FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012
Volume 11 Issue 131
Santa Monica Daily Press
SEE WHO’S ACCUSED OF DOING DIRT SEE PAGE 10
We have you covered
THE FIGHTING SUPERSTITION ISSUE
City surf camps caught in undertow BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL City Hall will have no part in surf instruction on Santa Monica’s beaches this year after city officials recommended against contracting with a local firm that came in second in a formal bidding process, despite the fact that the first-place candidate dropped out. SEE SURF PAGE 9
PLAYING IN PUBLIC
Kevin Herrera kevinh@smdp.com Crossroads High School student Daniel Kim, 15, on Thursday kicks off the first official day of the art installation 'Play Me, I'm Yours' by playing Bach's 'The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1' for a crowd on the Santa Monica Pier. Thirty pianos have been placed in public spaces around Los Angeles County for people to play or listen as others tickle the ivories. Another piano is at the Annenberg Community Beach House on PCH.
Skittles joins other food brands at the center of tragedy BY CANDICE CHOI AP Food Industry Writer
including the arts center at Bergamot Station and a trio of developments totaling just under 700,000 square feet on nearby Colorado Avenue. Officials from the Planning Department did not respond to requests for comment by presstime. One of the most egregious missteps, according to Palmer, is that all of those developments are working their way through City Hall approval before the completion of a master plan for the area, which should be the starting point for an environmental impact document.
NEW YORK It could’ve been Starbursts, Twizzlers or Sour Patch Kids. But when Trayvon Martin was fatally shot, he happened to be carrying a bag of Skittles. The 17-year-old’s death at the hands of a neighborhood watchman in February ignited nationwide protests and heated debate about racial profiling and “Stand Your Ground” laws. For Mars Inc., the privately held company that owns Skittles, the tragedy presents another, more surreal dimension. Protestors carried bags of the chewy fruit-flavored candy while marching for the arrest of shooter George Zimmerman. Mourners pinned the bright red wrappers to their hooded sweatshirts at memorial services. On eBay, vendors sell $10 T-shirts with the words “Justice for Trayvon Martin” printed
SEE REPORT PAGE 8
SEE FOOD PAGE 13
Report: Impacts of Bergamot-area developments understated BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL An attorney retained by a local community group took a scathing view of an environmental impact report for the proposed Bergamot Transit Village, calling its analysis “shoddy.” The village, which will be on the former Papermate site north of the incoming Exposition Light Rail station, was presented as a 766,094 square foot project with a mix of housing and office space. In a 26-page breakdown of the report, Beverly Palmer, a Los Angeles attorney hired by the Santa Monica Coalition for a
Livable City (SMCLC), noted that the draft document failed to accurately portray the project’s impacts on the environment, what could be done to lessen those impacts and altogether ignored alternatives to the proposed project, which community groups feel is too large. The report underestimates the amount of traffic that the project will create by giving it credits for the incoming Exposition Light Rail Line and undefined plans for encouraging employees and residents of the project to take alternative forms of transportation, Palmer wrote. It also completely ignores other large developments already planned for the area,
Gary Limjap (310) 586-0339 In today’s real estate climate ...
Experience counts! garylimjap@gmail.com www.garylimjap.com
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