Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 32
Santa Monica City Councilman Phil Brock was apparently assaulted by a homeless man on the Third Street Promenade Sunday, 7/16 around 3 pm PST. "Phil and Cathy were walking on the Promenade," posted one source on social media, referring to Phil's partner, Cathy. "As they approached John Alle's building, a vagrant was tearing down a sign that said "Get the needles out of our parks and Promenade". It had a QR code for people to sign a petition circulated by The Santa Monica Coalition. (It was...
January 11th was just a regular night for Brittney. She had picked up her sons from Will Rogers Elementary, and then drove to Sherman Oaks, where their haircuts were cheaper. The family arrived home, and the boys did homework while Brittney cooked dinner. Just like every night. Then there was washing dishes, stories, baths, and bed. After her boys were asleep, Brittney remembered she had to make a phone call, but didn't want to wake them. The small apartment was home, but didn't offer much...
13 It is with profound sadness that I report the passing of one of the best men I have ever known--Dr. Steve Marcy, our Scout Master for Troop 2. He lead our troop for more than three decades, helping it to become one of the largest and best in the country. We've produced many CEO's, political leaders, astronauts, and surgeons. But most importantly was how Dr. Marcy shaped so many boys into becoming competent, kind, skilled, and loving young men. Marcy was also a Mathematics teacher at...
Fireworks exploded at a virtual SMMUSD meeting Thursday night, as Oscar de la Torre's microphone was repeatedly turned off. The 18-year school board member was told he could no longer speak in that capacity, since he had been sworn in to Santa Monica City Council. Superintendent Ben Drati said he could not hold both offices at the same time, as they were "incompatible" under state law. Board President Jon Kean said if De La Torre wanted to speak, he had to wait until public comments at the end o...
The City of Santa Monica will remove the fences around Palisades park on Thursday, May 13. This according to City Council member Ted Winterer, speaking at the Ocean Park Association Meeting Wednesday. While the park and beaches are open, the beach parking lots will remain closed. As of now, preferential and permit parking violations are not being enforced, because of the "Safer at Home" orders in LA County. Mayor Ted McKeown said the city is discussing whether to restart enforcement on Friday....
If you're planning to be a Freshman next year at SMC, you'll have to do it online. Santa Monica College has cancelled its fall semester due to Covid-19. "Can you believe this? It's not easy for many kids to learn online," said one local mom. "This probably means the middle school next door (John Adams Middle School) will also be closed. The moms are all going crazy now. It's not easy for parents to become teachers. I didn't use to think that this coronavirus lockdown had gone too far, but now I...
A naked homeless man crashed through the roof of a Venice apartment he was apparently trying to enter. This according to a neighbor, who posted the incident and a photo on social media. "40 minutes later, after causing a lot of damage and terror, LAPD arrived and tased him," she wrote. The scene of the crime was Rose Ave in Venice, late Tuesday morning. It was posted on NextDoor: "[Just the new normal](https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=146296359) "This guy broke into an apartment on Rose....
4/14/20. California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his daily press briefing Tuesday, looking forward to a day in the future when the nation's largest State begins to reopen. "When will we reopen? We have to be able to answer all those six questions." The governor referred to a list of questions that had just been posed by Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, California Department of Public Health Director and State Health Officer: California's 6 indicators for modifying the Stay at Home Order. 1.) Ability to...
4/14/20. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of the Los Angeles County Dept of Public Health, briefed listeners on the latest Coronavirus numbers. LA County experienced 40 new Coronavirus deaths--the highest number LA County has ever reported in a single day. Total number of County deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic is now 360. This means the mortality rate is 3.6%. Recently, the racial makeup of Covid-19 casualties has been discussed. Some argue that racial disparities have increased deaths in certain...
Watching my church celebrate Palm Sunday this year was painful. Every year, a crowd gathers on the church steps, gathering palms. We wave them as we process into the church singing; in commemoration of Jesus' triumph into Jerusalem. This year the church was dark. The priests were alone. While I was grateful that they live streamed the Mass, it hurt more than I thought. There was no communal confession on Tuesday, when a dozen priests in white robes march in, and hear people's sins in all corners...
One mystery of the Coronavirus crisis is why more homeless people have not been diagnosed with the illness. 10 cases have been diagnosed so far among LA County's homeless population, reports Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Dept of Health chief. One diagnosed case is described as a resident of a homeless shelter. 1510 positive cases have been hospitalized; which is 22 per cent of all diagnosed cases. 869 currently are hospitalized, 132 people are in ICU. 121 institutions have cases--total...
4/7/2020. At today's daily update, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles Co. Director of Public Health, said that there were 22 new deaths in the County. This brings the Covid-19 death toll in Los Angeles County to 169. LA County added 550 new cases Tuesday, bringing the Coronavirus total to 6910 across the County. Dividing deaths into the diagnosed cases, yields a mortality rate of 2.4 per cent mortality rate. Ferrer notes that she has data from 67 per cent of cases, and does not have info on other...
