarit, a spokeswoman for City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, whose district includes Venice. Galanter worked with representatives of Public Storage to obtain the contribution for the year-old center on California Avenue, which houses eight public service organizations for children, families and senior citizens. Walnut Park Suspects Sought in Fatal Stabbing, Robbery Sheriff's homicide detectives are searching for several suspects who accosted two men walking home from a neighborhood store in Walnut Park, fatally stabbing one and wounding the other during an apparent robbery, authorities said Thursday. At least three, and possibly as many as five, suspects confronted Guillermo Lopez, 23, and Roman Rodriguez, 20, about 8:15 p.m.

Wednesday in the 2400 block of Hill Street, said Deputy Debra Glafkides. The suspects, who may be gang members, asked the men what was in the bag they were carrying and immediately began stabbing them, the deputy said. The suspects then ran off with the bag, Glafkides said. Lopez died at the scene, and Rodriguez is in stable condition at an area hospital, she said. Anyone with information can call (213) 890-5500.

Watts Police Search for Man in Sexual Assault on Boy A man who allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage boy and tried to abduct another youth near the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts remains at large, police said Thursday. The. first incident occurred Feb. 25 near Central Avenue and Imperial Highway, police said. The suspect, who was riding a bicycle, abducted a 13-year-old male, investigators said.

He was taken to an abandoned residence, sexually assaulted and then released, police said. The second incident occurred Wednesday in the same area. The suspect tried to abduct a 15-year-old boy, who managed to escape, police said. The suspect is African American, 20 to 25, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds. He has close-cut hair and a goatee.

Anyone with information can call (213) 485-6902. COURTS AND GOVERNMENT Woman, 72, Gets 3 Years Probation in Pot Case A 72-year-old woman convicted of possessing a quarter-pound of marijuana for sale was sentenced Thursday to three years probation. Naola Burnett of South-Central Los Angeles was arrested in August after she threw a bag of marijuana into her West 42nd Street home while being approached by police, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven Levine.

In February, a jury convicted Burnett, the mother of 10, grandmother of 46 and great-grandmother of 13. "This house on this block has been a problem for the police for years," Levine said. He added that Burnett's son, daughter and granddaughter were all sent to prison this year for selling drugs from the house. Levine asked the judge to consider in his sentencing that officers found a loaded shotgun in the living room when Burnett was arrested. Burnett, who maintains that she was wrongly convicted, said police did not have a proper search warrant, have routinely harassed her and used another woman's marijuana to indict her.

Deputy D. A. Named a Municipal Court Judge Gov. Pete Wilson on Thursday appointed Susan M. Speer as a judge of the Municipal Court, Los Angeles Judicial District, replacing Judge Mark Mooney, who was elevated to the Superior Court.

Speer, 45, of Woodland Hills, has been a deputy in the Los Angeles County district attorney's office since 1981, and a head deputy there since November 1997. She has also worked part time as a resident nurse at the Northridge Medical Center since 1994. She earned a bachelor's degree from Mt. Saint Mary's College in 1975 and a juris doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law in 1980. Sewage Spill Closes Part of Will Rogers Beach After a broken pipe spilled sewage into the ocean near Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades on Thursday, county health officials closed a 2V6-miIe section of beach and are not expected to reopen it until Monday.

Will Rogers State Beach was closed from Sunset to Chautauqua Boulevard after a mudslide ruptured the pipe near Pulga Canyon. The spill has been stopped, but it will take a while for bacteria counts in the ocean to drop to safe levels. i Speaking Out Court interpreters stage a demonstration Thursday outside the Criminal Courts Building downtown. The interpreters, who say they handle translations in about 60 languages, complain of no raises from the county in six years. it Li t.Vf- vA.S t.

-n t-M KEN LUBAS Loa Angeles Times.