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  • Frank Gehry Paves Paradise to Put Up Mega-Structures. What if Gehry's Not Really all That Great?

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Sep 13, 2016

    Frank Owen Gehry, 87, is a Canadian-born American architect. Those who live in his hometown of Los Angeles knows that when a developer wants to build something massive and controversial, they hire Gehry to whitewash the thing. Hired to design the 8150 Sunset Blvd eyesore, a controversial project just approved by the Los Angeles Planning Commission. 8150 has been appealed to the full City Council. The Laurel Canyon Association is opposed to the project, which will replace a Cha...

  • Go-Pro Video Records Shark Attack on Surfer at Refugio State Beach

    Observer Staff|Updated Sep 12, 2016

    Authorities have closed Refugio State Beach in Ventura County, after a surfer was attacked Friday by a Great White Shark. The victim's Go Pro camera recorded the attack. His name has not been released, but local authorities said they expected him to make a full recovery. The beach remains closed after the attack, and into the long Labor Day weekend. Refugio State Beach (Chumash: Qasil, "Beautiful") is a protected state beach park located 20 miles west of Santa Barbara,...

  • Amtrak Invests $2.4 Billion for Next-Gen High-Speed Trainsets and Infrastructure Upgrades

    Updated Sep 5, 2016

    Amtrak is contracting with Alstom to produce 28 next-generation high-speed trainsets that will replace the equipment used to provide Amtrak's premium Acela Express service. The contract is part of $2.45 billion that will be invested on the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor (NEC) as part of a multifaceted modernization program to renew and expand the Acela Express service. "Amtrak is taking the necessary actions to keep our customers, the Northeast region and the American...

  • Pierce Brothers Expands Service to Santa Monica and Surrounding Communities

    Observer Staff|Updated Aug 28, 2016

    WESTWOOD VILLAGE, Calif., August 25, 2016 – Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary announced that it will expand its service to meet the needs of families previously served by Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy Funeral Directors, which closes on August 31. In addition, all service prearrangements from Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy will be en-trusted to Pierce Brothers Westwood Village after the Santa Monica funeral home closes. Both entities a...

  • Playboy Mansion Escrow Closes; Daren Metropoulous is the New Owner

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Aug 19, 2016

    Daren Metropoulos has closed escrow on the Playboy Mansion. The home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, 85, was held up in escrow because Hugh wants to continue to live there. Ultimately, the sale price went down from $107 million to $100 million, and Located in LA's Holmby Hills, the "Beverly Hills adjacent" mansion became famous during the 1970s through media reports of Hefner's lavish parties. The mansion is also used for various corporate activities and serves as a...

  • Who Killed the Electric Car? asks AltCar Expo

    Trina Kaye, Alt Car Expo|Updated Aug 19, 2016

    On Saturday, September 17, Filmmaker Chris Paine will present journalist Dan Neil with AltCar's first annual Disrupter Award, followed by a discussion about how creative influencers are impacting the next generation of EVs. AltCar will also celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Who Killed the Electric Car with a free screening. The presentation and screening will start at Noon in the East Wing of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. "Dan Neil has been turning over apple carts,...

  • Ritz-Carlton Hotels Offer Free Charging Stations to Guests with Electric Cars

    Melinda Hayton, Brandman Agency|Updated Aug 9, 2016

    CHEVY CHASE, MD. – August 9, 2016 – Seeing an opportunity to cater to a public increasingly concerned with sustainability, the Ritz Carlton Hotels not offer charging stations at most of their North American properties, and plan to offer charging stations at all their properties by the end of 2020. The Ritz-Carlton network of destination charging stations make long distance travel convenient and easy from Washington, DC to San Francisco and Barcelona to Hong Kong with the ins...

  • Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club For $1 Billion

    Observer Staff|Updated Jul 25, 2016

    Unilver announced on Tuesday evening that it is getting into the razor business, by agreeing to acquire Dollar Shave Club. No financial terms were disclosed, but a source close to the deal tells Fortune that Unilver is paying $1 billion in cash for the Santa Monica-based business. Dollar Shave Club is a Venice, California-based company that delivers razors and other personal grooming products straight to consumers by mail. The company positions itself as a cost-effective and...

