S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
INSIDE SMa.r.t. Column:
Time to Reevaluate Scooter Rules PAGES 4-5
January 17 – 23, 2020 Volume XXII, Issue 26
SAMOHI Graduate Becomes NASA Astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim becomes first Korean American astronaut By Sam Catanzaro
Photo: Courtesy Jonny Kim (Facebook).
Dr. Jonny Kim, astronaut.
A graduate of Santa Monica High School (SAMOHI) has become the first Korean American NASA astronaut, eligible for future moon and Mars missions, all on top of a resume that includes a stint as a Navy Seal and degree from Harvard Medical School. Last week when Dr. Jonny Kim graduated from NASA’s Artemis program he not only became the first Korean American astronaut, he became eligible for missions to the International Space Station, the moon and potentially Mars. With a goal of sustainable lunar exploration later this decade, NASA says they will send the first woman and next man to the surface on the Moon by 2024. Additional lunar missions are planned once a year thereafter and human exploration of Mars is targeted for the mid-2030s. “These individuals represent the best of
America,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston where the graduation ceremony took place. “2020 will mark the return of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil, and will be an important year of progress for our Artemis program and missions to the Moon and beyond.” A first-generation Korean American, Kim was born in 1985 in Los Angeles to South Korean parents. After graduating from SAMOHI in 2002, Kim enlisted in the Navy as a seaman and eventually made the cut for the elite SEAL team. “I didn’t like the person I was growing up to become,” Kim told the Harvard Gazette in a 2017 interview. “I needed to find myself and my identity. And for me, getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from the
people I grew up with, and finding adventure, that was my odyssey, and it was the best decision I ever made.” Earning his way onto San Diego-based SEAL Team Three, Kim served as a sniper, navigator and point man, among other roles, on over 100 combat missions in the Middle East, earning Silver and Bronze stars. In 2006 while in Iraq, two of Kim’s closest friends were shot on the same day. Kim was serving as a medic and treated one of the friends who had a facial wound. Neither friend survived. Kim told the Harvard Gazette that the deaths of his friends left him with a “feeling of helplessness” and led to his decision to become a doctor. After earning a mathematics degree from the University of San Diego in 2012, Kim
SPACE, see page 10
Community Corp’s First Project Outside SM Underway Groundbreaking for Vista Ballona By Sam Catanzaro Community Corporation Santa Monica (Community Corp) recently broke ground on a 100 percent affordable housing project in Mar Vista, the organization’s first development outside of Santa Monica as part of its broader plans to expand throughout the Westside. The development, dubbed Vista Ballona, will occupy a vacant lot at 3960 Grand View Boulevard in Mar Vista. Plans call for a six-story building featuring 50 one and two-bedroom units. The apartments will be priced for low-income tenants making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income with 12 units reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities. FSY Architecture is the project designer. “We are thrilled to begin our partnership with the City of Los Angeles and contribute solutions that help to address the current affordability crisis in our region. Vista Ballona will be an im-
Photo: FSY Architects.
portant addition to Mar Vista’s sorely needed affordable housing stock, making the westside a more inclusive and vibrant place for everyone to live,” said Tara Barauskas, Executive Director of Community Corp. Westside Regional Center will join with Brilliant Corners to provide case management and supportive services for Vista Ballona tenants. Brilliant Corners has contributed $2 million towards the project, alongside a $3.9 billion loan from the City of Los Angeles and low-income tax credits subsidizing the development. According to Community Corp, Vista Ballona will be built to obtain LEED Platinium Certification, something Los Angeles City Coun-
Local lawmakers and community leaders at the groundbreaking.
cilmember Mike Bonin applauded “Two things this project is doing, working to fight two crises, two matters of life and death— climate change and affordable housing. I’m so excited to see a project like this so committed to sustainability,” Bonin said at the groundbreaking,
Photo: Councilmember Mike Bonin.
alongside other community leaders and elected officials including Amy Anderson, Housing Deputy for Mayor Eric Garcetti and Santa Monica Planning Commission Chair Leslie Lambert. According to Bonin, construction is expected to be done by the end of next year.
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