Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 851 - 875 of 878
If you've seen the trains conducting "tests" for the last six months along Colorado Avenue, you're probably aware that the Expo opens on May 20. A recent City press release says: "Mobility options include 500 Breeze bikes at 75 locations citywide, extended North-South corridor Big Blue Bus service connecting to each Expo Line Phase 2 stations, 1.5 miles of new off-street bike/pedestrian path along the Expo route in Santa Monica, and 12 pedestrian scrambles downtown. These, along with soon to lau...
Update: Alix Hobbs, the President of Heal the Bay, called me to say that Thuy Tran's death, while tragic, was not connected to Heal the Bay, as she was not participating in their beach clean up event. For this reason, they have no more information on the circumstances of this tragedy. She said that Heal the Bay has procedures in place to train volunteers about beach safety. Nevertheless, she said, it's impossible to watch everyone at every moment, or to prevent people from swimming or engaging...
Despite criticism from the local pundit class, including yours truly, Caltrans appears to be nearing completion of the California incline, reasonably on time and within its $4 billion budget. The bridge deck appears to be entirely completed, save the striping. Two years have passed since they closed the bridge, and while the original time estimate was 18 months, they did say at the time that the project could easily require two years for completion. The bridge was originally built to connect...
An hour before dawn on April 5, a man was stabbed to death. No one saw it but the murderer. Officers responded to a homicide call at 1548 5th Street, Apt. 408. The building is a homeless halfway shelter called Step Up on 5th" at 4:30am on Tuesday April 5, according to the SMPD. Police said they found an unidentified adult male inside the apartment, with an apparent stab wound to the chest. Paramedics were called to the scene at 4:34am . They took an adult male in critical condition to UCLA...
Ever wonder why Santa Monica's streets are so well maintained, while the alleys are generally as broken up as rural roads? Technically, the City of Santa Monica's alleys are County of Los Angeles roadways. Which means the City's road department could ignore them, the County did ignore them, and the State of California, well forget about it. They do give out parking tickets in the alleys (see photos). As I've said before, the City of Santa Monica functions like a corporation, and can't ignore...
In an attempt to force the City to change its Charter from city-wide to districted Council and School Board elections, several groups have sued Santa Monica alleging civil rights violations. And the moving force behind the lawsuit is Mrs. Oscar de la Torre, a school board members wife. The Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA), Maria Loya and Advocates for Malibu Public Schools (AMPS) filed the suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to a press release received by the Santa Monica...
My wife finally made me drag that rug in our storage pile downstairs to a rug store. I took it from a client in exchange for $1000 in services about 20 years ago. It's a nice rug, I thought. But it's been, well, lying around ever since. With reluctance and a last yell from the wife, I threw the old rug into the backseat of an Acura, then sped off to Ruben's Rug Gallery & Jewelry. "Hand Wash Carpet & Repair Old & New Silver Handicrafts," says Ruben Saidan's card. Saidian really knows his rugs. He...
A homemade rocket exploded Monday night at Madrona Elementary School, killing a 17 year old Thousand Oaks High School, and injuring his friend. Police identified the boy as Bernard Moon, 18, and described the device as a "propane filled model rocket attached to a skateboard." The propane propelled rocket appears to have gone off in Moon's hands, said Ventura County Fire Department Captain Mike Lindbery. When the rocket didn't ignite as planned, Moon went to investigate and the device exploded...
For the last seven years, the City of Santa Monica has struggled to come up with a downtown plan. The problem is, the City's residents are in open revolt against a City Staff they see as rubber-stamping numbers huge projects for years. 25 workshops have been held. Numerous discussions and formal hearings have been held. Yet the city's residents are lukewarm at best, to greatly raising the amount of traffic and people in downtown. Truly, what is wrong with these citizens? From City Hall's...
The Airport's land grant is deed restricted to aviation into perpetuity, and the City Council knows it. Yet residents are demanding that the City Council do something to close the 100 year old airfield to aviation. When irresistible force meets immovable object, and the City of Santa Monica is involved, strange legislation results. On Tuesday the Council adopted a new leasing policy that some 600 tenants and subtenants must protect the health, safety and environment of the neighborhood, and also...
In the wake of the recent Brussels airport and subway bombings, 83 student musicians, 11 parents and 3 teachers have been informed that the Santa Monica School District has cancelled their European tour this week. In an email to district officials and teachers, SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyons stated that she and others, had been monitoring safety considerations in Europe since the November Paris massacre. She and SamoHi principal Eva Mayoral sent an email to parents Tuesday, saying that the d...
Who needs you anyway, Apple? That's what the Justice Department said Monday -- it has successfully accessed data stored on the iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's assistance. The DOJ also said they would ask the District Court to vacate it's Motion to Compel, and dismiss its Federal case against Apple, Inc. The DOJ says the order is no longer necessary, which not only is a raspberry at Apple, but also calls into question its encryption generally speaking. The...
