GRANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL — Usually it’s the job of parents to warn their children about the risks of smoking, but for Santa Monica’s elementary students the roles have been reversed.
DOWNTOWN — A proposal to build a new Travelodge on Ocean Avenue cleared one final hurdle last week when the California Coastal Commission gave the project the green light, allowing construction to finally begin this fall.
DELAWARE AVENUE — There’s an undeveloped piece of land that lies unnoticeable in the shadow of Woodlawn Cemetery, sitting largely vacant except for a scattering of trash and a decrepit sofa.
Last Tuesday evening, the City Council upheld an appeal of landmark designation for 301 Ocean Ave. Big developers won another victory. Gentrification in the form of more multi-million dollar luxury condos for the wealthy moves forward while the little guy gets kicked in the pants.
CITY HALL — An economic downturn that has driven up the unemployment rate and jeopardized housing for many will push rents up by 1 percent this fall, the lowest since 1999 when city officials authorized an increase by the same amount.
CITY HALL — The days of paparazzi crowding sidewalks, standing on top of cars and swarming near a local preschool to get candid shots of celebrities with their children could be numbered.
CITY HALL — A few dozen pleas to preserve a 57-year-old ocean-front building were not enough to sway the City Council on Tuesday from revoking a landmark designation of the home of Santa Monica’s first female mayor.
President Obama has officially begun the era of bigger big government by proposing to go on a multi-trillion dollar borrowing spree that risks doing to the “full faith and credit of the United States” what excessive borrowing during the housing bubble did to private credit.
CITY HALL — Hundreds of city employees voted in favor of forgoing performance bonuses this fiscal year, an action that is expected to save City Hall $1.
As the sun set on a beautiful Saturday evening, about 75 people milled about the courtyard of the Santa Monica Main Library commenting on a trio of electric cars on display.
DOWNTOWN — A circus-like atmosphere began unfolding at the First Presbyterian Nursery School, the source of chaos coming not from crying children, but rather a group of two dozen photographers snapping away from behind a fence.
<i>Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas.
