Results tagged “economy” from South Bay Pipeline

Readers, so much news this morning:

A Carson man was arrested this morning in connection to a Harbor College break-in, but another man escaped.

Trial began Monday for Brandon Manai, the Torrance man accused of throwing his wife of just 13 days over a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff in July 2005.

Los Angeles Unified School District leaders have instigated a a hiring freeze, and slashed other expenses like travel, conferences and eats at district meetings as the district faces a deficit of up to $60 million this year.

Looks like El Segundo's new fire station is almost finished after a few delays.

Los Angeles International Airport traffic in October increased for the second month in a row. Whoo hoo!

More than 2 million drop-side cribs manufactured by an arm of the El Segundo-based Mattel have been recalled.

Readers, let's roll:

A teenage boy was killed in San Pedro after a fight this weekend. Check out pictures of the scene afterward.

Nearly 30 years after buying some coastal land from its school district, Rancho Palos Verdes is finally getting ready to build a park that isn't sitting so well with neighbors.

South Bay unemployment rates stayed mostly stable in October, bucking a downward trend across the county and state. Poor Torrance was the only city in the area to see an increase in the statistics released last week.

Local nonprofits are gearing up for record holiday needs, beginning with a massive food drive that starts Tuesday. Meantime, one San Pedro-based group is working on its first effort to give Thanksgiving baskets to families who have lost children to violent crimes.

What's that stench coming from the Walteria Sump in Torrance?

Rancho Palos Verdes city officials ponder why its hotel tax increase failed at the polls earlier this month, and what the possible ramifications could be.

Three former Hermosa Beach surf buddies are busy brewing beer.

Readers, let's hit it:

The non-profit South Bay Literacy Council, which has taught people to read for 28 years in the area and operates on $40,000 a year, could fold. Office rent has doubled for the agency and its 85-year-old fundraiser is retiring.

Centinela Valley Union High School District is facing a civil rights complaint alleging the agency unlawfully eliminated an English language learners program from Hawthorne High school.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed complaints against four companies operating at the Port of Los Angeles for alleged pollution.

Budget cuts have forced the Harbor-area animal shelter to pick up three more zip codes of coverage, further straining the San Pedro facility.

Between a massive expected recall and accusations of a patent violation, it's been a rocky year for former automobile golden child Toyota, whose U.S. marketing and sales arm is based in Torrance.

Readers, let's get this news party started:

Some Torrance residents are nearly croaking over the possibility of placing a whimsical frog statue recently donated to the city by a former mayor in a seaside park. Children might play on the bronze statue and hurt themselves!

Police are investigating a hit-and-run accident allegedly committed by an off-duty Torrance police officer over the weekend.

Los Angeles County is set to pay $305,000 to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit brought on by the family of a man who died at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance after a hang-gliding accident two years ago.

San Pedro's Salvation Army Family Store has closed. You know it's a bad economy when even thrift stores are shutting down.

Public hearings over a proposed new public transit plan that could relieve South Bay traffic begin this week.

After three appearences at CIF semifinals in as many years, Palos Verdes High's girls tennis team is aiming for a title this year. Check out pictures.

Readers, let's get to it:

Police are investigating a double homicide in Wilmington last night.

Proposed state legislation would limit how employers can use credit checks to screen potential hires, like one Hawthorne woman who believes she was passed over for two jobs because of bad credit.

Several South Bay survivors of drunk driving victims are participating in this weekend's Mothers Against Drunk Driving fundraiser.

A new extradition law means means an ex-con wanted in Washington and found in Gardena goes free.

Manhattan Beach residents tonight can give their two cents about how parking restrictions might help ease Sand Dune Park use.

A Rancho Palos Verdes landowner can't use his extensive property for parties or weddings, city planners have ruled.

South Bay residents now has two more places to spend money they don't have: Kohl's opens Sunday at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach, and Howard's, an electronics chain, took the space vacated by Circuit City in Torrance.

Readers, we are chockablock with news today:

Signs indicate the recession might be ending, but food pantries have seen a 34 percent increase in need compared to the same time last year.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has formed a committee to explore the possibility of her running for lieutenant governor in 2010.

