Posts by Elka Worner
Housing mandate, resident opposition put staff in vice
Height increase in historic Cypress District doesn’t go down well by Elka Worner A city staff proposal to increase the building height limit in Hermosa Beach’s Cypress District from 35 feet to 45 feet was strongly opposed at the July 19 planning commission meeting, by both commissioners and residents. The Cypress District has historically been…
Read MoreDEVELOPMENT: Residents urge the council to nix St. Cross plan
by Elka Worner Residents opposed to a plan that could bring up to 50 new homes into their neighborhood have a month to find alternate sites for affordable housing in Hermosa Beach, the City Council said at its July 11 meeting. Under state law, the city must provide 558 affordable housing units by 2029. Potential…
Read MoreManhattan Beach befriends Pickens, Mississippi
by Elka Worner and Blake Burrell The City of Manhattan Beach donated five police cars to a Mississippi town that had only one. “The people in my hometown are ecstatic. My police officers are ecstatic. We’re finally getting the things that we need,” said Paulette Moore, the mayor of Pickens, who attended Wednesday’s press conference…
Read MoreNeighbors oppose St. Cross property upzoning
by Elka Worner As many as 50 new residential units could be built by St. Cross Episcopal Church at its Monterey Boulevard location as a result of rezoning proposed by the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission at its Tuesday, June 20 meeting. At the meeting, the commission voted unanimously to rezone 15 church-owned parcels from low…
Read MoreMB Soroptimists celebrate 70 years helping women
by Elka Worner and Blake Burrell For the past 70 years, the Manhattan Beach Soroptimists have mentored high school girls, provided grants to single moms, and made charitable contributions ranging from breast cancer comfort bags to sanitary kits for girls in Africa. The local club, founded in 1953 by professional women – doctors, lawyers, teachers,…
Read MoreFitness for the distance – Denise Austin with daughter Katie
Fit over 50 After pioneering female fitness 40 years ago, Denise Austin is leading the fitness movement for an aging population by Elka Worner At 66, fitness legend Denise Austin still wants us to squeeze our butts and move our muscles as she has for the past forty years. “Feel my tummy. Come on. Feel…
Read MoreLibrarian Monique Sugimoto looking back 100 years
True to founder’s vision – The 100th anniversary of Frank Vanderlip’s vision will be celebrated across the Peninsula by Elka Worner In 1923, visionary banker Frank Vanderlip, Sr. and the Palos Verdes Project held a car rally in Malaga Cove to entice potential property buyers to an area covered in coastal sagebrush and agricultural fields.…
Read MoreSwans’ ways
Dancers Samantha Striplin, and Cammi Malicse bring personal interpretations to Swan Lake by Elka Worner Award winning Peninsula dancers Samantha Striplin, 14, and Campbelle “Cammi” Malicse, 16, will perform in the lead roles of Odette and Odile in the Peninsula School of Performing Arts’ upcoming production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. “Samantha and Cammi are two…
Read MoreHistorical home approval nears
by Elka Worner A 1913 craftsman home in North Hermosa Beach may become the first residential property in the city’s history to receive a historic landmark designation. “We’re going to recommend approval,” Hermosa Beach Senior Planner James Atkins said of the three-bedroom property located at 2204 Monterey Blvd. The city council will address the nomination…
Read MoreNo women, but smoking OK when these guys joined Kiwanis
by Elka Worner When they joined the Kiwanis Club, ash trays lined the bingo tables, the Greatest Generation ran the show and women weren’t allowed. The next four decades changed all of that. Two weeks ago, at the Hermosa Kiwanis hall, four Kiwanians were honored for more than four decades of service in the Hermosa…
Read MoreThe relatable reverend – St. Francis Episcopal’s new pastor wants people to be ‘comfortable with Jesus’
by Elka Worner In his first sermon at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Palos Verdes Estates, Rev. Jason Shelby invoked Biblical passages and an account of his first visit to Costco, a store the Mississippi transplant had never been to. “How can I impart to people that I love Jesus as I’m walking through Costco?”…
Read MorePorta potties substitute for Opening Day
by Elka Worner After a yearlong delay, construction has resumed on a new restroom at Clark Field, but the project will not be completed, as had been anticipated, in time for the Hermosa Little League opening day on Saturday. “Our players, their families and friends have been anxiously awaiting the completion of the bathroom at…
Read MoreAge of experimentation must end, fentanyl panel says
by Elka Worner “People want to know, ‘Is it really that bad or is it something that happens in back alleys?’ I hate to say it, but no. It’s extremely prevalent right here in our Beach Cities and in the South Bay,” Hermosa Beach Police Chief Paul LeBaron said at a Beach Cities Health District…
Read MoreHatano Farms – The Flower of the Peninsula
Doug Hatano recalls growing flowers with his father, James, who leased land on the Peninsula after spending three years at the WWII Poston Relocation Center in Arizona by Elka Worner As Doug Hatano walks the weed-covered fields that were once his father’s farm, he thinks of the rich legacy left by his father, and generations…
Read MoreScholars’ scholar
President Biden appoints former professor Dr. Carmen Estrada Schaye to Fulbright Scholarship Board by Elka Worner On any given day, Dr. Carmen Estrada Schaye receives about 200 emails. The former professor, political activist and businesswoman usually responds to her messages within minutes. But an email she received last December gave her pause. It said she…
Read MoreHBPD blue goes green
by Elka Worner The Hermosa Beach Police Department is nearly halfway to its goal of a zero-emission fleet. The fleet includes two Teslas and two Ford Hybrid SUVs for patrol. Of the police department’s 39 vehicles, 17 are hybrid or electric, and comply with Hermosa’s Green Fleet Action Plan, adopted in 2013. The plan calls…
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