Residocracy, a group known mostly for snarky remarks on their Facebook page, held a Rally and Kickoff for the LUVE Ballot Initiative Petition signature-gathering campaign. LUVE's supporters say the it will require voter approval for major developments, and for Developer Agreements. The City of Santa Monica is famous for signing Developer agreements that promise parks, schools, funding for programs, low income housing, even ice skating rinks-and then the agreements are completely ignored and...
by David Ganezer Observer Publisher Santa Monica is an egalitarian City, and everyone gets their chance to be Mayor. In a move that surprised no one, since it was arranged for in advance; Councilman Kevin McKeown was elected Mayor of Santa Monica by the other six City council members. He will be mayor for a one-year term, and then Councilman Tony Vazquez will succeed him in 2016. Vazquez was elected Mayor Pro Tempore. In 2016, Ted Winterer will be Mayor Pro Tempore (Latin meaning "for a time,"...
City Hall will be closed tight as a drum on Christmas, New Years, and especially MLK Day. However, the City's trash collectors continued to work on Veteran's Day. So did those denizens of the Cushman, the city's tireless ticket givers. I know, because I saw them both working last Tuesday, November 11, 2014. Rumor has it they get paid triple time to collect the trash on holidays. Separately, this reporter can assure to you with absolute certainty that if you get more than five parking citations...
Voters returned Pam O'Connor to office for a 6th term, despite the repeated protestations of neighborhood groups such as SMCLC that she has never seen a large development project she didn't like. SMCLC tried to put the best face on it: "Pam O'Connor squeaked by in a distant third. In a city of almost 59,000 registered voters, she received 4,933 votes. Not a lot of support, but in an over-crowded field, just enough to win. "Ms. O'Connor enters what likely will be her last term with greatly...
Theodore Greenberg lawsuit against the Art Institute of Los Angeles will proceed to trial, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled Thursday. Greenberg alleges that he was sexually harassed by Mark Lowentrout, a supervisor at the school’s Santa Monica campus. In his complaint, Greenberg alleges that on December of 2011 he was employed as a teacher at the Art Institute, with Lowentrout as his supervisor. Greenberg was originally hired by the Art Institute in December 1991. G...
Theodore Greenberg lawsuit against the Art Institute of Los Angeles will proceed to trial, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled Thursday. Greenberg alleges that he was sexually harassed by Mark Lowentrout, a supervisor at the school’s Santa Monica campus. In his complaint, Greenberg alleges that on December of 2011 he was employed as a teacher at the Art Institute, with Lowentrout as his supervisor. Greenberg was originally hired by the Art Institute in December 1991. G...
Sandra Fluke, the women's rights activist who gave Rush Limbaugh heartburn, finished a surprise second place behind SMMUSD School Board Member Ben Allen, in Tuesday's Open primary. Fluke and her husband Adam moved to California several years ago and bought a house in West Hollywood while she was in law school at Georgetown.* Fluke and Allen both advance to the Nov. 4th General Election Fluke gained national fame in 2012 when Limbaugh called her a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his radio show for...
City Manager Rod Gould’s controversial decision last week to rescind the hiring of Communications Director Elizabeth Riel, may have been due to her membership in a slow growth coalition called SMCLC. The rescission preceded her actual assumption of any job duties. SM City Manager Rod Gould, the beneficiary of a $300,000 annual salary, the highest of any City Manager in Los Angeles County (even before you take into account astounding benefits and pension); is, naturally, defending himself. He r...
One woman was treated for smoke inhalation and as many as 20 are left without housing after a transformer exploded in an alley behind the 800 block of Second street at around 11:30 PM on May 15. At least one apartment was destroyed, and the rest of the third floor was cordoned off limits afterward. 42 firefighters from both Santa Monica and Los Angeles were called to the scene, which is still under investigation. With wildfires raging throughout the state and extreme drought conditions in...
by David Ganezer Publisher Santa Monica streets are a mess lately. Colorado is undrivable as the Metroline is constructed. Lincoln Blvd., already narrowed in one lane near Colorado, will soon be carrying all the traffic on PCH, As California avenue closes. Road work and other construction forces increasingly impatient drivers into residential streets. In such circumstances, and as Spring Break begins, it is not surprising that the fatality and injury rates appear to be increasing on local...
Nobody wants to touch this one, do they? In case you left town the last 2 days, SamoHi's wrestling couch Mark Black (Yeah, the same 60 year old dude who was involved in the whole wrestling dummy thing 2 years back), was trying to confiscate a bag of weed from an 18 year old, male student. The student refused. The story from here varies, but there's agreement that the kid put the weed back into his backpack, and the two tussled in the classroom, while another student filmed the whole thing on an...
A petition to ban Pony rides at Santa Monica's Farmers Markets (and presumably elsewhere in town), has gathered over 200 signatures, it's MoveOn backers report. Since Sunday my Move On petition has garnered 160 signatures (39 from Santa Monica) to shut down the pony rides and petting zoo at the Sunday farmers market in Ocean Park. Signers object to ponies circling round and round for hours, tethered to a pole, with loud music playing next to them. Let's end this side show and teach our children...
I have known Ben Allen since he worked for The Observer in 1998 gathering subscriptions. Since then, he's gone on to Berkeley Law School, and the SMMUSD Board. I caught up with the Candidate for Ted Lieu's vacant State Senate Seat today. He has gathered some major endorsements, raised over $250,000, and appears to be the leading candidate for the seat that stretches South from Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach. I asked him the following questions. Why are you running for State Senate? I've been...
