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  • Observer Picks Top 12 Santa Monica News Stories of 2016

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017
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    Most of this years top stories had something to do with the extraordinary increase in the price of Westside real estate. 1. Measure LV defeated: It was a true grassroots effort, that started with people who were Fed Up Waiting in Traffic and Not Going to Take It Anymore. They felt sold out by the feckless folks on Santa Monica's City Council and their minions (mostly they're called Staff). They took matters into their own hands, faced the opposition of rich men like NMS's Neil Shekhter and the...

  • SMPD: Photo of Woman Who Stabbed 7-11 Employee on 16th Street, Released

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017

    A store employee was stabbed Tuesday morning at the 7-11 convenience store, located on 16th Street and Santa Monica Blvd. The store was taped off with yellow police at work tape. This from the Santa Monica Police Department: "On January 3, 2016 at 6:03 am , Santa Monica PD received a radio call for service of an assault with a deadly weapon at the 7-11 at 1600 Santa Monica Blvd. Officers determined the incident involved a knife. The suspect entered the store and attempted to steal items. The...

  • UFO Crash Lands in Santa Monica Alley, After Being Sighted Over Devon, UK

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017

    A crashed UFO was found in a Santa Monica alley on New Years day, 2017. The object was lying near trash cans, it's alien occupant having fled the wreckage. But not before munching on discarded Christmas trees that lay nearby. The UFO may have been a casualty of New Years Eve gunfire over Texas. It may have simply been a 20 year old NASA launch whose orbit decayed. Or perhaps something more exotic. Two men claim to have seen a flaming UFO overhead in Devon, UK on December 28, 2016. Mark Emmons...

  • Pacific Bluefin Tuna Fetches $632,000 at Auction in Japanese Fish Market

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017

    A Japanese sushi chain owner bid a winning 74.2 million yen ($632,000) for a 212 kilogram (466 pound) bluefin tuna in the final auction at the current site of Tokyo's Tsukiji market, since the market is supposed to move. The Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) is a predatory species of tuna found widely in the northern Pacific Ocean, but it is migratory and also recorded as a visitor to the south Pacific. In the past it was often included in T. thynnus, the 'combined' species then known as...

  • Greta Van Susteren Moves from FOX to MSNBC--She's Playing For the Other Team!

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017

    Megyn Kelly is not the only Fox Anchor switching networks. Kelly starts at NBC next week. In September, Van Susteren left Fox in a Huff, possibly over the Bob Ailes sexual harassment scandal. Rather improbably, starting at 6 PM on Monday, Greta Van Susteren will be doing a show at MSNBC called for the Record. Will her fans feel like she's crossing into enemy lines? Asked MSNBC anchor, Rachel Maddow. "I just think they should give me a chance. I'm interested in the facts, and people don't always...

  • 15 Year Old Girl Rescued from Pimp, Sentenced to 12 Years in State Prison

    Observer Staff|Jan 9, 2017

    On January 4, 2017, Defendant Marcus Deshon Slaughter, MB/29, of Compton, pled guilty in Compton Superior Court to one count of felony pimping and sentenced to serve twelve years in state prison. The case began on April 22, 2016, when Century Station Deputies responded to a call for service regarding a fight at a local motel on Long Beach Boulevard, Lynwood. At the motel, Deputies met an 18 year old female who said she had been working for a pimp, Defendant Slaughter, as a commercial sex...

  • Mariah Carey Blames Lip Syncing Debacle on Dick Clark Productions' Sound Guys

    Observer Staff|Jan 5, 2017

    It was a cold, cold New Year's Eve in Times Square last night. Mariah Carey will probably be forgiven for lip-synced her way through her hits onstage. Finally, she threw in the towel, reports the New York Daily News. "It just don't get any better," she hissed before leaving the stage. The pop icon brushed off the flub with a follow-up tweet later that evening."S--t happens," Carey said early Sunday. "Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here's to making more headlines in 2017." People...

  • SMPD Combats Bike Accidents by Giving Out Tickets in Accident Prone Areas

    Observer Staff|Jan 5, 2017

    The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting Bike and Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operations with focused enforcement efforts on primary collision factors involving motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, writes SMPD Lt. Saul Rodriguez. "The Police Department periodically identifies locations where bike and pedestrian collisions are prevalent, along with the violations that led to those collisions. In an effort to lower deaths and injuries, officers will be on duty patrolling areas...

