Welcome to 2012! As you are aware, this is an election year. In addition to electing or re-electing (as the case may be) holders for national, state and county offices, Santa Monicans will elect people for City Council, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education and Rent Control
From the Arab Spring uprisings to the Occupy Wall Street movement and austerity rallies, 2011 was the year of the protest. Dictators were toppled and governments put on notice as ordinary citizens used social media to do the extraordinary — spread a wave of dissent across continents.
CITYWIDE — The next time you think about sending a text while driving — even if it’s just something as simple as “almost there” — you might want to think again.
CITY HALL — Santa Monica officials will scramble to determine the fate of $267 million in high-priority redevelopment projects in the wake of a California Supreme Court decision Thursday that allows the Legislature to dissolve redevelopment agencies across the state.
MID CITY — Natalie Lewis is 79 years old, and she fears for her life. Lewis lives in a small studio in the 285-unit Westminster Towers, a seniors-only housing complex funded through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It’s time for the Sammies — my annual awards for the good, bad and ugly in Santa Monica. The 2011 Sammy for “Architectural Thuggery” goes to Texas developer Hines, whose original development proposal for the former Paper Mate property on Olympic Boulevard was best described as “packing boxes the Wat
City officials can talk all they want about how Santa Monica is becoming more business friendly, but unless you’re Yahoo!, MTV or Activision, the reality is it’s far from it.
DOWNTOWN — While the holiday season is about more than just gift giving and receiving, those times spent by the Christmas tree or the menorah opening presents painstakingly selected by loved ones make for some of our fondest memories.
CITY HALL — While the war over space for nativity scenes in Palisades Park rages on, Santa Monica’s Jewish community is having no problem finding spots to put up its menorahs.
CITYWIDE — It’s the season of big requests and even bigger dreams, a time where we reflect on the year behind us, make plans for the one ahead and hope that somewhere along the way, we can get a little help with some of our pie in the sky hopes.
The Friends of Sunset Park would like to believe that the Daily Press’ Dec. 9 editorial calling out the City Council’s failure to create diversity on the Airport Commission was loaded with falsehoods, but their response provided no examples of where the Daily Press got it wrong factually.
PALISADES PARK — As Christmas Day moves ever closer, the tussle over nativity scenes that held a place of prominence in Palisades Park for nearly 60 years continues to grow in fervor and national interest, causing city officials to weigh the possibility of altering the lottery system used to select
