SACRAMENTO — Rookie State Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) is co-sponsoring a bill to repeal an exemption that currently lets parents opt their kids out of getting vaccinations for schools. The bill comes amidst a measles outbreak that has spread widely in Southern California. Earlier this week, a baby, too young to receive the measles... Read more →

Complete side view You might imagine a classical music composer hunched over a piano, madly scribbling eighth-notes on a G-clef staff. Instead, picture Andrew Norman at Home Depot buying pieces of chain link fence, corrugated metal and plywood, then banging and scraping on them at home. “I needed to know what kinds of music I could... Read more →

haleARTS SPACE will host an opening reception of the fourth-annual “Love and Lust” sale. In collaboration with featured local emerging artists, the theme of “Love and Lust” is pulled, prodded and turned upside-down. What is love? What is lust? Can art capture the essence of either or both or neither? This year’s show will feature... Read more →

Since 2002, the Pico Youth and Family Center, a Santa Monica nonprofit organization, has served hundreds of at-risk youth on the Westside by providing much needed case management, counseling, tutoring, computer training, job readiness preparation and music production training. PYFC targets youth ages 16-24 that are most at risk, including... Read more →

The Santa Monica College Theatre Arts Department will present a benefit performance to help send students to the regional competition of the prestigious 2015 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The benefit will be held Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Theatre Arts Main Stage on the SMC main campus, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa... Read more →

Fourteen infants at Santa Monica High School’s child care center will be quarantined for 21 days after a baby who attends the center was diagnosed with measles, a district official said. The room of the facility that serves infants 12 months and younger will be closed indefinitely, said Gail Pinsker, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica-Malibu... Read more →

Santa Monica native Danny Wax started Forelinx after returning from a three year stint on the PGA Nationwide Tour. Forelinx, a social platform for connecting golfers, connects users based on network and interests and allows them to book tee times at 1,500 courses nationwide. Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media, talks to Danny about growing up... Read more →

The bright lights and television cameras were already some 375 miles east of Santa Monica, diehard football fans converging on the host city, players augmenting the spectacle with headline-grabbing sound bites, coaches preparing for America's most prominent sporting event. The action was at Olympic High School. A white envelope was... Read more →

It's the matchup America has been waiting for. It's the Pats against the Hawks, East against West, the alleged deflaters against the gregarious haters, the ruling dynasty versus the reigning champions, the mastermind QB against the menacing D. The storylines, if not the tradition, will have millions of people tuning in as the New England... Read more →

The close political, economic and defense relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan will be the focus of a discussion between David Siegel, Consul-General of Israel and Nasimi Aghayev, Consul-General of Azerbaijan at the next meeting of the Men's Club of Sinai Temple at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Among the issues to be explored are... Read more →

Lyricist Marcy Heisler and composer Zina Goldrich bring their wonderfully wacky and heartbreakingly sincere musical creations to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre (24255 Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu on Tuesday, Feb, 3, at 8 p.m. Tickets, priced starting at $15 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available... Read more →

The Santa Monica High School wind ensemble wasn’t going to turn down a chance to play at one of the most prestigious venues in the country. Performing as a headlining group? In the New York Sounds of Spring International Music Festival? At world-famous Carnegie Hall, of all places? “Just the name itself is synonymous with classical... Read more →

AFROBEAT AT THE BROAD Irresistibly contagious rhythms, horns, beats and vocals are on tap at The Broad Stage, Feb. 21 for one night only, as the large band Antibalas and the incredible vocalists of Zap Mama led by Belgian/Congolese singer Marie Daulne, get together for a brilliant night of Afrobeat music that will rock your world! These... Read more →

Do you remember the Cabbage Patch kids -- that ubiquitous fad of the 1980s? The “kids” were a series of dolls that came with names and birth certificates and their own individual scrunched-up faces. Well, apparently there is a whole industry that takes that process one step further. Becoming popular at the end of the 20th century, it's... Read more →

Joe Marrapodi is a serial entrepreneur with achievements that include Get Rare!, New Media, working at Intermix Media (where he orchestrated the first ad deal between Yahoo & Warner Bros) & working as the VP of Digital at LBI Entertainment. Currently, the CEO & Co-Founder of Greentoe.com, Joe directs all strategic business... Read more →