  • Wreckage of helicopter and bodies of two men found in the sea off San Pedro

    Observer Staff|Jan 5, 2017

    1/5/17: Two bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed off the coast of San Pedro, according to officials. The bodies were presumed to be that of photographer Michael Justice and pilot Christopher Reed, authorities said during a Thursday afternoon press conference. 1/4/2017: The US Coast Guard and others are responding to reports of a helicopter down in the ocean off San Pedro. So far no wreckage or victims have been spotted in the water. Angels Gate has been closed in bot...

  • Santa Monica Police Target Drunk Driving Over the Holidays With a New App.

    Observer Staff|Jan 3, 2017
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    Even a Senior at SamoHi knows, you can't drink and drive. Well especially said Senior, since they pretty much all drink. But the Police Dept. nevertheless released their annual warning to drivers. Here it is: This holiday season, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) will be out looking for drunk and drugged drivers as part of a special year-end Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement mobilization. "Beginning December 16 and continuing into the New Year, you will see stepped up...

  • Twitter Account of Sony Music Hacked, Falsely Tweets Brittany Spears Died

    Observer Staff|Jan 1, 2017

    3/25, 1 pm EST: The Twitter account of Sony Music falsely tweeted Monday that Britney Spears had died, featuring separate postings that read: "RIP @britneyspears #RIPBritney 1981-2016," and "Britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney." Similarly the twitter account of Bob Dylan tweeted "Rest in Peace, Brittany Spears," so it appears Dylan was hacked as well. A representative for the 35-year-old pop star told CNN the death claim was erroneous. Both tweets were...

  • Debbie Reynolds Dies One Day After Her Daughter, Carrie Fisher

    Observer Staff|Jan 1, 2017

    On December 28, 2016, one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, Reynolds was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, in fair-to-serious condition after suffering a stroke at her son's home. Later that afternoon, she died in the hospital. Her son Todd Fisher tweeted that her last words were that she wanted to be "with Carrie." Reynolds, 84, complained of breathing problems, an unidentified source told the Los Angeles Times. The Times notes that, unlike Fisher, Reyno...

  • Fans Sense a Great Disturbance In The Force, as Carrie Fisher Dies

    Observer Staff|Jan 1, 2017

    Carrie Fisher has died at UCLA Hospital's Ronald Reagan Medical Center, at 8:55 am PST Tuesday. She was 60 years old. Fans, who remembered her mostly for her role as Princess Leia, shared their feelings on Social Media following Christmas. It was as if Darth Vaader had prevailed in "A New Hope." "A million voice's are crying out tonight... Carrie Fisher was very intelligent, funny,forthright and a film icon she will be sadly missed," said Bryan Dow. "Now a million voices cry out in mourning....

  • Spy vs. Spy: Obama Expels 35 Russian Officials, In Response to DNC Hack

    Observer Staff|Jan 1, 2017

    The announcement culminates months of vigorous internal debate over whether and how to respond to Russia's unprecedented election-year provocations, ranging from the hacks of the Democratic National Committee to the targeting of state electoral systems. Donald Trump will be in power in 3 weeks, and his softer view on Putin's Russia, indicates that he will undo the order. The Obama administration announced new measures on Thursday in retaliation for what U.S. officials have called "Russian...

  • UFO Crashes Into Arctic Sea; Causes Mysterious Arctic Pinging, Siberian Snow Eggs

    Observer Staff|Dec 29, 2016
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    The villagers of Igloolik, Nunavut were asleep when a streak quickly crossed the sky and struck the ice with a bang. 200 villagers came out their doors, but there was nothing to see except black water steaming and bubbling through a round, 10 meter hole in the ice. It was a night late in November 2010 and no one wanted to linger long outside in the middle of a dark night. The truth of what had happened was almost unimaginable. A UFO crashed through the Arctic ice 6 years ago, and has been...

  • JetSuiteX to Offer Passenger Flights from Santa Monica Airport to Vegas, San Jose, San Diego

    Observer Staff|Dec 29, 2016
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    JetSuiteX, a charter airline began selling seats today for flights to and from Santa Monica Airport. Flights will start on February 6, 2017. Santa Monica airport has long offered charter service for those who can pay $5000 to charter a flight to Vegas. These will apparently be commercial, passenger seats, not unlike a plane flight from LAX or Burbank. Seats will start at $29 for flights from Santa Monica to Carlsbad. Flights to San Jose will start at $79 while weekend flights to Vegas will...

  • Winter Into Spring: George Winston Plays At Pepperdine's Smother's Theater 1/24

    Observer Staff

    December 9, 2016 – Malibu, CA – Celebrated pianist George Winston brings his unique performance, featuring melodic folk, New Orleans R&B, and stride piano stylings, to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24. Tickets, starting at $22 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu. More information about George Winston: http://www.georgewinston.com/ Inspired by the seasons and...

