CITY COUNCIL: Manhattan Beach’s Sand Dune Park revamp is approved, minus bike path
by Mark McDermott Sand Dune Park will receive several renovations, including new playground equipment, bathrooms, and an artfully designed iron mesh fence. But the development of the new Sand Dune Park Master plan approved by the City Council Tuesday night most emphatically will not include a new concrete bike path running through the wilds of […]
Small hotel development slated for downtown Manhattan Beach
by Mark McDermott A nine-room, 4,494 square foot hotel, developed by longtime local property owner Tony Choueke and designed by architect Louie Tomaro, will replace a real estate office in downtown Manhattan Beach. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the hotel, located at 1145 Highland Avenue, at its July meeting. Tomaro told the council its inspiration […]
ELECTION 2024: MBUSD addresses infrastructure needs with Measure RLS
by Mark McDermott When the Manhattan Beach Unified School district last proposed school bonds, nearly a decade ago, the pitch was easily digestible, because Measures C and EE included funding for gleaming new athletic facilities at Mira Costa High School and a sparkling new music room at the middle school. The pitch for Measure RLS […]
ELECTION 2024: Manhattan Beach Sales tax ballot measure intended for City infrastructure
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach City Council has over the past two years taken several significant steps aimed at the City’s long term financial sustainability. Some were financially arcane maneuvers, such as the issuance of pension obligation bonds that took advantage of low interest rates in order to cover ballooning employee retirement costs in […]
Mira Costa inducts five new Alumni Hall of Fame members
by Mark McDermott A Navy helicopter pilot, a local political legend, an interfaith boundary-breaking rabbi, an under-40 influencer and pandemic hero, and a physicist known for his investigations into the dawn of the Big Bang are the five the Mira Costa High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame later this month. The five new inductees […]
INFRASTRUCTURE: Manhattan Beach Parking Lot 3 will require emergency demolition
by Mark McDermott One of the City of Manhattan Beach’s key downtown parking structures will require immediate demolition after engineers discovered failing steel columns within its concrete. Parking Lot 3, located on 12th and Morningside, contained 146 metered parking spaces, including many used by downtown businesses. The City Council on Tuesday night authorized the demolition […]
The Steady Hand: Bruce Moe bids farewell after 35 years in Manhattan Beach City government
The accidental city manager Bruce Moe took the long road to a life in public service by Mark McDermott Early in 2018, the Manhattan Beach City Council made a decision that, by necessity, was shrouded in mystery. In closed session, the council unanimously voted to part ways with the city manager, Mark Danaj, without […]
The El Segundo beer can adventure
How legendary surf artist Phil Roberts entered Augmented Reality by Mark McDermott Eli Buck had a dream. It wasn’t a big dream, not a society-shifting MLK kind of dream, nor exactly a life-changing kind of dream. But it wasn’t a little one, either. His dream was to make a really cool beer can. Buck is […]
CITY COUNCIL: Six council candidates file for November election
by Mark McDermott Six candidates filed nomination papers to run for the Manhattan Beach City Council in the upcoming November 5 election. Three seats on the council dais are up for election. Councilmembers Richard Montgomery, and Steve Napolitano are termed out, and Mayor Joe Franklin is running for a second term. The other four candidates […]
The Mustang Olympians
Olympic High: How Mira Costa produced 16 Olympians by Mark McDermott The path to Mount Olympus is never an easy one. But in the middle of July 1976, Alio and Constance Fonoimoana drove 2,868 miles, from Manhattan Beach to Montreal, Canada, with five of their six kids packed into a Dodge van. They were headed […]
EDUCATION: MBUSD will seek $200 million school bond in November election
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously last week to place a $200 million school bond measure on the November election ballot. The proposed school bond is intended to address the more than $400 million in needed upgrades identified in the recently completed Facilities Master Plan. The tax […]
LOCAL BUSINESS: GROW market finally loses fight with giants and closes
by Mark McDermott GROW, the family-owned farm-fresh produce market and grocery store, came into being two decades ago with a fairy tale by the beach beginning. The story was that in 2003, a little boy named Brendan Fisher, freshly arrived from the Central Valley to Manhattan Beach, quite naturally hoped to become an ocean-going kid. […]
Meat Dave in Gundo: A comedy and BBQ festival launches in El Segundo
by Mark McDermott One day last June, Dave Williamson started getting calls and texts about pink flamingos. “What time can I pick up these pink flamingos?” read one text. Williamson was perplexed. He does like beer, quite a lot, so he thought maybe there was a connection. “Man, what did I do yesterday?” he remembers […]
About Town: Mirzakhanian will serve as Acting City Manager
The Manhattan Beach City Council announced the appointment of Talyn Mirzakhanian as the Acting City Manager, effective August 19. She will take over from Bruce Moe, who will be retiring after 35 years with the City on August 18. Mirzakhanian has served in the Community Development Department for the past three years, leading the department […]
INFRASTRUCTURE: City Council will seek sales tax increase
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved going forward with a ballot measure in the November election that would increase the local sales tax by a half cent. If approved by voters, the increase would generate $5 million in annual revenues for the City. Councilperson Steve Napolitano, who brought the […]
MCHS 1996 Olympian: The journeyman Olympian
How Mike Dodd won a silver medal at the Olympics first Beach volleyball competition by Mark McDermott Whatever faint hope Mike Dodd may once have harbored to be an Olympian had faded a decade and a half earlier by the time beach volleyball was named an Olympic sport in 1995. He was 38 years […]