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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 LAUGHING MATTERS ....................PAGE 4 MARGARITA FRIDAY ......................PAGE 5 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 8 MYSTERY REVEALED ....................PAGE 9
FRIDAY
01.20.17 Volume 16 Issue 59
@smdailypress
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
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Samohi Graduate behind Trump’s Inauguration Speech BY KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
The politics that left many Californians confused and concerned late into the evening on Election Night actually played out in a Samohi classroom more than ten years ago. Just as many Santa Monicans on Nov. 8 were stunned a man like Donald Trump could captivate nearly half the nation and win the presidency, back in
2003, members of Santa Monica’s AP Government class wondered how one of their classmates could suddenly shift so far to the right. That same classmate will have the country’s full attention at President-elect Trump’s inauguration, as the new president’s principal speechwriter and chief strategist. “What Stephen does for Trump now is stoke the fire of fear,” said former classmate Adrian Karima who vividly remembers that AP
Government class. “Stephen was very good at doing that.” Stephen Miller grew up north of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, the son of affluent, Jewish parents who are liberal according to friends of the family. In High School, Miller’s politics suddenly shifted radially to the right and he made it known to everyone: writing editorials, calling in to conservative talk radio shows, and battling with his progressive public
high school’s administration. “Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School,” Miller wrote in an op-ed in the Santa Monica Lookout when he was 16-years-old. Miller did not respond to the Daily Press’s request for an interview. As a teen, Miller complained after 9/11 when the campus invited a Muslim leader to explain Islam. He said the administration and teachers were unsupportive of the War and of
Rain, snow storms pummel the West; more wet weather on way BY SCOTT SONNER Associated Press
More winter snow and rain pummeled the West on Thursday as the first in a series of expected storms soaked morning com-
muters in much of California, dumped 18 more inches of snow in the Sierra Nevada and closed schools in Oregon. The first of three anticipated winter storms hit the Lake Tahoe area, with another 6 feet of snow
JAMS WALK IN
possible by Monday in the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Since Jan. 1, more than 15 feet of snow has fallen at some Tahoe area resorts — the most in more than five years. Mike Dulinawka was busy tak-
ing reservations for weekend snowmobile tours at the Zephyr Cove Resort near Stateline, Nevada. “We’ve been sold out for the last couple of weekends. It’s great.
Yolanda Lewis
Students, staff and school leaders participated in a “Walk-In” at John Adams Middle School on Jan. 19. Participants gathered before school to speak about the importance of public education and remind newly elected officials that everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality, ability, economic or immigration status benefits from high quality public education. See Page 10 for text from a student speaker.
SEE WEATHER PAGE 7
America in general. The next year, Miller wrote another op-ed “How I changed my left-wing high school” and called himself “something of a persona non-grata.” To those who remember Miller’s days at Samohi, his selfdescription is spot on. “Stephen was an ultra-right wing conservative in training at the time,” Oscar de la Torre, a current SEE GRADUATE PAGE 6
Lack of Latinos in Trump Cabinet draws ire for ‘setback’ BY RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision not to appoint any Latinos to his Cabinet is drawing fierce criticism from Hispanics, who call it a major setback for the nation’s largest minority group. Trump announced former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday as his choice to lead the Agriculture Department, ending hopes that the last open spot would go to a Latino nominee. The lack of Latino appointments means no Hispanic will serve in a president’s Cabinet for the first time in nearly three decades. “I never thought I would see this day again,” said Henry Cisneros, Housing secretary under President Bill Clinton. “There are multiple, multiple talented people, from heads of corporations to superintendents, he could have selected. There really is no excuse.” The nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials had started a public campaign to convince Trump to nominate former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a Republican, SEE CABINET PAGE 7
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