Petaluma Argus-Courier from Petaluma, California • 1

Petaluma A1GUS i Vt mm j. "1 Young trumpet rdtesS player is a child prodigy PagelB Trojans, Gauchos continue their winning ways Page 8A COURIER 3 Readers say they want urban growth boundary Page 2A 7. -1 A Pulitzer Community Newspaper i mm nmmmn mmm simiSII MIDWEEK EDITION Mar. 31 -Apr. 2, 1998 50 Cents Bridge work resumes Council favors growth limit measure -C By SUSAN LAUER Argus-Courier Staff The City Council has given the nod for the city to begin the process of drafting an urban growth boundary to be placed on the November ballot.

Murder suspect attempts suicide Reaction of the seven council-members during a Monday night discussion ranged from outright enthusiasm to cautious permission to explore a timeline, research and plan the measure before the Aug. 7 deadline to place it on the ballot An urban growth boundary, also known as UGB, sets a precise line to separate urban development from open space and farmland. While open space is protected from massive sprawl, development is encouraged to fill in existing urban areas. The result is a well-defined city and countryside. "It comes down to saying when do we say when.

Now is when," said Councilwoman Pam Torliatt The majority of the council favors looking into a 20-year time period for a proposed UGB. In addition, the council will call on the community to help determine where exactly the boundary line around the city should be placed. City staff will return by April 13 with recommendations with how to proceed to draft a UGB measure. The ballot measure will cost the city a minimum of $25,000, although outside consulting attorneys, which the council favors, might drive the cost to the city as high as $100,000. No specific cost estimates have been calculated yet, although the funding will come from the city's general fund.

Planning Director Pamela Tuft said the city can allow about 2,000 more residential units, based on (See Boundary, page 6A) Financing a third junior high School district considers funds from 1992 bond measure By CYNTHIA DYER-BENNET Argus-Courier Staff The Petaluma Schools District school board is taking a closer look at the idea of using funds from a local school bond to build a third junior high school within the next decade. At last week's board meeting, district administrators Steve Bol-man and John Silvestrini joined Maureen Kelsey-Lynch, a school facilities consultant for the district, to discuss potential scenarios for a building program. They all agreed that acquiring matching funds from the state is the key to making the plan successful. The move toward seeking matching funds for a third junior high is a new aspect of the district's building plan. When the $45 million secondary school bond was passed by Petaluma voters in April 1992, the board agreed to set aside a portion of the money for future-growth needs.

The future-growth funds, in the range of $10 million, were not earmarked to construct a third junior high because the estimated cost of such a facility runs between $15 million and $20 million, depending on who is giving the estimate. Since then, however, the district has been taking advantage of a number of ways to stretch its bond money. A set of 15 leased portables at Casa Grande High School, originally expected to be paid for through bond money, is instead being financed with developer fees. Two major bond projects that have now gone out to bid new science facilities at Casa Grande and Petaluma Junior High were granted matching funds from the state. This will further reduce financial demands on bond promises.

Matching funds To get the state to cough up half the cost of construction of a third junior high, however, the district must meet certain specifications i regarding increased enrollment i numbers. "Essentially you need to have at least five years of steady enrollment growth in order to show that will have a need for I classrooms to house those students," Kelsey-Lynch explained. I "Using the state's method, our projected growth at this time is not adequate to receive state funds for a new junior high school." Presently there is a total enroll ment of about 1,740 students at Kenilworth and Petaluma junior (See Bonds, page 6A) lliaeJX Ann Landers. 3B Bill Soberanes 2A i Classified 7B Club Connection 3B Editorials 2B I Education Express 5B SCOOD 4B 1 Obituaries 4A 1 Petaluma Li'vina 1B Public Access TV 3B public Access iv Pulse of Petaluma 2A Sports 8A Theaters 3B 2A Yesteryears 3B 'MMHMMMMMMMHMM isnn WW are, we can design accordingly," Lok said. "We can come back next month for a final approval and then move on to construction drawings.

Then we can move to financing and line up our contractors." Lok had originally sought to have the city partner in the venture by providing loan guarantees and tax breaks, but the hot financial climate of the late 1990s has made him optimistic about getting full private funding for the $20 million venture. (See Hotel, page 5A) protest tis, the community services coordinator of Women Against Rape. "It is that sense of entitlement of girls as property and as a possession that still runs deep in our culture," she said. De Santis said since mid-January her agency has handled 15 new cases of schoolgirls who have been raped. Five of the cases involve schoolboys who were angry with their girlfriends.

