Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 179
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 770 bills into law in 2021; many of them impacting people’s daily lives will take effect as soon as New Year’s Day. A handful of laws, such as a ban on the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers and a requirement that large retailers maintain a genderless kid’s area, don’t go into effect until a couple of years from now. Here are a few of the more noteworthy ones: — Minimum wage: SB 3 requires the minimum wage for all industries employing 26 or more employees to rise to $15, and $14 for employers employing 25 o...
By Observer Staff A bill now pending in the California State legislature proposes to convert the State's municipal and public golf courses into affordable housing. AB 672, authored by Christina Garcia (D_Bell Gardens) also provides $50 million in state subsidies to developers to help redevelop the golf courses into affordable housing. Locally, Penmar Golf Course in Venice and Rancho Park Golf Course in WLA are municipal golf courses. The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades is privately...
LA County Expands Testing Sites The L.A. County Department of Health Services announced that it is moving to deliver an "urgent expansion" of the county's free testing services. This as long lines have formed at most testing sites, during a major expansion in the number of people testing positive for Covid. As part of the expansion, the county brought back the Holiday Home Test Collection Program, which offers residents free at-home nasal swab tests if they have COVID-19 symptoms or if they've b...
A screaming 7-Eleven clerk in Olympic Valley, California got a closer wildlife encounter than she desired after a black bear strolled into the store and "used" the hand sanitizer station. A clip of the critter's bizarre convenience store stop boasts 8.1 million views on TikTok as of Tuesday morning. "Oh my goodness, he knows how to open - heeey, stooop!" 7-Eleven employee Rachelle Ducusin, 44, can be heard screaming hysterically at the burly beast in the now-viral clip, which she uploaded to...
California has approved new legislation to address the growing epidemic of hate crimes and incidents in the state. The new bill, AB 1126, establishes the first statewide commission to monitor and track hate crimes and recommend policy to the state leaders and legislators. It was signed in law by Governor Gavin Newsom last week. The Commission on the State of Hate is “a necessary step towards understanding who is perpetrating these crimes, who is being targeted, and how we can develop policy solutions,” said Assembly member Richard Bloom (D-...
Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin is terminating Mark Ridley-Thomas's City pay following today's City Council vote to suspend him: "After today's City Council vote, Mark Ridley-Thomas is no longer empowered to carry out the duties and responsibilities for which he was elected, and he can no longer be present to effectively serve his constituents or represent their interests at City Hall. "While Ridley-Thomas has had many years of honorable public service, I will not use City money to pay...
California has passed a new law that will phase out the inhumane practice of keeping "blood slave" donor dogs in captivity. Over the weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law, AB1282, which lets veterinarians run community blood banks where residents can take their pets to donate blood, which they can later sell and transfer to clinics that need it. The new law, known as the California Pet Blood Bank Modernization Act, also creates a plan to eliminate the "closed colony banks" where dogs are kept...
By Jack Simon, Observer Staff Writer Californians will soon see the return of glass beverage bottles to their supermarkets. Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed a bill, AB 962, which paves the way for reusable glass bottles to flow through the state’s beverage recycling program. “Now, rather than bottles being crushed for recycling, the bottles can be preserved to be washed and refilled by beverage producers -- simultaneously creating jobs and reducing waste,” said Senator Sydney Kamlager (D-LA), author of the legislation. Kamlager said AB 96...
Californians will soon see the return of glass beverage bottles to their supermarkets. Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed a bill, AB 962, which paves the way for reusable glass bottles to flow through the state's beverage recycling program. "Now, rather than bottles being crushed for recycling, the bottles can be preserved to be washed and refilled by beverage producers -- simultaneously creating jobs and reducing waste," said Senator Sydney Kamlager (D-LA), author of the legislation. Kamlag...
Samuel Alioto California’s statewide eviction moratorium expired at the end of September. Nevertheless, Tenants who pay 25% of the back rent and are making payments over the next year on rent due, may be able to keep their homes. Los Angeles officials gathered with tenant rights advocates on Thursday, Sept. 30, to advertise that the city’s eviction moratorium is still in effect. California had extended its eviction moratorium three times, including in June. But there was simply no political support to push the moratorium past Sept. 30, Ass...
9 Earthquake in Carson A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was reported Thursday at 7:58 p.m. in Carson, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Carson was the center of a 3.7 earthquake last week, so this is an after shock. The earthquake occurred less than a mile from West Carson, one mile from Los Angeles, two miles from Torrance and two miles from Long Beach. In the last 10 days, there have been four earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby. An average of 59 earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.0 and 3.0 occur per year in the...
By Stan Greene, Observer Staff Writer Just off his landslide win in the California recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill which "will ensure cities and counties are adequately re-zoning to meet their housing needs" – a move many critics and homeowners say may lead to the elimination of the R-1 (single-family) zones in their municipalities. AB 1398 – approved by the legislature last week – requires local agencies that fail to adopt a legally compliant housing element to prope...
Homeless Vet Killed in San Vicente Encampment Here, local workers deliver aid to homeless veterans living on San Vicente. A suspect has been arrested after fatally stabbing another man at the San Vicente homeless encampment in Brentwood. Deputies responded to the 11600 block of San Vicente Boulevard around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The victim, a Marine veteran, was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. His name has not yet been released. A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect was involved in a dispute with his...
