INSIDE SCOOP
OPINION
STATE
MURDER RATE TAKES A HIT PAGE 3 OBAMA WIN COULD SPELL DOOM PAGE 4 HEAR THE PIPER CALLING PAGE 7
TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2008
Visit us online at smdp.com
Volume 7 Issue 49
Santa Monica Daily Press Cat’s got their tongues FAT GIRLS IN THE MAKING SEE PAGE 6
Council mulls moving protesters away from their respective targets BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Protesters targeting specific homes, whether they have issue with a resident’s involvement in animal testing or just dislike their outdoor decor, could soon face more regulation.
Since 2001: A news odyssey
The City Council is expected to consider an ordinance tonight that would create a 50foot buffer zone, within which any picketing would be banned. The local law would also regulate the width of any poles or sticks that might be used to hold up protest signs, a measure intended to prevent the poles from being used as weapons. The goal is to allow free speech while creating some privacy for the targeted homeowner, according to City Attorney Marsha Moutrie. “Our purpose with the 50 feet (buffer zone) is to be careful about balancing the protester’s right, which we respect, with the homeowner’s right to have a certain amount of peace and security in the home,” Moutrie said Monday.
THE BABY BUTTERNUTS BIDS ADIEU ISSUE
The ordinance is being proposed on the heels of a series of demonstrations that have occurred in residential areas in the past several years, including one last Easter Sunday, when animal rights activists staged a protest in front of the north of Montana home of Nelson Freimer, a UCLA professor of human genetics, whom activists allege experiments on monkeys. “It’s to restrict their activity, because a lot of times when these protesters do their protesting, they trespass on private property,” said Sgt. Jay Moroso of the Santa Monica Police Department. “It’s to curb any types of vandalism that may occur as a result of the protest.”
The ordinance follows several laws in other Southern California municipalities that have implemented similar measures protecting homeowners’ rights against protests, including in the city of Los Angeles, which has a 100-foot buffer zone, according to Moroso. Considering the narrow width of many of the streets in Santa Monica, 100 feet would not be a reasonable protection area for residents, effectively backing up the protesters into another property across the street from the target, Moutrie said. In San Diego, the City Council passed an SEE PROTEST PAGE 9
RENTERS’ RIGHTS
WALK HARD
Final tenants file suit to stay put in Venice STORY BY KEVIN HERRERA PAGE 8
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
FABULOUS DINNER SPECIALS SERVED 4PM – 10PM
COMPLETE DINNERS $10.95 1433 Wilshire Boulevard, at 15th Street 310-394-1131
OPEN 24 HOURS
GABY SCHKUD (310) 586-0308
Band & Orchestra Instruments
RENT-TO-OWN (310) 453-1928
The name you can depend on! www.704-15th.com
1901 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica www.santamonicamusic.com