The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 71

Cos Angeles gfanes Orange County Digest 2 Part II Wednesday, October 4, 1989 People Herbert J. Vida I 3k kmm' If1" til rs i III i Santa Ana Free Parking Scarce as New Garage Begun Civic Center employees and visitors were left scrambling for free parking spaces this week when the Santa Ana Stadium parking lot was partially shut down as the county and the city of Santa Ana began building a three-story, $17-million garage in its place. Half of the present lot about 700 parking spaces was fenced off so that workers could begin construction on the new garage, which is scheduled to open by next summer, according to Roger Kooi, downtown development manager for Santa Ana. The garage will provide 2,000 spaces to accommodate overflow parking from Civic Center visitors and employees. Unlike the stadium lot, the garage will not offer free parking.

On Monday, city workers had to direct commuters who usually park in the stadium lots to temporary parking spaces outside of the stadium, Kooi said. About 700 people called the city to request help in finding temporary parking spaces. The new garage is one of two new parking facilities within the Civic Center area. Critics say that parking in the Civic Center will become increasingly expensive as free parking spaces become rare. "It's going to be a disaster," said Pat Heike, a member of the Santa Ana library board.

"People are not going to be able to afford parking near the Civic Center a year from now." Heike has been pushing for free parking spaces for library patrons at the Civic Center parking lots. Oh Of' Larry Lawrence, today a ROBERT LACHMAN Lot Angelw Timw restaurant owner, says working with whales "was an exciting experience." Lawrence has pictures hanging on the wall of his Bread Crumb restaurant as a reminder of his earlier days as a whale trainer. "It was an exciting experience, and I miss it'' he said. "When you were out in front of the crowd and heard the applause, it made you feel like you were a movie star." Lawrence riding a killer whale at Sea World. Looking Back 12 Years, Former Trainer Had a Real Whale of a Time It's been 12 years stace Larry Lawrrac hugged a killer whale, but "I think about it every day," he said.

"I used to lay out at the side of the pool, and Newtka would come up and put her cheek right up against mine," said Lawrence, a Huntington Beach restaurant owner. "She would stick out her tongue, and I would rub it She liked that" Lawrence caught the killer whale and four others in the ocean off Vancouver. "She was my favorite." he said. "I would stay with the whale 24 hours a day when she was sick." Newtka means "little woman" in Eskimo language. "It was an experience I'm glad I went through, but I really miss it now," he said.

"I'm working 15 hours a day, six days a week," he said of his stressful restaurant business. "When I trained the whales, I would have two days off a week, but that's the sacrifice you make having your own business. A restaurant I owned in Texas broke up my marriage." If he tried to pursue working with whales again, "I don't know if anyone would be interested in me," said Lawrence, who claims that he was the first to ride a whale that went 40 feet down in the pool and came up over a 10-foot hurdle, sometimes through a fire ring. He said he made his first whale jump at Sea World in San Diego. Next year's Orange County Fair will have the theme of "Very Berry Extraordinary," which will salute both strawberries and pigs.

A 300-pound Yorkshire-Hampshire crossbred pig, named Shortcake, will be the mascot and will be the central character among the estimated 500 pigs that will populate the fairgrounds July 11 through 22, according to spokeswoman Jill Lloyd. "Today the people who put on the shows want young people in front of a crowd," said the 40-year-old Huntington Beach resident who has been on the Johaay Cartas "Tonight Show" to relate his exploits, which included putting his head inside Newtka's mouth. Although he feared the whales, "you had to get control of them from the very start," said the Vietnam veteran, who answered an advertisement to help train dolphins and killer whales after his discharge from the Army in 1968. "You can't let them get away with anything," he said, "or they will dominate you. There's no telling how intelligent they are, but they are wild animals and could turn on you at any time." Although he said it was more an accident he ended up with 145 stitches in his left leg when Newtka raked him with her teeth.

"Something scared her during a show," he said. Besides Sea World, Lawrence worked in whale shows in Texas and Florida as well as at the now-defunct Japanese Village in Buena Park. "I really got attached to the whales, and I think the whales can show emotion, too," he said. "I went to Sea World in San Diego a few years ago just to visit Newtka, and as she passed by, she stopped and looked at me. I think she remembered me." Acknowledgments Deula Klaathar, 11, a sixth-grader at Lathrop Intermediate School in Santa Ana, was honored by both the Santa Ana Police Department and the Santa Ana Unified School District for identifying a car break-in suspect that led to his arrest the same day.