  • Hindus Urge Blizzard Entertainment to Remove Devi Portrayal from "Overwatch" Video Game

    Observer Staff|Updated Jul 24, 2016
    1

    Hindus are urging Blizzard Entertainment to withdraw the Devi (Goddess) skin of Symmetra character in its Overwatch video game, calling it inappropriate. Skins are alternate appearances that players can apply to characters in video games. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged Irvine (California) headquartered Blizzard Entertainment CEO Michael Morhaime and its parent Santa Monica (California) based Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick to withdraw...

  • What could possibly go wrong? Doordash Begins Delivering Alcohol

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 12, 2016
    1

    Starting this week, Doordash will be delivering alcohol to anyone willing to pay and over the age of 21. Never in the history of booze has it been easier to get buzzed. DoorDash is an on-demand restaurant delivery service. You pick the restaurant; anything from Melisse to Taco Bell, and their "Dashers" visit the restaurant and pick up your order. Trouble is, it's a misdemeanor offense in California, for an adult to sell or give liquor to a minor under 21 years of age. This is...

  • Why Ikea Is Not Legally Liable For 6 Deaths of Children

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jun 30, 2016

    The tragic deaths of six children due to a certain type of dresser from Ikea falling over, are regrettable. No parent ever quite overcomes the death of a child. My own mother lost a 4 year old daughter to a tragic car crash before I was born; she would cry every year on the anniversary for the rest of her life. But tragedy and legal liability are different things. Swedish furniture kit maker IKEA Group recalled 36 million chests sold at their North American stores. They have...

  • USAA Bank Customers Denied Access to Funds When They're Put "Under Review"

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jun 30, 2016
    17

    We don't have a lot of choice with consumer checking accounts, the pariah of banking. Banks regard checking accounts as loss leaders, so they can peddle mortgages to a customer base. A banker told me that years ago. But today, I'm under the impression that the rate at which banks seize their own customers' accounts because of "fraud," is astounding. It's illegal, but no one does anything about it. That's probably because consumers have so few banking choices. In California,...

  • Waze Fix Avoids Difficult Intersections

    Observer Staff|Updated Jun 20, 2016

    If you've ever driven with Waze, you've noticed two things: Your wife constantly yells at you to put down the phone, and the Waze App directs you to "difficult intersections." Meaning you have to take a left turn off of some small street, onto Olympic Blvd. At rush hour. From now on, the default setting on Waze will avoid "risky turns," and instead allow you to make a series of right turns, or another alternate route. Users may disable this feature, if they're just totally...

  • Divided D.C. Circuit Panel Upholds FCC Net Neutrality Rules

    Christopher Savage, Davis, Wright, Tremaine|Updated Jun 20, 2016

    On June 14, 2016, the D.C. Circuit upheld the FCC's 2015 order adopting its Open Internet rules against a wide range of legal challenges. (Our advisory describing the FCC's rules can be found here.) In a detailed and lengthy opinion, Judges Tatel and Srinivasan: Sustained the FCC's authority to reclassify mass market broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service (as opposed to an information service); Sustained its authority to include interconnection between...

  • Disney Said to Be Strictly Liable for Toddler's Death at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

    Observer Staff|Updated Jun 20, 2016
    1

    Disney, Inc. could face a stiff legal fight following the alligator attack at its resort in Orlando last Tuesday. Two year old Lane Grey from Elkhorn, Nevada, was drowned by the gator. His body was found the next day "Disney is strictly liable for creating a hazard (a pool of dark water at a family resort. They knew or should have known about the danger of alligators inhabiting such a pool, in South Florida. Historically, the area was a swamp. Disney World should never have be...

  • Criterion on the Promenade Sold, 30,000 square feet of Mixed Use Retail

    Lexi Astfalk, Brower Miller Cole|Updated Jun 14, 2016

    American Realty Advisors announced the acquisition of the Criterion on the Promenade, a high-street retail/mixed-use asset located in Santa Monica, CA. Criterion, which is located on the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Third Street Promenade in the heart of Downtown Santa Monica's upscale retail and entertainment district, has 150 feet of frontage on the Third Street Promenade and 150 feet of frontage on Arizona Avenue, just three blocks from Santa Monica beach....

  • Social Security Administration Attempt to Reassure Nervous Public

    Essie Landry, Social Security Specialist|Updated Jun 13, 2016

    Your first job is a landmark occasion. You're meeting new people, making professional connections, and probably cashing that first paycheck. You might be a little surprised when you see a portion of your earnings go to a tax called "FICA" for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. This deduction goes to Social Security and is your way of helping us secure your today and tomorrow. It's our job to keep the safety net of Social Security strong through your incremental...

