Sorted by date Results 1460 - 1484 of 3362

Maintaining that "10% of Santa Monica residents speak Spanish at home," the City Council has backed a motion calling for all city information be disseminated in Spanish as well as English "to ensure that language justice has a prominent place in our efforts." At its last meeting, the Council directed staff to draft an ordinance "creating a biennial language access plan" in accordance with its "recent priorities regarding equity and inclusion." The motion, requested by Mayor...

Cal OES today announced that it has received a $1 million donation from technology company DoorDash through its Community Credits program to support broader vaccine access in underserved communities. This new partnership also aims to bolster the outreach efforts of Mobile Vaccination Clinics (MVCs) and Community Vaccination Clinics (CVCs). "As a critical component in our fight against COVID-19, we have prioritized making these vaccines and our distribution points for the...

The Westside felt a series of earthquakes on Monday morning, April 5th 2021. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 4.0 magnitude quake hit at 4:40 am, just east of Los Angeles International Airport. About 30 minutes earlier, a 3.3-magnitude earthquake was centered in Lennox, also East of LAX. at around 6 am, a 2.5 earthquake or aftershock was also felt. Many residents woke up when the main quake hit, though certainly others slept through all three. There were no reports...

The Santa Monica City Council met this week to discuss affordable housing plans for its "Housing Element" update that "prioritizes 100% affordable housing in city-owned land" and "addresses historic discrimination and satisfies affirmatively furthering fair housing." After a spirited 7-hour debate, Council, by a 4-3 vote, directed staff to focus its planning efforts on "prioritizing the production of affordable housing on city-owned land and seeking to distribute housing in...

4/2/21 – Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed legislation to extend the eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021. He said the law was intended to help "millions of Californians struggling as a result of the economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the passage of SB 91, California leads all states by enacting the strongest renter protections in the nation." On Monday, Governor Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon a...

Downtown Santa Monica (DTSM) has announced it is expanding its Ambassador Program to include safety-related services in addition to the hospitality, custodial and homeless outreach efforts. Beginning April 1, specially-trained "Safety Ambassadors" will be on patrol throughout Downtown Santa Monica on bike, Segway, foot and vehicle addressing quality-of-life offenses, acting as a deterrent to unwanted behavior and activity, responding to incidents called in by businesses and pa...

Apparently seeking an alternative to the drive to split Malibu from the SMMUSD, proponents of a recall petition are seeking to recall four members of the Santa Monica Malibu School Board. "Santa Monica and Malibu Parents Jointly Launch Recall of Four School Board Members", said the group in a press release. The effort is direct against four members of the board: Laurie Lieberman, Maria Leon-Vasquez, Jon Kean, and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein. The recall proponents allege "seri...

Two suspects apprehended by the Santa Monica Police Department on March 28 have been charged with assault by the LA District Attorney. The two men were among a group of three males who allegedly accosted a couple who were riding scooters late at night in the 1700 Block of Ocean Avenue, near the fancy beach hotels. One of the men lifted his shirt to show the couple he was armed with a gun. Another of the men took the woman's cell phone and three it to the ground so that she...

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) reports more than 4,000,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people across Los Angeles County. Of those vaccinated, 1,323,686 people received second doses. This translates to hundreds of thousands of people having an extra layer of protection from serious illness and death from COVID-19 in a little more than three months. This was possible thanks to countless partners across the county,...

Los Angeles County has met the threshold for the less restrictive orange tier in the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy. A revised Los Angeles County Health Officer Order will go into effect on Monday, April 5 at 12:01 a.m. to reflect newly permitted activities. This allows the County to follow the state guidelines and wait until three weeks are completed in the red tier to be sure that case numbers do not rise this third week since the County's earlier re-openings. The...

Public Health is happy to see eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine expanded by the State, starting April 1, for individuals age 50 and older, and starting April 15, for individuals age 16 and older. Public Health continues to be an advocate, partner and provider in the vaccine efforts, including vaccinating people who live in areas hard-hit by this pandemic. The County hopes the expansion of eligibility carries with it increased doses of vaccine coming into L.A. County. L.A....

A water main break in Pacific Palisades Sunday night after 9 pm, flooded an apartment building's parking garage in Pacific Palisades. The breach on Sunset Blvd was centered across the street from Palisades Charter High School, from El Medio Drive to Marquez Avenue. LA County Lifeguards walked from car to car through waste deep water in the underground car park, searching the vehicles to ensure no one had been trapped there. Local residents were without water above Sunset betwe...

The Santa Monica City Council spent more than three hours at its Monday night meeting discussing an extension of the Rent Deferment Program that covers commercial tenants in city-owned properties who have been financially impacted by pandemic. After pleas for rent relief from tenants in Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Pier and the Santa Monica Airport, the Council decided to extend the Commercial Eviction Moratorium for tenants in city-owned properties for another three...

