Ice dancer, Redondo Beach native Madison Chock takes silver at Olympics
U.S. ice dancer Madison Chock, competing in her fourth Olympics, is originally from Redondo Beach. She and partner Evan Bates won the silver medal after the free dance finale Feb. 11 in Milano.
Madison was a seventh-grader at Manhattan Beach Middle School when, training at Skating Edge Ice Arena in Harbor City, her coaches told her parents that if Madison wanted to get into ice dancing they would need to seek training elsewhere.
So the skater and her parents, Wes and Barbara, moved to Novi, Mich., when their only child was 13.
Wes, an American Airlines flight attendant, transferred to a flight crew based out of O’Hare in Chicago. Barbara resumed her work as a ticket agent for American, at the Detroit airport.
Madison, now 33, and skating partner-now husband Evan Bates, 36, made it to the Olympics first in 2014, then 2018, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Four years ago in Beijing, they took fourth.
Chock and Bates, the three-time and reigning world champions, now live and train in Montreal.
Wes and Barbara moved back to California, to Rancho Mirage, six years ago.
Redondo Beach Post Office weeds cut back
The grounds of the Redondo Beach Post Office on Catalina Avenue have been trimmed of weeds after a city effort to address the situation, aided by U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu.
“The (property) had started to look derelict,” said City Councilman Chadwick Castle, who was the recipient of a few complaints about it.
He subsequently worked with City Manager Mike Witzansky and staff to contact the Post Office manager and later alert Congressman Lieu of the situation and ask him to intervene in the federal matter.
Ragin Cajun to close, new concept planned for same spot
Ragin Cajun Cafe will close March 1 after 32 years in business, originally on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, and for the past 12 years, on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo. Owners Steve and Lisa Hodges intend to open a new concept at the same location.
Reasons given for the closing are economic, the owners looking to open something at a lesser price point.
The restaurant will hold its 12th Mardi Gras Feb. 11-17 and a free concert on Valentine’s Day weekend.
Ragin Cajun first opened in Hermosa Beach in 1994.
City sets ribbon-cutting for North Redondo bike path extension
The community is invited to a ribbon cutting Thursday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. for a North Redondo Beach Bikeway Extension at the corner of Perkins Lane and Rockefeller Lane.
The project connects Felton Lane to the thoroughfare at Inglewood Avenue. The concrete pathway will be open for cyclists and pedestrians. The new work also includes decomposed granite paths, native plants, added landscaping and updated irrigation systems.
Funded by the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Redondo Beach city council approved Kasa Construction for the job last March.
The city plans to further extend the bike path south to the intersection of Inglewood Avenue and Grant Avenue. ER
