The FAA has filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent the City from enforcing its ordinance banning Class C & D aircraft from the airport while the matter is in litigation

A hearing on the preliminary injunction is set for this morning, Thursday, May 15, at 10 AM.

The FAA’s application for the preliminary injunction and the City’s response will be heard in federal district court by Judge George Wu in Courtroom 10, on the Spring Street level of the U.S. Courthouse located at 312 N. Spring Street, L.A. 90012 (across the street from City Hall).

The hearing is open to the public. There is underground parking nearby (one entrance is on Los Angeles St.)

More information about the FAA filings and the City's response is posted on the City website at http://www.smgov.net/news/hotopics/index.htm

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A California Appeals Court ruled yesterday in favor of the City of Santa Monica, saying the plaintiffs – Treesavers and Jerry Rubin – had failed to observe the statute of limitations in filing their claim that the City violated CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) regulations.

The narrow technical ruling focused exclusively on whether Treesavers had failed to file its complaint within the prescribed 180-day time frame. It did not absolve the City of wrongdoing in referring to trees as "facilities" in its Environmental Impact Report, in order to avoid having to meet more rigorous environmental standards. Nor were the merits of the City’s plan to remove a large number of ficus trees from Second and Fourth Streets in downtown Santa Monica at issue.

Continue reading "City Scores TKO Against Trees, Residents" »

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A California Appeals Court ruled yesterday in favor of the City of Santa Monica, saying the plaintiffs – Treesavers and Jerry Rubin – had failed to observe the statute of limitations in filing their claim that the City violated CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) regulations.

The narrow technical ruling focused exclusively on whether Treesavers had failed to file its complaint within the prescribed 180-day time frame. It did not absolve the City of wrongdoing in referring to trees as "facilities" in its Environmental Impact Report, in order to avoid having to meet more rigorous environmental standards. Nor were the merits of the City’s plan to remove a large number of ficus trees from Second and Fourth Streets in downtown Santa Monica at issue.

Continue reading "City Scores TKO Against Trees, Residents" »

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By David Fresco
Fourth Grade, John Muir School

The Santa Cruz mission was established by Father Fermin Lasuen on August 28, 1791. The mission is located 75 miles south of San Francisco. It was named for the sacred cross of Christianity. Unfortunately, the Santa Cruz mission was not designed to be prepared for disaster. The church was destroyed by a series of violent earthquakes, and the rest of the mission was flooded twice. All of the grounds have been rebuilt, except for the church. Some sources say one half, some say a one third size replica stands today.

Mission life was terrible for the Ohlone, and Yokut California Indian tribes. The Missionaries would crack them with metal tipped whips if they disobeyed the Catholic religion - and that’s not the worst of it! They also made the Native Americans suffer, get sick, and die. If they tried to leave, the Missionaries would come with horses and bring them back, against their will. Most Indians were completely brought in to the religion, when they were just curious. Another act of cruelty was having a bell that would tell them when to work, eat, pray, and sleep. All these terrible things happened in all 21 missions.

Continue reading "Mission Santa Cruz " »

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Wherever Grace Heintz is now, she must be raging,

Grace was a very old, very small, very courageous lady who literally wrote the book on Santa Monica trees.

George Hastings wrote two editions of “Trees of Santa Monica” -- in 1944 and 1956. Grace followed Hastings’ editions with two of her own – in 1976 and 1989. Together, the four books comprise a running inventory of our trees – every tree on every street, including “lost” trees. In addition, they contain rigorous illustrated descriptions of each species.

Not content to simply write about the trees, Grace was compelled to defend them. Whenever crews turned up to remove a tree, Grace turned up, to ask what they were doing and why.

It was something to see: this tiny old lady bracing a group of men in hard hats wielding chainsaws.

Sometimes, she prevailed and saved the tree or trees. Sometimes. she couldn’t, but she persisted, She talked to the City officials who ordered the trees’ removal for what almost always seemed to be purely arbitrary or expedient reasons,

Though her health declined, Grace fought on – until the Lincoln Park massacre.

Continue reading "They're OUR Trees!" »

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But some things don’t.
This is what remains.

By Clara Sturak

Dry mouth from Pioneer sourdough rolls spread with Laura Scudders’ peanut butter from the gigantic jar that’d been turned upside-down so the oil would go to the bottom. Stale coffee to wash it down.

