September 11, 2026

Breaking News

BREAKING NEWS: Getty Fire prompts evacuation warnings as brush blaze burns near 405 and Getty Center

Sarah Storkin, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 10, 2026

Update (Thursday afternoon, Sept. 10): Evacuation warnings have been lifted. Forward progress of the Getty Fire is stopped. The Getty Center remains closed today for fire-crew access.LAFD lifted warnings for zones LFD-0895 and LFD-0967 Wednesday night (about 8:38 p.m.). CAL FIRE also reported all evacuations lifted. The warning box that included the south side of the Getty Center, the 405, and Tigertail is no longer in effect. The fire burned about 25 acres on the hillside...

BREAKING NEWS: Sinkhole Cuts Off Services, Access to 31 Coastal Homes Tuesday, as Hurricane Marie Whips up Malibu Waves

Sep 9, 2026

A large sinkhole opened under a Malibu beachfront driveway this week, collapsing pavement, damaging utilities, and prompting a local emergency. Officials say coastal erosion and leftover storm swell from former Hurricane Marie washed out the ground beneath Sea Level Drive. No injuries have been reported. The City of Malibu issued an evacuation order for 31 homes on Sea Level Drive Los Angeles County firefighters were called to the 31600 block of Sea Level Drive around 5:45...

BREAKING NEWS: Santa Monica City Council Plans to Wreck 14th Street For Traffic, The Same Way They Wrecked 17th Street

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 9, 2026

On September 8, 2026, the City Council unanimously approved a design contract for a two-way concrete-protected bikeway on 14th Street. The council awarded RFP SP2805 to Kimley-Horn for up to $1,999,205 over five years to design the conversion of existing painted bike lanes between Pico Boulevard and Washington Avenue into a concrete-separated two-way facility, including raised crossings, signal changes, and bus/bike mixing zones. Construction is targeted for fall 2028. The...

BREAKING NEWS: AI 'whistleblower' lasted weeks at Anthropic. Dave Rubin says the viral doomsday thread looks like a coordinated op.

Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 10, 2026

9.11.26: A 27-year-old researcher just told America the robots are coming for us. Dave Rubin's argument is simpler: the warning may be real enough to debate, but the rollout looks staged. Jacob Coxon quit Anthropic this week and posted that OpenAI and Anthropic are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives." The people building the systems, he wrote, "earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." The thread blew...

BREAKING NEWS: Update: LAPD confirms fatal pedestrian crash on Lincoln Blvd near 90 Freeway; police say victim was not homeless

Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 10, 2026
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MARINA DEL REY — A pedestrian was killed Tuesday night on Lincoln Boulevard at the eastbound 90 (Marina) Freeway entrance, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has identified the victim as Rance Turner, 58. . Police said the collision happened about 9:58 p.m. Tuesday. A vehicle traveling south on Lincoln Boulevard struck the pedestrian, who was walking in traffic lane 3. The impact threw the person southwest into the roadway. Los...

BREAKING NEWS: Extreme Heat Warning Blankets Santa Monica as Humidity Turns Coastal Day Into a Steamer

Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 9, 2026

SANTA MONICA - An Extreme Heat Warning is in effect through 8 p.m. Thursday for Los Angeles County beaches, including Santa Monica, as a heat dome and leftover tropical moisture collide over Southern California. The heat warning will last until 8 PM PST, on September 11th. ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee posted Wednesday that she was "perspiring in the middle of the night in LA," warning that the heat index could climb as high as 113 degrees in parts of Los Angeles...

BREAKING NEWS: Historic vacant Toledo church destroyed in early-morning fire; steeple collapses, cause under investigation

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 7, 2026

TOLEDO, Ohio - A fire gutted the vacant former St. Agnes Catholic Church in the city's Five Points neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, causing its steeple to collapse and leaving the 116-year-old building a total loss. Toledo Fire and Rescue Department crews were dispatched around 6:30 a.m. after reports of heavy black smoke coming from the roof of the church on the 3000 block of Martha Avenue. Firefighters arrived to find the structure already heavily involved and...

BREAKING NEWS: Rare September storm soaks Westside as Marie's moisture breaks records

Stan Greene, Obserrver Staff Writer | Sep 7, 2026

Tropical moisture from Hurricane Marie, remaining hundreds of miles offshore, delivered widespread showers and locally heavier downpours across Santa Monica and Los Angeles County on Sunday, September 6. Rain began early in the morning and continued on and off through the afternoon and evening, with isolated thunderstorms in some areas. National Weather Service forecasts issued Saturday and early Sunday called for generally light amounts-most locations a quarter-inch or less,...

