Sandra laliberte s_laliberte_2001@yahoo.com

News briefs

Inamed bought by beauty firm

Inamed Corporation of Goleta, the well-known maker of breast implants, has announced its acquisition by skin care products manufacturer Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. for approximately $2.8 billion.

Medicis, located in Scottsdale, Ariz., will purchase the local company in a stock/cash deal that would make the resulting company one of the nation’s largest aesthetic firms.

Federal regulators will have to approve the acquisition, which will marry Inamed’s breast implant production with Medicis’ focus on skin products. Stock analysts predicted the merger would be a financial bonanza because of so-called baby boomers’ interest in maintaining their youthful appearance.

In announcing the deal, Inamed predicted that its work force in Goleta would remain substantially the same.

Jackson wobbly, tearful in court

Pop singer Michael Jackson, on trial under a 10-count indictment that includes alleged child molestation and supplying alcohol to minors, made his health an issue again Monday when he came to court wearing "an expression that suggested great pain."

He walked unsteadily, supported by his bodyguards, and followed by Dr. Bert Weiner, an emergency-room physician from Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Weiner, dressed in scrubs and a baseball jacket, said that he accompanied the pop singer on the drive to the courthouse and into the judge’s chambers. There, the physician received results from medical tests that had been performed on Jackson earlier in the morning. He declined to disclose specifics of the singer’s medical condition.

Jackson’s frail health has given rise to concern as to whether he can withstand the rigors of the trial — let alone the possible 20-year sentence he would face if convicted.

A troubled 16-year-old shot up his high school on an Indian reservation at Red Lake, Minn., on Monday, killing nine others and then himself.

Authorities are still gathering evidence about what led Jeffrey Weise to slay nine other people before turning the gun on himself. His victims included his grandfather, his grandfather’s companion, a security guard at the high school, a teacher and five other students.

Schoolmates and other members of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa talked to investigators about the youth’s troubled life and behavior. Weise lived part of the time with his grandfather, a peace officer, whose guns he used in the shootings. Some students said Weise was a loner, in a long black coat and eyeliner, who was teased by his peers. Other youngsters said Weise was regarded by fellow students as "cool."

School computers are being examined for evidence that Weise accessed neo-Nazi web sites and may have referred to himself online as "Todesengel" — German for "Angel of Death."

Rainfall in Goleta adds up to more than twice the normal total so far this year, according to the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District.

Measurements for the current water year, which began on September 1st, 2004, have been much higher than average throughout the county.

Rainfall to date in Goleta and Santa Barbara stands at 206 percent of normal after Monday’s storm, with 33.64 inches in Goleta and 32.48 inches in Santa Barbara this water year.

The 65.11 inches on San Marcos pass is 204 percent of normal. Lompoc has seen 22.15 inches since September, 64 percent more than usual. A total rainfall of 1.95 inches in March brings the total rainfall in Los Alamos to 24.39 inches, 90 percent higher than average.

The Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indians has announced it would donate $150,000 to the Santa Barbara Zoo for its planned Condor Country exhibit.

The first installment, $50,000, was to be handed over to the zoo at a reception this week for tribal members, zoo officials, other condor exhibit donors and the media.

Funding the exhibit is in the tradition of Chumash honoring the massive endangered California condor, according to Vincent Armenta, Tribal Chairman. "Our people have always respected and appreciated the California condor and we’re pleased to help the Santa Barbara zoo provide an opportunity for the community to see and learn about these magnificent birds," he said.

The capital campaign for the condor facility totals $2.9 million, and upon its completion will provide one of only two such exhibits in the world. The other is at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

The zoo has taken part for several years in the California Condor Recovery Program, aimed at saving the endangered birds.