Recently in Manhattan Beach Category

We've been getting calls and e-mails from readers who have seen the media coverage on the death of Jennifer Jensen and want to help her two sons, Shaun and Alex.

Jensen was on her way back from the market on Dec. 23 when her motorcycle collided with a driver making a U-Turn on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. She was taken to Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, where she died a short time later.

Jensen was a single mother and lived with her two sons in North Redondo Beach. Shaun, 23, is a full-time student and cares for his older brother Alex, 25, who is mentally disabled. They have no other family members to rely on.

Jensen worked as a nurse for many years, but went on disability after a bad motorcycle accident several years ago. She had no life insurance, and the brothers are now struggling to pay bills and the rent.

But good Samaritans from across the South Bay have come to their aid. A story in today's Daily Breeze spotlighted the relationship Shaun and a local business owner who lost his son two years ago have forged since Jensen's death.

And for those who may have read about the Jensen brothers and are interested in helping, you can send an e-mail to Pam Drake at HelpJensGuys@gmail.com. Drake is a close friend of the Jensen family and is working to organize a benefit BBQ and motorcycle run.

A fundraiser dinner at the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach is also being planned. We'll have more information when it becomes available.

The 50^th Anniversary of the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Volleyball Tournament is nearing and today city officials issued a press release detailing rules and regulations. (Note rule No. 1: No alcohol).

This year's edition of 6-Man is expected to run over budget, but that hasn't stopped the city from hosting the beloved event. And earlier this month, the Manhattan Beach City Council reminded tournament goers that alcohol will not be tolerated. Police are expected to be out in force. Alcohol fines can be as high as $600.

Here's the press release from City Manager Dave Carmany's office:

All weekend long, visitors, participants and residents should prepare for heavy traffic (vehicular and pedestrian) and expect parking delays for this major event, as there is no shuttle service. Also, there will be a significant police and private security presence on the streets and along the beach.

Each team and their designated "Team Manager" have been provided a copy of the following rules:

• No alcoholic beverages (fines up to $600 per incident, per MBMC 4.48.030)

• Upon entry to event, no un-sealed beverages/containers allowed

• No "jello"-type or frozen liquid-type of food/beverages allowed

• No amplified music or balloons

• No band equipment

• No structures, inflatables, stages or poles

• No wagons or motor operated devices

Failure to abide by rules, may cause disqualification of player and/or team (for other guidelines and tournament information, www.citymb.info)

In addition, the Fire Department would like to remind beachgoers of the following safety tips:

• Drink plenty of water, especially small children. Dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion.

• Use sunblock and shade appropriately and seek medical attention if large blisters appear.

• Pedestrians should cross streets in marked crosswalks and avoid walking between parked cars.

• MBFD will staff a first-aid station at the foot of the pier, next to the Lifeguard Station.

• If calling 9-1-1 from the beach, be prepared to give accurate location description (i.e. sand court number, lifeguard tower number, etc.)

The MBPD Public Information Officer Stephanie Martin will be available throughout Saturday's event for updates and can be reached by calling 310-802-5140.

*Updates web story to include quotes from Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery.

Manhattan Beach has prevailed in its three-year legal battle against a coalition of plastic bag manufacturers fighting to get the city's ban on single-use plastic sacks overturned.

The state Supreme Court ruled today that the city was not required to prepare an environmental impact report before implementing the ban. The decision reverses a state appellate court ruling.

"Substantial evidence and common sense support the city's determination that its ordinance would have no significant environmental effect," wrote Justice Carol A. Corrigan in the unanimous ruling.

The decision by the seven-judge panel is a major victory for the eco-minded seaside community, and paves the way for the city's elected leaders to move forward with an outright ban on single-use plastic bags.

"We are ecstatic," Mayor Richard Montgomery said in a statement. "Environmental stewardship has long been an issue on the agendas of local governments, and in these difficult times the challenges are sharper."

In an interview shortly after the ruling was announced, Montgomery acknowledged the widespread support among local businesses, residents and other coastal communities for the city's legal fight to ban plastic bags.

