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  • Santa Monica Police Chief Ramon Batista Resigns After Five Years

    Dick Schvantz, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Aug 22, 2025

    SANTA MONICA, CA – August 22, 2025 – Santa Monica Police Chief Ramon Batista has announced his resignation, effective immediately, after serving as the city's top law enforcement officer since 2020. The announcement was made public during a brief press conference at City Hall on Friday afternoon, leaving city officials and residents reflecting on his tenure and the future of the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD). Following in the tradition of other recent police chi...

  • Looking Scary and Hideous, Singer Britney Spears Posts Awkward Instagram Video of Herself Singing

    Dick Schvantz, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Aug 18, 2025

    Looking very much like a trailer park denizen, singer Britney Spears posted another incomprehensible video on Instagram Monday. "Cause we both know where i'm about to go! Know very well!" she sings, then says something truly indistinguishable in a low gravely voice. "Because I know what he knows. And I'm spiteful". Then in her normal voice, "I can't sing songs," she says. the video may be seen at https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNgZoIvAwBm/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet...

  • Gun violence in this Midwestern city isn't abating. Its leaders halted programs that could help.

    Stacker, Josiah Bates for The Trace|Updated Aug 18, 2025

    Gun Violence in this Midwestern city isn’t abating. Its leaders halted programs that could help. Just after midnight on July 5, on the heels of Independence Day fireworks, downtown Fort Wayne was crowded with lingering teenagers. Just around the corner from the city’s police headquarters, two groups of teens at Promenade Park ran into each other, started shouting, and soon, gunfire erupted. All told, four teens between 15 and 18 years old were shot; Si’Montre Anthony Molar...

  • American States with the highest and lowest property taxes

    Stacker, Ryan Squires for TurboTenant|Updated Aug 18, 2025

    States with the highest and lowest property taxes As you may well know, paying property taxes is one of the more frustrating parts of home ownership. Whether you’re a homeowner, a real estate investor, a landlord with many units, or a retiree, recurring property taxes may feel like an endless strain on your wallet. However, property taxes play an essential role in the community and can vary significantly from state to state, with some states pushing taxes to the threshold w...

  • The 310 of the most prestigious area codes in America, As Actors and Agents Know it Gets Response

    Stacker, Tara Mier for Spokeo|Updated Aug 18, 2025

    1 of the most prestigious area codes in America: Where three digits signal status In the digital age, a phone number is more than just a way to connect — it’s a reflection of where you come from, who you are, and sometimes, what you’ve achieved. Certain area codes have become status symbols, signaling affluence, influence, and regional pride. Whether it’s a Manhattan 212 number or a Beverly Hills 310 number, these codes carry weight. In this story, Spokeo explores 10 of the...

  • Real Estate: One Quarter of California Homes Sales Are All Cash Purchases

    Stacker, Brian Robbins for HouseCashin|Updated Aug 18, 2025

    Where cash is king: States with the most all-cash home sales How common are all-cash home sales? The mortgage process hasn’t gotten any faster, but buyers in some markets have, HouseCashin reports. Some 27% of all real estate transactions are all-cash deals, according to an analysis of ATTOM data by New American Funding. That means when a homeowner is ready to sell, the buyer doesn’t always need a mortgage preapproval, but rather just wire transfer details, an escrow acc...

  • Multiple LAPD Units Respond to Barricade Incident at Law Firm in West Los Angeles Sunday Afternoon

    Maximus Meridianus, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Aug 10, 2025

    16: Multiple units of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were dispatched Sunday afternoon to the Pirnia Law Firm in Los Angeles following a report of a suspect breaking into the office and barricading himself inside. The incident, which began around midday, has prompted a significant police response, raising concerns among local residents and businesses as authorities work to resolve the situation. The Pirnia Law Firm, a well-known personal injury law practice with...

  • A town 'built by industry' adjusts to life as the liquefied natural gas capital of Canada

    Stacker, Matt Simmons for The Narwhal|Updated Aug 10, 2025

    A town ‘built by industry’ adjusts to life as the liquefied natural gas capital of Canada For the past few months, the buzz in the small coastal community of Kitimat, B.C., has been all about the flares. LNG Canada, the newly completed gas liquefaction and export plant, began firing up its smokestack last fall, lighting the skies with a flame that got as tall as 90 metres at one point. That’s roughly the equivalent of four 18-wheeler trucks, stacked end-to-end on top of each o...

