Posts by Mark McDermott
Manhattan Beach Police Beat
Car vandalism Overnight on Dec. 27-28, two cars were vandalized on the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Marine, according to police reports. The windows of both vehicles were damaged, but nothing was reported stolen. Overnight on Dec. 30-31, a car was broken into on the 800 block of Ocean Drive and a wallet, credit cards,…
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Sidewalk sale The Downtown Sidewalk Sale, featuring 75 businesses offering steep discounts on goods as they do an inventory clean-out, takes place from Jan. 18 to Jan. 21. Chili cook-off The 5th annual South Bay Chili Cook-Off takes place at Fire Station #1 (400 15th St.) Jan. 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. The event…
Read MoreSculptures, utility box artwork approved
A profusion of new public art will adorn locations throughout Manhattan Beach in coming months. The City Council, in its final meeting of 2018, approved four new works of art as part of the city’s existing sculpture garden program, along with 13 utility box paintings, and a signature Catalina Classic paddleboard sculpture that will rise…
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Chamber names new CEO The Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) has announced that Kelly Stroman has been hired as president and CEO of the organization. “Kelly is a respected leader in our community, having led The Downtown Manhattan Beach Business & Professional Association and the weekly Manhattan Beach Certified Farmers’ Market for over…
Read More2018 Year in Review: Manhattan Beach
Leadership flux, MBUSD challenges, and a new Roundhouse mark 2018 Manhattan Beach experienced a year of unusual flux in its leadership realms in 2018. A formerly up-and-coming city manager was replaced by a trusted City Hall hand. A pioneering female police chief was replaced by a rising star who also made history as the city’s first…
Read MoreMB Council approves Catalina Classic paddleboarding sculpture
The Manhattan Beach City Council Tuesday night unanimously accepted a proposal from the South Bay Boardriders Club to install a bronze statue honoring the Catalina Classic paddleboard race and its role in local history at the far south end of the pier parking lot. Renderings of the statue show a striking 18-foot high paddleboard being…
Read MoreMBPD’s Martin Ganz remembered 25 years after his death
Every year for the last 23 years on Dec. 27, a woman arrives at the Bank of America parking lot near the Manhattan Village mall at exactly one hour before midnight. For many years, she came alone, but over the course of the last decade sometimes Pam Schultz would bring her son, J.T, and…
Read MoreThe Charger Self-made Mayor Drew Boyles
Drew Boyles’ unlikely path to becoming the mayor of El Segundo
Read MoreCity will allow accessory dwelling units
Small accessory dwelling units are now legal to build on lots alongside single-family homes in parts of Manhattan Beach. The City Council, with some reluctance, last week adopted an ordinance allowing “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs) anywhere east of Blanche and Ardmore avenues. The action was required by a new California law intended to help address…
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Kid Kits The Manhattan Beach Police Department and the Beryl Heights Elementary School Girl Scout Troop 2205 have partnered to bring to Manhattan Beach the “Kid Kit” program, created by Girl Scout Troop 2205 to bring a little comfort to children facing stressful situations. Kid Kits will be placed in Manhattan Beach Police Department patrol…
Read MoreFenton, Peel will join MBUSD Board of Education
A funny thing happened on the way to a potentially majority-altering election for the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Education earlier this month. There was no election. Three trustee seats were up for grabs on the five member school board, which unlike most local elected bodies has no term limits. But incumbent board…
Read MoreBeach holidays – Manhattan Beach Pier Lighting
An annual tradition grows more grand
Read MoreHope Zone: Local families help kids growing up in Zona Norte, North America’s largest red light district
Mackie Lauzon was 18 years old when she took a different kind of spring break. It was 2017 and she was a senior at Ambassador High School in Torrance. A group of kids from the school was visiting Tijuana as part of a youth mission. One day they were walking to a park called…
Read MoreSepulveda Boulevard name change nixed in Manhattan Beach
Faced with a mixed bag of an agenda that included a name change to the city’s major thoroughfare, a potential ban on plastic water bottles, and a 40 percent hike to the hotel bed tax, the City Council Tuesday night mostly brokered compromise. A proposal to change Sepulveda Boulevard to Pacific Coast Highway in order…
Read MoreArt show at Two Guns in Manhattan Beach December 6
Art show Suite 6, the art space attached to Two Guns Espresso at 350 N. Sepulveda, hosts a holiday art show Dec. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring new works in watercolor & gouache by Carrie Deitz Brown, mid-century modern inspired, abstract expressionist works by Karla Ryan, adoptable animals by ATTY, resort-inspired, contemporary everyday…
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Traffic death study The Manhattan Beach Police Department this month was awarded a $70,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries. After falling to a 10 year low in 2010, the number of persons killed…
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