MONTANA AVE — Beauty is … “For people with a passion for fashion and for love,” one girl said. Beauty is … “Nature,” another student said. Beauty is … “Friends,” according to another young girl. Those are just some of the sentiments expressed by a group of students at Roosevelt... Read more →

MID-CITY — Lives can be saved or lost in a matter of seconds. Often times, in an attempt to make the most appropriate medical decisions during emergency situations, paramedics can spend those critical seconds and minutes gathering unknown medical information. However, MyRapidMD seeks to save both time and potentially more lives by... Read more →

CITY HALL — Just because apartment units are legally removed from the rental market doesn’t mean they’re not being illegally rerented. That’s what a city task force recently learned after investigating nearly 60 properties that were withdrawn from the rental market under the state Ellis Act but had not been accounted... Read more →

SMMUSD HDQTRS — There will be no appeal filed to bring back temporary lights for Friday night high school football games. School district officials decided recently they will not ask the California Coastal Commission to reconsider its denial last month of a request to allow temporary lights at Malibu High School for 16 nights a year.... Read more →

Dear EarthTalk Why is the plankton in the oceans dying? And what does this mean for the health of the oceans and marine life? Marilynn Block Portland, OR As the lowest link on the marine food chain, plankton — that tiny aquatic plant, animal and bacterial matter floating throughout the world’s oceans — is a vital building... Read more →

SMC — A special service honoring long-time football coach Robert Taylor has been set for this week, college officials said. Taylor, who passed away late last month was head football coach at Santa Monica College from 1994 until early this season. The cause of death has not been announced. School officials are urging mourners to gather... Read more →

CITY HALL — They look more like grandmas than the aspiring owners of a medical marijuana dispensary. But despite their small frame, silver hair and soft-spoken matronly disposition, they aren't and they are. Long-time friends Judith Eton, 67 of Brentwood, Harriet Simon, 75 of Encino, and Judy Uhrman, 65 of Encino, came into Santa... Read more →

SAMOHI — Efforts to outfit villages in Africa and Cambodia with life-saving water treatment devices took a serious blow earlier this month when thousands of bottles and cans were stolen from student organizations Team Marine and Heal the Bay Surfrider Club. The recyclables, worth several hundred dollars, were to be used to purchase... Read more →

SM PIER — A few feet from the Santa Monica Pier’s iconic sports fishing sign, a group of environmentalists engaged in a symbolic game of tug-of-war, pitting small fishermen against corporate giants in what has become a bitterly divisive debate over how best to manage seafood supplies. The activists with Food & Water Watch, a... Read more →

OLYMPIC HIGH SCHOOL — “We’ve got a criminal in here!” Colin Sweeney, a professional improv comedian, pulls 17-year-old Darshana Ruffman into the room. Her arms are held behind her back as she’s sat down in a chair in front of the white board. Ruffman has committed a crime, but she has no idea what it is. Over... Read more →