The City of Santa Monica is on a buying spree, and it seems to be buying itself.

Several years ago, it bought approximately nine acres from the RAND Corporation, along with its original buildings, which it has since demolished, creating, however inadvertently, a large dirt park. Price: $53 million.

Then it bought itself the half-block Fisher Lumber property on Colorado
Avenue at 14th Street. Price: $14 million.

Then it bought the Sears auto shop property at Colorado and Fourth for
$34 million. Sears is still in business on that corner. Price, $34 million.

Then it stockpiled land and buildings on Fifth Street, about . 52,500 square
feet so far, according to a story in the Daily Press. Price, approximately $30 millon.

Among the more notable buildings on the new City property are Carlson’s Appliances and the onetime gallery that served as the temporary library in the 1300 block of 5th Street.

The parking task force created by the City Council recommended that the
City stockpile downtown land but it \may or may not be ultimately used for parking.

The City of Santa Monica will hold an “informational” meeting on its “beach greening project” on Thursday, May 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ocean Park Branch Library, on Main Street at Ocean Park Boulevard.

The City plans to convert a section of the southerly 2600 Barnard Way beach parking lot (north of the playground at the terminus of Ocean Park Boulevard, and between Fraser and Wadsworth Avenues) from asphalt to natural turf.

The turf will be “built,” in the City’s word, to allow automobiles to park on it during peak periods The rest of the year, the southern section of the lot (both the turf and asphalt portions) will be closed to autos and available for recreation, .

According to the City, “The project has important water quality, environmental and recreation benefits.”

At the meeting, City staff will present the project design, and give the public an opportunity to discuss the project with the design team. The project will be “substantially funded” by a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board, and is an adopted city budget objective for Fiscal Year 2006-07.

A California Coastal Commission permit is pending

In 1929, publisher William Randolph Hearst commissioned architect Julia Morgan, who designed his famed San Simeon, to design a beach house on Santa Monica’s Gold Coast for his mistress, movie star Marion Davies.
It was a pretty elaborate beach house – a main house, three guest houses – with a total of 118 rooms and 58 bathrooms, two swimming pools, tennis courts, dog kennels and garages.

When Davies sold it in 1957, it became a hotel and then the Sand and Sea Club.

In the late 1980s, Santa Monica restaurateur Michael McCarty
proposed demolishing what was left of the Davies estate and
building a “luxury hotel” on the site . The City Council approved the plan, but residents put the question on the ballot and voters rejected the hotel and, for good measure, banned any further hotels on the beach.

The state owns the property and the City operates it. Following the vote, the City abruptly cancelled the popular Sand and Sea Beach Club’s lease and assumed control of the property at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, but never quite decided what to make of it.

After the remains of the estate were damaged in the 1994 Northridge
earthquake, the City wrapped it in chainlink fencing and shut it down.

In 1998, a City task force spent $180,000 developing a design for a public beach club, but it was shelved.

Several years ago, City staff proposed offering it to a private sector operator.

But, just in time, Wallis Annenberg, who has warm memories of the Sand and Sea Club and was interested in the idea of documenting the historic Hollywood-Gold Coast connection on the, rode to the rescue – with a $21 million Annenberg Foundation grant.

With the grant in hand, City and foundation staff members developed plans for the unique property. Public workshops were held. An architect,
Frederick Fisher Partners, was hired And now, 13 years after the City shut it dawn, work on the five-acre Annenberg Community Beach Club at Santa Monica State Beach (415 PCH) has begun -- . with the demolition of the locker building, which was not part of the Davies estate.

Midwest Environmental Controls began the demolition on Monday, April 16, and should be finished next month. Pankow Special Projects LP will construct the club, which is scheduled to open in January, 2009,

The remaining Davies guest house, now called the North House, will be restored and an interpretive center will be installed. The swimming pool will be rehabbed. Outdoor spaces, including two garden areas, sports courts, a picnic and play area, and a boardwalk to the ocean. , will be installed. New buildings will include an entry pavilion with lifeguard and staff offices; a two-story pool house with locker and changing rooms and a multi-purpose room and a one-story event house.

In addition to the Annenberg grant, some funding has been provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Homelessness will be the subject of a new live call-in show that will make its debut on Wednesday, April 25 at noon on CityTV cable channel 16 in Santa Monica and LA36 cable channel 36 in Los Angeles. Hosted by Stephen Solomon and Ralph Saltsman,”It's Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community” will combine phone calls from viewers and interviews with local experts on homelessness. The series will run until June 13.

