The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • Page 21

DESERT SUN OBITUARIES Due to an error, the following obituary is being reprinted. Leonarda Flores Leonarda G. Flores, 80, of Cathedral City died March 7, 2004, in Hemet. She was born Nov. 6, 1923, to Policarpio Flores and Francisca Gines in Philippines.

She was a businesswoman in the Philippines for 30 years. She is survived by two daughters, Sonia F. Garcia and Marietta F. Dancel; seven sons, Cesar, Victor, Renato, Pepito, Arturo, Mario and Roberto Flores; 23 grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren. Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Palm Springs Mortuary in Cathedral City. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. 1 Theresa Catholic Church in Palm Springs.

Interment will be at Desert Memorial Park cemetery under the direction of Palm Springs Mortuary. Benjamin Lopez Benjamin Sanchez Lopez, 61, of Indio died March 4, 2004, in Rancho Mirage. He was born June 29, 1942, to William and Anita Sanchez Lopez in Tijuana, Mexico. He married Mary Hernandez on Aug. 24, 1968, in Indio.

He was a teacher with the Coachella Valley Unified School District for 26 years and an interpreter with the Indio courts for 20 years. He was a member of Apostolic Church in Indio for 37 years and a member of Varones Apostolico. He is survived by his wife, Mary H. Lopez of Indio; two sons, Benjamin Pablo Lopez and Mikael Aaron Lopez of Indio; his sister, Consuelo Gills of San Diego; his brother, Ruben Lopez of San Diego; and one grandson. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m.

Thursday, with a service at 6:30 p.m. at Apostolic Church in Indio with another service at 9 a.m. Friday. Interment will be at Coachella Valley Cemetery under the direction of FitzHenry Funeral Home. Who handles obituaries? To have an Desert Sun's cbituary form.

Essential information and hometown of the deceased as well as survivors. Also essential is the name and the information for publication. For details, Going on vacation? To temporarily halt because you're going out of town, call Monday through Friday or between 6 a.m. Contract Continued from B1 expiration. The delay in inking an agreement has fueled some speculation that Oden is trying to push out bureau general manager and vice president Linda Fort because he's unhappy with the bureau's performance.

Oden, when he was a councilman, was critical of the bureau. On Tuesday, however, the mayor denied any problems with Fort. "I am fine with the personnel. I am more concerned with the position and how it interacts with the city," Oden said. "I have no problems with the personalities involved.

I get along fine with Linda." Some in the tourism community have criticized Fort and the bureau for staging events like Rocktoberfest and A Weekend with The King, which they feel does not attract high numbers of out-of-towners. For her part, Fort has said the events were successful and says she believes she'll be retained when the contract is renewed. "Nobody's given me any indication otherwise," she said Tuesday. City Councilman Steve Pougnet, who sits with Oden on a council subcommittee on tourism, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The other council members declined to state their opinions on a new SMG contract because it hasn't been discussed in council yet.

"We have not discussed any changes in tourism," Councilman Mike McCulloch said. Said Mayor Pro Tem Chris Mills: "SMG and Linda Fort have done a good job and I expect they will continue to do a good job." Councilwoman Ginny Foat said the council wouldn't be doing its "due diligence" if it made up its mind before hearing what city staff has to say. Staff members say they are working on a five-year contract with SMG that would keep the WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2004 B7 FOR THE RECORD RECORD FIND MORE Desert Sun obituaries dating back to July 1999 are available online: thedesertsun.com Nellie Aguilar Nellie Ysiano Aguilar, 87, of Indio died March 7, 2004, in Corona of natural causes. She was born Feb. 28, 1917, to Francisco and Margarita Rivera Ysiano in California.

She was a packer with Safeway Packing Co. for 25 years. She is survived by two daughters, Irene Marsh and Christina Giannini of Riverside; two sons, Eddie Aguilar of Indio and George Aguilar of Palm Desert; 13 grandchildren; and 14 greatgrandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert Aguilar. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m.

today, with a rosary at 6:30 p.m. at FitzHenry Funeral Home in Indio. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Indio. Burial will be at Coachella Valley Cemetery under the direction of FitzHenry Funeral Home Indio.

