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Santa Monica Daily Press MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015
Volume 14 Issue 130
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO SEE PAGE 7
Santa Monica Fire Department graduates seven new firefighters BY BONNIE ESLINGER Special to the Daily Press
SMO The Santa Monica Fire Department
bolstered its ranks Saturday with the graduation of seven new recruit firefighters. City officials, friends, family and fellow firefighters filled the Museum of Flying at the Santa Monica Airport to see the nowprobationary members of the department receive their badges and be sworn into service. Before the event, the recruits — Clark Coble, Zigifredo Hernandez, Brandt Loucks, Brian Sathre, Austin Tuer, Charles Walker, and Nicholas Zuppardi — gathered outside in the parking lot and circled in prayer. It was something they started right before their first test, the men said, and the exercise always seemed to calm nerves and bring them closer together. They came from different places: a few were already working firefighters for other cities and counties, one brought an emergency medical technician background, another a police officer. When they marched into the museum before the waiting crowd they were in perfect unison. “Who are we?” one called out. “SMFD!” the others proudly replied.
The recruits were put through a rigorous 12-week academy that started each day at 5:45 a.m. with a grueling physical workout, Captain Sean Van Sluis told the audience. Then there was classroom instruction and afternoons running through strenuous drills, going up and down ladders, handling the hoses and water, and simulating fire and medical emergency operations. The men were also trained for hazardous materials, auto extractions, urban search and rescues and wildland firefighting. “These firefighter are definitely prepared,” Van Sluis said. Fire Chief Scott Ferguson told the men the department was ready to put them into action. “While you’ve had it tough in the academy you know the real work begins after you’ve put the badge on your uniform,” Ferguson said. Ferguson and other fire officials who spoke also acknowledged the family members and significant others who supported the recruits through their training. Clark Coble, the class speaker, said the group may have passed the academy, but the “real test” was ahead. “We’ll be going into burning buildings and mangled cars … we’ll be risking our lives for the citizens of Santa Monica,
Bonnie Eslinger
GRADUATION: The Santa Monica Fire Department welcomed seven new firefighters to its ranks at a graduation ceremony on April 11.
SEE SMFD PAGE 6
Zoning issues: Parking, landmarks, existing hotels A local push for a BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles previewing City Council’s reviewing of the Zoning Ordinance Update. The articles will focus on the issues that city officials have deemed heavily discussed. CITY HALL Tomorrow, City Council will listen to hours of discussion about the
proposed Zoning Ordinance, which will dictate land-uses throughout the city for years to come. All types of minutia will be discussed but just over a dozen issues, many of which have been covered previously by the Daily Press, will likely come up the most. Council will take its first crack at the ordinance Wednesday night and, if all goes according to plan, they could
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finalize it in May. The Planning Commission has been grappling with the ordinance for months.
pillar of hope BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
PARKING, LOADING, AND CIRCULATION
One of the biggest issues the commission debated was consideration of SEE ZONING PAGE 5
VENICE The date was April 28, 1942. Arnold Maeda, then a student at Santa Monica High School, reported to the intersection of Lincoln and
Venice boulevards and had no idea where he would be taken. Later that day, he arrived at Manzanar. Maeda spent more than SEE MONUMENT PAGE 3
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