DONATION HELPS KEEP LOCAL DARE PROGRAM GOING

To ensure students make good choices and stay drug free, Santa Maria
Police Officer Alfred Torres will offer scholarships for eighth- and
12th-graders in 2007.

It's the first time the Santa Maria DARE Program has offered such
incentives to students, he said.

The scholarship wouldn't be a reality without a $5,000 donation from
the family of a slain Drug Enforcement Administration agent and former
Santa Marian.

More than 600 students, police officers, school officials and family
members of the late Timothy Markey gathered at the Santa Maria Elks
Lodge Friday morning.

Sixth-grade students from various Santa Maria schools were recognized
for their outstanding essays on how they chose to stay drug free,
Torres said.

Students include Rajaniqe Miller of Miller School; Brianna Gomez of
Ontiveros School; Nelson Hernandez of Adam School; Laura Vargas of
Rice School; Jovana Soto of Battles School; Kira Castellanos of
Fairlawn School; and Haley Gantt of St. Mary of the Assumption School.

Those attending included Police Chief Danny R. Macagni, Santa
Maria-Bonita School District Superintendent David M. Francis and
Markey's mother, Judyth Arko.

Torres, who's visited local schools for the past five years, said the
Drug Abuse Resistance Education program includes lesson plans and
videos on how alcohol, drugs and tobacco affect the body.

Arko presented the donation on behalf of her son's sisters and nieces
who raised the money shortly after his death in July 2005.