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HOUSE OF USHER
6-7
OLYMPICS SUMMARY
DAY 1 4
ATHENS 2004
SHOW
U.S. MEDAL COUNT
A golden farewell
28 3 1 24
O.C. UPDATE
U.S. women take bronze in water polo
The team, featuring several Orange County
athletes, beat Australia. Olympics 5
TODAY’S TV HIGHLIGHT
Marion Jones in long jump, relay. 8 p.m. KNBC/4
OLYMPICS SECTION
U.S. shows its mettle in 200, long jump
The U.S. swept the men’s 200 meters (Shawn
Crawford, Bernard Williams, Justin Gatlin) and
took gold and silver in the long jump, signaling a
resurgence for U.S. track dominance. Olympics 1
JULIAN GONZALEZ, DETROIT FREE PRESS
From left: Gatlin (3rd), Williams (2nd) and winner Crawford
BRUCE CHAMBERS, THE REGISTER
LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD: Julie Foudy of Mission Viejo, Joy Fawcett of Huntington Beach, Mia Hamm, Kristine
SOCCER
Lilly and Brandi Chastain, from left, are crowned Thursday for winning gold in women’s soccer in Athens. The
group, known as the Fab Five, are the remaining members of the championship 1 999 Women’s World Cup team.
U.S. women’s soccer captures top spot in Fab Five’s last game together.
By SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tear-stained
cheeks provided the only traces of
their triumph. Uniforms soaked
and bloodied by two hours of unforgiving soccer were hidden beneath crisp white warm-up jackets.
The Fab Five were going out in
style.
Exhausted from its 2-1 victory
ATHENS,
GREECE
●
against Brazil in the 2004 Olympic
Games gold-medal final Thursday
night, the U.S. national team stood
in the middle of Karaiskaki Stadium about to take the top step of
the medal podium.
More than two hours earlier, the
team had stood in the same spot.
As “The Star-Spangled Banner”
played before the match began, a
strange chill rushed through Julie
Foudy, the team’s captain.
She had heard the song hundreds of times before in dozens of
countries. But now, in the final major tournament match for Foudy
and four other veteran players, it
was like she was hearing it for the
first time.
“I got choked up,” the Mission
Viejo native said later. “It was
weird. I kept thinking I don’t want
INSIDE
OLYMPICS
SECTION
O NATION & WORLD I
●
O
Judge voids abortion ban
GAME: Coverage
of the victory.
Olympics 5
● Courts Another federal judge has found the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional
because it lacks a health exception. News 29
GRAPHIC: How
goals were scored.
Olympics 5
MORE PHOTOS:
Olympics 3
SEE SOCCER
●
PA G E 4
Ayatollah brokers deal
to end Najaf standoff
The agreement calls
for fighters loyal to
rebel cleric and U.S.
troops to withdraw.
By DEXTER FILKINS
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Poverty
growing,
earnings
stagnant
M
ore Americans lived in
poverty or without
health insurance last year,
while the typical family’s
income remained stagnant,
the Census Bureau reported
Thursday.
Approximately 35.9 million
Americans lived below the
poverty level – almost
13 percent of them in
California. The threshold for
a family of four was $18,810,
while for two people it was
$12,015.
One in six Americans, or
45 million people, lacked
health-care coverage. Of
those, 6.5 million were
Californians.
Median U.S. household
income is $43,318, while the
figure in California is
$48,979.
Details >> Business 1
●
Fighters loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
greeted thousands of Shiite
marchers outside Najaf’s Imam
Ali mosque today and allowed
them to enter the
IN DEPTH shrine where the
NEWS 3 >>
fighters had holed
up during a bitter
TRUCE:
three-week battle
Anatomy of with U.S. troops.
the deal.
“We pray today
that Najaf will recover. The military operations
have only brought destruction,”
said Kassem Hameed, 52, an oil
worker from the southern city of
NAJAF, IRAQ
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JIM MACMILLAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WORD SPREADS: Iraqis march toward the Imam Ali mosque in Na-
jaf, where Thursday’s peace agreement followed a day of bloodshed
that left at least 74 Iraqis dead and more than 300 wounded.
