SMM 4.24.2020

S A N TA M O N I C A

INSIDE

STARBUCKS CLOSING

REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY

smmirror.com

PAGE 9

Apr. 24 – Apr. 30, 2020 Volume XXXIV, Issue 39

City Manager Rick Cole Steps Down Council accepts Rick Cole’s resignation, chooses Lane Dilg as Interim City Manager

By Sam Catanzaro

Santa Monica’s city attorney will serve as the interim city manager after Rick Cole’s resignation was accepted by City Council last Saturday.

On Saturday, April 18 Santa Monica City Council accepted Rick Cole’s offer to step down from his role as City Manager and unanimously voted to name City Attorney Lane Dilg as Interim City Manager. Dilg will take the helm starting Monday, April 20.

According to the City, Cole was placed on paid administrative leave following the April 18 vote.

On April 28, Council is expected to review the separation agreement that has been negotiated with Cole, the City says.

As Interim City Manager, Dilg will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the City of Santa Monica, implementation of City Council ordinances and policies, oversight of 14 departments and the City’s operational budget.

The budget Dilg will be responsible for was the driving force behind Cole’s resignation. The COVID-19 outbreak has hit Santa Monica hard with a $300 million dollar shortfall over forecasted the next 26 months. When reports began surface that hundreds of city employees could lose their job, a petition circulated calling for the firing of Cole and Assistant City Manager Katie Lichtig.

“We have an extraordinarily challenging road ahead. COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we work, the needs of the people we serve, and has left a devastating hole in the City

Photos: City of Santa Monica

Rick Cole

Lane Dilg

budget. But our City team is strong, and we will get through this crisis with tenacity and heart,” Dilg said.

Dilg will also serve as Director of Emergency Services throughout the local emergency during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Dilg, who holds a law degree from Yale Law School, was selected as Santa Monica City Attorney in 2017.

“She has proven to be a strong leader of the City’s legal department,” the City wrote in a statement. “Her team successfully defended the City’s Home-Sharing Ordinance against Airbnb before the Ninth Circuit and subsequently reached a settlement, protecting long-time residents and limited affordable housing. Other achievements include strengthening and expanding tenant protections, successfully implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance and Shared Mobility

Pilot Program, joining cities in supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, and successfully restructuring the City Attorney’s Office.”

Before joining Santa Monica, Dilg served as Senior Counsel to UCLA, prosecuted federal public corruption, organized crime and human trafficking cases for the Central District of California and served as Counsel to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

In June 2019, regional leaders appointed Dilg to be the President of the Los Angeles County Prosecutors Association (LACPA).

The Santa Monica Mirror has reached out to the City asking for financial information regarding Cole’s departure but the City could not immediately be reached.

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Study Shows LA County Coronavirus Count Upwards of 400,000

Backlog of cases reported, antibody study suggests more cases

By Sam Catanzaro

LA County health officials confirmed nearly 1,500 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and say that up to 400,000 additional residents have had the infection based on a new antibody study.

On Monday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirmed 1,191 cases are from a backlog of tests received from one lab, according to Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

“Over the weekend we received a large backlog of test results from one lab and these were results that were conducted for tests between April 7 and April. This is a tremendous lag in data reporting to the Department of Public Health and we are working hard to make sure we don’t have backlogs moving forward,” Ferrer said.

As of Wednesday, there are now a total of 16,435 cases in LA County, including 139 in Santa Monica.

Photo: LA County

A drive through COVID-19 test is conducted.

In addition, a study done in partnership with the University of Southern California and the LRW Group suggests infections from the COVID-19 are far more widespread – and the fatality rate much lower – in L.A. County than previously thought. 863 LA County adults were tested between April 10 and April 14 using serology testing. Based on results of the first round of testing, the research team estimates that approximately 4.1 percent of the county’s adult population has antibody to the virus. Adjusting this estimate for statistical margin of error implies about 2.8 percent to 5.6 percent of the county’s adult population has antibody to the virus- which translates to approximately 221,000 to 442,000 adults in the county who have had the infection.

