Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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In the last election, City Councilmember Kevin McKeown said that if the public voted down a restrictive measure that would have required voters approve any new development, he would slow down the rapid pace of local development. The City Council approved a couple of measures that will cost property owners money, unless they own single family homes. New developments can't use any more energy than their predecessors--was this the LUVE compensation that City McKeown promised?...
Exterminators executing a death contract against school termites, called the Santa Monica Police on a few school moms observing pesticide fumigation tenting proceed at a local elementary school. The moms arrived as employees of the fumigation company, US Superior, began to wrap the campus buildings in plastic tarps. They broke a promise to not use these toxic substances at the school, said Sherry Martini, mother of a former Roosevelt student. They went directly to chemical...
Roosevelt Elementary school plans to tent school buildings this Saturday, April 1, 2017, and spray for termites. But some parents think the plan is for the birds, and dangerous to the birds, bees and kids. "Did you know that raising the temperature inside the walls to 120 degrees Farenheit will kill termites?" asks Jill Hawkins. She is part of a group of Roosevelt Elementary School parents, lobbying the SMMUSD to put away the poison. She thinks there are less dangerous...
In what may be the most ill conceived traffic plan ever created by civil employees paid more than $250,000 a year, the City of Santa Monica is pushing a plan to narrow Lincoln Blvd into one lane in each direction. "Auto-Centric businesses" such as auto parts and mechanics, would be encouraged to leave town. Commuters would be discouraged from using Lincoln Blvd, since it would flow at about 10 miles an hour between the 10 freeway and Ozone Avenue, 1.5 miles south. Update:...
America's latest tech billionaire Evan Spiegel grew up surfing in LA. Then he went to Stanford, where he met Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy. Together, they designed a social media app that allows users to share images and videos, which will then vanish. Snapchat has 30 million monthly active users, and Wall Street just rewarded Snap with an IPO that made them rich beyond their wildest dreams. What exactly is wrong with Spiegel, Murphy and Brown living their American dream? We a...
It has long been known that Santa Monica gives it's employees stupendous wages and benefits. 112 City of Santa Monica employees make more than $250,000 per annum. SMPD Beat policemen make on average, $102,000 a year, and can retire with a full pension at 55 years of age. The City Manager makes $425,000 a year (no, that's not a typo). And so on down the line. Now pensiontracker.org has ranked California cities by pension debt per household. We would like to report that Santa...
The wind toppled a large eucalyptus tree onto a pathway at the golf course at the Genesis just before noon. The tree appears to have fallen on no one but startled onlookers. The annual tournament, formerly known as the Northern Trust open or the Los Angeles open, has been held today on the rainiest day in Los Angeles in 15 years. The event is held at the Riviera country club in Pacific Palisades, California. 20 minutes after the tree fell, play was temporarily suspended due...
It seems apparent that the Trump Whitehouse was not told in advance of Saturday's announced closure of the Santa Monica airport, as of 1/1/2029. That's because Donald Trump would never have agreed to it. At a hastily called Saturday meeting, the City Council approved a settlement with the FAA restricting SMO's use until 2029, followed by its closing and turning over of the land to the City. The timing of the announced settlement, one week after the swearing in of a new...
Santa Monica Airport is the oldest airport in Los Angeles County and at 110 years old, the fifth oldest in the State of California. It would appear that this afternoon, the City Council has negotiated with the FAA for the authority to close the airport on New Year's Day, 2029. Closing the airport has become a popular cause in Santa Monica. Airport opponents point out that due to the airports unique history as the Douglas aircraft headquarters until 1972, nowhere in America is...
Update: Coach Kampmann's Memorial is set for Feb. 4, 2017 at 11 am at University High School's Stivelman Theater. Coach Richard Kampmann, University High School's beloved track and cross country coach who later coached track and cross country distance running at Pepperdine University, is near death, says his son, Bill Stimming. He was (and remains) a role model for hundreds of boys and girls over the years. Kampmann was the coach from 1962 to 1987 at UniHi. "They just...
Update: Coach Kampmann's Memorial is set for Feb. 4, 2017 at 11 am at University High School's Stivelman Theater. 2/23, 2 pm PST: With deep sadness, this message is to inform you that Coach Dick Kampmann passed away this afternoon at 2:12 p.m. at his home in Santa Monica. He was with family at the end and at age 92, lived a full and meaningful life. He and Deb are now once more united, forever. Bill Stimming is now busy making the necessary arrangements and there will be a...
Susan "Spooky" Schueler, 51, taught high school English at Culver City High. But in 2015 she left the public education system in order to become a professional psychic medium. While a psychic involves herself in a soul to soul connection with people in order to help them with life issues, a medium connects people to their loved ones on the other side, according Schueler. All mediums are psychics, but not all psychics are mediums. She is both psychic and medium and always has...
One year ago, the City of Santa Monica launched a program to add a strip of concrete down the center of 75 alleys. This allows rainwater to percolate through the strip and into the groundwater, then out to sea. The problem is, that center strip visibly wears out more quickly than the surrounding black asphalt. The City launched an "Alley Renewal Program" which, over 20 years, will "improve the condition and functionality of 75 of the City's most worn alleys. Project work...