Last Tuesday two boys in Jonesboro, selectively shot and killed four girls and one woman teacher, and wounded 11 other girls. One of the boys reportedly was upset because a girl had rejected him and had allegedly told (See Protest, page 6A) mm Eric RsadArgus-Courtof staff Work to finish the Lakeville Street bridge resumed last Friday. At the site, Ed Reynolds of Vallejo skillfully maneuvers two lines from a single crane to pull the girder he is standing on out of the river. The bridge, which is two-thirds built, should be completed by mid-July. Hamilton leads pack in campaign money By JAY GAMEL Argus-Courier Staff The woman accused of shooting a plastic surgeon over failed breast implants attempted to hang herself in the county jail this weekend.

Theresa Mary Ramirez, 46, was listed in critical condition at the county hospital Monday. Ramirez was allowed to take a shower Saturday morning. An attendant found her hanging by a torn bed sheet from a shower head. She was immediately cut down and CPR was administered, a move which probably saved her life, according to hospital officials. The County Sheriffs office is treating the incident the same as any officer-involved shooting and has turned over the investigauon to an outside source, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

Ramirez is being held without bail and has been charged with the murder of Dr. Michael Tavis and attempted murder of his office manager, Kay Carter, on July 3, (See Ramirez, page 5 A Former Petaluma City Council-woman Bonnie Nelson did not complete filing requirements by March 11 and is not a candidate, according to the County Registrar of Voters. The candidates will all be on the same June 2 ballot. If no single candidate gets a clear majority, the top two will face a November runoff. According to documents filed with the Registar's office by seven of the candidates last week, Petaluma City Councilwoman Jane Hamilton has raised $22,208 dollars and has spent just over $7,500 so far in the crowded race.

Of that money, just over $6,000 (See Campaign, page 5 A) i 1 1'll f. 1- 1 if cipal in the hotel venture, hopes that work can begin as early as December if plans continue as smoothly. Lok will need further planning department approvals for modifications he's made to the original plan for a 154-suite hotel sited at The Petaluma Marina, just east of Highway 101 on Lakeville Highway. Those modifications include adding more convention space and making smaller rooms, allowing up to 182 rooms. "Now that we have some broad understandings of what we can do and what some of the design issues murdered and dumped off an on-ramp of Highway 101 just south of Petaluma.

Hoping the site of the local tragedy and the recent shock of the Arkansas incident will stir the community into action and awareness of violence toward women, the women's rights activists waved signs to commuters during the morning traffic. The purpose of the demonstration was to voice concern that violence against girls and women is not mere isolated incidents, but a societal problem where some men target female victims who are considered overstepping their role by standing up to them or rejecting them, according to Marie De San- Marina hotel moves ahead By JAY GAMEL Argus-Courier Staff Petaluma's two council members running for the 2nd District supervisor's seat are way ahead of the competition in fund raising, with Jane Hamilton leading the pack with more than $22,000 in her campaign coffers. Seven candidates have filed to fill the seat being vacated by retiring veteran Jim Harberson. They were required to make a campaign finance statement last week. Gary Johnson, however, is the only candidate who has not filed any campaign fund forms since declaring his candidacy.

Johnson was away on a business trip this week and not available for comment. Modified plans expand spaces for conventions By JAY GAMEL Arguf -Courier SUIT Kirkman Lok's plans to build a Sheraton Hotel at the Petaluma Marina fared well at last week's preliminary design review meeting with the city's Site Plan and Architectural Review Committee last Thursday. Kirkman Lok, owner of Petaluma's Quality Inn and prin Girls' slayings spur nil 'iiojri: 'wr Women gather at site where body of 1 12 was found 7 7 By SUSAN LAUER ArKu-Courler Staff Outraged at last week's slaying of schoolgirls and a female teacher in Arkansas, about 15 women gathered Monday Petaluma to protest violcnce towarci women 311(1 girls- demonstration held during moming hour on Highway 101 at the site where the nude 0f n-year-old Georgia Moses was discovered last August The Santa Rosa girl had been sexually assaulted before she was Eric ReedArgut-Courier staft The site where the body of 12-year-old Georgia Moses was found has been transformed into a memorial garden and a reminder of violent acts against girls and women..