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by Mark McDermott It turns out there may be a reason why the City of Manhattan Beach’s business tax structure has remained untouched for 55 years. The tax is considered outdated and often inequitable, with the largest businesses paying a much lower rate than the mom and pops stores and other small businesses that […]
by Mark McDermott An internationally fraught incident occurred in Manhattan Beach this week when the Iranian soccer team competing in the FIFA World Cup arrived for a brief, yet controversial overnight stay at the westdrift Manhattan Beach hotel. The Iranian men’s national team arrived in Southern California Sunday afternoon and was housed at the […]
by Mark McDermott The 32nd Annual Manhattan Wine Auction on June 6 raised a record $2 million for Manhattan Beach public schools, a 43 percent increase over last year’s event and the largest single-night total in the auction’s history. The dramatic jump was driven in part by the public launch of the Manhattan Beach […]
by Mark McDermott If all goes according to plan, Jeff Davis will rise sometime before dawn on July 2 and face a notorious giant in the French Pyrenees. The Col du Tourmalet is known in cycling lore as the Géant des Pyrénées, the Giant of the Pyrenees. At 2,115 meters — nearly 7,000 feet — […]
by Mark McDermott In 1994, Danny Stepper was wearing a uniform and a back belt, stocking Coca-Cola shelves at a Food 4 Less in Pacoima. His boss, Robert Macias, would call the store at 4:30 in the morning over the loudspeaker to check on him. The rules were simple: park in the back of the […]
by Mark McDermott Any given Manhattan Beach City Council agenda will have several items that few souls in the city, outside of city government and a handful of residents and business owners, give an iota of attention to, but most will be impacted by. Parking issues are Exhibit A of this phenomena. The City of […]
The Manhattan Beach Police Department responded to 866 calls for service (333 dispatched, 533 officer-initiated), made nine arrests, took 48 reports, and investigated 12 traffic collisions during the week of April 2–8. Auto theft led the week’s crime categories with six stolen vehicles, followed by 10 thefts, four acts of vandalism, one assault, one robbery […]
by Mark McDermott The saga of Sally’s tree is coming to its end. The City of Manhattan Beach this week issued tree removal permits for three protected trees at 1823 and 1827 9th Street — including the 50-year-old sweet gum tree planted by Sally Palm, a beloved Manhattan Beach community figure who lived at the […]
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach City Council approved a six month trial of the microtransit operator Circuit, a public-private partnership that will allow residents and visitors to catch low-cost rides on electric vehicles throughout the city. The service will deploy five electric vehicles — two neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs), two sedans and one wheelchair-accessible […]
by Mark McDermott There’ll be no parade, nor an America250 logo painted on the water tower, nor a ferris wheel by the pier. But the City of Manhattan Beach will indeed celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America’s founding this July. City staff vetted several ideas that had come from the community […]
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Education has selected Dr. Kimberlie Linz as the district’s next superintendent, pending contract negotiations and final board approval. Board President Tina Shivpuri, in announcing the selection on Monday, said that Linz’s transparent style of communication and seasoned record of executive experience made her a […]
by Mark McDermott Sally and Noel Palm were the kind of people who thought about the long run. They considered time in much the way a tree does, a ring for each year, marking a deeper commitment to their place in the world. They were high school sweethearts who married in the boom town years […]