Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Courts & Rulings Officers who arrested man for photography have immunity The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an order denying summary judgment to three Department of Veterans Affairs police officers who were sued by a man they arrested on two consecutive Sundays in June 2016 for taking photographs at the Great Lawn Gate entrance to the Los Angeles National Veterans Park, in alleged violation of a regulation, holding that they are entitled to qualified immunity. Metropolitan News...
SANTA MONICA, CA-The Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution at their meeting on Tuesday night, Oct. 6 that urges Congress to approve HR 763: Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. This legislation, if passed, would impose a fee on carbon emissions at their source, with costs passed on to the consumer and fees collected distributed to American households in the form of a dividend. HR 763 is projected to reduce the nation's carbon emissions by at least 40...
The Santa Monica Transparency Project has written an open letter accusing SM City Council member Gleam Davis of a conflict of interest regarding the proposed expansion of the Miramar Hotel, a project which has been in the works for about a decade. "Ms. Davis' husband John Prindle is a highly paid, long-term senior executive at Dell Technologies. See Ms. Davis' Schedule C, Form 700 filings from at least 2013. Indeed, he is Global Accounts Manager," says the letter. Michael Dell, the largest...
In June, the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) served the City with legal objections to proceeding with plans to privatize public land at 4th and Arizona for a massive commercial project until it had complied with a state law known as the Surplus Land Act. Under the Act, before negotiating and disposing of public land for commercial uses, the City must notify interested parties to see if the 25-acre parcel could be used as open space or for affordable housing. Months ago, the dev...
Citing budget constraints and Covid-19, Stanford University has announced that it will eliminate eleven sports for 2020. These include fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men's rowing, co-ed and women's sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men's volleyball, and wrestling for next year. Eleven sports in total will disappear. Nationally, experts have commented that swimming pools are unlikely to open this summer, given the potential for spread of coronavirus. " In consultation with the B...
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced its plans for Fall semester 2020. In light of ICE's plan to deport foreign college students who are only enrolled online, MIT will invite all foreign students. Also Seniors are allowed to live at MIT and take classes conventionally. US Immigration has announced that it would deport students who outstayed their Visa's, if they are only taking classes in the US online. The theory is that they could just as easily take online classes in their...
Close to 60,000 signatures have been gathered as of this writing asking for the recall of Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud. Most residents of the city are furious about the wide-scale looting that occurred during and after the "mostly peaceful" protest that paraded from Montana Avenue and down Ocean Avenue early in the afternoon. The City of Santa Monica has received 350 damage reports with 150 retail businesses claiming significant damage from the unrest on Sunday, May 31. At a town...
With people protesting worldwide against police violence, the most liberal city in the United States will likely be experiencing major changes over the coming months. What specific direction the movement will take is unclear, but what is clear is that Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud will not be around for the final destination. Her days at the top of local law enforcement are numbered whether it be by her choice or the city manager's. The Observer has no special knowledge about an...
It's 2020, and all sorts of arts and educational programs are looking for ways to continue teaching, in a time of social distancing. Santa Monica's Westside Ballet has some brave and innovative continuation plans, in the face of Covid19. "We were to have a benefit performance honoring Patricia Neary 5/15, and then 5/16, our Spring Performance, two show times, at The Broad Stage," explains Jewels Solheim-Roe, press coordinator for WB. "Up until last week, Westside Ballet was still hoping for a de...
Earlier this year back in a time when we were able to touch each other, then-City Attorney (now city manager) Lane Dilg put a halt to The Plaza at Santa Monica, a mixed-use development proposed for a City-owned property at the corner of Arizona Avenue and Fourth Street that will positively transform the Downtown. Dilg said in February that the project, favored by people wanting to see a city progress for the better and opposed by those who reject change, possibly violated a recently expanded...
Dear City Manager and City Council, While reading Pro Developer Group Santa Monica Forward's letter about our city's finances, we're reminded of Naomi Klein's seminal work, The Shock Doctrine. In it, Ms. Klein posits that crises are often used as tools by those with power to push through agendas they had long sought but were unable to achieve through democratic means. A crisis provides the disruption and turmoil powerful interests need to accomplish long sought but unpopular goals. Santa Monica...
Starbucks coffee company has begun to close locations on the pricey Westside. A sign in the window at the 15th and Montana Avenue location says the store will not reopen after Covid-19 ends. The letter says that the store will be closing permanently. It refers patrons to the locations on 11th and Wilshire, 26th and San Vicente, and 7th and Montana Avenue. It is signed by Michael Haddad, District Manager. Some experts expect the lockdown to continue on and off throughout 2020. The lockdowns are...
Coronavirus has led to numerous conspiracy theories. Below is a summary of Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai's sweeping conspiratorial claims contained in a Youtube video, left. At bottom is Wikipedia's critique of Shiva Ayyaddurai. On the video, Ayyaddurai says: "There's this bogeyman called the virus. And you need the vaccine to save you. Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton and the Clinton foundation will bring it to you. "The truth is, your own immune system could save you. There is this third cylinder of the...
