DOWNTOWN — There’s a cluster of properties on a quiet tree-lined street that were long ago fated to cure the parking ills of the busiest commercial district in the city. Some sitting vacant, others still housing tenants, the buildings along the 1300 block of Fifth Street were purchased by City Hall under a more than... Read more →

CITY HALL — What a difference a sign makes. For businesses on Main Street, it can be a substantial one for sales. “There are so many businesses on the street trying to make it week by week, month by month, and these kind of signs help,” Gary Gordon, the executive director of the Main Street Business Improvement... Read more →

CITY HALL — A new policy dictating the selection of prepared food vendors at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market is drawing fire from Main Street merchants who are concerned that there won’t be enough preference given to local restaurants. The issue was raised during a City Council meeting on Tuesday when city staff presented... Read more →

OCEAN AVE — For the next week, Downtown will become the world’s largest boardroom, as thousands of filmmakers, agents and distributors from roughly 70 countries gather in local hotels and movie theaters to compete in an intense bidding war for the latest crop of potential Academy Award winners. While film festivals like Cannes... Read more →

The Santa Monica Boys & Girls Club, with the help of Malibu toymaker Jakk’s Pacific, Inc., will be giving away 10,000 Halloween costumes today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in an effort to help working families who are struggling during the economic recession. Brandon LaBrie, the branch director, said kids will be able to pick out their... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — When director, producer and writer Patricia DiSalvo Viayra began working on her first film, she sent out an advertisement searching for a cinematographer. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of people she contacted, only one woman responded amid scores of men. “I just thought it was unusual that there were no other women... Read more →

CITYWIDE — Local merchants and commercial brokers say the economy is not the only reason businesses are struggling and vacancies are increasing here. According to both groups, Santa Monica’s permit system, code restrictions and a lack of employee parking are challenges to surviving in this difficult economy. In response, the... Read more →

MONTANA AVENUE — There’s a resurgence taking place at one of the high-end shopping districts on the Westside where the lease signs are disappearing from the windows and the credit cards are reappearing. Following a challenging year during which more than 30 businesses — or 15 percent of the total merchants on Montana... Read more →

CITY HALL — A popular sports bar on Wilshire Boulevard will be cutting back its hours and could have to turn people away even though there may be empty seats after neighbors expressed frustrations with the behavior of patrons and the noise the establishment creates. The Planning Commission last week ordered owners of The Parlor, located... Read more →

CITY HALL — A more than 75-year-old oceanfront social club can continue to boast sunbathing on the sand for its members after the City Council decided to extend a lease of three beach parcels for another decade. The council ruled on Tuesday that there’s been no material change in the public’s need for roughly 39,000... Read more →

The American Red Cross of Santa Monica is hosting a free Pet Fair and Chip-a-thon Saturday, Aug. 1 at Clover Park to help pet owners register their cats and dogs with micro chipping. The event, which will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will also host a variety of other activities including low-cost vaccinations and dog training demonstrations.... Read more →

The American Red Cross of Santa Monica will host the 12th annual Super CPR, offering free adult and child CPR classes Saturday. Held at Ken Edwards Center on Fourth Street, the training day will be divided into two four-hour classes held in both English and Spanish. After passing the course, a Red Cross certificate is available for $5.... Read more →

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. The project, which includes tearing down the existing Pacific Sands Motel and adjacent Travelodge to construct a... Read more →

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. Following a roughly hour-long public hearing featuring testimony from more than 30 speakers, the council voted to... Read more →

MAIN STREET — Change, whether people like it or not, appears well on its way to a street corner richly steeped in the history of the local surfing and skateboarding scene. A nearly three-year-old proposal to build housing at 2001 Main St. reached a major milestone recently when the Planning Commission granted a development review... Read more →