Hermosa hotels hold rooms, rates for evacuees
by Kevin Cody Fears of rate gouging by hotels during the recent fires were dispelled, at least in Hermosa Beach, by two beachside hotels that offered lower rates to fire evacuees than were offered to vacationers last month. It wasn’t because of a state law prohibiting price increases of more than 10 percent during a […]
Letters to the Editor 1-16-25
California to the president-elect Dear ER: Thank you Governor Newsom for your work during these darkest of hours and your comments to President elect Trump. When you have the time please go on Fox, Rogan and every other outlet in addition to CNN, MSNBC, that will have you and publicize those that won’t. Continue to […]
Giant Menorah lights up Pier Plaza for Chanukah
photos by Kevin Cody The 11th Annual Giant Menorah Lighting was hosted by the Jewish Community Center on Pier Plaza at dusk on Sunday, December 29. Los Angles County/Hermosa Beach Firefighters assisted in the lighting with their hook and ladder truck. Prior to the lighting the children’s choir performed traditional Chanukah music and hot latkes […]
Nic Lamb goes from El Porto to ‘Eddie’
El Porto surfer Nic Lamb places fifth in a Hawaiian contest only held in 30-foot-plus waves by Kevin Cody Nic Lamb knew at 12 he wanted to be a big wave surfer. He surfed Mavericks in Half Moon Bay at 14, the youngest person at the time, ever to paddle out at California’s cold, most […]
Letters to the Editor 1-9-25
Apartment row Dear ER: The residents of Manhattan Beach should know about the five proposed apartment buildings totaling over 1,000 units, with one proposed apartment project at the Fry’s site on Sepulveda Boulevard having a 10-story building and a 7-story building. Yet, Manhattan Beach residents don’t know anything about these projects, and won’t know anything […]
Trees grow on Loma Drive, again, after being cut down
by Kevin Cody In early August, retired Los Angeles Police Officer Bill Hallett returned to his home on Loma Drive in Hermosa Beach to discover the three, large New Zealand Christmas trees in front of his next door neighbor’s house had been cut down. The trees were in the city parkway. But the city didn’t […]
Queen of Hermosa Beach Thelma Greenwald leaves throne
by Kevin Cody Thelma and Richard Greenwald bought the 17-room Seasprite Hotel, on the Strand in Hermosa Beach as an investment property in 1964. Richard and his twin brother Robert owned Del Amo Dodge, on Hawthorne Boulevard. A few weeks after buying the Seasprite, the manager quit, leaving Thelma to manage the motel. On her […]
Letters to the Editor 12-19-24
Rickety ramp Dear ER: I’m writing as a longtime resident seeking help in understanding what’s happening to the pedestrian beach access ramp at Avenue A and the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. The temporary wood fence is rotting, the concrete is deteriorating and the old lead paint is peeling and baking in the sun. Talk about […]
In memoriam: Bob Courtney, the king of courtroom comity
by Kevin Cody [Editor’s Note: Attorney and long time Hermosa Beach resident Robert E. Courtney passed away Sunday, Dec. 1 at age 89. In the following 2007 interview, Coutney talked about the changes in the practice of law over his then four decade long career.] The defendant had been convicted of rape and murder. The […]
Former Hermosa Beach Chamber CEO gets antiSLAPP’d in libel suit
by Kevin Cody Former Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Jessica Accamando and her spouse, Ashley Tull, have been ordered by the Los Angeles County Superior Court to pay attorneys’ fees to Hermosa Beach residents Kent Allen and Matt McCool, against whom Accamando and Tull filed a libel suit last May. Allen’s attorney, Harry Safarian, […]
Hermosa Beach Council swearings-in a peaceful transition
by Kevin Cody A special Hermosa Beach Council meeting last Thursday, December 5, to swear in newly elected councilmembers Mike Detoy and Michael Keegan began on a light note when Mayor Dean Francois called for “a peaceful transition of power.” Councilmember Justin Massey was stepping down after serving two terms. In a nod to Hermosa’s […]
Boundary pushing Hermosa Museum seeks legitimacy
by Kevin Cody Of the more than 35,000 museums in the United States, only 1,113 are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). By this time next year, the Hermosa Museum hopes to join their ranks, making it the only AAM accredited museum in the South Bay. In all of Los Angeles County there […]
Letters to the Editor 12-12-24
An educated vote Dear ER: I would like to join with the Redondo Beach teachers in expressing gratitude to our community for approving Measure S, the $278 million Redondo Beach school bond on the November 5 ballot (“Redondo Beach election results,” ER November 7, 2024). There is nothing more important to society than educating our […]
Cafe Stories: How the Hermosa Beach Museum got its lifeguard tower
by Kevin Cody A blue, beach lifeguard tower stands in the middle of the Hermosa Beach Museum, separating the Main Room’s Tongva native and Hermosa civic exhibits from the Beach Culture room’s surfing, volleyball and lifeguard exhibits. Last month, during a Museum “Cafe Stories” talk, retired Los Angeles County Lifeguard Captain Shannon Carr-Davey, and her […]
Letters to the Editor 11-28-24
Too young Dear ER: Manhattan Beach school’s e-bike safety program is a great idea (“MBUSD launches e-bike safety program,” ER November 14, 2023). However fourth and fifth graders are too young to be riding e-bikes in traffic with automobiles, and trucks. These bikes are nothing more than electric motorcycles. We license youths to drive cars. […]
Power politics: Gene Rodrigues, DOE Assistant Secretary of Electricity, pushes Biden-Harris clean air policy
by Kevin Cody “It’s not politics that is driving the transition to a clean energy economy. It’s the march of inevitability. It’s where the world is headed,” Gene Rodrigues said in March 2023, in his keynote address to the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Annual Assembly. During the talk, he described the United States’ […]