He received the school district's Medal of Honor, the third ever awarded, and a certificate from the Police Department La Habra Schools May Withdraw Bid for State Money The La Habra City School District may withdraw its bid for state school rehabilitation money, according to Supt Richard Hermann. Although four of the district's eight schools qualify for assistance, the state fund is currently depleted pending voter reaction to two proposed June, 1990, bond issues. In addition, Hermann said proposed changes in state guidelines for using the rehabilitation funds may prove to be too restrictive for local uses. Among other things, Herman said revenue from the sale of surplus district property will likely diminish the district's access to state funding. Hermann anticipates recommending that the board take action to "distance ourselves as much as we can from the state." The district had completed the first step in the process required to qualify for the rehabilitation money.

Architectural plans were developed for Walnut, Las Lomas and Sierra Vista elementary schools as well as for one building at Washington Intermediate School. Orange 6-Vehicle Accident Ties Up Freeway A tractor-trailer truck unable to make a sudden stop caused a six-vehicle accident on the Costa Mesa Freeway near Fairhaven Avenue in Orange on Tuesday morning, closing three of the four southbound lanes and tying up rush-hour traffic for two hours, authorities said. The tractor-trailer driver, Charles Hall, 53, of San Bernardino, was taken to United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with minor injuries, and two other people were slightly injured but did not require hospitalization, California Highway Patrol spokesman Keith Thornhill said. Thornhill said Hall's tractor-trailer swerved to avoid a crash and struck two cars. The truck then rear-ended a dump truck, which, in turn, hit two other vehicles, Thornhill said.

Costa Mesa who frequented the Mustang, has made statements to the media and to authorities that it was George Yudzevich, a former bouncer at the club, who had shot Carroll when Grosso stepped out of the car to make a telephone call in response to a beeper message. Grosso's statements resulted in his attorneys this summer asking to leave his case. They were replaced by William Yacobozzi Jr. of Newport Beach. Yaco-bozzi said Tuesday that he has repeatedly told his client he needs more time to investigate, but that Grosso has turned him down.

"He's been in the Orange County Jail for a year without bail. I think he's just worn down." Yacobozzi said Tuesday. Grosso's previous attorneys had failed to persuade the courts to grant him a separate trial from Rizzitello. But Tuesday, Flynn had no choice. Rizzitello's attorney, Anthony Brooklier, was tied up in another case and could not be ready.

Garden Grove Judge Allows Pringle to Resume Fund Raising Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Gar-den Grove) has won a partial victory in his suit against the state Fair Political Practices Commission, allowing him to resume fund raising for his legal defense fund. Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs on Monday overturned the FPPC's ruling that said money for Pringle's defense was subject to provisions of Proposition 68 passed by voters in November which prohibits raising money in a year when a candidate's name is not on any ballot Pringle's attorney, Thomas R. Malcolm, said Pringle will now resume his fund-raising effort to pay for his defense against a suit filed by the Hispanic Political Council. The suit alleges that some voters were intimidated by uniformed security guards posted by Pringle's campaign at 20 Santa Ana polling places when they tried to vote on Nov. 8.

The judge, however, upheld another element of the FPPC's ruling that restricts the amount Pringle can raise for his defense fund to $1,000 per contributor. Attorneys for both Pringle and the FPPC said they have not decided whether to appeal. Pringle was narrowly elected last year and will be on the ballot again next year. He claims to have already spent $170,000 for his legal defense in the federal suit about polling guards. A trial on the issue of intimidation by the polling guards is scheduled to begin Jan.

16. County wide Robber Shot in Stanton Was 'Scooter Bandit' The robber who was shot and killed Monday after he held up a Stanton savings and loan was the notorious "Scooter Bandit" who had used a scooter and a bicycle to pull off at least seven bank robberies in Orange County within the last four months, FBI officials said Tuesday. Samuel Borunda, 43, of Orange had raked in about $10,000 in a spate of bank robberies that began June 14 and ended Monday when he was killed while making his getaway, authorities said. Borunda, who had just robbed the Fidelity Federal Savings Loan Assn. in Stanton of an undisclosed sum, was shot at least twice after investigators said he pointed a handgun at an armored car guard who had unknowingly walked into the middle of the holdup.

Investigators later identified the bandit's weapon as an air pistol. Sheriffs deputies also found Borun-da's getaway bicycle parked near the rear entrance of the building. FBI spokesman Fred Reagan said agents had linked Borunda to six other robberies by checking witnesses' descriptions, the robber's method and surveillance photographs. "It was a plurality of evidence that made us believe it was the Scooter Bandit" Reagan said. Borunda had twice robbed the Santa Ana branches of Fullerton Savings and Santa Barbara Savings, Reagan said.

