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Volume 12 Issue 196
Santa Monica Daily Press
WANT TO BUY ELVIS’ RIDE? SEE PAGE 3
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THE FREEDOM ROCKS ISSUE
Santa Monicans celebrate gay marriage rulings City Council BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD approves over $1B in spending CITYWIDE ProtectMarriage.com, a socially conservative organization, did not have standing to defend Proposition 8, a 2008 voter-approved initiative in California that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. With no state officials willing to fight for the law, that leaves Prop. 8 out in the cold, and opens the possibility that gay couples could marry within the month. Gov. Jerry Brown has already given the
Daily Press Staff Writer
BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL The Santa Monica City Council
The Supreme Court handed gay rights advocates twin victories Wednesday morning, striking down a California ban on same-sex marriage and a provision of federal law that denied homosexual couples the rights of their heterosexual counterparts. In a 5 to 4 decision, the justices found that
passed its two-year budget deep into Tuesday night, approving over $1 billion in spending that will keep city services running as officials prepare to tackle multi-million deficits that loom in the future. The budget represents a trim from nearly every department, cutting 3.7 percent from SEE BUDGET PAGE 11
Police: Elder scammed by local couple BY ILEANA NAJARRO Special to the Daily Press
BROADWAY A local married couple took advantage of a 99-year-old World War II veteran by stealing about $2,500 from him when they would assist him with his grocery shopping, authorities said Wednesday. Susan and Jim Taylor each plead guilty in April to elder abuse by a caregiver and received probation and were ordered to pay restitution, stated a Santa Monica Police Department press release. The victim met Susan Taylor in October 2012 outside of a Vons grocery store located at 710 Broadway. She was most likely panhandling, said SMPD spokesman Sgt. Richard Lewis. The victim felt sorry for her and offered to pay $20 for helping him shop from then on, which she accepted. Once the victim’s health began to deteriorate he needed help driving to the store, which Jim Taylor took on as his responsibility since his wife could not drive. Lewis added that the couple lived a few
PLAYING THE PART
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
ABOVE: Visitors try on paper mache masks during a sneak peek performance of the newest work from the members of the Rogue Artists Ensemble at the Annenberg Community Beach House on Tuesday evening. The play, ‘Hyperbole Bard,’ will premiere in mid-July at the beach house. RIGHT: Paper mache masks used in previous performances are displayed for visitors to try on. They feature a range of emotions and vibrant colors.
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order to the Department of Public Health to tell counties to issue marriage licenses as soon as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal declares it open season. At the same time, five Supreme Court Justices ruled that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), discriminated against homosexual couples by denying SEE MARRIAGE PAGE 10