Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Is it Social Justice or Antiracism at SMMUSD? The top administrators at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District presented their work on creating better student achievement and combating racism during a Special Meeting of the school board on Tuesday evening. Citing the persistent achievement gap that has existed in the district between white and Asians on the one hand and other minorities on the other, staff leapt to the conclusion that racial bias had to be the reason...
Hurricane Laura damaged buildings throughout Southwest Louisiana and in adjoining parts of Texas. Before and after photos from Lake Charles, Louisiana revealed hundreds of missing windows from the powerful storm. Although property damage appeared extensive, and the cost in dollars and lives was still being assessed on Thursday afternoon, officials in both states sounded notes of cautious relief: Though Laura made landfall with 150-mile-per-hour winds, its storm surge,...
Officers from the California highway patrol found the body of a middle-aged woman near a homeless encampment on the side of the Santa Monica freeway, The CHP said. The body of was found near a homeless encampment, strongly implying that she herself was homeless. Possessions found on the body also indicated the victim was homeless, sources said. The investigation is ongoing, and the death is being investigated as a homicide. Anyone with additional information about this...
If you are struggling to sort through the list of 21 candidates aiming for the four Santa Monica City Council seats up for grabs in November, the formation of alliances might help you out. A four-person challenger alliance was announced in local media this week that includes Phil Brock, Oscar de la Torre, Mario Fonda-Bonardi, and Christine Parra. Their goal is to oust incumbents Gleam Davis, Ana Jara, Terry O'Day and Ted Winterer. If this alliance accomplishes what its...
Over the weekend, the state's California Independent System Operator, the overseer of the state's power grid, instituted the first rolling blackout due to power shortage in 20 years. Three of the utilities under CAISO's governance, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, cut power on Friday evening to more than 410,000 businesses and homes. Customers experienced outages for about an hour over a 3-1/2 hour period. A second outage...
The City of Los Angeles recently distributed $100 million in rent money through a lottery style program. Now the County of Los Angeles has announced a similar program. As with the City of LA program, the County Program will distribute $100 million in Covid-19 relief, to tenants who complete an online application. The deadline is Monday August 31. Tenants may also call 211 and complete an application by phone. Renters at 30% of the median income may receive $10,000 to use for...
Election season is heating up in Santa Monica. The ballot is nearly complete, minus the SMMUSD board race that needs to be finalized for technical reasons. The City Council field is crowded with 21 people competing for four four-year seats. There is a separate council election for Kristin McCowan to keep the seat she was appointed to last month, but she will have no competitors. In addition to those council contests, voters will also be deciding on elections to the SMMUSD,...
The president's younger brother Robert Trump has died at 71, after a fall and a cerebral hemorrhage. He also developed COVID-19 and complications of coronavirus while in the hospital. Update: Robert was hospitalized at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on August 14, 2020. President Donald Trump visited him the same day, later stating that he was very ill and was having a hard time. He died the next day, the cause was not disclosed. The New York Times reported a...
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin's Town Hall on "Reimagining Public Safety" provided no workable answers but plenty of insults to his constituents on the Westside. The panelists suggested reducing the police budget in LA to roughly 3 percent of what it is today and labeled immoral anyone who would call the police to handle a violently mentally ill homeless person. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Bonin held the virtual town hall on Monday night and left the a...
The Santa Monica Pier is opened- sort of. The usual entrance is off Ocean Ave and Colorado, on a steep incline. This has been closed and pedestrians are directed to Seaside, several blocks south. A visitor is deposited at Hot Dog, a good place for a snack. Bubba Gump Shrimp , some ice cream stores/cake shop/coffee bars are opened, with seating nearby to enjoy a warm summer afternoon. It is possible to order food to take out as well. Pacific Park is an oceanfront amusement...
In case you were wondering whether or not you have to show up for jury duty during the pandemic, the answer right now is no. "The Los Angles County Department of Public Health has expressed concerns to the Court about commencing jury trials and bringing jurors into County courthouses given the current COVID-19 numbers and trends," Presiding Judge Brazile said. The LA Superior Court has extended the deadlines for Civil and Criminal trials. Non Jury civil trials are on hold...
Some dude on the left set up a fake Antifa recruiting website. He also buried the email address of famous Conservative podcaster, Ben Shapiro in the code. Shapiro is known as a legal and political scholar but not as any sort of leftist or recruiter. On Monday Morning, it was the top trending item on Twitter. "A rumor started over the weekend that I was trying to catfish people on the left," said Shapiro on Monday morning. "They set up a fake recruiting website, and put my...
