Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 3178
Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits Supreme Court allows politicians to block constituents from personal accounts The Supreme Court ruled in favor of local government officials in a First Amendment fight on Friday, finding that politicians can block members of the public from their social media pages without violating the First Amendment. In a unanimous opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, set guidelines for when public officials' accounts could be viewed as state act...
March 21, 2024 - The Amcha Initiative, a nonprofit organization that combats antisemitism at institutes of higher education, warns Jewish students that the public University of California campuses "are not safe" for them. Amcha Initiative is not a pro-Israel advocacy group and does not take a position on anything that does not rise to the level of antisemitism as defined by IHRA and U.S. government criteria. A recent report by Amcha Initiative has discovered a whopping 1100...
Specialty cake and pastry store Sweet Lady Jane is alive and doing well on Montana Avenue. The stores are now owned by a couple, Matthew and Julie, explained the counter gal we spoke to. Previously they had been owned by a couple in their 70's, who decided to close the chain abruptly ten weeks ago. "We're doing really well," she said. "It's very busy here at the Montana Avenue location. We are making a lot of sales." She added that they are using the same recipes to make...
Sam Bankman-Fried has just been sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding investors and customers. He ran FTX, a brokerage which also sponsored it's own proprietary crypto currency. The 27 year old was convicted of fraud for using depositor funds to back the currency. Alameda Research, ran by his girlfriend Caroline Ellison, developed the crypto currency. SBF was convicted on seven counts. Prosecutors had asked 50 years. His defense attorneys suggested 5 or 6. SBF's...
According to a post on Reddit, UCLA Medical school, once one of the nation's top medical schools, is now lowering it's admissions standards, then requiring students to attend weekly mandatory race discussions based on the race of the student. The poster writes as follows: "Apparently, UCLA Medical School (school was named in the comments by other posters) requires students to have a mandatory meeting once a week, where they are seperated by race ("white folks"/"black...
Ukrainian missiles destroyed two Ropucha class landing ships anchored at Sevastapol Saturday night. The attack coincided with an attack on the communications center of the black sea fleet. The 350 foot long ships were among the largest remaining ships in Russia's diminished Black Sea Fleet. Russia shut down the Kerch bridge into Crimea, another sign that Russian control over the Azov is slipping. An invasion of Odesa seems less likely. This from Andrea Gorashenko on Twitter:...
In a press release, the operator of Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, has announced that they have sold the park to an investment firm called SC Holdings. The firms website is at www.sc.holdings. The two managing partners are identified as Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic. It is unclear what the new operators intend to do with Pacific Park. The Pier of course is owned by a public corporation controlled by the City of Santa Monica. The Pier itself was not sold. The press...
Kate Middleton announces she has cancer and is undergoing the early stages of chemotherapy. She made the announcement on Twitter and also other social media. "It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family. But I am grateful for my medical team." She said that her abdominal surgery in January was successful. However tumors were discovered, forcing her to undergo chemotherapy. "As you can imagine this has taken time. This has taken time for me to...
March 12, 2024 - Based on my research on the LA County Registrar's website, and discussions with LA County Election monitors and officials - - 1) Approximately seventy (70%) percent of ALL votes were counted AFTER the March 5th election date. 2) Ten Thousand (10,000) persons registered to vote ON Election Day. 3) Eighty (80%) of ballot votes were received and counted AFTER March 5th (Election Day). 4) One-third (1/3rd) of all ballot votes were RECEIVED BY MAIL. 5) As of 8 pm...
March 15, 2024 - With the majority of votes in Los Angeles County already processed, the race for Los Angeles County District Attorney appears to have narrowed to George Gascon, the incumbent, and Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, and private defense attorney. In looking at the distribution of votes among the twelve candidates for the office, it is apparent that, should the proportion of voters remain the same in the general election...
March 11, 2024 - Pepperdine University President Jim Gash announced the University's decision to establish a College of Health Science. The Board of Regents approved the proposal in a February meeting and gave their overwhelming support to proceed with further exploration of its foundational and future programs. "Establishing a College of Health Science is among the most ambitious initiatives ever undertaken by the University," said University President Jim Gash. "We see the...
Space X has successfully launched the Starship Heavy rocket on a suborbital flight, which will one day take colonists to Mars in Elon Musk's vision. They held it to the 8:25 Central Time launch time. Third Stage separation was acheived a few minutes later, followed by a de-orbit burn. Less than an hour later, Starship landed in a field of Plasma. The third test flight of Starship Heavy is historic, since the first two blew up shortly after launch. If they get it off the ground...
A Brentwood resident has appealed for help to find the driver who killed her dog on a leash. Last Saturday, the driver went through the intersection of Gretna Green and Montana Avenue, hitting the dog on a leash and killing him instntly. He, the driver, stopped, got out and said he would move his car and return. But he instead drove on. In a post on Neighbors, a social media site, the unidentified resident wrote: "trying to find any witnesses to this accident on Saturday,...
