Richmond Street Fresh & Easy deal in trouble

A deal that would have brought a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to downtown El Segundo has fallen apart, leaving a likely vacancy in the Richmond Street storefront that formerly housed Cooke’s Market. Mark Neumann, the head of locally-based 612 Twin Holdings LLC, told the City Council on Tuesday night that Fresh & Easy had…

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Firstman’s return!

The holler of Joe Firstman is a well-known thing on the beaches and byways of El Porto. The singer-songwriter first came to fame as a fresh-faced kid straight out of Carolina touring the country’s biggest stages with Willie Nelson, Jewel, and Sheryl Crow. He became locally famous when he escaped the Hollywood high life and…

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District 33: less local representation?

The newly drawn 33rd Congressional District.

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s primary election for the 33rd Congressional District, the political landscape of the South Bay has already drastically changed. This election is the first in which the South Bay, formerly part of District 36, is part of the newly-drawn District 33. District 36 included Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, El…

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Revivalist David Shaw plays the Café Boogaloo

the revivalists

Pouring concrete is good sweaty work. At the end of a day, a body knows it has been used, and a trail of hardening ground has been left to show for it. David Shaw grew up pouring concrete in Ohio and was fine with the notion that he’d spend his life doing construction. He always…

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“Hysteria” is hysterical! [MOVIE REVIEW]

hugh dancy

Surprising at every turn, blushingly embarrassing even for the cynical, with too many laugh-out-loud moments to recount, “Hysteria” is, ostensibly, about the invention of the vibrator intended for personal use. This is a film for anyone who has ever used a hand held shower head for “deep cleaning” to alleviate stress, and you know you’re…

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Taste of Spring sprung

Growing Great, the locally-based non-profit organization that has grown into a national model for teaching children nutrition and gardening, hosts a “foodie” fundraiser this Saturday featuring celebrity chefs David LeFevre, Neal Fraser, and Benjamin Ford. The event, which also honors Growing Great food “champions” Secil Atalie (from Arnett Farms of local farmers’ market fame), Kelly…

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For the sake of the song

The scene is repeated at open mic nights at bars, clubs, and coffeehouses, everywhere. An aspiring singer arrives, often alone, guitar case in hand. The guitar case holds more than an instrument. It is also a vessel of sorts containing hopes and sometimes frail dreams.

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The Voice’s voices sing at Saint Rocke

Two years ago, Justin Hopkins made a decision. After years on the road as a touring musician, he was calling it quits – not to music, but to the music industry as he’d thus far lived it. He’d just become a father and was loving life in the South Bay, so he decided to stay…

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A sailor’s last sail

Theo Mavromatis always felt most at home on the sea. Mavromatis had come to America from the harbor town of Alexandroupolos, Greece, where he’d been drawn to the sea since he was a child. Later, among family and friends, he would fondly recall his early attempts at sailing. “As a teenager, he’d made a simple…

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RBUSD awards Knob Hill bid

The Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday night awarded a bid to lease its property at 320 Knob Hill to Fountain Square Development West, a developer and operator of assisted living communities for senior citizens. The school board voted unanimously to award the bid to Fountain Square, whose offer of $614,250…

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The Blue Zone makeover: a family’s story

blue zones

The dozen or so people who gathered in a basement room at the Beach Cities Health District one night late in August didn’t look like a gathering of particularly unhealthy people. And that, in the end, may have been the point of the Blue Zones Makeover experience. National Geographic explorer and bestselling author Dan Buettner…

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