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MONDAY
02.20.17 Volume 16 Issue 85
@smdailypress
WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 HISTORY MUSEUM SUCCESSION PAGE 3 VOICES OF HOPE ............................PAGE 5 KNOW BEFORE YOU GO ................PAGE 6 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 7
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Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Santa Monica backs court decision to suspend Trump travel ban BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
Santa Monica has joined a long list of cities that oppose President Trump’s travel ban. Municipalities nationwide including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Skokie, Illinois, are urging a federal judge to continue blocking President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Santa Monica formally joined that list at the Feb. 14 council meeting. The Council action puts the city on the record in two cases, both of which focus on the same issue. The State of Washington filed a lawsuit to block the President’s ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim countries and that case
made recent headlines when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted the ban. A second case, Darweesh v. Trump, was filed by the ACLU and other organizations on behalf of two men who were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport after the ban was first announced. “The city of Santa Monica has been asked if it would participate in the filing of amicus briefs, that is, briefs in support of the state of Washington and support of the plaintiffs in Darweesh and it is recommended that the council allow the City Attorney’s Office to participate in that,” said Interim City Attorney Joseph Lawrence. SEE BAN PAGE 5
Commissioner: condo project “canary in the coal mine” for rent control BY KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer Morgan Genser
FIRST ROUND Samohi hosted Westlake at the Malibu High School gym on Feb. 16 in the first round of the CIF southern Section Division playoffs and won 44-35 to move on to the second round. The game was moved to Malibu due to concerns over a stomach virus in the local district. Pictured are Samohi’s Lily Auerbach driving towards the basket in front of Summer Faille, Samohi’s Aylin Fernandez on her way to make a layup in front of Azalea Gill and Samohi’s Tiffany Minney dribbling towards the basket as Faille follows.
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It’s hard to think of a better place to live in Santa Monica. In a shaded neighborhood just one block between the beach to the west and Santa Monica’s Community Garden to the east, the rent controlled tenants at 122 Strand Street quietly took buy-outs and moved out over the last few years. The new owners of the parcel are now moving forward with plans to demolish the four apartments and replace them with three condominiums that will likely sell for millions of dollars. “It is something that should be a red flag across the city,” Commissioner Richard McKinnon said before the Planning Commission approved plans for
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the project Wednesday night. McKinnon is concerned that the escalating cost of land in Santa Monica is putting pressure on rent-controlled buildings that have endured for decades. In the example on Strand, the new owners, Texas-based MAV Partners, LLC, purchased the 1950’s building for $2.3 million. Even after construction costs, when they are finished the high-priced beach condominiums will likely produce a tidy profit for MAV in McKinnon’s view. “This is not a cyclical thing,” McKinnon said. “This is something here to stay. Santa Monica only has a certain amount of land going forward and this may be the canary in the coal mine.” Along with McKinnon, SEE PROJECT PAGE 7
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