INSIDE SCOOP
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
EARTH TALK
STATE GETS TOUGH ON TRANS FATS PAGE 3 DIFFERENT KIND OF SOUND POLLUTION PAGE 8
MONDAY, JULY 28, 2008
Visit us online at smdp.com
Volume 7 Issue 220
Santa Monica Daily Press
‘THE MACHINE’ STAYS SEE PAGE 12
COMMUNITYPROFILES
JANICE McQUEEN-WARD
Since 2001: A news odyssey
City takes aim at panhandling BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com McQUEEN-WARD
Turning tragedy into advocacy BY ALEXANDRA BISSONNETTE
THE TAKING IT FOR A SPIN ISSUE
THIRD STREET PROMENADE Panhandlers who conduct their businesses from the comfort of a bench here could soon be asked to terminate their financial gathering activities. The City Council is considering banning solicitation from all benches located on the Third Street Promenade and stretches of Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway, an attempt to free-up resting areas that can be monopolized by individuals seeking donations. The first reading of a proposed ordinance — the phase in which the topic is open to public debate — was endorsed by the council last week, setting up final adoption at a future meeting. The problem was first identified by the Santa Monica Police Department and Bayside District Corp., the private-public
management company that oversees Downtown, noticing panhandlers occupying the same benches for long periods of time. One of the biggest draws in the city, the promenade attracts as many as 10,000 peo-
would ban all forms of solicitation, including charitable donations. “The seat in the promenade … is extremely limited relative to the size of the crowd which frequent the promenade,” City
WHILE PANHANDLING IS MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOMELESS, THE ORDINANCE WOULD BAN ALL FORMS OF SOLICITATION, INCLUDING CHARITABLE DONATIONS. ple on each of its three blocks during summer weekends. The benches located throughout the promenade provide seating for only 100 people. While panhandling is most often associated with the homeless, the ordinance
Attorney Marsha Moutrie said during the recent council meeting. “For that reason just as we prohibit street performers using benches in conjunction with their street SEE PANHANDLING PAGE 11
Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN When Santa Monica resident Janice McQueen-Ward lost her mother, Margaret McQueen, to stage-four lung cancer 12 years ago, she did not know that her grief would manifest itself as passion for a cause. “Lung cancer is a silent killer,” McQueenWard said. “It is the number one cancer killer in the world.” McQueen-Ward has since become a vocal advocate for the National Lung Cancer Partnership (NLCP). She is also a full-time actress and aerobics instructor, and she helps those with grief similar to her own by acting as a counselor. McQueen-Ward’s mother was not the only one in her family to pass away from lung cancer. Her uncle, legendary actor Steve McQueen, died at the age of 50 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. The loss of her mother was particularly difficult for McQueen-Ward not only because she had lost a beloved member of her family, but also because she felt that it could have been prevented. “My mother went to the doctor every six months for a full check up, and they always told her that her lungs were completely clear,” McQueen-Ward said. “She was extra cautious, but we never saw the signs. Lung cancer is one of those things where you notice the signs too late.” That fact is reinforced by the World Health Organization’s statistics which state that 1.2 million new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed annually, and 1.1 million people die from the disease each year. Margaret McQueen’s case is not uncommon. She quit smoking 10 years prior to her diagnosis and doctors told her that lungs heal and Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
SEE CP PAGE 10
ALONG THE WAY: A young woman gives money to Jeffery Cox (right), who was panhandling from a public seat on Broadway in Downtown.
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