"Homelessness is the number one issue in the Santa Monica community," said CityTV station manager Robin Gee. "In response to this, CityTV is presenting a program that will allow viewers to call in to express their concerns and viewpoints while providing valuable background information and insights into the issue of homelessness."

Topics and guests will change each week. The first show will examine society’s stereotypical views of people who are homeless; the systemic causes of homelessness and some of the :subpopulations” that live on the streets of Los Angeles County.

“It’s Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community” will replay on CityTV weekdays at 12 noon and Fridays at 8 p.m. The program is presented in partnership with the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition (WSHC) and the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative (LACPC).

CityTV is the government access cable channel for the City of Santa Monica. . LA36 is the educational access channel for the City of Los Angeles.

If voters had approved state proposition 90 in the election last fall, California cities’ ability to control their own growth and development would have been diminished.

Several weeks before the election, in an effort to blunt the potential negative impacts of Prop 90 locally, the Santa Monica City Council imposed more stringent limits on development in most residential and some commercial zones, but excluded “preferred projects,” including affordable housing.

According to an October 4, 2006 Surf Santa Monica story, “While…[the staff] said the measure is not technically a ‘down-zoning,’ City officials contend the move will give them more control over development…

The City will hold a community-wide workshop on Monday, May 7, at
7 p.m., at the Santa Monica Civic Audit-
oriun, which it describes as “the next step in the Land Use and Circulation Elements (LUCE) process.”

Santa Monica’s Planning and Community Development Department
is currently focusing on what it calls “neighborhood outreach and building
consensus on ‘Placemaking’ through a series of community-wide workshops.

Three-Tiered Celebration at Virginia Avenue Park

Virginia Avenue Park will be the site of three events on Sunday, May 7 from 1-6 p.m. -- a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, a vintage car show and an exhibit entitled “Artists at Work.”

Mariachi Voz de America, Los Pochos (música norteña), Ballet Folklorico, Danza de la Pluma (Oaxacan indigenous dance) and Salsa musicians are scheduled to perform.

Performance artist Maria Elena Gaitan will emcee a dance contest during the afternoon. There will be activities for children, and Mexican food including carne asada, tamales and fresh fruit juices by Mama’s Hot Tamales and Cha Cha Chicken will be served.

“The Pico Passport” – Pico Boulevard’s merchant association’s discount program -- is staging the vintage car show, which will include a vintage fire truck and a 1913 Morgan three-wheel Racer. Pico neighborhood business owners, area residents and City of Santa Monica employees will provide the estimated 50 vehicles. Trophies will be awarded to the top cars.

The Pico Passport has also organized the Artists at Work exhibit to celebrate the work of painters, photographers and sculptors from Pico Boulevard.

Virginia Avenue Park is located on the northwest corner of Pico and Cloverfield. Free parking will be available in Santa Monica College’s "Structure C," at Pico and 17th Street.

The City’s Human Services Manager Julie Rusk opened the April 24 Santa Monica City Council meeting with a progress report on programs that aid homeless people.

Chronic Homeless Program staff members have met with 113 people who are mentally ill or addicted to drugs or alcohol, and have placed 39 of them in permanent housing, and 18 in temporary housing. The average age of program participants is 66.

The SEOP – CLARE staff has made 400 contacts in the City jail, 103 of which resulted in people being connected with services.

Project Homecoming has reunited 23 individuals with friends and family at an average cost of $144.

Homeless Community Court has dealt with 26 cases in three sessions.

Homelessness 101, a new program, will provide training to City staff to provide customer service to homeless individuals.

A new television call-in show, “It’s Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community,” will air live on CityTV on Wednesdays (April 25-June 13) from noon to 1 p.m.

The City of Santa Monica’s 2006-07 allocation to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District of $7,1 million, has yet to be approved by the City Council. Now, according to an information item from Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Department Director, to the Mayor and the City Council, the District’s Arts Foundation has asked
the City to make good on a $250,000 promise it made in 20001.

The foundation plans to spend the money on a three-year marketing and fundraising campaign to increase the For the Arts endowment.

In December 2000, the City Council awarded the foundation a $200.000 grant in support of the development of the endowment. In February, 2001, the Council earmarked an additional $500,000 to be awarded to the foundation when it reached its $5,000,000 goal. At the same time, it stipulated that $250,000 could be made available earlier, at the discretion of staff.

