The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 243

LOS ANGELES TIMES VC TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1999 B13 REGIONAL NEWS A Global Warming to Southland's Hot Salsa Dancers "They're always full of surprises." The big surprise is how suddenly L. A. made its mark on a dance that's about as old as the century. The local style, especially its look-at-me machismo, was primarily developed by a trio of brothers from Guadalajara: Luis, Francisco and Johnny Vazquez. i -5 L.

fcl f. its backbiting and catty competitiveness: The L.A. dancers have a reputation for getting along. Many of the local performers including congress participants Josie Neglia, Tomas Montero and L.A. Salsa Kids and Albert Torres, the event's emcee are also instructors who compete for students locally.

Yet, they share their passion for the dance and often promote each other's events. "There's a great professional ethic in Los Angeles," said Eli Irizarry, a former San Juan sportswriter who started the salsa congress three years ago as the genre's only international showcase. "In general terms, they work with a lot of harmony." London were gushing, says Marosi, when they discovered he was lucky enough to live in Los Angeles (actually Long Beach) and learn from the trend-setters, "L.A. has really reinvigorated the whole genre," reports the dancing court reporter. "The L.A.

dancers were the most exciting, the most energetic. Salsa music is to California what soccer is to the United States. The art, like the sport, has its roots and its pedigree in other places. So it's no small cause for rejoicing that salsa dancers from Los Angeles and Orange counties have been creating a sensation beyond our borders. Street-bred teams of hoofers from our own backyards have turned the world spotlight on L.A.

by the sheer energy, attitude and showmanship of their thrilling performances. Our local dancers took a Caribbean genre and put an unmistakable California stamp on it, part Hollywood flash and part Mexican bravado. First, they swept through the local club scene, setting an irresistible, sexy style that caught fire from the San Fernando Valley to Newport Beach. Then they wowed the experts at Puerto Rico's World Salsa Congress, an annual event that draws dancers, instructors and salsa junkies from Russia to Argentina. This year, the L.A.

contingent was 200 strong, counting performers and spectators, almost a fourth of all visiting congress participants. (Cuba, the cradle of salsa, did not attend, but watch out when they do.) The L.A. dancers sparked standing ovations and demonstrated why today there are three recognized styles of salsa dance: New York, Puerto Rico and L.A. The international adulation even made celebrities of local dance lovers who went to watch, like my Times colleague, Rich Marosi, assiduous student of the L.A. style.

People from cosmopolitan places like Luis and his wife and partner Joby, evenly matched at 5-foot-5, head the 21 members of Salsa Brava, a multicultural melange of nationalities. Francisco brings a zoot-suited aggression to his company, Los Rumberos. And the rail-thin little brother, Johnny, dances solo, probably because nobody can keep up with his limber, lightning moves, except his charming partner, Olivia. Five years ago, they were virtual unknowns here, just another family of immigrants seeking to reinvent themselves in this land of possibilities. They are all self-taught street dancers, instinctual inheritors of the Mexican mambo tradition and carefree borrowers of modern moves from hip-hop and other styles.

Critics at first dismissed L.A. dancers for starting on the "wrong" beat, the first count of a measure instead of the trickier second that purists favor. This year, Salsa Brava danced on both one and two, proving a point that's quintessentially Calif ornian: "It doesn't matter which beat you dance on," says Joby, a New York-born Dominican trained in jazz, ballet and tap. But here's the biggest surprise in a field known for tellin' ya, they were a huge hit. Definitely the crowd favorites." And what a crowd it was.

Fifty-seven acts and scores of spectators represented three dozen nations. No competing. No winners and losers. Just salsa for the sake of it. The Angelenos stole the show with their trademark theatrics and testosterone-powered acrobatics.

The couples do flips, slides and death-defying drops, all choreographed with polyrhythmic precision. "You almost expect them to come flying out of a cannon," joked Laura Canellias, a veteran L.A. dance instructor who performed a rare romantic number at the congress with her partner, Jesus Moreno. Canellias, for one, felt a personal triumph when she witnessed the acclaim for the Vazquez brothers at least year's congress. "I was teary-eyed," said Canellias, a transplanted Texan.

"I was very proud that I knew these kids when they started and I had seen how far they'd come. I was all choked up." Her reaction reminded me of the excitement of watching the U.S. women's soccer team charge out of nowhere recently to capture victory in a sport this country's not known for winning. So how do you say in Spanish: "Hooray for the home team?" Augustln Gurza't column is published on Tuesdays. Readers can reach him at (714) 966-7712 or by e-mail at agustln.gurzaSlatlmei.com Buyback Plan Uses Tax Break as successful as we would like," said Cmdr.

