FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 54
Santa Monica Daily Press
CRIME WATCH SEE PAGE 7
We have you covered
THE THAT’S MORE LIKE IT ISSUE
City Hall pays $225K in bike accident case BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL City Hall will pay a bicyclist who fell while riding on Ocean Park Boulevard $225,000 under a settlement agreement the City Council approved on Tuesday. The bicyclist, Robin Ratner, said in court SEE SETTLEMENT PAGE 8
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Samohi’s KJ hits buzzer-beater to shock Inglewood BY DANIEL ARCHULETA
WHAT A DAY
Managing Editor
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com People enjoy a warm afternoon along Santa Monica Beach on Thursday. Temps will again be in the upper 70s today.
VA tries housing-first model for homeless vets BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN Homeless service providers at the Veterans Administration, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and several non-profits including Santa Monica-based OPCC are working on a new initiative aimed at housing the 60 most vulnerable, chronically homeless veterans on the Westside. The goal is to direct VA housing vouchers
to a population of hard-core homeless individuals, most of whom suffer from mental illness and substance abuse issues and have fallen beyond the veterans agency’s reach. Those involved in the effort, dubbed “Vets to Home Project 60,” call it a groundbreaking collaboration between a variety of agencies that for years have either ignored each other or worked together only informally. Michelle Wildy, chief of community care at the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System in Westwood, said while the VA has
worked with many of the partners involved in Project 60 before, this is the first time there’s been a concerted effort to document and codify the process. “We decided that we needed to do this formally and create a demonstration project that could possibly be replicated all over Southern California and eventually all over the United States,” she said. As many as 20 leaders from the various SEE HOUSING PAGE 9
Gary Limjap
INGLEWOOD A seesaw battle was won at the buzzer by Kristina “KJ” Johnson as Santa Monica High School’s girls’ basketball team eked out a 47-45 win over Inglewood in the Ocean League opener on Wednesday night. Johnson’s game-winning lay-up came after the senior hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left in the game to tie the score at 45. Inglewood was unable to convert on the subsequent possession, setting up the lategame heroics for the senior committed to play for University of the Pacific next year. “Our experience paid off in our senior leaders,” Head Coach Marty Verdugo said. “We didn’t get lucky, but we got away without playing our finest game.” The win improves Samohi’s record to 12-3 this season. The Vikings will finally play their home opener tonight against another Ocean League rival in Culver City. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. It is part of a double-header with the boys’ team, also against Culver City. That game will begin at 7:30 p.m. daniela@smdp.com
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