WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 LAUGHING MATTERS ......................PAGE 5 REPAIR CAFE ..................................PAGE 6 LETTER TO THE EDITOR ..............PAGE 7 MOVIE REVIEW ................................PAGE 11
FRIDAY
12.11.15 Volume 15 Issue 24
@smdailypress
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Expo train derailed in crash Colorado Boulevard collision comes amid light-rail testing BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
An Expo Line train being tested in Santa Monica derailed Thursday after hitting a truck at the intersection of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street. Trains have been running periodically on the tracks for several months as part of the testing program on the local portions of the light-rail track, which connects to downtown Los Angeles. Thursday’s crash was the first major incident involving a train in Santa Monica. The accident happened at about noon as the truck driver attempted to make an illegal left turn from westbound Colorado Avenue onto southbound 7th Street, according to Santa Monica police. The westbound train hit the cab of the Matthew Hall editor@smdp.com
CRASH: A train hit a truck yesterday.
SEE TRAIN PAGE 8
GIRLS BASKETBALL:
St. Monica tries on new approach for size Frontcourt players to have big roles for Mariners under Burke
Additional review required for proposed Wilshire hotel BY JENNIFER MAAS Daily Press Staff Writer
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
This year, the St. Monica Catholic girls basketball team is thinking big. Literally. With two talented 6-foot centers anchoring the front line, the Mariners are hoping to take advantage of their size and skill on the interior in Don Burke’s first season
as head coach of the program. Indeed, those assets offer a potential edge on which St. Monica is still learning to capitalize. “That’s never really been the focus before,” Burke said. “It’s sort of new territory. We want to get the ball in there. We want them to shoot. They’ve never been a focal SEE SPORTS PAGE 9
A proposed hotel at 7th and Wilshire has been sent back for additional review with an expectation the project will be approved or denied in the next six months. At their Dec. 8 meeting, in a 4-2 vote, the City Council denied without prejudice an appeal by the developer that if upheld, would have allowed construction to move
forward at the site of the Santa Monica Professional Building (710 Wilshire Blvd.). The council’s decision returns the project to a specialized design review committee for additional work with the goal that problems be resolved within a six-month window. The hotel was approved by development agreement in March of 2012. The project includes incorporating a landmarked building into new construction for a 271
Gary Limjap Experience counts! garylimjap@gmail.com www.garylimjap.com
SEE HOTEL PAGE 11
BACK OR UNFILED
TAXES?
(310) 586-0339 In today’s real estate climate ...
room, 15,210 sq. ft. hotel. Because the project would require additional certification by the Landmarks Commission and the Architectural Review Board, council established a Joint Decision Review Body (JDRB) composed of representatives from both Landmarks and ARB. Eight design conditions for the hotel were also set forth in the
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