The Tuareg people inhabit the Sahara desert, in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. It is one of the world's most remote and little known countries. Santa Monica Dance Studio's Benedicte Schoyen Clark recently travelled to Niger to visit Leslie Clark, Ned Clark's aunt, and the founder of The Nomad Foundation. Bringing their friend, Cooper Bates, the three of them completed a 4-week journey into the poorest,...
Dr. Karen Belkic MD is a clinical scientist with a PhD in neuroscience and physician specialist in internal medicine. On Sunday, December 8th, 2017, she delivered the Gloria Freedman memorial lecture on ovarian cancer to Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood. Gloria Freedman was her mother. Among women worldwide, Breast Cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer A critical factor impacting survival is the stage at which Breast Cancer is diagnosed. Survival after diagnosis is...
After all other forms of treatment had failed, Ricardo Miranda, L.Ac.cured a little girl of eczema. She was cured primarily through the use of acupuncture, says Miranda. The three year old girl presented with eczema, said Miranda, 49. Her mother, Norma Alcontara, said that they had been to doctors, dermatologists, pediatricians and dieticians. The family had tried everything. "Eczema is a skin condition, she was covered from head to toe with rashes. Whole arms and face," said...
When I bring home something I find in the alley, everyone makes fun of me for dumpster diving. But when three highly educated recent college grads do it, apparently it's research. I ran into three such women in an alley in the heart of Santa Monica's swank North of Wilshire neighborhood, where pretty much everyone drives a Prius. The three women are inspired and employed by Global Green USA to dig through trash in order to save the Planet. The Santa Monica Non-profit pays...
NORMS Restaurant on Pico and Camden Avenue is closing after 47 years. Christmas Eve will be the last day. The large parking lots and one story googy structure will be replaced by "high end condos and multi-use retail, what else?" said David Bowman. He said that their 50 year lease had been bought out three years early. Bowman is a NORMS manager, but not at this location. Like others in the NORMS organization, he had volunteered to help out at the overflow crowds. Many diners,...
We wondered about the fate of Mountain Lion P-39's three cougar cubs. Their mother's death occurred on the 118 freeway east of the Rocky Peak exit on the evening of Saturday, December 3, but NPS heard about the accident a few days later. Jeff Sikich who works for the National Park Service, found the collar and knew the animal had been killed. Her body was collected by sanitation workers, said NPS' Kate Kuykendall. "Navigating our complex road network is a major challenge for...
Update, 12/2: Judge Bruguera today ordered NMS properties to cede control of its Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and West Hollywood "LUXE" properties, to AEW Capital Management. She also imposed attorneys fees against NMS. We previously reported that the LA Superior Court (Judge Suzanna Bruguera), found that Neil Shekhter, the principal behind NMS Properties, had engaged in evidence tampering. We are told that next week's City Council Agenda 13C, reads: "Request of Councilmembers...
In a civil case involving NMS Family Living Trust, and Margot and Neil Shekhter, Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bruguera found that NMS Properties and its owners, fabricated evidence, and destroyed or hid electronic evidence from the Court and the opposing parties. For this reason, she entered a judgment imposing "Terminating Sanctions" against NMS, meaning that they lost the lawsuit and now have a default judgment against them. Terminating sanctions are unusual, though not...
Can you feel left out even if you own the latest iPhone 7? You can if you're Frankenstein's monster. The computer giant has released a 2 minute commercial on their youtube page which shows Frankenstein's monster (Brad Garrett), descending into a town to sing "Home for the holidays." He is encouraged by a little girl, who recognizes that he just needs to feel included. The whole town joins in on the caroling. The ad switches rapidly back and forth from the 19th Century to the 2...
It's an open secret that Santa Monica Police officers and other City employees are the best paid in the world. TransparentCalifornia.com hopes to rip off the mask on why. In Newport Beach, a city about the size of Santa Monica, 13 employees make more than 300,000 per year. In Long Beach, a city six times the size of Santa Monica, 13 employees make more than $300K a year. In Santa Monica, 105 employees make more than $300,000 per year. So says www.Transparentcalifornia.com, A...
Proving that the Santa Monica electorate really, really likes intensive development; local voters returned all 4 incumbent City Council members to Santa Monica City Council. In voting for Terry O'Day, Gleam Davis, Tony Vasquez and Ted Winterer, the voters rejected SMMUSD School Board member Oscar de la Torre and Armen Melkonians. Melkonians ran an outside campaign connected with Measure LV, which would have greatly restricted the size of new developments in San- ta Monica. Som...
Maria Rita D'Orsogna is a theoretical physicist by training, who teaches mathematics at Cal State University Northridge. She is also a well known environmental activist in Italy. I ran into her in front of St. Monica's Catholic Church one Sunday morning, picketing in support of Measure LV. It would greatly restrict the size and scope of construction projects in Santa Monica. LV is a very contentious issue, with strong feelings on both sides. So I asked the obvious question:...
