The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 18

2002:11:03:22:21:17 CALIFORNIA CC latimes.com/california LOS ANGELES EDITION By Jeff Gottlieb and Daniel Hernandez Times Staff Writers By the time the last of the 198 vehicles had piled into each other Sunday, the Long Beach Freeway looked like the site of a demolition derby. The massive chain reaction, which resulted in two major pileups, began at 6:45 a.m. as motorists were driving too fast through unusually dense fog, according to the CHP. Even the officers were amazed that no one was killed. Forty-one people were injured, nine of them critically.

Most of those taken to nearby hospitals were treated and released. It was a mixture of fog more common to the Central Valley and the traffic of Southern California freeways. Motorists told of being blinded by the fog, suddenly ramming into a vehicle in front of them or being rear-ended. As Jennifer Ratin headed to the Long Beach Airport for a business trip to Dallas-Fort Worth, the fog became thicker and thicker. Traffic slowed, then stopped.

Acar clipped her on the left. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw another car speeding toward her, as if the driver had no idea the vehicles in front of her had stopped. She grabbed the steering wheel and steeled herself. hit me like never been hit Ratin said. Her Mercury Mountaineer was pushed across two lanes and turned in the opposite direction, stopping inches from a road sign.

I got out of the car I still could hear cars hitting each she said. James Acosta was driving the Buick Riviera he had bought three weeks ago. He started hearing the of cars smashing into each other when he hit an oil slick. He said his brakes locked and he crashed into the guardrail, then was sideswiped. was like a whirling he said, still shaken hours later.

Around him, cars and trucks in the southbound lanes faced every direction, gnarled, crushed and bent. The smell of gasoline filled the air. A blue semitruck sat in the middle of a 20-car pileup, its windshield wipers occasionally giving a swipe. A Toyota Camry was smashed into anothersemi. Along a stretch of more than amile, workmen dragged away pieces of fenders and car body Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times THE AFTERMATH: Crews spread fuel absorbent between the vehicles involved in Sunday chain-reaction pileup on the Long Beach Freeway.

said one driver whose car had minor damage. people 41 Hurt in 198-Vehicle Smashup Early morning fog, slick roads and speeding combine to litter the Long Beach Freeway with wreckage. See Pileup, Page B6 By Sue Fox and Patrick McGreevy Times Staff Writers On the final weekend day to reach voters before they cast ballots in Los secession campaigns, an odd silence settled across much of the city Sunday, with large areas untouched by the limited efforts mustered by those pressing for breakup. In South-Central and East Los Angeles, a few secession advocates walked precincts, but they were far outnumbered by more than 700 anti-secession volunteers, many of them union members, striding door-to-door. At the Hollywood Farmers Market, secessionists tried, without much luck, to engage passersby in discussion.

San Fernando Valley secession leaders said they had no events planned for areas outside the Valley. would asked Karen Moran, a campaign spokeswoman. And the breakup Westside office was locked Sunday. Its leaders said they were occupied with other matters. in the middle of a lawsuit.

working on another project said Rex Frankel, a Westchester environmentalist. He added that he still supported breakup. To claim victory Tuesday, secessionists must attract a major- ity of voters in the areas seeking independence, the San Fernando Valley andHollywood. But they also must prevail citywide, so the absence of a visible campaign outside the breakaway regions so close to election day could spell trouble. Arecent Times poll of 970 likely voters showed heavy opposition to both breakup proposals.

Their strategy, secession leaders say, is to draw enough Valley voters to tip the scales citywide. But things were quiet Sunday, even in the Valley. After a series of earlier pro-cityhood events failed to attract large crowds, separatists decided not to hold a get-out-the-vote rally. Instead, a cluster of die-hard workers made phone calls and Secession Campaigns Wind Down to Quiet Finish, Even in the Valley Separatists walk precincts, but they are greatly outnumbered by breakup opponents. Ringo H.W.

Chiu For The Times DOOR-TO-DOOR DEMOCRACY: Election workers hand out political fliers Sunday as they carry the anti-secession message to residents of South-Central Los Angeles. RELATED STORY Looking ahead: Some candidates say mend fences if breakup loses. B3 See Secede, Page B9 By William Lobdell Times Staff Writer The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has lost more than $14million for a second straight year, in part because of losses in the stock market, and is ordering asecond round of budget cuts, church officials announced Sunday. The back-to-back losses are the first in the 27-year history. Three years ago, it reported a surplus of $21.5 million, thanks largely to a windfall from stock investments.