David J. Kalish, an LAPD spokesman. Nonetheless, he said, such programs do take guns out of circulationa result that Parks very much supports. Police commissioners have said they are pleased with the leadership role Parks has taken on the issue of gun control and want to find ways to further support his efforts. "I've always believed that we, as a society, should do something to control the proliferation of guns in our community," said Chaleff, who, as president of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.

several years ago helped pass a resolution supporting sweeping gun control measures. "Every weapon we can prevent from getting into the wrong hands has the potential to save a life, stop a crime or prevent an accidental shooting." Although Parks does not oppose guns used for hunting or home protection, he says assault weapons and Saturday night specials do not fall into those categories. "There is no place in today's society for weapons whose primary purpose is the efficient and effective taking of human life or weapons of poor quality," Parks told the commission in his letter. "Assault weapons were made to kill people, and just like full automatic weapons and silencers before them, they must be removed from our communities." He added: "As a nation, we have danced around this issue long enough and it is time to enact simple but effective laws. Our legisla tors at the federal level simply must step up and do what must be done to protect our families and our sors unanimously approved new security measures for the show.

Then, two weeks ago, federal agents arrested at his Orange County home a man they met at the Fairplex show, where he allegedly offered to sell them parts required to assemble a machine gun. That same day, white supremacist Bu-ford O. Furrow Jr. allegedly went on his rampage in the west San Fernando Valley, killing postman Joseph Ileto and wounding five at the community center. Shortly afterward, Yaroslavsky proposed a blanket ban on the sale of firearms on county property.

Officials Monday acknowledged that most guns are purchased between individuals in private settings rather than at a gun show. But the shows, Parks said, appeal to a certain type of buyer looking for deadly weaponry. "If you want an UZI, you don't go to a gun shop on La Brea," he said. "You don't go to the Police Academy gun shop. You go to a gun show." Rattling off a tally of gun violence in her district which includes the fairgrounds Supervisor Gloria Molina said the law was the least elected officials could do.

"Bad people, as well as unstable people, will continue to have access to guns," Molina said. "But each of us has to do what we can." A coalition of consumer groups, including the Utility Reform Network and the Utility Consumer Action Network, argued in favor of the bill. Steven Teitelbaum, a Santa Monica physician who launched the Web site www.stopoverlay.com to protest the proliferation of splits and overlays, was the only residential consumer to address the panel. "I knew there were going to be a lot of slick, high-paid lobbyists representing the phone companies and that there would be no one there from the public," Teitelbaum said after the meeting. One type of conservation specified in the legislation would reduce the block of phone numbers given out at one time to telephone companies from 10,000 to 1,000.

Another is "number pooling," which would reclaim unused phone numbers from phone companies and place them in a single pool for distribution. A combination of residential, business and political outrage in the 818 and 310 calling areas is the driving force behind the legislation, Knox said. "There is only one reason this bill has moved so far: It's because of the public outcry." Knox has called on consumers to attend a public meeting on the bill at 6 tonight at the Olympic Connection, 11301 W. Olympic Blvd. water polo coach for the first three years LaBord played there, described him as "a real good kid" and "quiet socially, but well-liked." "He wasn't your all-star, or the top player, but he was the kind of kid who makes up most of your teams.

He was very dependable, always at practice on He pushed everyone else on the team to do their best." Alex LaBord said that guitars were his son's passion and that he planned to study music in college. "He owned three guitars, including one that he bought with his own money for $600. He wanted to have his own band," he said. "John was just an all-around good kid. I want the person who did this to get caught.

I want the driver to know who my son was." Times staff writer Mike Hlserman contributed to this story. The alliance of local law enforcement gives extra strength to the effort to bar gun shows on county property, which advocates Monday hoped would spread across the state. Acknowledging that the Pomona show could simply move a couple of miles east into San Bernardino County, Supervisor Zev Yaroslav-sky called on the state Legislature to ban the sale of guns on all state property, which would cover a far wider swath of California, including state fairgrounds in neighboring counties. "This is only the beginning," he said. Supervisors for years have been troubled by the Great Western show, which transforms the fairgrounds into a sprawling supermarket devoted to Civil War memorabilia, leaflets, guns and bullets.