To date, the For the Arts campaign has raised just under $2,000,000 for the endowment, which supports a range of music, art, dance and drama instruction and programs in the District.

According to Stinchfield, “Staff believes that this represents sufficient progress to release $250,000,[and]…has met with representatives of the foundation to discuss their objective of increasing the endowment to $5,000,000 over the next few years, as well as the proposed use of the $250,000 in City funds. The funds will be used primarily for the development of new branding and marketing materials, a major donor solicitation and cultivation plan and the establishment of an annual arts awards program. Funds will be released over the next three years, pending the satisfactory completion of specific deliverables, and annual progress reports.”

A shortage of Council members Tuesday night required a radical downsizing of the agenda at the last minute, and what didn’t happen was at least as significant as what did happen.

Three of the seven members were absent. Bob Holbrook was reportedly away on vacation, Pam O’Connor was said to be off on MTA board business and Herb Katz was in the hospital.

Further complicating matters, members Ken Genser and Kevin McKeown each had to recuse himself from voting on a prominent item on the agenda. The only Council members who were present and unencumbered were Mayor Richard Bloom and Council member Bobby Shriver, and as at least four votes are needed to pass or reject any measure, much of the agenda had to be continued into the indefinite future.

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and the City of Santa Monica flags flew at half-mast today in memory of Yolanda King who collapsed and died here Tuesday night. She was 51,

According to the Associated Press, shortly after she spoke at an American Heart Association meeting, King, the oldest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., died at the home of her brother, Dexter King, in Santa Monica late Tuesday.

She spoke last year at the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium in the new Santa Monica Main Library.

An actress who also headed a production company, King lived in Culver City. She, appeared with Whoopi Goldberg and Alex Baldwin in “Ghosts of Mississippi,” about the murder of Medger Evers, and played Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries ‘King.’

AP reported that the King family “did not know the cause of death, but relatives think it might have been a heart problem.”

The following headlines appeared in
The New York Times today, Wednesday, May 16, 2007:

Bush Intervened in Dispute
Over NSA Eavesdropping

Bush Pick Gets
Extra Payment
From Old Job

Bush Opens Door to Wolfowitz’s
Resigning Voluntarily

White House Picks General
To Coordinate Its War Policy

Iraq Attacks Stayed Steady
Despite Troop Increase, Data Shows

Everything suggested that last Thursday night’s Santa Monica City Council meeting would be relatively short and simple.

It was the final of three fiscal year 2007-2008 budget study sessions, and most of the heavy lifting had been taken care of at the Tuesday and Wednesday night sessions.

Priorities had been set. All of the City department reports on past projects and plans for the coming year had been made by staff and amended, in some cases, by Council members.

The controversy over the confidentiality agreement that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s chief financial officer, Winston Braham, had signed on resigning seemed to have subsided.

The City of Santa Monica, in cooperation with Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration, is, in its words. “proposing to reconstruct the structurally deficient California Incline to meet current seismic standards.”

The City has scheduled a community workshop on ednesday, June 20, to explain its plans, discuss the recently completed draft Environmental Impact Report/ Environmental Assessment, and hear from residents.

The incline descends from the intersection of Ocean and California Avenues at the top of the Palisades Bluffs to Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1 (SR-1).

The City wants to demolish the existing roadway and construct a new one at the same location.

The new incline – one northbound lane and two southbound lanes -- would be about 750 feet long and, again, in the City’s words, “consist of a reinforced concrete slab structure with spans on the order of 44 feet. Overall width of the new incline would be 51 feet 8 inches, an increase of 5 feet 8 inches over the existing structure. The three 12-foot-wide vehicular lanes would be maintained; the proposed improvements would be designed to accommodate both pedestrians and bicyclists. Construction would also require the reconstruction of the upper and lower approaches to the California Incline at Ocean Avenue and SR-1, respectively.

Tuesday night, climaxing a marathon meeting, the City Council approved a $437 million budget for the next fiscal year, but it was the disposition of a $530,000 allocation that dominated the evening.

It began late last fall, when the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Chief Financial Officer Winston Braham refused to certify a District pay raise that he contended was not financially viable and resigned. Council member Bobby Shriver believed the Council should talk with Braham before it decided how much money to allocate to the District in the new budget. But, as part of his exit contract with the District, Braham had been required to sign a confidentiality agreement that mandated his silence on all topics related to the District.

