Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 456
I was Steve Miller's first boss. He wrote an anti-Freshman Seminar for me. This was long after he was in third grade, and apparently eating glue, according to a third grade teacher recently suspended by SMMUSD, the local school district. "He was a creepy loner," she recalled. https://www.spin.com/2018/10/stephen-miller-teacher-suspended-ate-glue/ Then as now, I publish a local print newspaper in Santa Monica, CA called the Observer. In 2002, a 16 year old kid named Steve...
Streets in Santa Monica were filled with refugees from Malibu and communities immediately north which were affected by the Woolsey and West Hills fires. The fires could be seen reflecting off the water of Santa Monica Bay. At Shutters hotel, the manager told us the hotel was completely booked. "We had sooo soo many families from Malibu! We had to accommodate them in others hotels. Every hotel was packed," she said. Two fire related deaths were reported in Malibu. 35,000 acres...
If you were thinking of driving to Ventura County today, think again. The entire city is under mandatory evacuation order fas the Woolsey Fire burns South toward the ocean. From the roof of our condo building in Santa Monica, the plume of smoke seemed miles high. A separate fire burned near Griffith Park. The condor enclosure area in Griffith Park zoo was being evacuated of animals, and all humans were evacuated from the Griffith Park zoo, which is closed. At 7 am, CalFire...
At the Santa Monica Observer, we received not one dollar in city funds for advertising the last two years. No candidate this year has placed even one ad with us yet. Trust me, we have no friends at City Hall either. Santa Monica officials even try to avoid me when they run into me at Ralphs. The same could be said for most of my old friends. Is this anything to be proud of? Probably not. But at least it's true. Anyway, with no axe to grind and no dog in the fight, we present...
"The Key Club is an international service organization," explained Phil Brock, from the Kiwanis Club. "The SamoHi Key Club was established over 100 years ago. Our overall purpose is to better the community and help make the world a better place," he said. "Right now our charity of choice is the pediatric trauma program. The program helps to prevent young people and children from dying from preventable diseases. We want all children to live a life filled with happiness, joy...
Santa Monica has more than its fair share of drama over local elections. The powerful and longtime influential group of Santa Monicans for Renter's Rights (SMRR) has recently noticed fierce (if futile) attacks from new groups of residents opposed to their policies of rampant over-development, unwise fiscal policy, and anti-business positions. Measure TL, which would impose term limits on city council seats that are now effective lifetime positions, is one heroic attempt to w...
He has lived for 100 years and in that time, escaped the Nazis, started a successful textile business, and funded a synagogue in Santa Monica. Mostly, Jack Nomberg is thankful for everything. Nomberg was born in Poland in 1918, the year World War I ended. The battle lines shifted very little in that war, so when the Germans marched into Poland and took Warsaw in 2 weeks, most people were caught flat footed. Nomberg, then 22, went to Siberia, where he survived the war. Later,...
Update: Services will be held on Monday July 23, 2:00 pm at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills - Mount Sinai Chapel, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles Sportswriter Mitch Chortkoff died Wednesday in hospice of complications of diabetes. The former editor of our sister publication, the Culver City Observer, was 78 years old. Mitch started out as the public information officer for the Los Angeles Lakers, in the 1960's. After leaving the Lakers in 1978, he began to write for the Santa...
[Part 1] SILICON BEACH @ VIDCON When I turned forty, my stepfather said "it doesn't matter how old you are"...he'd never been to VidCon. I was there promoting my new webseries SILICON BEACH, signing "influencers" and "creators" to do promos for the show. This June, 280 such YouTube stars converged for three days in Anaheim to vogue, soundbite and celebrate their exploding New TV niche, and bank accounts. Most of them too young to drink, their celebrity shelf-life possibly...
It is surprising that in liberal Santa Monica, a big Independence day parade is an annual tradition. This years event did not disappoint, and attracted 30,000 viewers and several meter maids giving tickets to illegally parked vehicles. The 12th annual Fourth of July Parade went down Main Street on Wednesday morning, July 4, 2018. Starting off at Pico and Main, thousands gathered to march, ride and perform. Spectators were encouraged to walk, ride bikes, scooters, and other...
