Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

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  • Alleged Gang Members Charged in LA Burglary Ring Targeting Celebrity Homes

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 29, 2018

    A group of alleged gang members and associates has been charged in a multi-city burglary ring targeting celebrity homes and other properties, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today. The criminal complaint lists 33 felony counts, including criminal street gang conspiracy; first-degree residential burglary; first-degree residential robbery; first-degree burglary, person present; home-invasion robbery; second-degree commercial burglary; and elder or...

  • Man Charged with Fatally Shooting Boss at Alhambra Newspaper

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 26, 2018

    An employee at a Chinese-language newspaper in Alhambra has been charged with fatally shooting his boss, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today. Zhong Qi Chen, 59, of El Monte faces one count of murder with allegations that he personally used a handgun and caused great bodily injury and death, according to the criminal complaint in case GA104674. Chen pleaded not guilty today and is scheduled to return on Dec. 18 in Department 5 of the Los Angeles...

  • LA County Sheriff's Dept Announces Repopulation of Malibu East of Las Virgenes Road

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 19, 2018

    The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced Sunday evening that it would allow the repopulation of most areas impacted by the #WoolseyFire - effective Monday, November 19, 2018 at 9:00 A.M. Approximately 6,400 firefighters covering 617 fire engines, 91 dozers, 159 hand crews, 68 water tenders, 34 helicopters and numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the state, along with numerous out-of-state resources, are still battling two large wildfires in...

  • Malibu Schools Closed Through Thanksgiving Weekend, Including Malibu High School, says SMMUSD

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 18, 2018

    SMMUSD Schools in Malibu are closed to the end of Thanksgiving weekend due to the Fire. They will reopen on Monday, November 26th. Most of the City of Malibu is still under evacuation order, wrote District Superintendent Ben Drati on November 11th. "All four of our schools are still in the current evacuation area."http://www.smmusd.org/superintendent/DratiUpdate111418.pdf Malibu High School, Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, Point Dume Marine Science School and Webster...

  • San Quentin Investigating Two Apparent Suicides of Death Row Inmates

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 10, 2018
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    SAN QUENTIN – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the deaths of two condemned inmates that occurred over the weekend. On Friday night at about 11:15 p.m., staff found Andrew Urdiales, 54, unresponsive during a security check in the Adjustment Center. Correctional officers performed CPR. Urdiales was pronounced dead at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3. Urdiales was sentenced to death on Oct. 5, 2018, by an Orange County jury for t...

  • SM Landmarks Commission to Consider Historic District for 11th Street Bungalows

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 7, 2018

    On Monday, November 12th the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission will decide whether to designate a handful of Craftsman-style bungalows on 11th Street to become the City's fourth historic district. Commissioners will meet at 7:00pm in City Council Chambers, 1625 Main Street in Santa Monica. Mid City Neighbors, a neighborhood organization, filed the nomination application which includes bungalows built in the first two decades of the 1900s located on the 1200 block of 11th...

  • Uber Driver Kidnaps 4 Passengers in Santa Monica, Police Pursuit to Montana Follows

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 1, 2018

    The ghouls and goblins were not the only one's threatening Santa Monica revelers on Halloween. The Uber drivers were pretty bad, too. Wednesday at about 6:43 p.m. the SMPD responded to a radio call for service in the area of 23rd Street and Santa Monica Blvd. A woman called 911 and said that her Uber driver refused to stop and let her out of the vehicle. Three other passengers called 911 reporting similar accounts involving the same vehicle. The victims involved were unharmed...

  • Prisoner Serving 5 Years for Armed Robbery, Escapes from California Men's Prison at SLO

    Observer Staff|Updated Nov 1, 2018

    SAN LUIS OBISPO - California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are looking for inmate David Gray Hall, who was found missing this morning during count from California Men's Colony (CMC) in San Luis Obispo. Hall, a minimum-security inmate who is assigned as a worker in the CMC garage, was last seen at approximately 10 a.m. When CMC staff members went to check on Hall for the inmate count at about 10:15 a.m., they found that a state vehicle, a white...

