The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • 3

I SZiSZZSiiiSStM framwm iif if rHiiiri'iii rwr 3Z3E3S333 riiii The Desert Sun mWLUV Inside: On the record A4 Across the valley A4-5 News from back home A7-8 A3 WEDNESDAY January 6 1993 Tom Tait City Editor: 7784620 Ballesteros unanimous choice for Desert Sands Mutual attraction linked candidate district Franklin-McKinley district that Ballesteros had earned the respect and admiration of students parents staff and community members An indication of her popularity were nicknames for her and Monica said it was a principal teacher maintenance worker electrician or new Desert Sands board member Jim Koe-dyker said seemed comfortable with her and she with Trustee William Kroonen said the Franklin-McKinley district includes many His panics Vietnamese Laotian and Cambodian students giving Ballesteros experience working in a multicultural community Ballesteros did not attend meeting but in a prepared statement issued by the board said look forward to working with the school board staff community and students of the district seems apparent that quality education is the highest priority of the community and I feel I can make a solid contribution to this By CHRISTINE MAHR The Desert Sun INDIO Praised as a administrator Dolores Ballesteros was hired as Desert Sands Unified School District superintendent Tuesday with a 3fc-year contract and a starting salary of $97000 On a unanimous vote the five-member school board named Ballesteros 59 to succeed Esperanza Zendejas who resigned in April to take a similar position in Brownsville Texas Ballesteros has been superintendent of Franklin-McKinley Elementary School District in San Jose for 10 years Her appointment effective Feb 1 ends a six-month nationwide search that drew 56 candidates Carol McGrew assistant superintendent for personnel served as interim chief administrator "It's been a grueling six months but I can tell you unequivocally Desert Sands has a top-notch board President Matt Monica said of Ballesteros Monica said board members learned recently during a visit to the By CHRISTINE MAHR The Desert Sun INDIO For Desert Sands Unified School District officials and elementary school district Superintendent Dolores Ballesteros there was a mutual attraction from the beginning Each found qualities in the other that led Desert Sands board mem- bers to hire the 59-year-old San Jose educator Desert Sands trustees praised administrative experience her strong commitment to students and her ability to wort well with diverse groups In a telephone interview this week Ballesteros termed Desert Sands solid ground with a very good Having spent the past 10 years heading an elementary school district in San Jose Ballesteros said she also was ready to return to a unified kindergarten-through- grade-12 district The Franklin-McKinley Elementary School District in San Jose is one of seven elementary districts feeding into one high school district making it difficult to coordinate elementary and secondary programs die said "The districts aU have their own school boards and their own mission Ballesteros said The move also will bring her closer to her family and shorten commuting time for her and her husband David He is dean of San Diego State Imperial Valley campus Ballesteros attend Tuesday when trustees made her appointment official But she said she hopes to spend a day in the district before starting Feb 1 Her first task before thinking about goals and priorities for the district will he to meet and get to know people she said go ing to take my time getting well acquainted with staff and people out in the she said Ballesteros said she speaks a little Spanish but is not fluent Board members said her background experience and other strengths more than compensate for limited Spanish language skills in the largely minority area motivated by an honest desire to do the best she can for education and children rather than what's best for her board member Amy Swan-Draper said desire is not to be rich and famous or have her name in lights but to look back at what she did for a school she added A graduate of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti Ballesteros has a degree from Michigan State University East Lansing and a doctorate from US International University San Diego Driver surrenders car to man with handgun PALM SPRINGS A gunman stole a car from a woman Tuesday at a local supermarket in what may be the first carjacking police said The victim parked her Saab on the west side of Vons supermarket on Tahquitz Canyon Way and started to exit when a man with a handgun