The California State Legislature has approved a bill which “will ensure cities and counties are adequately re-zoning to meet their housing needs.” AB 1398 – approved by the legislature last week – requires local agencies that fail to adopt a legally compliant housing element to properly rezone within one year to meet its affordable housing needs. “The housing element planning process is a key building block in the state’s policies to foster the production of affordable housing and address homelessness,” said Assembly member Richard Bloom...
Suspect Still at Large in Santa Monica Carjacking One suspect is in custody after armed robbery carjacking outside La Condesa Restaurant September 10, 2021 - Shortly after midnight this morning, a victim was held up at gunpoint outside La Condesa restaurant at 1519 Wilshire Boulevard, and then driven around the block in their own car while they were robbed. At least two suspects then fled in their own vehicle at high speed, crashing at 26th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. Santa Monica Police arrived on the scene, set up a perimeter, and with...
The California State Legislature has approved Assembly Bill 721 which removes exclusionary and racist provisions in housing covenants. "AB 721 is a crucial step in remedying California's painful history of segregation and redlining," said Assembly-member Bloom who authored the bill. "Racist housing covenants have no place in our state and should not be used to deter critically needed affordable housing," Approved late last week, the new bill provides property owners with a process to remove...
LA Teachers Unions Wants Mandatory Vax for Kids A Los Angeles teachers union wants more stringent coronavirus guidelines for the nation’s second-largest school district. The Los Angeles Times reports, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) “is calling for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all eligible students and stricter quarantine rules while raising some objections to a new district mandate for online instruction when students are in quarantine.” The Times obtained a document dated August 26 called “Counterproposal #2” that the outlet sa...
By Samuel Alioto, Observer Staff Writer Los Angeles police are looking for a sexual predator who broke into a Westwood apartment and groped a sleeping woman Friday morning. The assault occurred around 4 a.m. in the 11000 block of Strathmore Drive, near UCLA, according to Los Angeles Police Department. The victim reported that she was awakened by movement in her bedroom. “She saw a white male standing over her,” LAPD said in a press release. “He groped her over her clothes before she jumped up and pushed him out of the apartment.” Suspect...
New Polls: Newsom in Trouble Earlier this month, results from a SurveyUSA poll showed that 51% of likely voters in California’s upcoming recall election would vote to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. It was the first poll to show a majority favoring his removal and led to a dramatic shift in polling averages. Before these results, polling averages calculated by the politics and data website FiveThirtyEight showed a seven-point margin favoring keeping Newsom in office. But with SurveyUSA’s data, the margin narrowed to less than one poi...
Council To Consider Mandatory Vaccinations The Santa Monica City Council will consider at its August 24th meeting, whether City employees should be required to obtain vaccinations for Covid-19, prior to reporting for their jobs and as a condition of employment. The City Council (should) express its position that to protect the health and safety of both City Employees and the public we serve, absent legitimate medical or religious concerns, all city employees volunteers and contractors should be required to be fully vaccinated against...
Big Blue Bus (BBB) is launching a new express service – Express 7 – that will provide limited stop service to major destinations, including Downtown Santa Monica and Santa Monica College, and connect to Metro Rail’s E Line and D Line. Express 7 service begins next Monday, August 16, and buses will operate on weekdays only, from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., running every 20 minutes all day. Customers can board Express 7 at one of the following stops, between Downtown Santa Monica and the Wilshire/Western Station D Line: 7th St. & Olympic Blvd.; 4th S...
LA Times Endorses Kevin Falconer for Gov. The Los Angeles Times has endorsed former San Diego Mayor Kevin Falconer for governor, in the Sept. 14th recall election. The paper first tells people to vote No on question one, "Should Cal. Gov. Gavin Newsom be recalled from office?" "What is at stake is no less than our liberal values and beliefs," writes LA's decidedly Democrat newspaper. It then characterizes the candidates in question two as mostly unpalatable. They "run the gamut from ridiculous...
A federal court has ordered a California company and its owner to stop distributing unapproved and misbranded drugs and adulterated animal drugs which they "claimed could cure, treat and prevent disease, including cancer, in both humans and animals," court officials announced yesterday. In a complaint – filed in the federal court for the Southern District of California in December 2020 at the request of the Food and Drug Administration – the United States alleged that AMARC Enterprises Inc. and...
US, LGBTQ Flags Stolen from City Hall Someone has vandalized the flag in front of Santa Monica City Hall. Both the US Flag and the LGBTQ flag are missing. "The US flag and pride flag were raised in front of City Hall for the month of July," said an unnamed source at City Hall. "However, about 1½ weeks ago, staff found the pole hardware vandalized and both the US flag and pride flag missing. A work order has been placed for pole repair. The flag will be raised as soon as the pole is...
By Observer Staff LA County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) launched an enhanced adoption pro-gram called "Love at First Sight." "It's intended to improve the adoption experience for customers, increase adoption rates, de-crease animals' length of stay in the care center, and increase efficient use of staff time at DACC's animal care centers," writes Don Belton, LA Animal Shelters PR person. "During their visit, the potential adopter will be able to view all available animals and...