"It's not just victory for us, it's a victory for cities who believe like we did that plastic bags are bad for our environment," Montgomery said, adding that Manhattan Beach will soon move forward with a ban on single-use plastic bags. "They chose the wrong city to

go after. It goes to show you that sometimes the good guys win."

Montgomery said the court's ruling was a victory on two levels.

"One, it proves our methodology was correct in determining that plastic bags do harm the environment. And two, it saves us and other cities from paying for full blown EIR," Montgomery said.

Manhattan Beach in early July 2008 became the first city in the South Bay to place a outright ban on single-use plastic sacks.

The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition sued Manhattan Beach following the decision, arguing the city violated the state Environmental Quality Act by not fully analyzing a ban's effects. The coalition includes several plastic bag manufacturers.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge in February 2009 ruled in the coalition's favor, and the city appealed. After an appellate court upheld the ruling, the Manhattan Beach City Council petitioned the state Supreme Court.

Manhattan Beach city officials, including then-interim City Attorney Lee Dolley and Mayor Richard Montgomery, traveled to San Francisco on May 4 to defend the city's position.

Arguing the case for the city were Manhattan Beach-native Christian Marsh and James Moose. Both attorneys specialize in environmental law. The city also received assistance from attorneys from the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and Californians Against Waste.

The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition was represented in court by Stephen Joseph, a San Francisco-based attorney and spokesman for the nonprofit group. The coalition has filed legal objections to proposed plastic bag bans in Marin County, San Jose and Encinitas.

Arguments from both sides lasted about two hours. Manhattan Beach launched its own environmental study before the July 2008 City Council decision to outlaw plastic bags. During the May hearing, Joseph referred to the study as "whitewash."

In November, two months after California lawmakers rejected a bill that would have banned plastic bags statewide, single-use plastic bags were outlawed in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County by the Board of Supervisors.

The county's ban went into affect for larger supermarkets and pharmacies this month and will extend to smaller retailers in January 2012.

Sales tax generated from businesses in Manhattan Beach was 12.7 percent higher from January through March than the same period a year ago.

A portion of the increase can be attributed to higher fuel prices, although restaurants and electronics stores are also seeing substantial sales increases from the year prior. Shoe stores saw a 50 percent climb, too.

The data was calculated by the HdL Companies, an independent accounting firm that tracks revenue streams for public agencies across Los Angeles County.

Sales declines were seen in family apparel, home furnishing and office supply businesses.

The top sales tax producers in Manhattan Beach include Apple Computer, Dewitt Petroleum, Chevron, Mobil Oil, Target and the Manhattan Beach Marriott.

During the 2009-10 fiscal year, $7.5 million was generated in sales tax revenue from Manhattan Beach businesses. That number climbed to $8.5 million in 2010-11.

The report can be seen here: 1st Quarter Sales (Jan-Mar) 20111.pdf

MBS Media Campus. Photo courtesy of Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer 

About 700, to be more exact.

That's what Jon Landau, co-producer of the 2009 3-D epic Avatar, recently told Fox News.

The revelation comes about three months after Avatar director James Cameron signed a five-year deal to lease space at Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus to film the next two installments of the series. The sprawling facility is also HQ for Marvel Studios.

The two follow-ups to the original film are expected to be released in Dec. 2014 and Dec. 2015, Hollie McKay of Fox News reports. It was initially believed that the move would create about 200 jobs in the South Bay. Many of the new jobs will go to visual effects artists.

Here's what Cameron told the news outlet about his future plans for Avatar:

"We're shooting two films back-to-back, so I'm writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a free-film story arc - not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I'm pretty excited about that," Cameron told FOX411's Pop Tarts ahead of he and his wife Suzy Amis being honored for their philanthropic work in helping homeless youth at the recent Covenant House Gala in Los Angeles. "We're doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We're creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach so everybody that's not already dead is coming back."

