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  • Santa Monica's Ferris Wheel Will Join Big Ben and the Sydney Opera House in 'Going Dark' on Earth Day

    Cameron Andrews, Pier Communications|Updated Mar 24, 2021

    SANTA MONICA, Calif., (March 23, 2021) --- On Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 p.m. local time, Earth Hour, one of the largest global grassroots movements for the environment, will virtually bring together millions of people, businesses and leaders from around the world to raise awareness on the urgent need to address nature loss and climate change. Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier joins Earth Hour as the world-famous Pacific Wheel Ferris wheel, will "Go Dark" except for the...

  • SMFD Puts Out Fire at Coogies Cafe on Santa Monica Blvd

    Patrick Nulty, SMFD Public Info|Updated Apr 9, 2019

    On Thursday evening, April 4th, 2019 at approximately 9:09 p.m. the Santa Monica Fire Department received a 9-1-1 call reporting a structure fire at the Coogies Café located at 2906 Santa Monica Blvd. The restaurant had just closed for the night when staff members discovered the fire, and immediately evacuated. Firefighters arrived in 4 minutes and were confronted with heavy amounts of fire which was spreading rapidly throughout the rear portion of the restaurant and to the...

  • Home Invasion Robbery Results in Charges Against 23 Year Old LA Resident

    Observer Staff|Updated Apr 9, 2019

    4/7/2019: Earlier today the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed charges on Brendan Bunnell, a 23-year old male, for a residential robbery. On April 2, 2019, at about 6:50AM SMPD responded to a residential burglary that had just occurred in the 1400 block of Grant St. The lone resident woke up to Bunnell in his house. Bunnell displayed a knife while demanding property and money. The resident was able to run out of the house and call the police without injury....

  • Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the SamoHi Titanic with a $385 million "Discovery" Building

    Alyssa Erdley, News with Attitude|Updated Apr 8, 2019

    Ground broke on Tuesday for a new structure, dubbed the Discovery Building, at the Santa Monica High School campus. Its function is to replace the Science and Technology buildings which were demolished last summer. The building will form a U around an interior courtyard. Planned to open at the end of 2021, it will contain 38 classrooms, offices for the M and O houses, 3 multipurpose rooms, some common areas, and a full kitchen and cafeteria. A rooftop garden will serve as...

  • City Council Enacts Moratorium on Permits for Micro Apartments in Downtown Santa Monica

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Apr 4, 2019

    The City Council is concerned about the apparent proliferation of small apartments in downtown Santa Monica. At the 3/26 Meeting, the Council banned construction permits for more apartments less than 375 square feet, unless they are "affordable." Which in Santa Monica means, you know, less than $2000 a month for one room. Developer WS Communities recently filed plans to construct 363 Single Resident Occupancy (SRO) units, in six proposed apartment buildings on Fifth, Sixth,...

  • Los Angeles County Bans Monsanto's Roundup In the Wake of 2 Huge Jury Verdicts

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Apr 2, 2019

    The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors banned the use of any glyphosate-type weed killer on county property pending more information about the chemical's potential health and environmental effects. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the popular weed-killer Roundup, a product of Monsanto. To date, two California juries have determined that glyphosate caused the cancer alleged by plaintiffs. In 2018, Dewayne Johnson was awarded $289 million for the terminal cancer he...

  • Over 15,000 runners complete the 2019 Los Angeles marathon

    David Ganezer, Observer staff writer|Updated Mar 27, 2019

    1,000 runners completed the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday morning March 24, 2019. Security was tight and spectators were not allowed within one block of the finish line, probably to avoid a repeat of the Boston marathon 10 years ago where Chechen terrorists blew up a bomb, killing five and injuring 17. The LA Marathon will wend it's way to the finish line at Ocean Avenue and the California Incline Sunday morning, March 24th. The starting pistol is at 7 am, so runners should...

  • End Climate Change and Have Imperfect Produce Delivered to your Door

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 24, 2019

    About 20% of produce is discarded at the farm because it is imperfect. A potato might grow lobsided, or the skin of a pear might be brown. Mother Nature doesn't insist on perfection, and a San Francisco based Imperfect Produce is betting you won't either. For $11 a week plus a $5 delivery charge, Imperfect Produce will deliver a box of, well, Imperfect Produce to your door every week. Or every other week if you live in a small household And you get to customize your box!...

