Posts by Special Contributor
Slackliners try to find balance on sands of the South Bay
by Kyra Williams Beck Cherry, a senior at Mira Costa High School, finds peace in an unusual place: balanced on a narrow length of rope. Cherry is one of the South Bay’s slackliners. The activity involves standing on a “line” — usually made of nylon and measuring as little as one inch wide —…
Read MoreWalmer progeny, with Costa coach win 20th Annual BarryBob Tourney
by Megan Garringer Saturday afternoon took volleyball players back to the ‘80s, with a sea of platinum hair and bronzed bodies sporting ill-fitting swimsuits. The occasion was the 20th Annual BarryBob Volleyball tournament at 10th Street in Manhattan Beach. It all began in the summer of 1998, following the deaths of beach patriarchs Barry Walmer…
Read MoreRiviera Village celebrates start of summer with 41st Annual festival
Lauren Elizabeth of Redondo Beach-based Lagoa Swimwear was among over 300 exhibitors at the 41st Annual Riviera Village Summer Festival last weekend. Elizabeth designs women’s swimsuits with pockets and has them sewn in Downtown L.A. “It’s been nice to meet people and get feedback on different styles and people’s favorite prints,” Elizabeth said. John Post,…
Read MoreBrownie troop gives back
While most Girl Scout troops use the proceeds from their annual cookie sales to benefit their troop, Brownie Troop 6345 decided to take a more altruistic route. The second-grade troop chose to use $300 of their proceeds to purchase goods to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Long Beach. The Ronald McDonald House Charities…
Read MoreTour de Pier, raises spirits, funds for cancer support and research
The 6th annual Tour de Pier raised $1.2 million on Sunday for the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Cancer Support Community, and the Uncle Kory Foundation. Tour de Pier has raised over $4.2 million since their inaugural event in 2013. Tour de Pier was founded by Jon Hirshberg in memory of his father…
Read MoreMarco’s music
A rare gene mutation takes away a young man’s physical abilities, but not his passions
Read MoreAround the country, by van to 30 Major League Baseball stadiums
Cameron Bennett has been on the road since June 20, traveling to Major League baseball stadiums across the country and making videos, podcasts and vlogs (video blogs) about his trip. Bennett’s goal is to visit all 30 stadiums. His vlogs are released twice a week. Bennett grew up in Redondo Beach and has been involved…
Read MoreGirls Who Code builds knowledge, sisterhood among STEM students
Girls Who Code is working to close the gender gap in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Despite the increasing reliance on technology, the gender gap has been growing over the past 20 years. The seven week, summer immersion course is hosted by AT&T in El Segundo. The students range from girls who…
Read MoreRedondo High band director Vizcarra champions careers of young musicians
Redondo Union High School band director Ray Vizcarra had an idea of what he wanted to be from as early on as an elementary school. “You were required to write these essays at the end of fifth grade, eighth grade, and looking through some old papers, my dream was always to become a teacher, a…
Read MoreLunada Market builds on past, with eye toward future trends
Lunada Market and Deli location have been “operating as a market under various names and owners for more than over 50 years,” according to Palos Verdes Estates records. The site was formerly Frontier Market, Moore’s Market, and Fresh & Easy. After the closing of Fresh & Easy, the site was vacant for more than a…
Read MoreManhattan Beach San Diego Comic Con Comic creators prep for event of the year
South Bay comic book artists, writers, letterers, publishers, vendors, and fans will make their annual pilgrimage this week to San Diego Comic Con, united under one cause: an affinity for all things comic book… although the origin of these affinities may vary. Comic book creator and Comic Bug co-owner Mike Wellman’s story began at…
Read MoreCyberCamp teaches kids to keep internet data safe from hacks
As modern a 15-year-old, Kayla Harris thought she understood social media. But after a few days at a cybersecurity camp in El Segundo, she wasn’t so sure. Harris and other local students spent last week at CyberCamp in at the AT&T campus, a joint effort of the telecommunications company and the Air Force Association, an…
Read MoreSix Man keeps tradition alive
by Parnia Mazhar Jay Saikley still hand draws the pairings bracket for the Charlie Saikley Six-Man Volleyball Tournament. It’s a technique that most tournament directors no longer bother with, but one that Saikley prides himself on. And, for a tournament so steeped tradition, it seems to work just fine. “A lot of the people at…
Read MoreSurfers and bodysurfers find stoke at waveriding contests
by Sean McDonald Gloomy skies and onshore winds are never what wave riders hope for. But contestants at Saturday’s surfing and body surfing competitions made the most of it. The day began on the north side of the Manhattan Beach Pier before 7 a.m., and the dreary weather and early hour didn’t drive anyone away:…
Read MoreMira Costa surf team ends Huntington High’s run
Last month, for only the second time in eight years, the Mira Costa Surf team defeated perennial powerhouse Huntington Beach High School in a non-league meet. The last Costa team to beat Huntington included future pros Dane and Kelly Zaun and future college standout Dayton Silva.
Read MoreMOVIE REVIEW – ‘The Jungle Book’ re-animates a classic for a new generation
by Ryan Rojas/Cinemacy.com It’s a weird thing, to be old enough to feel nostalgia for one’s own childhood. As the first wave of this millennial generation, and a child of the 90s, I am part of the last generation of people to have watched our movies on VHS cassette tapes. One of those movies,…
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