Dear EarthTalk: Which are the greenest American cities, and why? — D. Hansen, Wichita, Kan. Which American city is the greenest depends on who you ask. Every year dozens of publications and websites release their own assessments of which cities have the most environmentally conscious citizenry, the highest percentage of recycling or the lowest carbon footprint per capita. Portland, Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco are often top contenders, but some of the other leading choices may be a surprise. [...]
Archive for Category: "Earth Talk"
Other News
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Linking fishermen, foodies at Farmers’ Market
MAIN STREET — A seafood supplier at the Sunday Farmers’ Market on Main Street is making a splash with its new business model that connects consumers directly to fishermen, cutting out waste and cost in the process. Community Seafood does for seafood what Farm Fresh to You, SavRaw or other groups serving Santa Monica do for vegetables. For a set price each week, clients can stop by the market and grab a pre-set quantity of fish caught by a small [...]
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Business Featured Food Life News -
Village Trailer Park decision postponed until July
CITY HALL — The Rent Control Board will wait until the day before its drop dead date to decide whether or not to stand in the way of a development that would replace one of the last two trailer parks in Santa Monica. Board members decided Thursday to wait until the July 11 Rent Control Board meeting to consider for a last time a removal permit for the Village Trailer Park, the site proposed for a 377-unit apartment complex already [...]
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Business Development Featured News -
Rent Control Board divided on landlord fees
CITY HALL — The Rent Control Board is sure that it wants to raise registration fees on rent-controlled apartments to close its yawning budget gap, but how much and who should shoulder the burden is still up in the air. The five member board went 20 rounds on the subject Thursday night, running through a wide range of ways to divide the $2 to $3 increase in the annual $13 fee between landlords and their tenants that covers the vast [...]
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Business Featured News -
Military families get in free at pier aquarium
SM PIER Starting this Memorial Day weekend, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will begin offering free admission to military families from May to Sept. 2. This is the third year the aquarium has collaborated with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Department of Defense to benefit veterans in the community. The aquarium will admit all active duty servicemen and women and up to five family members, sans charge all summer long. The aquarium is closed [...]
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Briefs Featured News -
SMC student wins national scholarship
SMC — Santa Monica College psychology student Scott Pine was recently awarded with the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, the largest privately funded scholarship of its kind in the nation. The generous scholarship grants students $30,000. Pine’s recognition marks the second time in three years that a SMC student was awarded the scholarship, college officials said. The winners are chosen by a selection committee made up of 37 admissions professionals, predominantly from selective four-year institutions. Pine was one of only 73 [...]
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Education Featured News Santa Monica College -
SMC names Medina student athlete of the year
SMC — Santa Monica College quarterback Alfonso Medina — who led the Corsairs to back-to-back Conference Championships for the first time in 30 years — was named 2012-13 Student Athlete of the Year this week. Medina was named one of 17 outstanding SMC students as 2012-13 Student Athletes of the Year in their individual sports, but this is only the second year the college picked an overall winner. All the student athletes were selected for demonstrating scholastic achievement as much [...]
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Education Featured News Santa Monica College -
Food: More fish in the sea
So much for soft openings. Seasalt Fish Grill, a casual seafood bistro, has been in business for less than a week and is already getting slammed with lines more familiar to Bay Cities Deli, a local institution with years of saturation. Located on a heavily traveled section of Santa Monica Boulevard, it’s easy to see why. While curiosity may have killed the cat, it’s working wonders for Seasalt. Once in the restaurant you may notice huge orders rolling out for [...]
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Featured Food Life Tour de Feast -
Food: Going a little south for brunch
VENICE — I love a good brunch. It’s not necessarily the food or the bottomless mimosas (there’s usually cheap sparkling wine poured, which gives me a headache), but more the relaxed, pool-party atmosphere that keeps me in good spirits as I fight off the rapidly approaching Monday blues. Weekends seem so short these days, so any excuse to extend the feeling of freedom that comes with days off is welcomed. I have my favorite brunch spots. Brick + Mortar on [...]
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Featured Food Life -
Renewable energy standards: Building blocks for nation’s future
For the first time a United States president has announced that tackling climate change is a national priority. Yet, Congress shows no signs of passing meaningful legislation. For now, it’s up to states and localities to turn this declaration into action. But this isn’t new. When it comes to renewable energy, state policy has yielded by far the most progress. In 29 states this has come mainly through renewable portfolio/energy standards, known as RPSs. These laws require public utilities to [...]
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Columns Opinion Your Column Here -
Letter: We’re people, not eyesores
Editor: It is a debacle of human civility and liberty as an American citizen born in this country to not only have to endure the ignorant prejudices of others towards the homeless, such as myself, but also to be subjugated to harassment at the bullish hands of law enforcement or, more appropriately, Santa Monica’s henchmen. Being illegally detained without being read one’s rights for alleged “camping,” only to be held for the sole purpose of being told that the condition [...]
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Featured Letters Opinion -
Letter: Lesson to be learned
Editor: Sometimes less is more. Case in point, Santa Monica Place. Our shopping center recently won the 2013 Best-of-the-Best VIVA Global Design and Development Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers. When the center owner, Macerich, first proposed building three 21-story towers on the site, residents and the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City protested mightily. Macerich listened and the plan was abandoned. Instead, Macerich renovated within the footprint of the existing building. This is a shining example [...]
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Featured Letters Opinion -
Report: Pier water quality hit hard by dirty birds
SM PIER — Water quality near the Santa Monica Pier dropped in 2012, reversing much-celebrated gains from the year before, according to a report released Thursday by local environmental group Heal the Bay. Santa Monica went from all A’s during dry weather in 2011 to a B-grade in the summer and failing grades in both winter reporting periods, according to Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card, an annual accounting of water quality on the West Coast. Other measurement areas in [...]
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Environment Featured News -
Task force blasts tree reports
KEN EDWARDS CENTER — Members of the Urban Forest Task Force ripped into consultants’ reports on the health of Santa Monica’s trees Wednesday, and vowed to send their concerns on to the City Council for further review. The reports examined a small sample of Santa Monica’s 35,000 street trees and management practices surrounding the multi-million dollar contract with West Coast Arborists (WCA), the company charged with caring for the local urban forest. The reports were in response to claims raised [...]
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Environment Featured News -
Softball: Samohi romps way to semifinals
MEMORIAL PARK — By the end of the first inning, it was clear who would be moving on. Santa Monica softball put a five spot on the scoreboard in the first frame punctuated by a leadoff home run by junior Sara Garcia that essentially spelled the end of Paloma Valley’s trip to the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 quarterfinals on Thursday at Memorial Park. The 8-1 win sends the Samohi Vikings to the division semifinals for the first time since the [...]
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Featured High School Sports -
Brief: Additional 405 lane to open on Friday
This weekend, drivers on the Westside can expect a lane opening instead of a closure for a change. Metro, the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project contractor and Caltrans announced they will officially open 1.7 miles of general purpose lane on today, Friday at 5 a.m. The opening will be northbound on Interstate 405 between Interstate 10 and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles. This opening is touted as a significant “project milestone” that will add lane capacity to one [...]
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Featured News Transportation -
Brief: SMFD hosts free CPR training
Get some hands-on, hands-only CPR training for free, in honor of National CPR Week. The American Heart Association is collaborating with the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency to coordinate a countywide effort to instruct hands-only CPR. Throughout the week, emergency responders and healthcare providers will be going out to demonstrate and teach how to save a life. The Santa Monica Fire Department will join the effort by hosting a CPR training session on June 4 at Santa Monica [...]
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Briefs News
