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Articles by this Author
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Administrators don’t get graded on a curve
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The effects of bureaucracy are at work once again in Santa Monica — this time in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
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The party is over
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There’s a reason why we’ve made little progress in the fight against homelessness — it’s called “government not at work.”
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Michael Miller: Savoring his freedom
Just a little more than a year ago, Main Street furniture stripper Michael Miller drove with his buddies north of Santa Barbara, ate Mexican food and drank a beer. And then he went to federal prison.
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Minutemen protest draws rapid response
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Tensions were high here on Saturday as activists battled over whether or not undocumented immigrants have a right to work in the country.
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Grounds for appeal along PCH
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A $24 million public beach club has been designed to incorporate both the old and new — reflecting the historical aspects of what was once a grandiose mansion built by newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, while at the same time factoring in the community’s needs of today.
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One for the books: Crime in city reaches a new low
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Overall crime in Santa Monica is down, again.
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Card carriers have reason to celebrate
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If the residents and visitors of Santa Monica haven’t been to the new Main Library yet, they should check it out.
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City set to pay for lot of attention
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City officials are attempting to settle a lawsuit filed by the owners of multi-million property who claim City Hall’s bureaucracy has prevented them from remodeling a beach home.
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Despondent man gets lots of attention
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Police swarmed this neighborhood Thursday night, closing down several blocks for more than five hours after receiving a call that a resident home by himself was despondent.
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KCRW standing behind Douridas
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Woodlawn woes are grave matter for city
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As more and more dirt continues to be unearthed from the financial mess that’s been buried at the city’s cemetery for years, some light has been shed into the inner workings of our local government.
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Shake hands, make friends the first order of business
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The city’s first-ever homeless czar has spent the past three weeks of his job shaking hands with hundreds of political players and absorbing what they have to say.
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Actor Chris Penn dies at SM home
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Actor Chris Penn, 40, died at his oceanside condominium here Tuesday.
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A thirst for knowledge
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Now into his second week as Santa Monica’s top administrator, Lamont Ewell is approaching his new job as a sponge — soaking up all he can, including the warmth of the city’s residents as well as the weather.
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Honda of SM to pay millions
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The parent company that owns Honda of Santa Monica is expected to pay nearly $2 million in restitution, civil penalties and costs for allegedly ripping off customers. The settlement, which is expected to be announced today by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, is separate from the pending criminal cases of six former Honda of Santa Monica sales representatives who allegedly scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers by tacking on charges of “theft etch” to their contracts without their customers’ knowledge. Theft etch marks a vehicle’s parts with traceable numbers in the event of a theft.
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Officers shoot, kill carjacking suspect
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A Santa Monica police officer shot and killed a carjacking suspect early Thursday, after the man opened fire on authorities and led them on a short pursuit through area streets.
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Shrine follows fatal shooting
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A makeshift shrine has been erected at the intersection where a carjacking suspect was fatally shot by Santa Monica police officers last week.
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Tracking the cause of blaze
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Hundreds of shoes, a recycling truck and numerous dumpsters burned here this past weekend, causing at least $100,000 in damage.
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Spend surplus to shed light, make clean sweep
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It appears Santa Monica is rolling in the dough.
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Fracas over ficus trees gains steam
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Merchants here are getting defensive in their fight to save dozens of trees that have lined this street for decades.
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Shriver’s plan for VA grounds meets opposition
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Residents here are worried about just what type of homeless individuals will end up in their neighborhoods if a proposal initiated by Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver is accepted by the federal government.
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Upscale changes talk of the town
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SM PLACE — In order to remain competitive, business and city leaders are fairly certain they’re going to need to reinvent downtown Santa Monica. The issue of who will foot the bill remains a touch murkier.
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Merchants aren’t only ones operating in dark
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There’s a lot going on in this town and it’s nearly impossible to track every decision made within the walls of City Hall.
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Johnson murder case heading to trial
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DOWNTOWN LA — It will be more than three years since the murder of a Santa Monica woman that her accused killer will stand trial, lawyers said.
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Honda of SM to pay back $829K to its customers
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An estimated 1,500 customers who were ripped off by a Santa Monica car dealership can expect to be reimbursed in the next few months.
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Samohi mourns one of its own
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SAMOHI — The mood on campus here was somber Wednesday as students and school staff mourned the loss of 15-year-old Eduardo Lopez, who was fatally shot Tuesday night.
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Rolling out red carpet for those with Spirit
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SM BEACH — Often considered the “Oscars before the Oscars,” the Independent Spirit Awards that will be staged here this weekend attracts hundreds of celebrities and filmmakers to Santa Monica, and with them they bring notoriety to this city by the sea while at the same time, fueling the local hospitality industry.