  • Current Santa Monica City Council Saved From Election by California Appeals Court (For now)

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 24, 2019

    The California Court of Appeal offered temporary relief to Santa Monica's current City Councilmembers, who were facing a special election this summer. Justices Elizabeth Grimes, Maria Stratton, and John Shepard Wiley of the appeals court signed an order staying an earlier ruling by a trial court that the city must hold special elections for city council via newly-drawn districts by August 15. The order to create voting districts in the city comes from a California Voting...

  • SMPD Fentanyl Arrest Nets 2 suspects, $50,000 in drugs and $12,000 cash

    Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 21, 2019

    Fentanyl is a major public health problem in the United States. Chinese pharmaceutical producers (not so much the legit ones) put it in everything from Vicodin to Benadryl. 1000 times more potent than heroin, Fentanyl killed Prince Rogers Nelson and Tom Petty. 30,000 Americans died last year from Fentanyl overdoses. On March 19, 2019 the Santa Monica Police Department's Narcotics Unit and Crime Impact Team served a search warrant at a residence in the 1400 block of 11th...

  • Hailstorm Drops Ice in Long Beach, CA Backyards and Streets on First Day of Spring 2019

    Updated Mar 20, 2019

    It may have been the firs day of spring; but Long Beach, California, was his with a hailstorm on Wednesday, March 20. The hail was so thick it looked like snow, but quickly evaporated in the So Cal sun which followed. Beaches and streets in Southern California suddenly turned white, stunning residents who quickly ran outside to get a picture or play in the unusual weather. No one could remember the last time it hailed in Long Beach. The hail was reported in Huntington Beach...

  • Poison Control: Roundup Continues to be Used by City of Santa Monica

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 14, 2019

    The weedkiller Roundup, a product of Monsanto, continues to be used in Santa Monica's public spaces despite a recent $289 million dollar judgment against Monsanto for the terminal illness of school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson. The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate. In July, 2017, glyphosate was added to the State of California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. In an email, Dean Kubani, Assistant...

  • United Methodist Church Divided as Church in Ocean Park Aligns with Progressives on LGBTQ rights

    Mary Leipziger, Observer Photographer|Updated Mar 13, 2019

    Rev Janet Gollery McKeithen, the minister of the Church in Ocean Park (CIOP) was ordained in the United Methodist Church 35 years ago. She is the daughter of the late United Methodist minister Stanley Gollery and the wife of Floyd McKeithen, a United Methodist minister. She knew a previous minister Jim Conn, who helped re-form the church in the 1970's. She was assigned to the CIOP in 2005 and felt then and now it was what she was called to do. As part of the Santa Monica...

  • 'Homeless' Man Sets Fire to House, Closes Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 13, 2019
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    On Monday around 1:00 pm, a small house fire in the 1300 block of the Pacific Coast Highway closed all southbound lanes and the number one northbound lane. Around the same time, police were called for a suspected house break-in. The suspect was seen fleeing to the roof of a building adjacent to the fire. The police managed to talk the suspect off the roof and take him into custody. Meanwhile, the Santa Monica Fire Department put out the fire, which is described as minimal. Sau...

  • Current City Council Members Must Quit by August 15, Unless Court of Appeal Rescues Them

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 11, 2019

    Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled on Wednesday that the City of Santa Monica must hold special elections via districts by July 2. Current members of the Santa Monica City Council are prohibited from serving past August 15. Palazuelos's ruling came as an answer to a Monday request for clarification from the city, who is appealing the judge's Feb.15 ruling that the city's current at-large voting system violates the California Voting Rights Act. The initial CVRA...

  • Sustainable Plastic - All We Need is a Nudge

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 11, 2019

    We dutifully separate our recyclables and put them in a separate container for the waste trucks to pick up, but the fact is that little of that material is currently getting recycled. "In California, less than 15 percent of single-use plastic is recycled, and the cost of recycling exceeds the scrap value of the plastic materials," writes California State Senator Ben Allen on his website on February 21, the day he and fellow senators Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Scott Wiener...

  • Santa Monica City Council Doesn't Want to Hear From You

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 3, 2019

    A proposal by the Santa Monica City Council to halve public speaker time from two minutes to one minute has roused vigorous criticism. The current Rules of Order for council meetings allows a speaker 2 minutes per item with a total of 6 minutes per speaker. Speakers are allowed to accept one donation of 2 minutes from another speaker. However, certain items already restrict a speaker to 1 minute. A further proposal is to limit multiple applicants/appellants to a time of 10 min...

