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Volume 9 Issue 265
Santa Monica Daily Press
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Samohi readies for Pali’s new offense BY DANIEL ARCHULETA Managing Editor
PACIFIC PALISADES While most prep football teams are experimenting with new school variations of the spread offense, Palisades High School is going with a decidedly old school tactic: the wishbone. Santa Monica High School Head Coach Travis Clark said that he’s enthusiastically looking forward to defending an offense that most of today’s players know little about. The two teams will renew its Westside rivalry tonight at Pali. “That’s how I grew up,” Clark said of the wishbone. “This is going to be interesting.” The run-first offense was installed by new Pali Dolphins head coach Perry Jones. In the past, the Dolphins had been more of a passSEE SAMOHI PAGE 11
Employee union makes school board selections
WAY TO WALK
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com People walk down Pico Boulevard with Zach Bonner (center left), a 12-year-old Tampa, Fla., resident as he finishes the last mile of his 2,500-mile ‘Walk Across America’ on Tuesday afternoon. Bonner's walk across the country was to raise awareness of homeless children.
BY DAILY PRESS STAFF DOWNTOWN Custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and teaching assistants working for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have endorsed two school board incumbents and two challengers for the November ballot. Members of SEIU Local 99 held a town hall meeting last week, at which time they threw their support behind school board members Ralph Mechur and Oscar de la Torre, as well as challengers Patrick Cady and Laurie Lieberman. Cady is a coach at Santa Monica High School and is the only candidate from Malibu running. Lieberman is an education advocate and the wife of powerful land-use attorney Chris Harding. “We are looking for candidates who recognize the commitment, expertise, and SEE ELECTION PAGE 12
Homeowners now targeted for leaf blower violations BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL In a move meant to crackdown on illegal leaf blowing, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to change the way City Hall enforces its ban on the noisy machines and opted to spend $55,000 to hire a new leaf blower point person. Instead of relying on police officers to issue leaf blowing citations, City Hall’s
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Office of Sustainability and the Environment will take over enforcement responsibility. In another change from the old enforcement procedures, OSE staff will have the authority to cite property owners, water customers, owners and operators of gardening or landscape maintenance services, property management companies, and leaf blower operators. Under the old rules, police officers were only authorized to cite leaf blower
operators for violating the ordinance. Rather than writing tickets, OSE staff plans to enforce the ban the same way City Hall enforces its water conservation and urban runoff ordinances. Staff will patrol the city looking for violations and will conduct site visits in response to residents’ complaints. Use of leaf blowers, whether gas powered or electric, has long been illegal in Santa SEE FINES PAGE 12
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