Yetive, as she calls her umpteenth special order, cranky, affronted – never mind that she’s called some more than once. “Look at me, after all these years, a telephone operator.” Yetive, who lived longer after her double radical mastectomy than she had before it was done.

The sweet Southern lilt of Karen’s voice each Monday, as I call to say I’m running a few minutes late. Never once cracking, “Tell me something I don’t know.” Always, “Take your time. Don’t you worry. We’ll be fine.”

Continue reading "Some Things Close, God Damn it." »

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By Ava Tramer

Beaches
Mostly sunny and gradually warming up
Highs: 60-76; Lows: 53-63

Inland
Partly cloudy and warm
Highs: 72-91; Lows: 51-61

Deserts
Sunny and hot
Highs: 86-101; Lows: 61-76

And Santa Monica…
Think of Santa Monica this week as a loaf of bread. You have finished mixing all the ingredients together, letting the dough rise, kneading and shaping the loaves, and preheating the oven. You finally place the dough in the hot oven. As you sit in the kitchen, reading a magazine, good smells start to waft from the oven. You can’t wait for the bread to be ready! You go peek in the oven, trying to gauge the bread’s progress. It has barely risen. Why is it taking so long? You go read another article in your magazine, your mouth watering, wishing you could bite into a perfectly golden-brown, soft, and delicious piece of bread. You tiptoe up to the oven, and peek in again. What?!? It’s still not golden brown? This seems to be taking forever, but it’s only been fifteen minutes! You force yourself to wait another fifteen minutes, and then you check the bread again. It’s finally beginning to get a little golden brown, but it’s not done yet. In another fifteen minutes, you go to check it, and lo and behold, it’s perfectly ready!! You are very excited, and finally you sink your teeth into that long-awaited slice of thick, warm bread. So pretend the weather is like this loaf of bread. It seems like the springtime weather should be perfect – golden-brown, if you will. So why is it taking so long for us to have beautiful sunny days? Towards the end of the week, the weather will finally grow clear, sunny, and warm, and you will be able to enjoy it like that longed-for slice of freshly baked bread.

Posted by Peggy Clifford at 3:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As noted in LAObserved, David Abel’s Planning Report (www.planningreport.com/tpr), which covers planning and development in this area, asked his online readers to vote on which of the following in-progress mega-projects will confer the greatest benefit on L.A.?

Results

LA Live 33%
Grand Avenue Project 26%
Universal City Mixed-Use Development 10%
Build-out of Playa Vista 6%
None; mega-developments don't pay off 25%.

Why, then, are there so many mega-developments in the works in L.A. and Santa Monica?

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Last Friday, detectives from the Santa Monica Police Department were told by a 12-year-old girl, accompanied by her parents, that she had been molested by a teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica.

During the course of the detectives’ initial investigation, they came to believe that there were probably additional victims, and began interviewing other students.

Working with representatives from the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, detectives identified the teacher who allegedly abused the students, as Thomas Arthur Beltran, 60, a male Hispanic, who is married and lives in Los Angeles.

Detectives arrested Beltran on Saturday in the 6100 block of Centinela Avenue in Culver City. Subsequently, he was booked and charged with14 felony counts of child molestation. Bail was originally set at $1.1 million, and later increased to $3.# million. Beltran could be sentenced to life in prison.

According to a story in Surf Santa Monica,, Beltran worked in the District for 30 years and at Lincoln for 20 years.

Continue reading "Lincoln Teacher Charged with 14 Felony Counts of Molestation " »

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As we reported last week, four members of the City Council – Richard Bloom, Ken Genser, Mayor Herb Katz and Pam O’Connor – greeted Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City co-chair Diana Gordon churlishly when she appeared before them to ask that the City’s analysis of the Coalition’s ballot measure to limit commercial development be balanced.

This week, Surf Santa Monica columnist Frank Gruber, who, as we know, reads minds, explained their churlishness: “…the attitude four council members expressed toward the sponsors of the RIFT initiative (who in effect want to take away the council's decision-making power over land use planning by outflanking the process to update the land use and circulation elements (LUCE) of the general plan), it appears that the council is going to defend zealously its role in that area.”

But, as ever, Gruber, like the Council, has a piquant view of democracy. Supporters of the measure, and all the other residents who voted for the members of the Council gave them only the power to represent them on the municipal stage.

