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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 SPOOKY TRUE STORIES ................PAGE 3 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 8 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9 HOROSCOPE ..................................PAGE 10
TUESDAY
10.10.17 Volume 16 Issue 284
@smdailypress
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Court order delays runway reduction at Santa Monica airport Hunger walk
returning this weekend KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
It’s not too late to register for the Westside Food Bank’s 27th Annual 5k Hunger Walk. Participation in the event is free – although, walkers are encouraged to form a team or create a fundraising page for the food bank. The dog-friendly event will begin at noon Sunday, Oct. 15 and features pre-walk entertainment, prizes and awards. Last year, the event raised enough money to provide a half million meals for people on the Westside who are considered “food insecure”– meaning their budgets are so tight the next SEE WALK PAGE 7
Feinstein, oldest senator at 84, to seek re-election BY MICHAEL R. BLOOD File photo
Associated Press
FULL SIZE: City Hall has plans to cut more than 700 feet from each end of the runway at Santa Monica Airport but a judge has delayed work on the project.
MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the City of Santa Monica from pursuing a project to shorten the runway as Santa Monica Airport. Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew issued the ruling on Sunday, October 8 based in part on the original construction schedule that would have begun work on Monday, October 9. City Hall has plans to remove 1,500 feet of runway from the airport in an attempt to discourage jet flights. The first phase of the work is
limited to restriping, repairs and new lighting. The work is currently scheduled from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Oct. 18, 19, and 20. The airport will be closed during the work. The start of construction was delayed nine days due to problems on the part of the contractor chosen for the work. Phase 2 includes actual removal of the abandoned runway and is scheduled for Dec. 20 – 30. The airport will be closed for those 10 consecutive days. Officials have said a shorter runway will reduce jet operations by 44 percent, from around 16,300 flights per year to 9,000 with an annual increase in traffic between
five to ten percent. The new configuration will make it difficult for jet charters to operate at the airport but does not make it impossible to fly jets out of SMO. Plaintiffs Kate Scott (a Santa Monica resident) and James Babinski (a pilot who uses the airport), filed the motion arguing the city did not hold adequate public review of the proposal. The court agreed citing precedent that requires public hearings for runway work at an airport. The judge ruled the city did not hold public hearings before agreeing to a settlement with the FAA that included the city’s ability to estab-
lish runway protection zones and realign the existing runway. “Under California Public Utilities Code section 21664.5, an amended airport permit is required for every airport expansion, including ‘acquisition of runway protection zones’ and ‘realignment of an existing runway.’ While the department may provide regulatory exemptions, it may not exempt the requirement for public hearings pertaining to environmental considerations,” said the ruling. The judge said a shorter runway
At 84, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is at an age when many Americans are deep into their retirement years. But the oldest member of the Senate announced Monday that she will seek another term with a ready retort for those who might suggest her best years are behind her. “Experience counts,” the veteran California Democrat said. The announcement that she would seek a fifth full term was expected and she has been stockpiling campaign dollars for a re-election bid. In recent months, the former San Francisco mayor has shown no signs that she was thinking about
SEE RUNWAY PAGE 6
SEE SENATOR PAGE 10
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