The staff and board of Santa Monica Next, a new local news site, will host a press conference Tuesday to launch the Kickstarter-funded nonprofit.
Santa Monica Next, led by local columnist Gary Kavanagh and editor of Streetsblog Los Angeles, Damien Newton, plans to cover news and analysis on decisions and programs that impact the future of Santa Monica regarding transportation, land-use, public health, planning and environmental issues.
Tyler Hakomori, a senior at Santa Monica High School and editor for Streetsblog LITE, will be joining Kavanagh and Newton on the writing team.
The group collected $1,670 in donations — $20 more then their pledged goal — through their Kickstarter project with five days of donations left by the time of print.
The official launch press conference will be at the Santa Monica Bike Center at Second Street and Colorado Avenue, the center being the website's first sponsor. It starts at 11 a.m.