approached her at pm police LL Jim Heazlett said The man demanded the purse and car keys Heazlett said She complied and ran into the straw alerting employees he said The man drove away Police later found the car with one flat tire in open desert north of Tramview Road and east of Desert Highland Park Heazlett said The purse minus $60 in cash was found in the car Heazlett said Police are investigating whether the suspect is the same one who committed two armed robberies in the city Monday evening he said Police release man arrested in shooting INDIO A man arrested following the fatal shooting of sn Indio man has been released because of a lack of evidence officials said Anthony Figueroa Tovar 26 of Indio was released Sunday from Riverside County Jail in Indio after investigators determined they didn't have enough evidence for the district attorney to file a criminal charge against him Indio police spokesman Garry Heckman said Tovar was nested Dec 31 William Dubose 44 of Indio was shot to death Dec 30 in the parking lot of an Arabia Street apartment complex The case remains under investigation Heckman said Deputies find robbery suspect under bridge PALM DESERT An armed robbery suspect was found hiding under a bridge Tuesday after a man threatened security guards with a stun gun and knife when they confronted him in a department store officials said Henry Borrego 31 of Cathedral City was booked into Riverside County Jail in Indio for investigation of armed robbery and a misdemeanor complaint for possession of a stun gun a Jail spokesman said He was held on $20000 bail He was arrested after sheriff's deputies responded to a report of an armed robbery at Mervyn's on Highway 111 at 2:20 pm sheriffs Sgt Gary McDonald said man shoplifted some clothes and was confronted by security guards when he tried to leave McDonald said The man dropped the merchandise and brandished the weapons before fleeing the store A man matching the suspect's description was found hiding under the Parkview Drive Bridge he said Deputies recovered weapons Reform Rabbis group meets In Palm Springs PALM SPRINGS More than 125 rabbis from at least a dozen Western states are attending the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis 47th annual convention at the Palm Springs Hilton 400 Tahquitz Canyon Way Workshops and lectures through Thursday include topics sqch as the future of the Jewish community in America and women's reflections on life and death Staff reports oaird moves to acquire site tor park entry By PHIL HAMPTON and LYNNDEE KEMMET The Desert Sun RIVERSIDE Riverside County supervisors moved Tuesday to seize a narrow strip of land for a road to reach a future Indian Canyons Heritage Park south of Palm Springs On a unanimous vote the board agreed to begin eminent domain proceedings against Andreas Canyon Club a group of about 20 nearby homeowners that owns 436 acres at the northwest tip of the proposed park Eminent domain allows a government to acquire property for the public good after an unwilling seller is paid a market An attorney for Andreas Canyon Club said the move was unnecessary because there are better routes to the planned park Attorney Hugh Hewitt said the group will fight the land seizure by filing a lawsuit aimed in part at Andreas Cove Development Co That company won county approval in 1987 for a hotel and country club on about 500 acres leased from individual members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians It has since cooperated on creation of the park with county state federal and tribal officials granted us certain rights to that (432 acres) and now they propose selling it to the Hewitt said been negotiating (on the park) but we've been left Andreas Cove attorney Bonnie Garland Guss disputed Hewitt's claims She said Canyon Club officials were first invited to negotiations a year ago and that condemnation is the only alternative to gain access to the park She said club officials turned down an offer of $110000 for the road easement which is 110 feet wide and covers 432 acres be happy to take on any challenge they care to dish Garland Guss said Supervisors voted to deny Hewitt's request for a one-month delay to allow for negotiations on an alternative route To buy 354 acres for the park the state put in escrow $185 million from the sale bonds approved by voters in 1988 But it release the money until the access route decided officials said The county has pledged about $500000 developer fees for another nine acres Another 52 acres would come from an change involving the federal Bureau of Management The park to be run by the Agua Calirntes would