Foes of Car-Pool Lanes Get Boost From Study Drivers for Highway Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group, Tuesday released the findings of a study conducted in Orange and Riverside counties that the group said strengthens its stance that car-pool lanes do not significantly reduce pollution or congestion on California highways. In a 45-minute press conference in Santa Ana, the' group unveiled a detailed, 11 -page study conducted by the California Department of Transportation in August that assesses the impact on air quality in Orange and Riverside counties associated with the Riverside Freeway improvement project. The study considered the environmental impact of two alternatives car-pool lanes versus unrestricted, general purpose lanes for the expansion of the Riverside Freeway. "The report basically states that the best local air quality results were with the general purpose lanes," said spokesman Larry Koenig. But state officials are not considering general purpose lanes, he said.

Caltrans officials in the Orange County office said the report retrieved by the group was based on inaccurate traffic data. "Someone in our office gave inaccurate figures to the consultant for the study," said Ron Kosinski, environmental division chief for Caltrans in Orange County. Dana Point Emergency Nurses to Be Honored by City In honor of Emergency Nurses Day, Mayor Eileen Krause will present a proclamation today to Vicki Sweet of Dana Point, who is president-elect of the Orange County Emergency Nurses Assn. Krause is herself a registered nurse, whose professional career has included service as an emergency room nurse. "Emergency nurses are vital to the community," she said.

"They have to make decisions about where a broken arm case will go and where a gunshot victim will go, making sure that both are treated the best possibly. These nurses are not well paid, but they save lives." Sweet said Dana Point's recognition of Emergency Nurses Day is a tribute to all such nurses in the county. "The Orange County chapter has 303 emergency nurses, and it's the largest chapter in California," Sweet said. "Emergency nurses are sort of the gateway to health care. We see patients as they first come in with illnesses and accidents, and we don't have the luxury of being able to immediately see their health records," she added.

"So we have to be specialists to be excellent in all areas of health care." Buena Park Mayor Urges Residents to Aid Hugo Victims Mayor Donna L. Chessen has urged city residents to help the people of hurricane-ravaged Charleston, S.C., with donations of money for food, clothing and other items. During Monday's City Council meeting, Chessen made a public plea for donations to help thousands of Charleston residents who were left homeless and hungry in the wake of hurricane Hugo. Hugo has been called the costliest storm ever to hit the United States. Chessen said donations can be sent to the Charleston Disaster Relief Fund, City Hall, 800 Broad Charleston, S.C.

29401. Seal Beach Man Is Arrested in Loan-Fraud Scheme A Diamond Bar man was arrested on suspicion of forging his mother's signature and using her Seal Beach home as collateral in securing a $158,000 loan, authorities said Tuesday. Frank Ernest Cutler, 43, was arrested by Orange County sheriffs deputies without incident at his Rocky Trail Road home Monday evening, 18 months after obtaining the funds through Mission Viejo Home Loans. Sheriffs spokesman Lt Richard J. Olson said Tuesday that Cutler was suspected of forging the signature of his mother, Ruth Cutler, on a quit claim deed to her property with a claim that she had turned it over to him as a gift Cutler then filed the fraudulent quit claim and a fraudulent deed of trust with the county recorder's office before seeking the loan.

Loan authorities, unaware of the fraud, passed the money on to Cutler after finding a lender. The victim, according to Olson, is the Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. of Irvine, the ultimate insurer for the loan. Santa Ana Separate Trials Granted in Mustang Bar Case A Superior Court judge Tuesday was forced to grant separate trials for two men accused of trying to kill Mustang Bar investor C. William Carroll, when one of the defendants refused against his attorney's advice to allow anymore postponements.

Joseph Angelo Grosso, 46, went on trial Tuesday before Superior Court Judge John L. Flynn Jr. His co-defendant convicted racketeer Michael Anthony Rizzitello, 62, will be tried in November. The two are accused of shooting Carroll three times in the head leaving him permanently blind on April 1, 1987, in a Costa Mesa parking lot Carroll had been a major investor in the Mustang topless bar on Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. Prosecutors claim that Rizzitello was trying to muscle his way into control of the bar, which has remained closed since early 1988, after two arson fires.

Carroll, 59, refused for 18 months to identify who shot him. But a year ago, he told authorities that Rizzitello had fired the shots and that Grosso had driven the car. Grosso, a limousine service operator in HOW TO REACH THE TIMES ORANGE COUMTY OFFICE Main Number 966-5600 Circulation no paper 641-1595 Delivery by: 6 a.m. Mon-Fri 7 a.m. Saturday 8 a.m.

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