The Californian from Salinas, California • 2

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 rirn rn mm COMMUNITY IE Castroville road plan moves forward UJ LZ1 CITY EDITOR: Mike Nemeth PHONE: 754-4280 FAX: 754-4293 E-MAIL mnemethSisalinas.ganneH.com www.thecalifornian.com SALINAS City must reject police grant There is not enough money to match funds for school officers He said there are currently six school resource officers and there used to be as many as 11. The officers paid through the grant would have to be devoted to schools and could not perform general patrol duties, Ortega said. "There is no way I could justify getting more school resource officers," he said. Contact Zachary Stahl at zstahlsalinas.gannett.com. TO ATTEND Because it lacks required matching funds, the Salinas City Council is expected to decline a federal grant that would help add four new school resource officers when the council meets at 4 p.m.

today at the City Hall Rotunda, 200 Lincoln Salinas. resources it's always going to be a disappointment," Ortega said. vided $500,000 in federal funding over a three-year period. But the city or school districts would have to spend close to $1.5 million over four years. Salinas police Chief Daniel Ortega, calling the grant rejection "a sign of the times," said it is discouraging that his department cannot make use of the funding.

"Anytime there is a missed opportunity to get additional would help hire more police officers to patrol schools. The Cops in Schools 2004 grant would add four more school resource officers for Salinas, but the city and school districts do not have the matching funds needed to accept it. "This is unfortunate, because we could use additional school resource officers," City Manager Dave Mora said Monday. The grant would have pro By ZACHARY STAHL The Salinas Californian The Salinas City Council is expected today to turn down a $500,000 federal grant that Plover protection under review rft CRIME Police arrest man in slaying Victim was shot Aug. 28 in Salinas In Brief Compiled from staff reports MONTEREY COUNTY Water agency begins release from dam i The Monterey County Water Resources Agency began releasing water from Lake Nacimiento reservoir on Monday to maker room for rainfall from a large storm expected to hit the Central Coast on Monday night.

The water was to be released through the dam's hydroelectric generation unit, agency officials said. Heavy rains in the past three weeks have put Lake Nacimiento's water level at 780 feet, or 72 percent of the reservoir's capacity, officials said. State regulations require about a third of the reservoir capacity to be reserved for water collected from large storms, to reduce the possibility of dam failure. The dam is 800 feet tall, officials said. GONZALES Blazing cake sends firefighters to home The Gonzales Fire Department responded to a cake fire Wednesday night on the 600 block of Center Street, a Gonzales police sergeant said.

About 8:20 p.m. a 19-year-old man called 911 after he saw his cake smoking and on fire in his oven, said Sgt. Paul Miller. Gonzales police arrived first at the scene and immediately evacuated the residence, Miller said. Firefighters extinguished the cake and fanned out the smoke, but were too late to save the cake.

Damages were estimated as roughly equivalent to the cost of a box of cake mix, Miller said. MONTEREY COUNTY Girl Scouts to begin taking cookie orders Friday The 69th annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale will begin Friday as scouts throughout the county begin taking pre-orders. Delivery to pre-order will begin Feb. 18. Booth sales begin Feb.

25. To pre-order, call 800) 624-4757. All cookie varieties sell for $3.50 per box. SALINAS Waste authority opens new transfer station The Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority opened its new Sun Street Transfer Station on Jaa 3. The station at 139 Sun St will be used to accept self-haul and residential waste currently going to the Madison Lane Transfer Statioa The new station will process up to 100 tons of waste per day, before it is sent to Crazy Horse or Johnson Canyon landfills.

A recycling center and household hazardous waste facility also are at the transfer statioa land residents can drop off most of their recyclables and hazardous materials free of charge. Station hours are 8 am. to 5 jxm. Monday through Saturday. Information: 424-5520 'M- I "My By DANIA AKKAD The Salinas Californian With the help of the public, Salinas police say they've arrested a man in a homicide case from August that had gone cold.

Mario Castro Trujillo, 19, was arrested Saturday outside his Salinas SALINAS CALIFORNIAN FILE PHOTO A western snowy plover nests on a beach in Sand City in 2003. Fish and Wildlife Services may change habitat restrictions. Federal officials plan to modify 'critical habitat' areas set in 1999 home on suspicion of fatally shooting 20-year-old Juan Gomez-Raya, police said "This is an example of what we can do with our am Mario Castro Trujillo TO GET INVOLVED The Fish and Wildlife Service will accept public comment on its proposal to protect the western snowy plover by mail, fax or e-mail until Feb. 15, and will decide on the new plan by Sept. Details on how to comment are online at htm.

mar, Garrapata and parts of Monterey state beaches, said David Schaechtele of the agency's Monterey District The proposed changes in Monterey County are small enough that dog regulations probably won't change, Schaechtele said. He added that any changes would be made after the Fish and Wildlife Service's final ruling in September. The federal proposal would remove 276 acres from the critical habitat defined for Monterey Bay beaches, Dormer said. The cut would bring the total area of critical habitat along the bay to 1,416 acres. About half of the removed area would remain protected because it is part of the Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge The other half was trimmed off beaches from Monterey to Moss Landing and at Point Sur, after more precise mapping of plover habitat, Dormer said.

The changes come after a review of critical habitat prompted by a lawsuit that county commissioners in Coos County, filed. The county officials objected to the original ruling on the grounds that the federal agency had not completed a proper economic impact statement Contact Hugh Powell at hugh.powellsalinas.gannett.com. the Pacific Coast, nearly 450 nested in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties last year, said Gary Page, a biologist at Point Reyes Bird Observatory, in Stinson Beach who has stud-' ied plovers in these two counties since 1976. The plan, created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, would modify areas the agency designated as "critical habitat" in 1999.

