Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Experienced Lyft and Uber drivers know it's a common but frustrating practice. A passenger is in a hurry. Nothing prevents him from using the Uber & Lyft Apps on his phone simultaneously, to summon one of each. But this time, it ended in gunfire. About 5 a.m., the driver picked up two passengers at Avenue 40 and Eagle Rock Blvd in the Glassell Park area of Los Angeles. This according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Roberto Alaniz. As he pulled away, an Uber driver pulled up next to...
Aretha Franklin has died of cancer in hospice at 76 years of age. The "Queen of Soul" was surrounded by family and friends as she passed quietly. She will be memorialized at a service on Friday. While she is remembered for a string of hits in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, younger fans perhaps remember her for singing at the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. A relative who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to publicly talk...
8/14: In a press release, the City of Santa Monica denies that it has frozen Bird and Lime companies out of the process. It says scooter decisions will be made after August 30th, and not tonight at the 8/14 City Council meeting. https://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/08/13/news/city-issues-update-on-the-shared-mobility-pilot-program-in-santa-monica/3591.html Those using the Bird Scooter app in Santa Monica Monday night got a pink not working signal from the company. Why? Becaus...
Mel's Diner has opened on Olympic and Lincoln. The building began as the Penguin in 1959. In 1990, it became Dr Beauchamp's Western Dental for 20 years, but is now once again a classic American diner. Denny's and Norms are gone from Lincoln and Colorado for good. But Mel's Diner offers American fare to diners 24 hours a day. At the moment though it's hours are more restricted. The sign is on the list of Santa Monica's historic places, so no change to the Googie era penguin....
As Jerry Brown finished his 4th term as California governor, he opened the prisons and the border. He also gave the people of California one more gift: Impossibly long lines at the DMV. In May 2016, Brown announced that anyone, no matter what their citizenship status, could get a California Drivers license. The FAA threatened to keep Californians from boarding planes, because as ID, California Drivers licenses would be worth nothing. After litigation and negotiation, the...
When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced in September that Amazon would construct a second headquarters in North America, the smart money was on Atlanta. The South's biggest City has land, a large and largely underemployed workforce, transportation infrastructure and an accommodating local government. Since Amazon's HQ is in Seattle, it made sense that the company would pick the East coast, or even Toronto Canada for HQ2. But in January, Amazon moved into the Sony Pictures studio...
Update, 6/8: The Observer received the following message from Early Warning: "To confirm, no “massive data breach” occurred, as your headline states. You received multiple emails due to an error of one of our IT systems. Early Warning uses a secure portal (website) as a way for consumers to send us data in a secure manner. On Sunday, June 3, a consumer was using the Portal to upload documents in relation to an ongoing interaction with Early Warning. When information is upl...
As FoxNews claimed the California's primary was a victory for the Republicans and MSNBC said the same about the Democrats, the truth is the results of California's primary were rather mixed. Republican John Cox, with 26% of the vote, defeated former LA Mayor Villaraigosa to advance to the finals in November. No one would have thought that possible as recently as March, when Cox received a ringing endorsement from President Donald Trump. Cox's presence at the top of the ballot...
On Tuesday night, May 22, the Sant Monica City Council conducted a study session on the City's budget. Residents were invited to send in letters and share opinions in an open forum. The main problem is the City's current $461 million unfunded pension liability, which the City hopes to retire within 30 years. The City of Santa Monica pays over 200 employees more than $120,000 per year, and is notorious for overpaying its employees. "We are not in a position of crisis, but a...
In a recent twitter post, the United States Geological Survey reported that Hawaii's Mt. Kīlauea Volcano now shows a happy face. We often see patterns in nature, but this one is especially ironic given that the Big Island is experiencing it's biggest earthquakes in 4 decades. Kīlauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 and has caused considerable property damage, including the destruction of the town of Kalapana in 1990. On May 3, 2018, new lava vents opened in t...
The Lincoln Middle School field, which has been undergoing restoration for most of 2 years, will open soon. "We are close to opening Lincoln MS field," says SMMUSD Spokeswoman Gail Pinsker. "We are likely just a few weeks away." The Lincoln Lions will soon move from an old dirt track to a new six-lane synthetic track. They will migrate from the old grass and dirt field to a new synthetic football, soccer and lacrosse turf field. The project includes upgraded and enlarged...
A capacity crowd filed into Catholic Church Easter Sunday morning on April 1, 2018. People dressed in their Sunday best (mostly), had to be re-directed to the gymnasium and community center which held satellite services. Six or so people greeted the faithful in front of the 100 year old cathedral with free coffee. Monsignor Torgerson himself shook hands at the Church entrance for the most important holy day in Christendom. Around the block, a smaller crowd filed into St....
The SMMUSD organized a walkout at 10 am Wednesday morning, to protest the recent shooting of 17 high school students in Parkland Florida. They called for more gun laws, and laws to address gun violence in the United States. 2500 Santa Monica High School students gathered on the athletic field, and listened to speakers, mostly in favor of gun control. One of the young women who organized the protest, Jasmine, told us: "Today we had a walkout at Santa Monica High School we...
