CITY HALL — Concerned about the environmental impact of harsh dry cleaning chemicals, city officials are considering developing regulations that would force local shop owners to use non-toxic solvents and green methods. The City Council on Tuesday requested its staff to explore dry cleaning alternatives and prepare an ordinance... Read more →

Crime Watch is a weekly series culled from reports provided by the Santa Monica Police Department. These are arrests only. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Saturday, March 21, at 11:32 p.m., Santa Monica police officers responded to the 1100 block of Second Street — the Huntley Hotel — regarding a... Read more →

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — Santa Monica police officers need the public’s help, but this time it’s not to identify a hit-and-run driver or a suspect in a robbery. It’s to help save the lives of those suffering from Leukemia and other diseases in which the only cure is a bone marrow transplant. In connection with the... Read more →

On Saturday, Santa Monica goes dark. City Hall, along with many residents and businesses, will participate in Earth Hour 2009, a global event to raise awareness about our energy use and how it affects climate change. Residents and businesses are encouraged to turn off all lights and appliances from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday to show... Read more →

ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL — In 2007, Tyler Cordova went to the doctor with cold symptoms and was sent home. When he woke one night unable to breathe, he was rushed to the emergency room and the diagnosis changed. Six-year-old Tyler had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a deadly blood cancer. Tyler and 10-year-old Kelly Delaney, who has leukemia,... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — It isn’t a sleek new office complex or colorful parking garage, but there’s something worth celebrating about the completion of a relatively unglamorous sewer system — the people performing dirty jobs. That’s exactly what a group of city officials did on Thursday when they gathered at the former Rand... Read more →

CITY HALL — When the Exposition Light Rail rolls into Santa Monica in the next six to eight years, the Downtown terminal is expected to swarm with several hundred passengers with each inbound train, squeezing an already impacted area. Such a scenario has raised some flags for city planning officials who are exploring traffic... Read more →

PICO BLVD — For upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom, diversity goes beyond the collection sitting on its racks or the faces of employees manning the floor. With construction expected to break ground on the Seattle-based department store’s second Westside location this summer, Nordstrom officials heading the Santa Monica Place... Read more →

SM MOUNTAINS — These hills are under attack by foreign invaders. Fending off exotic plants, global warming and development are some of the challenges facing the park rangers stationed in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Luckily these rangers have some back up — students. Through the Parks as Classrooms... Read more →

SMMUSD HDQTRS — As school district officials continue to address a budget deficit caused by state funding cuts, one area likely to take a hit is class sizes. The teacher-to-student ratio is expected to increase at nearly every grade level and school starting in September, potentially saving the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School... Read more →