Madrid (dpa) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos has announced that he will be withdrawing from public life this coming Sunday, five years after his retirement. In a letter to his son, King Felipe VI, that was published by the Spanish royal family on Monday, the 81-year-old former monarch says that from June 2 he will no longer be available for representative duties. "I think the time has come to open a new page in my life and withdraw completely from public life," the former king wrote, adding...
General Motors announced last July that it intended to close 4 plants in North America, including the Lordstown Ohio facility employing, at one time, 14,500 UAW workers. Only about one third that number work there now, with the plant cut to just one shift. American drivers have turned away from sedans like the Cruze, preferring SUVs, trucks and cross overs. The number of cars sold in America fell from 12 million to just 4 million units, while simultaneously the number of SUVs and trucks sold in...
In a Superior Court lawsuit filed by the Pico Neighborhood Association against the City of Santa Monica, Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelas has issued a Tentative ruling against the City. She is inclined to find that the City is in violation of the California Voter Rights Act, and the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution, in having Citywide representation rather than City Council districts. She ordered further briefing, and set another hearing for late November. In an...
California's Pacific waters could be in peril if Trump's proposal to open up sensitive coastlines becomes a reality. Oceana's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Sharpless, said, "Offshore drilling and oil spills threaten entire ecosystems." At last Saturday's "Offshore Oil Drilling's Threat to Our Coast," forum, presented by Malibu Township council, the panelists discussed the environmental and economic impact Trump's Adminstration's drilling plan could have on Southern California's golden...
A few weeks ago Edible Skinny was lucky enough to tour the wine wonders of Paso Robles. Now we've done California vino before with jaunts to Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, and Temecula, but this was our first delving into the world of Paso. It was an uncharted wine getaway, the perfect excuse for Kat and Kelly to hop in the car and discover all that this growing wine region has to offer. Paso Robles is located approximately halfway between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is a...
A week ago Edible Skinny was lucky enough to check out Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken while in hubbub of DTLA and they are Super (with a capital letter S) Fab (with a capital letter F)! Now Stop! I know that every Angeleno rolls their eyes at the idea of another sweet shop in LA; I mean, once Sprinkles premiered its Cupcake ATM we thought everything had been done... But Astro does some Darn Fine missing hole sweetmeats! And the originally from DC Astro, which opened its LA outpost in April...
Activists believe Playa del Rey gas storage facility could be the next to have a massive methane leak, following Aliso Canyon. Environmental group, Food and Water Watch, in a promotional flyer, warns to "stop the next methane blow out." Owned and operated by SoCalGas Company, The Playa gas storage field has 54 active gas wells. It's older than Aliso Canyon, and was built in 1942 by reconstructing old oil wells that were mostly empty. At a meeting in Marina del Rey last April, Alexandra Nagy,...
The Beach Boys have personally overseen the creative process for a new 2CD and digital collection, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, to be released worldwide on June 30. 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow features producers Mark Linett and Alan Boyd's new, first-ever stereo mix of The Beach Boys' 1967 Wild Honey album and throws open the legendary band's vault to debut 54 sought-after 1967 rarities, 50 years after they were put to tape. Previously unreleased highlights on the new collection include The Beach Boy...
To ensure a robust environmental analysis, a transparent process, and a project that results in the greatest number of benefits and the least number of harms to Santa Monica's residents and businesses, it is critical that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) include a reasonable range of alternatives. Well established case law and CEQA regulations clearly spell this out. An EIR must analyze a "reasonable range of alternatives to the project," with an emphasis on alternatives which "offer...
This shocking press release just in from Constance Farrell, the City of Santa Monica's Information Minister. We give Santa Monica City Hall an A+ in Political Correctness. Please don't read it while driving, operating heavy machinery, or taking off from Santa Monica Airport: Santa Monica City Council Adopts Resolution Embracing Diversity and Clarifying the City's Role in Enforcing Federal Immigration Law SANTA MONICA, CA – At its meeting on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, the Santa Monica City C...
More than 70 Catholic and Evangelical leaders, backed by nearly 500 pro-life Christians from across the country, have written an open letter to President-elect Trump asking him to withdraw the nomination of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and name someone with a better record of protecting human life from pollution. The full letter is below, along with the names of the 70 faith leaders (to add your name, go to http://www.creationcare.org/). Dear President-Elect...
Editor's Note: This is a mass e mail thread circulating among airport opponents and Rick Cole. In most cases, e mail address have been redacted. Since public figures like the City Manager Rick Cole are commenting, we feel it has significant public interest. With respect, Marty, the City of Santa Monica was pursuing two Federal lawsuits, two State eviction actions and was the subject of five Part 16 FAA proceedings including a Notice of Investigation and a Cease and Desist Order. Is that your...