Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 165
Two men who pleaded no contest in a hate crime attack on two Jewish men outside a Beverly Grove-area restaurant have avoided jail time. Samer Jayylusi, 37, and Xavier Pabon, 32, were ordered on Wednesday to complete 80 hours of counseling focusing on bias and cultural sensitivity along with an eight-hour program at the Museum of Tolerance. Superior Court Judge Laura Priver also sentenced them to two years of probation. The court does not condone or approve of this type of behavior," Priver...
A suspect in last Sunday's shooting death of a man in Venice has turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department and he may be related to the victim, authorities announced this week. The shooting occurred around 6 p.m. on March 26 in the 400 block of Indiana Avenue. At the scene, "patrol officers found a man in his 50s who had been shot, and citizens were providing aid," according to the LAPD statement. Police officers "continued life saving measures" until paramedics from the Los...
A jury has ordered the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to pay $45 million to the family of autistic twins who "were physically abused and restrained by an aide" at their elementary school in Malibu. The lawsuit filed in 2019 alleged a district employee, Galit Gottlieb, used corporal punishment including physical restraint and battery against the two special-needs students when they were in second grade at Juan Cabrillo Elementary in Malibu, according to court documents. A Los...
A Redondo Beach man was sentenced this week to life without parole in federal prison after he admitted to producing thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of nearly three dozen children, one of whom was exploited over the course of two years and performed sex acts online in exchange for money, federal prosecutors said. Billy Frederick, a 52-year-old accountant, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who said that "to say his conduct is despicable is an...
A suspect was arrested this week in connection with a series of sexual assaults targeting female Santa Monica College students, school authorities announced. In a statement Monday afternoon, Santa Monica College Chief of Police Johnnie Adams said: "Christopher Noah Griddine II, age 27, was taken into custody around 8:20 a.m. on a probable cause arrest warrant for felony sexual assault." The arrest was made on the SMC campus by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department with the assistance of...
In June, Scott Berkett, 25, pleaded guilty to a single count of using interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. However, prosecutors agreed to seek a penalty of no more than five years, according to the plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court. Federal prosecutors said Berkett met the victim online, and she flew to Los Angeles to meet him in late October 2020. Identified in court papers by the initials R.E., the woman described...
An investigation targeting Electronic Benefit Transfer card fraud in Los Angeles County has led to the arrests of 16 suspects and the seizure of hundreds of illegally cloned EBT cards and more than $100,000 in cash, local authorities said this week. ``For some time now, suspects have been stealing the private account information of California's EBT card holders,'' the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. ``These suspects then create illegal cloned cards encoded with that victim...
A Superior Court judge has placed four local landlords and property management companies on a 12-month diversion program in connection with misdemeanor criminal charges of tenant harassment, public nuisance and zoning violations at their apartment buildings in Santa Monica, the City Attorney's Office announced this week. The landlords and property managers – Adam Shekhter, MySuite, LLC., 1238 10th Street, LLC., and 1433 Euclid Street, LLC. – are required to pay $80,000 to the City of Santa...
Councilmember Lana Negrete along with three Santa Monica commissioners and 8 other candidates have qualified for the City Council election ballot this November. All 12 candidates submitted their papers before last week's filing deadline and are now vying for three open seats on the Council that formulates policies for the city, election officials said. Negrete is the only incumbent seeking re-election. Mayor Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Pro-Tem Kristin McCowan announced over the summer they would...
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has picked two long-time educators to serve as principals at Webster and Franklin elementary schools. Tedd Wakeman, the co-founder and co-director of The Sycamore School in Malibu, has been tapped to head Webster Elementary while Eran Zeevi, the district’ s special education coordinator, has been named the new Franklin principal. The School Board is expected to approve both appointments at its Sept. 1 meeting. During his tenure at Sycamore, Wakeman...
Officials from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School are urging students this week to take antigen tests prior to the start of the new school year to “ensure everyone is Covid-19 free upon their return.” SMMUSD Supt. Ben Drati also mentioned that students will not be required to wear masks when they return to school next Thursday, August 18, but they might be asked to take part in voluntary weekly antigen testing program. In a back-to-school letter to parents that also focused on health...
The Santa Monica City Council this week voted to place on the November ballot a measure capping at 3% the rent increase for rent controlled units City officials said this measure will support rent controlled tenants who will be impacted by the 6% rent increase that will take effect September 1. Annual increases are currently based on inflation and limited to a maximum increase of $140. The proposed measure would reduce the cap to 3% or $70 for future years, said city officials. If the voters app...
A street vendor has sued Santa Monica in federal court, alleging that the city is targeting Black and Latino people by illegally towing the vehicles of unlicensed drivers. Reyes Murcia alleges in the proposed class-action complaint that Santa Monica is targeting poor Black and Latino people by depriving them of their property in violation of the Fourth Amendment while "arbitrarily" imposing an unjustified impound fee, according to the civil rights lawsuit filed last Friday in Los Angeles. The...
