INSIDE SCOOP
COMMENTARY
THE REAL DEAL
GOVERNOR SAYS THE WOLF IS BACK PAGE 3 MAHALO, DEAR READERS PAGE 4 RECESSION BY THE BOOK PAGE 7 Visit us online at smdp.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008
Volume 7 Issue 50
Santa Monica Daily Press CORSAIRS LOOK TOUGH SEE PAGE 3
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE HAND SANITIZER ISSUE
Not so fast
BUSINESS
Advisory committee postpones spending Measure BB money BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
CRACK DOWN
City Hall opens wallet to fix downtown area STORY BY KEVIN HERRERA PAGE 12 Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
TAKING MAJOR STRIDES: City Hall is currently working to make the downtown area as nice as possible. Projects include fixing cracked sidewalks and adding additional ambient lighting.
SMMUSD HDQTRS Students in the public school district’s three middle schools will have to wait a while longer before they see new classrooms or athletic facilities. But that’s a fate they might actually prefer. The Measure BB District Advisory Committee on Monday decided to postpone making further recommendations to the Board of Education on how it should allocate construction funding until schematic drawings and a cost estimate for the projects are available. The committee also pledged to prioritize secondary schools, including middle schools. This came shortly after a group of students and teachers from Lincoln Middle School pleaded that the advisory committee postpone allocating the remainder of the Measure BB bond money until its members take a tour of each of the middle and elementary schools to learn about the physical challenges facing each campus. The advisory committee was debating how to spend the remaining unallocated Measure BB funds — roughly $60 million. The Board of Education already acted on an earlier advisory committee recommenda-
tion last October, earmarking $57 million to Santa Monica High School, $13.5 million to Malibu High School and $27.5 million to Edison Language Academy. “It’s a rash and bad decision that the BB committee would give this money without touring all of the schools thoroughly,” said William Wolf, a Lincoln eighth grader. “Lincoln is a great school, but there’s still several things that need fixing.” The students named several Lincoln facilities that need some attention, most notably the track and field, which Wolf claimed was the cause of injuries sustained by several students. Some students pointed out that the outdated facilities can directly have an impact on their quality of education. Chace Beech, an eighth grader, noted that one of the buildings on the Lincoln campus does not have a bathroom and whenever a student in that structure needs to use the lavatory, they have to cut through campus, taking away valuable classroom time. “There’s a great energy about the school ... but there are a lot of problems with our campus,” Beech said. The suggestion by parents and students to hold off on earmarking funds until all of the campuses are visited was met by mixed reactions from committee members, some believing if that was the case, then all of the school sites should’ve been toured before any money was allocated in October. Several of the parents and committee members that spoke out against stalling the SEE BB PAGE 13
Writers convene to talk theatre Library hosts workshop on playwriting for local wordsmiths BY GABRIELLE HARRADINE Special to the Daily Press
MAIN STREET A management consultant by trade, Paul Kuzniar has been trying to figure out what to do with “Cell Hell,” the unwritten play that’s been stuck rolling around in his mind for the past few years. On Tuesday, inside the historic, Greek Revival facade of the Ocean Park Branch Library, he might just have found a way to get it all down on paper. The library’s newly renovated community room hosted a free workshop on playwriting. It was the first of six meetings
Gary Limjap
instructing scribes of all levels about the ins and outs of penning plays. The instructor, Anna Stramese, is a big fan of the Ocean Park library. “She wants to use this new space well,” said Ceila Carroll, the library’s branch manager. Stramese has an extensive background in theatre and has taught both playwriting and screenwriting at the University of Southern California and in France. She also has experience in acting, including studying at the
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
GROUP WORK: Instructor Anna Stramese (center left), teach-
SEE WRITING PAGE 14
winter stackables
(310) 586-0339
es playwriting at the Ocean Park Branch Library on Tuesday.
SMALL BUSINESS STARTUP? Let me help you succeed CONSULTING • BOOKKEEPING • PLANNING TAXES
It’s all about you... The client
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
(310) 395-9922
331 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica 2 Hours Free Parking (Behind Store) Monday-Saturday 10am-6p10.451.1349 • www.readersjewelers.com
100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800 Santa Monica 90401