Continue reading "The People Speak; The Council Pouts " »

Posted by Peggy Clifford at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Tuesday evening the City Council sent the 2617 Third Street project back to the drawing board with instructions to make the proposal compatible with the surrounding buildings in the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District. By doing so, it was acknowledging that the present design is not compatible and does not comply with the District Guidelines.

Rather than denying the applicant's appeal outright, certain council members sought to appease both the applicant and his architect on the one hand and the residents and their supporters on the other and avoided the responsibility of making a definitive decision on the project. The architect will have to redraw his plans and the project will essentially return to square one, the Landmarks Commission, where it was first heard last June. This remanding of the project to the Landmarks Commission was the result of a suggestion made to Mayor Katz by the project architect, Michael Folonis, who is doubtless doing his best to prevent the denial of the project.

One has to ask whether it is fair of the council to ask residents to attend even one more Landmarks hearing on a project that has already been through so many hearings. The citizens of Santa Monica have a right to expect the City Council to uphold the City's own ordinances and guidelines rather than obliging residents to assume that burden. Since the mayor and his fellow council member Pam O'Connor are so clearly intent on supporting the project and/or villifying the citizens who oppose it, one also has to question their motivation.

Continue reading "To the Editor:" »

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By Ava Tramer

Beaches
Partly cloudy
Highs: 63-69; Lows: 51-53

Inland
Partly cloudy
Highs: 76-80; Lows: 50-52

Deserts
Mostly sunny
Highs: 85-90; Lows: 62-65

And Santa Monica...
The week ahead can best be described as blah. The temperature will be just fine, nothing special, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 50s. There will be some sunshiney moments, but, on the whole, expect mostly gray days with plenty of clouds. There will be no dramatic fluctuations in temperature or sudden rain storms, and every day will end up feeling pretty similar to the next. So don't let the blah weather define you this week: it's up to you to add spice and light to your own lives!

Posted by Peggy Clifford at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An exhibition of new paintings by Kenny Harris opens tomorrow, Sunday, May 4, at Terrence Rogers Fine Arts.

Light is paramount in the paintings of Harris. It plays off every surface. He has a penchant for sparse interiors, in which light from unseen sources reflects off ample foregrounds of hardwood floors. Through his mastery of traditional technique, classical perspective and refined palette, he creates remarkably contemporary paintings. .

Harris is a prodigious painter, and his sense of place figures prominently in all of his paintings. His urban scapes, with tall palms cresting high in the sky, are undeniably southern California. He documents streets, homes, and people of this neighborhood.

For the past seven years, Venice Beach has figured prominently in his paintings. An avid beach volleyball player, he returns often to the beach to capture the feel, the atmospherics, of this particular stretch of Santa Monica Bay at different times of day.

Continue reading "Kenny Harris Exhibit Opens " »

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Adelaide Drive, on the rim of Santa Monica Canyon, is the site of some of Santa Monica's most significant historic houses.

The homes were constructed in the first decade of the twentieth century. Two are Santa Monica Landmarks and one is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 5 p.m. the Santa Monica Conservancy will give visitors a rare close up look at the houses, and their gardens.

Continue reading "ADELAIDE DRIVE TOUR SUN. " »

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City Hall will present “an overview of the Community Forest Renewal Program” and discuss its Carob Tree “Assessment and Replacement Project” at a meeting on Wednesday, May 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium, East Wing, 1855 Main Street

A panel of City staff and “experts” in urban forestry will discuss ”best management practices” and take questions on the City’s plans to remove 300 Carob trees and prune another 350.

Featured panelists will include Glenn Flamik, state urban forestry coordinator, California Department of Forestry, Gail Church, immediate past president, California ReLeaf, Jim Clark, PhD., HortScience, George Gonzalez, chief forester, City of Los Angeles, Dan Hardgrove, past president, California Urban Forests Council, Gordon Mann, urban forest services director, Sacramento Tree Foundation, Jeanette Schachtner, Deputy City Attorney, City of Santa Monica, Walt Warriner, community forester, City of Santa Monica

As part of the FY 07/08 Community Forest Renewal Program, staff conducted a study of mature carob trees throughout the city in order to determine their health, viability and any risk posed by their alleged “ declining condition.’ 300 trees were found to have “a substantial risk level.”

