FRIDAY. 3-DAY FORECAST DECEMBER 14, 2012 TODAY SATURDAY 60 61 SUNDAY 63 More weather A14 The South Bay’s choice for 118 years Reaching 442,339 readers every week 50¢ HOLIDAY TRAVEL ANGELS RAID RIVAL AAA predicts this season could be the busiest in six years A10 Slugger Josh Hamilton agrees to leave Texas for Anaheim — for $125M B1 L . A . ’ S B E S T D E A L S A R E O N LY A C L I C K A W AY. G O T O D E A L S . L A . C O M EVERYDAY HEROES Charity aims to cheer children This is the fifth of 12 days of profiles of ordinary people who make an impact in their community. If you missed any installments, go to dailybreeze.com. Charityaimsto create a little cheer for children By Melissa Heckscher D onna Dawick has barely started talking about her work with sick and needy kids in the South Bay, and already she’s crying. It doesn’t matter how many Christmases she’s done this, she said. She still gets emotional. “Every story we hear is a new story,” said Dawick, who co-leads Cheer for Children, a Redondo Beach-based organization that provides, among other things, holiday gifts to kids whose parents can’t afford them. “Every story is a new child with a problem or a new parent with a problem. If these stories didn’t bother us anymore — if they didn’t affect us anymore — then why do it? All the stories are in our heart.” The stories that come through Cheer for Children’s request lines are tough to hear: There are mothers dying of brain cancer. Whole families living in cars. Sick kids celebrating what might be their last Christmas. It’s enough to make anyone cry. “It’s a very emotional time of the year,” Dawick said. “And just because I’m crying doesn’t always mean I’m sad. We also cry at the end of the year because we’ve made a difference.” Along with collecting unwrapped toys, clothes and other gifts, Cheer for Children also distributes free Christmas trees and runs an “Adopt a Family” program to fulfill families’ “wish lists” for the holidays. It also hosts holiday parties for acutely ill kids at local hospitals as well as at schools for physically challenged kids. Brad Graverson Staff Photographer Santa Claus and his helpers visit Washington OH School in Redondo Beach to deliver toys from the Cheer for Children volunteer group. The group also hosts holiday parties for CHEER A12 hospitalized and disabled kids. TORRANCE PODIATRIST GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS The studios preside State revokes medical license Statestrips medicallicense fromTorrance podiatristaccused of sexual battery By Nick Green Staff Writer “LINCOLN” ‘L incoln,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Sally Field and Daniel Day Lewis, above, is up for seven Golden Globe awards, including best dramatic motion picture, a category that is filled “ARGO” with major studio releases. In recent years, the Golden Globes had given a big boost to smaller, independent filmmakers and films. The Golden Globes have become Hollywood’s second most prestigious awards behind the Academy Awards, and the two often have “DJANGO UNCHAINED” overlapping nominees. “LIFE OF PI” “ZERO DARK THIRTY” The medical license of a Torrance podiatrist accused of three counts of sexual battery against female patients was suspended Wednesday in Torrance Superior Court. The action came as Arnold Serkin, 67, pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual battery by fraud that could send him to prison for six years. Judge Thomas R. Sokolov set Serkin’s next court appearance for Feb. 4, when a preliminary hearing date will be scheduled. The Department of Consumer Affairs Board of Podiatric Medicine had requested the court order on Serkin’s license until the criminal case against him is resolved, spokesman Russ Heimeric said. “We’re always going to try to suspend the license of somebody when we believe there is the potential of great consumer harm and we obviously believe that in this case,” he said. Deputy Attorney General Wendy Widlus, who sought the court order, described Serkin’s alleged “sexually deviant behavior” against three victims as potentially the “tip of the iceberg.” “You have a pervasive series of behaviors that have gone on for 27 years,” she argued. “He used his podiatric medical license as an instrument of his crimes.” A team of lawyers representing Serkin called the order “premature.” Not until a preliminary hearing will it be known whether the evidence against him warrants a trial, defense attorneys said. “Just because we have patients who have LICENSE A12 SEE THE GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINEES ON A11 OR VISIT DAILYBREEZE.COM. Arnold Serkin, a Torrance podiatrist, is accused of three counts of sexual battery against female patients. Serkin’s next court date is Feb. 4. Music star Jenni Rivera’s remains coming home JenniRivera’s family confirms death By Pamela Hale-Burns Staff Writer The family of Mexican-American music star Jenni Rivera has identified her remains from a plane crash Sunday in Mexico. “We have received 100 percent confirmation that my sister Jenni is gone to be with the Lord,” her brother Pedro Rivera Jr. said Thursday afternoon during a press conference at their mother’s home in Lakewood. “She is in the presence of God now. They did show pictures to my brothers of the body; it is not the full body.” Three other brothers, Juan, Lupillo and Gustavo Rivera, were planning to travel Monday night to Mexico, the family said earlier this week. “Now they are on their way back to L.A. to bring the body,” Pedro Rivera Jr. said. “They’ve got the body. Just keep on praying with the family, keep on praying for the situation and the plans we have for the funeral services.” Sources said the family was expected to return from Mexico with Rivera’s remains on a private jet arriving Thursday night at Long Beach Airport. Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said DNA tests are still pending. The singer’s remains will be given to the family once the tests are completed in coming days. “They did show some pictures to where Juan said, ‘That is my sister, I don’t need to see any- more,’ ” Pedro Rivera Jr. said. “Gus saw them (and ) he said, ‘That is my sister.’ They didn’t even have to wait for the DNA. They just said, ‘This is my sister.’ ” As the news spread Thursday, a crowd of 60 to 80 friends and fans gathered at the Lakewood home, where a memorial has grown this week. Family friend Rogelio Macias said he had known Jenni Rivera since the late 1980s. The 43-year-old Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach. “I am very sad,” Macias said about hearing the confirmation of Rivera’s death. “I am in shock right now. “It was very tragic, very different from a terminal illness.” Longtime fan Nadia Magallanes could hardly contain herself, as she spoke of the singer’s death. “I’m feeling great pain in my heart. I still can’t believe it,” she said, crying uncontrollably. “I understand what the family is going through. I lost my father five years ago.” She said the family should “continue to keep (their) faith in God and stay united.” Victor Alvarez, manager of Rivera’s backup band, said he was with Rivera the night of her death. “We were with her at the concert in Monterrey (Mexico),” he said. “We flew to L.A. and she flew to Mexico (City) and that’s RIVERA A11 INSIDE Business Classifieds Comics Crosswords Horoscope Lottery A13 D2 C8-9 C9, D3, D8 C9 A2 Movies Nation+World Obituaries Opinion Police Log Ship Arrivals Sudoku Weekend 118th year/Number 349 Torrance, California ©2012 A NEWSPAPER C3, 6 A5 A6-7 A14-15 A4 D8 C9 C1