Classic stories from the toughest ever Catalina Classic paddleboard race

  by Kevin Cody After viewing the Channel Island weather buoy reports Saturday afternoon, Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race director Gene Rink prepared what he’d tell paddlers  to expect Sunday morning. “I decided to say the conditions will improve through the morning, after you reach the R10,” he said. He would avoid mention of the first…

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Last CA 101 public art show opens Friday

  by Garth Meyer The tenth and final CA 101 art show holds its opening night Friday at the Redondo Beach Historic Library.  Artists checked in Aug. 18, aided by a group of 10 volunteers and the show’s founder and curator, Nina Zak Laddon. The next day she decided placement for each piece, making adjustments…

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Sophia Marie to perform at Sainte Rock showcase

Singer and songwriter Sophia Marie belts out “Venice Beach to DC” during her performance at Pedone’s in Hermosa Beach on Aug. 11. The lyrics touch on her experiences as a carefree California girl attending college back East. “Everyone here has politician speak, but I’ve got the Legally Blonde in me,” she sang. Her song “Narcissist”…

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Matthews Real Estate interns dress for success

Realtor breakfasts at Martha’s Hermosa Beach are common. Coats and ties aren’t. But not even the 90 degree weather dissuaded Matthews Real Estate interns from dressing for success during a Martha’s breakfast meeting last Thursday. Interns pictured are (left to right) Drew Quail, Harold Baxter, Ben Sklar, sales associate John Gremer, Hunter Randolph, Samuel Monroy,…

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‘High Bacteria’ warnings at Beach City beaches, and Palos Verdes

Yellow “High Bacteria” warning signs greeted beachgoers in the three beach cities, and in Palos Verdes Friday morning. A press release issued by the Los Angeles County Health Department advised local beach goers “to avoid swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters… because Ocean water bacteria level exceeds state standards and may cause illness.” The…

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BeachLife’s Sanford is Redondo Beach Mayor’s Person of the Year

by Kevin Cody During his introduction of Allen Sanford as the 2023 Mayor’s Person of the Year, Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand recalled the day in 2017 when Sanford pitched him an idea for breathing new vitality into the slumbering Redondo waterfront. Sanford wanted to drain Seaside Lagoon, and build a temporary stage there. He…

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Torrance well digger brings cable tool drill rig to the beach

Mike Stelter, of Torrance, brought his turn-of-the-20-Century, hand cranked,  cable tool drill rig to Hermosa Beach Friday afternoon, towed behind his 1951 Willys M38 Jeep. The retired flight attendant collects old equipment, and often exhibits it at the car show held Friday evenings in the old Ruby’s parking lot in King Harbor.   

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Clausen, Hunter rein over South Bay Paddleboard race

Photos by Fabien Castro by Kevin Cody The Fifth Annual South Bay Paddle on Saturday was a repeat duel between the two winners of the past two Catalina Classic Paddleboard races.  Last year, recurrent Los Angeles County Lifeguard Max First, of Manhattan Beach won the Catalina Classic for a record fifth time. In 2021, First…

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Man stabbed in downtown Hermosa Beach parking structure

by Kevin Cody Hermosa Beach Police, and Los Angeles County Fire Fighters, and Lifeguards responded to a stabbing in the downtown Hermosa Beach parking lot on Saturday, at approximately 4 p.m. Fire and lifeguard paramedics subsequently treated a man who appeared to be in his 20s, for a stab wound in his abdomen. The victim…

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