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WEDNESDAY
05.10.17 Volume 16 Issue 153
@smdailypress
City grapples with sudden spike in homelessness BY KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
More people are living on the streets in Santa Monica than at any time since the City started conducting a yearly count of the homeless in 2009, according to new statistics from the 2017 Homeless Count. The annual count found 581 people sleeping on the street or on the beach in January, up 39% from 416 the previous year. The number of people living in shelters and institutions rose 9 percent year over year, from 312 to 340 in 2017. The total number of homeless in Santa Monica was 912 when hundreds of volunteers combed the 8square-mile city on January 25. Local leaders were dismayed, but not surprised by the numbers.
“I think that we knew, all of our guts said the numbers were going to increase,” Margaret Willis, Senior Administrative Analyst for the City’s Human Services Division said, noting that non-profit and public agencies that deal with the homeless population had noticed the increased demand for services. “We have a real housing crisis,” said John Maceri, Executive Director of OPCC and Lamp Community. “It’s been true for a long time and in a lot of ways these numbers reflect the perfect storm the convergence of a lot of things that (have) come home to roost.” The spike comes nearly two years after the City Council made addressing homelessness one of the City’s top five strategic priori-
WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 CONSUMER CORNER ....................PAGE 4 CURIOUS CITY ................................PAGE 5 FISHING INDUSTRY DECLINE ......PAGE 6 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9
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Garage fire forces residents to evacuate downtown building
SEE HOMELESSNESS PAGE 6
Rare birds found nesting on local beach BY ASHLEY SPRATT Special to the Daily Press
For the first time in nearly 70 years, western snowy plovers are nesting on Los Angeles County beaches. The first nest was found on April 18 on Santa Monica State Beach, followed by discovery of a nest on Dockweiler State Beach on April 27, and two nests on Malibu Lagoon State Beach on April 28 and May 4. The nests were discovered by monitors with Los Angeles Audubon and The Bay Foundation. Following their discovery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) biologists installed small wire cages around each nest to protect the eggs from predators and human disturbance. “This is a sign that, against all odds, western snowy plovers are making a comeback, and we really need the cooperation of beachgoers to help give them the space they
need to nest and raise their young,” said senior fish and wildlife biologist Chris Dellith with the Service’s Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office. “I’m hopeful that we can find a balance between beach recreation and habitat restoration, which will allow humans and shorebirds like the western snowy plover to peacefully exist along our coastline.” While the Santa Monica State Beach nest was lost as a result of high winds and one of the Malibu Lagoon State Beach nests was lost for unknown reasons, the remaining two nests remain viable. Although western snowy plovers use beaches in Los Angeles County for roosting during the winter, the last documented active nest in the county was in 1949 at Manhattan Beach. The Pacific coast population of western snowy plover inhabits the coastline from Baja California,
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SMOKE: Firefighters from Santa Monica and Los Angeles responded to a fire Monday night.
BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
About 120 residents were displaced from their home after an apartment fire near Lincoln and Broadway on Monday night. According to the Santa Monica Fire Department, firefighters responded to a fire at 1447 Lincoln Blvd. at about 6:20 p.m. and found smoke coming from the underground garage of the five story mixed use building. While on firefighters were on scene, there was an explosion from below street level creating additional smoke and fire in the garage. Firefighters called for a second alarm response due to the complexity of fighting the fire below ground. About 45 firefighters from Santa Monica and Los Angeles responded to the scene with multiple trucks and ambulances. Police officers closed the surrounding streets and the fire was brought under control in about 34 minutes.
According to the Fire Department’s initial report, all 96 apartment units at 1447 Lincoln Blvd. were displaced along with five local businesses, (Starbucks, Shelley’s Video, Chase bank, Fresh Brothers, and Jersey Mike’s). “The American Red Cross responded to assist and place all of the displaced residence in a temporary hotel room while the buildings electrical power is restored,” said SMFD’s report. City buses were used to transport displaced residents and SMFD said the police department helped in the response. “SMPD was also a vital part of the evacuation process, assisting all families with retrieving their immediate personal belongings and securing their properties,” said the report. “There were no firefighter injuries that were reported, but unfortunately two residents had to be transported to local hospital for medical issues related to the evacuation.” editor@smdp.com
SEE BIRDS PAGE 3
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