Basra who came to support
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who brokered an end to the standoff.
A radio broadcast said al-Sadr
had ordered his followers in the
shrine to lay down their arms.
Word of the tentative agree-
ment to end the siege in this Shiite holy city came after a day of
chaos and bloodshed that left at
least 74 Iraqis dead and more
than 300 wounded.
Hamed al-Khaffaf, an aide to
SEE NAJAF
●
PA G E 5
For breaking news, go to:
www.ocregister.com
●
●
Think roaming’s pricey?
Try calling in a library
●
O THIS SECTION I
O
Senate OKs prescription law
O Bill passes The state Senate approved legislation to help Californians buy cheaper drugs
through certain Canadian pharmacies. News 1 6
●
O LOCAL I
●
O
Girl sues DA’s office over DNA
● Courts A 16-year-old who says she had
consensual sex with Greg Haidl sued the Orange
County District Attorney’s Office, saying
prosecutors illegally obtained her DNA. Local 1
● Environment Residents, surfers concerned
with a sand plan in West Newport. Local 1
●
●
O SPORTS I
●
O
Williams can’t return to USC
● College football USC coach
Pete Carroll, right, criticized the
NCAA after it denied a request by
All-America wide receiver Mike
Williams to be reinstated. Williams
said he will not appeal. Sports 7
●
O BUSINESS I
●
O
Sav-on overtime suit revived
● Courts The state Supreme Court revived a
class-action lawsuit against Sav-on over unpaid
overtime for up to 1,400 workers. Business 1
●
COMING
SUNDAY
Top trips
Travel editor’s Top 10
treks from his 10 years
on the job. In Travel
Weather
Index
Comics
Comics, etc. 2-3
Crossword
Comics, etc. 2-3
Deaths
Local 7
Dear Abby
Comics, etc. 1
Lottery
Local 1
Movies
Show 9-25
Stocks
Business 8-1 2
Weather
Local 1 0
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Today
B y Z A H E E R A WA H I D
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Incessant
yakking on a cell phone could
cost you dearly – up to $1,000 –
at the city’s public libraries, a
fine that might be the only one of
its kind.
Huntington Beach city leaders
have adopted a regulation banning the use of cell phones at libraries.
HUNTINGTON BEACH
●
That means no text messaging, no talking and absolutely
no ringing.
Under the city ordinance,
which is scheduled to take effect
Sept. 15, offenders will be
warned, then fined $250 if they
don’t comply.
Second and third offenses will
garner fines of $500 and $1,000,
respectively.
●
PA G E 4
Tonight
64° 58°
●
●
●
●
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CINDY YAMANAKA, THE REGISTER
QUIET TIME: A sign in the children’s section of the Huntington
SEE PHONES
70° 88°
COAST INLAND
●
Beach Central Library prohibits cell-phone use.
●
The Orange County Register
is a Freedom Communications
newspaper. Copyright 2004
Customer service toll-free
1 (877) OCR-7009 [627-7009]
Read us online www.ocregister.com
GOVERNMENT
Local 2 | Friday, Aug. 27, 2004
The Orange County Register
Even in context, general shows refreshing candor
THE NEWS
efreshing to hear a leader
flat out admit he was
R
wrong, as Gen. Tommy
Franks did yesterday at The
Nixon when
answering a
question
about WMDs
in Iraq.
But before
we give him a
gold star for
honesty, let’s
review “the
FRANK
M I C K A D E I T context”
in
REGISTER
which
he
COLUMNIST
made that admission.
(“Context” being what he
urged the audience to apply
when evaluating Bush’s military actions.) The context:
Franks is retired, he is not
running for office, he has a
book he’s selling, and every
sentient being in the universe
already knows he was wrong.
Still, it was very hard not to
be impressed with Franks,
who charmed the crowd as he
alternately spun yarns in his
Texas drawl and advocated an
unrelenting war on terrorism.
He said he’s a Bush man, went
pretty easy on Kerry, trashed
the media and somehow didn’t
come off as trying to be a
know-it-all.
