A Santa Cruz man has ponied up 30,000 pennies to pay his parking
tickets.
During a weekend out of town, 74-year-old Robert Havens got
three $100 parking tickets on the motor home and trucks he had
parked on the street.
Pennies for parking fee declined
SANTA CRUZ
A Santa Cruz man has ponied up 30,000 pennies to pay his parking tickets.
During a weekend out of town, 74-year-old Robert Havens got three $100 parking tickets on the motor home and trucks he had parked on the street.
Havens, a retired tree-trimmer, is protesting the tickets, saying he didn’t violate a city rule to move the vehicles every 72 hours.
A ticket must first be paid to be contested, so Havens took his Social Security check to four banks, withdrew 30,000 pennies, put them on a rolling dolly and headed to the parking office. The office refused the pennies.
Havens then decided not to pay the fines and deposit the 180 pounds of coins in his granddaughter’s bank account.
Calif. sells $5B notes to avoid cash crisis
SACRAMENTO
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer says California has raised enough money to avert an immediate cash crisis.
Lockyer announced Thursday the state had sold $5 billion in short-term notes that will be used to keep education, health care and other state services running.
Lockyer initially offered to raise $4 billion but increased the offering twice in response to strong demand from individual and institutional investors. The state will pay interest rates between 3.75 percent and 4.25 percent on the notes.
California still needs another $2 billion to keep the state cash-flow positive. Lockyer says he’ll return to the market at a later date.
SoCal yacht killings case nears end
SANTA ANA
A prosecutor urged jurors Thursday to convict a man charged with murdering a couple by tying them to an anchor and dumping them from their yacht as they begged for their lives.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy told jurors their work won’t be done until they have decided whether Skylar Deleon, 29, should receive the death penalty.
“When you folks go back and you convict Skylar Deleon of what he did, we still haven’t accomplished anything,” Murphy said. “The case is just starting.”
Deleon is charged with murder and murder for financial gain in the disappearance of Tom and Jackie Hawks from Newport Harbor nearly four years ago.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Deleon, who is also accused of killing a man he met on a work furlough program in 2003.
Deleon’s attorney has admitted his client committed the murders but said he doesn’t deserve to die.
The concession is not the same as a guilty plea. Deleon pleaded not guilty, which means jurors must review the case.
Deleon’s attorney Gary Pohlson has said his client should be sentenced to life in prison, not death.
California wildfires nearly surrounded
LOS ANGELES
Firefighters neared full containment Thursday of the smoldering remnants of deadly Southern California wildfires that destroyed more than 50 homes and forced thousands of residents to flee.
The notorious Santa Ana winds continued to diminish, but weather remained a concern because of low humidity. Forecasters said warnings of conditions creating critically dry vegetation would be in effect in many areas until Friday night.
For people affected by the fires, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order suspending fees for replacement of many kinds of records and for late fees on such things as vehicle registrations. It also suspended a waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants and statutes that might delay debris cleanup.
Combined, the three worst blazes burned areas totaling more than 35 square miles since the fires broke out early Sunday amid howling Santa Anas. The fires killed one man directly, and a motorist died in a crash as a fire neared a highway.
The largest blaze, in hills above the western San Fernando Valley, covered more than 22 square miles Thursday, with 70 percent containment. The cost of battling the fire reached $7.9 million. Investigators have determined it was ignited by a downed power line.
Little fire activity was observed overnight at a nearly 8-square-mile fire at the eastern end of the valley, and full containment was expected Thursday night. Firefighting costs there topped $4.4 million, the fire command said.
In San Diego County, a wildfire covering more than 6 square miles on the Camp Pendleton Marine base was 90 percent surrounded.