This article is intended as a roundup of 4th of July events locally. The 12th annual Fourth of July Parade will kick off once again this year on Wednesday, July 4, 2018 - at 9:30am. Starting off at Pico and Main, thousands will gather to march, ride and perform. This year's theme "Bringing Communities Together", celebrates diversity and parade organizers are calling on local residents, service and family groups, along with businesses, to participate, volunteer and cheer on...
A new report offers recommendations on the location and type of wildlife crossing structures proposed for two of the busiest freeways in the world. Interstate 15 in western Riverside County and U.S. 101 in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties both bisect large areas of natural habitat and serve as major barriers to wildlife movement and gene flow, especially for mountain lions. The report summarizes the input from some of the world's foremost experts on wildlife connectivity and...
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...
On Saturday, March 3, 2018, in a large tent just steps from the Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood's most accomplished and up-and-coming independent filmmakers gathered together for the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards. Now in its thirty-third year, the Independent Spirit Awards annually recognizes the best low budget, artist-driven, independent films – films that embody an unfailing commitment to creativity, diversity, innovation, and a uniqueness of vision. Many films that were h...
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...
After 27 years of music-making in Santa Monica, Allen Robert Gross, will be retiring from his current position as Music Director and Conductor of Orchestra Santa Monica. Following his service as conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony for 21 years, Gross founded Orchestra Santa Monica in 2012 where he has continued to create life-enriching music for musicians and audience members alike. "It's been an honor and a privilege to make music in Santa Monica for twenty- seven years",...
An internal investigation into the possibility of conflicts of interest among members of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board will be presented at their meeting on Thursday. After the Los Angeles Times broke a story in November, 2017, about potential conflicts of interest regarding School Board Member Maria Leon-Vazquez and her husband, Santa Monica Councilmember Tony Vazquez, the school board launched this internal investigation. The investigation ended up...
Do you hate the Dentist? Most people hate going, and it makes good sense. Having someone poke and prod into one of your most sensitive and vulnerable orifices is quite intimidating. One may wonder why so many people let their teeth go, until the fears are fully comprehended. Not every dentist has the best chairside manner. Not every dentist has a compassion and understanding for what their patients are feeling. Not every dentist has the skill and expertise to competently treat...
It has been a year for the record books! While a Santa Monica Observer Intern goes to Washington and writes speeches for a Republican president, 3 of 7 members of the SMMUSD Board end up under investigation for conflict of interest. In no particular order, here our our top ten stories of 2017: 1. DISTRICTING LAWSUIT - The City has spent several million $ already and plans to keep fighting a losing battle 2. SMRR supposed to mean Santa Monicans for Renters Rights but has...
Latest on #CreekFire: -Fire is 10% contained-15 buildings destroyed, 15 damaged-Some evac orders will be cleared. Updates here: http://emergency.lacity.org/creek-fire -LAUSD schools remain closed, but libraries will be open. The situation is STILL insecure - embers & hotspots are a risk. State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, Twitter. Smoky Monica: 405 and other Fires Smoke Out the Town The worst wind blown, Santa Ana fire event in Southern California history, resulted in smoke and health...
Santa Monica Malibu Unified SchoolDistrict Schools will once again be closed on Thursday, December 7, 2017. The following is the press release explaining the District's decision: Dear parents and guardians, All SMMUSD schools will be closed tomorrow, Dec. 7, 2017, in an abundance of caution and with the health and safety of our students and staff in mind. We are concerned about staff and families as this smoke, air quality and fire threat may turn very quickly throughout the...
At 6:30 am on Wednesday, 12/6/17, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District announced that "ALL SMMUSD SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED TODAY (12/6) DUE TO NEW FIRE DEVELOPMENTS." Update: The Los Angeles Unified School District has closed 50 schools due to the fire in the Sepulveda pass. Schools closed include Community Elementary Magnet Charter, Kenter Canyon Elementary, Roscomare Road Elementary, and Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet (students relocated to Dorsey High...
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...
It's not every day that astronauts circling the globe in theInternational Space Station (ISS) take time out from space walks and science missions to talk to elementary, middle school, high school, and college students, live from space. But that's exactly what NASA Astronauts, Commander Randy Bresnik and Joe Acaba did during a NASA Educational In-Flight Event, on Monday morning, October 30, in Barnum Hall at Santa Monica High School (Samohi). Students from Santa Monica-Malibu...