The Fairplex which leases the fairgrounds from the county, subleases it for the event. But a recent spate of high-profile shooting rampages and undercover investigations by state and federal agents have spurred increasingly tighter regulation of the show. This spring, in the wake of a massacre at a Colorado high school, undercover state investigators quickly exhausted $4,000 buying illegal firearms at the fairgrounds and arrested four people. Supervi Stockton) called for AB 818, the Consumer Area Code Relief Act, they all briskly walked to the speaker's podium. In surprise action, the California Public Utilities Commission staff members asked the committee to delay funding on the measure because some of its provisions conflict with Federal Communications Commission regulations governing area code relief plans.

"There is no gain in ending up in federal court," said Helen Mickie-wicz, an attorney for the PUC. "We have requested authority from the FCC to implement area code relief plans beyond splits and overlays. The conference committee is the appropriate place to address these concerns." Mickiewicz said the FCC is expected to take action on the utilities commission's petitions regarding number conservation by early September. Representatives from Pacific Bell, MCI, GTE, MecliaOne Telecommunications, the California Cable Television Assn. and the Cellular Carriers Assn.

of California argued against the bill, saying a split or an overlay would be the most efficient way to accommodate a surge in demand for additional phone lines, but some agreed that the bill should go to a conference committee. An autopsy will determine whether LaBord died on impact or survived for a short time. "If the autopsy determines that the victim could have survived his injuries if he had received medical treatment right away, we're going to have to deal with some pretty serious concerns," Vargas said. "The crime is horrible enough, but if this kid could have lived if taken to a hospital, it makes everything worse." Alex LaBord, the victim's father, remembered his son as "just a good boy who liked to play guitar." John was the youngest of four children. He was working at a store in Orange to earn money for school clothes, his father said.

"He was an honors student and played on the Orange High School water polo and swim teams," Alex LaBord said. Michael Seltzer, Orange High's GUNS Continued from B12 in Granada Hills two weeks ago, Parks has been campaigning for tougher gun laws. He has been increasingly joined by Baca, who heads a department that frequently has had cool relations with the higher-profile LAPD. "This is a serious community issue," said sheriff's Sgt. David Halm.

"He Baca is going to form an alliance with whomever we need to, not that we weren't already allied anyway." Baca, a former Nrtional Rifle Assn. member, has been an activist sheriff since being sworn in this January, and extended his portfolio to gun control even bPi'ci-p the Granada Hills shootings. Earlier this year, Baca supported the board's ban on the sale of so-called Saturday night specials on county property. The sheriff and chief also have been joined by Dist. Atty.

Gil Garcetti, who, although he was not at the news conference Monday, said through a spokeswoman that he supports the gun show ban. Garcetti and Baca also have expressed support for Parks' hopes that all military-style assault weapons and so-called "junk guns" in the county be confiscated and their owners compensated. OVERLAY Continued from B10 complete obscurity to one of the most important issues of the session." The conference committee will be made up of three members each from the Senate and Assembly handpicked by Senate President Pro Tern John Burton (D-San Francisco) and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), officials said. Supporters and opponents went into the Appropriations Committee chamber Monday expecting the committee to put the bill on hold because its $529,610 price tag was more than the $150,000 spending threshold set by the committee. As a matter of routine, legislation costing more than the $150,000 is placed in a "suspense file" until Aug.

30, when committee members know how much they can spend without exceeding the state's operating budget, officials said. But as the committee acted on other bills, a knot of political leaders, telecommunications representatives, consumer advocates and state regulators whispered among themselves and passed memos back and forth. When Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Johnston (D- HIT-RUN Continued from B12 Investigators "knew it was a big accident with significant injuries, based on debris and other evidence found at the scene," Varga said. Broken glass suggested that the car's windshield had been shattered. At 6:30 a.m.

Monday, the Orange County Sheriffs Department received a call about a body in the center of California 133 near Porto-la Parkway. Anaheim detectives also were summoned, and they determined that the body was La-Bord's. Vargas said the accident happened so quickly that the witnesses were unable to give a good description of the car except to say that it was black, possibly a Honda. By MATT LAIT TIMES STAFF WRITER Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks on Monday proposed an innovative gun buyback program that would give owners tax breaks, instead of cash, for every gun turned in.

The benefit of a tax credit program, police officials said, is that it could be implemented without having to provide a pot of money for the exchanges. Such a program, however, would require either federal or state legislation. Parks said he will discuss the proposal in more detail at today's Police Commission meeting. Commission President Gerald L. Chaleff said last week he wanted the LAPD to examine the feasibility of gun buyback programs.

