Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 1271 - 1295 of 3369
Ramon Batista, Jr., a 35-year law enforcement veteran, has been appointed as the new Santa Monica Police Chief, city officials announced on Thursday. He starts his new post with an annual salary of $298,788 on Monday, October 18. Batista, who is taking over for interim Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, comes to Santa Monica from Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city, where he served as police chief. Before that time, he spent 30 years rising through the ranks of the Tucson Police...
On my first attempt to sail outside the Marina del Rey harbor, I saved a very young woman in the middle of the ocean. I am still shaking about the horror she faced for 12 hours in darkness in the ocean with no life jacket or anything whatsoever. I am not religious nor that spiritual but one must wonder about this universe! Consider these facts: 1: I acquired this boat just about a month or so ago and learned sailing just a few weeks ago! Most sailors with decades or over half...
Traffic may heavy and possibly brutal on the west side of town for the next four weeks. Between Monday, October 18, and November 12, the city of Santa Monica contractor, Excel Paving, will grind out top 2-inch layer of the asphalt street and repave with new fresh asphalt pavement on segments of five major streets, officials announced this week. The segments are: 4th Street between Palisades Ave and Wilshire Blvd. 6th Street between Montana Ave and Wilshire Blvd. Neilson Way...
The Santa Monica City Council this week adopted the revised 2021-2029 Housing Element Update, which "prioritizes 100% affordable housing in city-owned land" and "addresses historic discrimination and satisfies affirmatively furthering fair housing." The vote was not unanimous. Councilmember Gleam Davis and Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan gave the thumbs down to the plan. At its Tuesday night meeting, the Council also voted unanimously to approve the Environmental Impact Report...
Los Angeles, October 14, 2021 - The Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County (ADDA) is seeking an injunction in Superior Court to prevent District Attorney George Gascon from continuing to violate the law by again appointing ineligible political supporters to civil service protected positions in the District Attorney's Office. This action is necessary to preserve the status quo while the Civil Service Commission hears the ADDA appeals of prior...
October 13, 2021 - Of the 90 California restaurants making it into the exclusive Michelin Guide California, 3 are in Santa Monica. Mélisse earned two stars and Pasjoli and Rustic Canyon each earned one star. The 2021 Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, which rates establishments serving food at moderate prices, recognized Santa Monica restaurants Colapasta and Tumbi. Michelin Plate awards were bestowed on 10 of the cities' restaurants: Birdie G's, Cassia, Chinois on Main, Citrin, Ele...
California has passed a new law that will phase out the inhumane practice of keeping "blood slave" donor dogs in captivity. Over the weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law, AB1282, which lets veterinarians run community blood banks where residents can take their pets to donate blood, which they can later sell and transfer to clinics that need it. The new law, known as the California Pet Blood Bank Modernization Act, also creates a plan to eliminate the "closed colony banks"...
October 11, 2021 If Californians expected their governor to act like the adult in the room when presented with the insane laws approved by the clown show that is the state legislature, they were sadly disappointed over the weekend. Newsom enacted the following new laws that range from the ridiculous to the catastrophic. Buy, hey, remember that they didn't want to recall him. In ascending order of insanity: 1. Banning gas-powered leaf blowers and other small engines (AB 1346)...
There is a large Verizon outage affecting Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, at several cities in Michigan including Detroit. The cause of the outage is not currently known. Problems have been reported in Wisconsin, Florida, South Dakota, Texas, Colorado, Louisiana , New Hampshire, Etc. https://downdetector.com/status/verizon/news/419070-problems-at-verizon/ The reasons behind outages can range from bad weather to human errors and network changes. Weather can have a...
Over 1000 flights were cancelled Sunday as 1500 employees of Southwest Airlines, the nation's #5 carrier, began a sickout to protest mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations. Passengers were reportedly scrambling to book other airlines, while Southwest itself blamed the weather. "ATC issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected...
October 8, 2021 - Prostitution is now an ongoing operation in the alleys behind the Third Street Promenade. Another set of prostitutes operate on Broadway between Ocean Avenue and 5th Street, outside Santa Monica Place. Promenade property owner John Alle took photos of the strolling prostitutes as well as a drug deal going down in the alley behind the Promenade at Wilshire. The prostitutes wait for business directly below Downtown Santa Monica Inc.'s expansion office at Wilshi...
Monday October 11 2021 is Columbus Day. Los Angeles Superior Court's are closed, as are other County offices. US District Courts and all Federal offices will shutter too. But State offices, such as the California Secretary of State and the EDD, will remain open. The US stock market exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ) will be open on Columbus day, but the Bond market and most retail banks will be closed. Most banks will be closed on Monday, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, U.S....
Californians will soon see the return of glass beverage bottles to their supermarkets. Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed a bill, AB 962, which paves the way for reusable glass bottles to flow through the state's beverage recycling program. "Now, rather than bottles being crushed for recycling, the bottles can be preserved to be washed and refilled by beverage producers -- simultaneously creating jobs and reducing waste," said Senator Sydney Kamlager (D-LA), author of the...
