1999 Year

Is it a fear of the millennium or just a rush to beat a barrage of anti-gun laws? It made no difference at JR's Range & Gun Room in Long Beach, where the year ended with a bigger bang than ever before. "It's been a madhouse around here," said the shooting range's owner, Steve Ditullio. "People have been lining up to play with their new toys: their guns. Some of them have never held a weapon before, and they don't have any idea how to load it."

11351 Dale St. Garden Grove 92841 (714) 663-6415 * Enrollment: 1,524 * Established: 1958 * Team name: Vaqueros * Newspaper: La Voz * Principal: Thomas Robins * Student president: Emily Jones * Valedictorian: Thu Thi Nguyen * Famous alumni: Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva; former state Assemblyman Curt Pringle, Garden Grove City Councilman Mark Leyes; Olympic swimmer Gary Hall * Winning moments: Digital High School grant; yearbook published on computer; Western Assn.

520 W. Walnut St.

8281 Walker St. La Palma 90623 (714) 220-4101 * Enrollment: 1,963 * Established: 1964 * Team name: Fighting Irish * Newspaper: The Shamrock * Web site: http://www.AUHSD.K12.CA.

Two and a half years after workers at a San Fernando Valley recycling center found a partial human torso and leg on a conveyor belt, Los Angeles police say they have solved the mystery. Los Angeles Police Department detectives, who long ago determined that the body parts were those of a 35-year-old Syrian immigrant named Hilal Taweel, arrested his uncle, Fadel Tawil, at his Burbank apartment Wednesday.

22062 Antonio Parkway Rancho Santa Margarita 92688 (949) 858-3350 * Enrollment: 1,798 * Established: 1988 * Team name: Eagles * Newspaper: Eagle Update * Web site: http://www.smhs.

1801 Warburton Way Fullerton 92633 (714) 870-3401 * Enrollment: 2,057 * Established: 1958 * Team name: Lancers * Principal: Loring Davies * Student president: Lindsay Florin * Famous alumni: Singer Jackson Browne; former major league catcher Gary Carter * Winning moments: Academic Decathlon placed fourth in county and first in nation for group process/creative problem solving; 37 National Merit semifinalists; 64 International Baccalaureate diploma candidates; named one of Newsweek magazine's

1. "American Beauty" 2. "I Stand Alone" 3. "Romance" 4 "Rosetta" 5. "All About My Mother" 6. "The Brandon Teena Story" 7. "The Cider House Rules" 8. "julien donkey-boy" 9. "Holy Smoke" 10. (tie) "Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember" and "The Dreamlife of Angels" * Honorable Mention: "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr."; "Belfast, Maine"; "Twin Falls, Idaho"; "Beyond the Mat"

Each spring, The Times invites Orange County high schools to nominate members of their graduating class for outstanding achievement in the areas of leadership, academics and the arts. The nominees form an incredible group. Before the names ever reach us, the schools--many of which have scores of truly outstanding students--have had to narrow down their picks to three.