Due to an error, the following obituary 1 is being reprinted. Dixie Campbell Dixie Lee Campbell, 68, of Yucca Valley died March 3, 2004, in Yucca Valley. She was born Feb. 2, 1936, to Fred and Rayma Lee Doolin Campbell in Los Angeles. She was a homemaker for 50 years.

She was a member of the Baptist Church in Twentynine Palms and the Assembly of God Church in Yucca Valley. She is survived by five cousins, Virginia Cannell of San Jose, Don Campbell of California, Diana Campbell of Tustin, Patsy Willsey of Pico Rivera and Jianulla Zimmerman of Redondo Beach; and her aunt, Dorothy Houston of Pico Rivera. Private arrangements are under the direction of Rose Mortuary of Desert Hot Springs. The family suggests that donations be made to Assembly of God Church in Yucca Valley. obituary published, you must complete The includes: name, age and birthday, the names and hometowns of the telephone number of the relative submitting call Nina Ronda at 778-4639.

the delivery of The Desert Sun 322-5555 between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. and noon Saturdays and Sundays. bureau's annual budget at around $1.4 million and would be reviewed every year by the council. "Everybody agrees on what the job is.

Everybody agrees on what the budget is," said City Attorney David Aleshire. But the sticking point, officials say, has been in formalizing the review process and outlining how the city interacts with SMG. The city recently formed an ad-hoc committee of local hoteliers and retailers to give suggestions to the bureau. The new contract will explain how much power the committee has to give direction. "All this is changing (the new contract) is the accountability structure," said Ready, the city manager.

He added: "Ideally, the whole purpose of tourism is to serve the tourism industry in Palm Springs. They should have some input in the process." Fort said she welcomes the committee's ideas. It has already suggested that the bureau focus less on hosting events and more on marketing Palm Springs. "Our next charge is to work with the bureau on priorities," said Michael Green, president of the Desert Gay Tourism Guild and a member of the ad-hoc committee. SMG also manages the Palm Springs Convention Center under a separate contract.

City staff hope to make it so the two contracts expire at the same time. Brian Joseph covers Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at Brian.Joseph@thedesertsun.com or 778-4757. Samuel Fradkoff Samuel Fradkoff, 93, of Reseda and formerly of Palm Springs died Feb. 29, 2004, in Tarzana.

He was born Jan. 29, 1911, to Max and Rose Feldman Fradkoff in Boston. He married Grace Weinberg on Aug. 31, 1932, in Boston. He worked in the entertainment industry and theater management for more than 20 years and was a volunteer at the Braille Institute in Rancho Mirage.

He is survived by his wife, Grace Fradkoff of Reseda; his daughter, Rosalyn G. Glenn of Valencia; two sons, Ronald Fradkoff of Santa Monica and David Fradkoff of Valencia; his brother, Jocko Fradkoff of Florida; eight grandchildren; and nine greatgrandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Gerald Fradkoff and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Eternal Light Chapel, Eden Memorial Park in Mission Hills.

Interment will be at Eden Memorial Park with Wiefels Son Funeral Directors of Palm Springs in charge of arrangements. The family suggests that donations be made to the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda. Thomas Colgan Thomas Hall Colgan, 69, of Palm Springs died March 5, 2004, in Palm Springs. He was born Oct. 5, 1934, to Frederick and Irene Hall Colgan in Bradford, Ill.

He was a Realtor with Kallister Realty in Peoria, for 25 years and served in the Army. He is survived by his daughter, Angela Gordon of Washington, two sons, Steven Colgan of Masury, Ohio, and Jeffrey D. Colgan of Chicago; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Additional survivors include three sisters, Margaret Bankie of Peoria, Patricia France of DeKalb, and Judy Hopkins of Henry, and his brother, Reggie Colgan of Bradford, Ill. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m.

today, with a funeral Mass celebrated at 10 a.m. at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Palm Springs. Private arrangements are under the direction of Rose Mortuary of Desert Hot Springs. The family suggests that donations be made to a charity of choice.

