Dear EarthTalk: Don’t some scientists point to sunspots and solar wind as having more impact on climate change than human industrial activity? — David Noss, California, MD Sunspots are storms on the sun’s surface that are marked by intense magnetic activity and play host to solar flares and hot gass
SMC — Teachers on the first day of summer school classes today may find far more students in their rooms than they bargained for, and more that never signed up.
CITYWIDE — Starting today, Santa Monica kids can trash can relay, putt for points and bottle bowl their way to saving the environment. The Clean Air Olympics — which includes these tasks and many more — is just one activity available to kids at Camp Santa Monica through the O24U curriculum.
DOWNTOWN — It took Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins more than two months and roughly 1,800 miles to ride from Vancouver to their hometown of Santa Monica, taking with them two bikes, a few bags and half a dozen jars containing a murky mixture of plankton, water and some colorful bits of plastic.
SAMOHI — Far away from the Los Angeles Coliseum and the confetti, there was a dimly lit classroom in Santa Monica that played home to a very different kind of Lakers celebration on Wednesday.
WEST L.A. — For eight long days, Santa Monican John McInally Jr. and his family combed area streets looking for their Alzheimer’s disease stricken father who had wandered away from his Venice home on June 10.
BORDERLINE — A recent string of crimes along the southern edge of the city have rattled the nerves of some neighbors who say that despite incidents over the past several weeks, they generally consider the small community to be safe.
Crime Watch is a weekly series culled from reports provided by the Santa Monica Police Department. These are arrests only. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
PICO BLVD — Santa Monica College’s commencement ceremony this week spawned a new crop of alumni and administrators are hoping graduates stay in touch with their alma mater.
MARINA DEL REY — Boaters and beach goers are being asked to keep their distance from a California gray whale that has been swimming in and out of the Marina del Rey channel for the last two weeks.
CITY HALL — When city officials in January began taking a hard look at the harsh economic realities facing local government, a decision was made to freeze 18 vacant positions they deemed would have the least impact on the general public.
A Santa Monica Vons store was recently named the top fundraiser in a Safeway Inc. charity campaign to raise funds for people with disabilities. The store, located at 710 Broadway, raised more than $11,000 during the April fundraiser to benefit Easter Seals Southern California, a group that provides