Migrants hoist baby dolphin like a trophy on Spanish beach - cops probe after video outrage

Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 5, 2026

A baby bottlenose dolphin was pulled from the water, held aloft like a prize, and later found dead on a Ceuta beach Wednesday - sparking viral outrage, animal-rights complaints, and a Guardia Civil probe. Footage circulating on social media shows a group of men on Playa del Trampolín lifting the small cetacean amid cheers and clapping. One man grins while holding the animal overhead. Another records on a smartphone. Local influencer Juan Ruiz, who captured part of the scene,...

YouTuber Nick Shirley slaps California with First Amendment lawsuit over 'Stop Nick Shirley Act'

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 5, 2026

SACRAMENTO - Conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley sued California Friday, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta of trying to muzzle him after he started exposing alleged fraud in taxpayer-funded immigrant programs. America First Legal and San Diego lawyer John W. Howard filed the federal complaint in Sacramento on behalf of Shirley against Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber. They want a judge to declare Assembly Bill 2624 unconstitutional and block...

GAY BAR HORROR: Pro-Palestine photographer and pal gunned down outside Tucson club - shooter from Gambia then kills himself

Stan Greene, Observer Staff WRiter | Sep 5, 2026

A gay photographer known for covering pro-Palestinian street protests and a friend were shot dead in a Tucson parking lot this week — then the gunman turned the weapon on himself. Police say the massacre outside Venture-N, a longtime midtown gay bar, was a targeted hate crime against the LGBTQ community. The killer, they say, had a list of other gay-friendly businesses on him and left more writings at home spelling out why he did it. Cameron Davis Capara, 33, and Vincent...

A Man Shot On Ohio and Sawtelle in West Los Angeles Friday Afternoon, suspect at large

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 5, 2026

WEST LOS ANGELES - A man was shot Friday afternoon in the Sawtelle neighborhood of West Los Angeles, and police are searching for a suspect. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's West Los Angeles Division responded about 4 p.m. Sept. 4 to the intersection of Sawtelle Boulevard and Ohio Avenue after reports of a shooting. They found a man with gunshot wounds. He was transported to a hospital with injuries to the head and torso and was alive when officers arrived....

It's Coming: How the Chinese Real Estate Collapse and Desperate Attempts to Get Money Out of China, Will Impact RE in Los Angeles

Sep 5, 2026

Across from Crypto.com Arena, three unfinished towers still wear the spray paint that made them famous. Oceanwide Plaza was supposed to be a luxury hotel, condos, and retail podium - Beijing capital planted in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. Instead it became a $1.2 billion steel skeleton, stalled at about 60 percent complete after 2019, tagged across dozens of floors in 2024, then forced into bankruptcy. A local-Australian joint venture is now trying to buy it out for...

Unusual September Rain Soaks Santa Monica and Westside on Labor Day Weekend

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 6, 2026

Tropical moisture from Hurricane Marie, remaining hundreds of miles offshore, delivered widespread showers and locally heavier downpours across Santa Monica and Los Angeles County on Sunday, September 6. Rain began early in the morning and continued on and off through the afternoon, with thunderstorms possible in some areas. National Weather Service forecasts issued Saturday and early Sunday called for generally light amounts-most locations a quarter-inch or less, with...

BREAKING NEWS: The Win-Dow Restaurant Has Opened on Montana Avenue, and Santa Monica is lining up To Go Through It

David Ganezer, Observer Staff Writer | Sep 10, 2026

At 930 Montana Ave, the latest outpost of the Venice-born smash-burger favorite opened with the kind of energy that turns a sidewalk into a social event. The line snakes out the door most days. It is the living punchline to Yogi Berra's old line: nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded. People go anyway. They wait. Then they eat. Then they talk about coming back. This is the seventh-ish Southern California location, and the prices travel with the brand. A cheeseburger...

Reject Option 1: Pico Shouldn't Bear the Burden of Upzoning Again

Pico Neighborhood Assn. | Sep 6, 2026

Dear Editor: On Tuesday, September 8, 2026 the Santa Monica City Council will vote on an ordinance implementing SB 79 development standards. The Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA) Board of Directors strongly opposes Option 1. Our opposition is rooted in the history and reality of environmental racism in the Pico Neighborhood. The construction of the I-10 Freeway cut through and isolated the Pico Neighborhood, demolishing homes, displacing residents and leaving remaining...

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