July 22: Plastic-Bag Ban News Conference to Be Held

Greetings, and welcome to The SM AM Report.

Here's what we published Thursday, in case you missed us:

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Now, here's what's up today:

Weather Forecast

• partly cloudy
• high temperature: 68 degrees
• low temperature: 60 degrees
• chance of precipitation: 0 percent
• humidity: 73 percent
• sunrise: 5:58 a.m.
• sunset: 8:02 p.m.

The Main Event

• With just 40 days to go till Santa Monica's plastic-bag ban fully , Environment California will unveil a progress report on cities and counties where similar bans have already been in effect. The news conference will take place at 10 a.m. on the (at Ocean and Colorado); Mayor is expected to be there too.

The Runner-Up

• will be graced by a history-making pilot at a yet-to-be-determined time this afternoon. Memphis resident Wei Chen is in the process of flying his single-engine Daher-Socata TBM 700 around the world, entering Chinese airspace along the way. Previously, the country hasn't allowed private aircraft to fly freely there. Friends of Santa Monica Airport is throwing a welcome party for Chen at nearby .

Other Happenings

• Congratulations to , which is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Annex this evening. The shindig will take place from 8 to 10 p.m. and feature champagne and food, as well as  and live music courtesy of acoustic trio The Standards.
• The Keep a Breast Foundation's breast-cancer-awareness programs will be in the spotlight at a benefit event featuring live music, a silent auction and special guests. The second-annual Big Boobie Bash takes place at 8 p.m. at .
• Grace & I Foods will give a product demonstration of their Persian-style veggie preserves and spreads in the Back Room of the 's Wine Bar from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Last but Not Least

• The 's Film Camp ends today. On Monday, the school's second youth summer camp, The Theatre Camp, begins.

(Go here and here for more events happening today.)

This Day in Santa Monica History

• On July 22, 1967, the Yardbirds, Moby Grape and Captain Beefheart performed at the .

Did you take a great pic of SM in the early morning? Want to see it in The SM AM Report? Drop a note to Kurt.Orzeck@patch.com.

City News Service contributed to this report.