  • What one town learned by charging residents for every bag of trash

    Stacker, Tik Root for Grist|Updated Aug 10, 2025

    What one town learned by charging residents for every bag of trash Until a few years ago, the town of Plympton, Massachusetts, was quite literally throwing away money. People were producing so much trash that it was threatening to put the municipal transfer station out of business. Under the town’s system, residents would buy a $240 sticker for their cars that allowed them yearlong access to the dump, where they could dispose of as much garbage as they wished. But the sheer vo...

  • Event at Annenberg Intended to encourage antisemitism, racism & violent terrorism against heterosexual people

    Dick Schvantz, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Aug 10, 2025

    Santa Monica residents were left outraged this weekend after a taxpayer-funded event August 9th at the Annenberg Community Beach House promoted radical ideologies, including anti-Semitic literature and calls for violent insurrection, under the guise of an inclusive "Queer Surf Art Splash." The event, held Saturday night at the historic beachfront facility, has sparked a firestorm of criticism from local conservatives who argue that public funds are being misused to advance a...

  • Santa Monica Icon Kadi Cole Retires from See's Candies After 33 Years of Sweet Service to Santa Monica's Sweet Tooth

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Publisher|Updated Aug 10, 2025

    August 7, 2025 – After 33 years of spreading joy with her infectious smile and legendary charm, Kadi Cole is bidding farewell to her beloved role at See's Candies on 1227 Wilshire Boulevard. Today marks her final day at the iconic candy shop, where she has been a fixture since arriving from Sierra Leone in 1992. Kadi's journey began when she stepped into the quaint, white-walled shop, inspired by the original See's Candies founded in Los Angeles in 1921. Hired on the spot f...

  • Nancy Pelosi Faces Renewed Insider Trading Accusations Amid Visa Stock Sale Controversy. Pelosis always seem to know when to buy, sell.

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 31, 2025

    Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is once again under scrutiny for alleged insider trading after her husband, Paul Pelosi, sold 2,000 shares of Visa stock worth over $500,000 in early July, just weeks before the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against the company on September 24. The lawsuit, accusing Visa of monopolizing the debit card market, led to a dip in its stock value, prompting critics, including former President Donald Trump, to call...

  • The cost of doing nothing: How tariffs could cut into peak season profits for e-commerce brands

    Stacker, Chris Ziomek for Passport|Updated Jul 31, 2025

    The cost of doing nothing: How tariffs could cut into peak season profits for e-commerce brands Global e-commerce continues to expand—but profitability is under pressure. With new U.S. tariffs set to take effect Aug. 1 and more trade actions on the horizon, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are heading into peak season facing rising costs, stricter compliance requirements, and growing uncertainty. According to Passport’s 2025 survey of e-commerce leaders, 81% of respondents say...

  • Students Make Waves To Save The Sea

    Batya Conn|Updated Jul 31, 2025

    A sea of students in pink and white surf hats piled into the Santa Monica City Hall council meeting on a Tuesday afternoon, all unified on one front: our ocean. Surfers Who Serve is a student-led initiative composed of teens from across school districts who are deeply concerned about the safety and future of Santa Monica Bay. Teal Greene, co-founder of Surfers Who Serve, says they "don't want to inherit a polluted problem." Instead, they want to address the issue head-on....

  • Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete Slams City Council's "Dangerous" Move to Oust Downtown Santa Monica Board

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 31, 2025

    7/31/25, SANTA MONICA, CA - In a heated special meeting of the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday night, Mayor Lana Negrete stood alone in opposition to a 6-1 vote to remove all six city-appointed members of the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) Board. The decision, which critics have labeled politically motivated, has sparked controversy over the council's motives and raised questions about whether the board's push to address crime and homelessness downtown played a role...

  • Tsunami Advisory Cancelled for Los Angeles County Wednesday Morning. Remains in effect for Santa Barbara and Ventura County

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 30, 2025

    A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering tsunami alerts across the Pacific. This is the largest earthquake anywhere on the planet this decade, and one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. Tsunami warnings were active for Japan and Hawaii and tsunami advisories are in effect for California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands), British Columbia, and Guam. Update from Los Angeles County E...

  • Gunman Identified as Shane Tamura, 27 of Las Vegas, in Deadly Midtown Manhattan Shooting at 345 Park Avenue

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 28, 2025

    A tragic shooting unfolded Monday evening at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, where 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura of Las Vegas killed four people, including an NYPD officer, before taking his own life. The incident, which occurred around 6:30 p.m., sparked chaos in the bustling commercial district, prompting a massive police response and a lockdown of the 44-story office tower housing major tenants like the National Football League, Blackstone, and KPMG. Surveillance...

