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Nick Shirley is a heroic journalist to those on the right, while those on the left dismiss him as a "Right wing agitator." Either way he gets a rise from people. On a stiff August afternoon outside the California State Capitol, the independent reporter stood tall and erect on the sidewalk, thrusting his microphone into the faces of lawmakers while probing Assembly Bill 2624. Critics had already dubbed the measure the "Stop Nick Shirley Act," claiming Democrats were trying to...

On Saturday, August 22, 2026, at approximately 12:49 p.m. PST, a Santa Monica police officer fatally shot a man near the 1400 block of Ocean Avenue in Palisades Park. Officers had responded to a reported domestic violence call in the park (an area known for significant homeless presence). While interviewing witnesses, an unrelated man armed with a knife charged toward them. He ignored repeated commands to drop the weapon and continued advancing. One officer fired a single...

Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly signed California’s controversial “Stop Nick Shirley Act” into law on Saturday, August 22, 2026, expanding privacy protections for immigrant aid workers in a move critics say is designed to intimidate citizen journalists exposing taxpayer fraud. Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Oakland Democrat Mia Bonta (wife of state Attorney General Rob Bonta), expands California’s Safe at Home program — originally created for domestic-violence victims — to empl...

A sprawling homeless encampment near UC Berkeley student housing has drawn renewed attention after a viral video highlighted piles of tents, debris, and belongings along the streets. In mid-August 2026, ABC7 reporter Lyanne Melendez posted footage of the long-standing camp along the Harrison Street corridor near Eighth Street in West Berkeley while dropping her son off at university housing. The images showed densely packed tents, tarps, shopping carts, furniture, bicycles,...

LOS ANGELES - Graffiti removal is underway at Oceanwide Plaza, the long-abandoned three-tower complex in downtown Los Angeles long known as the "Graffiti Towers," following a bankruptcy court-approved sale to a joint venture of Southern California developer KPC Group and Lendlease. The site, located at 1101 South Flower Street across from Crypto.com Arena, LA Live, and the Los Angeles Convention Center, has stood unfinished and increasingly covered in spray paint since...

In a stunning reversal of their 2020 "Megxit," Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are packing up their life in Montecito and relocating to the United Kingdom later this month with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The couple, who have made the exclusive Santa Barbara County community their primary home for the past six years, will establish a private, non-royal residence outside London while keeping their California property,...

Construction cranes are swinging over Santa Monica even as Californians vote with their feet and leave the state. A mixed-use apartment complex is rising on the old Pico Bowl site near Pico Boulevard and Third Street. Senior “affordable” and supportive housing is underway at 14th and Wilshire. Another 78-unit affordable project is climbing at 20th Street near Wilshire. Related towers are advancing toward 26th and Wilshire. All of this is happening while California lost rou...

Gina de Baca and the Santa Monica Ballet Folklorico and Cultural Center (also known as Cabeza de Vaca Cultural Dance School / Center) are offering Adult and children's Hula Dance classes in partnership with the City of Santa Monica. They are also offering both adult and child Folklorico Dance classes with the city, along with Belly Dance classes. Founded by Gina de Baca more than 20 years ago in response to the loss of local cultural programs amid rapid gentrification on the...

Santa Monica police and fire personnel responded Friday, August 14, 2026, to a death investigation in the 1100 block of 7th Street, where an adult was pronounced dead at the scene following an apparent suicide. The individual, later identified as 90-year-old Maurice Robson, was found on a sixth-floor construction balcony at Westminster Tower, a 17-story residential building undergoing exterior renovations. Preliminary information from the Santa Monica Police Department...