INSIDE SCOOP
COMMENTARY
STATE
SANTA MONICA IS TOPS IN PRESERVATION PAGE 3 REELING IN HER YEARS PAGE 5 A THIRD KILLER? PAGE 13
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008
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Volume 7 Issue 341
Santa Monica Daily Press
PLAYING WITH FOOD SEE PAGE 6
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE HAVE YOU ANY PULL? ISSUE
SM cops come to the rescue BY KEVIN HERRERA Editor in Chief
CIVIC CENTER Despite what people see in the movies and on television, police officers rarely have the opportunity to save someone’s life. That’s exactly what a handful of Santa Monica police officers did recently, reviving a 3-year-old found floating in the family pool, as well as a father of four young children whose heart stopped while conducting business at City Hall. And just last week, officers talked a man off the ledge of a Downtown parking structure. He was apparently going to take his life before officers reached him. That incident occurred Dec. 12 on the seventh level of Parking Structure No. 5, in the 1400 block of Third Street. Two officers responded to a report of a 63-year-old man perched on a ledge, threatening to jump after losing his wife and his home of 30 years. “In a situation like this, you want to find out why the person is up there, if they want to hurt themselves and just basically build a rapport with them and let them know you are empathetic with what they are going through,” said Santa Monica Police Department’s Sgt. Renaldi Thruston, who is a crisis negotiations team leader with experience in hostage situations as well as potential suicides. The officers worked as a team to gain the man’s trust and ended up having to help him climb over the railing to safety. On Nov. 30, officers received a report of a child found lifeless in a pool in the 1700 block of Pine Street. Officer Brian Spencer, a member of the SMPD for three years, responded and found the young child with no pulse. “When I got there, the child’s mother was holding him,” Spencer said. “She was crying histerically and I could see that the child looked blue and purple.” Spencer administered CPR with the help of the child’s grandfather. “I was mainly focused on getitng this kid to breathe,” Spencer said. “Obviously being so close to the holidays, no parent wants to SEE RESCUE PAGE 12
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
MAKING THE SWITCH: Shoppers pass by the reusable tote bags on sale at Ralphs on Cloverfield and Olympic boulevards Wednesday afternoon. Today is ‘Day Without a Bag,’ a day when shoppers are encouraged to do away with plastic and paper bags and instead use reusable bags.
Just say no to plastic BY ROB LAWRENCE Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE Paper or plastic? Next year you may not have that option as Santa Monica moves closer to a ban on disposable plastic bags. So, to make sure you’re prepared — and don’t end up carrying your groceries in your arms — Heal the Bay and local businesses will be celebrating “A Day Without a Bag” today by giving away reusable bags. Santa Monica High School sophomore Zachary Gold, son of Heal the Bay Executive Director Mark Gold, and 50 other Samohi students will be marching throughout the city handing out reusable bags in honor of the day.
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“Our students are the next generation and were going to be leading and spearheading to get these non-reusable singleuse bags banned so we can help prevent the killing of animals and make our Earth a better place to live,” Zachary Gold said. The goal of the day is to eradicate singleuse plastic and paper bag usage across Los Angeles County. Zachary Gold and other marchers will be handing out around 400 reusable bags donated in part by Heal the Bay. Heal the Bay has worked with cities across Los Angeles and many of them, along with Santa Monica, officially recognize the third Thursday in December as “A Day Without a Bag.” “It’s just a great day. Cities are realizing
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that plastic bags are really a problem and a blight,” said Kirsten James, water quality director for Heal the Bay. “People realize a change needs to happen, and a part of that change is educating the community members as to the problems that plastic bags create.” On average, 6 billion plastic bags are used each year in the county. According to Santa Monica’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment Santa Monica retail stores distribute approximately 45 to 52 million paper and plastic bags each year. Heal the Bay estimates that of the 6 billion plastic bags, only 5 percent are recycled. SEE BAGS PAGE 11
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