Rising Contamination at Santa Monica Beaches Despite Drought
August 30, 2016 -- Despite a drought so severe it is drying up the urban overflow into California’s ocean waters, Santa Monica beaches still face rising contamination, with government monitors logging 107 incidents of high bacteria levels last year, setting a five-year record.
Santa Monica Pier Installation Provides Glimpse of Sea Level Rise
August 31, 2016 -- Visitors to the Santa Monica Pier don't need to wait for decades to experience the impacts of a major flood triggered by rising sea levels.
Original Border Grill in Santa Monica to Close
August 31, 2016 -- The time has come to raise a glass (or maybe a tequila shot) and say “hasta luego” to the Border Grill on 4th Street in Santa Monica, the festive Mexican restaurant that helped put the city on the nation’s food map with popular TV cooking shows and helped transform downtown into a “foodie’s playground.”
Santa Monica City Manager Issues Progress Report
August 30, 2016 -- After his first year on the job, Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole reports “ongoing tension” as the government he runs tries to jump start some of the City Council’s “audacious” goals, but says progress is being made.
Santa Monica Lawmaker's Voting Bill Passes Legislature
August 30, 2016 -- A bill co-sponsored by a Santa Monica state senator to replace traditional neighborhood polling places with temporary “vote centers” that offer early voting and same-day registration passed the California legislature Monday.
Art that Makes a Mark at Santa Monica College Gallery
August 30, 2016 -- The work of artist John E. Miller, whose paintings use repeated marks to create optically hypnotic effects, is the subject of an exhibition at the Santa Monica College Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery.
Legislature Passes Santa Monica Assemblyman’s Orca Protection Act
August 29, 2016 -- Two years after Santa Monica Assemblyman Richard Bloom first proposed banning captive breeding and live shows featuring orcas, better known as killer whales, his legislation passed Friday in the Senate and awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s possible signature.
Santa Monica Council Updates Labor Peace Standards; Supports Gay Games
August 29, 2016 -- The City Council voted unanimously last week to update the so-called labor peace standards that are included in the lease agreements between the City and those renting space on the Santa Monica Pier and public portions of the Third Street Promenade.
New Friends of the Santa Monica Animal Shelter Seeks Board Members
August 29, 2016 -- A non-profit group recently formed to boost donations to the Santa Monica Animal Shelter is seeking volunteers to serve on its inaugural board, City officials announced last week.
Affordable
Santa Monica Hotels Oppose Proposed Assessment Rate
August 26, 2016 -- Lower-priced
hotels and motels are asking for some relief in the amount they must contribute
to the Santa Monica Tourism Marketing District (SMTMD), which was formed
in 2012 to enhance promotion of the beach city as a travel destination.
Rivals
Argue About Santa Monica College Bond Measure Needs
August 26, 2016 -- Supporters
of a proposed $345 million bond measure to pay for facilities improvements
at Santa Monica College (SMC) say the money is needed so the college "can
better meet the needs of our community."
Santa
Monica's New California Incline to Open Thursday
August 26, 2016 -- After 17 months
of construction, the historic California Incline is set to reopen on Thursday
with a re-dedication ceremony, City officials announced.
Santa
Monica Council Votes for 2018 Airport Closure
August 25, 2016 -- With crucial
City elections fast approaching, the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday
approved the closure of the besieged City airport no later than 2018,
if legally possible, and ordered a City takeover of such services as fuel
and aircraft storage by December 31, or as soon as feasible.
Santa
Monica Police to Start Wearing Body Cameras
August 25, 2016 -- Joining Los
Angeles police and a rising number of other law enforcement forces, the
Santa Monica Police Department announced Tuesday some officers and civilian
personnel will be outfitted with body worn cameras on the job next month.
Santa
Monica Conservancy Center Celebrates 1,000th Visitor
August
25, 2016 -- Santa Monica's historic "shotgun house"
reached a milestone last week when the 1,000th visitor walked through
the doors of the Santa Monica Conservancy's Preservation Resource
Center housed in the tiny 1890s structure.
Opponents
Call Santa Monica Tax Measure "Growth Stimulating Hormone,"
Supporters Disagree
August 24, 2016 -- The leaders
of the campaign against a half-cent Santa Monica sales tax measure are
focusing on the development angle to persuade people to join them in rejecting
the proposal.
Santa
Monica Police Search for Witnesses to Motorcycle Fatality
August 24, 2016 -- Santa Monica
police are still looking for witnesses to a motorcycle collision with
a vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway Friday that left one of the riders
dead and the other in critical condition.
