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July 18, 2013
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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
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Waxman legislation targets gun law ‘loophole,’ mental health services
By Vince Echavaria Leading a forum on gun violence and mental health in a city reeling from a mass shooting last month, Rep. Henry Waxman announced a proposed bill that he says would focus on gun safety and improve access to mental health services. Waxman convened the July 15 forum in Santa Monica, where five people were killed and several were injured on June 7 when 23-year-old John Zawahri went on a shooting rampage before police fatally shot him in the library at Santa Monica College. The congressman was joined at the event by Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor, state Sen. Ted Lieu and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who addressed issues of gun legislation, school safety plans and mental health services with four panelists. The panelists included Pamela Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a public agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services; Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks; Dr. Nancy Greenstein, chair of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees; and Suzanne Verge, Los Angeles chapter president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. In the wake of the Santa Monica incident and other mass shootings last year including Aurora, Colo. and Newtown, Conn., Waxman said officials need to find out what the events had in common and take action to prevent more senseless violence. “I am determined to do all I can to support the city, support the victims and make sure that the federal government is doing its part to make sure that this tragedy is not repeated,” Waxman said. Waxman plans to introduce in Congress the Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Act of 2013, which he said would provide a framework for improving gun safety, target research on serious mental illness, improve access to mental health services and reinforce existing government authorities to carry out public health research on (Continued on page 9)
In response to a June 7 event in Santa Monica, where mourners gathered for a memorial (above), and other mass shootings across the U.S., Rep. Henry Waxman will introduce a bill addressing gun safety, mental health and gun violence research.
Australian surfers to take Santa Monica by ‘Storm’ First-ever 3D surfing documentary makes Los Angeles premiere at Aero Theatre
The 2013 documentary “Storm Surfers 3D,” featuring renown surfers Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones, makes its Los Angeles debut this weekend in Santa Monica.
By Michael Aushenker “Step Into Liquid.” “Thicker Than Water.” “Riding Giants.” “The Endless Summer.” Over the years, there have been numerous documentaries attempting to capture the glory and the energy of surfing, one of the most alluring and dangerous sports known to man. For the first time, a new film, currently making the specialty release circuit across the West Coast, achieves this in another dimension. The XLrator Media release, titled “Storm Surfers 3D,” will screen at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at the Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave. in Santa Monica. With “Storm Surfers 3D,” world surfing champion Tom Carroll and big wave pioneer Ross Clarke-Jones re-team with filmmakers Justin McMillan and Chris Nelius, who have chronicled the Australian surfers on various Discovery Channel specials over the years. Carroll, 51, the face of surfing back in the mid-1980s, jeopardized his third championship by boycotting the South Africa leg of the world tour in protest against apartheid. Clarke-Jones, 44, has rode 90-foot waves as well as up the piranha-infested Amazon River. In 2001, he became the first-ever non-Hawaiian to win the Quiksilver competition, in memory of Eddie Aikau, held at Waimea Bay. Narrated by actress Toni Collette, with appearances from pro surfers Kelly Slater, Mark Matthews and Paul Morgan, “Storm Surfers 3D” ups the ante of McMillan’s and Nelius’ 2005 film on the pair, “The Sixth Element.” Still groggy from jet lag somewhere in Venice, Carroll and Clarke-Jones, who will appear at the Aero screening, recently spoke to The Argonaut about “Storm Surfers 3D.” Filmed in 2011 along the Australian coastline during the winter months, “Storm Surfers” consists of one big search, as the Aussie surfers, along with a meteorologist, embark on the hunt for the “Great Wave.” (Continued on page 17)