Bigger, better Marmalade Cafe aims to satisfy lunchtime sandwich-seeking stomachs
Popular Montana Avenue-based eatery Marmalade Cafe has finally completed its relocation to Santa Monica Blvd. after more than a year of planning and development. In an official opening party and ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 18, guests were treated to canapés and cocktails as the venue quickly filled to capacity. While the Montana outlet was well known for its breakfast service and lunch service, traditionally closing at 3pm each day, this new location will offer a dinner service for the first time, plus alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine and cocktails.
Project learning, career education growth highlighted by school board
The number of students within Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) gaining crucial skills and knowledge for future career paths has grown exponentially, according to an update given to the SMMUSD Board of Education on April 18. During the board meeting, SMMUSD Coordinator of Learning and Innovation Dr. Devon Smith gave a presentation on the district’s project-based learning initiative and the latest news on Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways on school sites like Samohi. The CTE program being a priority for the district during the 2023-24 school year has led to a sharp increase of students taking in the experiential focus at the high school level, with 64 expected CTE graduates this year after 10 SMMUSD graduates completed a CTE program in 2022-23.
Will Rogers students, faculty celebrate Earth Day
In advance of last week’s Earth Day celebration, students and faculty of Will Rogers Learning Community had a green-thumbed party of their own, hosting an Earth Day Festival on April 19 at the campus’ regenerative farm. Students were able to engage in activities around the farm, such as an interactive story time and being able to traverse the multitude of plantlike cultivated at Will Rogers. In addition, student projects were available to view on environment-related subjects, with information laid out in creative fashion on pasteboard.
Man arrested for using a shopping cart to grill and a sword as a skewer
A man was arrested on Santa Monica Beach, close to Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard station, on April 21 after he was seen grilling in a shopping cart, using a sword as a shish kebab-style skewer to cook meat. According to the Santa Monica Police Department, the individual was the source of a call for service about the open flame in his ad hoc barbecue/cart set-up on Ocean Blvd. He initially ran from the responding officer, feeling down to the beach with the cart. The officer eventually stopped him in the 1600 block of the beach and extinguished the fire. Shopping carts are considered the property of the store they are taken from, and possession of one is a misdemeanor theft offense. Additionally, the individual was charged with resisting arrest and reckless burning (basically misdemeanor arson). He was cited on the three charges and released.
Cyclists seize the streets in unique Venice ridealong
On April 21, over five miles of Venice Blvd. was transformed into car-free open streets thanks to nonprofit organization CicLAvia, encouraging transportation like biking, skating and walking through Venice, Mar Vista and Palms. Working alongside Metro Los Angeles to clear the streets, the CicLAvia event had locals connecting with businesses and activity hubs along the route, including special pop-up booths, carnival games and musical performances.
Master plan for Grant campus approved by school board
The future big-picture plans for one of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s campuses are now clearer after the April 18 meeting of the district’s Board of Education. During the meeting, the board approved of a resolution certifying the Grant Elementary School master plan, including the plan’s final environmental impact report and the decision to carry out the project. The master plan is broken down into three phases, with the first phase including a renovation of the Grant library, a restoration of the campus central garden, and a renovation of early education space.
Iconic PCH diner, Patrick’s Roadhouse closed indefinitely, campaign launched to save it
Legendary Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) diner, Patrick’s Roadhouse has closed and current owner, Anthony Fischler, is attempting to renegotiate a new, long-term lease with the building’s landlord. However, he needs $250,000 to cover back rent and building maintenance, which he hopes to raise through a GoFundMe campaign. The restaurant was founded by Bill Fischler in 1973 and has served stars like Lucille Ball, Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others.
Top-tier chefs celebrate local institution’s 45th anniversary
On April 21, Michael’s Santa Monica at 1147 3rd St. reached its 45th anniversary milestone with a celebratory party giving back to organization No Kid Hungry, dedicated to ending childhood hunger. Taking part in the celebration were a multitude of chefs who have called Michael’s home over the years, giving guests a true taste of Santa Monica and beyond. Michael’s quickly became a local favorite in Santa Monica and throughout Los Angeles after being founded by Michael McCarty in 1979, opening the restaurant at the age of 25.