  • Another Homeless Man Murdered in Tongva Park Wednesday Evening: SMPD

    Observer Staff|Updated Oct 4, 2018

    A murder in Tongva Park last night, the third murder in Santa Monica this year, resulted in an arrest. Santa Monica Police did not release any information about the victim, including his name or whether he was a homeless person living in the multi million dollar, 1 acre park. A suspect has been arrested for his possible involvement in a homicide. The suspect has been identified as Joseph Ramirez Perez, a 21-year-old male. "I am not certain where he was "living" but our...

  • Police Investigate Connection Between Homeless Slayings in LA and Homeless Man Found Dead Under SM Pier

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 24, 2018

    9/20/2018: The Santa Monica Police have discovered a body underneath the 100 year old Santa Monica Pier. Thursday morning at about 6:40 a.m., SMPD responded to a radio call for service regarding a dead body discovered underneath the pier. Officers say he dead man, a white male in his 30's, "suffered an injury consistent with blunt force trauma to the head." The Pier is the most popular tourist attraction in Santa Monica, and also the source of the most crime, statistically...

  • SMC, Westside Ballet and 37,000 Pounds of Trash Collide on Los Angeles County Beaches

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 23, 2018

    Heal the Bay conducted its 29th annual cleanup day on Saturday, September 15th. "Our final totals are in for our 29th annual Coastal Cleanup Day," said the group in a press release. Some 13,342 volunteers joined us last Saturday morning at 75 sites spread all across Los Angeles County. Thanks to their hard work, we removed 40,066 pounds of ocean-bound debris from our shoreline and neighborhoods. Oddball items found this year: chainsaws (Palos Verdes), wedding rings (various...

  • Samohi Hall of Fame and Samohi Distinguished Alumni Inducted at Elks Club Brunch

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 20, 2018

    Samohi inducted new members into the ranks of the Samohi Hall of Fame and Samohi Distinguished Alumni. A celebratory brunch was held at the Santa Monica Elks Lodge at 1040 Pico Blvd on Sunday, September 16. Fewer than 100 people have achieved this level of recognition in Samohi's 127-year history, said Crystal Reed, SAA Secretary. The current inductees include author and radio personality Sandra Tsing Loh; astronaut Randy Bresnik; Nobel Prize winner Jeremy Pal; John Dahlem,...

  • IFTA's Jean Prewitt and MPAA's Charles Rivkin at American Film Market in November

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 14, 2018

    9/12/18 The American Film Market (AFM) has announced today the expansive programming lineup for its Conferences, Roundtables, Workshops, and Spotlight Events which will feature international industry experts, decision makers, and academics, and run alongside the AFM's industry screenings and marketplace. This year's market is taking place October 31- November 7 in Santa Monica. AFM's panel programming is anchored by its renowned five-day Conference Series which this year...

  • Actor Vince Vaughn Charged with DUI in Manhattan Beach Checkpoint

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 7, 2018

    Actor Vince Vaughn has been charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after he was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in Manhattan Beach earlier this summer, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Vincent Anthony Vaughn is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film Swingers. Vaughn Starred in...

  • Heal the Bay Launches Online Water Quality Forecasting System

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 23, 2018

    Santa Monica, 8/22: With beach season in full swing, environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay today launched the Beach Report Card mobile application, which offers beach water-quality predictions each morning to millions of California ocean users. The group says that its predictions come from its proprietary NowCast system, which warns the public by 7 a.m. if monitored beaches have a high likelihood of exceeding state standards for bacterial pollution that day. The NowCast system...

  • Statue of the Virgin Mary Vandalized at Saint Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 21, 2018

    The statue of the Virgin Mary that stands at the corner of 7th Street and California Avenue was vandalized early Friday morning. Someone tagged the statute with yellow paint, possibly between 1 and 5 am, police said. This is in a week when the priest sex abuse allegations have caused church officials to apologize, but it is not clear if the vandals were so motivated. Church employees cleaned off the statue that same day, August 17 2018. The statue was been a target of vandals...

  • Loews Hotel and it's Flower Shop Pony Up Minimum Wages to Pay Employees

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 21, 2018

    They charge $800 a night for their smallest rooms, but the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica apparently wasn't paying all their illegal alien labor, the $15 or so an hour the law guarantees them. The Santa Monica City Attorney's Office inand the Wage Enforcement Program of the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) say they have settled two wage enforcement cases at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica. One case was against Loews Hotel itself and the...

