The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 353

REGIONAL NEWS WEATHER EDITORIAL PAGES i i i ti ei till SECTION FRIDAY MARCH 5, 1999 VCCC Lk Lk VcJasLL mmm Healthy Outlook Hardship Has Made Former Cherokee Nation Leader Stronger I I i i i i it if 4- Ml1 daughters. "I'm going to actually talk about leadership basically by taking people through my own story," she said in a phone interview from her Oklahoma home. "I think that journey is important to share." The journey began in 1945 when Mankiller was born in rural Adair County, Okla. When she was 10, her family moved to San Francisco as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation Program. Mankiller first became involved with American Indian issues when a group of Native American activists occupied Alcatraz Island in San Francisco in 1969.

At that time, Mankiller was married and raising two daughters but continued to do volunteer work for Native American organizations. Soon, her life as the wife of a successful accountant from Ecuador no longer fit with her life as an activist. Mankiller divorced her husband and returned to her home in Oklahoma. She began working for the Cherokee tribe as a grant Please see LEADER, B3 By JENNIFER HAMM SPECIAL TO THE TIMES She has survived two kidney transplants, a two-year battle with lymphoma, a car accident and a chronic muscular disorder. Still, Wilma Mankiller, the only woman to serve as chief of the Cherokee Nation, feels lucky.

"Other people would look at all this and say, 'This is really said Mankiller, who led the Native American tribe from 1985 to 1995. "But that's not the way I look at my life. Certainly, my health has always been an issue. I've continued to work and tried to find some lessons in all of that." Mankiller will address the lessons she has learned when she appears as the keynote speaker Saturday at Creative Options, a day of women-oriented workshops at Cal Lutheran University. Now 53, Mankiller has published an autobiography, won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and raised two FOKTHE'l'IMKS Despite illnesses, Wilma Mankiller feels lucky.

OUT ABOUT FILLING THE LULL: Golden China bar's Open Mike Night hosted by Maximum Bob, playing the bongo drums above, enlivens usually slow Tuesdays. B6 COUNTRY SENSATION: Wynon-na Judd, dubbed the Female Elvis, will perform Sunday in Thousand Oaks. B6 AVANT-GARDE: Vinny Golia's quirky reed music will launch the 1999 Ventura New Music Concert Series on Saturday. B6 Emergency Ride Service Helping, Officials Report Transportation: County program begun in 1997 prevents employees from being stranded at work. Some had feared it was unnecessary and would lead to abuse.

A. i- WUHITWIUt WEATHER: As winter draws to a close, forecasters say there's a chance of rain Saturday night, after clouds and fog today. B2 SIMI VALLEY mil it' i I far iU, i WA By COLL METCALFE TIMES STAFF WRITER One woman had to rush home in the middle of the day to attend to a sick child. In another instance, a worker had to stay late at his boss' insistence to finish up a report. And in a third case, a man had to leave his job early because of a family emergency.

All either used car pools or public transit to commute to work and would have been stranded if not for Ventura County's Guaranteed Ride Home program. Although plans for the program were criticized by opponents who deemed the service unnecessary and ripe for abuse, county transportation officials said they are pleased with the response since the program was launched 1V years ago. In fact, they said other communitiesTire already looking at the program as a model to help Solve their traffic problems. -I Since its inception in September 1997, the ride program has signed up more than 5,800 potential users at 146 jvork sites in Ventura County. As of last month, it had provided 164 emergency rides at a total cost of $5,000, about $30 a ride.

I1 "Of course, we'd like to see more people sign up to use it, but we're very happy with the success we've had sofar," said Travis, manager of rail and regional programs for the Ventura County Transportation Commission. Please see RIDE, B3 ukuwdinu: in preparation tor 750 new students expected in the fall, a fffpfcnel has suggested portable class -j rooms to allay inconveniences. B4 VENTURA TRANSPORTATION: A narrow bike lane on a busy street poses a danger to cyclists, according to one bicycle enthusiast. B2 Photos by ANNE CUSACK Los Angeles Times Despite discounts, "Monica's Story" was not a best-seller at B. Dalton Bookseller in Oxnard Thursday.

