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SEPTEMBER 6-7, 2014
Volume 13 Issue 250
Santa Monica Daily Press
TOUR DE FEAST SEE PAGE 9
We have you covered
THE PONY PROTEST ISSUE
Cal State L.A. anthropology major receives prestigious CSU Trustees award BY MARGIE LOW Special to the Daily Press
After battling through two cancer surgeries, Santa Monica resident Justin D'Agostino has emerged a bright and shining star. Overcoming medical and personal challenges only strengthened his determination
to succeed in academics. Now, a second-year anthropology graduate student at California State University, Los Angeles with a 4.0 GPA, D'Agostino looks forward to pursuing a Ph.D. and returning to the California State University (CSU) system as a professor. D'Agostino has conducted international research in Indonesia and studies at the
Gibbon Conservation Center. He also won an outstanding oral presentation award in behavioral and social sciences at Cal State L.A.'s 22nd Annual Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. In recognition of his perseverance and
SEE RIDE PAGE 7
SEE UNION PAGE 6
File photo
SEE MOM PAGE 10
PROTEST: Two council members have put a discussion of pony rides on the Sept. 9 agenda.
Pony rides go to council Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL And now the moment you've all been waiting for: A discussion by the city's top elected officials about pony rides at the Farmers' Market. Two City Council members have requested that, upon the expiration of City Hall's contract with a pony ride and petting zoo vendor at the Main Street Farmers' Market, preference be given to a vendor offering “non-animal activities.” Former congressional candidate Marcy Winograd has been leading a charge
15
Daily Press Staff Writer
against the pony rides since April, claiming that they teach children that it's acceptable to mistreat animals. Vendor Tawni Angel, owner of Tawni's Ponies, claims that the animals are not being abused, that they are happiest working, that many of her petting zoo animals have been rescued from slaughter, and that they teach children how to interact with animals. She's been at the market since 2003. Winograd's online petition, posted to MoveOn.org, has slowly gained 1,250 sig-
SEE AWARD PAGE 11
Santa Monica resident Kiana Anvaripour, is an entrepreneur and fashion designer. Her locally based shapewear line, dMondaine, sells at luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter and has been worn by celebrities such as Halle Berry, Fergie, and Ginnifer Goodwin. Anvaripour is currently pregnant with her first child and she is using this experience as inspiration to create new shapewear products for moms and moms-to-be. Anvaripour responded to questions from the Daily Press.
BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON
BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON CITY HALL A large hospitality union is getting behind incumbent Kevin McKeown and former Planning Commission member Frank Gruber in the race for City Council. Unite Here Local 11 announced its endorsement of the two candidates on Friday afternoon. The union has successfully negotiated labor agreements with developers in the early stages of many recent projects and has often worked with Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR). “We chose Frank and Kevin because they both have a strong history of standing alongside us,” said Derek Smith, political director of Unite Here, in a release. “Their longtime support of living wages, affordable housing, and job creation is a commitment to the idea that Santa Monica is a diverse, inclusive community where people can join the middle class and raise families.” McKeown and Gruber were the top votegetters in the SMRR political convention earlier this year - thanks in part to preliminary support from union members who attended the convention. SMRR is the city's largest political party and most candidates who receive endorsements from the group go on to win a seat. No council candidates had vote totals high enough to get an endorsement from the membership this year. SMRR's Steering Committee, however, pledged its support for McKeown and Planning Commission member Jennifer Kennedy. A union endorsement committee of hotel workers interviewed candidates at the end of July, according to a release from Unite Here. The Daily Press obtained part of a questionnaire the union presented to candidates, asking whether they would support or oppose a series of projects that are in the development pipeline. Projects included the Fairmont Miramar expansion, the project designed to replace the Wyndham Hotel by the Santa Monica Pier, the Bergamot Station Art Center project, and the Ocean Avenue
Santa Monican mom-to-be launches new line
Q: How has being in Santa Monica influenced your business and/or design aesthetic? A: I am a California girl through and through so when I moved back to LA after being in London for over six years I wanted to set up my business as close to the beach as possible. Although I travel to NY quite a bit in this day and age you can run your business from just about everywhere and luckily there has been major start up culture happening here in "Silicon Beach." I live in Santa Monica and my biggest motto has been "time in transit is time wasted, " so when you work as much as I do it is important to live close to your business. Especially in LA, commute frustrations can easily pile on to your already hectic lifestyle. My design aesthetic has always been in luxury. Although Santa Monica is consid-
Hospitality union endorses Gruber, McKeown
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