  • Westside Doctor Pleads Guilty in Matthew Perry Drug Overdose

    Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 25, 2025

    In a dramatic hearing at the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, Santa Monica physician Dr. Richard Haskell pleaded guilty on Wednesday to illegally supplying actor Matthew Perry, beloved for his role as Chandler Bing on *Friends*, with prescription drugs. The 57-year-old doctor, who ran a discreet clinic on Wilshire Boulevard, admitted to providing Perry with hundreds of oxycodone pills and ketamine vials from 2022 to 2023, fueling the actor's addiction in exchange for...

  • Man Bites Dog: After LAPD Car Chase from Downtown to the Santa Monica Pier, It Turns Out a Dog Was Behind the Wheel

    Sarah Storkin, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 25, 2025

    A high-speed chase that tore through Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, ended dramatically near the Santa Monica Pier when a suspect, accompanied by a dog, surrendered to police after a tense standoff. The pursuit, initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) following a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, began in the West Adams district and culminated in downtown Santa Monica, briefly disrupting the bustling tourist area. The incident, captured by SkyFOX...

  • 10 most landlord-friendly states in 2025 include California

    Stacker, Ryan Squires for TurboTenant|Updated Jul 25, 2025

    1 most landlord-friendly states in 2025 Landlording in the wrong state can quickly turn into a nightmare. You could end up with hard-to-evict tenants, high property taxes, and rent control that makes it impossible to keep up with the market. For these reasons, knowing the country’s most landlord-friendly states is a wise move. Owning property in a state where eviction laws, property taxes, and policies all work in your favor makes real estate investing a whole lot easier. Tur...

  • Santa Monica Homelessness Rises as Car Campers Drive Increase

    Sage Driftwood, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 25, 2025

    Santa Monica has bucked regional trends of declining homelessness, with the 2024 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Point-in-Time Count reporting a 5% increase in the city's homeless population, rising from 774 individuals in 2023 to 812 in 2024. A significant driver of this uptick is the growing number of car campers, with 84 people living in vehicles-cars, vans, and RVs-compared to 63 the previous year, marking a 33% increase. This surge contrasts with a broader...

  • Alaska Airlines IT Outage Grounds Flights Nationwide, Stranding Thousands of Passengers

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 20, 2025

    *Seattle, WA – July 21, 2025* – Alaska Airlines, a major U.S. carrier based in Seattle, brought its entire mainline and Horizon Air fleet to a screeching halt on Sunday evening due to a significant IT outage, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the airline's request for a system-wide ground stop, which began at approximately 8 p.m. Pacific Time and disrupted operations at its primary hub, Sea...

  • The Device That Exploded and Killed Three Sheriff's Deputies on July 18th, Was Recovered in Santa Monica

    Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 19, 2025
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    There is a connection between the police search on Bay Street in Santa Monica and the explosion that killed three Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies on July 18, 2025. The explosion occurred at the LASD Biscailuz Regional Training Center in East Los Angeles, where deputies were handling an unexploded ordnance. According to multiple sources, this ordnance was recovered in Santa Monica on July 17, 2025, from a garage in a residential neighborhood,...

  • Explosion at LA County Sheriff's Special Operations Bureau in East Los Angeles Kills Three

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 18, 2025

    On July 18, 2025, at approximately 7:30 a.m. PDT, a devastating explosion at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Biscailuz Regional Training Center in East Los Angeles killed three veteran deputies assigned to the Arson/Explosives Detail. The incident occurred in the parking lot while the deputies were moving an unexploded ordnance recovered from a bomb call in Santa Monica the previous night. Sheriff Robert Luna described the event as “the largest loss of lif...

  • "Suspicious Package" Closes Montana Avenue From 14th to 15th Street on Friday Afternoon

    David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer|Updated Jul 18, 2025

    Update, 3:24 pm PST: Police department alerts residents that the Alert is over, barriers and tap removed, situation normal. 12 Noon 7/18/25: A clothing store brought the bomb squad to Montana Avenue Friday afternoon, after it called to report a suspicious package on Friday just before noon. The package had no mailing label or address on it and was simply left at the store. "There's more to it than that," one fireman told us. "But what it is, I can't say." The incident caused...

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