The most surprising moment was when Mickey Conroy was introduced. Little
Mickey Conroy! Last time he
was in the public eye he was
caught flipping off Todd
Spitzer, for which some people wanted to give him a gold
star. When Mickey stood up to
ask Franks the first question, I
strained to check the location
of Mickey’s middle fingers. I’m
happy to report that he kept
his WMDs holstered.
ent to the press
conference
that
W
the lawyer represent-
“World Famous Adam
R. Stull Attorney at
Law.”
ing The Punk’s latest
Some smart-aleck
conquest
convened
reporter asked him
yesterday to tell the 15
just what he was
million readers, listen“world famous” for,
ers and viewers of the
and he demurred, sayvarious media present
ing the media wouldn’t
that all Jane Doe 2
be interested. Well, I
wants is her privacy Mickey Conroy
am, dammit. So I Gooback. (Story Local 1.)
gled him, and an analykept his hands
A strange way to ac- to himself.
sis of the 72 hits I got
complish, that, I obgives us these possibilserved,
in
that ities: In addition to his lawtoo-smart-by-half tone I some- yering, he also could be a doctimes acquire when I’m trying tor, a computer geek, a pretty
to outlawyer a lawyer. But the fair skeet shooter, a betlawyer, Adam R. Stull, said he ter-than-average
triathlete,
was publicizing his lawsuit and a bunch of dead people
against Tony Rack because he from the 1700s. Take your
wanted to expose the DA’s pick.
abuse of power. (The line
I think that even if he were
forms on the left, pal.)
all of these things, he’d have a
Then I noticed the lawyer’s hard time convincing me he’s
business card, which reads – “world famous.” But maybe afand I’m not making this up – ter this case he will be, just
like Gloria Allred.
RUMOR & OBSERVATION
Nixon Library director and
yesterday’s master of ceremonies John Taylor was wearing
his clerical collar during the
Franks event. It seemed odd,
but I now believe this to be a
sign that he is going to be the
next Episcopal priest to break
away from the main church
and that he will bring his new
parish not under some Ugandan bishop but under banner
of the Nixon Library – inasmuch as I’ve never seen
someone as worshipful of our
37th president. ... With all this
hoopla over a new NFL team
possibly headed our way, I
called perhaps the last Orange
County Rams fan in existence
for his take. Orange cop Joey
Ramirez took his infant son to
a pathetic “Save the Rams”
rally in 1995 and said he was
Backing Bush
and the war
on terrorism
By AMANDA BECK
YORBA LINDA
here’s no mistaking
the carriage of a military man – not a
year after his retirement and not when fatigues
have given way to a business
suit.
So it was with pin-straight
posture and an unmistakable
love of his country that retired
U.S. Army Gen. Tommy
Franks strode the back halls
of the Richard Nixon Library
& Birthplace on Thursday and
stopped to pat the shoulders
of four U.S. Marines.
“Semper Fi,” he said,
T
smoothing the arms of their
dress uniforms, as any father
would do. “You look great. You
look like Marines.”
Minutes later, Franks galvanized a room of 650 spectators, who gathered to hear his
take on politics, Sept. 11 and
the wars that launched the attack on terrorism.
As the top officer at U.S.
Central Command from 2000
to 2003, Franks served as the
chief architect of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The assignment was the
capstone of his 36-year military career, which began with
his deployment to Vietnam,
where his helicopter was shot
down and for which he was
RECEPTION: Franks’ lecture was the first engagement held in
library’s East Room, a replica of the White House ballroom.
Father convicted
in Fullerton death
PHOTOS: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER
“CATHARSIS”: Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks fields questions from the audience during a
lecture Thursday in the newly opened East Room at the Nixon Library & Birthplace.
awarded three Purple Hearts.
“It was then he promised if
he ever ran the Army, he
would hunt the enemy down in
its sanctuary,” said the library’s executive director,
John H. Taylor. “He is a man
who ... has made history.”
For his part Thursday,
Franks gave a speech studded
with Texas aphorisms and the
plain talk of a military man.
But he did not shy from defending his faith in the Iraq
war – its impetus and its current management.
He characterized the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks as a
“crease in history,” a day on
which the past of America was
separated from its future.