  • Over the Line: Bowling Alley Doomed by Developer, Last of its Kind on Westside

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 12, 2018

    You were over the line, Smokey The bowling alley across Pico Blvd from the Santa Monica Civic Center will be bowled over by a wrecking ball next year, and replaced by a mixed-use apartment complex. This according to the agenda of this week's meeting of the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board. GRT Portfolio Properties owns the property at 216-234 Pico Boulevard. Like every other landlord in Santa Monica with a building built prior to 1998, they intend to tear it down and...

  • Armen Melkonians and Kate Bransfield Decide Not to Run for City Council, Citing CVRA Lawsuit

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 8, 2018

    Former City Council candidate and Facebook maven Armen Melkonians has decided not to run for City Council. His former slate mate, Kate Bransfield has made the same decision. They issued the following statement: Special Announcement to our Residocracy Supporters and Santa Monica Neighbors: Kate Bransfield and I have decided not to enter the race for City Council for the November 2018 election. This was a difficult decision for us to make but one we felt was necessary at this...

  • Los Angeles Launches Anti Aging Plan to Combat Prejudice Against the, Err, Elderly

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 8, 2018

    What a drag it is, getting older. Well, you can ride the MTA busses for 35 cents (Santa Monica Busses are 50 cents after 55, still a major discount). Anyway, on August 6th, 2018, the County and City of Los Angeles Released Age-Friendly Action Plan for the Los Angeles Region. Their press release is hereinbelow: As part of the Purposeful Aging Los Angeles (PALA) Initiative, the County and City of Los Angeles released the Age-Friendly Action Plan for the Los Angeles Region...

  • Fires Burn 560,000 Acres in California, Destroy Over 1800 Structures including homes

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 7, 2018

    Whether it's global warming or just seasonal, this has been a particularly bad fire season in California. Sections of a major city, Redding, have burned. In Mendocino, life in another urban area has been disrupted and changed by the blazes. Fire tornadoes featuring winds of 143 miles per hour have been recorded. This release from CalFire: To date, these fires have burned over 559,000 acres and damaged or destroyed over 1,800 structures. 17,000 homes continue to be threatened...

  • Why I'm Running for SM Rent Control Board by Naomi Sultan/ Nicole Susan Phillis

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 3, 2018

    Why I'm Running for Rent Control Board by Naomi Sultan Hello everyone - This is my first time running for public office and I would like to introduce myself and explain what I'm about. I am a veterans' rights attorney and longtime Santa Monica tenant and I am running as a challenger for Santa Monica Rent Control Board! I am running because we need a new voice on the Board to ensure that Santa Monica neighborhoods and tenants who live in our community are protected. Without Ren...

  • British Snowboarder Ellie Soutter dies of apparent Suicide at 18

    Observer Staff|Updated Jul 29, 2018

    British Snowboarder Ellie Soutter has died of an apparent suicide. She was just 18 years old. "She was in great spirits and was really just the lovely Ellie that she is. You could never have anticipated this. This is the last photo we can find of Ellie and it shows her as the beautiful person she was and will always be." tweeted her father. Ellie, who lived in the French Alps with her dad Tony, had travelled back to the UK with her father last month for a family wedding....

  • Santa Monica & Malibu Give Beachgoers Free Sunscreen From Kiosks. No, Seriously

    Observer Staff|Updated Jul 29, 2018

    7/25/18: A new program at Santa Monica and Malibu beaches this summer will give away sunscreen, UCLA announced today. Fifty free sunscreen kiosks will be installed this summer in the 2 beach cities, with another eight around Los Angeles County. UCLA Health and the nonprofit IMPACT Melanoma sponsored the installation of the kiosks manufactured by BrightGuard. The product itself is SPF 30. "I know a lot of parents are really vigilant about putting sunscreen on the children ... (...

  • LAPD Now Admits They Shot & Killed Manager at Trader Joes, In an Accident

    Observer Staff|Updated Jul 24, 2018

    Trader Joe's store assistant manager Melyda Corado was unintentionally shot by guns Los Angeles police officers fired, during a chase and shootout with a suspect at a Trader Joes in Silver Lake Saturday. LAPD Chief Michel Moore told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that investigators have determined that one of two officers accidentally shot 27-year-old Melyda Corado while engaging in a shootout with the suspect, 28-year-old Gene Evin Atkins. A 28-year-old man who allege...

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