Rep. Lieu wants Battery Barnes for Wayfarers Chapel
Peninsula Congressional Representative Ted Lieu (D–36th District) plans to introduce legislation for rebuilding the landslide-damaged Wayfarers Chapel on a federally owned property adjacent to Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall.
In written testimony submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in January, Lieu wrote he intends to introduce a bill authorizing the transfer of Battery Barnes — a four-acre former coastal military defense site currently owned by the U.S. Coast Guard — to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The legislation would give the federal government 10 years to complete the transfer.
“The Wayfarers Board has developed a plan to rebuild the chapel as an educational and cultural site, community gathering space, and architectural destination,” Lieu wrote. “For this to happen, the federal land must be transferred to the City.”
Wayfarers Chapel, a National Historic Landmark designed by Lloyd Wright, was disassembled in 2024 following landslide movement that damaged the chapel at its original site above Palos Verdes Drive South. The proposal remains in its early stages, with no formal agreements in place between the city, the Coast Guard, or the chapel’s board.
Rep. Lieu’s full written testimony is available on the City of Rancho Palos Verdes website.
Eyes on the Bear at Schatan Optical
Few local businesses have as dramatic a conversation piece as the 12-foot tall Kodiak Brown Bear on display at Schatan Optical Gallery. Mary Lou Schatan’s husband, Steven, brought home the trophy in 1971 from Kodiak Island, Alaska. The Kodiak Bear is significantly larger than its better known grizzly cousins. Among bears, only the Polar Bear rivals the Kodiak Bear in size.
After sharing the origin of her taxidermied bear master optician, Mary Lou Schatan shared her thoughts on the optometry industry she has worked in since opening her shop 57 years ago.
“The glasses industry has gone to very high-end and very low-end price ranges. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground anymore. Many stores, she said, cater to people satisfied with what she calls “insurance-grade eyewear,} which is eyewear cheap enough for insurance companies to cover.
“I do not accept insurance because I go to specialized eye-labs for my lenses,” she said. Insurance companies won’t pay for their quality.
Schatan said the frames she carries are often titanium and are made better, fit better and last longer than “insurance-grade eyeware.”.
“My high-end is BALMAIN PARIS and I also carry German, Japanese and design custom-fit rimless glasses.
Schatan customers trust her judgment in a field few have expertise in
“My customers come for statement frames. If they pick something for themselves that doesn’t fit their features, I will point that out, and they usually come around to agreeing with me,” she said.
Peninsula High students walk out in ICE protest
by Scott Barker
Students at Peninsula High School joined a nationwide movement Friday, January 30 walking out of class around 10 a.m. to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations they say constitute an abuse of power.
Over 500 students gathered in a school parking lot where student leaders, including Student Council President Sasha Skyar and organizer Mayah Singh Barrett, rallied their peers before marching to the corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Silver Spur Road carrying homemade signs.
The walkout reflected growing concerns among young people about ICE actions in California and across the country. Students cited the death of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse and community watch organizer in Minnesota who was killed during an ICE protest this past month.
“When you’re a young person who is interested in activism or wants to get involved politically, there’s a sense your voice doesn’t matter or that you can’t get involved because those are adult-led spaces,” Singh Barrett said. “So we thought the school was the perfect place to do something like this.”
The demonstration drew both support and opposition from passing motorists. At least one truck drove past the rally honking an air horn while flying an American flag and a flag bearing President Trump’s name in apparent opposition to the protest.
Student Samiya Portugal said the issue extended beyond partisan politics. “This is no longer a political issue, it’s a humanitarian issue,” she said.
The walkout was organized by Singh Barrett along with fellow students Alex Wilner, Nathan Li, Elise Vu, and Alexa Lee.
Peninsula Center Library to break ground on new entryway project
The Palos Verdes Library District will break ground Friday, March 6 on a renovation project that will transform the main entrance to its Peninsula Center branch into what library officials are calling a “civic front porch.”
The ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the library. MZN Construction & Engineering and Cozen Architecture + Lighting will redesign the library’s main plaza to improve accessibility, safety and pedestrian flow, while adding landscaping and aesthetic upgrades.
“We are building a space where every resident feels invited to come together and exchange ideas.”
PVLD District Director Jennifer Addington said. The project is being funded in large part through the Peninsula Library Friends Foundation.
The library will remain open throughout construction, which is expected to wrap up by June 4. The public is welcome to attend Friday’s groundbreaking. More information is available at pvld.org.