Meanwhile, political consultant Mattie Fein is preparing to run against Jane Harman as a Republican in the 36th Congressional District.

John Bogert's son is learning to drive!

The ruckus over how South Bay Botanic Garden board members spent a surprise donation has apparently settled down.

El Segundo has given its school board an extra $150,000 cash payment, but the high school still wants more lucrative filming time.

Three more South Bay post offices, including Hermosa's and another in Redondo Beach and Torrance, have been added to the list of possible branches set for closure in an effort to cut United State Postal Service costs.

Cal-OSHA has levied nearly $33,000 in fines upon Exxon-Mobil over the April death of a worker at its Torrance refinery.

A Manhattan Beach man will take the helm of Northrop Grumman once its current CEO steps down Dec. 31.

Palos Verdes High School's boys water polo team apparently has a got shot at a title this season.

Readers, without further ado:

Like much of the state, South Bay school districts improved on test scores and many exceeded goals, according to figures released Tuesday by the California Department of Education.

Speaking of which, Gardena's 156th Street Elementary School was one of 25 schools statewide to receive honors for their students' standardized test performance.

Prosecutors presented closing arguments Tuesday in the murder re-trial case of Cameron Brown, who is accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter by throwing her over a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff nine years ago.

Though he agrees that President Obama was lying in his health care speech last week, South Bay Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst was wrong. Rohrabacher was one of seven republicans who voted Tuesday to censure Wilson.

The Los Angeles County Health Services Department, an already indebted agency that oversees several South Bay clinics as well as Habor-UCLA Medical Center, will see a $71 million reduction in state funding this fiscal year.

Finally some good economy news: August showed the smallest decline in shipments passing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this year, figures released Tuesday show.

Readers, here ya go:

Gardena City Councilman Steve Bradford has won the 51st Assembly seat in Tuesday's special election, avoiding a run-off by earning about 53 percent of the vote in a field of six candidates.

Two Rancho Palos Verdes teens home alone while their parents vacationed in Spain are among those who shared their stories with the Breeze about surviving last week's brush fire.

Check out pictures of the fire's aftermath.

Scary stuff: A doctor at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance details in a new book details of the recent increase in drug-resistant bacteria.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn is pushing for the Knoll Hill land swap, though state officials appear ready to reject the plan for San Pedro.

Local car manufacturers Toyota and Honda saw a boost from the federal government's rebate plan.

Gardena and Palos Verdes high schools are both getting new football coaches this fall.

Readers, without further ado:

Harbor-area police are investigating two shootings just blocks apart Monday night in San Pedro.

A judge has blocked construction of a Hermosa Beach house whose basement's unique construction is alleged by a neighbor to have damaged her house next door.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants parents and community stakeholders to choose what kind of schools get built in thier neighborhoods -- a plan set for a Los Angeles Unified School District board vote today that the teachers union opposes.

Two women arrested for shoplifting cell phone accessories from a Hermosa Beach store could be linked to many other crimes in the South Bay.

Meanwhile, three men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in four street robberies in Hawthorne.

News columnist John Bogert weighs in on the recession and school supplies.

Torrance's All-Star baseball team has advanced to the next round in in the Babe Ruth World Series.

Readers, you know we're going to keep it real:

A Hermosa Beach muralist has launched a non-profit to bring art to underprivileged children worldwide.

A marine biology research complex could be coming to San Pedro's waterfront.

Residents in one Hawthorne area are working to establish a Neighborhood Watch program with the help of the Police Department's newly established community affairs office.
 
There's still little progress on the efforts to move a historic San Pedro church to Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes.

And some weekend stragglers...

Most folks who remember Woodstock probably weren't there. But not so for two Palos Verdes Peninsula residents.

A Rancho Palos Verdes couple is fighting to keep their beloved Vietnamese pot-bellied pig but at least one city leaders wants to ban barnyard animals in the buccolic, so-called equestrian community. Check out pictures of the critter.

Cal State Dominguez Hills staffers got their first taste of furlough Friday, with second helping coming this week.