Parking in the Civic Center Parking lot and structure is free for this meeting.

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The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District administration announced today that it had reached a settlement with Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker, and that he will depart the District on June 30.

According to a District press release, “At its May 1, 2008, board meeting in Malibu, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education approved a mutually agreed upon settlement between the District and Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker. As a part of that settlement, Mr. Walker submitted a resignation effective June 30, 2008. Since Mr. Walker had a three-year employment contract with the District, he is entitled to all salary and health benefits for the last year remaining on his contract, pursuant to Government Code Section 53260.

“Mr. Walker began his tenure in Santa Monica–Malibu in 2005 as the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education, and then became the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. Subsequently, Mr. Walker was the Interim Superintendent during the search for the Superintendent, and finally became the Deputy Superintendent after the new Superintendent was hired.

“In his resignation letter, Mr. Walker stated, ‘after over three years of dedicated service to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, I find that it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and part ways with an organization that has been a very important piece of my life.’ He further stated, ‘I value the incredible employees of the District that I have had the pleasure to work with. They are committed to making a difference in the lives of children every day’

“Superintendent Dianne Talarico stated, ‘I thank Tim Walker for his leadership, his compassion, and his commitment to helping the teachers and children of our District.’ The Superintendent is developing a new organizational structure and will be announcing that in the near future.”

District officials were not available for further comment this afternoon. .

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Tuesday night’s City Council meeting was dominated by unfinished business and what H.L. Mencken called “balder and dash.”

The opponents and proponents of a proposed addition to a “non-conforming structure” in the Third Street Historic District gathered again to hear the owner’s Appeal of the Landmarks Commission’s technical denial of a Certificate of Appropriateness.

After some discussion , the Council denied the appeal, as the project requires “substantial redesign,” and remanded it to the Landmarks Commission.

The Council also directed the staff to report back with suggestions on resolving such conflicts.

The Council then heard a report on “Integrating Sustainable Santa Monica Principles into the Land Use and Circulation Element Update: Transportation, Economic and Housing Principles.”

Continue reading " Council Tackles Unfinished Biz" »

Posted by Peggy Clifford at 3:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Santa Monica needs a second political party.

News media rarely call for new political parties – at least not overtly. We’re taking the unusual step, because Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) has been the only political game in town for nearly three decades, and in that time residents have been gradually reduced to bit players in the civic drama, and we find that profoundly disturbing.

Sunday, we posted a screed that we ran in the Dispatch a year ago (see “Déjà Vu All Over Again,” below).

“We’re BAAACK” called for a number of changes, almost all of which had to do wth the restoration of the democratic process in Santa Monica.

Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back. Something may be gaining on you.” Unfortunately, in the year since we wrote the piece, none of these vital changes has been made, and EVERYTHING is gaining on residents -- traffic, over-development, bad decisions, and wrong moves, and, most of all, City Hall’s drive to remake Santa Monica along more conventional, profitable and docile lines.

Continue reading "City Needs New Political Party " »

Posted by Peggy Clifford at 1:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

by Brian Bland, FOSP Board member and FOSP Airport Committee member

A federal judge has blocked the City of Santa Monica from enforcing its ban on the fastest kinds of jets using Santa Monica Airport (SMO), at least temporarily.

The ban, unanimously approved by the City Council, was to have gone into effect on April 24. The Federal Aviation Administration filed a cease-and-desist order against the city and went to federal court to ask for a temporary restraining order. Judge George Wu declined to issue the order without a hearing, which was held April 28.

Wu said he wasn't sure whether or not he had the authority to judge the merits of the city's case, and instead made his ruling to temporarily block the ban based on his interpretation of the legal procedures involved. He agreed to be briefed further on the case, so the battle will resume in his downtown Los Angeles federal court on May 15 after both sides file additional written arguments.

Continue reading "Judge Blocks City’s Jet Ban " »

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Pacific Coast Highway from McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica to Malibu is simultaneously one of the most beautiful drives in the world, and one of the worst.

More and more hours on more and more days, it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way.

And it’s about to get worse than worst.

The City of Santa Mnica, the City of Los Angeles, the L.A. Department of Water and Power, Caltrans. LADOT and the City of Malibu have embarked on a series of major and unprecedented “improvement” projects that will make the current PCH jam-up seem like a walk o the beach.

Continue reading "Nightmare on the Way" »

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