CITY HALL — Restaurants may see their rents rise on outdoor dining facilities in two years after the City Council voted to increase rent on city sidewalks to bring them in line with improved property values. The decision will raise license fees that restaurants pay to use public sidewalks from $1.90 per square foot of sidewalk space... Read more →

Dear EarthTalk: Isn’t it a waste that we buy water in plastic bottles when it is basically free out of our taps? Even health food stores, which should know better, sell it like crazy. When did Earth’s most abundant and free natural resource become a commercial ‘beverage’? A. Jacobs, via e-mail Bottled water has been... Read more →

SM-UCLA — As the last game of league play approached, Santa Monica High School’s boys’ basketball team found itself missing one of its starting players, point guard Jeremiah Shevlin. The senior was out for nine days, laid low by a vicious illness that kept him out of the last two games of his high school career. “It... Read more →

CITY HALL — Santa Monicans, have no fear — your City Council members aren’t breaking your bank with unearned salaries. According to compensation information posted to the smgov.net website, the typical city council member makes approximately $12,888.96 per year, or roughly $12.39 an hour assuming a 20-hour workweek. The... Read more →

SMMUSD HDQTRS — School nurses will be working overtime to examine the medical records of almost 5,000 students to find out whether or not each has received a required whooping cough vaccine before the start of the next school year. A new state law, which will come into effect July 1, mandates that all students entering seventh through... Read more →

The numbers are in and once again city employees did their part to help local families in need. The Big Blue Bus, which spearheaded the 15th annual food drive competition between city departments, announced this week that a total of 29,001 pounds of canned goods and other non-perishable food items was collected during the latest drive. The... Read more →

CITY HALL — The City Council gave the green light to a study that represents the first step in a process to determine the future of the Santa Monica Airport in 2015 after its agreement with the federal government expires. Council members approved the $79,750 contract with HR&A Associates, a Santa Monica-based firm, to examine the... Read more →

WEST L.A. — City staff and notables celebrated the opening of the Santa Monica Water Treatment plant Thursday with an ambitious new goal — to make Santa Monica self-sufficient for water by 2020. The event marked the end of a 15-year saga that began when methyl tert-butyl ether, or MTBE, was found in the water supply, the... Read more →

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — The Santa Monica Police Department issued an advisory Thursday that a man convicted of committing lewd acts with minors has been seen in the area. Aaron Montgomery, a 6-foot-1 white male weighing 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes, is a transient that often wears black clothing including a trench... 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, Feb. 19, at 2:26 p.m. Santa Monica officers responded to the 1200 block of 23rd Street regarding a burglary. Upon arrival, officers were advised... Read more →

SANTA MONICA — The family of the American yachting couple killed by Somali pirates has requested that donations in the name of Scott and Jean Adam be made to St. Monica Catholic Church where they were longtime parishioners. Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday, but the church’s website says family has requested... Read more →

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — Cops are on the hunt for two men who allegedly approached a woman with a gun, jumped in her car and sexually assaulted her. Santa Monica police said the victim was stopped at a red light at the corner of 26th Street and Colorado Avenue around 4 a.m. on Feb. 19 when two Latino men approached. One pulled a gun... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — A coalition of Westside homeowners were disappointed Tuesday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed all challenges to an environmental study for the Santa Monica portion of the Expo Light Rail line project. In the decision, Judge Thomas McKnew countered each of the objections raised by the Neighbors for Smart Rail... Read more →

10TH STREET — The City Attorney’s Office reached a $20,000 settlement last week with U.S. Bank after tenants of a Santa Monica rental property accused the corporation of harassment. Tenants from a property on the 1400 block of 10th Street first filed a complaint against the bank in April 2010, claiming that bank representatives... Read more →

DOWNTOWN — Santa Monicans who frequent Farmers’ Markets looking for the freshest ingredients will soon have another spot to indulge in creative culinary pursuits. Gourmet cheeses, artisan breads and hand-painted chocolates are just some of the treats that will be available beginning May 20 when The Market at Santa Monica Place... Read more →