Readers, you know we're here for you:

Looks like the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly is on the mend at the South Bay's preservation site just west of Los Angeles International Airport. The flutterers are apparently mating like crazy this summer...

... and apparently so was at least one couple at last weekend's ocean-side free concert in Hermosa Beach, where huge crowds have prompted city officials to hire more security and make other changes to this weekend's show.

Owners of a long embattled Hermosa Beach commercial development hopes paid parking will help stave off foreclosure.

Is Hawthorne getting into the real estate flipping business? The city will buy out some businesses along Hawthorne Boulevard so it can package the properties with its old police station and sell at a profit.

An El Segundo 13-year-old girl is among the youngest skaters at this week's X-Games in Carson. Check out pictures of Allysha Bergado in action.

Readers, let's hit it:

Friends of Dexter Lima recalled Tuesday the 17-year-old Torrance boy who died Monday night after being swept into the ocean off Manhattan Beach this weekend as "full of life."

A pit bull mauled a 17-month-old boy in Redondo Beach on Tuesday when the toddler grabbed the family pet's tail.

A man died in a car accident Tuesday when he crashed his vehicle into a tree near the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, nearly splitting his vehicle in two and knocking out a road sign in the incident.

The recession is apparently causing more pet owners to give up their critters, putting a strain on area animal shelters and increasing euthanasia frequency.

A Wilmington man has been arrested in connection to a weekend stabbing outside a Hermosa Beach bar.

A former Carson High softball standout is headed to Long Beach State.

Readers, this one goes out to you:

We have more details about the three men killed in a plane crash this week in Hawthorne.

Aerospace giant Boeing won a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to build four large satellites at its El Segundo facility -- good news because the company has been laying off employees because of a lack of orders.

Maybe Boeing's score will put a dent in California's whopping 11.6 percent unemployment rate?

News columnist John Bogert was there waiting when the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe returned Thursday to Marina del Rey.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gave some money Thursday to a battered woman's shelter in San Pedro.

South Bay mattress company Sit 'n' Sleep is killing its infamous "You're killing me Larry" marketing line. And the Larrys of the world thank you.

Here's what's happening, readers:

A Manhattan Beach real estate agent was among the three men killed Wednesday in a Hawthorne airplane crash.

Coworkers said Rajesh "Rich" Vashdev was a nice, hardworking man with a wife and two young children. Scroll through some pictures of the crash site.

Local courthouses saw some frustrated folks looking to do business Wednesday when personnel were away on furlough.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn is leading a proposal to tax medical marijuana sales.

The Port of Los Angeles Police Department showed off some fancy equipment Wednesday that was instrumental in two recent high-profile searches in the San Pedro Bay.

Emmy nominations came out this morning. Did your favorite show get any nods?

Speaking of show biz, our History blog examines old South Bay theaters.

Readers, the day's offerings:

A woman was killed in a car crash and a man shot to death in two separate Wilmington incidents this morning.

A restored wetland habitat in Carson will open to the public Thursday, after nearly 15 years of efforts. Scroll through our pictures for a sneak peek.

San Pedro High's new principal left her last school with a bit of controversy.

The California Coastal Commission's recent approval of Redondo Beach's harbor rezoning efforts paves the way for a new hotel on the pier.

South Bay renters are scoring in the economic downturn, as rents fell again in the second quarter.

Readers, here's your Monday morning news:

A group of Rancho Palos Verdes homeowners are trying to get their homes designated as historic properties because they were designed by noted black architect Paul R. Williams in the late 1950s.

By the way, Williams also helped design Los Angeles International Airport's iconic Theme Building, the rehabilitation efforts of which won't be finished until autumn, though scaffolding aroudnd the landmark should start coming down soon.

Looks like a political love triangle is forming between the 53rd Assembly district, former Manhattan Beach City Councilman Jim Aldinger and lobbyist Betsy Butler. The pair are both running for the seat, years after dating and settling a dispute over furniture in court.

Toyota is helping South Bay teens be better drivers. (And we all thank the car giant.)

