FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013
Volume 12 Issue 167
Santa Monica Daily Press
SAMOHI ON TO SEMIFINALS SEE PAGE 3
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THE ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS ISSUE
Report: Pier water quality hit hard by dirty birds Two-day worker BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
SM PIER Water quality near the Santa Monica Pier dropped in 2012, reversing much-celebrated gains from the year before, according to a report released Thursday by local environmental group Heal the Bay. Santa Monica went from all A’s during dry weather in 2011 to a B-grade in the summer
and failing grades in both winter reporting periods, according to Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card, an annual accounting of water quality on the West Coast. Other measurement areas in Santa Monica fared better, with the Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Strand Street and Ashland Avenue storm drains all reporting top marks during dry weather. The culprit behind the drop in Santa
Monica’s GPA? Pigeons. The creatures some refer to as “rats with wings” roost underneath the Santa Monica Pier, dropping their waste into the water and bumping up the bacteria counts that Heal the Bay uses to judge water quality. High concentrations of bacteria can put SEE WATER PAGE 9
Daniel Archuleta daniela@smdp.com
WAY OF THE WALK: A man walks his dogs past a young pine tree on Dewey Street on Thursday. The street has recently been planted with new trees.
Forest task force blasts tree reports BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
KEN EDWARDS CENTER Members of the Urban Forest Task Force ripped into consultants’ reports on the health of Santa
Monica’s trees Wednesday, and vowed to send their concerns on to the City Council for further review. The reports examined a small sample of Santa Monica’s 35,000 street trees and management practices surrounding the multi-
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million dollar contract with West Coast Arborists (WCA), the company charged with caring for the local urban forest. The reports were in response to claims raised by a city
walkout ends at UC hospitals ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES A two-day strike by hospital workers ended on Thursday, with both sides claiming victory even though there was no resolution to a contract dispute involving staffing and pensions. The University of California said the vast majority of union workers had crossed picket lines to work at hospitals in several areas of the state. In a dueling statement, union officials insisted the overwhelming majority of workers had participated in the strike. The strike formally ended at 4 a.m. after thousands of hospital pharmacists, nursing assistants, operating room assistants and other health care workers joined the walkout organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Dr. John Stobo, senior vice president of the University of California’s Health Sciences and Services, said the strike caused problems for patients. “Make no mistake about it — (the strike) was extremely disruptive to patient care,” he said. “But the human costs were minimized by thousands of our employees who put their patients first.” Union spokesman Todd Stenhouse disagreed, saying the union’s court-validated patient protection plan was responsible for a lack of disruption. The union said a key issue in the labor dispute is dangerously low staffing levels. UC officials counter that the union is refusing to accept a new pension plan Green-shirted picketers marched outside medical centers, prompting the postponement of dozens of surgeries for patients at facilities in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Sacramento. About 450 union employees remained in critical jobs under court order.
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