REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS
INSIDE SCOOP
SIMON SAYS
THE REAL DEAL FIRST FEMALE MAYOR’S HOME LANDMARKED PAGE 3 WEATHERING THE STORM PAGE 6 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2009
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Volume 7 Issue 364
Santa Monica Daily Press BIG AL’S BIG FOOTPRINT SEE PAGE 4
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE DAY AT THE CIRCUS ISSUE
Cirque may return to SM
Bringing technology into the classroom
BY KEVIN HERRERA Editor in Chief
CITY HALL Seeking to celebrate 25 years of performing in the United States, the worldrenowned acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil is negotiating a contract with City Hall to set up shop adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier, city officials said. Cirque made its American debut in Santa Monica and hopes to return this fall with its latest production, KOOZA, a blend of two circus traditions — acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show “highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor,” according to Cirque’s Web site. Residents and business owners will have an opportunity to weigh in on Cirque’s proposal tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Ken Edwards Center. The proposal is scheduled to go before the City Council later this month, said Barbara Stinchfield, director of Community and Cultural Services for City Hall. The proposal is the first to be vetted under guidelines adopted by the City Council in December for extended events at the 1550 parking lot just north of the pier. Other extended events located in the lot have included Cavalia, an equastrian/dance program from Canada, and Ashes and Snow, a nomadic, multi-media art exhibit. “The basic guidelines are that the event must offer a unique, cultural opportunity, generate significant revenue for the beach fund and show some economic benefit to
BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
OLYMPIC HIGH SCHOOL All eyes are on a large projector screen as Mark Suminski begins his lesson plan comparing the history of some of the world’s major religions, talking about the teachings of Jesus Christ and the prophets of Islam. After projecting his voice for five minutes, Suminski pauses, and puts a headset on. “Why am I yelling and screaming?” the Olympic High School teacher said. “I don’t know.” He then hands a second microphone to Josh Goldsmith, a senior sitting adjacent to the lectern, asking him to read the next passage about Christianity off the big screen and instructing the other students to begin taking notes. All eyes immediately shift to their respective small laptop screens, typing away notes about Christ, Judaism and Muhammad. It’s a typical morning in Suminski’s world history class where the curriculum in the past few months has been enhanced with a few technological pieces, whether it’s the new sound system, LCD projector, laptop computers or wireless microphones. Suminski’s classroom is one of five in the
HISTORY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: Olympic High School teacher Mark Suminski's world histo-
SEE SHOW PAGE 8
SEE TECHNOLOGY PAGE 9
ry class has been enhanced with a few technological gadgets provided by the district.
SAG board meeting finishes with uncertainty BY RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES The prospects for a strikeauthorization vote by film and TV actors were unclear Tuesday after board members of the Screen Actors Guild attempted but apparently failed to fire their lead negotiator in a two-day meeting. Forces inside the union had sought to have
SAG’s national executive director, Doug Allen, removed from talks with Hollywood producers as a dispute raged over whether the union should proceed with a strike vote, which Allen supports. A vote was originally announced in December but ultimately postponed until this week. After a meeting that began Monday and ran into Tuesday afternoon at SAG headquarters, one participant told The Associated Press that the attempt to
Gary Limjap
oust Allen had proven unsuccessful. The actor spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was supposed to be confidential. A spokeswoman for the 120,000member guild had no immediate comment. Coming into the week’s meeting, SAG leaders planned to send out strike-authorization ballots as early as Wednesday and count the vote within about three weeks. That would be enough time to disrupt the
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Academy Awards and give the guild more negotiating power with Hollywood studios. The actors have been working without a contract since June 30. They have been pressing the major movie studios for a better deal on residual payments for productions made for Internet distribution. They also want to ensure continued benefits during work stoppages, including those that are caused by strikes by other unions.
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
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