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Take back our streets one corner at a time
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The community is once again grieving the loss of one of its young residents as a result of violence. And once we get past the grief, we will no doubt feel outrage. What we do with that outrage will be the biggest issue facing our community in the coming months.
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City takes its case to a higher court
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CITY HALL — Officials here will appeal a recent court ruling that denied its lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles that seeks to stop a massive development known as Playa Vista.
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Coalition targeting residents’ priorities
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CITYWIDE — A grassroots movement is underway that aims to get thousands of people to force change in Santa Monica, particularly in time for the upcoming fall election when three seats will be open on the City Council.
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Rogue landlord reeled in
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SM COURTHOUSE — A judge has fined a local landlord nearly $50,000 for harassing his tenants and has barred him from having any direct contact with the seven renters who testified against him at trial.
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Council has crossed the parallel lines
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Like so many other things, we wish our local government would get a move on in finding solutions to our problems. After all, elected officials promised they would when they asked us to vote for them.
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Gerri Gilliland’s Irish-American dream
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MAIN STREET — Irish pub owner Gerri Gilliland has big plans this week, but it’s not just because St. Patrick’s Day is four days away.
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City Hall expenditures to go ’round and ’round
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CITY HALL — Elected officials tonight will most likely sign off on $1.3 million in expenditures for everything from hiring outside management companies to maintain the pier carousel and a city-owned mobile home park to creating a bike path along the old rail line on Santa Monica’s eastside.
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City can’t curb feedings frenzy
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CITYWIDE — While lawyers wait for a panel of judges to decide the constitutionality of feeding the hungry in public parks, a law passed more than two years ago designed to curb public food lines has shown little effect.
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Freeway sweep nets 12 arrests
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INTERSTATE 10 — Police on Tuesday arrested 12 homeless individuals during the first of what is expected to become routine sweeps of illegal encampments along this stretch of freeway.
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Less talk, more action
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It’s been 1 1/2 years since the City Council passed a law that was supposed to put more scrutiny on groups determined to feed the poor, the homeless and the hungry.
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Assault stirs debate over public safety
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MAIN STREET — The head librarian of the Ocean Park Library was assaulted last week by a homeless man who spent the majority of his time sitting outside the facility, sources said.
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Attack at library reveals city’s inadequate actions
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This month’s attack of a librarian should serve as a wake-up call to city officials that Santa Monica’s growing homeless population of mentally ill people and criminals has become a very serious issue that needs attention immediately.
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Weller’s day in court approaches
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The elderly Santa Monica man responsible for killing 10 people and injuring dozens more is scheduled to go on trial July 10, nearly three years after he drove his car through a busy Farmers Market on Arizona Avenue.
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Time for neighbors to help shoulder load
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Now that Los Angeles County supervisors have allocated $100 million toward solving the homeless problem in 88 different cities, Santa Monica needs to go on the defensive. Why? Because supervisors will be looking at Santa Monica as one of five potential cities to put a “regional stabilization facility,” the main concept behind the plan approved Tuesday.
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DNA key to ’98 murders
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POLICE HDQTRS. — Capital murder charges were filed on Friday against two imprisoned gang members believed to be responsible for the deaths of two men who were shot in a Santa Monica clothing store nearly eight years ago.
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Deasy ready for his next lesson
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DISTRICT HDQTRS. — When he leaves town for good next week, John Deasy would like to think he is leaving local schools in better shape than when he found them five years ago.
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Still waiting on justice
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DOWNTOWN LA — Capital murder charges have yet to be filed against the two imprisoned gang members who are accused of randomly killing two men in Santa Monica nearly eight years ago.
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The show really doesn’t have to go on ... and on
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It’s trying enough that because the Third Street Promenade is a public street we have to endure constant panhandlers and shady solicitors, but being forced to listen to would-be musicians butcher the Beatles and shred Sheryl Crow is enough to make residents want to stay away, and some visitors never want to return.
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Seize the Bay: Classic makes run at helping
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SM PIER — Thousands of people next Sunday are expected to run around town in an environmental push to help save Santa Monica Bay — the area’s most precious natural resource and one of the most polluted bodies of water in the region.
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Taking it back to the streets
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CITYWIDE — It’s back to basics for a group of residents who plan to resurrect a grassroots level of neighborhood activism that decades ago influenced much of how Santa Monica was governed.
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Just doing the best he can
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11TH STREET — Jerry Washington is a product of his environment.
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Deasy come, Deasy go
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SMMUSD HDQTRS. — Before they go behind closed doors to search for a new schools superintendent, education officials here want to include the public before they exclude them.
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SM Honda defendants etch a deal
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DOWNTOWN LA — The last two defendants in the Honda of Santa Monica fraud case cut a deal with prosecutors this week, ending a nearly three-year investigation into the dealership that bilked thousands of dollars from its customers.