Viewing the District’s imposition of the gag order as a breach of trust and common sense, Shriver, Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz and Council member Bob Holbrook suggested they might withhold $530,000 of the proposed District allocation unless they heard from Braham.

During a hearing on the proposed new budget at the last Council meeting, three parents of children with special needs described the difficulties they encountered, including mandatory gag orders in private "settlement" contracts, in their efforts to procure the courses of instructions their children needed from the District.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Katz made and Shriver seconded a motion to withhold $530,000 of the District’s allocation until the gag orders were discontinued. Neither that nor a counter motion won the requisite four votes and so the question was continued to last night.

Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City representatives and leaders of Friends of Sunset Park, North of Montana, Ocean Park Association, Pico Neighborhood and WilMont met with City manager Lamont Ewell, City Planning Director Eileen Fogarty, and City Attorney Marcia Moutrie to discuss a building moratorium under California Government Code Section 65858,

The moratorium would be in effect until the completion of the City’s General Plan revision. On the current schedule, it is estimated that work on the revision will require another two years.

Meanwhile, the City is approving projects based on an outdated General Plan that, as an SMCLC spokesperson said, “does not take into account all of the building that has gone on in the 23 years since its adoption, all of the current building going on throughout our city, or all of the permits which have been filed or will be filed over the next two years. Much of this development pressure simply was not anticipated under the 1984 General Plan.”

By Alice Ollstein

The Santa Monica Public Library was the setting Wednesday for a workshop on the planned demolition and replacement of the iconic California Incline.

Prior to the meeting, people were encouraged to visit several information booths that were set up in the library courtyard. Many people stopped by the "environmental impact" and "design" stations, but the "traffic" table drew the largest and most vocal crowd.

Traffic consultant Bob Cheung used a map of the Westside to describe the steps that the City planned to take to relieve the traffic woes an out-of-commission Incline would cause. The steps included a "residents only" route to help Santa Monicans get around during the busy summer months, detours along Palisades Beach Road, strategically placed signs urging motorists to take the 10 Freeway to Pacific Coast Highway, traffic signal coordination and a visible police presence.

"It's already gridlock on the PCH in the afternoons," one man griped. "What will happen now?"

We lost track of how many City Council meetings we’ve covered some time ago, but, without question, this week’s meeting was the oddest of the lot.

Mayor Richard Bloom was scheduled to be out of town. Council member Bobby Shriver had been out of the country and expected to be back in time for the meeting, but word came late Tuesday afternoon that he’d been delayed.

And then there were five.

Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz presided. Council members Ken Genser, Bob Holbrook. Kevin McKeown and Pam O’Connor were present.

The first item on the evening’s agenda was an appeal of a Landmark Commission designation of a beach cottage at 2219 Ocean Avenue.

Under Council rules, at least four votes are required to approve or deny any measure. Council member Holbrook favored continuing the appeal, noting that with only five members present, two members could actually swing the vote any way they wished, which would be unfair to the appellant. Genser disagreed, saying that as the appellant had previously continued the item, the hearing should be held. Mckeown and Katz apparently agreed.

Chris Harding, attorney for the appellant, also believed the appeal should be continued, and objected strenuously at having to proceed.

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE

Rogue Wave ‘07
12 Artists from Los Angeles

Works in all visual media demonstrating the spirit and vitality of the art that’s being made in Los Angeles now. Through August 18. at LA Louver Gallery in Venice.

Michael Tabori, New Work

Born in Paris, raised in New York, Tabore spent most of his life working in film. Now he lives in Venice and makes mixed media works. At William Turner Gallery, Bergamot Station, through September 1.

Danny Heller, Suburbia

Absolutely straight forward, and bsolutely subversive. At Terrence Rogers Fine Arts, Fifth Street in Santa Monica, through July 31.

Wexler, Joyce and Randall

Glen Wexler, The Secret Life of Cows, Paul Joyce’s Hollywoodland, curated by Dennis Hopper, and Gail Greenfield Randall’s Case Histories, Assemblages, curated by Kristine McK enna. Opening July 7 at Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, Reception, 7 to 10 p.m. Through August 1.

CONCERT

David Lindley with John Cruz and Brandi Shearer. Twilight Dance Series at the Santa Monica Pier. Thursday, July 5. 6:30 p.m.

