Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 1664 - 1688 of 3619
May 18, 2021 A fire that is suspected arson that started Friday night was 32% contained as of 9 am Tuesday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department incident report. Evacuation orders were lifted for Topanga residents but remain in place for residents of the north portion of the Palisades Highlands. A thousand residents had to be evacuated for the fire which has so far burned 1,158 acres. Better mapping decreased an earlier estimate of 1,325 acres. At a...
In a move that appears calculated to kill what little retail life is left in the Third Street Promenade and downtown, city officials are asking the California Coastal Commission to approve their proposal to tear down Parking Structure 3 in downtown Santa Monica. Officials wish to replace the 337-car structure with "affordable" housing for low-income tenants. Since 1968, the parking structure has served Santa Monica and the tourists who come here. Pre-pandemic, all of the...
Santa Monica Fire Chief Bill Walker announced on Tuesday he will be departing his post on June 4 to head up the City of Bedford Fire Department in Texas. A Southern California native, Walker has served as head of the Santa Monica Fire Department since 2016, guiding it through a period of transformation with new technology, four new fire engines, the new Fire Station 1, and Fire Station 7 at the beach, the city said in a press release. "Santa Monica could not have had a better...
The fire began Friday night at Michael Lane and Palisades Court. As the fire spread, people on social media wondered: Did some homeless guy (or gal) start the fire? Police are searching for an arson suspect believed to have started the fire. They have questioned two men, one of whom is on probation for setting fires. Authorities have a large perimeter set up, and were canvassing the area hoping to find him. Helicopters dropped non stop water on the hills near pacific...
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) is providing safe sheltering for animals evacuated as a result of the Palisades Fire. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for the Topanga Canyon area. DACC is currently accepting animals at the below evacuation sites: Large animals: • Pierce College Equestrian Center 6201 Winnetka Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA 91351 Small animals: Agoura Animal Care Center 29525 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Follow u...
In an email sent by anti-development group Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, victory was declared over the city's attempt to put a large mulit-use building on what is now mostly a ground-level parking lot, used seasonally as an ice skating rink. "Located on 2.5 acres of City owned land between 4th and 5th Street downtown, just south of Arizona Avenue; the Plaza would have included 11 stories of office space, luxury hotel rooms and underground parking. The proposed...
LOS ANGELES - L.A. Controller Ron Galperin today released an updated online COVID-19 Spending Tracker (https://lacontroller.org/data-stories-and-maps/covidspending/) for the City of Los Angeles showing money spent in response to the pandemic. Since March 2020, City departments reported spending a total of $984.8 million - on programs and supplies, homeless housing, staffing and overtime, emergency rental assistance, and testing and vaccination efforts. "Over the last year,...
The City Council met this week to review the OIR Group's independent, after-action report on the events connected to the civil unrest in Santa Monica May 31, 2020. The Group's 116-page analysis does not condemn the Santa Monica Police Department but it does contain 44 recommendations to improve the city and SMPD's emergency response. At its meeting Tuesday night, the Council directed SMPD to prepare within 60 days a response to the report, setting out a plan for...
Update 8:15 pm: Palisades brushfire doubled in size to 750 acres. It triggered the evacuation of some Topanga Canyon residents. Those live in east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Topanga community Center and Vue Ridge Road as well as those north of Entradero Rd. south of Oakwood Drive and east of Henry rich mountain way. The Palisades Fire is visible from Santa Monica as it burns through the Topanga State Park. Arson is suspected, though authorities have not issued an offi...
May 14, 2021 - On Thursday the Centers for Disease Control changed their guidelines regarding the wearing of masks for vaccinated people. As of yesterday, the nation's top disease authority announced that they believed it safe for people who are fully vaccinated to dispense with masks in all situations, indoors and outdoors, crowded or not. Los Angeles County's Department of Public Health is not ready to go along with these new guidelines, a situation that would allow...
The City of Santa Monica has announced that its Main Library will reopen for limited in-person service to the community on Tuesday, June 1. The Main Library, located at 601 Santa Monica Blvd., will offer the following services: in-person browsing of the first-floor collection, checking out items, holds pick-up, public computer use, printing and brief in-person interaction with staff. "The best way to make the most of your time at the Library is to plan your trip: wear a face...
5/13: A homeless man jumped or fell from the 4th Street freeway overpass just before 2 pm on Thursday, police said. "The reporting party informed dispatch that they observed a male at the 4th Street overpass hugging the guardrail," writes SMPD's Lt. Rudy Flores. "The male then jumped over onto the westbound lanes, striking a vehicle as he landed. Santa Monica Fire Department personnel arrived on scene and pronounced the male deceased." "All I-10 westbound lanes were closed...