Teachers, nurses and management personnel in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have received a pay raise. Classified employees are also in line for a hike in salary. The local School Board has just ratified an agreement between the District and its teachers union that include a 10% salary increase, retroactive to last July. The agreement, which runs through June 30, 2023, was approved at the recent Board meeting. It includes increases to base salaries, hourly rates and substitute...
The Santa Monica City Council this week voted to place multiple measures on the November 8 election ballot, including two competing transfer tax propositions and one dealing with cannabis business tax license. The first tax measure would establish designated funds for local schools, homelessness prevention and affordable housing, an 11-member oversight committee, and provide a third-tier transfer tax rate of $56 per thousand dollars for property transfers valued more than $8 million. The second...
Santa Monica has won a $65,000 stipulated judgment against a local landlord who 'allegedly attempted a wrongful eviction" against a family in a rent-controlled apartment. Last April, the city's Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit alleging that the landlords of the apartment building at 848 18th Street used "fraudulent and coercive tactics" to attempt to force a family to leave their apartment after the tenants asked for repairs and maintenance work, Santa Monica officials said. In its lawsuit,...
Buoyed by the success of a pandemic-era pilot program, the Santa Monica City Council this week approved a permanent program to allow local businesses to convert curbside parking spaces into sidewalk dining and retail areas. The permanent Santa Monica Outdoors Parklet Program takes effect October 1 and includes a streamlined review and permit process and provides standards for traffic safety and neighbor outreach, said city officials. "The Santa Monica Outdoors Program has been a critical...
6.23.22: The Santa Monica City Council this week approved revisions to the city's 6th Cycle Housing Element Update which will be resubmitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Last October, the Council adopted the 2021-2029 Housing Element, which "prioritizes 100% affordable housing in city-owned land" and "addresses historic discrimination and satisfies affirmatively furthering fair housing." The Element also included the city's plan to build 8,895 units...
6.23.22: The City of Santa Monica released statement after Heal The Bay named Santa Monica Pier #3 polluted beach in California. They blamed bird poop for the problem. The Statement reads: "The City of Santa Monica is pleased to see several of our beach areas have received top grades in Heal the Bay's 2021-2022 Beach Report Card. The City acknowledges the real challenges of limiting bird excrement at the Santa Monica Pier-the primary source of pollution in the waters surrounding the Pier-and...
Santa Monica residents will be limited to two-day per week outdoor watering schedules starting next month as part of the city's effort to conserve water amid a historic drought in California. At its Tuesday night's meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the new restrictions under Santa Monica's Emergency Water Conservation Ordinance which takes effect July 5. Under the new ordinance, all outdoor watering will have to be done in the evening or early morning, with no watering permitted...
6.10.22: The father of a Brentwood School student has sued the institution, alleging that the curriculum became "racially divisive" after the 2020 death of George Floyd and the climate turned hostile toward Jewish people. In a Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit, filed this week, Jerome Eisenberg alleges the private, K-12 school and its Headmaster Michael Riera committed "civil rights violations, breach of contract and caused both intentional and negative infliction of emotional distress." The s...
The Los Angeles City Council this week supported a proposal by five council members to amend the city's law against homeless encampments in certain areas of the city to extend to within 500 feet of all schools and day care facilities. The ordinance already restricts sleeping and encampments within 500 feet of schools and day care facilities after each individual location is approved for enforcement by the City Council. On Tuesday, the council voted 13- 2 to have the city attorney draft an...
U.S. Postal Service employee Dewayne Morris Sr. and his son and namesake were charged in federal court with multiple felony counts of bank fraud and conspiracy in connection with the theft of $5 million in Postal money order forms, the Department of Justice announced this week. Morris Sr., 62, along with his son, Dewayne Morris Jr., 39, and four others were charged with conspiring to convert the stolen money order forms into cash, the DOJ said. According to the indictment, Morris Sr., then a...
Sameday Health, a Venice-based COVID-19 testing company, allegedly falsified and forged test results, according to a complaint released by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, which reached a $22.5 million settlement with the company late last week. Sameday Technologies, which operates under Sameday Health, has 55 testing sites throughout the country, with 16 locations in Los Angeles County. In Santa Monica, a Sameday clinic is still open at 1335 3rd St. Promenade. The testing company also...
A homeless man who was convicted of raping a Santa Monica woman in her Ocean Park apartment in 2018 was sentenced on Friday to 100 years to life in state prison. Dylan James Jensen, now 44, was found guilty last Dec. 7 on seven counts, including rape, sexual battery, sodomy, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. Santa Monica police arrested Jensen on June 4, 2018 after he entered the victim's apartment in the 2900 block of 4th Street through a sliding glass door of an elevated patio and...