SUPER LOTTO For Wednesday, March 3 2-30-34-38-41-46 Winning Number: $8 million Jackpot: Monica's Book Debut Is an Affair Most Are Shelving Biography: Lewinsky's tell-all is far from a bestseller in Ventura County. But the hardcover is headed for the top of national lists. Winner Per Category: No. Winner Prizes Each 4 6of6 5of6 86 $2,273 4 Of 6 $98 5,175 3of6 104,957 $5 Court Forbids Teacher Contact With Inmate Juveniles: He is accused of having hadigx with two females he taught at youth prisons jp, By DARYL KELLEY TIMES STAFF WRITER A Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered fdrjjier Ventura School teacher Bradley Gardner to hayeno further contact with two female inmates with whom he is accused of having had sex while he was their instructor Judge Edward Brodie did not say why he gave the order, but Chief Deputy Dist Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth said prosecutors want to keep Gardner from accepting calls from one of the inmates at the juvenile prison.

"One of the victims has been in communication with Mr. Gardner and we wanted to stop that communication between the two of them," she said. Gardner, 42, said in an interview later that he did not initiate the contact. He said one of the women has called him collect several times to offer support since he resigned under fire last May. The most recent call came after Gardner was arrested Jan.

27 and charged with five felony sex counts involving two then-17-year-old inmates at the coed California Youth Please see GARDNER, B4 By MASSIE RITSCH SPECIAL TO THE TIMES Maybe, when night fell and the nosy reporters and photographers left the bookstores, scores of people slinked out of the shadows and bought Monica Lewinsky's book. Or maybe gasp folks in Ventura County just want to forget her affair to remember. Whatever the reason, "Monica's Story" appeared to be far from a bestseller in the county Thursday, the day of its much -promoted debut Visits to several area bookstores failed to turn up many folks willing to admit they had shelled out $24.95 minus a 10 to 30 discount for the 288-page heart-spiller. At the Barnes Noble Booksellers in Thousand Oaks, copies of "Monica's Story" were scattered among three nondescript displays that shoppers, for the most part, ignored. "It's pathetic.

Isn't everybody sick of this already?" asked Beth Wells of Studio City. "I hope the book just sits there Please see MONICA, BS For Thursday, March 4 FANTASY Winning Numbers: 9-2 1 -3 1 -32-34 DAILY 3 Winning Numbers: 2-8-6 DAILY DERBY Winning Horses: (6) Whirl Win (11) Money Bags (8) Gorgeous George Race Time: 1:44.10 IfHffl I Ventura County Roundup B2 Air Quality B2.B8 Obituary B4 Today's Agenda B4 Weather B8 Regional News B9 Editorials B12 Commentary B13 Beth Wells of Studio City shunned Lewinsky's book at Barnes Noble. Reagan Tribute Could Be a Mountain of Trouble they caught me, I'd be dead. With agents of the Evil Empire at my heels, I jumped over Teddy Roosevelt's forehead, slid I down Honest Abe's nose, and barely Library and Museum. It's the spot where Reagan and Nancy will one day rest in peace.

Their grave site on a bluff at the library commands a magnificent view of the valley and the Ronald Reagan Freeway threading through it. But even with all that, a quadrillion-ton Mt. Rushmore bust of Reagan would cast a long shadow over Simi. The center of Reaganania would shift to the Black Hills. Tourists and schoolkids still would Please see LIFE, B3 could be staged atop the Great Communicator.

If an Arizona congressman has his way, Reagan's beaming visage will be carved forever into the South Dakota mountains, cheek by jowl with Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. This possibility we'll generously cali it a long shot should set off alarms in Simi Valley, the current world capital of Ronald Reagan veneration. Of course, the city will continue to be the home of the Ronald Reagan Presidential On the Record "One thing that I learned from watching Cherokee people was no matter what would go on in their lives always found something positive to say." Wilma Manklller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation, who is set to speak Saturday at Cal Lutheran University. Bl managed a flying leap onto the crest of Ronald Reagan's pompadour. That's when I woke up, my heart pounding.

Just a bad dream, right? Not quite, I came to find out. For if there's ever a remake of the Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest," the climactic, heart-stopping chase scene on Mt Rushmore LIFE STEVE CKAWKINS.