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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 CULTURE WATCH ............................PAGE 4 LETTER TO THE EDITOR ..............PAGE 5 PUMPKIN CARRY ....................PAGE 8 & 9 MYSTERY REVEALED ..................PAGE 13
THURSDAY
10.29.15 Volume 14 Issue 300
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Council considers plans for 4th/Colorado lot
Hallowed grounds Folklore informs spooky spirits at Santa Monican’s haunted Halloween residence
BY MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
The end of the I-10 freeway might be named after Santa Monica, but the roadway isn’t that popular among the current crop of elected officials. At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the freeway was described as a scar on the city that had sundered Santa Monica in two and set Downtown adrift from the nearby Civic Center. To heal this wound, City Hall has an ambitious plan to redevelop several properties adjacent to the freeway and Council took some very preliminary steps
towards that goal on Oct. 27 with a discussion of the city owned property located at the corner of 4th and Colorado. The property discussed Tuesday includes a city owned lot of 86,250 square feet, a city controlled right of way on Palm Court of 16,300 square feet, the private offices on 5th Street of 21,700 square feet and the 4th street off ramp/embankment of 22,100 square feet. The Daily Press rents office space in one of the buildings at 1640 5th St. The site is one of four covered under the upcoming Gateway SEE FREEWAY PAGE 11
Santa Monica vying for $100K youth wellbeing grant Funding through LA2050 contest would expand wellness services at Samohi BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
Courtesy Photo
SPOOKED: Gil Trester has an elaborate set up for trick-or-treating children.
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
When trick-or-treaters knock on Gil Trester’s door on Halloween night, they’re in for more than a piece of candy. Trester emerges to tell them a
spooky story about a folklore spirit as accompanying music flows from his darkened living room into the front yard. Then the spirit he’s just described glides down a monofilament line that SEE HALLOWEEN PAGE 6
As educators, elected officials and other civic leaders seek more data-driven solutions, they are discovering problematic corners in a complex portrait of youth wellbeing in Santa Monica. Recent figures show that 40 percent of local 9th-grade students reported being harassed at school and that one-fourth of local middle and high school students don’t feel safe on their campuses. In addition, half of the juniors who were surveyed said they used alcohol or drugs in the previous month and one-third of them reported having five or more drinks in a row at some point dur-
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ing that span. Meanwhile, more than onefourth of middle and high school students reported experiencing prolonged periods of extreme sadness, and 17 percent of high schoolers said they’ve had suicidal thoughts. “Students today are exposed to many things and many are under stress,” said Sandra Lyon, superintendent of the Santa MonicaMalibu school district. “It is clear that we need to provide more education about the effects of substance and alcohol use as well as information on healthy choices and lifestyles.” Lyon and other officials say SEE GRANT PAGE 7