SUNSET PARK — Lloyd Saunders remembers when Ocean Park Boulevard was his go-to route, driving on the neighborhood’s main drag daily to reach any points east and west. Today, the 30-year Santa Monica resident avoids it at all costs, opting for other streets because of “bottleneck traffic” that he blames on the current... Read more →

A lunch at the fire station awaits anyone who donates $1,000 or more to the Santa Monica Firefighters Association’s Firefighters Relief Fund — one of only two yearly fundraisers. The association, comprised of current and retired firefighters from the SMFD, puts out a program twice a year with advertisements from businesses and... Read more →

SM PIER — Lovers of California funk may not be familiar with The Lowrider Band, but they sure know their signature sound. That’s because the group is comprised of the creators behind such classic hits as “Spill the Wine,” “Slippin’ into Darkness,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We... Read more →

The Santa Monica Pier and The Lobster restaurant have launched an eBay auction to benefit the Special Olympics of Southern California. In honor of the pier’s Centennial Celebration on Sept. 9, the auction features a dinner for six at The Lobster with exclusive VIP viewing of the centennial fireworks show. The Lobster’s premier... Read more →

CITY HALL — When someone needed Herb Katz, they knew where to find him. There he would be every day, standing in the off-leash dog area at Joslyn Park, letting his two faithful companions run around with their tails wagging and tongues hanging loose as he caught up with his neighbors and constituents. It’s for this reason that... Read more →

The SMPD Traffic Enforcement Section conducted a DUI checkpoint in the 300 block of Pico Boulevard Friday evening, nabbing four suspected drunk drivers, issuing eight citations and impounding seven vehicles, police said. The enforcement, funded by a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, began at 9 p.m. and ended 1:30... Read more →

11TH STREET — Parking is precious in Santa Monica, so when resident Daniel Davidsohn awoke one morning to find a new “No Parking” sign in front of his building, he was naturally upset. He thought City Hall had finally declared war against the gas guzzling SUV after examining the sign, which prohibited parking for vehicles... Read more →

DENMARK — Santa Monica resident Jana Strain is making waves across the globe as a top competitor in her sport: freediving. Strain, who is Canadian, set a new Pan American Women’s Freediving Record Aug. 21 with an underwater swim of 594 feet in one breath, breaking her existing record of 561 feet. Her swim lasted two minutes and... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — Jenny Saldana has a long to-do list for the next four years — join the crew team, drama club, engineering society and fight for social justice causes. And of course, finish college. Saldana is among the hundreds of high school graduates from Santa Monica who will begin college in the next few weeks, some going to... Read more →

CITY HALL — The economic downturn continues to hurt businesses in Santa Monica where city officials are expecting to see less money come in from the state this month because of declining sales tax revenues. The California State Board of Equalization, which collects $53 billion annually in taxes and fees to support state and local... Read more →

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY Send a (beef) salami to your boy in the Army Help the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan feel a little more comfortable with a care package filled with goodies from home, including batteries, baby wipes, dried fruit and People magazine. The Santa Monica Police Officers’ Association is collecting items to send to... Read more →

CITYWIDE — Holistic medicine seems strange and nontraditional to many, but in Santa Monica it has roots as far back as World War II. The Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy has been in business within three blocks of its current location on Broadway since 1944. It offers free consultations with homeopaths, herbalists, nutritionists,... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — There are few places in the world where a Cameroonian medical student can have a conversation with an Australian nurse, while watching a British tax accountant chase his young children past a Swedish backpacker exchanging phone numbers with her new Japanese friend. But on Saturday, at Santa Monica’s branch of... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — Crime has been on the rise in Santa Monica during the first seven months of 2009, the 19 percent increase fueled by property crimes, with auto and bike thefts and shoplifting being the main contributing factors, according to figures released by the Santa Monica Police Department. From January to July 2009, there have been... Read more →

Last night, I had a dream about an army of cotton T-shirts that called themselves the Beneficial Organic Brigade. For more efficient marketing, they went by B.O.B. This band of T-shirts was singing at some kind of sustainable benefit concert in the middle of the Third Street Promenade. Resembling the green T-shirt that I recently purchased... Read more →