Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 376 - 400 of 3094
8/20: The rain began to fall in my Westside neighborhood at 9:15 or so Sunday morning. It looked and felt a lot like, well, rain. Los Angeles County does get 14 inches of rain a year, most of it in the winter and not in August. I did see a video of floods in Mexico where the Category One storm came to shore. The tropical storm is expected to lose power and wind speed as it moves further north into Southern California. But on Twitter (now X), people pilloried Hilary and those who exaggerated her...
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's Scientific Services Bureau (Crime Lab) has detected xylazine in limited quantities of illicit drugs seized by local law enforcement in Los Angeles County, signaling that the substance is present in the local drug supply. Xylazine is a veterinary anesthetic that is not FDA approved for human consumption; it can cause dangerously low blood pressure, a decrease in breathing rate and heart rate, and damage to tissue which can lead to skin wounds, large...
It is one story of thousands. But one family caught in a white van in downtown Lahaina while the town was destroyed in the fire of 8.9.23, left a tale of fear and eventual redemption, via text messages. "My brother's girlfriend's cousin and his family were caught in their vehicle in Maui while the wildfires suddenly erupted around them. No cell service, so Apple Emergency SOS was the only way they could get in contact with first responders. Literally saved their lives." Tweeted @Michael...
Police have arrested a suspect for the attemp[ted murder of a homeless man. A librarian found the victim Wednesday night outside the public library in Ocean Park, as he closed the library. That Andrew Carnegie library is over 100 years old, and features a children's reading room. Due to Prop 47 and other progressive ideas that promote drug addiction and homelessness, it seems incongruous to have a reading room or a library at all in Santa Monica. But anyway, here's the press release from the...
A Federal judge has revoked the bail of former FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman Fried, alleging that the former billionaire had engaged in witness tampering. In judge parlance, that typically means contacting former friends and asking them not to testify against the Defendant. CNBC reports that SBF made over 1000 phone calls and sent over 100 emails to members of the press. In particular, the Judge was concerned that SBF hoped to intimidate his ex girlfriend, Ellison, from testifying against...
Update: Stockton mayor denies that the 7-eleven clerks in the now famous video, are or ever were under criminal investigation. 8.9.23 Stockton, CA police say that they are now investigating the Sikh 7-Eleven workers for assault on a shoplifter. The shoplifter, who emptied cigarettes, aspirin and other inventory into a trash can to wheel them off, happens to be African American. So they are being investigated for assault and for violating his civil rights. The employees were seen in the viral...
Update, 8.11.23: State authorities say the death toll has risen to 59. Emergency workers and volunteers from Maui and other parts of the State search the burned out town. The governor and sheriff pledged to rebuild Lahaina, which is 80% destroyed. The fires on Maui were said to be 80% contained by Thursday night. Hotels and shelters were lined up for several months of housing. Power and water were still out in West Maui. Update, 8.10: At least 36 deaths were connected to the fires, local...
No one in an official capacity will admit it, and it's too horrible to contemplate. But it's also a question of simple mathematics. Only 89 people have been confirmed dead in the August 9th fire that destroyed Maui's old town of Lahaina. But up to 1500 people are reported to be missing. The New York Times posted Saturday that only 3% of the wreckage had been searched. 89 bodies have been found. 89 times 33 equals 2937. Disturbingly, cell phones failed minutes before the disastrous wildfire...
The man accused of stabbing to death another man outside a Santa Monica beach public restroom has a long history of arrests beginning about two years ago. Juan Evarastico Bahena, 48, identified by the Santa Monica Police Department as homeless, is accused of stabbing and killing a 27-year-old male in the breezeway next to the men's restrooms shortly after 2 pm on Monday in the 2000 block of the beach. According the the SMPD presse release, "Witnesses told officers that they heard an argument...
A pre-dawn fire scorched the sculpture at the entrance to the California Incline, connecting Santa Monica to the Pacific Coast Highway. The blaze, which may have been intentionally set, occurred at the sculpture Beacon Overlook (2000)] by Jody Pinto, near California Incline. This is at the terminus of California Avenue, as it descends to PCH. While the cause of the fire was not immediately known, dozens of homeless people reside in Palisades Park and on the cliffs that descend to PCH. They...
July 27, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on the verge of filing a highly-anticipated antitrust lawsuit against Amazon (AMZN), aiming to potentially break up certain aspects of the e-commerce behemoth, according to a Politico report. The lawsuit, expected to be filed in federal court as early as August, has been a long time coming, with FTC Chair Lina Khan and her team scrutinizing various aspects of Amazon's business practices. Khan has been a vocal critic o...
A dead man was found in a 55 gallon barrel on Malibu beach Monday afternoon. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies were seen looking into the black barrel on Monday afternoon. Authorities did not immediately identify the victim, who appeared to be an African ancestry male. They did not say how the man died or whether his death appeared to be foul play. It's hard to imagine, however, a non criminal manner in which the man's body could have found its way into the barrel. "No information about the...
