SMFD starts the year with new plan and a new chief:The first Santa Monica City Council meeting of 2024 had a jam-packed agenda, including a presentation by the Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) of their five year strategic plan.
A combination of new laws coming out of Sacramento have significantly increased the possible density of new development while simultaneously undermining the ability of local agencies to oppose those projects according to a recent report presented to the Santa Monica Planning Commission.
The Holiday Season edition of the popular Local Night’s event, held every month on the Santa Monica Pier, is set to include a Mayoral handover ceremony, marking the transition from the end of Mayor Gleam Davis’ term and the beginning of Phil Brock’s one year term in the center seat.
37% of Californians are fully vaccinated.
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California’s main broadband challenge
Mario Ramirez Garcia, 10, attends online school in the bedroom he shares with his sister on April 23, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
A photo of two Salinas students trying to log into Zoom classes via wifi in a Taco Bell parking lot went viral last year, symbolizing how unequal internet access could block children from their right to an equal and high quality education. Lawmakers have since introduced at least 20 proposals aiming to close California’s digital divide once and for all, primarily by funding broadband infrastructure in remote parts of the state. But an unprecedented CalMatters analysis reveals that cost, not internet infrastructure, is the biggest barrier for the vast majority of families. In other words, even if high-speed broadband were available to every California household, many families feel they couldn’