For the 19th consecutive year, Santa Monica College sent more students to the University of California system than any other transfer institution, college officials said Monday. The community college was also the leader in transfers to the UC-Cal State systems combined, as well as the number one transfer school for African Americans to the... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — An exclusive contract negotiation between City Hall and AMC over the development of a new cinema is expected to commence soon after the movie house giant confirmed its ability to shut down one of its existing theaters on the Third Street Promenade. The question of whether the Kansas City-based company could shut down... Read more →

Dear EarthTalk I don’t understand why many people oppose wind power just because they have to look at the turbines. If you ask me, wind turbines are much nicer-looking than coal-fired, waste-to-energy or nuclear power plants. Michael Hart via e-mail Whether it’s a wind farm, a coal-fired power plant, a nuclear reactor or even... Read more →

SAMOHI Car wash for Juarez Friends and family members of Richard Juarez, the 20-year-old Olympic High School graduate who was shot and killed Tuesday after leaving an art class at Virginia Avenue Park, are hosting a car wash at Santa Monica High School Sunday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise money for the Juarez family. Apryll... Read more →

CITY HALL — A popular series of neighborhood-centric budget meetings with City Manager Lamont Ewell will return for a fourth round on Monday when issues of parking, traffic and development are sure to make their way into discussions yet again. The annual “Can We Talk” meetings began when Ewell was hired in 2006 to determine... Read more →

PEARL STREET — Katie Furlong was ready to get her hands dirty. Holding a kid-sized shovel, the kindergartner cautiously scooped some dirt and threw it around the root of a semi-mature Australian willow that was being transplanted from a box to its new home — the playground at Grant Elementary School where the tree has already... Read more →

Sunday, Nov. 1, at 7:26 p.m., Santa Monica police officers responded to the 1100 block of Montana Avenue regarding a report of a suspicious person in the area. When officers arrived, they made contact with the victim who said that as she exited a business in the 600 block of Montana the suspect approached her with a 4-foot PVC pipe in his... Read more →

LINCOLN BLVD. — First went the business, then the apartment. After 20 years running an operation that represented wholesale clothing manufacturers to retailers in Downtown Los Angeles’ Garment District, 59-year-old Alvaro Sotelo was without a job or home, left to face a murky future in a hostile job market with both an outdated... Read more →

MID-CITY — Two of the harshest critics of Saint John’s Health Center have joined forces to shine a light on what they believe to be public health issues and anti-union activity at the Catholic hospital. The coalition of nurses and neighbors of the medical center, simply named Nurses & Neighbors, began meeting recently to... Read more →

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — Santa Monica police Thursday released the names of the four suspects believed responsible for the shooting death of local resident Richard Juarez, who was gunned down in what police called a “brazen attack” Tuesday night at Virginia Avenue Park. The suspects have been booked for murder, attempted... Read more →

DOWNTOWN—With fears about swine flu and other airborne diseases on the rise, Mann Theatre’s The Criterion 6 in Santa Monica is moving one step closer to providing patrons with a healthier movie-going experience. SANYO North America Corp., a subsidiary of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. and Mann Theatres announced Thursday that they have... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — A favorite feature of the American Film Market will be absent for a second straight year as public screenings are cut again from one of the world’s largest business conferences for the movie industry. The advanced general audience showings were long considered a community perk for an annual week-long event that draws... Read more →

PICO NEIGHBORHOOD — A 20-year-old Santa Monica man was fatally shot Tuesday night at Virginia Avenue Park in what police called a “brazen” attack that could be gang related. Richard Juarez, a graduate of Olympic High School whose family has lived in Santa Monica for four generations, was attacked by two men as he and three... Read more →

SMMUSD HDQTRS — When it comes to the total earning levels of superintendents in Los Angeles County, the local school district is only second to one. That one is not the Los Angeles Unified School District — the second largest in the nation — but Glendale Unified where the chief there earned approximately $273,188 in the... Read more →

BROADWAY — Parking is never easy to come by, but in the heart of the city’s light industrial district where businesses have exploded over the past 30 years, it can at times seem impossible to find. But there will be some temporary relief to the long-standing parking problem along the eastern stretch of Broadway after City Hall... Read more →