NO DICE, A Santa Monica Murder Mystery, by Mar Preston

Tweet Last section posted 9/16 Chapter Eight, last section “Wheelis? It’s Dave Mason here from SMPD. How you doin’ today?” “Busy, Dave. What’s going on?” “Still working that link between your guy Baker and my city councilwoman. It’s a lead, and frankly, I haven’t got much else to go on. I got one guy I’m pushing but I don’t really think he’s gonna pan out.” “Nothing?” “Sorry. Nobody saw... Read More

BRENTWOOD RESIDENTS RALLY TO SAVE CORAL TREES

Tweet According to the Los Angeles Times, Brentwood-area residents are rallying to raise funds for the upkeep of San Vicente Boulevard’s cherished coral trees, one of which toppled over this month after succumbing to what appeared to be a root-rotting fungus. The city of Los Angeles planted the trees after World War II to replace the discontinued Red Line trolley tracks but has limited funds to care for them. For decades, neighborhood residents have taken on much of the... Read More

SECRET SERVICE TO SHUT DOWN STREETS MONDAY

Tweet President Obama will be in the Los Angeles area on Monday, September 26, attending two separate events — one event at the House of Blues in West Hollywood and the second nearby in Los Angeles. As a result, San Vicente Boulevard from Melrose Avenue to Santa Monica Boulevard will be closed all day on Monday, and drivers should expect street closures and major traffic delays throughout the day and evening in West Hollywood, L.A., Beverly Hills and surrounding areas.... Read More

Mid-City Neighbors Meet Saturday, 9/24

Tweet Mid-City Neighbors will meet Saturday at the Quaker Meeting House, 1440 Harvard Street, from 1 to 3 p.m. In addition to discussing issues of concern in their area, they will hear from several guest speakers. Richard McKinnon, a Santa Monica Recreation & Parks Commissioner, will describe the Commission’s efforts to make Santa Monica an arboretum – what it would entail and what its benefits would be. Cris Gutierrez, a member of a group that is developing a... Read More

PLANNING COMMISSION TO CONSIDER ELECTRIC CAR SHOWROOMS DOWNTOWN

Tweet At its meeting Wednesday night, the Planning Commission approved a resolution, requested by City Council members Bob Holbrook and Terry O’Day and approved by the Council as a whole, that the Planning Commission declare its intention to consider amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Subchapter 9.04.12 Performance Standards and add Section 9.04.12.080, Electric Vehicle Automobile Dealership Showrooms in the Bayside Commercial District [BSC-1]. Staff will now prepare the... Read More

ARB GIVES APPLE THE LAST WORD

Tweet Apple invents and makes very smart, very useful and very beautiful things. And one day recently it had more cash on hand than the United States government. It’s hard to say NO to Apple, as Santa Monica’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) demonstrated Monday night. Former City employee Howard Robinson, who now shepherds commercial projects through the City’s planning process, presented a project to the ARB that would replace a three-story building on the Third Street... Read More

FLIGHT SCHOOL WORKSHOP TO BE HELD MONDAY

Tweet The Santa Monica Airport Commission has organized a “Flight School Workshop” to be held at City Hall on the evening of Monday, September 26th, at 7:30 PM. Did you know that: 1) Approximately 60% of all Santa Monica Airport (SMO) traffic and noise is caused by flight school and training activities. Often, four planes or less can account for 30-40% of traffic on any given day. 2) Despite being more closely surrounded by residential neighborhoods than all other... Read More

HOUSE PASSES AUTISM BILL

Tweet Autism Speaks hailed the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday for approving the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act, and urged the Senate to quickly complete congressional action on the bill, and send it to President Obama. The legislation will expire September 30 unless the Senate follows the House’s lead and renews the 2006 Combating Autism Act. Passage by the Senate will ensure the federal government’s commitment to fund autism research and treatment for another... Read More

GROCERY CHAINS, WORKERS REACH “TENTATIVE SETTLEMENT”

Tweet Von’s, Albertsons and Ralph’s grocery workers were scheduled to go out on strike today, but late last night a “tentative settlement” was reached, the strike was averted – at least for the moment, and the stores opened this morning with their employees at their usual posts. The workers will vote on the settlement Saturday. Von’s had announced that it would close its stores if there were a strike, and Albertsons said it would close about 100 stores. Only... Read More

HOUSE VOTE ON AUTISM BILL IS TUESDAY

Tweet The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA) will be heard on the House floor tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, September 20th, for a final vote. In order to ensure that our Congressman, Henry Waxman, votes for this vital bill, please call and email him and ask him to vote yes for Reauthorization. Ideally, his phones will ring off the hook until the vote is taken. Rep. Waxman’s phone number is (202) 225-3976 Identify yourself as a resident of his district and his constituent... Read More