Bishop of Orange Tod D. Brown, who released the report on the 2001-02 fiscal year to worshipers at Sunday services, said the losses over the last two years have been caused by a variety of factors: besides a sagging stock market, an unexpected rise in insurance costs, $12 million spent on critical needs at poor parishes, and $3.6 million to settle molestation claims. To help cope with the decline, Brown in July had ordered department heads to reduce expenses and he asked for another reduction last week. Combined, the cuts will bring back $1 million to the bottom line, officials said. To date, about adozen jobs have been frozen or eliminated, with two employees laid off.

Diocese in O.C. Awash in Red Ink Bishop reports losing $14 million for second straight year. Budget cuts are ordered. See Diocese, Page B9 Voters Must Choose to Grow or Not to Grow Diverse initiatives appear in a ballot-box war around the state between anti-sprawl activists and real estate interests. B5 1940s Renaissance New owners are restoring the Chase Knolls apartment complex in Sherman Oaks.

B3 Roller Coaster Relief Anew study discounts claims that the thrill rides can cause brain damage. B4 George Skelton Bill last hope is to make Democrats decide they vote for Gray Davis. B5 Raf Vallone Dies The soccer player, lawyer, reporter and movie critic who became a film star was 86. B9 B3 B10 B9 B12 INSIDE By Jenifer Warren Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO A group of inmates is entering the third week of a hunger strike at Pelican Bay State Prison, hoping to force corrections officials to change how they identify and punish gang members in sprawling penal system. About 60 inmates at the remote prison in Del Norte County near the Oregon border began refusing their meals Oct.

19, officials say. A few are continuing the strike and are declining to be weighed or examined by physicians. Lawyers for the inmates say they are protesting the Department of practice of isolating prisoners believed to be gang members in harsh segregation units, where they are denied most privileges and are rarely let out of their windowless cells. Prison officials said they are monitoring the striking inmates carefully but have no plans to alter their policy. In January, however, they intend to launch an al- Striking Prisoners Spurn Food Pelican Bay inmates protest policy that sends reputed gang members to segregation units.

See Strike, Page B6 By John M. Glionna Times Staff Writer OAKLAND Pastor Bob Jackson ministers on the urban battlefield of East Oakland, a gritty stretch of liquor stores, fast food restaurants and vacant lots where he has seen the value of life drop like a spent shell casing. One by one, the gray-haired leader of the Acts Full Gospel Church points out the street corners where young men have been gunned down. The reasons make him shake his head: drug-peddling turf wars. Drunken arguments.

Retaliation for some perceived personal slight. murder rate last year the highest per capita for any major California city is continuing its ominous rise after one of the bloodiest summers in years. When police found the latest victim Sunday, the grim tally reached 95 10 more than the 2001 homicide total Oakland reported to federal authorities. Eight of 10 victims are African American, two-thirds of them younger than 35. And of the 55 suspects identified by police are black.

The youngest victim was 15; the oldest 70. The body count has sent a chill through this working class community, where Mayor Jerry Brown labors to attract new business to a city known for deadly violence. It has caused politicians to point fingers over how best to resolve this newest spike in murders. And, as the police force endures an embarrassing federal trial of four of its own officers, citizens question who is more dangerous the drug dealers or the police. As Jackson looks for answers, he mention either police or politicians; he looks to the community itself.

Jackson is the leader of the fledgling group Black Men First, 200 African American professionals, from lawyers to plumbers, who are weary of watching the funeral hearses creep through their neighbor- hoods.Group members walk the streets, opening dialogues with young drug dealers who loiter in their midst. They have ventured to West Dogtown, which police consider especially dangerous. And they are rallying black males to play more constructive roles, such as voting and volunteering at schools. killings a police problem. a black Relentless Violence Ravages Oakland A minister leads a group that looks to the community for ways to cut rising murder rate.

Robert Durell Los Angeles Times RALLYING BLACK LEADERS: Pastor Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church in Oakland is leader of Black Men First, a group of 200 African American professionals. See Oakland, Page B8.