The Californian from Salinas, California • 3

Tuesday, March 22, 2005 (T FROM PAGE ONECALIFORNIA iwm. Needs approval STORMY Gusting wind, thunderstorms predicted From Page 1A From Page 1A FORECAST- 'We all realized the incredible costs to the community if we James Sullivan, bargaining attorney, Children's Services International not as the children's parents choose, Botta said. About a dozen staff members will be transferred to CSI's other centers, she said. Botta said CSI will open up vacant rooms in its other centers to make room for any kids who transfer from the Natividad facility. In the meantime, she said, CSI is awaiting completion of a new facility the city of Soledad is building, which could be ready in six months.

"It was time to move on and open up in other areas," Botta said. Contact Zachary Stall! at zstahlgannettxom. Sanchez said details of the agreement cannot be discussed until the workers ratify it but that it includes no take-aways in child-care incentives and no increase in medical premiums. Botta declined to say whether the contract includes wage increases. The two parties also agreed to collaborate on seeking additional funding, which is provided mainly by the California Department of Educatioa "We all realized the incredible costs to the community if we said James Sulli- van, CSFs bargaining attorney.

Botta said the decision to close CSI's Family Service Center, located across the street from Natividad Medical Center, has nothing to do with the contract agreement. CSI has occupied the facility since 1998 under a rent-free contract with the hospital, but n6w Natividad wants a tenant who can pay, and CSI can't afford it, Botta said. Natividad officials could not be reached for comment Monday. "It's really unfortunate that it happened at this time, but it's something that we have to move forward on," Botta said. When the center closes to the public April 29, its 48 enrolled children will be relocated to other child-care facilities in Salinas, either run by CSI or winds of 20-35 mile per hour with gusts up to 50 mph.

Today's forecast for Salinas calls for a high of 62 degrees and a low of 46 overnight the weather service said. The day will see occasional thunderstorms with a westerly wind about 17 mph. Salinas has a 40 percent chance of showers by nighttime. Monterey County residents can expect scattered showers through Thursday, Canepa said. With a possible break in the rain coming Friday night into Saturday, more ram late Sunday could move Easter-egg hunts indoors this year.

Canepa said the rain is rather typical in March and will continue intermittently through April before tapering off in May. Salinas received 0.9 inches Today will see occasional thunderstorms with a chance of showers in the evening, according to the National Weather Service. Highs in Monterey County will be in the 60s with overnight lows in the 40s. The National Weather Service forecasts a slight chance of rain Easter Sunday with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. of rain between 4 Sunday and 4 pm Monday, he said.

The year-to-date rainfall total for Salinas is 16.19 inches compared to a yearly average of 12 inches. Canepa said the cause is a storm pattern that has been very active this winter, particularly in Southern California. Contact Victor Calderon at caldefongannettcom. ILLEGAL About half are Mexican From Page 1A the study's March 2004 estimates. Another 2.5 million migrants, or 24 percent of the ha2 total, are from other Latin American countries.

The study comes on the eve of a meeting between President George W. Bush and his Tony Acosta judiciary committee of both houses of Congress. The solution to such a complex problem will not be easy, Acosta said, but it could begin the creation of better jobs in Mexico and with educating migrants about the dangers of crossing the desert "That's what the government tried to do with the immigrant guide published earlier this year," he said, referring to a document published by the Mexican government with tips for immigrants to avoid the dangers of coming to the United States without papers. "The country got a lot of bad press about it but what the guide encouraged, first and foremost was for people to migrate legally to this country." Contact Claudia Metendez Salinas at cmelendezPgannett.com. toward a guest-worker program," he said.

Acosta, like many other immigration activists, is opposed to a guest-worker program because it could lend itself to abuses, such as those endured by the temporary workers called braceros, who labored from 1942 to 1964. Advocates are pushing for immigration reforms that would grant legal status to millions of undocumented people as one solution to the problem, but they acknowledge there's not much political will to move the issue beyond the halls of Congress. Last year, a widely supported immigration reform bill, Agjobs, was stuck in committee even though it had the necessary votes to be approved. The bill was reintroduced in February, and it's now in the in Monterey County, California receives the largest share of undocumented arrivals with 24 percent. Next comes Texas with 14 percent, then Florida with 9 percent Two-thirds of the undocumented population lives in just eight states.

Some activists, like Acosta, believe the number is deceiving, as it does not take into account people who are in the process of acquiring legal status. "Let's say I'm a citizen and Tm applying for my brother. Well, that takes 14 years, but in the meantime, they're still counting him as undocumented," Acosta said. Mexicans, numbering an estimated 5.9 million, make up the largest group of undocumented migrants about 57 percent of the total according to Circulation Customer service Salinas (835758-2000 Toll Free In California (800) 300-6397 Monday-Friday 5 a.m. to 5 pm.