  • City of Santa Monica to Demolish a House of God to Build Unaffordable Housing

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Mar 3, 2019

    2/28/19 This month, Community Corp. of Santa Monica was awarded a $10.7 million-dollar 'loan' from the Santa Monica Housing Trust Fund to acquire property at 1819 Pico Boulevard, across the street from Santa Monica College. Currently, two 2-story apartment buildings and a church occupy the property. The church, formerly housing the Mount Hermon Baptist congregation, has been there since 1967. A demolition sign is now posted on the iron fence surrounding its parking lot....

  • Residents Want Less Traffic and More Parking. SMPD Wants to Talk Traffic Safety, However

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 27, 2019

    In a video released on Thursday, Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud promised to discuss traffic and what the police department is doing about it. However, Renaud - understandably - shied away from discussing what residents really want to know about traffic: How can we reduce it, and where can we park? Instead, Renaud and two of her staff, Lieutenant Candice Cobarrubias and Sergeant Joe Cortez, discussed what the police department is doing about traffic safety. Oh, and...

  • Homeless Encampment Near Whole Foods Market in Venice, Lives On Legal Limbo

    Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 27, 2019

    Directly to the West of the Whole Foods Market on Lincoln and Rose lies a strip of land that looks like a sidewalk. A rather wide sidewalk, crowded with a dozen or so tents pitched, and homeless people strumming guitars, chatting or sleeping. The 50 or so homeless people living on the 7th Avenue strip are mostly unaware that they are the beneficiaries of a legally ambiguous situation. "It's legal to camp on this sidewalk" said Roger, a 26 year old man with glasses staying in a...

  • Police Chief on upgraded Homeless Liaison Program: The Cannots and Will Nots

    Alyssa Erdley, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 20, 2019
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    by Alyssa Erdley In a video released on Wednesday, Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud informed the public of the steps being taken by her department regarding the homeless on the street. The department's Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) consists of 8 police officers, one sergeant, and a worker from the Department of Mental Health. The unit now operates 7 days a week, often starting as early as 4 am. In the video, Sergeant Erika Akulfi explains that the mission of the HLP...

  • Widespread Direct TV Outage Affecting Los Angeles Users

    Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 18, 2019

    TV Screens went dark Monday night, February 18 (President's day) throughout Los Angeles, during the 6 o'clock news programs. No information about the outage was available on the company's website as of 7 pm. www.directv.com. It seemed as if a satellite had lost power or been knocked out of orbit. DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider based in El Segundo, California and is a subsidiary of AT&T. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994,...

  • Fire Scorches Apartment Unit at the Santa Monica Shores So Tower

    Sarah Storkin, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 14, 2019

    The greatest concentration of population anywhere in Santa Monica is the Santa Monica shores, at 2800 Nielson Way. Built in the 1970's the apartments start at around $5000 a month for two bedrooms. They can be double that with a view. Somehow a unit in the pricey South Tower caught fire Friday evening, February 8th 2019. At 7:15 p.m., the SMFD responded to the 14 floor tower, to investigate a fire alarm activation. When firefighters discovered smoke billowing from an...

  • Video: #Geyser on #PCH as Truck Shears Fire Hydrant Early Wednesday Morning in Santa Monica

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Feb 14, 2019

    Pacific coast highway was closed in both directions in Santa Monica on Wednesday morning. Traffic accident just south of the California incline and caused a 200 foot Kaiser to appear above Palisades Park. City of Santa Monica Crews secured the water leak at 6:38 AM. The 10 freeway remained closed at 4th Street, and PCH remained closed southbound at the California incline. Traffic was backed up for miles in both directions into Santa Monica. News helicopters awoke residents...

  • California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Programs Documented to be Total Failure

    Michele Hanisee, Assn Deputy DAs|Updated Feb 6, 2019

    You won't find much disagreement that it is good public policy to offer rehabilitation programs for inmates to increase the odds that they will be law-abiding citizens after they're released. Good intentions, however, are not enough. The success of rehabilitation programs depends on several factors. One is developing programs that are effective. Another is having processes in place to measure their effectiveness. Inmates must be placed in programs that best address their...

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