1/8/21: As Columbus Day becomes Indigenous People's Day: On the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day, new attempts to remove the murals from city hall are afoot. "On September 28th, City Council moved forward on assigning the Landmarks Commission," The City's landmark commission posted on 9/30 on Facebook, "the responsibility of interpreting and contextualizing the City Hall murals, supported by an ad hoc Council committee consisting of Oscar De La Torre and Christine...
Santa Monica and Los Angeles has settled a jointly-filed, consumer protection lawsuit with Wheels Labs, a shared mobility company that operates a fleet of e-bikes. Wheels Labs agreed to pay $300,000, with a portion of those funds going to safety organizations Sustainable Streets and Los Angeles Walks, local officials said this week. Although it is now an authorized operator in Santa Monica as a participant in its second Shared Mobility Pilot Program, Wheel Labs operated in...
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) cautions residents who are planning to visit the below Los Angeles County beaches to be careful of swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters due to possible contamination caused by storm drain discharge. Ocean and bay recreational waters, especially near discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers can be contaminated with bacteria, chemicals, debris, trash, and other public health hazards f...
1/4 Santa Monica was treated to a rare thunder and lightning display on Monday afternoon around the 5 PM hour. Men walking dogs and women with baby strollers scrambled to get out of the sudden rain in my neighborhood. Southern California is, of course, in a drought situation. Less than 6.5 inches of precipitation have fallen over the region, which receives 14.25 inches of rain in a typical year. The day grew dark very quickly, and no rain had been predicted by the National...
California's statewide eviction moratorium expired at the end of September. Nevertheless, Tenants who pay 25% of the back rent and are making payments over the next year on rent due, may be able to stay in their Los Angeles County homes. Los Angeles officials gathered with tenant rights advocates on Thursday, Sept. 30, to advertise that the city's eviction moratorium is still in effect. California had extended its eviction moratorium three times, including in June. But there...
Hoping to revitalize its world-renowned, open-air shopping center, the Santa Monica City Council this week unanimously approved zoning changes for the Third Street Promenade that will allow new and varied businesses and "greater adaptability for existing businesses." "The Promenade can't be the land of $20 burgers," said Councilmember Phil Brock, urging his colleagues to consider all types of businesses, including fast-food restaurants, for the three-block pedestrian street...
Singer Britney Spears successfully removed her father Jamie Spears as her conservator on Sept. 29th. Her father withdrew his objections to her motion to have him removed from managing her finances, amid allegations of abuse from fans and the pop superstar herself. They allege he gave her little money and spent most of her income on himself. "I'm so pleased and proud to say Jamie Spears is no longer a conservator," Britney Spears attorney Mathew Rosengart tweeted under...
The US Coast Guard responded to an oil spill 4 miles off the coast of Newport Beach, the Federal Agency reported on Saturday. The event interrupted an airshow over Newport Beach. An oil slick just off OC Coastline is expected to come ashore at some point Saturday night, officials in Huntington Beach said at a press conference Saturday, 10/2/21. Authorities added that residents should expect beach closures and stay out of the water. The oil slick is believed to have resulted...
Courts & Rulings California court overturns murder convictions, cites racism A California appeals court on Friday overturned the convictions of three Black men over a double slaying, saying prosecutors dismissed a Black woman from the jury pool for racial reasons. The prosecutor in the Contra Costa County case inappropriately questioned the 25-year-old woman's support of the Black Lives Matter movement and dismissed her for reasons that "were plainly tied to race," said a...
Smoke can travel hundreds of miles in the upper atmosphere, as it did this week. Smoke lingering in the air from Northern and Central California turned skies red all over Southern California on Thursday and Friday. An orange sun and a red moon were visible in the skies. Numerous photos were posted to social media, including many by me. Calls were made to police and fire, and they explained to concerned residents that there was no fire within 300 miles of Santa Monica. The...
Sawyer Hackett, Executive Director of @JulianCastro’s People First Future., has claimed on Twitter that the photos below show US Border Patrol agents "rounding up Haitian immigrants with whips." "Border patrol is mounted on horseback rounding up Haitian refugees with whips. This is unfathomable cruelty towards people fleeing disaster and political ruin. The administration must stop this. . . . Get the hell out of my mentions with the “these aren’t whips!” comments. I don’t car...
September 17, 2021 The Santa Monica City Council agreed to refund 3,500 parking tickets that were issued between August 30 and September 3 because the city had told the public tickets weren't going to be given until the first week of September. "This is unheard of," City Councilmember Phil Brock told The Observer in an interview. It was his motion on Tuesday night to refund the tickets, which he said were given inappropriately. "On one block alone ten parking tickets were...
