October 24, 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
Families in Venice, Del Rey to pay for Washington’s squabbles
Homeowner justified in killing knife-wielding attacker, police say
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V e n i cE
Affordable housing rent hikes loom
Shooting stokes safety fears in Del Rey
By Joe Piasecki Los Angeles police have ruled that a Del Rey homeowner who shot and killed a violent homeless intruder on Sept. 30 acted in legal self-defense, but the incident has left neighbors calling for more action to address the area’s homeless population. Police say 27-year-old Hunter Merkel, who died in the shooting, had been homeless in the area for about six months prior to attacking several people that night and confronting the armed man inside a garage on the 4700 block of La Villa Marina, part of the upscale 685-unit Villa Marina housing development. Merkel was in the garage beating up a tenant with whom he’d had previous contact with when witnesses alerted the homeowner, Los Angeles police Det. Terry Keyzer said. “The homeowner grabbed his registered firearm and came down the stairs into the garage, where he saw Merkel. Merkel produced a knife and came at the homeowner, and the homeowner shot him once in the chest,” Keyser said. The shooting occurred at around 8 p.m., about an hour after Merkel had assaulted two men in a grassy area bordering the Marina (90) freeway and robbed one of them of a flashlight, she said.
Del Rey
Kyle Gass (left) and Jack Black perform as Tenacious D during Saturday’s Festival Supreme at Santa Monica Pier.
Festival Packs Santa Monica Pier Inaugural comedy event draws 8,000-plus for performances by Hollywood heavyweights By Carl Kozlowski Some of the biggest stars in the world of comedy turned out in force Saturday at the Santa Monica Pier for the inaugural Festival Supreme, a 35-act fiesta of funny organized by actor Jack Black and Kyle Gass of the comic rock band Tenacious D.
occurred, Ferrand said. The seven-hour event, primarily designed to offer star comics a chance to stretch their The event drew a sellout wings in musical performances, crowd of more than 8,000 had some technical glitches to people, making it the largest start: Openers Garfunkel and event this year to take place Oats, a female singing due, took entirely on the pier, said Jay the fest’s main Omega Stage only Ferrand, executive director of the to find the sound wasn’t working Santa Monica Pier Corp. for the part of their half-hour Despite the large audience, set, but the issue was resolved no major public safety incidents quickly and did not interfere with a blistering performance by following act Craig Robinson & the Nasty Delicious. Elsewhere, the crowd was often log-jammed moving between stages, but the well-planned use of giant video screens along the main Omega Stage that showed distant performances between acts limited the need for travel, enabling those who secured good spots to stay in place for the next big act. Parking was tight despite a bicycle valet and other traffic-flow measures taken by organizers. But for those willing to brave the crowd (and pay ticket prices
Actor and comedian Adam Sandler performed a 20-minute set at Festival Supreme.
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By Gary Walker A resident of the 246-unit Breezes Del Mar affordable housing complex in Venice for nearly three decades, Kendra Moore has raised four daughters and three grandchildren at her Indiana Avenue apartment and formed lasting relationships with many of her neighbors. But she and thousands of other public housing tenants on the Westside are bracing for life-altering consequences of anticipated rent hikes next year due to cuts in federal affordable housing subsidies. The rent subsidy voucher reserves of the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles are expected to run out before the end of the year, forcing a program drawdown that could leave tenants like Moore paying about $200 more in rent each month, said housing authority President Douglas Guthrie. “This has been a very difficult year,” Guthrie said. “I expect our Section 8 reserves to be depleted by the end of the year. Continuation of [federal budget] sequestration and funding at current levels will leas to lower subsidies for our Section 8 [rent voucher] participants.” That affects more than 1,000 tenants of both Breezes Del Mar, the largest federally subsidized housing development west of Lincoln Boulevard, the 600-unit Mar Vista Gardens in Del Rey, as well as those living in other buildings that accept Section 8 (Continued on page 10)