permanently preserve the area Andreas Murray and Palm Canyons meet an alluvial fan The canyons are home to hundreds of sites rare wildlife and and some of the largest palm oases in country DOUG PARKThe Desert Sun QUICK HELP: Emergency workers help one of seven people hurt in a crash Tuesday at the comer of Bob Hope and Country Club drives Rancho Mirage crash injures 7 has of won't is in ex- Land where in archaeological plants the both of Cathedral City were treated and released the nursing supervisor said Mario Trujillo and another passenger Randy Peralez 16 of Desert Hot Springs were treated for minor injuries at Eisenhower Memorial Hospital in Rancho Mirage and released sheriff's Sgt John Kil-lin said Investigators said Trujillo was driving south on Bob Hope at 5:45 pm and collided with the Jeep Cherokee which was being driven west on Country Club by Joseph De Coster 61 of Rancho Mirage De Coster was treated at Eisenhower Memorial Hospital and released The wreck remains under investigation Staff reports RANCHO MIRAGE Six teen-agers and a 61-year-old man were injured Tuesday when a pickup truck and a Jeep Cherokee collided at Bob Hope and Country Club drives officials said Four teens were ejected from the bed of the pickup truck driven by Mario Trujillo 17 of Cathedral City They were taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs investigators said Susie Heredia 16 of Desert Hot Springs was in fair condition while Sonya Valle 18 of Cathedral City was still being evaluated at 10 pm a nursing supervisor said Elena Trujillo 15 and Jose Perez 19 Golf cart road registration lagging '4 Coachella recall try ruled void Fantasy 5Tuesday 8 13 15 29 35 Jackpot: $246266 DeccoTuesday Hearts: 9 Clubs: 9 Diamonds: King Spades: 5 Fpur correct cards $5000 three cards $50 two cards $5 one card free entry in hext daily drawing Daily 3 Tuesday ft 20 Jpckpot: $500 By DIANA MARCUM The Desert Sun PALM DESERT A five-year pilot program to allow golf carts on Palm Desert streets puttered forward Tuesday But city officials were quick to point out that the golf-cart-slow pace was fine with them don't need to be immediately inundated with golf said crime prevention officer Brent Conley as he inspected carts at the Shadow Mountain Country Club Five carts passed his inspection bringing the total number of carts registered to seven Many of those watching Conley go through his inspections were there Just to ask questions if I never go anywhere other than a golf asked Martin Berry of Indian Wells we'll be glad as heck but you'll still need a Conley said Others wait to roll years ago we ran all over town in our golf cart But that was when this town had two lights Now we need the special lanes" said 83-year-old Leonard Lillegard of Palm Desert who was told he'd need a side-view mirror before he could obtain a permit John Kenkel 74 of Palm Desert watched from a distance and decided to keep his cart away from city streets for a while season I'll try it" he said I want car A DOUG PARK The Desert Sun CERVANTEB GONZALEZ PARK FACILITY: Council considers proposal A5 On Dec 2 Freeman presented Gonzalez and Cervantes with another notice of intent charging that Gonzalez used his elected post to help his contracting business and that Cervantes helped Gonzalez in the effort But Freeman's accompanying statement listing grounds for the proposed recall exceeded the number of words allowed by the elections code Dixon said Gonzalez refused to comment at the time and Cervantes denied the accusations $taff reports COACHELLA A recall effort against Councilmen Jesus Gonzalez and Gregorio Cervantes is dead after failing to meet state elections code requirements Deputy City Clerk Julia Dixon said Tuesday Resident Bill Freeman who initiated the recall effort against the two elected officials in November said he has no plans to start anew now it's more or less in he said Dixon said Freeman failed in November to file proof that he served Gonzalez and Cervantes with papers notifying them of his intent to circulate a recall petition ROAD-READY: Lew Clark gets his golf cart inspect-ed by Palm Desert safety officer Brent Conley 1 drivers to get used to it firsL 1 have only one life to give It won't be for a golf carL" Palm Desert is allowing golf carts on the streets in an effort to reduce air pollution A motive that wasn't lost on Bob Chavez of Palm Desert me it's an easier way to get around Chavez said the most important thing is that it will be one more ry off the st Corrections We correct errors of fact promptly and courteously If you have a correction or clarlfics-tlqp call the city desl 778-4619 JL.