And some stragglers from the weekend:

A plan is in the works to revitalize Old Torrance, as empty storefronts continue to litter an area that struggled even in the best of economic times.

We have some more details on the unemployed, middle-aged Torrance gentleman accused of shooting out more than 200 South Bay storefront windows this year.

Can we see some ID, ma'am? Torrance resident Armande Molle turned 105 this weekend. Check out pictures of the rockin' birthday party.

Readers, let's get this party started:

A recap on all of yesterday's Michael Jackson festivities as well as some pictures, and our own news columnist John Bogert hung with the fans as well.

Torrance could be getting its very own indoor soccer facility with seven fields inside a 73,000-square foot former shipping facility.

After the rest of the South Bay cities struggled to pass their own budgets, El Segundo starts hashing its spending plan and contending with a possible $5.9 million gap.

A Gardena man is one of 16 Los Angeles-area parents sentenced to jail recently for not paying child support.

Bob Fish, Mira Costa High's longtime and beloved athletic director, is moving on.

First-time homebuying is increasing in the South Bay.

A new Redondo Beach doughnut shop specializes in baked, healthier versions of the treats. Wonder what Homer Simpson would think? Check out pictures, too.

South Bay, let's get this news party started:

Redondo Beach police Tuesday night raided a Torrance home apparently chockablock with several thousand tons of illegal fireworks.

Speaking of which, why don't you check out our list of safe and legal ways South Bay cities are celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend?

A 24-year-old man fell to his death Tuesday night off Point Fermin cliffs in San Pedro.

An 88-year-old Westchester man this week will retire from Northrop Grumman after working their 68 years. How's that for follow-through? Check out pictures of Jerry Huben's rocking retirement party.

Los Angeles-area tourist attractions are seeing more local patronage now that residents are sticking closer to home during the recession. (Do I get extra points for not using the term "staycation?")

The financially troubled state today stops reimbursing medical clinics that offer services like dental, optometry and acupuncture to low-income patients. Also, no new children will be enrolled into the Healthy Familes program after July 17.

That gentleman who tried to trade a lost dog for sex this weekend now faces extortion charges. Seems like a whole lot of trouble for a date.

You know, after I post this blog, I'll Tweet it as well over. Check out this list to find other Breeze staffers and South Bay folks to follow on Twitter.

Readers, let's ease into the weekend with a little local news:

International airline traffic at Los Angeles International Airport dropped more than 20 percent in May from levels at the same time last year, new figures show. A continuing slide could present a devastating blow to the area's economy, experts say.

Rep. Jane Harman is not the target of a criminal investigation following the wiretap blow-up she was involved in a few months ago.

Remember that motorcycle club that caused a big ruckus in San Pedro last year? Well, Rare Breed is back this weekend for its 20th anniversary, but will skip the port town in favor of Gardena.

The bad news: South Bay home prices continued to dropped 12. 3 percent in May over prices last year. The good news: They increased from April 2009's prices.

Hermosa Beach celebrated 10 years of legal skateboarding Thursday.

Michael Jackson fans everywhere mourn the death of the King of Pop.

Readers, let's get to the news:

Two South Bay families are among the hundreds traveling to Washington D.C. today to lobby lawmakers against funding cuts to pediatric cancer research.

The board that oversees Los Angeles International Airport is set today to purchase an adjacent 21-acre parking lot for $125 million, a price much higher than market value.

Some local folks are hunting for treasure in abandoned storage units, the contents of which are auctioned off more frequently now that people are defaulting on the rent in this recession.

It's summertime, and the living isn't so easy for South Bay teens struggling to find part-time jobs in a state where teen unemployment hit nearly 28 percent last month.

A local domestic violence shelter is working to stress the importance of positive father-child relationships, arguing that children who have good relationships with their dads are less likely to become victims of domestic abuse.

South Bay residents could see more potholes on their roads if the state goes through with a plan to take $1.7 billion in gas tax money from cities in attempt to balance its budget.

Hundreds of families came Saturday to the Pacific Reproductive Center in Torrance for an early Father's Day celebration at the very place where their family trees sprung. Check out cute pictures of babies.