19: Work crews from the Dept. of Transportation and the City of Santa Monica have prevented a partial collapse of mud and dirt unto Pacific Coast Highway. On Tuesday, they removed part of a natural formation that seemed in danger of falling. Traffic on PCH was interrupted for 3 hours while the crews worked, in order to prevent damage or injury to traffic on the highway. There are occasional mudslides from Palisades Park. This year has seen about 42 inches of rain in LA County, three times...
July 25, 2023 - The Santa Monica Police Department has confirmed the details of an email circulating regarding a 66-year-old man getting beaten by a group of six people on scooters in Palisades Park. According to Myesha Morrison of the SMPD, officers were called to the 800 block of Palisades Park on Friday night around 9:20 pm. A large group of people on scooters drove by a 66-year-old man who was approaching his vehicle. When one of the scooters rode over the man's foot, he reportedly pushed...
#FoundInsideArea51 is trending on Twitter 7/25, Tuesday evening. Poeple are posting a lot of strange photos, mostly of Democrat politicians. "The identity of the J6 unexploded bomb placer. The name of the SCOTUS leaker. Anthony Weiner's laptop. Hunter Biden's abandoned damaged laptop and the external hard drive with the recovered information on it." #FoundInsideArea51 Zombies. That is where the Zombie Apocalypse Testing Facility is located." tweeted Dan Ashley "An Extra Terrestrial only Fans...
The Biden administration says that it has secured voluntary commitments to "manage the risks" posed by AI. The companies named in the press release include Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI. "Today, these seven leading AI companies are committing to: Ensuring Products are Safe Before Introducing Them to the Public." People like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey have said that artificial intelligence poses an existential risk to mankind. Frequently the Terminator films...
In a very flowery email written by Jerry Yang, Chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees, the University accused Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne of misconduct in 12 research papers apparently written years ago. The email also announced Appointment of Richard Saller as Interim President. Stanford (which is my alma mater), has been involved in a number of scandals in recent years. Crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried grew up as a faculty brat there. Recently sentenced to 7 years,...
In a closed session last Tuesday and this coming Tuesday, the Santa Monica City Council will discuss two offers from developers who want to replace the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium with ten stories of luxury condominiums. The 3000 seat auditorium is part of Santa Monica history, but has been closed since 2003. The move is a desperate measure to right the City financially, by loping off a piece of its Civic Center. Santa Monica wasn't in great shape financially prior to the settlement over Eric...
There is a report on Twitter that the LAPD are searching for a missing girl South of the Santa Monica pier. "Critical missing child in Santa Monica. 13yo girl last seen walking SB from the Santa Monica Pier. Wearing a white top with blue jeans. Also wearing a blue bathing suit underneath." says the Tweet, from @downtownlascanner. The account monitors police scanners and is ordinarily reliable....
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was built in 1958 and holds about 3000 people. The City closed it permanently in 2002, stating that it was too small and acoustically challenged to serve as a concert venue any longer. One local resident says that in a closed session, the Santa Monica City Council could sell it off to developers in a desperate attempt to close a budget shortfall. Tricia Crane, Chair of the Northeast Neighbors Association, believes the potential sale is a violation of the...
Santa Monica City Councilman Phil Brock was apparently assaulted by a homeless man on the Third Street Promenade Sunday, 7/16 around 3 pm PST. "Phil and Cathy were walking on the Promenade," posted one source on social media, referring to Phil's partner, Cathy. "As they approached John Alle's building, a vagrant was tearing down a sign that said "Get the needles out of our parks and Promenade". It had a QR code for people to sign a petition circulated by The Santa Monica Coalition. (It was...
Wilshire Blvd is blocked in a Westbound direction, at 2321 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica. There are at least 3 Santa Monica Police vehicles present. It seems to involve a homeless resident, though it was uncertain how....
There are reports Sunday evening (Monday morning in Ukraine), that the Kerch bridge connecting Crimea so Southern Russia has once again been attacked by Ukrainian missiles. "One span of the #Kerch #Bridge collapsed, another one came off its support. Bridge support damaged," read one such report. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian deputy defense minister said that East of Kharkiv, the "situation is difficult," with positions changing hands several times in one day. The news comes amidst a Ukrainian summer...
7/5/23: Tenants of Victor's Cleaning and Tailoring, Santa Monica Rubber Stamp, Crisp Imaging, Tibetan Arts and Santa Monica Guitar this week received notice that they must be out by August 15th, 2023. The one hundred year old structure is about to be demolished and replaced by density. Four stories of pack and stack apartments will replace the 1920's era, one story building with parking in back. Downtown Santa Monica has pretty much turned over and into block apartments which rent for $5000 a...
A series of civil disturbances in France began on 27 June 2023 following the killing of Nahel Merzouk by a police officer. In Nanterre, residents started a protest outside the police headquarters on 27 June, which later escalated into rioting as demonstrators set cars alight, destroyed bus stops, and shot fireworks at police. In Viry-Châtillon, a town just south of Paris with residents who are frequently violent towards police, a group of Moslem youths set a bus ablaze. These facts are settled....