SM Budget Tops $750,000,000 Santa Monica lawmakers grappled with a three quarters of a billion dollar annual budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. "On June 27, 2023, the City Council unanimously adopted a balanced biennial budget for FY 2023–25 focused on community priorities of a safe and clean Santa Monica, addressing homelessness, and an equitable and inclusive economic recovery," says the City's website. "Adoption of the Biennial Budget comes as Santa Monica emerges from the...
March 8, 2024 - The Sweet Lady Jane bakery branches, all of which closed to near-universal sorrow in January, has been bought by a new owner and has reopened in Beverly Hills. However, the branch on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica closed down again. According to a sign posted on the door, the new owners, "Julie and Matt," ran into a permitting glitch with the City of Santa Monica. The previous owner reportedly failed to acquire necessary permits for some remodeling work. A...
Sudden storms brought Thunder, lightning and even hail to the Westside on Wednesday and Thursday. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a severe thunderstorm warning and also a flash flood alert for Western Los Angeles County. This at 4:33 pm PST on March 6, 2024. The alert reads as follows: "Flash Flood Warning in effect for Western Los Angeles County until 10:00PM. Dangerous street flooding is possible. Avoid non-essential travel. DO NOT walk, swim or drive your vehicle...
Editor's Note: The following is an email sent to the SMMUSD community on 3/5/24: Dear SMMUSD Families, I am writing with an urgent request and I hope you will read this entire message. We rely on the Santa Monica Education Foundation to help supplement and enhance the curriculum of all students in our Santa Monica public schools. Since 1982, the Ed Foundation's mission has been to help ALL students succeed. The Ed Foundation recently finished its big fundraising campaign on...
Pacific Park's Ferris wheel will light up the night for "International Women's Day" with a stunning display of purple, green and white colors, patterns and transitions on Friday, March 8. "International Women's Day" is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. "International Women's Day" has occurred for well over a century, with the first observance in 1911, which was supported by over a million people. Today, the celebration...
The National has issued a flash flood alert for Western Los Angeles County. This at 5:53 pm PST on March 6, 2024. The alert reads as follows: "Flash Flood Warning in effect for Western Los Angeles County until 10:00PM. Dangerous street flooding is possible. Avoid non-essential travel. DO NOT walk, swim or drive your vehicle through flood waters." Over an inch of rain fell Wednesday....
The former owner of a Colorado funeral home has been arrested following allegations that he hoarded the remains of dozens of people and hid a body in a hearse for nearly two years, authorities confirmed Friday. Miles Harford, 33, was taken into custody late Thursday night, after Englewood police received a report of an intoxicated man in the 4800 block of South Fox Street, 9 News reported. An earlier warrant for Harford's arrest in Denver lists potential charges of abuse of a...
An old rusting sculpture on Venice Beach has a Notice of Pending Demolition Permit on it. The Notice was issued by the Cal. Coastal Commission, which wants to replace the artwork with other art. Some would probably prefer open space at the intersection of Windward and Ocean Front Walk in Venice. The applicant for the permit is "LA Louver," which is a closed corporation. So no one is sure who's actually behind the move or what would follow it. According to the California...
Firemen put out a car fire in the parking lot underneath the Marriott Hotel, an SMFD spokesman said Friday. Photo by Matthew Gonzalez "Santa Monica Fire and Police responded to reports of a vehicle fire in the underground parking structure of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. It's unknown how the fire started and it is currently under active investigation. There were no extension to any of the hotel rooms or any reported injuries. The hotel was evacuated as a precaution. " The...
City Councilmember Lana Negrete has announced that she has breast cancer. “I was diagnosed with cancer 14 days ago.... it's Estrogen positive HER2 Negative breast cancer in my right breast and in 2 of my lymph nodes in that breast,” she wrote. Negrete, one of 7 City Councilmembers, was appointed to the council in 2021 and elected to a 4 year term in 2022. She also runs a music store in Santa Monica, and is married with children. She is also Mayor Pro Tem. Her Facebook pos...
We have actually reacted to the emergency declaration a year ago with three new initiatives since I became Mayor. 1. Pathway home. 2. The community health (psychiatric) van, and 3. The Step Court. I am very proud of making real strides against the plague of homelessness in our city. Today was the most emotional day of my time on City Council, because we launched the Pathway Home. Here's our press release about the program: Los Angeles County's Pathway Home program brought 25...
10: An Exposition line train collided with a private automobile near the intersection of 7th Street and Colorado Blvd on Saturday. The train operator was slightly injured slightly. The SMPD issued the following press release on Twitter: Santa Monica Police and Fire and Metro Rail Supervisors responded to a train vs vehicle collision scene at the intersection of 7th and Colorado. The Expo Train bound for East Los Angeles struck the vehicle as it was headed Eastbound on the...