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Let’s all follow the money trail
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The powers-that-be in City Hall have finally decided that accountability is needed when it comes to providing services to the homeless population. It’s about time.
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Trying to fix what ails the school’s campuses
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SAMOHI — Issues of overcrowding, campus inefficiencies, as well as inadequate and outdated facilities throughout the local school district have propelled hundreds of people from the Santa Monica and Malibu communities into action.
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Two inmates charged with killing brothers
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DOWNTOWN LA — Three weeks after police submitted its murder case to prosecutors, the District Attorney’s Office filed charges on Tuesday against two imprisoned gang members who are accused of randomly killing two men in Santa Monica nearly eight years ago.
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Hey, kids, let’s put on a show!
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SM PIER — With public funding for arts education in schools across the country waning, local students and teen stars are gathering here this weekend to showcase how community support has made them excel as young artists.
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Honda on probation in wake of fraud case
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SM BLVD. — Honda of Santa Monica has been put on probation by the Department of Motor Vehicles after the dealership’s sales employees were convicted of defrauding customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Going postal quite understandable
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The old adage that “neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet” stops the mail from being delivered doesn’t apply here in Santa Monica. And we hardly have any rain.
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Weary ‘Poseidon’ stars towel off
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Rising stars Josh Lucas and Emmy Rossum consider themselves fortunate that they got out alive after filming director Wolfgang Petersen’s action thriller “Poseidon,” which opens in theaters on Friday. Nearly every actor on the set got what was commonly referred to as a the “Poseidon crud.” Hospitalizations, surgeries, pneumonia and concussions became the norm for the actors on the set. Lucas and Rossum recently sat down to discuss the harrowing experience and how they rose from the sinking ship.
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The YWCA Westside can’t live without ‘em
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OCEAN AVE. — A doctor, a surfer, a community activist, a service provider — all women of the year.
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Chasing a rainbow
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11th STREET — While far removed from the minds of the general public, there is still a world of suffering going on in New Orleans.
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City set to walk the walk
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OCEAN PARK BLVD. - After years of complaints, concerns, accidents and even deaths, it appears that city officials are ready to improve the conditions here for pedestrians who fall victim to inattentive and speeding motorists.
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Being true to our schools
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With all of the issues that spotlight the negative aspects of living and doing business in Santa Monica, it’s important to remember that it’s the community that makes it so unique. Nowhere is that more apparent than the widespread support of the public school system, which is nothing short of remarkable.
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‘Hedge’ finally has clear path to big screens
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Michael Fry and T Lewis have leapt from the funny papers to the big screen — and the big time. In the process, they’ve watched the evolution of their comic strip, “Over The Hedge,” turn into movie magic, courtesy of Dreamworks and its leader, Jeffrey Katzenberg.
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Support running deep
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CITYWIDE It appears there’s majority support among residents to more than double stormwater parcel fees in an effort to prevent further pollution from going into the Santa Monica Bay and meet state environmental standards.
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Something about petition stinks
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Santa Monica voters will likely be asked to weigh in on the issue of adult marijuana use this November. On Wednesday, members of a movement called Santa Monicans for Sensible Marijuana Policy (SMSMP) turned in more than 8,000 gathered signatures — only 5,580 were required — in efforts to put a proposal on the ballot that would make the enforcement of marijuana use in the home the police department’s lowest priority.
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Lifeguard’s credo is to go with flow
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BAYWATCH HDQRTS. — Dave Estey describes his job as long periods of boredom coupled with moments of terror.
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Day laborers wearing out welcome
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11th STREET — Police say they will beef up patrols here as a result of loitering day laborers, but some business leaders are still waiting to see an increased presence.
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Cops bust two after a slew of robberies
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CITYWIDE — Police said they have arrested two men believed to be responsible for four armed robberies within a four-day span that occurred throughout the city last month. Joshua Eli Raff, 19, of Santa Monica, and Casey Gerald Bowen, 21, of West Los Angeles, were arrested on May 21 by LAPD after they were pulled over at Ruth and Dewey streets in Venice, said Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega. They have been charged with possession of a firearm and multiple armed robbery charges in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, Fabrega added.
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Taking destiny in your hands
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In five days, millions of Californians can influence the future.
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Newspaper reader aids PD in finding suspect
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SUNSET PARK — Acting on a tip from a Santa Monica Daily Press reader, local police were able to hone in on a Santa Monica man who is suspected of allegedly running over another man in a fit of road rage.
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Rough going for area youth
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SIMI VALLEY — Community members and police officers last month took a swing at raising cash for a fallen comrade, the result of which netted $30,000 for Santa Monica youth.
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