It was on that day, he said,
that the United States finally
chose to act on what had be-
come a 20-year chain of previously ignored terrorist attacks,
from
Beirut
to
Mogadishu.
He also remembers that day
– and its loss of life in the
“wink of an eye” – when he
considers the sacrifices U.S.
troops must make today, even
with paltry world support.
“When it comes to protecting a way of life for my grandchildren and generations to
come … call me a bully,” he
said. “That’s OK with me.”
Franks’ remarks also were
full of good humor and hope
for both Iraqis and Afghans,
who he said now have an opportunity to control their own
destinies.
“I don’t know if they’ll make
it or not, but I know that they
have something they haven’t
had in 2,000 years: They have
a chance.”
Audience members said
they were impressed with him
and pleased to hear his anecdotes about President George
W. Bush, who Franks said
waited months – not minutes –
before broaching the idea of
war in Iraq.
“I never knew he was such a
staunch supporter of Bush,”
said Alvin Mann, 76, of Corona
del Mar.
“This is the ‘no-spin zone,’ ”
said Debbie Foster, 50, of
Orange.
Despite his long insistence
that he is an independent voter and thinker, Franks admitted publicly that he and his
wife are “Bush fans.”
“Gosh, I’m glad I said that,”
he quipped. “Catharsis.”
Great for Irvine’s park
and good for the planet
Civic leaders vow to keep land for public use, not housing.
An environmental expert calls for use of
‘green’ buildings on former El Toro land.
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
Orange County
Fair & Exposition Center directors and about 40 other
people on Thursday denounced a recent report’s suggestion that the 150-acre
state-owned property is “underutilized” and should be
sold to help ease California’s
multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
“That would be worse than
(France) selling Louisiana or
Russia selling Alaska,” said
Halil Parlar, a Santa Monica
resident and former vendor at
the fairgrounds’ weekend
swap meets.
The fairgrounds are used
year-round, with an average
annual revenue of about $25
million. Events include the annual county fair, Pacific Amphitheater
performances,
trade shows and nonprofit
group fund-raisers, as well as
the swap meets.
Small operating surpluses
are used to subsidize several
local community and educational programs, such as Centennial Farm on the fairgrounds.
The California Performance
COSTA MESA
●
Review, which Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger requested,
said the fairgrounds could
draw about $230 million and
serve a better purpose by
helping to alleviate Orange
County’s affordable housing
shortage. The area could accommodate about 1,000 single-family, detached homes,
“That would be worse
than (France) selling
Louisiana or Russia selling
Alaska.”
H A L I L PA R L A R ,
S WA P M E E T V E N D O R
according to the report.
Costa Mesa officials on
Thursday continued their opposition to the idea, which
they are expected to formalize
Sept. 7 with several resolutions. Civic leaders have
vowed to not permit residential or commercial development on the land, citing
traffic, parking and noise
problems and a need for open
space in the city.
The city’s zoning allows only public uses, such as golf
courses, parks, churches, li-
ter.com
COURTS
O.C. officials decry report’s
fairgrounds recommendation
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
C O N TA C T T H E W R I T E R : (7 1 4)
796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregis-
TOPICS
OF INTEREST
Author and retired Gen. Tommy Franks
addresses full house at Nixon Library.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
one of about three people
there. He still flies to at least
three Rams games a year, and
you can practically hear him
choke up when he talks about
Super Bowl XXXIV. Would he
support a new NFL team?
Would he pay thousands of
dollars in seat-licensing fees?
“I’d pay that in a second,” he
said. ... Now the important
news: The new 911 goes on sale
tomorrow at 9 a.m. at Newport Auto Center. (If you don’t
know what a 911 is, stop now
and I’ll see you on Monday.)
Two will be on display, a “Normal” and an “S.” Both are spoken for, but several more are
coming in next week, at least
two of which had not been sold
as of last night. Gentlemen,
start your groveling.
braries or universities.
Roland Chavez, land broker
with O’Donnell/Atkins Co., estimated the land would only
draw $70 million to $100 million if only used for those development purposes.
Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, who in April
floated an idea to move the
fairgrounds
to
Irvine’s
planned Great Park to raise
cash for the state, backed
away from the plan because of
the opposition.
