Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday is set to consider a sweeping ban on single-use plastic and paper bags at convenience stores and supermarkets.
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday will consider a ban on single-use plastic and paper bags at convenience stores and supermarkets after blowing through its March 31 deadline to approve a bag ban. A plastic bag ban has been simmering at City Hall since 2004, when a task force was created to fight the amount of single-use plastic bags in the city's waterways. In 2008, the City Council adopted a policy statement with the goal of banning plastic carryout bags by January 2010. The move to ban single-use plastic bags stalled as the city hoped the state Legislature would approve a state-wide ban, but picked up steam again last fall. The city's Board of Public Works voted 4-0 in October to endorse the ban on single-use bags and the City …
The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Loyola Village Branch Library.
Residents who want to know what’s next for 138 Culver Boulevard — the site of the vacant lot known as “the Triangle” — can find out Tuesday. Derek Jones, chief executive officer of real estate development firm Legado Co, will update residents on the status of a plan to build a 72-unit residential complex with 16,000-square-feet of retail space, including two restaurants, a bike shop and a small grocery store, at 138 Culver. During the 6 p.m. meeting of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa Planning and Land Use Committee, residents will be looking for answers, especially regarding parking and traffic issues, according to Cheryl Burnett, committee member and lower Playa del Rey resident. “People are very curious and concerned about …
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Los Angeles City Council approved the $7.2 billion budget that cuts significant services, but delays layoffs for 200 employees.
The Los Angeles City Council today approved a $7.2 billion budget that delays layoffs but makes close to $70 million in cuts to services and shrinks the city's workforce by more than 400 positions. The budget, first proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and amended by the council's Budget and Finance Committee, closes a $238 million deficit, but leaves next year's budget $199 million in the red. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, in a letter sent to Patch, pointed out that in addition to the cuts, there will be increased spending for tree trimming, more library hours, and re-surfacing up to 800 miles of city streets. "Our budget increases funding for summer youth jobs, restores money for cleaning our parks and public restrooms, creates a …
Neighbors say online coupons for discounted flight lessons out of Santa Monica Airport put their safety at risk. The Airport Commission will hold a hearing about the ads.
In the past two months, a Santa Monica Airport flight school has sold more than 480 coupons for discounted pilot lessons. The success, however, has raised questions at City Hall about whether such promotions come at the detriment of airport neighbors. In its first Groupon ad, Justice Aviation enticed novice pilots with this language: "man the controls and try steep turns while flying over the Santa Monica Pier, Malibu Hills, and scenic landmarks." The attempt to grow the business nettled some residents who said Justice Aviation was putting their safety in the hands of adventure-seeking amateurs. So the second ad in May was phrased more delicately. The ability to take steep turns would be "far away from civilization and guided by the …
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Santa Monica Municipal Airport
3223 Donald Douglas Loop S, Santa Monica, CA
/articles/flight-school-groupon-good-for-business-bad-for-neighbors
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Friday, May 18, 2012
The Santa Monica Airport Commission urges city to use declaratory relief to clarify the legality of current agreements with the FAA. A judge's opinion could be used to either modify or close the campus.
To avoid long and expensive court battles over any efforts to modify flight operations at Santa Monica Airport, or even close it, the Airport Commission recommends that the city first determine its legal rights via legislative action or a method called declaratory relief. Simply put, declaratory relief allows the city to get a judge's opinion, before litigation, on whether the city has legal grounds to act. The commission said the top issue needing clarification is whether the 1948 Instrument of Transfer from the federal government requiring the city to operate the airport "in perpetuity" is legal. "If a judge rules in declaratory relief that we have the right to close the airport [whether or not the city chooses to do so], it's over—the …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Betsy Butler's bill that would create Veterans' Courts throughout California passes the Assembly and moves onto the state Senate.
An Assembly bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Los Angeles) that would create Veterans' Courts throughout California passed the Assembly on Thursday and will head to the state Senate for consideration. "Our current court and corrections system is not equipped to address the unique needs of veterans struggling because it lacks rehabilitation services and fails to address the underlying issues that specific to the traumas of military service,” Butler said in a statement. The proposed Veterans' Court would be modeled after the drug courts to assist veterans dealing with addiction, mental health issues and co-occurring disorders. The Veterans' Courts would promote sobriety, recovery and stability and would include collaboration …
A pile-up occurs Thursday at the intersection of Brooks Avenue and Pacific Avenue.
Readers recently voted the intersection of Lincoln and Venice boulevards as the worst in Venice-Mar Vista, but the intersection of Brooks Avenue and Pacific Avenue may be the most dangerous. The Brooks-Pacific intersection with its poor sight lines, speeding vehicles and tight turns made our list and readers commented on how dangerous it is. A three-car accident Thursday afternoon at the intersection underscored the point. The Los Angeles Fire Department's Station 63 responded to the accident, said Capt. Rex Vilaubi. There were no immediate reports on injuries.
Metro's proposal to tunnel under Beverly Hills High School to bring the subway to Century City is opposed by Beverly Hills school and city officials.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors will meet to review objections to a proposed tunnel under Beverly Hills High School that would allow the so-called Subway to the Sea to reach Century City. The high school and Beverly Hills city officials requested today's public hearing because they believe placing the tunnel under the campus would be dangerous. Metro has recommended a Century City station at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars over an alternative stop at Santa Monica Boulevard and Century Park East, requiring the subway to go under the high school. The Century City Chamber of Commerce and other neighborhood groups have supported the Constellation station. On April 26, the Metro board approved three …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
An all-star cast that includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis and John C. Reilly were recorded performing "8," a dramatization of the legal battle over California's Proposition 8.
An all-star cast that includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis and John C. Reilly has been recorded by Venice-based L.A. Theatre Works performing "8," a dramatization of the legal battle in California over gay marriage. The drama was writen by Dustin Lance Black, an Academy Award-winnng screenwriter for the 2008 film Milk and a gay rights activist, and was directed by Rob Reiner, whose directing credits include The Princess Bride, Stand by Me and This Is Spinal Tap, according to a statement from L.A. Theatre Works. "8" is based on the legal fight against California's Proposition 8, a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in 2008 by voters that recognized marriage as being only between a man and a …
At the request of Beverly Hills, a public hearing on the location of the proposed Century City subway stop will be held.
A public hearing requested by Beverly Hills on the placement of a subway station in Century City will be held Thursday at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the third floor boardroom at One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952. The Metro board held off approving the entire Westside Subway Extension plan at its April 26 meeting after the Beverly Hills City Council requested a public hearing on the placement of the Century City subway station a few days before the vote was to take place. Instead, the Metro board voted to approve three more subway stops from Wilshire and Western to Wilshire and La Cienega. The board postponed a vote on the other proposed stops in Beverly…
Ryan
7:28 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The problem I see with this is that the reusable bag isn't the best alternative unless there's an incentive (ie. they cost $2). Because if they are cheap or free I can see people starting to treat reusable bags as if they were disposable and then our landfills and rivers will be full of more durable bags. more ›