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APRIL 2-3, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 121
Santa Monica Daily Press
THE RULES ON HANDICAP PARKING SEE PAGE 4
We have you covered
THE HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY PHELPS GROUP ISSUE
Youngsters make beautiful music at Disney BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
SMMUSD HDQTRS Tuesday, 240 of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified’s best elementary school musicians traveled to Anaheim to do what people their age only dream of — play at the Disneyland Resort. Of course, for these students, “playing” can be work, too. Members of the honor band, orchestra and choir — and nearly 50 parental chaperones — piled onto four school buses to participate in a Disney-led educational workshop, where professional conductors guide the children SEE MUSIC PAGE 8
New law: A service animal can be dog or a mini-horse BY SUE MANNING
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Boys and a few girls line up along the 400 block of Broadway to be the first to enter the fourth location of the street clothing store The Hundreds on Broadway and Fourth Street Friday morning. The first 50 shoppers spending over $30 received a free, limited-edition T-shirt. Some were in line since Thursday night.
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES Dani Moore uses a rat perched on her shoulder as a service animal to alert her to spasms from a disabling condition. Daniel Greene’s service animal is a snake wrapped around his neck to help him predict epileptic seizures. But these creatures and many others are no longer acceptable as service animals under new federal guidelines issued March 15 by the U.S. Department of Justice for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The new recommendations limit service animals to dogs and housebroken miniature horses. The new guidelines are not binding to states, municipalities and other agencies, which are free to adopt the policy or to make their own. But individuals who rely on other types of animals to help them manage physical disabilities and condiSEE LAW PAGE 10
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Police open up about open container law BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
CITYWIDE If you get your jollies sneaking sips out of Jim Bean bottles in public parks, your time is up. On April 12, the City Council will hear a second reading of a new ordinance that would prohibit people from carrying open alcoholic beverages on public property, which has Santa Monica Police Department officers breathing a sigh of relief. The ordinance will close a long-standing loophole in city codes, which makes it illegal to drink alcohol in public spaces but says nothing against having an open can or bottle in hand.
That gap between enforcement and practice has been the source of major frustration for the police department, said Neighborhood Resource Officer Scott McGee. McGee patrols Beat 5, which encompasses the area from Montana Avenue up to the northern city limits, and describes open containers as a “daily occurrence.” “Even if they’re holding it in their hand, but we don’t see them drinking it, there’s not much we can do at the moment,” McGee said. “For us, that’s undesirable, because it leads to public intoxication, which endangers the public at large, the health and safety of the intoxicated person as well as the city resources to care for that person.” Officers actually have to catch a person
with the can or bottle to their lips to make contact with them and enforce the standing rule against drinking in public. Since repeat offenders know the rules, that can be a difficult task, particularly if there are other calls or incidents that police, fire or other emergency personnel have to respond to in the course of their shift. If officers have time to wait until a person slips, they will, McGee acknowledged, but it’s not often that they can devote their resources to it. Having an open container is already illegal under state law, explained City Attorney Marsha Moutrie at the March 22 City SEE ALCOHOL PAGE 7
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