It’s a Capra movie. The billionaire vs. the bookstore.

The billionaire announced in January that he planned to demolish the lovely old Barry Building that had housed the town’s beloved bookstore for many years, and replace it with “luxury condominiums.”

Upset at the prospect of losing their beloved bookstore, the townspeople immediately rallied to oppose the billionaire’s plans.

In July, the billionaire announced that instead of building condos on the site of the bookstore, he would construct a two-story retail complex in which the bookstore would have a prominent place.

Euclid Park in the 1500 block of Euclid between Colorado Avenue and Broadway, will open Sunday, July 15, at 1 p.m.

Designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios and artist Abbie Baron, The new park, which measures less than one-half acre, has been outfitted with shade trees, a trellis, seating, a swing set and climber for children, and a gardening area with 10 plots – two of which are accessible, raised planters -- and an area for gardening classes

The park is next to Hacienda del Mar, a 1928 brick Spanish Colonial Revival structure that had been an L.A. county health facility, was renovated by United Cerebral Palsy in 2003 and is now a 13-unit residence for people with disabilities.

When the park was proposed, some of the residents of the Hacienda del Mar and people from the neighborhood opposed it, alleging that It would attract undesirables.”

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission recommended Thursday that the Barry Building on San Vicente in Brentwood, which has been home to Dutton's Brentwood Books for more than two decades be designated a historic-cultural monument.

If the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee agrees with the designation, it will pass it on to the full Council, which will have the last word.

In January, when billionaire Charles Munger, 81, announced his plans to demolish the Barry Building and replace it with a large luxury condominium complex, Dutton’s customers and neighbors immediately mounted a campaign to save it.

One of the best bookstores in America, it is also a favorite neighborhood gathering place. Virtually every writer of note has appeared there, and many of its customers literally grew up at Dutton’s. Drawings of the store by current young readers now hang on Dutton’s walls.

California Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, said yesterday that impeachment “was still on the table.”

Almost immediately thereafter, CNN’s Jack Cafferty asked viewers whether they favored impeachment of the President. An hour later, he reported that an “overwhelming” number of viewers’ emails wanted the President to be impeached.

It was, as they say, an unscientific poll, but, judging by the emails Cafferty read on the air, it was vehement.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified .School District Board of Education voted Thursday night to declare a moratorium on confidentiality agreements, or gag orders, on resolution contracts made with special education parents.

The moratorium takes effect immediately.

Board member Oscar de la Torre said, "I was for a moratorium before and I am for it now... We need to practice responsive leadership and place an immediate stop [on] confidentiality agreements."

The other three Board members who were present -- Barry Snell, Maria Leon Vasquez and Kathy Wisnicki -- then voted unanimously in support of de la Torre's motion.

A teacher by profession, Denny Zane made his mark as a co-founder of Santa Minicans for Renters’ Rights, and went on to be a City Councilman, Mayor, SMRR’s boss of bosses, and environmental/political/education consultant. Now, according to the Los Angeles Times, he’s founded a non-profit group, Subway to the Sea.
Chances are, the group isn’t planning to raise the estimated $5 billion it will cost to build the 16-mile line under Wilshire Boulevard from downtown Los Angeles to Ocean Avenue.

We surely don’t need both the subway and the Expo light rail line. Does Zane’s entry mean the bloom is off light rail -- in Santa Monica anyway?

Representatives from Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) and neighborhood organizations met several weeks ago with City Manager
Lamont Ewell and City Attorney Marcia Moutrie to request that the City declare a moratorium on new development until the revision of the General Plan is complete. Subsequently, the representatives asked the Planning Commission to recommend that it recommend the moratorium to the City Council (See Dispatch stories, “City Hall Vamps,” Current, and “Why Is City Stalling?” Archive, June)

Neither the City nor the Planning Commission has acted yet, but the question is on the Planning Commission agenda for Wednesday, July 18, and SMCLC has asked residents, via email, to ask Planning Commission members to act.

The text of SMCLC’s email follows

Dear SMCLC supporter:

Development pressures on Santa Monica are relentless. While developers make huge amounts of money, residents pay the cost in increased traffic and a deceased quality of life due to congestion and high-density construction. Do developers care if residents are negatively impacted by their projects? Why should they, unless residents force them to care?

It’s not clear yet how it started, but it ended with four people being treated for gunshot wounds in local hospitals, and a suspect in custody.

