DEADLINE!

Tweet The Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City must file its petition to place an initiative on the November ballot with the City Clerk on Wednesday, April 23. The initiative would limit commercial development to 75.000 square feet a year. As commercial projects generate three to four times the amount of traffic generated by residential projects, the initiative would also reduce traffic. Anyone who wants to sign the petition should go immediately to www.smclc.net and follow... Read More

Gassed At the Beach

Tweet Word around City Hall has it that the water in the restored swimming pool at the Annenberg public beach club that is now under constructions will be heated by gas rather than solar power. We would think that a swimming pool at a beach club in a town that touts solar power as the answer to virtually every energy need would be an ideal solar site. Apparently, we would be wrong. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Gassed At the Beach", url: "http://www.santamonicadispatch.com/2008/04/gassed-at-the-beach/"... Read More

Treesavers To March Tuesday

Tweet Treesavers will stage a “save the trees” march and rally on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22. Environmental and community activists will join Treesavers to demonstrate their support for the effort to save the ficus trees on Second and Fourth Streets in downtown Santa Monica from the City’s bulldozers. Treesavers will hold a “unity gathering” at 5:30 p.m. and the march will begin at 6 at The Children’s Tree of Life, which was planted 25 years ago at an Earth... Read More

2008: The Year of the Perfect Storm

Tweet Over the years, we’ve covered all sorts of issues, but the key issue, the issue that’s at the heart of almost all the other issues remains the same: who should have the last word in Santa Monica? Not those vague “stakeholders” City Hall deploys from time to time. Not the mega-corporations that own the major hotels and big box chain stores, nor the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) that own major chunks of the townscape. Not the special interests, advocates,... Read More

Whither the Weather 4/19 – 4/26

Tweet By Ava Tramer Beaches Mostly sunny Highs: 59-67; Lows: 46-51 Inland Clear and sunny Highs: 69-76; Lows: 44-48 Deserts Hot and sunny Highs: 81-91; Lows: 52-65 And Santa Monica… Let us consider this week’s weather as some variation on the Ugly Duckling story. In the beginning, the weather is only so-so. Although the sky is mostly clear and sunny, temperatures are in the low 60s and nights are cool, dipping into the mid- 40s. People make fun of the weather: “Isn’t... Read More

Jim Krusoe: Local Hero

Tweet If I were making a list of the most influential local heroes, Jim Krusoe would be on it. He’s an acclaimed writer of poetry and fiction, including “Blood Lake” and “Girl Factory,” a professor of creative writing at Santa Monica College and the founder of the Santa Monica Review. I met him years ago, when we were both on the board of Beyond Baroque, He was the perfect picture of a writer – tall, handsome, lanky, with a movie star’s grin, He still is. As I recall,... Read More

PTA Council Takes a Stand

Tweet The following address was made to the Santa Monica-Malibu PTA Council on April 15, 2008. A condensed version was presented to the Santa Council on April 15, 2008. A condensed version was presented to the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education on April 17, 2008 with the statement, “The SANTA MONICA-MALIBU Council of PTAs adopts Rebecca Kennerly’s statement dated today as its official position, and further authorizes her to speak to the Board of Education about this... Read More

NEEDED: 1,000 Signatures Now

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In the last nine weeks, 100–plus resident volunteers have collected 8,000 signatures from Santa Monica registered voters in support of a proposed ballot measure that would limit commercial development and reduce traffic Given the high validity rate of the signatures that have been gathered to date, the Santa Monica Coalition, which is sponsoring the initiative, is confident that its submission of 9,000 signatures by April 23, will qualify the measure for the November... Read More

Council Has Up and Down Night

Tweet Tuesday night, the City Council was scheduled to discuss the independent study of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s special education program, The Council had ordered the study after a number of parents of students with special needs described abuses of and flaws in the program. Under the terms of the City order of June 12, 2007, the City will not release a $520,000 allocation to the District until it accepts, complies with and implements the recommendations... Read More

Whither the Weather 4/11 – 4/17

Tweet By Ava Tramer Beaches Clear and sunny Highs: 62-81; Lows: 48-59 Inland Clear and sunny Highs: 71-93; Lows: 45-54 Deserts Clear and sunny Highs: 81-100; Lows: 55-67 And Santa Monica… On Thursday April 10, the temperature in Boston, MA, reached 65 degrees. There was a slight breeze in the air, the sun was shining, and best of all, people were happy. Friends dined outdoors, students held class outside, children frolicked under the sunshine, and everyone commented on the... Read More