“I think if there is a part of this that is hopeful for us is that the mortality rate now has dropped a lot. If you think the denominator now for the number of positive cases in LA County is 300,000 and it is not 12,000, then our mortality rate has dropped from 4.5 percent to more like .1 or .2 percent depending on which number you choose to use which I think does provide us with some hope that this disease while extraordinarily devastating and causes a lot of death – since that still is more death then you have from like influenza and more death happening in a much shorter period of time over a couple of months – it is not as high a rate of death as what we were looking at,” Ferrer said.

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Apr. 24 – Apr. 30, 2020

Local Hotel Group Supporting Healthcare Workers

Shore Hotel, Ocean View Hotel and Santa Monica Motel offering Hero Rates for COVID-19 front line workers

By Staff Writer

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has hit the Santa Monica tourism industry hard with many hotels shutting their doors. One Santa Monica hospitality group, however, is partnering with the state to offer ‘hero rates’ for healthcare workers and first responders.

“Despite operating at a loss, our hotels are staying open to continue providing resources to our community and jobs to our employees, who are an extension of our family,” said Jon Farzam, vice president of the hospitality group that includes the Shore Hotel, Ocean View Hotel and Santa Monica Motel.

In addition to remaining open to support their employees, the hotels are also offering first responders and healthcare workers rooms at discounted rates. According to Farzam, the Shore

Hotel ‘Hero Rate’ is $109 + Tax a night, the Ocean View Hotel is $79 a night and the Santa Monica Motel is $69 a night.

“Our Hero rates are an opportunity for us as responsible hoteliers to support healthcare workers and first responders during trying times. Providing close to work accommodations for well-deserved rest between shifts and the ability to keep their families safe at home, free of risk,” Farzam said.

The Hero Rates are part of a program recently announced by Governor Gavin Newsom to provide doctors, nurses and other critical front-line health care workers access to no-cost or low-cost hotel rooms.

The program prioritizes health care workers who come in direct contact with or are suspected of having direct contact with COVID-19 patients or who test positive for COVID-19 but do not require hospitalization. According to Newsom, by providing hotel rooms in close proximity to medical facilities, health care workers can avoid potentially spreading the virus once leaving their shift by selecting to stay in one of the pre-identified hotels across the state.

“California is fighting to protect those who are protecting us,” Newsom said. “Health care workers are the heroes of this moment. As we ramp up the workforce to meet the demand we are also stepping up to help keep our workers’ families safe by providing hotels as temporary housing options.”

Photos: Courtesy

The Shore Hotel on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

The state has already identified 150 hotels, including the Shore Hotel, Ocean View Hotel and and Santa Monica Motel who have volunteered to sign up.

“During this time, our healthcare workers and first responders are the lifeline to our wellbeing.

Despite most hotel closures, our hotels will stay open to support our employees and the community.

In conjunction with the State of California’s efforts, we will continue being a resource to our beloved heroes who serve us,” Farzam said.

“In addition, Farzam noted that the hotels are taking measures to prevent the transmission of the virus via healthcare workers and first responders who come in direct contact with or are suspected

Santa Monica Motel, located at 2102 Lincoln Blvd.

of having direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

“Our hotels are fully prepared to serve all types of guests. While we are not aware of any guests who are positive for COVID, we have proactively instituted numerous measures to prevent the transmission of the virus in addition to aggressive disinfecting procedures which meet or exceed CDC guidelines,” Farzam said.”

For more information on the program and to make a reservation, California Health Corps workers should visit caltravelstore.com.

For more information about the Shore Hotel, Ocean View Hotel and Santa Monica Motel, visit shorehotel.com, oceanviewsantamonica.com, santamonicamotel.com

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OPINION

Across The Bridge!

SMa.r.t.

Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow

The days are in slow motion now, as one day blends into the next. In a city where time now stands still, is the stillness of our streets something to celebrate or revile? While our lives have slowed, the wheels of city government accelerate towards a cataclysmic collision with the 2020-2021 Santa Monica city budget on June 30, 2020. Our general revenue shows a steep decline during this time of international crisis. The vast majority of our sales and bed tax revenues are gone.

The projected shortfall through the end of the budget year is $72 Million. The city’s chief finance officer predicts a $154 Million shortfall during the following fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Massive cuts are needed and will affect the services you receive from the City of Santa Monica.

Whether the budget cuts are temporary or permanent will depend upon soul searching by the city council, the interim city manager and department heads, the unions that represent municipal workers, and each of you. Now, our instinct as residents will be to look at the cuts that affect us, our parents, grandparents, and our children, and cry “foul.” That will be the wrong approach. All of us can look at the amount of city staff per capita in Santa Monica and surmise that Santa Monica has not been a lean fighting machine. ~ We must establish a “council of civic elders” now to aid the city council as they attempt to make the needed budget cuts.

Former city managers, city commissioners, and other wise city leaders can add valuable input to the difficult decisions that lie ahead. ~ My grandparents often used the phrase, “Spending money like it’s water.” We’ve seen this in action for many years in Santa Monica.

You’ve heard about the city hall annex, the voting rights lawsuit, the climate action plan, the cost of restrooms, and staff salaries that outstrip those of most of our residents. Our city even subsidizes duplicative services, and that is wasteful. A private business would never succeed if run in this manner. And, many of us complain that the cost of having the ocean breezes waft outside our windows is ridiculous. We have come to expect goldplated, concierge service in our neck of the woods. While all of the above is true, there is a difference. We are not a private business, and when the chips are down, who are you going to call? You’re going to dial City Hall, SMPD, SMFD, or the city department that will give you a quick fix. How do we reconcile our expectations against the reality that is rapidly approaching? Our community blinders must come off regarding our city budget and exact staffing needs. ~ Let’s take a look at the folks in City Hall.

We average over 24 city employees per capita in Santa Monica. Comparable cities, including Redondo Beach, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Ventura, and Santa Cruz, operate with a substantially leaner municipal

workforce. We average 12 to 19 more staff members per capita than any other city of our size in California. Former City Manager Rick Cole proposed cutting almost 500 city-funded positions to help solve the budget crisis. That will still leave us with a higher staff ratio than comparable communities. However, these cuts will leave the city government gasping for air. We will have to lower our expectations.

Expect some city departments to be folded into one another to reduce the cost of multiple department heads and assistants. It will take longer to solve your problems, and while the layers of bureaucracy will shrink, they won’t end. ~ Extravagant civic building projects, park improvements, and sustainability efforts will be shelved or deferred for the next few years.

The “gravy” is now gone. Our town will be on a “lean cuisine” budget for the foreseeable future. What about the private sector? The developers are at our city’s borders, with forks and knives in hand, ready to slice and dice what’s left of our city. But now the slow growth advocates in our town have ammunition. ~ We know that the more densely people live, the more chance there is of a pandemic taking hold. Each of the five- and six-story buildings that have been recently erected or are in the planning stages in Santa Monica will add density and mass to our beachside city.

Imagine what the planned 12 story buildings will bring to our town. Now that we have spent 24 hours a day in a quieter, less hectic Santa Monica, do we want to return to constant traffic jams, hordes of tourists, and a city that blind to its residents? So, maybe this huge budget deficit is an opportunity to remake this place that we call home. The population of California has stabilized and beginning to dip as some people start to flee to less populated places to live. This population decline in dense, crowded urban areas will accelerate as the effects of this pandemic reverberate through our state. Some east coast cities are already seeing an increase in urban real estate listings as those residents try to escape to less crowded suburbs. Will the people in Santa Monica stand up and emphatically declare that open space is more desirable than density?

Will renters start to make different choices?

Will work-life balance, growing families, and living space within their homes outweigh the benefits of a 375-foot apartment? The health of the environment around you is now more critical than ever. Because of that, Santa Monica needs to rethink its zoning codes and area plans. Yes, the city will try to solve the budget crisis by easing the zoning codes further to encourage development as a way to make up lost revenue. That would be the worst possible scenario. ~ Past pandemics have ultimately reshaped the world. The Renaissance, Modernism, indoor plumbing, wide boulevards, singleuse zoning, and sewer systems are among the positive changes brought on by the horror of disease throughout the ages. Now we have the opportunity to reshape our city. The need for safe, wide-open spaces to connect will be strong once the threat of the virus recedes.

For years to come, we will want to assemble

Photo: Sam Catanzaro

“We know that the more densely people live, the more chance there is of a pandemic taking hold.

Each of the five- and six-story buildings that have been recently erected or are in the planning stages in Santa Monica will add density and mass to our beachside city,” writes Phil Brock in the latest SMa.r.t. Column.

in spacious outdoor environments. Parks and plazas will be more critical to city residents.

Small, boxy apartments, large office buildings, and mixed-use complexes will be considered unhealthy. ~ The diet that Santa Monica faces over the next fifteen months will be stringent. The cuts to the programs we love will be dramatic, but as with a good diet and proper exercise, we will become a stronger, more reliable Santa Monica. If we plan accordingly, Santa Monica will be resilient, will recover, and will prosper once again. ~ Our hearts go out to those who are suffering from COVID-19. We are grateful to the hospital personnel who are fighting to save lives. Our government officials at the state level and in our city have been exemplary.

The people endeavoring to keep us fed, the support personnel who deliver our goods, and our public safety departments who keep us secure, deserve to know our gratitude is immense. Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry reminds us, “We have a unique opportunity to come together, to bridge humanity, and the future of our world depends on what you do next...our small gestures in times of crisis can end up being the big gestures that made the

difference.” Please remember to help those in need. Nod to your neighbors! ~ Santa Monica College’s Meal Project has delivered 17,651 meals, 1, 854 bags of groceries, and served 3,147 students in need, so far. You can add your donation at https://www.classy.org/campaign/mealproject/c253454.

“There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction.”

Franz Kafka ~ Let’s resolve to shed the waste of the past and rekindle our love for Santa Monica as a leaner, wiser town with a sparkling ocean and fresh ideas that work for our community. We have no choice.

By Phil Brock for SMart (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) Thane Roberts, Architect, Robert H. Taylor AIA, Ron Goldman FAIA, Architect, Dan Jansenson, Architect, Building and Fire-Life Safety Commission, Samuel Tolkin Architect, Mario Fonda-Bonardi, AIA, Planning Commissioner, Phil Brock, Santa Monica Arts Commission.

For previous articles see www.santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/ writing.

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Column: COVID-19 Protestors are Health Insurrectionists;

They Endanger Public Health

By Julie A. Werner-Simon,

former federal prosecutor & Fellow, Constitutional Studies at Southwestern Law School

We are deep into April. The Santa Monica City COVID-19 Response Dashboard (updated daily at https://www.santamonica.gov/coronavirus), reports that Santa Monica has 139 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The Los Angeles Public Health Department, which keeps its own dashboard of upto-date tallies for Los Angeles County, (including those of the City of Santa Monica), reports (as of April 22 at noon) 16,435 confirmed cases and 729 deaths “in the county.” http://publichealth. lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/. Only Long Beach and Pasadena report their numbers of COVID dead: so far it’s 24 in Long Beach and 28 in Pasadena. Other than those two places, it is hard to get a handle on where in Los Angeles County people are dying. The City of Santa Monica does not report how many have died here.

The Santa Monica Response Dashboard, however, does contain two multicolored charts: one showing the Los Angeles County COVID cases and deaths, and the other showing just Santa Monica’s confirmed cases of COVID infection.

The Los Angeles County rate-of-confirmed-cases graph (in bright yellow) is ominous, climbing ever higher. Santa Monica’s confirmed-cases-graph (in bright blue) mirrors Los Angeles’. We have our own escalating trajectory.

With all this as a back-drop, and as a former federal prosecutor, now a constitutional studies instructor, (currently teaching law students online from the quiet of a bedroom closet), I took interest in the news coverage of COVID restriction protestors. The protests, first in Michigan and Ohio, and now crisscrossing the country in states as diverse as Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Texas, have become outdoor-forums where people (most without masks) congregate closely, chant in unison, and hold signs (with a few carrying weapons, and many with MAGA hats and Trump 2020 placards). They are vociferously opposing social distancing, science, stay-at-home orders, and governmental regulations of all sorts.

Despite the ever-increasing number of deaths and the major uptick in the rates of infection, on Friday, April 17, 2020, over 100 people took to an intersection in downtown Huntington Beach, California, one of our sister-beach towns, to protest Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders. The seemingly all-white protestors carried American flags and signs extolling the importance of the constitution and constitutional rights. One man in a mask held a sign aloft with the words: “COVID-19 is a lie!”

This take-it-to-the-streets anti-government

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measures.”

The president’s economic advisor, Stephen Moore (a member of the President’s Back-toWork Council) put an end to any confusion about the president’s actual sentiments. Moore clarified that the president’s tweets (the one’s many view as encouraging insurrection against state government authorities) are about liberty.

Moore, the president’s failed appointee to the Federal Reserve Board (having dropped out of the running due to disclosure of Moore’s incendiary comments about race to include “kicking out a black family, the Obamas, from public housing” aka the White House), called the COVID protestors: “modern day Rosa Parks, protesting against injustice and the loss of liberties.”

Our president no longer needs to dog-whistle.

The message is not in his printed scripts read at the White House COVID daily debriefings, nor is it next to his signature on the COVID relief checks. It, like the virus, is in the air. It is transmitted through his fingers in his tweets. Our commander has harnessed the power of groups who do not believe in public-safety-for-all but only in the view that I-get-what-I-want-when-Iwant–it. Consequences to others be damned. The view espoused is from the top down.

So to all of those “down-with-government” folks (the state “liberty” militias, the my-way-orhighway fundamentalists who insist on in-personchurch services, to the anti-vaccine protestors who have joined in the fray,) to all of you, I say give back your stimulus checks. Donate the funds to our first responders and to our hospitals.

They, “cloaked” in a protective-gear doctrine stemming from early colonial America and enshrined in the 10th Amendment, are ensuring our public health and our safety. They will be cleaning up the wreckage from your failure to see and understand that ensuring public health is the duty of all of us who comprise “the public.”

It is just as much my liberty right, as theirs, to be free from exposure to those who devalue science.

Constitutional rights are shared by all of us. They are not absolute, nor are they solely for the loudest of the rabble. We all now know this absolutely.

Julie A. Werner-Simon Former Federal Prosecutor, 1986 - 2015 including positions as: Senior Litigation Counsel of Major Frauds Section & Deputy Chief, Organized Crime Strike Force Fellow, Constitutional Studies, Southwestern Law School

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protest was not limited to Southern California. A rally of this kind took place on Monday, April 20, 2020, in Sacramento, outside of the state capitol building. The protestors there too appeared to be white, with many wearing articles of red, white, and blue clothing, and some carrying American flags and signs with fervent messages such as: “Fear God, Not COVID,” “the Media is the Real Virus” and “You don’t own me!”

Evidently, they had not listened to the President’s prepared speeches from the White House like the one on Thursday, April 16, 2020, in which he backtracked on his assertion that the president has absolute power vis-à-vis the states.

Our commander (having been refreshed about the content of the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights which gives certain powers to the states) read his prepared comments on that Thursday. The President explained that the federal government will defer to the states on “re-opening” the country in “a safe, structured and responsible way”. The president also intoned that the country would be best served by a gradual three-phase re-opening plan focusing on “hard, verifiable data” consisting of what the health officials have advised to include: teleworking, sheltering-in-place, social distancing, sanitizing surfaces, as well as testing. He urged governors (stating that he has great relations with Democratic and Republican governors alike) to craft “phased and deliberate” approaches to opening their economies.

Our nation’s commander-in-chief, within hours, departed from the briefing room script and tweeted out a succession of “call-to-arms” charges against states with Democratic governors.

Liberate Minnesota was quickly followed by Liberate Michigan, and then Liberate Virginia, with the added warning that Virginians’ gun rights were at stake. The president at the next White House briefing, Friday, April 17, 2020, called the people taking to the streets (who he had observed on TV footage bearing confederate flags, machine guns, military surplus olive-green flak jackets, and signs like “Heil Whitmer” alluding to the “female governor of Michigan,”) as “very responsible people.”

The president stated: “I see where they are . . . I see the way they are working. They seem to be very responsible people to me. But they’ve been treated a little rough.” But by Monday, April 20th, the president, in another prepared speech from the White House, resumed his measured words concerning the economic reopening of America. He stated that reopening would occur with “careful hygiene, social distancing, and other

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Former Santa Monica City Manager Still Being Paid Former City of Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole place on paid administrative leave after stepping down

By Sam Catanzaro

Rick Cole, Santa Monica’s former City Manager who stepped down over the weekend facing a massive budget deficit, remains on paid administrative leave.

On Saturday, April 18 Santa Monica City Council accepted Rick Cole’s offer to step down from his role as City Manager and unanimously voted to name City Attorney Lane Dilg as Interim City Manager. Dilg took the helm on April 20.

According to the City, Cole was placed on paid administrative leave following the April 18 vote.

On April 28, Council is expected to review the separation agreement that has been negotiated with Cole, a spokesperson for the City said.

“Council accepted Rick Cole’s offer to step aside as city manager and as a result he was placed on paid administrative leave. On April 28, Council is expected to review the separation agreement that has been negotiated with Rick Cole,” the City told the Santa Monica Mirror.

In 2018, Cole made $462,172 in total pay and benefits, according to Transparent California.

Last week, prior to stepping down, Cole along with now-Interim City Manager City Attorney Lane Dilg took a 20 percent pay cut.

Rick Cole’s at the 2018 State of the City Economic Sustainability Summit.

Photo: City of Santa Monica

Starbucks Closes Santa Monica Store Permanently Mary FealkoFF 310.488.6502

Coffee company shuts down popular location as of Sunday

By Sam Catanzaro

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A popular Santa Monica Starbucks has closed permanently.

A sign posted on the door of the Starbucks on 15th Street and Montana Avenue informs costumers that the location has been closed permanently.

According to a spokesperson for Starbucks, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was not a reason behind the closing.

“As part of Starbucks standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio. After careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the store at 1426 Montana Avenue. This closure is unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been planned well in advance,” the spokesperson said.

Accoridng to the spokesperson, all employees working at that store will have the opportunity to transfer to one of our nearby locations.

Other Santa Monica Starbucks stores remain open for curbside and to-go service, including the location a few blocks away on 7th Street and Montana Avenue, 26th Street and San Vicente Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard and 11th Street.

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Photos: Sam Catanzaro

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Apr. 24 – Apr. 30, 2020

MODMASKs: Bringing Style, Durability and Same-Day Delivery service to Masks Los Angeles-based company manufactures reusable stylish masks

With orders requiring Los Angeles residents to wear face-covering while shopping for essential goods, masks have become a must-have item.

MODMASK, a woman-owned local-brand based out of West LA is meeting this demand by designing and manufacturing reusable comfortable masks that they market as soft on the skin and stylish on the outside.

In an interview with MODMASK founder, Maryam Garg, she states: “Medical masks are a precious commodity. We need people to remain safe while keeping medical resources reserved for the medical system.”

Designed, manufactured and shipped from Los Angeles with sustainable fabrics made in the USA, MODMASK non-medical face masks are built from some of the same fibers as high-end athletic wear. According to the company, these have been tested to last for over 100 washes while still retaining the structure and silky hand feel.

“MODMASK marries function with style and comfort,” Garg said. “Disposable masks are built purely for function and are terrible for our environment. Cotton masks feel woefully inadequate and quite frankly start to break down and lose shape after a few washes. We make MODMASK using a carefully selected Micro Modal blend that’s used by famous fashion houses.”

Micro Modal, known for its premium softness, is a sustainable fiber derived from beech trees. Being thinner than cotton, Micro Modal is breathable and wicks moisture well.

Most importantly for masks, Micro Modal has

natural anti-microbial properties and unlike cotton which gets damp and retains odor, Micro Modal filters bodily fluids more efficiently and holds its shape even after extensive use.

In addition, unlike cotton, Micro Modal is shrink resistant, and unlikely to fade, so colors stay vibrant.

“After thoughtfully researching alternatives, we chose MODMASK to be made out of Micro Modal despite its significantly higher price point to make and manufacture locally, for sustainability, durability, softness, and all-day comfort without odor.” Garg said.

In addition, MODMASK has an array of stylish patterns, which customers of theirs note as being “on point” “Love the designs so my husband and I can easily see which mask is ours. It’s comfy, washable, reusable and keeps my family safe when we need to go out on essential errands and appointments!” wrote a MODMASK consumer Christine.

Since they last so long, you’ll want to buy a new mask, not as a replacement, but to add to your collection.

As the MODMASK website states: “MODMASK face masks are trendy, last a really long time, and make it easy to practice good social behaviors for the good of humanity.

MODMASK is always manufactured in small batches, so that we can be picky about only selecting the best fabrics, while making sure that the prints are always in style.”

MODMASK’s mission goes much further beyond the company. Every mask purchased from them results in a donation of a mask to our community’s front-line heroes.

To learn more about MODMASK, visit, https://modmask.com/la or check out their Instagram at @modmask.la

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Rated TV-MA Half-Hour Episodes Episode 1 Released April 12th on HBO+

TV REVIEW: “Run”

BEHIND THE SCREEN

By Kathryn Whitney Boole The premise of Run is intriguing. Two people take action on a pact they made when they were in college together 17 years ago. They ditch the lives they have built separately since then and meet at Grand Central Station to ride a train to the Midwest.

Front and center in this series are the honesty and hilarity of our attempts to cling to and then jettison the behavioral mores set out for us by society. The first two episodes delivered not quite the impact I expected, though the camera work is exceptional.

Landscapes rushing by and the confined quarters of the train cars become a major part of the story. The protagonists, played by two exceptional actors, Domnall (pronounced “doh-nall”) Gleeson as “Billy” and Merrit Wever as “Ruby,” seem to more often retreat into their heads rather than reach out to one another.

This is a story about dreams. We all have dreams.

Some of us push beyond the realm of comfort to move our dreams to reality. For others dreams are a mental voyage. Ruby and Billy choose to act on their dream and abandon all the framework of their lives, which takes them into a zone that neither is prepared to enter, the land of “Be Careful What You Wish For.” Series creator/writer Vicky Jones, is Co-Artistic Director of the DryWrite Theatre Company in London, along with Phoebe Waller-Bridge. WallerBridge won four Emmy’s for Fleabag, including Best Comedy Series and is Executive Producer of Run. Both women create very sarcastic, edgy,

outside-the-box characters and stories. The key to their humor is the tragedy of loneliness and the view from outside looking in at our customs, traditions, and social habits that just may be in need of updating.

Wever is a superb actress, usually playing

DBAs and LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. 20SMCP00117 Superior Court of California, county of Los Angeles 1725 Main Street | Santa Monica, CA 90401 Petition of: KASAI HAGOS KIROS for change of name.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME To all interested persons: KASAI HAGOS KIROS Petitioner: filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: a. KASAI HAGOS KIROS to KAHSAY KIROS HAGOS The court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to

Photo: IMDB

Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson in Run (2020).

the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING: Date: 05/15/2020 | Time: 8:30AM | Dept: K Room: A copy of this ORDER to SHOW CAUSE shall be published at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county: SANTA MONICA MIRROR | Dated: March 03, 2020 Judge Lawrence H. Cho Published: 04/17/2020, 04/24/2020, 5/01/2020, and 5/08/2020

gritty supporting roles. She’s worked in Film and TV since she was 15 and won an Emmy for her portrayal of “Zoe” on Nurse Jackie. Her character in Run is very much an anti-hero. Gleeson, whose film resume includes Ex Machina (2014), and the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises, is the son of celebrated Irish actor Brendan Gleeson.

I will watch this series because…trains. I have a fascination with trains. As a child, going somewhere on the train meant being swept into a reality that no one could touch, being whisked softly over the Earth to another world. A feeling of sadness, of mystery would take over and then a dream of what wonders I would encounter in this new place.

Run reminds me of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and brought to mind its closing passages, as Gatsby’s friend “Nick” travels by train back to the Midwest.

“When we pulled out into the winter night

and the real snow, our snow, began to stretch out beside us and twinkle against the windows, and the dim lights of small Wisconsin stations moved by, a sharp wild brace came suddenly into the air…unutterably aware of our identity with this country for one strange hour before we melted indistinguishably into it again.”

Billy and Ruby are quite a bit like “Gatsby” and “Daisy.” “They were careless people…they smashed up things and creatures…Gatsby believed in the green light…It eluded us then, but that’s no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----“ I’ll keep watching Run. Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com

Pankow Builders is hiring for the following positions at the 500 Broadway Construction Project - Union Laborer (Apprentice, Journeyman, and Foreman) - Union Mason (Apprentice, Journeyman, and Foreman) - Union Carpenter (Apprentice, Journeyman, and Foreman) To apply please call Timothy Gridley – Superintendent (626)720-2776

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