 

Cameron's production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, will lease more than 115,000 feet of sound stage and office space at the MBS Media Campus, a 22-acre production lot owned by the Carlyle Group and managed by Raleigh Studios.

"Another thing the Manhattan Beach studio affords us is the ability to expand. Should we need to pick up and do a live-action shoot, should we need more space, they have it," Landau told Fox News.

Shortly after the deal was made public, Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery said he was excited about the prospect of more jobs coming to the area.

"In this economy, we appreciate both the honor and economic impact of having ( Cameron ) locate Lightstorm here in Manhattan Beach for the foreseeable future," Montgomery said.

Lightstorm Entertainment was previously based in Santa Monica, although much of the original "Avatar " film was produced in Playa Vista and shot in New Zealand.

MBS Media Campus. Daily Breeze File Photo

The Laker forward's 5th Street complex has been on and off the market since 2009 and is once again available for those with a few extra million dollars in their pocket.

He's been shacking up in Tarzana with his new wife Khloe Kardashian. According to NBC New York, the couple bought the Tarzana place in Dec. 2009 for $3.95 million.

The celebrity couple star in their own television reality show, Khloe and Lamar.

Odom helped guide the Lakers to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they got thoroughly handled by the Dallas Mavericks.

NBC New York has more:

The NBA hoopster's bachelor pad is a five bedroom, six bathroom home that is ideally located on 5th Street in the perpetually sunny SoCal beach enclave of Manhattan Beach. The bachelor pad features a large living room with a custom wet bar, a pool, spa, built-in BBQ area with a gas fire pit, three fireplaces, and soaring ceilings and hardwood floors throughout. The home has been on and off the market, for both rent and purchase, for the last two years. It's now listed for a cool $2.199 million.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lakers Assistant General Manager Ronnie Lester, 52, sold his Manhattan Beach home for $1.65 million.

The five-bedroom house was built in 2002 and includes a guest suite, a two-story high living room and a back lawn. The listing agent was Edward Kaminsky of Shorewood Realtors, Manhattan Beach, and Brittny Burford of Shorewood Realtors, Hermosa Beach, represented the buyer, according to the paper.

Lester played for the Lakers in 1985 and retired in 1986. A former scout for the team, Lester was the Lakers assistant GM for the last 10 years and his contract expires at the end of June. He is credited by some for first discovering Andrew Bynum when the Laker star was a junior at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey.

Lester purchased the Manhattan Beach property in 2002 for $1.3 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Here is a link to a blog post summarizing the arguments for and against the ban that were presented on Wednesday before the seven-justice panel.

The site, www.plasticbaglaws.org, is run by a legal group advocating for stiffer restrictions against plastic bags.

Here's another perspective on the arguments from Californians Against Waste, a Sacramento-based advocacy group helping the city defend the ban.

The Save the Bag Coalition, a non-profit representing a consortium of plastic bag manufactures, sued Manhattan Beach 2008 after the City Council approved an ordinance outlawing single-use plastic sacks.

The court will decide if the coalition had the authority to challenge the Manhattan Beach ban and if the city was required to complete an environmental impact report under the state Environmental Quality Act.

The case is being closely watched by legal and environmental experts. A ruling is expected within 90 days.

It should be noted that Christian Marsh, a San Francisco-based attorney, presented arguments for the city of Manhattan Beach. He was joined by James Moose, who is representing Californians Against Waste. (Marsh, as it happens, was born and raised in Manhattan Beach. He once had a paper route delivering the Daily Breeze.)

Interim City Attorney Lee Dolley and Mayor Richard Montgomery also attended Wednesday's hearing, which lasted about two hours.

The coalition was represented by Stephen Joseph, a San Francisco-based attorney and spokesman for the nonprofit group.

We'll have more as it develops. 

Below, City Attorney Lee Dolley and Richard Montgomery stand in front of the Supreme Court building in San Francisco before Wednesday's hearing. (Photo courtesy of city of Manhattan Beach)

Inglewood Police Captain Eve Irvine has been tapped to become the next chief of police in Manhattan Beach. Irvine will start her new role on June 1 and will replace Rod Uyeda, who is set to retire after five years leading the department.

She will become the first female chief in the department's nearly 90-year history.

Irvine will be among 23 female police chiefs in the state, and four in Los Angeles County.

Here's more on her appointment from the Inglewood Police Department:

The Inglewood Police Department is extremely proud to announce the appointment of Captain Eve R. Irvine, a 29-year department veteran, as the new Chief of Police in the City of Manhattan Beach.

Captain Irvine began her law enforcement career as a Police Cadet in 1982. In 1984, she was appointed to the position of police officer. In 1990, she was promoted to Detective where she became a nationally recognized expert in the area of domestic violence. In 1994, she promoted to the rank of sergeant and in 1997, she promoted to the rank of lieutenant. As a lieutenant, she served not only as the Adjutant to the Chief of Police but also as the Department's Press Information Officer; she is a recognized expert in the area of Media Relations.

Since her promotion to rank of captain in 2003, Captain Irvine has provided leadership in all of the Police Department's command areas including the Offices of Patrol Services, Special Enforcement, Administrative Services, and Criminal Investigations.

Captain Irvine holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Redlands and a Master of Business Administration from the University of La Verne. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and California's POST Command College.

Upon learning of Captain Irvine's appointment, Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said, "Captain Irvine will make an excellent chief of police for the City of Manhattan Beach. We are proud to have been a part of Captain Irvine's success. While she will absolutely be missed, we certainly wish her well."

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., who was appointed Police Chief in Santa Monica after attaining the rank of Deputy Chief with the Inglewood Police Department, said of Captain Irvine, "I have known Eve Irvine since she was hired onto the Inglewood Police Department. It was clear very early into her career here that she was destined for leadership. The Manhattan Beach Police Department is getting a great chief. The City of Inglewood is proud of Captain Irvine. She will be missed."

When Captain Irvine takes command of the Manhattan Beach Police Department on June 1, 2011, she will continue the tradition of Inglewood Police Department personnel who have gone on to serve as police chiefs in other communities. She will join Chief Seabrooks as one of twenty-three women police chiefs who head municipal police departments throughout the State of California; she will also be the fourth woman police chief serving in Los Angeles County.

The house used for filming exterior shots during the insanely popular "Beverly Hills, 90210" television series is really in the 90254 and has once again hit the market.

The three-story, pale-blue house is located on The Strand and listed for $8.9 million.

The 2,868-square foot home was built in 1915 and boasts 136 feet of beach frontage and looks like something you'd find in Cope Cod. It sits at the end of 35h Street and features a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom bungalow with a full laundry room, kitchen and enclosed patios. There are also two guest suites, each with a private balcony and - no joke - incredible ocean views.

The house has actually been on the market for a while - it first went up in 2010 and was originally listed at $10.5 million

The news comes as a recent sale of a massive Manhattan Beach compound set a record for highest home sale in the history of the South Bay, according to Mark McDermott of the Easy Reader. The home at 1600 The Strand sold for $10.9 million. Escrow closed Friday.

In 1998, the "90210" house was highlighted in a Daily Breeze article, shedding light onto some of the history of the famous residence.

From the article:

Even though filming at the home has long ended -- in fact, a total of only three days' filming took place in 1993 before a lawsuit by a neighbor ended it -- the house still lives on in the weekly show. Enough outtakes were shot to keep the characters in the house for years on end.

The television crews built a studio duplicate of The Strand apartment and shot multiple scenes there.

Several years before the Aaron Spelling show, the house was featured in the Kim Basinger movie, "My Stepmother is an Alien."

In the five-minute appearance, Basinger's character lands on the beach in a spaceship, and runs into a party at the home.

Although some neighbors find filming a nuisance, Steve Suard, who lives next door, doesn't mind it a bit.

"It was definitely fun. I got paid a lot of money to stay off my front patio," he said, recalling the filming days. "I used to say I live two houses from the corner, now I say I live next to the ` 90210 ' house."