Trying to please potential Democratic voters, the State of California declared itself a Sanctuary State last year . The Justice Depart has now sued the Golden State, saying that it is interfering with Federal Agents in the performance of their duties The Federal constitution says that border control and immigration are the purview of the Federal government, not the states In modern times, the country's largest state has been dominated by Democrats politically speaking, but it...
In the wake of a Florida shooting, a high school protest movement appears to be snowballing. A 19 year old boy carrying an automatic weapon to the Parkland, Florida public high school, shot and killed 17 fellow students on February 14th. The 10 am walkout planned for March 14th is set to last 17 minutes, to honor the 17 Florida students killed. 14 more were wounded, some seriously. Another walkout is planned on April 20, which will mark the 19th year since the Columbine High S...
Los Angeles City Council today unanimously approved an ordinance to reign in out-of-control party houses in Los Angeles. The ordinance, which began as a motion introduced by Councilmember Ryu on June 10, 2016, creates a series of escalating fines against party hosts and homeowners who either host or rent out their homes for massive gatherings that disturb neighbors, block the public right of way, and threaten public safety. "Today, we are putting public safety first and party...
Kimberly Lynne Watzman, 45, of Santa Monica died in a Newport Beach helicopter crash on Tuesday, said the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's said the other 2 who died were 56-year-old Brian R. Reichelt of Hollywood, Florida, and Joseph Anthony Tena, 60, of Newport Beach. Watzman, the manager of the Standard Hotel in Hollywood, was remembered as a world traveler, a dog rescuer, and a person with a zest for life. "She was working very hard at Resort management," said...
The death of an 88 year old John Hautz at his home on 34th Street, is being investigated as a homicide. While the death of an 88 year old is not generally considered suspicious, this one is. "There are specific details that I can not disclose at this time," said Lt. Saul Rodriguez, SMPD's Public Information Officer. "The investigation is on-going. I can confirm there were several indicators and trauma to the decedent's body that led the investigation in that direction. The...
The Santa Monica Pier is the symbol of the City. However, the bridge we have all walked down to get to the 100 year old wooden structure from Ocean Avenue has been ruled seismically unsafe and is slated to be replaced by two modern bridges. The 1939 era bridge is also regarded as unsafe because it is crowded, and mixes pedestrians with over 3600 automobiles on a summer day. The 1980's era divide between men and machines (it's called a "K Rail") just doesn't accommodate modern...
3/29: The Observer has learned the names of both the perpetrator and victims in what Long Beach Police called an act of workplace violence Friday. "Major Langer came to the office to fire a named partner named John Mendoza. Mendoza pulled out a gun and shot Major dead and shot Ron (Beck) in the stomach. Ron's in the hospital with serious injuries," says our source. "Then Mendoza shot himself to death, too." In the 1990's, Los Angeles personal injury attorney Larry H Parker...
The Postman only rings twice. But sometimes, not at all. Some local residents complain of poor service and frankly odd behavior by the Postman lately. On social media, some residents note that delivery often occurs after 9pm and delivered by people not in uniform. At local post offices, some days the boxes are not delivered until the end of the day. At residences, letter carriers knock at doors after dark, but do not place mail in mailboxes as they would during the day....
It has been called the Christmas gift for California businesses that keeps on giving. California has a little-known device for avoiding certain taxes when filing an LLC or corporation, that is only available the last 2 weeks of December. Businesses started during the last 2 weeks of the year pay no taxes for 2017, but enjoy the corporate shield for the entire year. As the end of every year, some entrepreneurs suddenly decide to start a new business or incorporate and existing...
Correction, 12/4/17: Laila from Untitled Number One School, says that the number of children proposed for the preschool is 20, not 50. "Most importantly, our Planning Commission approval is based on that maximum number of 20. The Statement of Official Action is linked to the Agenda for this Tuesday's City Council mtg. here:" http://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1107 Sharing is caring, but not in my back yard when it comes to one neighborhood and a...
Santa Monica College announced that it will officially open its newest campus-housing The Center for Media and Design (CMD) and the KCRW Media Center-on December 2, 2017. We have repeatedly pointed out that only 4% (yes that's right, FOUR PERCENT) of SMC students are Santa Monica High School graduates, and that about half the student body are foreigners, who pay top dollar to study abroad. So it's unclear to us exactly how this will benefit local residents. But saying that is...
In Showtime's Ray Donovan, seedy characters regularly bribe LA officials to get contracts and hide the truth. But that's just television. Or is it. Chances are good you've parked your car in those large parking lots in lower Westwood. You might have wondered who owns them. The answer is, you do, through the Federal government. A story of who manages VA parking lots in Westwood begs the question of how he landed such lucrative contracts in the first place. The answer from the...