Budget Continued from B1 shifts and changing the utilization of some funds. Much of the theme for the first 90 minutes of the meeting was a warning: someone will leave the meeting disappointed after their program is cut. Kris Drake, a third-grade teacher at Two Bunch Palms Elementary School in Desert Hot Springs, was one of the disappointed. "This will just make it so that music and PE are not beneficial for the kids," she said. "It will turn into a babysitting session with that many all Dr.

Kathleen Gjerdingen, an elementary teacher at Cathedral City Elementary School, said facilities crowded with 62 children would present safety hazards. "They'll be in there shoulderto-shoulder, and you just can't have kids this age packed in together like that," she said. In the end, it appeared that the order of program cuts had been Lorita Tassinari Lorita Tassinari, 89, of Palm Springs died Jan. 29, 2004, in Rancho Mirage. She was born Oct.

28, 1914, to Vito Pentasuglia and Rosa Giancola in Manhattan, N.Y. She married Renato Tassinari on Dec. 27, 1943, in Bari, Italy. She was a teacher of romance languages at Bishop Ludden High School in Syracuse, N.Y., retiring after 17 years. She is survived by four daughters, Maria Pia Mason of Palm Springs, Elena Jordan of Long Island, N.Y., Rosanne Thompson of Fort Pierce, and Gloria Winter of Palm Desert; her brother, Patrick Pent of Portland, five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be at 9 a.m. today, with a rosary at 10:15 a.m., followed by a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. at St. Louis Catholic Church in Cathedral City. Entombment will be at St.

Mary Cemetery in DeWitt, N.Y., under the direction of Hollis Funeral Home in Syracuse, N.Y. The family suggests that donations be made to Hanson House Foundation in Palm Springs. Renato Tassinari Renato Tassinari, 84, of Palm Springs died March 2, 2004, in Palm Springs. He was born March 14, 1919, to Albert Tassinari and Pia Siboni in Milan, Italy. He married Lorita Pentasuglia on Dec.

27, 1943, in Bari, Italy. He was a machinist at Carrier Corp. in Syracuse, N.Y., for 30 years. He is survived by four daughters, Maria Pia Mason of Palm Springs, Elena Jordan of Long Island, N.Y., Rosanne Thompson of Fort Pierce, and Gloria Winter of Palm Desert; five grandchildren; and nine greatgrandchildren. Visitation will be at 9 a.m.

today, with a rosary at 10:15 a.m., followed by a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. at St. Louis Catholic Church in Cathedral City. Entombment will be at St. Mary Cemetery in De Witt, N.Y., under the direction of Hollis Funeral Home in Syracuse.

The family suggests that donations be made to Hanson Foundation in Palm Springs. made beforehand. The list, organized after several months of meetings, was not altered during the meeting. It was only briefly discussed before it was called to motion by board member Andrew Green and unanimously approved by the rest of the members. Sellwood shook his head in relief after the decision, and district president Meredy Shoenberger patted him on the back.

Most of the audience silently filed out after the motion passed, most stopping in groups outside to discuss the decision. "Nobody is happy about the cuts we'll have to make there aren't any winners here," said Gary Coble, band director at Desert Springs Middle School. "I just wish Sacramento would get its act together so we could know exactly how much we need to cut." Trey Clark is a general assignment reporter for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at Trey.Clark@thedesert sun.com or 778-4645. IN LOVING MEMORY RICHARD "RICARDO" RODRIQUEZ MARCH 10, 1994 LOVE, YOUR FAMILY FACTORY DIRECT LOCAL MFG.

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Numbers picked 2, 9, 10, 26, 37 On the Web: www.calottery.com Lottery Match all five for top prize. Match at least three for information, Riverside offices: (800) 568-8379 other prizes. Water Continued from B1 27 percent in 1986 to as little as about 2 percent in 2001, according to Coachella Valley Water District. In some years no river water is mixed with the drinking supply. River water, after it flows over Imperial Valley farm fields, is also the major source for replenishment of the Salton Sea.

