News from Santa Monica.
Early this morning when I met my running group at Ocean and Arizona Avenues, our usual parking and meeting area was noticeably changed. Ocean Ave was covered in new, smooth, blacktop and the road markings were mostly gone with spray…
Yesterday, a coalition of street vendors met at City Hall to deliver their thoughts on a series of proposed changes the city has submitted for public comment to the city’s street vending ordinance. Interested parties have until Friday, April 21,…
On March 31, the City of Santa Monica proposed a set of new rules for street vendors in Palisades Park and the Santa Monica Pier. The new rules propose a lottery system for eleven permitted spaces in Palisades Park as…
Disclosure: Juan Matute, Jason Mastbaum and Jason Islas have all written for Santa Monica Next and serve both officially and unofficially as advisors. Last year, the Brighter Future PAC experienced setbacks in its first attempt to change the makeup of…
Unzipped: An Autopsy of American Inequality is playing tonight through Thursday at Laemmle Theatre in Santa Monica (Tickets). Tonight’s showing features a Q and A with the writer/producer/director of the movie, Colin Gray and other members of the production team.…
At their Tuesday meeting, the Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously to create and fill a new commission. The Anti-Housing Commission was created to gather input from the community on reasons, both legal and otherwise, that the city could use…
Last week, hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles families had their lives upended when the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) joined a three day “unfair labor practices” strike of Los Angeles school employees and their union SEIU Local 99.…
It’s been three years since the City of Los Angeles passed a home sharing ordinance (HSO) to regulate what properties can be offered as a short term rental, what fees can be collected by the city and what homeowners need…
On Wednesday, the City of Santa Monica Active Aging Pilot Program will host a walking and bicycling safety class for seniors at Wise & Healthy at 1527 4th Street at 2 p.m. The Active Aging program is a pilot program…
Well wishers to one of the Santa Monica Pier’s most famous attractions, the Sea Dragon, witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime and only-in-Santa-Monica moment when a helicopter dropped its wires, snagged the city’s largest green scaly resident and took the dragon on its…
This weekend, two new trendy chain places to get sweets will open on the Third Street Promenade: Duck Donuts and Mad Scientist Ice Cream (which actually did a ‘surprise’ soft opening yesterday) in the Kitchen United Food Hall (1315 3rd…
At the end of discussion about further amendments to the city’s housing element at Tuesday’s City Council meeting (video and agenda), Councilmember Carolyn Torosis brought up the question of what city can and cannot do in regards to possibly transferring…
It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since Dan “the Man” Levi came to Los Angeles and to teach gymnastics. His California journey saw him teaching classes out of the back of a van before he moved into a…
When is 15 greater than 20? This was one of many complicated questions the Santa Monica City Council wrestled with on Wednesday, and the answer could decide how the city attacks its affordable housing shortage. The seven and a half…
Update, February 22, 10:00 a.m. – The City of Santa Monica emailed a statement last night clarifiying that it was Palmdale that initially reached out to the city last December and the only contact has been an introductory meeting. The…
