It's probably one of the least heard of tickets, especially given to a bicyclist. But a ticket for signaling and then not turning was apparently handed out to one Critical Mass rider in Santa Monica on Friday night. Fellow rider to the cyclist and a photographer Alex Thompson said it was "biased enforcement." Santa Monica Critical Mass and Santa Monica Police have a history of meeting up every first Friday of the month. Hundreds of......

A few minutes before 8:00 p.m. last night, a small 3.0 earthquake shook the Westside. The quake, located two miles north of El Segundo caused no reported damage, but a cat might have jumped and tipped over a glass of milk or something. Nevertheless, each little microquake is a good reminder to think about preparing oneself for "the big one." One good way is to participate in The Great Southern California ShakeOut where 3.7 million......

Over the weekend, art patrons around Los Angeles received the 08/09 season mailer for the new Broad Stage in Santa Monica as part of Santa Monica Community College's Madison Campus. It's an interesting season of over twenty-five performances including some that caught our eye like the Grammy-winning all-male A Capella ensemble Chanticleer, the Cirque de Solei-esque Diavolo dance company, the cutting edge new music series Jacaranda, the baroque orchestra Musica Angelica, and well-known jazz man......

Photo via festival website Some 40 concerts and hundreds of musicians later, The World Festival of Sacred Music ends today with a free concert on the beach featuring over 300 performers such as The Pasadena Scottish Pipes and Drums ensemble, Agape Choir, a REMO Drum Circle facilitated by Christine Stevens, Viver Brasil, Capoeira Batueque, Swing Brazil and Banda Juvenil Solaga from Oaxaca. The event, called Honoring the Sea, takes place on the beach at......

It's another day in the fight between Santa Monica City Hall and proponents of Proposition T, the city measure that would "establish an annual limit on commercial development" in an effort to slow down traffic growth. In this round, city staff asked city council about beginning to impose a traffic impact fee on developers, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press (.pdf). But Prop T proponents said the city already took a similar action in......

Photo by Farley Elliott/LAist While not generally synonymous, Los Angeles and barbeque food have a lot in common. Both seem to attract the eccentrics, the slightly misguided. Both have a worldwide appreciation, but not many people talk about the greasy, slimy mess that gets left behind when all else is gone. And both are responsible for a lot of bad gas issues, and a sizable hole in the ozone layer. One of the best......

To kick off the second season of ABC's TV show "Pushing Daisies" the TV network's Mobile Pie Hole truck is down at Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade today handing out small apple, cherry and peach pies til 3pm. Not familiar with the Emmy-nominated dramedy show about a pie maker who has the ability to resurrect the dead? Footage of it will be playing on plasma TV screens during the giveaway. Yum!......

Andrew Steiner, former "Maitre Fromager" at Patina (Cheese Master -- now there's a worthy sobriquet!), has opened a shop of his own on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Andrew's Cheese Shop is offering over 200 varieties of cheese, including many hand-crafted and artisanal varieties from all over the globe -- even raw milk cheeses! Andrew highlights cheeses like the Chimay Grand Cru (yes, from the same makers of the potent Belgian ale), Sally Jackson......

Normally we're not starstruck but when Robert Downey Jr. joined Jon Favreau for the commentary edition of the Iron Man screening at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica last Saturday, we couldn't help but squeal with delight. He emerged from the shadows in the back of the theater and took the stage to a standing ovation. Eeeee! We were in the same room with the guy who stole the movie from Ben Stiller in......

Photo by Alex Thompson via Flickr For over a year, Critical Mass and the Santa Monica Police Department have been at odds and last month at their monthly ride, an unusual amount of officers monitored the ride of approximately 150 cyclists. A total of 16 officers were assigned to the ride costing the city $3,067.88, according to documents obtained by LAist in a public records request. Nine citations were written for various violations such......

Photos via Treesavers' website Jerry Peace Activist Rubin followed through with what he said he would do if he had to after a year of battling with the city of Santa Monica over trees. Yesterday, he tied himself to a ficus tree that was being dug up and removed. Santa Monica Police arrested him for "resisting or interfering with a police officer." In a letter posted on the Treesavers' website, a writer says Rubin's......

Earlier this morning, tree activists from the group Treesavers reportedly chained themselves to ficus trees scheduled to be relocated by the city from 4th Street in Santa Monica. During the protest the Treesaver himself, Jerry 'Peace Activist' Rubin was arrested by police for "resisting or interfering with a police officer," according to Sergeant Renaldi Thruston. As of 2:00 p.m. Rubin, who is running for City Council this November, was still in custody. Treesavers believed the......

Submitted by Brooke Burton/Food Woolf Bar Pintxo, the Spanish love child of Chef Joe Miller (of Joe's in Venice) offers tapas and main courses just seconds away from the beach. With the help of a few glasses of crisp Spanish wine (try a zesty Albarino or a salty Txakolina by the glass), a plate of grilled whole shrimp in a rustic, garlic and citrus sauce (gambas al ajillo) or lamb chops in a chorizo crust......

Jesca Hoop at the Temple Bar by Koga/LAist More details are coming out regarding The Temple Bar closing its doors at the end of next month. The venue's booker, Dexter Story, described closing as bittersweet. "We're going to miss this place," he said over the phone this afternoon. As to why owners Louie and Netty Ryan are choosing to close the venue, Story forwarded a letter they have been sending out (the full letter......

Jesca Hoop at the Temple Bar by Koga/LAist We've just heard some very bad news. The Temple Bar, one of the few music venues (and if not the best in town when it came to booking a truly eclectic mix) on the Westside, is set to close at the end of September. More details are forthcoming.......

