Bartender of the Week: Dawn Leffler at the exclusive 900 Club in Manhattan Beach & Watermans.

One man's fight to curtail alcohol and Hermosa Beach's partying nightlife.

The Republican voters of South Carolina turned the race for President on its head last Saturday by turning themselves on their heads.

For this year’s Super Bowl commercial, Manhattan Beach-based Skechers swapped Kim Kardashian for a shorter, stubbier star: Mr. Quiggly.

Priscilla Monique Ruiz always had a smile on her face. Whenever a friend needed a ride, she picked up the keys and brought them home. When they were out with friends having dinner or drinks and somebody needed help with the check, she opened her wallet and helped them out.

Former Mira Costa soccer standout Dan Tobias feels he has come full circle and he couldn’t be happier.

Waves at the Manhattan Beach Pier and El Porto ranged five to seven feet with an occasional eight-footer Sunday and photographer Mara Laine shot several surfers, including up-and-coming competitive surfer Natalie Anzivino surfing one of her favorite spots, the southside of the pier.

Football: Registration is underway for the Beach Cities Sports Youth Flag Football Spring Season, which will begin in March with Friday night, Saturday or Sunday games.

The first of two Bay League meetings between rivals Mira Costa and Redondo take place Friday. Redondo hosts the girls basketball contest at 6 p.m. followed by the boys who tip off at 7:30 p.m. The Sea Hawks will also host the boys soccer match at 3 p.m. while the girls battle it out at Mira Costa with the same start time.

Mira Costa and Redondo were well represented when the All-Bay League teams were announced recently, including four athletes who earned special recognition for their achievements in the Fall 2011 season.

by Winy Chen Cold weather in February is a perfect time for some hearty soups.

How To Lose Friends… I was having a very late lunch with a friend at a popular Hermosa Beach spot, so it was no surprise that we were the only ones in the very large café.

A Hermosa Beach landmark will change character this week as Union Cattle Company restaurant closes for a makeover.

American Farmhouse Tavern integrates regional cooking with high style Until recently, unless you lived near Santa Maria you probably had no idea that this farm-oriented community on the road to San Francisco had its own cuisine.

Oriental Breeze, the most authentic Japanese restaurant almost nobody in the South Bay knows about Near the end of the Redondo Pier is a stand that sells funnel cakes, hot dogs, French fries, nachos, and ice cream, among other fast food.

When Lauren Spiglanin realized she couldn’t get pregnant, she and her husband, Tom, decided to adopt a child from an orphanage in Armenia.

 Vicki Scrimger and Alan Cook are happier from helping people The rewards of helping others are well known to Vicki Scrimger and Alan Cook, who are among the volunteer angels of the 40-year-old Community Helpline, one of the Peninsula’s enduring and well-known altruistic organizations.

Che-Hang Charles Ih followed a fascination with space and the skies to an award-winning career as an innovator at JPL and Boeing Che-Hang Charles Ih of Rancho Palos Verdes has always been looking up.

Embracing the mission and core values of Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital Liz Dunne is bringing both vision and Strategic thinking in guiding the work of the medical center.

The biggest mistake an investor can make today is, without a doubt, selling stocks and buying bonds.

Two decades after last visiting Sloopy’s, North Manhattan’s most inconspicuous institution, the food, service and atmosphere seemed better than ever As I think back on the establishments that I used to hang out at when I was in high school, a parade of long closed restaurants fills my head – the Criterion, Lococo’s, Fook Gin, and the Bay 90s are all history.

Richard Leider has a question for you. How you answer this question goes a long ways towards determining how long, and how well, you will live.

“What could be better than to sit in a glass-enclosed space looking at the sunset every night and then looking out at the moon?” Floating elegantly over its sloping, corner lot in Manhattan Beach’s hill section, the Greco residence masterfully combines Modernist design rigor with quintessential California cool.

You won’t be able to resist these stuffed mushrooms. I made them for both of my Cooking Up Dreams fund-raising events, and each bite is a morsel of cheesy, garlicky, herby bread crumbs in a baked mushroom cap.

As dawn crests upon Redondo Beach’s Seaside Lagoon, logo-emblazoned tents are pitched against a peninsula skyline in preparation for the 6th annual D-Man Festival, commemorating Darren Marsee.