Posts by Ryan McDonald
Beach people – Story Teller
For his latest documentary, HB’s David Keane trains his lens on the place he calls home
Read MoreThe Kid’s Alright: South Bay native Gavin Heaney has a new album shaped by the changes that have rocked his life
Matich Heaney, not quite one year old, was sitting on the ground in the backyard of his Hermosa Beach home. His legs were extended wide in front of him, and his head was bobbing to some unheard music. The morning sun was peeking through the trees. Matich’s father, Gavin Heaney, sat at a table nearby,…
Read MoreVideo of Hermosa Beach’s Pier Plaza stirs controversy
A video produced on behalf of Hermosa Beach, intended to depict a typical Saturday night on Pier Plaza, has divided residents and business owners, with some claiming that the video was an agenda-driven distortion of conditions in the city’s downtown. The video condenses footage captured between roughly 5:30 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 9 till 2:30…
Read MoreNoted surfer dies from fall in Hermosa Beach
Donald “Donnie” Miller, one of the South Bay’s top surfers in the early 1980s, died Sunday from injuries sustained when he jumped from the third story balcony of an apartment building in the 200 block of Monterey Boulevard in Hermosa Beach. The former Hermosa Beach resident was part American Indian and had been living on…
Read MoreFangary is standing on principle, past in run for Hermosa City Council
The fourth question in last Thursday’s Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau council candidates’ debate seemed designed to promote outrage. Should the city be employing “four full-time employees” to carry out its “proactive code enforcement policy,” moderator Julie Hamill asked, when property crime was “spiking”? Like other questions that night, it offered an…
Read MoreManhattan Beach Council okays bike street signs, but kicks sharrows down the road
The Manhattan Beach City Council tentatively embraced expanded infrastructure for cycling at its Tuesday night meeting, approving the designation of more than a dozen street segments as “bike routes.” It also asked city staff to return with more information about additional measures to aid cyclists. The decision approves road signs designating particular streets as bike…
Read MoreHotdogger returns spirit of ‘60s surf tilts to Hermosa Beach, the ‘real’ surf city
It had been a while since a real longboard contest had taken place in the South Bay, so Dewey Weber wanted to make sure it was a memorable one. Doing so required not just good waves and vintage equipment, but an epic after party. For the inaugural Dewey Weber Longboard Invitational in 1981, the “Little…
Read MoreFilm society to screen documentary about surf innovator Laird Hamilton in Palos Verdes
Laird Hamilton pioneered tow-in surfing on giant waves, shot the Malibu Pier on a stand-up paddleboard during Hurricane Marie, and even started his own line of health-food products. This month, he will appear on the big screen in Palos Verdes. The South Bay Film Society will screen “Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird…
Read MoreAbout Town in Hermosa Beach
Candidate debate Candidates for Hermosa Beach City Council in the upcoming November election will square off tonight in the second debate of the campaign. The debate, hosted by the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau, will take place Thursday night at the Beach House Hotel from 6:30 p.m. The debate will focus on…
Read MoreSunscreen Film Festival comes to Hermosa Beach
Aliens, high school, nomadic surfing and the “underbelly of tennis,” are among the subjects that will appear on the big screen in this weekend’s Sunscreen Film Festival West at the Hermosa Beach Community Center. Now in its fifth year, the Sunscreen Film Festival West is the California component of the Florida-based film gathering. Robert Enriquez,…
Read MoreFew fireworks at first Hermosa Beach City Council candidate debate
Just who won the first debate among candidates in the Hermosa Beach City Council race is open to interpretation. But there is no question about what received the most applause: Trent Larson’s call for bicyclists to follow traffic rules. Larson’s off-the-cuff remark, in response to a question about the city’s participation in the South Bay…
Read MoreHermosa Beach about town
Mindfulness workshop The Beach Cities Health District hosts a mindfulness workshop in the Community Center Thursday evening. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Techniques will be taught that reduce stress and improve performance, along with guided meditations. Some aspects of the program have been incorporated into the Hermosa Beach City School District’s award-winning “Mind-up” program, but the…
Read MoreHermosa Beach and Loreto: Sister Cities, standing together
Hermosa Beach Mayor Justin Massey and Professor Arely Arce Peralta, mayor of Loreto, Mexico, each hold plaques presented by the other at a stage erected on Pier Plaza on Sunday With them are state Senator Ben Allen, Aret Frost, office assistant to Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, and the members of the Loreto City Council. The group…
Read MoreHermosa Beach council leans against forming arts or senior living commissions
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Hermosa Beach City Council appeared opposed to forming two new commissions, one on arts and culture and another on senior living, issues that have assumed greater importance in recent years. Although no vote was taken, discussion by the council and City Manager Sergio Gonzalez showed a preference for…
Read MoreUncertainty follows closure of Hermosa Beach’s Mermaid
The Mermaid, a beloved bar-restaurant that sat at the foot of Pier Plaza almost continuously for more than 60 years, closed earlier this month, leaving one of the city’s most valuable parcels empty. Killer Shrimp at the Mermaid, as the tavern had been known since February, closed the week after Labor Day. Killer Shrimp…
Read MoreIn Hermosa Beach council race, Campbell tries to merge ‘vision’ with realism
Mary Campbell describes herself as a relentless optimist and someone who does not shy away from “visionary” projects. It’s not the trendiest philosophy in an era of widespread skepticism about government at all levels. But Campbell believes that thinking big is essential for the government to make citizens feel included. “If you can’t paint a…
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