The designation does not automatically place restrictions on public access to beaches, said Al Dormer of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Sacramento office. That decision is up to State Parks and Recreation, which considers federal rulings when managing beach access. In 2002, the state agency decided to ban dogs on Zmu-dowski, Moss Landing, Salinas River and Marina state beaches to protect snowy plovers, while allowing dogs on Asilo- By HUGH POWELL The Salinas Californian Federal officials are seeking public comment on their proposal for protecting the western snowy plover, a threatened shorebird that lives year-round on Monterey County beaches and elsewhere along the Pacific Coast The tiny, sandy-brown plovers lay eggs in footprint-sized hollows on dry dunes. Sharp-eyed beachgoers may spot them as the birds scurry along the high-tide line, snapping up insects on stranded kelp. Of the 2,600 plovers living on investigations when we get good, solid tips," said Salinas police Chief Daniel Ortega at a morning news conference.

Three minutes after midnight on Aug. 28, 20-year-old Gomez-Raya was outside 1149 Pacific Ave, repairing a brake light on his car and getting ready to go out with four of his friends, when Trujillo approached him, police said. Trujillo, then 18, asked Gomez-Raya whose back was to Trujillo what gang he was affiliated with and then shot the 20-year-old once in the head, police said. Trujillo also shot at Gomez-Raya's friends and a nearby house where a family had been sleeping. Police were able to recover bullets from this home, they said.

Trujillo has been charged with murder, attempted murder for shooting at Gomez-Raya's friends, possession of a firearm by a gang member and participation in a criminal street gang, police said. WHAT'S NEXT i Get involved The Big Question Birthdays None submitted. To submit a name to BIRTHDAYS, call 754-4260 or e-mail in care of BIRTHDAYS. Deadline for submissions is noon the day before publication date. Provide first and last name, birth age and city of residence.

E-mail board addresses peace in Mideast In the wake of the Palestinian election, the group Monterey County Citizens for Middle East Peace has begun an e-mail forum to discuss the peace process. The new Yahoo group is open to members and nonmembers. The message board will not be moderated, which means that there will be no censorship. To post messages, send an e-mail to Read the messages on the board at http:4roups.yahoo.com roupAnontereymiddleeastpeace. The Salinas Californian's Big Question appears daily on our Web site, www.thecalifornian.com.

TUESDAY'S QUESTION: Do you support adding individual investment accounts to Social Security, even if it means cutting guaranteed benefits? Yes No Don't know THIS WEEKEND'S QUESTION: Should The Macerich owner of the Northridge Mall, have to pay for increased Salinas police patrols at the shopping center, following this week's shooting? As of 3:53 p.m. Monday, 391 votes had been received. The results: Yes 61.6 percent No 38.4 percent MONDAY 1 inf ll ii Mario Castro Trujillo, who Salinas police say killed 20-year-old Juan Gomez-Raya in August, is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today at the Monterey County Californian TELL US WHAT YOU THINK (Please feel free to attach an additional sheet of paper with more comments) I Did a story, headline or other element of today's news cause you concern? Fartasy5 10 18 31 37 rjaty3nid) 4 3 5 toy3(w) 8 6 Daily Derby 1st 04, Big Ben 2nd: 12, Lucky Charms 3rd: 07, Eureka I Time: L4L07 0BITUAR1ES4-6L Martha Ann Brinton Barrios Sergio 'Tony' De Toma ifaureanc Oro Fernandez Stanley Louis Molinari Bernardo Puga Jr. Maryanne Rose Reynolds yelma Roberts Xecil E.

Robbins floracio Paredes Soto Phil Vincenz Did you see a mistake in today's newspaper? LOCAL NEWS EDITORS Mike Nemeth City editor 754-4280 mnemethsalinas.gannett.com Katharine Ball Assistant city editor 754-4282 kballsalinas.gannett.com LOCAL NEWS Dania Akkad Police, courts 754-4266 dakkadsalinas.gannett.com Victor Calderbn South county, housing 754-4284 vcalderonsalinas.gannett.com Claudia Mel6ndez Salinas County government Latino issues 754-4285 cmelendezsalinas.gannett.com PHOTOGRAPHY Richard Green Chief photographer 754-4262 rgreensalinas.gannett.com Scott MacDonald Photographer 754-4263 smacdonaldsalinas.gannett.com SPORTS Joey Delgado Sports editor 754-4265 jdelgadosalinas.gannett.com George Watkins Sports writer 754-4264 gwatkinssalinas.gannett.com Mike Hornick Sports copy editor 754-4267 mhomicksalinas.gannett.com Glenn Cravens Sports writer 754-4278 gcravenssalinasgannett.com Kelly Nix Education 754-4271 knixsalinas.gannett.com Zachary Stahl City of Salinas 754-4283 zstahlsalinas.gannett.com Rachel Zentz Calendars, obituaries 754-4260 rzentzsalinas.gannett.com FEATURES Sierra Rendon Features editor 754-4270 srendonsalinas.gannett.com Dave Nordstrand Features, health 754-4268 dnordstrandsalinas.ganriett.com I Do you have a story idea? Are there issues, trends, people or situations in your community we should cover? i What is your phone number? Scott Faust, executive editor The Salinas Californian, P.O. Box 81091, Salinas, CA 93912 Phone: (831) 754-4261 Fax: (831) 754-4293 E-mail: sfaustsalinas.gannett.com.