According to a Santa Monica Police Department press release, Sunday night at 1:50 a.m., SMPD patrol officers responded to a report of gunshots in the 400 block of 11th Street On arriving, the officers were told by guests at a party in a house on the block that some other partygoers were arguing in front of the house, when one of them pulled a gun and fired several shots. The suspect or suspects then left the scene in a silver BMW, 5-series

On Saturday, July 21, the City will hold a community workshop to explore what the area it calls “the industrial lands” should become in the next 20 years.
Once largely industrial, the target area has become the most mixed section of the city in the last 20 years. It lies more or less between Centinela Avenue to the east, the 10 Freeway to the south, Lincoln Boulevard to the west and Colorado Avenue/Broadway to the north.

It is currently dominated by the cluster of luxe office buildings bounded by Twentieth and Stewart Streets and Broadway and Colorado.

The dedication of the refurbished facilities at Will Rogers State Beach will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, July 23, at the north end of parking lot #3.

Enter the lot at Temescal and drive north, beyond the maintenance yard. The ceremony will be held immediately north of the site of the Lobster Pot, which is now gone.

According to a Malibu Surfside News story by Hans Laetz, “…Douglas Failing, the District 7 director of the California Department of Transportation, said Monday that Caltrans will not grant Santa Monica any permits to close lanes on state-owned PCH unless those closures are limited to light-traffic periods, which will likely require evening or overnight work…

“Failing was asked if Santa Monica’s plan to close PCH lanes for the daytime-only replacement of the California Incline bridge and stabilization of the Santa Monica bluffs would be modified by Caltrans to require nighttime work. ‘I’m going to say yes,…I’m not sure they [Santa Monica] have that choice, the work hours are our choice.’

By Ava Tramer

Beaches
Warm and sunny
Highs: 72-75; Lows: 64-67

Inland
Hot and sunny
Highs: 91-96; Lows: 62-65

Deserts
Scorching and sunny
Highs: 104-109; Lows: 81-85

Responding to Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold’s plan to
ask the Senate to censure President George W. Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" on the Constitution, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, said,” The president already has the mark of the American people — he's the worst president we ever had. I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that."

It was the great Yale scholar Harold Bloom who said that William Shakespeare invented human beings. As a species, we have not evolved a whit since then and so his plays remain vital and pertinent, as well as perfect works of art.

The fourth annual summer Shakespeare Festival is now underway in Reed Park – outdoors on tennis court #1 and indoors in Miles Memorial Playhouse, featuring three of the wizard’s plays in rep through July 29.

A one-hour and 20-minute version of “Twelfth Night” will play Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on the tennis court. “Richard III” will be performed Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. and an all-woman cast will do “Taming of the Shrew” Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. – both in Miles Memorial Playhouse.

Reed Park is located at Wilshire Boulevard between Lincoln Boulevard and Seventh Street. Miles Playhouse is on Lincoln a half-block north of Wilshire.
Admission is free for anyone 18 years old and under. Tickets range from $20 to $25, with discounts for students and senior citizens. Tickets may be purchased by calling (310) 270-3454, by emailing shakespeareSantaMonica@gmail.com or visiting www.shakespearesantamonica.com.

CodePink describes “Writers on Politics Now” as “a literary event for those who love art with their activism.”

It’s scheduled for Saturday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Beyond Baroque, and will feature novelists Gayle Brande and Diane Leefer.

Brande’s novel, “Self Storage,” is “a post-9/11 story of a woman who is launched on a path of self-discovery while buying and reselling storage unit contents.”

Leefer’s “California Transit,” is “an examination of the difference between justice and law in Southern California.”

The writers will be followed by a musical performance by Jill Sobule.

In addition, Tom Hayden and CodePink’s Jodie Evans will deliver an “Out of Iraq” message.

CodePink will hold a cocktail party prior to the event to raise funds to send mayors to Washington DC for Cities for Peace Day.

For tickets to reading and/or party, Call 310 827 4320.

Beyond Baroque is located at 681 Venice Boulevard, two blocks west of Lincoln.

By Ava Tramer

Beaches
Mostly sunny and warm
Highs: 70-76; Lows: 63-66

Inland
Sunny and slightly cooler after the weekend
Highs: 89-95; Lows: 60-65

Deserts
Sunny and hot
Highs: 102-107; Lows: 81-84

A grandmother sits with her grandson in a cottage in Santa Monica: