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......

"Ain’t no party like a West Coast party ’cause a West Coast party don’t stop” Some arrived early, and some arrived late, but the true die-hards at GLOW hung on until the bitter end. You can't really claim Westside cred until you've woken up face-planted on the beach.......

The GLOW festival started at sundown Saturday night and didn't stop until after sunrise Sunday morning. The event was hosted by the City of Santa Monica and The Santa Monica Arts Foundation. It was sponsored by local businesses including The King's Head Pub as well as larger corporations. There were various installations, performances and exhibits scheduled throughout the night, so the experience changed drastically as the event progressed. Earlier arrivals had many more entertainment options,......

We are all about the "people first" concept, which is planning for people, not cars when developing a new building or road. However, pedestrians still need to follow the law. Saturday night's traffic in Santa Monica for the Glow Festival was only worsened by the fact that pedestrians would cross streets against the walk signal's "don't cross" hand. Witnessed at just about every intersection, this left vehicles in all directions backed up and clogged at......

An estimated 44,000 people visited the first Glow Festival tonight in Santa Monica (Update: the estimates are now to 200,000 people total with the highest peak at one time at 75,000 people, according to police) . The 10 Freeway was jammed late into the night and the oceanside city was packed from the promenade to the beach. Tons of people were having a good time, but many were overheard saying, "where's the art?" How was......

Ready for your morning cup of irony? There's a list and map of all the Starbucks closures on the website of a newspaper making quite a few cutbacks of its own. The LA Times breakdown of espresso let-goes holds at least one surprise that may ease your jitters ... none are getting axed in the Valley, and only one is closing west of the 405. Angelinos obviously love their caffeine, even if it costs more......

It's the first event of its sort in the country, Santa Monica officials say about this weekend's all-night festival, Glow. For two years, the city's Cultural Affairs Division has been working towards this Saturday night, where an expected 25,000 to 50,000 people are to attend the from dusk to dawn beachside event featuring lots of art and music. "Visitors will have to be strategic on how they spend their time," explained Jessica Cusick, the division's......

Bicycle advocate Alex Thompson wrote on his blog that he ran various red lights last night in Santa Monica. He explains his actions. "Because the decrepit signals wouldn’t change for me. Every time I visit Santa Monica City Council I run the light in front of the Police Department. I wait and wait and wait before I realize that the signal is not going to change for me. Then I look around, make sure there......

As dusk was falling over Santa Monica Pier on Friday night, Ronnie Renner was rising. The motorcycle daredevil broke the Guinness World Record for highest air ever attained on a quarterpipe, which had been constructed near the pier's ferris wheel and roller coaster. A pair of towers, each 55 feet tall, were used by the crowd to estimate the height of each attempt. A team of surveyors used reflectors and lasers to confirm the official......

Note: Read Jessie Baylin's May interview with Michele Reverte. Last month, local singer/songwriter Jessie Baylin (MySpace) performed at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood and Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica to celebrate the release of her debut album Firesight. Opening for Baylin at the Hotel Cafe was Justin Connor (MySpace) and following her was local Zack Hexum (MySpace), who joined her onstage for a song, as well as Kenneth Pattengale......

Photo by Julia Brokaw via Robert Francis' MySpace profile Note: Robert Francis plays tonight at The Troubadour.You don't hear Robert Francis' name mentioned around Los Angeles that often, but when you meet a fan of his, they are not just a cheerleading friend of his, they're a true die-hard fan of his musicianship, his words and the hauntingly beautiful art he creates. NPR took notice last Fall and called him a "a young man......

Mahalo Daily has been locally focused the past couple of days. Yesterday, they spoke to people at the Santa Monica promenade about the effect of gas prices on their lives. Today, they tag along with the city's Bureau of Sanitation in South LA for a day of bulky item pickups. Good times.......

Mahalo Daily hit the streets of Santa Monica and interviewed people about gas prices and how it was affecting them. They also asked gas price predictions for January 1st, 2009. Everyone said at least over $5. The current average price of a gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles is $4.576. The highest reached was 4.626 on June 21.......

If there is anywhere you would expect a Tree Commission to exist, it would be Santa Monica. After the uprooting of 23 trees on 2nd and 4th streets (see photos here), the activist group Treesavers is urging City Hall to form a Tree Commission. The Santa Monica City Council was scheduled to take it up last month, but it was postponed until later this month. "Positive, passionate and polite phone calls supporting the establishment of......