Santa Monica’s Juneteenth celebration will be held online this year due to ongoing fears over the spread of COVID-19 and while the event’s organizer understands the need for safety, she is also keenly aware that the celebration marking the end of slavery is desperately needed this year.

Recently, two close friends of mine, Lee Ray and Ron Kimmel, passed away after spending most of their lives in Hollywood and Santa Monica, respectively. (Lee moved to Hollywood in 1937 and Ron moved to Santa Monica in 1976.

Santa Monica Elks Lodge 906 was honored to have their National President Robert Duitsman celebrate Flag Day with them this year.

City Hall has approved a plan to remove the center and parking lanes from the street and use the available space to expand retail and dining. Starting next week, workers will grind out the existing lane markings and repaint the street to include one traffic lane in each direction with a corresponding bike lane.

In an effort to reduce congestion and pollution on local streets, the city of Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator have partnered to try to create a zero emissions delivery zone, and officials are looking to enlist the help of nonprofits,

Santa Monica’s Independence Day celebrations have been canceled for the year but one problematic annual trend has returned, illegal fireworks are being fired throughout the city.

Noteworthy clumn SMDP

The official press release is below. Today, Santa Monica Councilmember Greg Morena announced that he will resign from his seat effective June 24 due to the impact the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) Stay-at-Home order has had on his business and his employees.

Councilman Greg Morena has resigned from the Santa Monica City Council effective June 24 to focus on his family restaurant business. Morena’s family owns the Albright restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier.

Businesses across Los Angeles continue to reopen after forced shutdowns due to coronavirus but while some businesses are preparing to welcome back customers, others are calling it quits for good.

Local residents have united to donate thousands of dollars this week to help a man who was seen coming to the aid of a woman during the recent looting in Santa Monica.

The Library is pleased to announce that the exterior book returns are open to accept books and materials at all Santa Monica Public Library locations.

All blood donations to the American Red Cross over the next four months will be tested for COVID-19 antibodies according to a statement from the organization.

Malibu Unified School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its 2020-2021 budget this Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. in a special board meeting that will be streamed via Zoom.

For the third weekend in a row, protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco and other communities across California to demand racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis.

Santa Monica College (SMC) has officially canceled “Celebrate America,” due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions of large-scale, in-person events. This would have been the 38th year for the popular community picnic and fireworks spectacular,

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 19 new deaths and 1,071 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Fourteen people who died were over the age of 65 years,

The Santa Monica Rent Control Board is supporting a state bill that would protect renters across the state from eviction as they get back on their feet after the coronavirus pandemic.

The Human Relations Council of the Santa Monica Bay Area is a nonprofit organization that promotes a culture of fair treatment, inclusion and equal access to opportunities.

Malibu Unified School District back in February have been rescinded. But now 106 staff members in Child Development Services are at risk of being out of work at the start of next school year.