Visalia Times-Delta from Visalia, California • 20

4D. Monday, June 26, 2006 Visalia Times-Delta Gay parade gets serious Gas prices drop, but expected to remain high in near future In California, the highest average price for self-serve regular, $3.16 a gallon, was in San Diego. The lowest, $3.03 a gallon, was in Bakers-field. High ethanol and crude oil prices and increasing Chinese demand for crude oil will keep gas prices high in the near future, analyst Trilby Lundberg said. stations across the country.

That's just 6 cents less than this year's peak price of $2.95 a gallon in early May, but still 68 cents higher than last year's average. The average mid-grade price was $2.99 a gallon while premium ran $3.09. The Associated Press CAMARJLLO U.S. gas prices declined in the past two weeks, but hardly enough to provide relief for summer travelers, a nationwide survey released Sunday shows. The average price for self-serve regular gas on Friday was down 4.5 cents to $2.89 a gallon, according The Associated Press Members of the Barbary Coast Cloggers perform Sunday during San Francisco's annual Gay Pride Parade.

You're Invited to Join Michael B. Stevens, M.D. Ph.D. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery LEARN ABOUT NEW PROCEDURES VelaSmooth Cellulite Reduction Blue Light Acne Treatments Permanent Make-Up Healthy Skin Treatments Obagi Blue Peel -on Tuesday June 27th at Live Obagi' Blue Peel Demonstration Silly fun now joined by corporate logos and political issues The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Tens of thousands of people wearing elaborate costumes and waving banners rattled noise makers, blew whistles and cheered as participants marched in this city's 36th annual Gay Pride parade. There was a serious side to this year's parade, too, with national corporations conspicuously present and the national debate over issues such as gay marriage looming large.

Thousands of people in multicolored wigs and face paint lined Market Street downtown as marching bands, dancers and floats bearing corporate logos streamed by. "They're gay," said Michael Crowe, 63, as a marching band playing "ABC" by the Jackson 5 filed past. "How do they march straight?" Crowe, a resident of nearby Newark, said he's attended the parade for years. One of the most striking differences this year, he said, was the high-profile presence of corporations such as Delta Airlines, Wells Fargo and Kaiser Per-manente. The companies sponsored floats with corporate logos emblazoned on them.

Delta's float was a mock jetliner. "There's much greater acceptance in corporate America," he said. Other organizations that marched included the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Rocket Dog Rescue, a volunteer group that helps abandoned dogs find homes. One marcher with the latter group walked with pit bull that was dressed in a rainbow tutu. Rocky Angel, a 40-year-old artist from Oakland, attended wearing demic and discrirninatioa "It's to have a good time, but also to remember the issues out there," Jane Woodman, 26, said of the gathering.

"There's still a lot of work to be done," she said, noting the national debate raging over whether gays and lesbians should have a legal right to marry. "It's kind of a make-or-break time," Woodman said Michael Bailey, 38, said he marched for years in the parade, but that more recently, as he's grown more comfortable with his orientation, he has opted to stand in the crowd. "Coming out isn't easy," he said. "If you're 17 or 25 you need to be cheered at." 1 a Cn FnrYnnr Rpscrvntinm Tndnvl I i hi' ri i m-j aim i L'i'i i m-i 1 1 a w.wi iwu iiih green and black face paint and a black bandanna bearing the skull and cross bones. "Black is a traditional Sunday color for me," said Angel, who was also decked out with a sturdy chain around his neck, medallions of a dragoa a sword and a pentagram.

Although he said he had been hearing about the parade for years, it was the fu st time he had attended. "It's maybe not quite as flamboyant as I pictured it," he said. That's not to say there weren't plenty of sights. One float carried a bearded man wearing a white lace mini skirt and fish net stockings who sang Madonna's "Like a Virgin" as a band backed him. A half-dozen men dressed in underwear and top hats danced behind him.

Another float carried members of the Barbary Coast Cloggers, a men's group dedicated to the traditional dance form. The rowdy performers wore red checkered shirts, straw cowboy hats, blue jeans and heavy boots, as they stomped in time to country music. "It's true street theater," said Dan Jepson, 68, as he watched But many of the parade-goers, striking a more serious tone, came bearing political slogans concerning gay marriage, the AIDS epi- 2824 W. Main Street 625-3480 wvw.creeksidedayspa.com mm IN BRIEF late Proposition which limits the development of restaurants or food service facilities in the coastal zone. They also argued that a 1948 locker building that is expected to be razed would violate rules for properties listed in the California Register of Historical Resources.

Proponents of the proposed beach club, however, argue that the locker building was erected well after the historic period most associated with the property and that it was incorrectly included on the register. In recent years, the city has I Queen irx plijsKi Op 'b Ns set393'93' King -j'' Queen zr; ralass see J-ZJJ VV. Full King NASCAR team owner released from custody LOS ANGELES A businessman and NASCAR team owner accused of defrauding the government of more than $20 million in taxes was released federal custody despite prosecutors' objections that he might flee the country or intimidate witnesses. Gene Haas, the 54-year-old owner of Oxnard-based Haas Automation, was arrested earlier this week for investigation of conspiracy, filing false tax returns and witness intimidation. U.S.

Magistrate Judge Patrick Walsh released Haas on $10 million bond on Friday, rejecting arguments by prosecutors that he is more likely to flee the country because of his incredible wealth. Haas earns about $100 million annually, according to his Beverly Hills attorney, Ken Barish. "In Southern California, anyone who wants to leave the country can," Walsh said. The judge also restricted Haas from traveling outside Southern California, but he will be allowed to attend auto races. Haas is the owner of Haas CNC Racing Team, which participates in NASCAR events, the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series.

Haas is accused of orchestrating a plan to list $50 million in bogus expenses that could be written off as business costs and save the company $20 million in taxes. Homeowners oppose public beach club idea SANTA MONICA Four beachfront homeowners are challenging the city's plan to build the nation's first public beach club at the former Pacific Coast Highway estate of comedic actress Marion Davies. A complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Palisades Beach Property Owners Association and resident Jonathan Ornstein charges that the project's environmental impact report fails to adequately address problems with traffic and parking. The plaintiffs believe the project would vio moved forward with its effort to remake the site as a public beach club. It received a windfall when the Annenberg Foundation agreed to provide a $28 million grant.

Amenities would include a restored swimming pool, changing and locker rooms and public event rooms. The estate's historic North House, used by Davies' family and friends, would be restored. Damaged Boy Scouts ship faces unclear future NEWPORT BEACH A 101-year-old Danish ship sailed by Boy Scouts since 1972 has left the Newport Sea Base in what could be its final voyage. The 92-foot Argus was taken out of service in January after a Coast Guard inspection found its hull and iron had rotted It will be stored in Long Beach to make room at the Newport Sea Base docks. Boy Scouts of America put the ship up for auction on eBay, but got no bids.

It needs an estimated $1.5 million in repairs. For Capt. Erik Berliner, who's been with Argus for 14 years, Saturday's departure was bittersweet. The ship has changed people, Berliner and his crew members said. Boys who came aboard with shrugged shoulders stepped back onto dry land walking tall after sailing on the ship, deckhand Elizabeth Parker said "It breaks my heart to see such a piece of living history not getting the care I think she deserves," Parker said.

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