Santa
Monica College Film Wins Prague Festival Award
August 24, 2016 --
A Santa Monica College student film about the trials and tribulations
of a black woman in the 1960s won Best Short Film at the 2016 Prague
Independent Film Festival (PIFF) last week.
Record
Crowds Jam Downtown Santa Monica this Summer
August 23, 2016 -- Between Santa
Monica's jammed Twilight Concert Series and the opening of Expo and the
Esplanade, downtown this summer has been the most packed in recent history,
with gridlock so extensive it has overwhelmed the City's traffic-calming
efforts at times, City Manager Rick Cole said.
Local
Ballot Measures Receive Names
August 23, 2016 -- Four of the
local measures that will appear on the Santa Monica ballot in November
have received their official names from the County.
Downtown
Santa Monica Becoming Urban Core of the Future
August 23, 2016 -- Santa Monica’s
downtown is transforming into the urban core of the future as its population
grows, stable high-tech jobs move in and the lifestyle there becomes about
eschewing cars for walking, or hopping a bus or Metro train, the head
of the group that manages downtown said.
Santa
Monica Ballot Set with 10 Council Candidates
August 22, 2016 -- Four incumbents
and six challengers will compete for four seats on the Santa Monica City
Council in the November election.
Artist
Zeal Harris Begins Residency at Santa Monica's Camera Obscura
August 22, 2016 --
Artist Zeal Harris -- whose work tackles "diffuclt realities"
in a colorful style -- began her stint as the Camera Obscura Art Lab's
new Studio Artist-in-Residence in Santa Monica this month, City officials
said.
Santa
Monica City Council Supports Move to Add Irish Sister City
August 22, 2016 -- Santa Monica
could soon have a new sister--Galway, Ireland.
Santa
Monica Assemblyman’s Digital Autopsy Bill Gets Signed Into Law
August 19, 2016 -- Governor Jerry
Brown signed into law on Wednesday a bill introduced by Santa Monica Assemblyman
Richard Bloom that allows autopsies to be performed through digital imaging
technology in certain cases.
Gay
Games Bid Could Earn Santa Monica Council’s Backing
August 19, 2016 -- The Gay Games
could be coming to the Los Angeles area in 2022, and possibly with the
support of the Santa Monica City Council.
Santa
Monica College Lecture Series Tackles Nanomaterials, Nutrition and Quakes
August 19, 2016 -- New dietary
guidelines, self-assembled nanomaterials and studying earthquakes from
space are amonng the topics discussed at Santa Monica College's Fall 2016
Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series, organizers announced this week.
Anti-Airport
Forces Pressuring Santa Monica City Council to Step-Up Evictions
August 18, 2016 -- After decades
of waging an odds-defying campaign to shut down Santa Monica’s century-old
airport, local community groups believe their chances of getting the upper
hand are, at long last, improving somewhat.
Brock
Drops from Santa Monica-Malibu School Board Race as Possible Field of
Four Forms
August 18, 2016 -- A field of
up to four candidates will compete in the November election for three
seats on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board. The deadline
to enter the race was Wednesday at 5 p.m.
City
Utility Boxes to be Re-Born as Public Art on Santa Monica Streets
August 18, 2016 -- The lowly
City utility box is being re-born as public art starting later this
month, enveloped in colorful “art wraps” painted to tell
tales of life in lovely, sunny Santa Monica.
Clinton
Leads Substantially in Santa Monica Fundraising
August 17, 2016 -- Whether Hillary
Clinton will become the nation’s next commander in chief is still
up in the air, but it appears she has clinched the title for presidential
fundraising in Santa Monica.
Pitched
Battle Over 1950s Ocean-Front Apartment Building in Santa Monica Ends
Quietly
August 17, 2016 -- A pitched battle
to stop demolition of a 1950s ocean-front apartment complex built for
a then booming middle-class in Santa Monica quietly ended last month,
clearing the path to the leasing soon of ultra-deluxe-apartments there
instead.
SMC
John Drescher Planetarium Starts Exploration of Autumn Night Skies with
New Schedule
August 17, 2016 -- Follow autumn
by watching the night skies as Santa Monica College’s John Drescher
Planetarium begins exploring the season next month, first peering up into
rings of Saturn and later winding along the mysterious canyon on the near
side of the Moon known as “Schroter’s Valley.”
FAA
Denies City Appeal in Fight to Close Santa Monica Airport
August 16, 2016 -- The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Monday denied a City appeal of the
agency's administrative ruling that ordered Santa Monica Airport to remain
open until 2023.