5/13/21: We've all become used to covering our faces everywhere. But as announced Thursday morning by the head of the Centers for Disease Control, and echoed by US President Joseph Biden, there is no longer a need to wear a mask whether indoors or outdoors. President Biden credited an "all out effort" to vaccinate Americans. About half of the adult population is vaccinated. "The CDC is saying they have concluded that fully vaccinated people are at a very low risk of getting Co...
More than half of the students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have returned to campus for in-person instruction and the percentage is increasing daily, school officials said on Monday. But SMMUSD parents have until this Friday, May 14, to finalize their decision about in-person or distance learning for their children for the rest of this school year, said Supt Ben Drati in an email to parents. "Following this date, parents will no longer be able to switch...
On May 8, 2021 at approximately 3:00 AM, Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) Officers responded to the 900 block of Georgina Avenue regarding a report of suspicious behavior involving two individuals. The reporting person believed they were prowling. Upon the officers' arrival, they witnessed the described vehicle leaving the area at a high rate of speed. The vehicle failed to obey several traffic signs and continued to be reckless until officers were able to stop it a...
The OIR Group of Playa Del Rey issued a 116 page report on the events connected to the civil unrest in Santa Monica, of May 31, 2020. The unrest, which followed the death of George Floyd, saw about 100 businesses looted and destroyed in Santa Monica. The City paid the group to analyze the events, in particular the actions of the Santa Monica Police Department, and issue recommendations. The report does not condemn SMPD, but does contain suggestions for future such events. "As...
5/5/21 : Los Angeles County has met the threshold for the least restrictive yellow tier in the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Today, the State released updated blueprint tier numbers; L.A. County's adjusted case rate dropped from 1.9 new cases per 100,000 people to 1.6 new cases per 100,000. The overall test positivity rate dropped from 0.9% to 0.7%, and in areas with the fewest health affirming resources, L.A. County's test positivity rate dropped from 1.0% to 0.8%....
5/2: Santa Monica Police Department Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of Bay Street to investigate an assault with a gun. \When officers arrived on scene at 1:30 AM, they met with two women standing outside a liquor store. They that Blake Josephs Sheets, 21, accompanied by four other males, approached and attempted to speak to them about their vehicle. The victims refused the man's advance and asked to be left alone. After a short argument, the Sheets went to a black...
Are Santa Monica-area hospitals doing a great job protecting patients from preventable errors, accidents, injuries, and infections? UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is acing that assignment but not Providence Saint John's Health Center, according to the Leapfrog Group, the national health care watchdog organization. In the Leapfrog Group's Spring Safety Grades report, released this week, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center got an "A" while Providence got a "C" assessment. The...
May 5, 2021 After public outcry regarding illegal food vendors on the Santa Monica Pier, apparently run by the Murcia criminal family gang, authorities cracked down on the activity. The vendors had been involved in at least two violent incidents regarding territory and allegiance to the gang, including a brawl involving six arrests in early April. Police would now accompany Code Enforcement Officers onto the pier, according to a statement from Deputy City Manager Anuj Gupta...
Santa Monica and Malibu high schools are now among the top 150 high schools in California. Santa Monica was ranked 98 while Malibu placed 146 among more than 2600 public high schools in the Golden State, according to rankings by U.S. News and World Report. U.S. News rankings are determined by college readiness scores, based on demographics, state test scores and college prep exams. Both SMMUSD high schools ranked in the top 1,000 nationally. The publication surveyed more than...
An apparently disoriented woman was struck and killed by a vehicle Sunday night as she walked down a 10 Freeway on-ramp in Santa Monica, local authorities said. The incident occurred at 10:33 p.m. on the Cloverfield Boulevard on-ramp to the eastbound Santa Monica Freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The Santa Monica Police Department told the CHP the victim was seen stumbling in that area and appeared disoriented on...
Courts & Rulings Suit over disclosing officer’s personnel file not a SLAPP An anti-SLAPP motion does not lie where a suit was brought based on conduct in prior litigation, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, saying that the act of revealing the plaintiff’s personnel file without judicial authorization was not protected conduct because it was a misdemeanor. The opinion by Justice Gail Ruderman Feuer of Div. Seven reverses a decision by Ventura Superior Cou...
4/30: A major natural gas leak near the intersection of Lipton Avenue and Berkeley Street, has caused an eight-block area of Santa Monica to lose electrical power and natural gas. Residents as far west as 24th Street reported that they could smell natural gas. The outage began at about 6 p.m. on Thursday April 29th, and had not been resolved as of 4 p.m. Friday April 30th. An excavator hit a 16" pipeline underground. "It's like a car wreck down there," explained a Southern Cal...
Bill and Melinda Gates jointly announced Monday that they will end their 27 year marriage. In a tweet from Bill Gates' account signed by the couple, the Gateses said that the decision came after a "great deal of thought and work." The tweet says: "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the...