The source of the chromium plume is Topock Compressor Station, a natural gas compressing station about 15 miles from the isolated desert town of Needles. Between 1951 and the 1960s, dumped wastewater contaminated with chromium, a chemical it once used to clean the works at the station, into a nearby wash. Around 1996, the state's toxic substances department began working with the company to develop a cleanup plan for the site. But the company didn't actually begin pumping and treating contaminated groundwater until this week. Now officials at Metropolitan, which diverts river water into the Colorado River Aqueduct 42 miles downstream from the Topock site, is calling for additional precautions, like the wall, to ensure the plume doesn't reach the river.

"They have known about this for 15 years already," said Ortega, a Metropolitan spokesman. At its greatest concentration about 625 feet from the river, the plume contains about 12,000 parts per billion of chromium. "Metropolitan strongly urges the (d)epartment to recognize that Topock remains an emergency situation," wrote the water district's program manager Lisa Anderson in a Feb. 11 letter to the toxic substances department. A spokesman said the plume has been "largely static," but the company is nevertheless considering the notion of a physical barrier.

"It is something that is clearly a possibility," company spokesman Jon Tremayne said of a barrier. The company would pay to build an underground wall, but Tremayne said there are not yet any cost estimates. "That is absolutely not an issue," he said. On Monday, the toxic substances department reported new cleanup requirements it has given the company. They call on to convert several monitoring wells into contamination extraction wells and to "expeditiously evaluate" the notion of building the barrier.

Officials at the Palm Desertbased Colorado River Basin Region of the Regional Water Quality Control Board are encouraged by the quicker pace but questioned why the toxic substances department didn't heed their warnings earlier. Last summer, one toxic substances official said the water quality board's suggestion that chromium was approaching the river was causing "undue alarm" among water users. "Ironically, now they are pushing ahead as fast as they Gary Johnson, president of the water quality board, said of the toxic substances department. At that time Johnson's group was wrestling with the toxic substances department for bureaucratic control of the site. The Palm Desert-based group was pushing for a quicker cleanup pace.

officials wanted the toxic substances department to remain in control of the project however, saying they had been successfully working with that group for years. Ultimately the California Environmental Protection Agency ruled the Department of Toxic Substances Control would remain in charge, but agreed to hasten the work. Benjamin Spillman covers the environment. He can be reached at 360-1532 or Benjamin.Spillman@ thedesertsun.com Paying Too Much For Drugs? Canada Drug Service Save up to MEMBER Prescriptions From Canada BBB Palm Chamber of Springs Commerce THE MEMBER SOUTHLAND 2345 S. Cherokee Way Palm Springs, CA 92264 (760) 318-9228 Bob (Bozo) Kokolj On Sunday, March 7 our beloved father and grandfather passed away peacefully in his garden, in Palm Springs.

He was a Chetnik Fighter in WWII in Yugoslavia and traveled throughout Europe before settling in the United States. He owned the Koffee Kup Restaurant for 11 years and Bob's Roofing Company thereafter until retirement. Bob was preceded in death by his beloved wife Ann. He is survived by daughters: Nancy Kokolj of San Francisco, and Sylvia Kokolj Burgess (Mark Burgess) of Tiburon; son Rodney Kokolj of Palm Springs; and grandchildren Camille and Julia Burgess. He had great strength, a wonderful sense of humor, a deep love for his family and friends, and a truly inspirational appreciation for the beauty of life.

He will be forever missed and always remembered. There will be a viewing Wednesday, March 10 from 4-8pm, and memorial services Thursday, March 11 at 11am. Both will be held at Palm Springs Mortuary, 69855 Ramon Road, Cathedral City. Immediately following internment there will be a reception at The Lodge i in Rancho Mirage. The family suggests memorials to your favorite charity.

We love you Djedo.