The Santa Monica Police Department and LAPD are saying they have a suspect in custody who may be responsible for a series of home invasions of elderly women on the Westside. If all are the cases are truly connected, fifteen reported incidents, mostly within Los Angeles city limits, were committed between May and August (see a map here). The suspect was arrested in Santa Monica on Friday around 3:00 a.m. while preparing to strike again,......

Many drinkers find absinthe an acquired taste, that's why we were reluctant to try the new absinthe cocktail at South in Santa Monica, the Southern Spell ($12). The green liquor tastes like black licorice, our least favorite thing in the world but since this cocktail is new we thought we'd give it a shot in the name of research. Made of Lucid Absinthe, peach schnapps and ginger ale, it sounds like the nasty taste of......

The always popular Santa Monica based Big Blue Bus has done it again, adding its second Rapid bus line to their service line. Like Metro's Rapid Routes and their own Rapid 3 that runs down Lincoln Blvd. between Santa Monica and the LAX area, Rapid 7 will have a limited number of stops, cutting down on travel time (even beyond the Super 7 that it's replacing). It basically runs back and forth between downtown Santa......

Photo by cwalkr71 via Flickr "It is imperative to know that when purchasing items on-line, if the price seems too good to be true, then it probably is too good and is possibly a stolen item," said an e-mail sent out this weekend by the LAPD announcing a press conference regarding hundreds of stolen tires and rims from newer model Mercedes Benz and BMWs. Two young men, ages 18 and 20, are prime suspects......

A home invasion early Friday morning in Santa Monica could be the latest in a series of home invasions and burglaries with elderly female victims on the Westside since early May. Friday's incident took place on 1200 Ashland Ave. around 2:45 a.m. The septuagenarian woman who was at home at the time was not injured, but jewelry and other valuables were stolen, according to the LA Times. The suspect is described as a male Black,......

George Furth, a Tony-award winning playwright and the man behind the books for "Company," the 1970 Broadway musical as well as "Merrily We Roll Along," died yesterday in Santa Monica for reasons yet to be announced. Furth worked with Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the music and lyrics for the two musicals, on the short lived murder mystery "Getting Away With Murder" in 1996. He also wrote the play "Twigs." As an actor, Furth worked on......

Bicyclists Strike back at Santa Monica Uploaded by thepeoplesride Last Friday night in Santa Monica, bicyclists-turned-temporary-pedestrians gathered and protested what they believe is harassment from the city towards monthly Critical Mass bicycles rides. At their latest ride on August 1st, 14 police officers were deployed to monitor the ride resulting in at least nine citations (unofficial counts totaled up to 14). In response to that, around 60 bicyclists planned and executed some civil disobedience by......

There's a local initiative facing Santa Monicans this November regarding development in the name of traffic. The Residents' Initiative to Fight Traffic's (RIFT) ballot measure would amend the land use element of Santa Monica's general plan "to establish an annual limit on commercial development" within the city until 2023. The working theory is that traffic can't increase much if new jobs aren't made available in new developments. These days, SaMo traffic is pretty gridlocked and......

Between May 31 and July 29, there have been at least 14 similar burglaries and home invasions in the West LA area, including two that took place in Santa Monica and Culver City that detectives say could be tied to the their cases (Note: if you live in the area, check the interactive Google map below to see if any are near you). All victims have been elderly woman with incidents occurring in the late-night......

Wokcano in Santa Monica (the fifth L.A. Wokcano restaurant) celebrated it's grand opening with a huge party of complimentary specialty cocktails and passed appetizers. And of course we were there to check out the scene. Free drinks! Woo hoo! The new restaurant, located in the space formerly occupied by Akwa, is huge with two and a half levels of dark wood and modern, Japanese-inspired decor. Downstairs is the sushi bar, upstairs is the bar and......

Inspired by the popular Big Apple BBQ Block Party in New York, the L.A. BBQ Festival will take place at the Santa Monica Beach North Parking Lot on September 13-14. Enjoy the grilled meats from some of the top pitmasters around the country. Tickets are $10 a day or $50 for a two-day fast pass that gets you admission on both days, shorter lines for food and beer, and more (food/drink not included though). But......

Earlier this month, a mysterious fireball flew over the Los Angeles region. And now today, an e-mail tipster sends this to our inbox: "There was some sonic boom noise in Santa Monica, and all my neighbors reported hearing it, but nobody could figure out what this was. Have you heard of it? My coworker swears she saw a 'low flying shooting star that exploded over the ocean.'" Santa Monica Police report no calls about anything......

Driving or Walking from the streets of Santa Monica to the Beach Yesterday, Google introduced a new Google Maps feature: directions when on foot. "Starting today, you can tell Google Maps that you want walking directions, and we'll try to find you a route that's direct, flat, and uses pedestrian pathways when we know about them," explained Andy Schwerin, Software Engineer, on Google's blog dedicated to maps. "Just get directions as you normally would.......

Styrofoam food containers will be banned in city buildings, at LAX, and at city-sponsored events beginning next July and plastic bags will be ordered pulled from store checkout counters July 1, 2010, in accordance with a ban approved today by LA City Council. The decision comes just weeks after a similar measure in Manhattan Beach passed despite the threat of a lawsuit. Malibu banned plastic bags in May and the debate stalled on the issue......

The official count for Glow in Santa Monica this weekend is now at 200,000 people with 75,000 there at the same time, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. For the most part, comments left on an LAist post (and other sites) about the event were very strong and negative. However, from there, the biannual event can only come back in 2010 as a slamming success, drawing the same large crowd and pleasing even more......