Water cold, air colder for Hermosa Beach Polar Bear Swim 2022
The Hermosa Beach New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim deserved it’s name this year. The air was 50 degrees and the ocean water was 58 degrees at the Hermosa Beach pier. “I do it for penance. I did a lot of bad things last year,” said Sharron Thompson, a Torrance School District swim coach, and […]
Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach protects homes by collecting rain runoff
Polliwog Park did what it is designed to do during Thursday’s heavy rain, by collecting rain runoff, and providing food and a resting place for local and migratory water birds. And providing a place for residents to celebrate nature’s gifts over the holiday season. The pond functions as a retention basin. Water is stored in […]
Three mile Redondo Beach storm drain carves canyon to the ocean
Thursday’s rainwater runoff from a storm drain just north of the Redondo Beach Breakwater carved a quarter-mile long channel in the sand on its way to the ocean. The storm drain starts collecting street runoff three miles inland, at the Henrietta Water Basin, next to West Torrance High School. A water reclamation project meant to […]
Template of a shaper: Hap Jacobs builds his last board
Editor’s note: the following story originally appeared in Easy Reader in April, 2019. Hap Jacobs has shaped his last surfboard. The board is a clear glassed, 9-foot, single fin Performance model, with a redwood stringer down the middle and red pin stripes wrapping the rails. Jacobs never made showy surfboards. Nor, despite his legendary status, […]
Santa flees cold for police tour of balmy Hermosa
Santa enjoyed a break from the Arctic cold by visiting balmy (48 degree) Hermosa Beach Friday evening. Police Chief Paul LeBaron and his wife Jennifer gave Santa a tour of the town in the police department sleigh. Officer Dalton Blumenfeld rode shotgun, and Elves Patrol Officers Ryan McBride, Kevin Jones and Stephanie DeAndrade followed […]
South Bay Boardriders’ contest showcases young, new surf stars
by Kevin Cody The future of South Bay surfing was showcased last Saturday, at 42nd Street in Manhattan Beach, and he is a she. Marlo Harris, 11, a Beach Cities native, now living in wave rich Dana Point, won the combined boys and girls division (14 and under), and the open women’s division at the […]
Stars and moon come out for 29th Annual King Harbor Yacht Club Boat Parade
The stars and the moon shined brightly over the 29th Annual King Harbor Yacht Club Boat Parade on Saturday evening. Crowds lined the main channel to view over two dozen boats colorfully decorated with traditional holiday trees, candy canes and Santas, as well as traditional (for the King Harbor Boat Parade), dolphins, a whale, a […]
Widman helped preserve small town Hermosa Beach during Good Government era [Updated]
by Kevin Cody by Kevn Cody One month prior to his death, last Wednesday, former Hermosa Beach City Councilman Lance Widman participated in a videotaped discussion with George Schmeltzer, George Barks and Jim Rosenberger. The four served on the council together during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The discussion was videotaped at the Hermosa […]
Widman was Hermosa councilman, school board member, ECC professor
Former Hermosa Beach councilman, school board member, and El Camino College civics professor Lance Widman died Wednesday morning from conditions related to congestive heart failure. He was 76. Widman also served as executive director of the South Bay Center for Dispute Resolution (SBCDR) for the past two decades.
Inglewood principal Mendoza, Redondo Beach refugee activists Gabriel, Katie-Jay Scott Stauring victims of auto accident
by Kevin Cody The three people who died in a four-car collision last Tuesday evening at the intersection of Marine Avenue, and Pacific Coast Highway, in Manhattan Beach, have been identified as Christian Mendoza, 48. Gabriel Stauring, 55, and his wife Katie-Jay Scott Stauring, 40, all of Redondo Beach. Mendoza was the newly appointed principal […]
Two from Redondo Beach die in four-car collision in Manhattan Beach
by Kevin Cody Three people were pronounced dead at the scene of a four car collision that took place Tuesday evening at approximately 9:45 p.m. at the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Marine Avenue, in Manhattan Beach. Two of the dead were identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office as Christian Mendoza, 48, and […]
Falconer keeps pigeons, seagulls away from Hermosa Beach House.
Falconer James Andrade and his hawk Richter were scaring away pigeons and seagulls from the Beach House Hotel on the Hermosa Beach Strand Monday morning. The falconer and his bird visit the Beach House twice a week to discourage pigeons from nesting and sea gulls from eating on the roof of the hotel. Twice a […]
Hermosa for the Holidays: a weekend of family activities
An ice skating rink with faux ice at Hermosa Beach’s Pier Plaza delighted kids and a few adults on Friday. The ice skating began a weekend of holiday activities presented by the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and downtown merchants. The rink is presented by Kinecta Federal Credit Union, and will be open Saturday, and […]
Manhattan Beach Holiday Tree Lighting fills downtown with holiday cheer
“It’s looking like a full house,” Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Supervisor Michael Hudak said as he prepared for the Pier Holiday Tree Lighting celebration early Wednesday evening. By “house” he meant all of the downtown, from the pier, where choir director Kate Crellin conducted the Manhattan Beach Middle School, and the Mira Costa choral […]
Gallegos was popular Hermosa Beach Public Works employee
by Kevin Cody Popular and highly regarded Hermosa Beach Public Works employee Alphonso Gallegos, Jr. passed away a week ago Saturday, Nov. 6, His death was unexpected and thought to be from a heart attack. The 46-year-old street maintenance crew member began working for the city in 2017. “He was the glue who held us […]
“The day you put on a uniform, you are all one,” First Sgt. Ysamin Espat tells young Manhattan Beach Scouts
The Manhattan Beach Veterans Day Memorial was notable for war time recollections, not by veterans, but by Manhattan Beach Scouts whose parents, grandparents and great grandparents served in the military. Girl Scout Casey Kaplan, from Meadows School Troop 9805, recalled her grandfather’s stories about being stationed in Germany in 1959, and how 15 years earlier […]