2
Green workshops
3
4
Applications open.
Construction Updates.
Metro Youth Council
Rebates available.
Know Before You Go
TUESDAY
Volume 21 Issue 248
09.06.22 LA County drops to Alejandro Cantarero, former SMDP designer, dies at 42 “low” Covid tier GRACE INEZ ADAMS SMDP Staff Writer
Los Angeles County has officially entered into the “low community transmission level” for COVID-19 even as schools are back in session and extreme heat has driven more people inside. The 7-day average case count declined 18% last week and the county’s new designation is a result of falling below the threshold set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of fewer than 200 cases per 100,000. “Getting into the low community level reflects minimal stress on the hospital care system in LA County associated with COVID-19,” LA County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. The decline comes as students went back to school. Health officials said while many sectors are experiencing declines in clusters of cases and outbreaks, there have been increases in the number of clusters of cases and outbreaks at schools. There have been a total of 624 clusters reported at schools since August 7 that involved more than 3,500 individuals, of which 3,355 were students. The number of reported clusters more than tripled each week throughout August, with 38 clusters reported for the week ending August 13, 135 clusters reported for the week ending August 20, and 451 clusters for the week ending August 27. Since schools reopened, 27 outbreaks have been documented in elementary schools. Eight outbreaks are associated with Youth Sports SEE COVID PAGE 6
New advisory board forming to oversee federal housing aid MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
ALEJANDRO: Cantarero, pictured with his mom, died in July GRACE INEZ ADAMS SMDP Staff Writer
Alejandro Cantarero, known as Alex by those close to him, passed away last month. He is remembered fondly by friends and coworkers as a creative, funny and kind individual. Cantarero worked at the Santa Monica Daily Press from 2002 to 2007, starting as a production assistant and working his way up to production manager. Ross Furukawa, the founder and publisher of SMDP, said that Cantarero was a fast learner who brought a lot of creativity to the paper. “Alex was a talented designer, learning and becoming an expert
at the Adobe suite of products without a formal education in graphic design,” said Furukawa. “He was extremely popular amongst his friends and had a very artistic take on the SMDP. His loss is a big loss to the SMDP family.” During his time with SMDP, Cantarero helped redesign the print version of the paper and also led SMDP to becoming the first newspaper in the US to publish PDFs of print editions online. He worked closely with other members of the SMDP team, including Carolyn Sackariason, a former staff writer. “He loved SMDP, believed in what we were doing and was very loyal and trustworthy,” Sackariason said. Sackariason said she also loved
having conversations with him on topics beyond work. She described him as an “intelligent, deep thinker and philosopher” who was also incredibly kind and creative. She said he once helped her create CDs with photos as a Christmas gift for her mom. When she left the paper she said she knew it was in good hands with Cantarero. Mike Tittinger also worked with Cantarero at SMDP and said they became friends right away. “Working with him was like hanging out with a buddy,” he said. “We would just be joking around, writing funny headlines that we couldn’t send, making funny pictures that we couldn’t use – he was just a lot of fun to work with
Housing officials are looking to right more than a decade of deficiency in administration of federal housing aid in Santa Monica by recruiting more residents into the regulatory process. The Housing Commission held a meeting this month laying out the framework for a new Client Advisory Board that would give individuals receiving federal housing aid a larger voice in housing priorities throughout the city. The establishment of the new group would meet a federal requirement for a citizen input group and advocates said it would begin to address longstanding problems with the local administration of federal housing dollars. Individuals who receive federal assistance have a right to organize and two representatives of that organization are designated as part of the Santa Monica Housing Authority, the federally mandated organization that oversees disbursement of housing vouchers. Voucher holders say they have been denied the right to formally organize in the past with appointed individuals serving as “representatives” in name only. At the Sept. 1 meeting, several individuals said that situation has resulted in discrimination and undue hardship for those trying to get aid via a voucher. Michael Louis said past housing authorities were outright hostile to the notion of an advisory body.
SEE CANTARERO PAGE 2
SEE HOUSING PAGE 7
Credit: Divina Sevilla
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS HERE 1. REACH 1000’S OF LOCALS DAILY
2. BUILD YOUR BRAND
3. CALL ME FOR SPECIAL SUMMER DEAL
FO R I N FO CO N TACT: C I N DY@ S M D P.CO M | ( 3 1 0 ) 573 - 8 074