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Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox. The two leaders are scheduled to meet Wednesday in Waco, Texas, and although many activists are hoping they'll broach the subject of an immigration agreement, Acosta remains skeptical "I don't know what agenda they have, but both of them want to follow the Bush approach, which is geared ESTABLISHED 1171 0 The KM Salinas ST Califommn SERVINS THE SAUNAS VALLEY AND MONTEREY COUNTY The Salinas California! (478-120) is published Monday-Saturday morning by Salinas Newspapers. 123 Alisai St. RO. Box 81091.

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'V Call (831) 422-1516 www.hldeoaeekca.orf Hide Seek ChMlffjn a Foun.attofl t13 CaHfomkm PACIFIC TUB TILE Refinishing Co. North Main Shell. 1198 N. MAIN 449-4566 Smog Check I $KP0 fgryfb (449-2284) Cat Lie 776449 Since 1989 lAttTIt tEFIMISMIMO REPAIR AND REFINISH VOFF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS I VsmRVundTVucks extra PORCELIN, CERAMIC FIBERGLASS wfeoupon only Assistant District Attorney David Brent, left, addresses the media after giving the opening statement in the Samantha Runnion murder trial Monday in Santa Ana. CHIP REPAIR COIORCHANGE Jl COUPON COUPON COUPON COUPON COUPON C0 I IS have come from the child's tears, she shielded her eyes with one hand and looked down.

"None of this has been easy," she said in a statement "But it will be especially difficult to revisit all of the details as they are filtered through the parameters of a courtroom." upset about a recent breakup with his girlfriend, he said. "Please keep an open mind," Zalewski told jurors. Samantha's mother, Erin, sat in the second row of the courtroom with her husband, Kenneth Donnelly. When Brent mentioned the DNA that may 8 Eair Man in a car took Samantha Runnior i in 2002, girl says By BEN FOX The Associated Press SANTA ANA A 9-year-old girl told a jury Monday about the night when her friend Samantha Runnion was snatched from outside a condominium in a crime that prompted a massive public outpouring of grief amid a series of violent crimes against children. Sarah Ahn, who clutched a stuffed animal and barely reached the level of the microphone in the witness stand of an Orange County courtroom, said she and Samantha were playing outside when a man in a green car drove past them, circled back and asked them to help him find a lost puppy.

He suddenly grabbed 5-year-old Samantha and threw her in his car. "She was screaming," Ahn said. "She was shaking, kicking, trying to get loose." The child's testimony came on the first day of the trial of Alejandro Avila, 30, who is charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering Samantha in July 2002. He faces the death penalty if convicted. Ahn testified that she couldn't remember all the details of the night of the abduction, and the defense focused on elements of her description that don't match Avila or his car.

Ahn, whose description helped produce a composite sketch that closely resembles Avila, was among the first witnesses in a trial that is expected to last up to four months. Assistant District Attorney David Brent, speaking to jurors in opening statements, outlined a prosecution case that includes cell phone and debit card records, scrapings of Avila's DNA from beneath Samantha's fingernails and genetic material from the 5-year-old found in two places inside the defendant's car. A sample of the girl's DNA discovered along the inside of the passenger door may have come from Samantha's tears, Brent said, though later he added that it was also consistent with mucous. Alejandro Avila Samantha Runnion Sharon Shaw-Flores RealtorOwner 1 REALTY yu WUKLU I BROKER NETWORK Expires 52905 HARDEN RANCH PLAZA bw Hun Dqwo PREMIER ASSOCIATES Real Estate Sales Mortgage Loans 35 E. Romie Ln.

Suite Salinas. CA 93901 Bus: 754-4447 Cell: 206-3071 ioS Each office independently owned and operated fJdriOD NOdflOD NOdDOD NOdflOD NOdDOD NOcF NOVA I Adult 1 rDog rood OVER 70 ITEMS ON LUNCH DINNER MENU Defense attorney Philip Zalewski, meanwhile, suggested to jurors that Samantha's DNA was planted inside Avila's car, claiming that an earlier search turned up no genetic material linking him to the abduction. Brent rejected the accusation and said the earlier search was only for fingerprints. "What I thought was frankly outlandish was the suggestion that the evidence was planted. It's very disturbing to me that they would even suggest that.

It's not the way law enforcement works in this county," Brent told reporters outside the courtroom. In his opening statement, Zalewski said Avila's DNA found beneath Samantha's fin- emails was improperly col-ected and that there were a number of inconsistencies in witness accounts. Avila, a factory worker at the time of his arrest, took a rambling drive through parts of Orange and Riverside counties on the day of Samantha's disappearance because he was i' ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET Soups, appetizers, salad bar, fresh fruits and main dishes with desserts and ice cream. D)99 mm 4 flOOFF on lunch and dinner buffet 3 9 IU 0 Mon-Thurs. Expires 33105 ires 32905 Oriental and American Cuisine CLJCL OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK Hours: Sun-Thur; 11am-10pm -Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm Mict pot rod a nut 443 ltl7i S1000 N.

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