4/3/2020. The City of Los Angeles has opened 12 Covid-19 testing sites now, said LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. "We've tested 40,000 LA residents," Garcetti said, adding that we will see 30,000 tests next week. Los Angeles has the capacity to do 3,500 tests a day. Homeless people and their health has been a major concern during the Coronavirus pandemic, in part because of their potential impact on the broader community. 13th Bridge Home Shelter will open at the VA. "Today 140 new beds will be...
4/2/2020: Kathryn Barger, Chair, LA. Co. Board of Supervisors: Higher numbers in some areas are due to access to testing in affluent areas. Now we are getting tests into all areas, who may not have had access prior. Dr. Barbara Ferrer: But if you are severely ill and go to the hospital, you will be tested, no matter where you are from. In some of our communities, people travel a lot. They came back from Europe and infected others in their community, so it's not just because they tested at a...
Today is April 1, school is out for the rest of the year, and that's not an April fools day joke. Gov. Gavin Newsom gave his daily update at today's press conference. 8,155 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in CA. 1,855 people are hospitalized; the number has tripled in six days. Total deaths in California now stand at 774, a 16.4 per cent increase. That's quadrupled in six days. "The surge is coming," Newsom warned, adding that 27,000 hospital beds needed by mid-May. "California is prepa...
3/31/20: Seven Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies and staff have tested positive for Covid 19, reports LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. 49 are under medical quarantine, 102 are under personal quarantine. "We have beefed up patrols--852 radio cars in the field. We are providing security for all the new hospital shelters, and all vacant stores," he says. "We are also keeping an eye on housebound elderly and disabled people. " By way of contrast, about 1000 members of the 42,000 member New...
From the LA Co. Health Dept daily briefing on 3/26: 421 new Covid-19 cases were reported, and nine new deaths, bringing the total to 21 deaths, and 1216 cases in LA Co. today. They removed the teen from the original stats, saying Covid-19 may not have been the cause. Another person was removed because they did not live in LA Co. Director of LA Co. Public Health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, says if we don't curtail the spread, there could be a million cases in LA Co. in a few weeks! And that would...
The number of Coronavirus cases in California is now 4,040. Governor Gavin Newsom says we will be at the numbers of NY in less than a week. Since 5 p.m. Wednesday, the state has confirmed an additional 1,026 cases and an additional 19 deaths from COVID-19. Statewide, 83 people have now died from complications with the coronavirus. The Bay Area total grew to 1,439 with 252 new cases in its 10 counties on Thursday, with five new deaths pushing its total to 32. In California, that represents a 34%...
Santa Monica College (SMC) has announced that two more students have tested positive for Coronavirus. The college had previously announced that one student had come down with Covid-19, so this brings the total to three SMC students with the illness. The press release from College President Kathryn E. Jeffery is below. We have received confirmed medical reports today that two more Santa Monica College (SMC) students have tested positive for COVID-19, the 2019 novel coronavirus. One of the student...
3/19/20: Santa Monica College reported Thursday evening that one of its students has tested positive for Covid-19. All who had contact with him or her, are now advised to self quarantine. SMC draws about 20% of its 25,000 students, from China. The press release from SMC President Kathryn E. Jeffery's office is below. It identifies neither the student, nor his gender, nor where he or she came from. Dear SMC Colleagues & Students, Late this afternoon, we learned that a Santa Monica College...
An Apple Store worker on the Santa Monica Promenade has Coronavirus. The unnamed employee, who has been on leave since March 2, tested positive late yesterday. In response, Apple said they deep cleaned the Third Street location, and it is open for business. They did, however, cancel their "Today at Apple" sessions, and spaced out appointments at the Genius Bar. Three employees at it's Irish HQ's tested positive earlier this month, and Apple has closed down all of it's locations in Italy. The...
Late today, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced that all Catholic schools will shut down in LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties. The closures will remain in affect the rest of the month. About 75,000 children in L.A. County attend Catholic schools. The statement was issued by Archbishop José H. Gomez and Mr. Paul Escala, Senior Director and Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. "Closing schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for at least...
Santa Monica College has now joined the long list of schools shutting down to contain the spread of Covid-19, or Coronavirus. Early this evening, SMC announced that all classes are going to be cancelled starting on Friday. And next Wednesday, classes will switch to online. All extra curriculars, travel, and clubs have also been cancelled. All volunteer activities by students have been curtailed until further notice. SMC joins USC, UCLA, LMU, Pepperdine, and almost all local private schools in...
Late Thursday afternoon, SMMUSD announced that schools would be closed throughout the district, on Friday and Monday. Staff will be present at school. At least a dozen area private schools are closed, in an attempt to mitigate exposure from Coronavirus, or Covid-19. Crossroads School announced late Wednesday, that it would close for two days. "We want to emphasize that there are no known cases at Crossroads," says a statement from the school. But they urged students to take home with them what...
Coronavirus has caused the closure of a Santa Monica school, St. Anne's Catholic Elementary School on Colorado Blvd. The one day closure, a spokesman said, "was out of an abundance of caution, and concern for the safety of our children." The school reopened Tuesday, "on the advice of the Archdiocese." One of the staff--not a teacher--believed she may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 and she decided to self-quarantine. St. Anne's School decided to close Monday...