Pandemic’s punch as bad as it feels, CSUDH economist find

    Entertainment, hospitality and food services were the three employment sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, according to the 2020 South Bay Economic Report released last week by Cal State University Dominguez Hills. Los Angeles County’s second quarter employment in the three sectors fell approximately 38 percent, compared to second quarter 2019. Overall South […]

ZOMBIES CAN’T SWIM Sailor proposes sailing to escape from pandemic

Captain Kevin McQuiston’s sailing affinity was realized on the Mississippi River. At 11 years old, he would take out the Sunfish, a “glorified paddle boat with a cockpit,” as he calls it, and sail the smooth waters along the east side of Iowa. Nine years ago, he bought a 34-foot sailboat he named Namaste and […]

BCHD candidates debate Healthy Campus, budget, District’s purpose

  Five candidates vying for three seats on the board of the Beach Cities Health District in the Nov. 3 election discussed cost-saving, the proposed Healthy Living Campus, and whether the health district should continue to exist during a live-streamed debate on Monday night.  Over 150 questions were submitted before and during the Zoom event, […]

MBUSD will welcome back first special ed students

  The Manhattan Beach Unified School District hopes to begin welcoming a few special education students back to its schools next week, a beginning of what district leaders cautiously hope will be a gradual but full return to in-person learning over the coming months.  After the plan was unanimously approved at the October 7 school […]

GOLDEN STATE TOUR Ride from Paso Robles to MB raises money for paralysis care

  Don McVicar isn’t big on riding bikes. He’s a waterman who has sailed around significant portions of the world and once trekked in Nepal. The idea of cycling 270 miles, through a California heat wave in the midst of a global pandemic, wasn’t exactly on his bucket list.  “Dude, I don’t even like to […]

Costa student a YEA finalist

Mira Costa ninth grader Taylor Ryan will represent the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce in the Young Entrepreneur Academy (YEA!) 12th Annual Saunders Scholars National Competition. The ”Shark Tank” style pitch  competition will award over $80,000 in cash, as well college scholarships to the Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology. Viewers will be able to […]

Volley4Sound goes virtual, players with earplugs lip read

Volley4Sound, a volleyball tournament in Hermosa Beach that raises money and awareness for issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing by requiring players to wear earplugs, will host an online auction this weekend after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the annual event. Volley4Sound is the creaiton of Kelsey Brandin, a hearing impaired […]

Tom ‘The Computer Guy’ was last of the computer generalists

Ever since opening his computer repair shop at 26th Street and Hermosa Avenue in 1984, Tom Serafin has been known throughout town as “The Computer Guy.” Most of his consultations were conducted on The Strand, during his daily walks to breakfast with friends at La Playita or Scotty’s. He was the last of the computer […]

“What the Constitution Means to Me” – And you and you and you [MOVIE]

“What the Constitution Means to Me,” is a delightfully thought-provoking and ultimately moving personal memoir that has universal meaning and appeal. A hit both on Broadway and off, “What the Constitution Means to Me” was written and performed by Heidi Schreck, previously known as a writer on “Billions” and “Nurse Jackie.” Schreck, from middle school […]

North Hermosa Beach utility undergrounding approved

A five-year effort to promote utility undergrounding in a section of Hermosa Beach gained approval Tuesday night after residents voiced support for the new Greenwich Village North Underground Utilities Assessment District.

American greatness [restaurant review]

America wasn’t the first place where people celebrated special occasions with steak dinners – that was probably Britain, where “beefsteak societies” started meeting as early as 1705. These all-male gatherings were a magnet for minor nobility, major celebrities, and merchants who wanted to flaunt their success. Steaks were the symbol of wealth, because big chunks […]

Roundhouse Aquarium goes virtually around the world

The Roundhouse Aquarium on the Manhattan Beach Pier has been closed to the public since March. But it is educating more people about the ocean now than it was prior to the pandemic. The pandemic has created an opportunity for school districts to break up their endless Zoom classes.  “Pre-COVID, we were teaching one to […]