"I think it's a worthwhile avenue to consider," Chaleff said of Parks' proposal Monday. Parks' initiative builds on his campaign for more effective regulation of firearms. Using his stature in the law enforcement community to press for such laws, Parks has called for a national ban on all assault weapons and so-called Saturday night specials. In a letter sent to the Police Commission on Monday, Parks said the recent shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and the related slaying of a mail carrier have "galvanized the public will" to enact tighter gun regulations. "The vast majority of this nation is now demanding decisive and proactive measures to stop the killing," Parks wrote.

"Many people are looking to their police officials for leadership in that effort. The LAPD accepts that challenge." RIDES Continued from B12 "I don't think it had anything to do with the ride," Falfas said of the Santa Clara accident. "I don't know how the kid got out of it." Sunday's fatal accident did little to sway opponents of state amusement park regulation. "I think the major players in the park industry have incredibly good safety records as a whole," said Assemblyman Kenneth Maddox (R-Garden Grove), who opposed the measure. "I'm unwilling to support any legislation that doesn't have a strong rider responsibility clause." Maddox said many accidents are caused "by people who had too RESCUE Continued from B12 main functions is how to perform after a major earthquake hits." Both Ibarra and Lefave are members of the FEMA Taskforce, the national urban search and rescue team.

They and other county firefighters on the FEMA team had a chance to use their skills in various national disasters, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the Northridge earthquake. Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department's urban search and rescue team are also eager to partici Parks' support of gun control measures is the most outspoken he has been on any issue in his two years in office. "This is something he cares greatly about," said one high-ranking LAPD official. "He's apolitical. This is not grandstanding." In addition to advocating sweeping gun control laws, Parks has also taken on the National Rifle Assn.

and similar organizations, calling them special interest groups that promote "gun violence in the United States." Parks, in his letter to the commission, said the LAPD has generally found gun buyback programs to be "ineffective for a number of reasons, including the money and paperwork required for such programs." But, he said, his proposal might be more effective. Gun buyback programs have grown in popularity over the years. Across the country, thousands of people have turned in guns for rewards. In Washington, D.C., recently, the response was so overwhelming that the city temporarily ran out of cash for the program and had to turn people away. In other places, officials have offered gift certificates, sneakers or concert tickets to entice people to turn in weapons.

Yet law enforcement officials, even those at the LAPD, say the programs have little effect on crime. And, because a state law requires police to note the name, address and phone riumber of everyone who voluntarily turns in a gun, criminals do not usually participate. "They are well-intended and good for heightening the awareness of the proliferation of weapons. However, oftentimes they are not much to drink acting like fools." Safety of amusement park rides emerged as a political issue after a fatal Christmas Eve accident at Disneyland. A metal mooring cleat tore loose from the Columbia sailing ship ride, killing a tourist from Washington state and severely injuring two others.

Disneyland was fined $12,500 by state safety regulators, who ruled that managers of the park had inadequately trained a worker on the ride and had misused equipment. The accident prompted legislative action, including Torlakson's bill, to set safety standards and require state inspections of rides and public reports on accidents. The details of those inspections have been the subject of numerous pate in rescue operations abroad. The unit was formed in 1993 but has not been deployed outside of Los Angeles. "Our team would love to go over to Turkey to do work," said Capt.

Scott Frazier of the L.A. Fire Department. With $1.7 million in equipment, the 62-member team is largely self-sufficient, except for transportation to and from an incident. But without a contract and financial support from the federal government, neither it nor the county team can go on its own. Being sent to an international disaster would have long-term benefits for Los Angeles in addition to Cos Angelee amendments, including some backed by the amusement park industry that would have limited regulation to self-inspections.

The current bill has drawn some opposition including that of Sen. Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City), the Senate Appropriations Committee's vice chairman over its requirement that the parks pay for the inspections. "I don't really think the bill is at the top of anyone's agenda," he said. "That's not to say it's not important, but it's one of thousands of bills moving through the Legislature." Leslie voted against the bill early Monday but later changed his vote. Times staff writer Scott Martelle and correspondent Jason Kandel contributed to this report.

providing humanitarian assistance, said Collins. "We come back with invaluable experience and information about what search and rescue technique actually works and what doesn't work in actual disaster scenarios," Collins said. "And those lessons learned are applied here to L.A. County for our preparedness for earthquakes." Although that opportunity is not yet available, many hope that it soon will be. "We're ready to go.

We have some of the best trained individuals here at the county," Ibarra said. "We wait patiently in hopes that we will get our turn." Gftmes jtco Cos Angles Stales. Call I 800 LA TIMES to subscribe..