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FRIDAY
04.21.17 Volume 16 Issue 137
@smdailypress
Rounds of applause for SQA Winners
Daily Press Staff Writer
Marina Andalon
MARINA ANDALON Daily Press Staff Writer
The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce recognized a group of sustainable businesses on April 20 at their
annual Sustainably Quality Awards. “Our community has been on the forefront of the sustainability movement for two decades,” said SEE SQA PAGE 6
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Former inmate wins settlement from City in excessive force lawsuit BY KATE CAGLE
AWARDS: The Sustainable Quality Awards recognize green businesses.
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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 MARK J. BENJAMIN AWARD ......PAGE 3 LAUGHING MATTERS ....................PAGE 4 ISHIHARA PARK AWARD ..............PAGE 5 MYSTERY REVEALED ....................PAGE 9
The City will pay a $212,500 settlement to a former inmate at the Santa Monica jail who alleges she was a victim of excessive force by jailers in 2014. The incident happened late at night May 8 when two jailers were trying to fingerprint Louisa Ketron while booking her on domestic battery charges. All charges in the case against Ketron were later dismissed. “Miss Ketron, in the course of her booking, was hit by one of
the police department employees. She fell and she suffered significant facial fractures,” acting City Attorney Joe Lawrence said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting where members approved the settlement. The two jailers involved in the incident, Tony Greer and Michelle Dimas, are still employed by the City, according to Lt. Saul Rodriguez. While Greer continues to work in the jail, Dimas is now a guest services assistant, according to salary records from Transparent California. Rodriguez said Dimas no longer works in the jail “for rea-
sons unrelated to this matter.” “The City has denied and continues to deny that its employees used excessive force or took any other actions that were improper or actionable with regard to this matter,” Rodriguez said in a statement to the Daily Press. “However, the City believed that this settlement was in the City’s best interests, in substantial part to avoid extensive and more costly further legal proceedings including attorney’s fees.” According to court docuSEE SETTLEMENT PAGE 7
Local officer detained in Taiwan after TSA misses gun Associated Press
Federal officials say procedures were violated at Los Angeles International Airport when an offduty police officer boarded a flight to Taiwan with a handgun in her carry-on bag. The Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/2oZ2hj3) that Santa Monica Officer Noell Grant was barred from leaving Taiwan on April 13, after she entered the country with the gun that was missed by security at LAX. The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that standard procedures were not followed, allowing Grant to pass through the checkpoint with a firearm. Grant, who traveled to Taiwan for vacation, was carrying a personal, not a department, weapon. Santa Monica Lt. Saul Rodriguez said Wednesday that Grant can’t leave Taiwan until the matter is resolved. He didn’t know if she has been charged with a crime there.
FIRST LOSS
Morgan Genser
The Santa Monica High School boys varsity lacrosse team hosted El-Segundo in an Ocean League Lacrosse match and lost 13-9 for their first loss of the season on April 19 dropping their record to 5-1 in league play and 12-1 overall. Pictured are Kyle Kennedy being chased by Mark Binder from ELSegundo and Joseph Kean escaping from Devin Bonney from El-Segundo.
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