Earth averages two major volcanic eruptions each year. So far this year, the biggest one erupted just 20 miles away from the Icelandic capital city, Reykjavík. Iceland boasts only 364,000 residents. About ten percent of them drove to see the volcano in Iceland's Southwest corner, on the Reykjanes peninsula the weekend of March 20th. At night glowing lava is actually visible from the Capital, where half of Iceland's population reside. "Following a three-week period of...

Over the last 25 years, Malibu has repeatedly threatened to form its own school district and leave SMMUSD. At last week's City Council meeting, the Santa Monica City Council affirmed its support for splitting Santa Monica and Malibu into two separate independent school districts. It listed a number of caveats, however The terms of separation, including the division of revenues and assets, "have to be fair and just to students in Santa Monica schools and must provide a robust a...

3/22: The Santa Monica Police have announced that they have arrested three suspected Catalytic Converter theives in Santa Monica. The men, LA Residents, were charged with crimes ranging from possession of burglary tools to motor vehicle theft near 10th and Arizona. The press release, from SMPD Lt. Rudy Flores, Public Information Officer, follows: SMPD officers observed a male suspect standing in a carport peering into the rear window of a parked Honda Civic. Upon further...

That's right. Prisoner patient 0 of this current CIW prisoner outbreak involves a prisoner who was fully vaccinated!!! So, it's clear the vaccine sucks. I only got one vaccine. Essentially I am Anti-Vax and Anti-Mask all the way. Covid missed me and hit others around me like a surgeon. What made me different?? I take vitamins religiously!! No joke. Vitamins will protect you from more than Covid. My source about the women sick with covid already having had both shots is a corre...

We have now reached the one-year anniversary of the shutdown of society as we responded to the threat of COVID-19. However, the future is looking very bright. After a devastating holiday season with huge spikes in infections and deaths, Los Angeles County has now entered the Red Tier and is moving to reopen parts of society. Vaccines are being produced and distributed as fast as possible, and it is anticipated that by this summer we will have turned the corner and begin to...

The City of Santa Monica has joined forces with the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce to launch a Small Business Recovery Grant Program to help local businesses stay afloat till the end of the pandemic. "Our small local businesses are in crisis. After the challenges of the past twelve months, many are hanging on by a thread," said Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Laurel Rosen. "These businesses are the lifeblood of our community. They are our friends and...

Bloomingdale's, an anchor at Santa Monica Place for the past 10 years, is closing its doors this weekend. The department store at 315 Colorado Ave, fashioned after the New York City's Soho location, is holding a clearance sale for the next four days and shutting down its operation this Sunday, according to company officials. The closure comes just three months after employees were notified by Macy's Inc., the parent company of Bloomingdale's, of its plan to shutter the Santa M...

Update, 3:30 pm March 18: "God is so good. Literally just received a text that Sharelle has been found-- safe and alive. I do not have any additional details right now but the heaviness that was on her family is lifted. On behalf of the Hatcher family, we appreciate your swift response and willingness to just help." Hanniyah Sharpe The Santa Monica Police have asked for your assistance in finding a missing person, Sherelle Hatcher. She was reported missing on March 16th,...

March 17, 2021 A bill to turn currently felonious robbery assaults into misdemeanors was heard for the second time in the California Senate yesterday. The proposal, SB 82, was authored by Senator Nancy Kinner of the East Bay area and will also provide means for individuals currently incarcerated to have their sentences retroactively reduced and those already out to have their sentences vacated. The law creates a third degree of petty theft, petty theft in the first degree....

SANTA MONICA, CA-Santa Monica College (SMC) will offer a flexible array of course offerings for the Fall 2021 semester, which begins Aug. 30. While most of the 2,900-plus classes will be online, a significant number of in-person offerings will also be made available. This coincides with Los Angeles County moving into the red tier today-the loosening of restrictions for various sectors includes allowing institutes of higher education like SMC to provide lecture classes at a...

In an effort to "evaluate all available areas of the city for housing potential," the City Council has approved an interim zoning ordinance (IZO) banning non-residential developments in Santa Monica and single-family dwellings in the commercial districts for the next 45 days. Councilmembers said the ban is a "general pause" to allow staff to identify potential housing sites in Santa Monica, as part of the Housing Element Update. The Council will review the IZO for possible...

There is more for Santa Monica and Westside residents in the recently-passed $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill than $1,400 checks. The City of Santa Monica is slated to receive $29.3 million in federal grants, according to a report from the League of California Cities. Malibu will get $2.2 million, Culver City $7.3 million, Beverly Hills $6.3 million, while West Hollywood is expecting $6.8 million. Santa Monica Interim City Manager Lane Dilg said the federal aid of $29.3...