Pico poet spreads the word about new city position
In March, Pico neighborhood poet Anne Carmack began a two-year term as the city’s Poet Laureate, a public outreach position that seeks to highlight Santa Monica’s diverse and vibrant literary arts scene and promote local arts education through various events. The program was spearheaded by Mayor Phil Brock after meeting similar poets representing the Los Angeles area, with City Council passing a resolution to implement the position in August 2023.
Operatic love story returns to scene of engagement
This past weekend, local operatic group the Verdi Chorus concluded its 40th anniversary season with its spring concert, Star-Crossed!, featuring a mix of classics including sequences from Mozart’s Idomeneo and Don Giovanni, Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Lehar’s The Merry Widow and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. That final selection is of special importance to two of the shows’ three guest soloists, operatic power couple Nathan Granner and Jamie Chamberlain Granner. On stage during the Verdi’s 2017 fall concert, Nathan sang a “Lucia” duet as he proposed to Jamie, an act that took years of camaraderie between the two followed by months of careful planning.
Support for the people of Palestine dominates public input during City Council meeting
A total of 33 speakers came forward to speak about the continuing war in Gaza during the public input on non agenda items section in April 23’s Santa Monica City Council meeting. The meeting a day before tensions escalated at the University of Southern California where pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police and campus security. Prior to the meeting, the peace and social justice movement Codepink encouraged community members in a statement sent by email to call “on the city council to pass a ceasefire resolution in solidarity with the growing global movement advocating for an end to the US backed genocide in Gaza.”
Court tears down housing law that densified single family neighborhoods
A controversial housing law that would have densified single-family, residential neighborhoods has been ruled unconstitutional and unenforceable for some cities including Santa Monica. SB 9, or the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, mandated cities permit an additional residential unit on parcels zoned for single-dwelling units. Enacted in September 2021, the law took effect statewide on January 1, 2022. Locally, SB9 applied solely to properties in the R1 (Single-Unit Residential) and OP1 (Ocean Park Single-Unit Residential) Zones. The Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that SB 9 is “neither reasonably related to ensuring access to affordable housing nor narrowly tailored to avoid unnecessary interference in local governance,” calling the law unconstitutional as violative of the “home rule” doctrine.
Wayfinding signs begin tentative rollout with ‘test’ kiosk placement Downtown
The first official on-street placement of the long-awaited digital Wayfinder Kiosk program will take place this week, according to the City of Santa Monica, several months after a fully functioning prototype was made available for local residents to inspect, examine and evaluate in June 2023. Officially known as the Digital Wayfinding and Out-of-Home Advertising Kiosk Program, the initiative was first introduced in early 2020, but the proposal was shelved until late 2022, when City Council selected BIG Outdoor to install and maintain the network of kiosks. One of the companies spurned by the selection process, IKE Smart City, threatened legal action accusing BIG of exaggerating their qualifications and copying other company’s intellectual property as it related to the kiosks. Both IKE and Big settled their differences in February 2023 and announced a partnership to meet the terms of the contract that would roll out “up to 50 kiosks” and potentially raise in the region of $5 million per year for the city.
After eviction, perilous housing journey comes to close for senior citizen
One local senior citizen who likened his fight for housing to a “death sentence” has been given a reprieve in his situation, finding at least a small bit of comfort in his new abode. This past week, Santa Monica resident Scott Brutzman was able to move into a one-bedroom apartment at the Christian Towers senior living facility at 1233 6th St., something he says “beats living on the curb” after he was left homeless from the fallout of a January eviction hearing at his previous home at 3301 Ocean Park Boulevard. Facing a myriad of health issues, Brutzman was forced to live on the streets and in his caretaker’s truck post-eviction, before assistance from the Santa Monica Housing Authority and The People Concern helped him find the Christian Towers unit.
Symposium breaks down new tenant protections, ‘misunderstandings’ of unhoused struggle
The latest in Santa Monica housing rights was discussed at a Fair Housing Symposium at the Santa Monica Main Library on April 24. The symposium covered a wide range of topics, including new tenant protections enacted in March that amended the city’s Housing Anti-Discrimination Code to prohibit landlord discrimination on the basis of a tenant’s housing status, becoming the first jurisdiction in the state of California to include “housing status” as a protected class.
thomas@smdp.com