FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2010
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Volume 9 Issue 61
Santa Monica Daily Press COOPER REPRIMANDED SEE PAGE 12
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THE BRING BACK THE SUN ISSUE
Storm sparks blaze at business BY KATE MATHER Special to the Daily Press
PICO BLVD An electrical fire broke out at Triathlon Lab Thursday afternoon — the result, the store’s owner said, of the major downpour Southern California has faced this week. Lloyd Taylor, the owner of the store located at 3328 Pico Blvd., said water leaked through the seal protecting the building’s meter system, causing an “explosion” in the small annex that housed the store’s power source. The annex was completely destroyed, said Capt. Mark Bridges of the Santa Monica Fire Department, but no injuries were reported, although customers and employees were in the store when the fire broke out around 1:11 p.m. The employees evacuated the customers as soon as the fire was discovered, Taylor said, and the fire department was on the scene within minutes. Bridges estimated the total damage — including the smoke damage to clothing in the store — to be about $10,000, although Taylor said he could not confirm that number before hearing from his insurance company. Taylor did say the fire would have serious consequences for his store, which opened only seven months ago. “We won’t know when we will be able to open again because the power source is completely destroyed,” Taylor said. “We’ll definitely have a loss of income over the next 48 to 72 hours until the power gets up and running, and we’ll probably have to sell all of the clothing we have on sale or collect from insurance.” news@smdp.com
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
MAKING SHORT WORK: Santa Monica firefighters work to put out an electrical fire at Triathlon Lab on Pico Boulevard.
‘State of the City’ focuses on long-term economic fix BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
BROAD STAGE With the recession cutting into tax revenue, City Hall is projecting a deficit of as much as $9 million during the next fiscal year, and outgoing City Manager Lamont Ewell has said that amount could grow to $47 million by 2014 without “corrective action.” “Expenditure growth is projected to far outpace revenue growth over the forecast period, and adjustments will be needed in order to balance our budget in both the near and long term,” Ewell wrote in a letter to city employees this month. Although that dim financial outlook served as the backdrop for Thursday’s “State of the City” event, the program focused less on the doom and gloom and more on long-term steps leaders can take to
Five generations of family jewelers
bolster Santa Monica’s economy. The keynote speaker, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. Bill Allen, stressed the link between civic leadership, the business community and economic development. In summarizing the county’s strategic plan for economic development, which the county’s Board of Supervisors approved last month, he highlighted the importance of improving primary education, creating a business friendly environment, investing in infrastructure and making smart land use decisions. He said Los Angeles County has a weak record in job creation, having added 1 million people since 1980, while at the same time losing 100,000 jobs. In a portion of his speech that seemed particularly relevant to Santa Monica, he argued that city leaders should recognize
Gary Limjap
the importance of creating a balance between job creation and other community priorities like limiting traffic congestion and maintaining a Brandon Wise high quality of life. “If we have voicbrandonw@smdp.com es in our communi- AT THE FOREFRONT: ty that are not rec- Frank McCourt, owner ognizing the appro- of the Dodgers, speaks priate balance, I during the ‘State of the think there’s a City’ on Thursday. moral responsibility for the rest of us to stand up and seek that balance,” he said. The event Thursday morning at the SEE CITY PAGE 8
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