“I don’t intend to pursue it,”
he said.
Campbell said the state has
the legal ability to overrule the
city’s objection, but the likelihood of that happening is low,
and he would not support that.
The Fair Board, a panel of
nine governor-appointed directors who govern the fairgrounds as the 32nd District
Agricultural Association, approved a resolution opposing
the performance review’s assessment and will forward the
public comments to state officials. Schwarzenegger is reviewing the statewide performance study, and the
Legislature is expected to vote
on his reform proposals in the
spring.
By JEFF ROWE
THE ORANGE COUNT REGISTER
An environmental
consultant urged planners to
use “high performance” building principles in the construction of the Great Park.
“The park can be as asset to
the planet,” said Michael
Brown of Santa Barbara, who
spoke Thursday at the fourth
Great Park symposium.
The meetings are sponsored by the Orange County
Great Park Corp. and designed to stimulate thinking
on the design of the Great
Park, the planned mix of wilderness areas, athletic fields,
schools, stores, farms, museums, a memorial area and
houses at the old El Toro air
base.
High-performance
buildings are commonly called
“green” and may include
solar-energy heating, water
recycling, and skylighting and
window placement to reduce
the need for electric lighting.
“How could it be a great
park without a green buildings?” asked Brown.
Moreover, he said, such
IRVINE
●
buildings can save money because “green” technology has
been advancing swiftly and
costs declining. As an example, he described an office and
warehouse building in Reno,
Nev., so energy-efficient that
it doesn’t require air-conditioning. He discussed other
buildings – constructed with
recycled materials – that recycle water and capture heat
and electricity from the sun’s
rays.
Brown also said studies
show that workers in “green”
buildings are more productive.
“If buildings are not consistent with ecosystems, they
won’t be economically viable
over time,” he said.
Brown is familiar with the
Great Park. He is consulting
with the city on the environmental cleanup of the former Marine base.
He has worked for the Environmental Protection Agency
and earned a doctorate in city
planning.
The next step for the Great
Park is the auction of the land
by the Navy. That is expected
this fall.
A father was convicted
Thursday of second-degree
murder and child abuse resulting in death for the fatal
beating of his 2 1⁄2-year-old
daughter at a Fullerton motel.
Salvador Davila, 32, was arrested Oct. 8, 2002, after paramedics found Miranda Davila
suffering from injuries to her
body and head when they
were summoned by a call that
a girl had stopped breathing.
The girl was taken to Anaheim Memorial Hospital and
then to UCI Medical Center,
where she died the next day.
Davila faces a possible sentence of 40 years to life in
prison when Superior Court
Judge Robert Fitzgerald sentences him Oct. 16.
— Larry Welborn
(714) 834-3784
G OV E R N M E N T
Governor silent
on privacy bill
The governor’s office has
not taken a position on a bill
sponsored by Orange County
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas that would limit public
access to information on
crime victims and witnesses.
Senate Bill 58 passed the
state Senate unanimously
Wednesday and is on its way
to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said Suzie Swatt, chief of
staff for Sen. Ross Johnson,
R-Newport Beach.
The proposal would restrict
the release of information
such as Social Security numbers and home addresses of a
victim or witness. Those records are now made public
when included in a criminal
court file.
Media groups oppose the
bill, saying it would allow prosecutors to withhold too much
information from the public.
— Rachanee Srisavasdi
(714) 834-3773
COURTS
Suspected assassin
found in Santa Ana
A man accused of assassinating a Mexican senator last
month was found and arrested
in Santa Ana, immigration
agents reported Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and
Santa Ana police this week arrested Jorge Salazar-Solis, 37,
at a home in the 1400 block of
South Spruce Street.
Salazar and his brother, Arnulfo, are wanted by State of
Durango officials for the slaying of Sen. Jose Manuel Diaz
Medina.
Agents said the brothers
gunned down Diaz on July 24
on a busy freeway. The killing
was sparked by a family dispute, authorities said.
Salazar, a legal U.S. resident, is being held without
bond while Mexican officials
seek his extradition. Arnulfo
remains at large.
— Cindy Carcamo
(714) 796-7829