  • If Trump Builds That Wall, He'll Keep Out More Than Illegals. Second Jaguar Prowls Arizona

    Observer Staff|Dec 27, 2016

    PHOENIX - Taking advantage of the lack of fencing on the US Arizona border, a second Jaguar from Mexico has been confirmed to have wandered into Southern Arizona. It was perhaps inevitable, that the most powerful cat in the Americas would conflict with the most powerful man in the Americas, who has vowed to build a wall across the United States' southern border. The Jaguar, which ranged through all of Southern California until 1860, was thought to have been extinct in the US by 1963. But in the...

  • Santa Monica Synagogue the Subject of an Anti-Semitic Attack on Christmas Morning

    Observer Staff|Dec 27, 2016

    3/25: The Chabad Lubavitch Synagogue on Wilshire Blvd was smeared with dog feces on Sunday morning, reports Breitbart news. The Rabbi cleaned it up as best he could and let in congregants for morning prayers. Sunday was the first full day of Hanukah, and a menorah in the window may have attracted attention. According to the LA Times, Congregants arriving for prayers on Sunday morning at the Living Torah Center, a synagogue affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad movement, were shocked by the...

  • LAPD Deputy Chief William Scott, 52, Appointed San Francisco Police Chief

    Observer Staff|Dec 25, 2016
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    A veteran LAPD deputy chief was appointed Tuesday to be the City of San Francisco's new police chief. His $278,00 a year annual salary will be about half of what Santa Monica pays its police chief, Jacqueline Seabrooks. No, seriously--Santa Monica pays her $478,000 a year. That's over twice as much. The City of San Francisco Police Dept. is ten times bigger than the SMPD. Think about it. William Scott, 52, most recently served as the head of Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau. The...

  • Carrie Fisher in Stable Condition at UCLA Medical Center, Following Heart Attack

    Observer Staff|Dec 23, 2016

    Update: Dec. 23, 5 PM: Carrie Fisher is in stable condition after suffering a major heart attack on a flight, the Associated Press reports, citing the actress' brother Todd Fisher. He told the AP that his sister was “out of emergency” and stabilized at a Los Angeles hospital, but declined to offer further details. "I ask everyone to pray for her," he said. Update: 2:46 PM PT -- We're told when the plane landed paramedics worked on Carrie for 15 minutes with CPR before they were able to get a p...

  • The Busiest Day of the Year for the Postman, Who Won't Even Ring Twice.

    Observer Staff|Dec 23, 2016

    My people have a word for people who wait in line to mail packages just before Christmas: Goyim. Monday was the busiest mailing day of the year for the United States Postal Service, reports the New York Times. Today, the USPO will handle 611 million cards, letters and packages. Sue Brennan, a spokeswoman for the post office, told the Times that Christmas did not exactly catch the organization by surprise. "We plan all year for this," she said. "This is something that we've done for 240 years,...

  • Mountain Lions are Cute, Furry and Hated: "They Should All Be Hanging On Someone's Wall."

    Observer Staff|Dec 21, 2016

    Santa Monica and the City of Los Angeles, are full of latte sipping city folk with great sympathy for mountain lions. But not everybody loves the big cats, which are also called cougars, pumas and catamounts in other parts of North America. They are accused of killing pets, and farm animals such as alpacas, goats, llamas and chickens. They are regarded as vermin to be exterminated by some. On various social media such as Facebook, California ranchers and others who live in the hills of Agoura...

  • Ankara Special Forces Policeman Assassinates Russian Ambassador to Turkey

    Observer Staff|Dec 21, 2016

    Gunfire broke out Monday at a photo exhibit where Russia's ambassador was one of the speakers, killing the diplomat and wounding others, Turkish media reported. The shooter was a 22 year old M.M.A. in Ankara's special forces unit. He shouted about Syria, Aleppo, Jihad as the ambassador lay dying. Andrey Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was killed in a shooting in Ankara on Monday, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry announced on Russian television. NTV described the injuries to...

  • Donald Trump crosses 270 electoral vote threshold and will be the next president

    Observer Staff|Dec 21, 2016

    Despite a Hollywood campaign urging republican electors to jump ship, Donald Trump cross the 270 electoral vote threshold this afternoon at 1:40 PM local time.Trump obtained the required 270 electoral votes to become president, it was announced today. The electoral balloting in Texas put Trump over the majority threshold, according to a tally by the Associated Press. A campaign by leftists and those in Hollywood, had urged electors to turn against the Republican party nominee. In the end,...

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