April 25, 2013
Local News & Culture Marina del Rey
Westchester
Free S a n ta M o n i c a
P l aya d e l R e y
P l aya V i s t a
M a r V i s ta
Del Rey
VenicE
Link between ABC license density, underage drinking found Photo by Eric Lawton
By Gary Walker Venice and its world renowned boardwalk have long been a favorite tourist destination and a popular playground for locals, especially during the spring and summer months. Those from outside California who visit Venice are not typically interested in attending a poetry reading as much as they are in visiting Venice Beach, interacting with the boardwalk’s multitude of performers and hanging out in the beachside community’s many bars and night spots. And while local officials are aware of the attraction to Venice and the need to have a wide array of businesses to serve the tourists and local population, including many that serve alcohol, a recent study on the concentration of outlets that sell liquor and wine in the coastal enclave has some of them very concerned. According to data collected by the Westside Impact Project, a Los Angeles County campaign that is seeking to lower the number of alcoholrelated problems in Santa Monica and Venice, both communities have substantially higher densities of outlets where liquor can be purchased than other areas of the county. In Venice, there are 106 businesses licensed to sell liquor, beer and wine within the seaside town of 3.17 square miles, which equates to 33 outlets per square mile on average. The county average, according the Westside Impact Project, is 16 alcohol outlets per square mile. Venice’s neighbor, Santa Monica, fares equally as dense as far as the number of bars, liquor stores and restaurants where alcohol can be purchased. The state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control says Santa Monica ranks sixth highest in the county for
CONSEQUENCES OF IMPAIRED DRIVING- A car crash/memorial at Santa Monica High School organized by Streetwise Media In One Instant. The organization uses these displays, featuring cars from actual accidents, in its antidriving while distracted or impaired campaigns at area high schools. See page 10.
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•This Week•
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The Bonedaddys will play two shows on Sunday, April 28 at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier to raise funds for the Church in Ocean Park.
Westchester
LAX study contradicts charge that runway move will shut down Lincoln By Gary Walker A report on how a controversial Los Angeles International Airport plan would reconfigure one of the Westside’s most traveled and important thoroughfares contradicts claims of a two-year shutdown by Westchester and Playa del Rey residents. Los Angeles World Airports is embracing what is known as Alternative 1 of the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study, which would move the airport’s northernmost runway 260 feet towards Playa del Rey and Westchester, a plan that has enraged not only residents of the two communities but also members of other Westside communities. Opponents of this plan contend that moving the runway will cause it to overlap Lincoln Boulevard
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where it meets Sepulveda Boulevard less than a mile from the airport and will necessitate closing Lincoln, which like Sepulveda, is a major vehicular thoroughfare. This they say, will create a two year “Carmageddon,” a term associated with the predicted logjam on the 405 freeway after it was closed in 2011 for road enhancements on the Sepulveda Pass. The predictions of severe, miles-long traffic backups two years ago did not materialize. The airport review of potential Lincoln reconfiguration was conducted by Mark Orton, who has 37 years of experience in highway design, in coordination with LAWA Senior Transportation Engineer Patrick Tomcheck. It states that any (Continued on page 11)