Theft
Tops Santa Monica Crime Reports for First Half of Year
August 16, 2016 -- Various
forms of theft accounted for more than one-third of the reported crimes
in Santa Monica in the first half of this year, according to the Santa
Monica Open Data Portal.
Santa
Monica Woodlawn Cemetery to Offer “Eco-Friendly” Burials
August 16, 2015 -- Santa Monica’s Woodlawn Cemetery will soon offer “eco-friendly” burial plots, joining a small but growing “green” movement in North America.
MRR
Decides Against Endorsing Full Slate for Santa Monica City Council
August 15, 2016 -- For the first time since 2008, the powerful political group Santa Monicans
for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) will not back a full slate of candidates
for the City Council.
Nomination Period Ends with Potential Field of 11 Candidates for Santa Monica Council
August 15, 2016 -- A field of as many as 11 candidates will compete in the November election for four seats on the Santa Monica City Council.
Santa
Monica's Virginia Avenue Park Flourishing After First Decade, Director
Says
August 15, 2016 --
Virginia
Avenue Park, 9.5 acres in Santa Monica’s poorest neighborhood, is
flourishing after a total redesign ushered in more activities for the
young and a construction of a campus-like hub that offers community services
to the Pico area, its director said Tuesday.
Rivals on Santa Monica Tax Measure Address Different Issues
August 12, 2016 -- Supporters of two related Santa Monica measures calling for a half-cent sales tax say it would bring much-needed funding for public education and the City's affordable housing program. Opponents say it would lead to increased development in an already crowded city.
Santa
Monica Council Authorizes Study of Ellis-Based Evictions
August 12, 2016 -- City Council members want to know why an increased number of Santa Monica
residents are being evicted via a State law that allows landlords to leave
the rental business and how the trend can be reversed.
Santa
Monica High School Gets New Principal
August 12, 2016 -- Six
weeks after Santa Monica High School's principal resigned, the Santa
Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board has appointed a replacement.
Former
Santa Monica Planning Commissioner Returns to Post After 26 Years
August 11, 2016 -- A
divided City Council on Tuesday appointed Santa Monica political veteran
Leslie Lambert to a four-year term on the Planning Commission.
Brock
Appointed to Santa Monica Arts Commission, "Evaluating" School
Board Bid
August 11, 2016 -- Santa
Monica slow-growth activist Phil Brock shocked many political observers
last month when he announced he would run for a school board seat rather
than make another City Council bid, but now he might do neither.
Sad
About Ending Summer in Santa Monica? Read This
August 11, 2016 -- So, you’re sad about the summer of 2016 drawing to an official close upon the arrival of Labor Day in September. Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. has a cure, albeit a very scary one.
Ocean
Park Trend of Turning “Eclectic” Homes into Condos Prompts
Call for Restrictions
August 10, 2016 -- Ocean
Park, one of Santa Monica’s oldest neighborhoods, is in danger of
losing its charm as new condominium units start replacing “eclectic”
single-family homes and duplexes, City planners are warning. Santa
Monica Embarks on Environmental Study of Airport Park Expansion
August 10, 2016 -- The City of Santa
Monica’s decades-old fight to close its airport is far from over,
but the City Council moved ahead Tuesday with a promise to triple the
size of Airport Park, including hiring environment consultants for the
project.
Pianist,
Composer Dana Reason to Perform at Santa Monica Library
August 10, 2016 -- Pianist and composer Dana Reason, a student of legendary avant-garde composers Pauline Oliveros and Alvin Curran, will perform in Santa Monica next Wednesday.
Malibu
Group Negotiating Split from Santa Monica Public Schools Short on Cash
August 9, 2016 -- The
Malibu group negotiating a split from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
School District (SMMUSD) is short on cash and asking the community --
one of California’s richest -- to donate as soon as possible.
Second
Santa Monica Downtown Plan Meeting Tackles Preservation and Change
August 9, 2016 -- The
City of Santa Monica’s second attempt to reconcile with opponents
of the proposed Downtown Community Plan gets underway Saturday with a
workshop that focuses on preservation and change.
Santa
Monica Preservationists Look to Downtown Plan to Protect Historic
Buildings
August 9, 2016 -- From the Promenade’s Criterion Theatre and Apartments built in 1924 to a sprawling 1950s office complex on Arizona Avenue, Downtown sites offer a glimpse of Santa Monica through the decades.
Death
Penalty Repeal, Plastic Bag Ban Attract Santa Monica Donors
August
8, 2016 --
Of the campaigns for the 17 statewide measures that will appear on the
November ballot, the proposal to repeal the death penalty and another
to uphold California’s plastic bag ban have attracted the most Santa
Monica donors, according to financial disclosure statements that cover
through Friday.