  • New Loan Programs to Make Homeownership More Accessible

    Lexi Astfalk, Brower Miller Cole|Updated Jun 13, 2016

    Los Angeles, Calif. (June 13, 2016) – Luther Burbank Savings, one of the largest privately held financial institutions in California with over $4 billion in assets, has announced the launch of three new community lending programs that will make homeownership and home improvement loans more accessible for borrowers throughout California, according to Jason Pendergist, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of Luther Burbank Savings. The new programs, entitled "...

  • Facebook Users Told: Install "Moments," Or Your Photos Will Be Deleted

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jun 12, 2016

    Users have pretty much trashed Facebook online after they received notifications including emails, alerting them that their synced photos will soon be deleted unless they download and install the Moments app. Facebook is about to delete a group of photos on your phone, although you might not know or care that they're there. That's because they're hiding in a private "synced from phone" section of your Facebook photos. This photo section was created in 2012 when Facebook...

  • Google Search Suggestions for Clinton are Positive; for Trump, they're Negative

    Observer Staff|Updated Jun 11, 2016

    SourceFed, a news website with a very popular internet channel, has performed an analysis of Google search recommendations only to find that it appears Google is whitewashing search recommendations for Hillary Clinton. In comparison, Bing and Yahoo! produce fairer results. Here's how it works: Soucefed says news.google.com site’s auto search feature intentionally omits items that might be hurtful to Hillary Clinton. Example: Hillary Clinton CRI suggests "Hillary Clinton C...

  • Kraco Automotive Bought by Sun Capital Partners

    Observer Staff|Updated May 30, 2016

    Kraco Enterprises, LLC, is primarily a fabricated rubber products manufacturing company. While they mainly produce floormats, they have also produced tire walls and even audio equipment including car speakers, stereos, and CB radios. Kraco was founded in 1954 in Compton, California. Their first product was "Snap-on" white walls to create temporary white-walled tires. They moved into making rubber, vinyl and soon thereafter, carpet floormats as the business expanded. Bobby...

  • Local Businesses Suffer As Frontier Outages Spread

    David Ganezer, Observer Publisher|Updated May 30, 2016

    The pizza dough was ready to be tossed; the fresh vegetables were ready to be diced and and the mozzarella cheese had already been shredded. Nevertheless, Dagwoods Pizza Parlor on Wilshire Blvd had to close early Sunday night, unable to take orders since the phone was down; unable to take internet orders, since their internet access was down, and unable to do business. Frontier was experiencing another widespread outage. "It's a bad situation," said Dagwoods manager Mark...

  • SM Minimum Wage Law Goes Into Effect July 1

    David Ganezer, Observer Publisher|Updated May 10, 2016

    As of July 1, 2016, Santa Monica will have a local citywide minimum wage. This from a City press release. I suppose it's a good thing that folks behind the counter at the local Taco Bell (Santa Monica has three--believe me, I would know); will earn more. From the City's press release: Phased in over four years, the minimum wage will start at $10.50 per hour in 2016, rising to $15.00 per hour in 2020. There will be a one year delay for businesses with 25 or fewer employees and...

  • Sports Chalet Taken to its Limit

    Observer Staff|Updated Apr 21, 2016

    LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA- Sport Chalet is closing all its stores and shutting down its online sales, the La Cañada Flintridge sporting goods company announced Saturday. The decision affects more than 40 stores in California. Competition with online retailers such as Amazon is believed to be the company's deathnell. Sports Authority, a competitor, is also closing. A statement on the company's website said the stores will remain open until at least April 29 to accommodate g...

  • Record Luxury Home Sales in SM

    Observer Staff|Updated Apr 19, 2016

    During the first Quarter or 2016, Santa Monica had more luxury homes sales than any area except Beverly Hills, said Sotheby's real estate in a report. Santa Monica tied with Pacific Palisades, for 24 "Luxury Home" sales in January, February and March. Only 13 such homes were sold in the same period last year. Beverly Hills had 27 luxury home sales in first quarter 2016, Sotheby's said. A luxury home is one sold for more than $3,000,000. Sotheby's Western Region COO Frank...

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