July 16 was Santa Monica’s Sept. 11. Ten people were killed and scores more were injured when an out-of-control automobile careened through a crowded downtown farmers market.
It was a day of terrible tragedy and of pulling together. Many diverse members of the community are still working hand-in-hand to provide help to victims, their families, vendors, witnesses, public servants and others.
There is much to be done especially for the victims — some of whom are elderly and still have many long, hard months of recuperation ahead. Unimaginable and unexpected costs occur when disaster strikes. To meet those needs, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce established the Santa Monica Farmers Market Victims Assistance Fund. To date, more than $150,000 has been raised and the chamber has dispersed $90,000 to cover transportation costs, medical bills, funeral expense, rehabilitation, travel and housing expenses for victims and their families.
The chamber is still accepting donations and your help is needed. Checks should be made out to “Santa Monica Farmers Market Victims Assistance Fund” and mailed to P.O. Box 51943, Los Angeles, Calif., 90051-6243 Donations also can be made by credit card at www.smchamber.com.
Donations are tax deductible and because the chamber is absorbing all costs, 100 percent of your donations go directly to victims and their families.
It’s time to open up that wallet and do some good.
Jalonnie Carter was a young, 19-year-old Pico neighborhood resident who seemed to be on the way up. Despite the “lure of the street,” he was going to school and working two jobs.
But somehow Jalonnie incurred the wrath of a young neighbor and a couple of his pals. Although police have not revealed the exact circumstances that led to Jalonnie’s murder last week near 20th Street and Delaware Avenue, it’s unfathomable to imagine a transgression so bad that it drove one young man to shoot him in the back.
The usual grandstanders are blaming police, lack of jobs and lack of city commitment to the troubled neighborhood youth.
Sure, we could have a cop on every corner, 24/7, to make sure some of us don’t tear each other apart.
Yeah, the city could provide jobs and “more opportunities for inner-city youth,” but does anyone really believe that will stop this kind of senseless violence?
A life is snuffed out in a fit of pique by someone who has no respect for humanity or life.
What kind of social and family environment or peer influences are at work where one youth could hate another enough to execute him in cold blood?
What kind of homes do these killers with guns come from? Where is their church? How about guidance? And, what kind of society is so powerless that it allows this kind of heinous, cowardly behavior to continue virtually unabated?
The roots on the mature Ficus trees on Yale Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Montana Avenue are pushing up sidewalks and posing a risk to pedestrians.
The city proposes to totally removing some 30 trees because root pruning is not a viable way to prevent them from uplifting walkways. Denuding the street of its gorgeous leaf canopy is the wrong thing to do.
A couple of years ago the city removed dozens of trees on 23rd Street between Pico and Ocean Park boulevards. What was left was a residential street without trees — a street that’s still bare and uninviting. To do the same on Yale would be a grave mistake.
How about removing a couple of Ficus trees and replacing them a few at a time over 15 or 20 years, thus allowing new trees to grow while preserving some canopy and shade? In the meantime, just repair the damn sidewalks.
One neighbor suggested widening parkways to accommodate Ficus roots and to slow down the increased traffic now traversing Yale to avoid the new traffic roundabout at Washington Avenue and 26th Street.
What? Extra vehicular traffic on residential college streets bypassing 26th Street? That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Oh, well. You can bet the city will just put in more speed bumps, narrow the roads, add curb extensions and bottle up the traffic even more after cutting down the Ficus trees — leaving the whole neighborhood uninviting, ugly AND congested. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and a freelance writer).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 12, 2003. Read the original PDF.