The program that the US Congress set up to loan as much as 1.3 trillion to small businesses, appears to be ending on Saturday, August 8th. The end of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has not been much discussed. Congress could extend it, but with an apparent deadlock over the $600 weekly unemployment benefit extension, that appears unlikely for now. President Donald J. Trump extended several other Covid-19 relief programs by executive order on Saturday. Unemployment...
The Santa Monica Pier reopened on Wednesday. The 111 year old iconic wooden structure had been closed due to Covid-19 since the lockdown began on March 19, 2020. Images on social media as well as the Pier's website, www.santamonicapier.org, confirmed the reopening. "The Santa Monica Pier is now open with limited hours and operations. Your health and safety are our top priority, which is why you'll see a lot of changes around here. From limited hours and capacity to expanded...
8/5/20: Before and after photos of the blast, show the port of Beirut scorched and lifeless. The photos from Planet Lab, are visible at the bottom of this story. Lebanese sources report that the welding of a door caused sparks which ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which caused explosion at Beirut Port Tuesday. The explosion first touched off a fire with gray smoke. Moments later, a huge explosion shook the entire city, and a mushroom cloud filled the sky. Here are the...
Two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, splashed down safely in the SpaceX Crew Dragon "Endeavour" in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 p.m. EDT. It is the first time a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft has returned from the International Space Station to complete a test flight, beginning a new era in human spaceflight. NASA is continuing live coverage of the recovery. After the spacecraft splashed down,...
A huge fireball in Shenyang City, China, caused no injuries but produced a video that will be watched for decades. When lightning struck a high voltage powerline, it ignited the atmosphere around it. The rare sight was captured by at least 3 videocameras--dashcams are common in the People's Republic. "The moments of a building in #shenyangcity, China hit by thunderstorms were captured by different people from different angles. It happened today. 8月3号下午17点53...
Social unrest is rearing its ugly head again in Southern California. A multi-hour protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night (chirpily advertised on local radio stations as if it were the best in local entertainment) turned violent around 7 pm. Rioters threw rocks and broke windows at the federal building on North Los Angeles street. Police and "protestors" clashed on the street. Seven people were reported injured with four arrests. Today, protestors gathered outside...
Another sad day in America today as the news of the sad passing of TV personality Regis Philbin broke. In an exclusive statement to People Magazine his family said "His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him – for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about." Born on August 25, 1931, Philbin was raised in the Bronx and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School i...
We already know this year's presidential campaign is a wild one, but how about at the local level? It could be big too. Twenty-two people as of Wednesday have pulled papers for potential campaigns for five open council seats. They have until August 7 to gather 30 signatures from Santa Monica residents to make their campaigns official. There will actually be two separate council elections. One for four seats, and all the incumbents elected to those seats in 2016--Gleam Davis,...
Between the State Senate and the State Assembly, nine bills are under consideration that would drastically change the balance of power regarding land use and zoning in California. Each bill seeks to solve the state's "housing crisis" with attacks against local zoning ordinances, in particular those that restrict some areas to single-family homes. Stripping local governments of their ability to decide their own physical appearance, these laws give the state government power to...
A 7.8 earthquake struck the coast south of the Aleutian islands at 12:12 am PST, 11:12 pm Tuesday evening local time. It caused the US Geological Service to issue a Tsunami warning for the Alaska coast. The warning was cancelled at 1:26 pm PST. Kodiak island in particular, and other coastal areas were warned. A tsunami warning was in effect for the Alaskan peninsula and south Alaska.Homer was evacuated. Hawaii was outside the warning zone. So were California, Oregon and...
So. "Naked Athena" a performance artist, appears in front of a police line and dares them to shot tear gas at her. At one point she sat down in the road, her legs splayed. She did wear a mask, though. Needless to say, Twitter loved it. "Did you see the naked yoga posing protestor?" tweeted Dolly Madison. "She was magnificent! I love Note: The police in the photos are Federal troops, not Portland police. Federal authorities have recently begun a crackdown on rioters in...
History was made on Tuesday when the majority of council members voted for Kristin McCowan to join them on the virtual dais. With that decision, McCowan became the first black Santa Monica council member. Prior to the appointment, the council had not included a black person of any gender (or non-gender) in nearly 50 years. McCowan, a Santa Monica native in her early 40s, was one of two people among the more than 100 applicants for the vacant seat who had a realistic chance of...
US Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg has been undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer. In a statement that seeks to minimize speculation that she will soon retire from the Court, she claims her recent hospitalization is due to gallstones and is not related to her cancer reoccurrence. "I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that, she says. "On May 19, I began a course of chemotherapy...
