California’s top energy regulators on Tuesday said the state is better prepared to avoid last summer’s rotating blackouts, but they cautioned the power grid of the nation’s most populous state is still vulnerable to extreme heat waves that could force more outages later this year.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/california-readies-to-prevent-blackouts-but-threats-remain/205080

 Councilman Joe Buscaino is speaking out in the wake of the Palisades fire, which has charred 1,158 acres as of Tuesday afternoon. After authorities charged a 48-year-old homeless man with arson of a structure or forest in the wake of the flames, Buscaino released a statement saying the homelessness crisis is "destroying neighborhoods."

Read More: https://patch.com/california/santamonica/s/hkshj/homelessness-endangering-lives-councilman-palisades-fire

The City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City have settled a legal battle relating to the formerly proposed Plaza at Santa Monica project.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/city-and-coalition-settle-legal-battle/205035

City settles with Marshall Reddick Real Estate and Balthazar Investment Group

Read More:  https://smmirror.com/2021/05/santa-monica-landlord-agrees-to-resolve-tenant-harassment-claims-related-to-displacing-tenants-for-discretionary-work/

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the voting rights lawsuit against the City submitted the final brief in the landmark case last week, paving the way for a ruling that could either upend Santa Monica's election system or impact voting districts across the state.

Submitted last Wednesday, the 48-page brief argues that in its ruling last July, the Court of Appeal failed to "even acknowledge" the law's mandate that eliminates the federal requirement for a majority-minority district.

Read More: https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2021/May-2021/05_17_2021_Plaintiffs_in_Voting_Rights_Case_File_Final_Brief.html

City Council finished its first round of interviews for Santa Monica’s next city manager this weekend, meaning the search for the city’s first permanent manager since Rick Cole resigned in April 2020 could soon be completed.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/city-manager-selection-process-begins/204941

After breaking ground earlier this spring, construction crews are now beginning to work on a four-story building at 2903 Lincoln Boulevard.

The project, spanning the entire east side of the block between Ashland Avenue and Wilson Place, will feature 47 units of housing on top of 16,755 square feet of ground floor retail. The apartments will be a combination of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, including four reserved for extremely low-income tenants.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/05/construction-underway-for-mixed-use-lincoln-boulevard-development/

A proposal to convert several local beach lots into temporary housing cleared its first hurdle this week when the City of Los Angeles’ Committee on Homelessness and Poverty voted to authorize a feasibility study in a 4-1 vote.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/la-to-study-homeless-housing-at-will-rogers-beach/204873

We are fortunate in Santa Monica that we have a choice to purchase our power from two sources. We can buy our power from SCE which generates their power from a mix of about 50% renewable and 50% fossil fuel sources OR, for slightly more cost,  from the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) which is essentially a power brokerage that buys its power from renewable clean power sources such as photovoltaics (PV), windmills, hydroelectric,  geothermal, etc.. The CPA then sends this “clean” power to you via the same power lines and transformers that SCE uses. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2021/05/sma-r-t-column-power-to-the-people/

Anti-development advocacy group Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City calls it a "final victory"

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2021/05/12/news/the-controversial-plaza-project-proposed-at-arizona-and-4th-street-on-public-land-is-dead/5631.html