Posts by Mark McDermott
What happened at Bruce’s Beach
Charles and Willa Bruce made a stand that continues to reverberate a century later by Mark McDermott Second of three parts On June 17, 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce opened Bruce’s Beach resort. It was a modest operation located on a sparsely populated stretch of beach in an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County.…
Read MoreMichael Lang named chief of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department
The City of Manhattan Beach Thursday morning announced the appointment of Michael Lang as its new fire chief. “I am humbled and honored to be trusted with the responsibility of leading the Manhattan Beach Fire Department,” said Chief Lang. “I am grateful for the support of the City Manager and City Council and their confidence…
Read MoreNew Scout House will help bring generations together in Manhattan Beach
Social isolation went mainstream during the pandemic, when normally hypersocial young children and teens joined the oldest among us in the house-bound doldrums. Such isolation, as we now all know, has a cost. Several studies have found that social isolation increases a person’s risk of premature death from all causes, bringing risk levels normally associated…
Read MoreManhttan Beach Bruce’s Beach legislation heads to the Senate floor
by Mark McDermott Legislation intended to pave the way for the return of Bruce’s Beach to descendents of the family who owned the beachside parcel a century ago has cleared another significant hurdle, and will now go to the State of California Senate Floor for a vote. SB 796, a bill introduced by Senator Steven…
Read MoreBeachLife lineup to feature Jane’s Addiction, Counting Crows
by Mark McDermott BeachLife will arrive back with a bang. The festival, which takes place September 10 to 12 in Redondo Beach’s King Harbor, will launch that Friday with a night of rock music headlined by Jane’s Addiction, the seminal Southern California band led by Perry Ferrell and Dave Navarro that was part of the…
Read MoreFour-story hotel approved on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a proposed four-story, 161-room, 81,771 square foot hotel and an accompanying 14,500 square foot office and retail building on the former El Torito site along Sepulveda Boulevard. The hotel takes advantage of “Sepulveda overlay” zoning, enacted in 2019, that allows a height…
Read MoreBeachLife music festival to return to Redondo Beach in September
by Mark McDermott The BeachLife Festival, twice delayed due to the pandemic after a stunning inaugural success in 2019, announced its return to Redondo Beach’s King Harbor this September 10 through 12. “With cautious optimism, and eyes wide open, we have begun the massive process of rebuilding BeachLife — both because we are ready to…
Read MoreManhattan Beach City Council rejects apology regarding Bruce’s Beach
by Mark McDermott Nearly three hours of public testimony had already occurred at Tuesday night’s Manhattan Beach City Council meeting before councilmembers took up the question of whether or not to issue an apology to the Bruce family and other Black families displaced by the City from their beachfront homes a century ago. Several more…
Read MoreManhattan Beach artist Latch Key Kid releases a song about Bruce’s Beach
Local musician Gavin Heaney, aka Latch Key Kid, grew up next to Bruce’s Beach and still writes and records his music a few blocks away. “I never knew that whole time that this injustice had been done right in my own neighborhood. No one has ever talked about it until recently,” Heaney said. “It is…
Read MoreCandidates amicable, but differences expressed in first debate
by Dan Blackburn Five candidates vying for a single seat on the Hermosa Beach City Council squared off last Wednesday in a debate more amicable than antagonistic, with each describing concepts and ambitions for the city’s future. Seeking to fill the post formerly occupied by Hany Fangary, who resigned in December, the five hopefuls discussed…
Read MoreManhattan Beach Unified School District will fully reopen schools for in-person instruction
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach Unified School District will fully reopen classrooms on all of its campuses for in-person instruction by April 19 after negotiations with its teachers’ union were successfully completed this week. All elementary, middle, and high school students will be invited to return for five days a week in-person instruction. Superintendent…
Read MoreNew Mira Costa Athletic Complex hosts return of MCHS athletes
The $39 million Mira Costa High School Athletic Complex was unveiled last Monday, albeit virtually, with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District’s release of a video tour of the sparkling new 79,000 square foot facility. The video was produced by Mira Costa students and featured several student-athletes as tour guides through the beautiful but empty…
Read MoreRacial Reckoning: Manhattan Beach City Council stops short of issuing a Bruce’s Beach apology
by Mark McDermott The recommendations of the Bruce’s Beach Task Force came to the City Council Tuesday night with a backdrop that included not only the century-old, racially-inspired and city-backed misdeed that resulted in the taking of an African-American beachfront resort, but national attention on just what Manhattan Beach now intends to do to address…
Read MoreBuilding a Better Redondo prevails over city, CenterCal, awarded $760,000
by Mark McDermott Resident activist group Building a Better has prevailed once again in its legal battle with the City of Redondo Beach and developer CenterCal. An appeals court last week upheld a 2018 ruling by a trial court judge in which BBR argued that the Environmental Impact Report on CenterCal’s Waterfront Project was flawed…
Read MoreManhattan Avenue closure ends, ending outdoor dining experiment
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Avenue outdoor dining experiment is over. The city on Tuesday afternoon issued a brief statement saying the closure of two downtown city blocks that allowed restaurants to expand outdoor dining to the street would end later that afternoon. Mayor Suzanne Hadley, who was an ardent proponent of the street closure…
Read MoreSchool board presidents ask LA County to prioritize education workers for vaccines
The board presidents from six local school districts have issued a letter to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and Supervisor Janice Hahn asking that education workers be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations.
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