One
Less Tax Proposal on Santa Monica Ballot
August 8, 2016 -- Santa
Monica voters will be deciding on a large number of local and regional
tax proposals this November, but at least one that was supposed to appear
on the ballot will not.
Santa
Monica College Programs Prepare Students for Growing Logistics Field
August 8, 2016 -- With the nation's two largest ports just 30 miles away, Santa Monica College (SMC) is helping to supply the rapidly growing logistics industry with qualified workers, College officials said.
Santa
Monica Challengers Get Head Start on Fundraising for Education Boards
August 5, 2016 -- School
Board challenger Jon Kean and College Board challenger Sion Roy are the
only candidates in the two board races to receive donations in the first
half of the year, according to disclosure statements submitted this week.
Council
Should Study Why Housing Units Leave Santa Monica Rental Market, Staff
Says
August 5, 2016 -- With
the number of housing units being removed from the rental market in Santa
Monica via the Ellis Act on the rise, City staff says a study should be
conducted on what factors are leading to this trend.
Santa
Monica Exhibit Explores the "Language of Landscape"
August 5, 2016 -- A new exhibit at Santa Monica's Annenberg Community Beach House explores how our minds shape the landscapes we call reality.
Santa
Monica Considers “New Generation” of Bus Engines
August 4, 2016 -- Santa
Monica City buses, already fueled by renewable natural gas, are likely
to start running soon with many engines that produce near-zero Nitrogen
Oxide (NOx) emissions, City officials said. New
Study Ranks Santa Monica Among Least Affordable for First-Time Home Buyers
August 4, 2016 -- With
the peak home-buying season starting to wane, a new study reveals what
many newcomers to the Santa Monica real estate market are realizing: This
slice of paradise is no place for first timers with cost in mind.
California
Incline to Open in Time for Labor Day
August 4, 2016 -- Closed since April 2015, Santa Monica's California Incline, which has been newly rebuilt, is scheduled to reopen on Friday, September 2 in time for the Labor Day holiday weekend, City officials announced last week.
$135K
Raised to Fight Santa Monica’s LUVE Initiative
August 3, 2016 -- Two
separate campaign committees raised a combined $135,000 in the effort
to defeat the LUVE initiative, which seeks to curb development in Santa
Monica by placing a significant number of projects and other planning
decisions on the ballot.
Davis Leads in Santa Monica Council Campaign Fundraising
August 3, 2016 -- Incumbent Gleam Davis holds an early lead in fundraising for the four-seat City Council race, according to mid-year campaign finance disclosure statements submitted this week.
Appeal of Santa Monica Post Office Conversion Heads to City Council
August 3, 2016 -- Several months after an unusual meeting in which the Planning Commission approved a project to convert the historic Downtown Santa Monica post office into a private business office, the City Council will hear the issue Tuesday on appeal.
SMRR “Non-Support” on Slow-Growth Ballot Measure Prompts Anger Among Backers
August 2, 2016 -- Denny Zane, who co-chairs Santa Monica's most politically influential organization, says the episode boiled down to an attempt at compromise over a fractious slow-growth measure on the November ballot.
Survey
Finds Most Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Passengers Satisfied with Service
August 2, 2016 -- A
new survey of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus passengers found that most are
from outside the city, more than half of them commuters, and that nearly
all are satisfied with the service.
ormer
Santa Monica Museum Hires New Curator
August 2, 2016 -- The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA) took another major step in shedding its ties to Santa Monica by hiring a new curator, officials announced Wednesday.
Santa
Monica Council Incumbent Says He Deserves SMRR’s Support
August 1, 2016 -- For
the fourth consecutive year, the Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights
(SMRR) convention that determines important endorsements concluded with
a cliffhanger on the City Council race.
Santa Monica Incumbents Dominate in SMRR Endorsements for Elected Boards
August 1, 2016 -- It was a satisfying Sunday for incumbent candidates in Santa Monica School, College and Rent Control board races. All received endorsements from the powerful Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) during its convention, which took place at John Adams Middle School.
SMRR
Endorses Three Santa Monica Council Incumbents, Won’t Back LUVE
August 1, 2016 -- City Council incumbents Tony Vazquez, Ted Winterer and Gleam Davis won
coveted endorsements from Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR)
at the organization’s convention on Sunday at John Adams Middle School.
( The Lookout will have more detailed results and reactions from the candidates
Monday morning.)