Jack Hoy helmed the home that time forgot
For decades Jack Hoy and his neighbors watched Hermosa go by from low-backed chairs outside the funky 1950s-built apartment building they called home, just blocks from the beach and around the corner from downtown. Nearby, the buildings of a commercial district revolved again and again through the throes of changing occupancy, renovations, re-paintings, decay and […]
Hermosa Beach’s Catholic school turns 50
When parishioner Daniel L. Villa attended Hermosa’s Catholic school a half century ago, the teachers wore habits. The nuns were warm and caring, and his favorite, Sister Ann Marie, seemed to glide the earth rather than walk. “We always thought she was a floating angel,” he said. “She was very kind,” Villa remembered. “She was […]
Hermosa Beach nears broad smoking ban
Hermosa Beach City Council has tentatively approved banning tobacco smoking in parks, on the Strand, the PierPlaza, city parking lots and seaside walk streets. The council also moved closer to reintroducing sidewalk dining on a trial basis. On the smoking front, the council voted 4-1 to draft a smoking-ban ordinance, which City Attorney Michael Jenkins […]
Hermosa Beach physician finalist in medical app contest
The American Medical Association has named Hermosa physician Tracy Bercu one of 10 finalists in the 2011 AMA App Challenge for her idea for a computer application that would help determine the next treatment options if a patient’s antimicrobial regimen fails. Bercu’s idea, the What’s Not Covered app, would help users determine what organisms are […]
Hermosa Beach news briefs Sept. 30, 2011
Campaign debate The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association will sponsor a City Council candidates’ debate 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5 in the council chambers, 1315 Valley Drive. Al Benson of the Neighborhood Association, a former council candidate, has said three of the four candidates on the November ballot have confirmed their intention to attend the […]
A soldier comes home on a special mission
U.S. Army Sgt. Sean Ambriz returned home to Redondo Beach from Afghanistan on a two week “R & R” leave last week. But he wasn’t here only to rest and relax: he was a man on a mission. He’d been working on the logistics for several months. During his brief, erratic periods of internet access […]
Freeform Radio and the Importance of KXLU
If music is magic, then DJs are wizards and witches. And if mainstream-corporate radio plays music, then the DJs are robots. Granted, the world needs songs like Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” but it can do without hearing it on a prescheduled basis numerous times a day, everyday, for eternity. Mainstream radio is like a […]
Linda Okumura named Teacher of the Year
When Linda Okumura was in fourth grade, her teacher, Mrs. Davis, visited her and her peers at their homes, making each and every one of them feel special. “She was an inspiration to me,” said Okumura, first-grade teacher at Pacific Elementary School. Last week, Okumura was one of 16 teachers named 2011-2012 Los Angeles County […]
Musical satire “Candide” starts off Kentwood Players’ fall season
By Melinda Calvert The musical satire “Candide” starts off Kentwood Players’ fall season. It is very funny, very musical, and very satirical – with a fast moving plot. The singing is impressive, and especially delightful is eight-year-old Fiona Okida, whose father, Roy, and mother, Colleen, are also in the play. She seems to like acting […]
Manhattan Beach ceramics studio renovated
Tom Trulove whacked a thick slab of beige clay multiple times on a counter in the renovated ceramics studio in Manhattan Beach. “What are you going to make?” one of his students asked. “I don’t know,” he said. “Something tall.” With his wet, clay-stained hands, the ceramics instructor motioned toward the new sinks and six-foot […]
Surfers launch Karmaky.com to encourage acts of kindness
A group of South Bay professional surfers, organized by a local realtor who surfs, have established a website called Karmaky.com to encourage people to perform good deeds. Visitors to the web site who describe acts of kindness they have performed are sent a Karmaky T-shirt and a Karmaky bracelet, which resembles a name bracelet with […]
Manhattan Beach to hold 39th annual Hometown Fair
Interested in seeing babies racing in diapers or toddlers trotting to a finish line? Head to the 39th annual Hometown Fair this weekend in Manhattan Beach. “We have activities throughout the fairgrounds for every age group,” said Maggie Movius, president of the fair’s board of directors. The fair raises operating funds for more than a […]
Benda Bilili! [MOVIE REVIEW]
There cannot be many more squalid places to live than Kinshasa on the wrong side of the Congo River in the ironically named Democratic Republic of the Congo. The thug dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, civil war, and poverty have done much to ravage an already reeling population. Factor in the results of a polio […]
Thunder Soul film a true tale well told
One person can make a difference and everyone should try. – John F. Kennedy Conrad Johnson made a difference every day of his life and the students he taught during his long career in Texas, and most particularly at Kashmere High School in the 5th Ward of Houston, were inspired to try. In 2006, […]
Rok Sushi, an exciting restaurant with a lounge vibe
One of the challenges of our legal system is finding an impartial jury in a celebrity case, the kind that is splashed all over the media in real time. It used to be that jurors could deliberately avoid learning details by not reading newspapers, but the ubiquity of television and the net means that we […]
Barfly: Celeb sightings, Fresh n’ Easy opening, Ragin’ Cajun update
Celeb Sightings: Abby Wambaugh, the USA women’s soccer captain who recently went toe to toe with the Japanese for the World Cup championship title, was spotted lunching in the sun on the patio at Sangria, Hermosa Beach this past Sunday. Also seen at Sangria last week, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. He’s become somewhat of […]