WEEKEND EDITION
INSIDE SCOOP
FOOD
WEARING PEACE ON YOUR SLEEVE PAGE 3 HEALTHY SACK LUNCH PAGE 7
SEPTEMBER 6-7, 2008
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Volume 7 Issue 255
Santa Monica Daily Press GRIDIRON OPENER SEE PAGE 3
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE CROSSING BORDERS ISSUE
The gentrification of Venice BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
VENICE Jennifer Horn could see it coming. First, a new housing complex popped up around Rose Avenue and Seventh Street, followed by the opening of a new wine specialty store on Lincoln Boulevard, then the biggest indicator of change — an advertisement that a Whole Foods would soon open at the site where a Big Lots once stood. “It was so obvious there was revitalization going on,” Horn, who moved to the area earlier this year, said on Wednesday at the grand opening of the natural foods store.
“You could tell this was going to happen.” The once neglected area around Lincoln Boulevard and Rose Avenue has seen some love these days by the private sector as new, higher-end retail and service shops have opened up shop over the past year, a change that is welcomed by many, some who are cautiously optimistic. The most recent addition is the 48,000square-foot Whole Foods that opened its first Venice store earlier this week, its appearance somewhat cleaning up a shopping center that many described as previously being less than appealing. “That shopping mall was very neglected,”
Sheelagh Cullen, a resident of the area since 1992, said. The corner is home to many long-time businesses, including a hamburger joint and two iconic Mexican restaurants. The neighborhood in just the past year has seen the addition of Checa Boutique, a clothing store located just a few blocks north in Santa Monica, Lincoln Fine Wines and Floyd’s 99 Barbershop. While each is a small piece of the Venice business community, they have combined to make an impression on the residents of the area. “We’re encouraged that those kinds of
businesses are coming into Venice,” David Moring, the vice president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, said. “Unfortunately the look was not always kept up at that center.” Nazmul Helal, the owner of Lincoln Fine Wines, said he is surprised by the rapid rate in which the change is occurring, adding that the area looks different from when he began constructing the store in September 2007. “When I chose this location, I thought it would maybe go slowly,” Helal, a Santa SEE VENICE PAGE 12
Special ed has changes in its near future BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
SMMUSD HDQTRS Following a tumultuous
KING-SIZE ENDORSEMENT
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Elvis impersonator Al'vis Munko from Memphis talks with Santa Monica College student Michelle Franco on the Third Street Promenade Friday afternoon. Munko, a Sarah Palin and John McCain supporter, is spending his weekend telling the public about how Palin and McCain have proven themselves worthy of being in the White House. ‘It was either Third Street or Venice and I didn't want to get shot at,’ Munko said.
period for special education, the new academic year could bring a time of growth. Moving past a damaging few years for its reputation, the school district is hoping to make good on its promise of improving a department plagued with controversies, planning a series of changes intended to turn around the way business is conducted. In the latest of actions addressing parental concerns about the problems, which include an alleged culture of secrecy and intimidation, the Board of Education on Thursday hired a Northern California-based firm to devise a long-range strategic plan to drive the future. The Claros Group will spend the next few months evaluating the department to determine which practices and policies are working well and which need to be dismissed. With the help of a group of parents, teachers and administrators, the consultant will eventually draft a set of recommendations, which is expected to happen sometime in January. The superintendent will review it once the document is completed. The study is estimated to cost approximately $13,000. SEE DISTRICT PAGE 10
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