Community News

Former President Bill Clinton – uncle to a senior at Redondo Union High School – will be in town next week to help raise money for the Redondo Beach Education Foundation, and might even attend Friday’s commencement ceremony.The Redondo Beach Educational Foundation will be hosting a fundraising opportunity to meet Clinton at Parras Middle school at an undisclosed time. The cost of the event is $750 per ticket and will include a meet-and-greet as well as a photo opportunity. Students at Redondo Union High School report that Clinton will give the commencement address later than night. District officials would not confirm this report. Roger Clinton, the former president’s brother, formerly lived in Redondo Beach and his son is graduating from RUHS, according to students. Four years ago, Clinton attended Tyler’s eighth-grade ceremony from Riviera Hall Lutheran School in Torrance.

The history of Hermosa Beach will now be clearly on display thanks to the “Waves of History” project. Waves of History: A Historical Walk through Hermosa Beach is a series of six tiles highlighting historically significant locations in Hermosa Beach. The tiles are located within walking distance of one another, so residents and visitors will be able to enjoy a leisurely walk to take in the sites and learn something about the city.  There are six locations where Leadership Hermosa chose to install the tiles: The Bijou Theatre, Pier Avenue School, The First Bank of Hermosa, The Surf & Sand Beach Club, Hermosa Beach Courthouse/Jail and Clark Stadium. Leadership Hermosa worked in conjunction with the Hermosa Beach Historical Society to select the locations. The map will be available year-round at the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce.  Additional information about Waves of History as well as a copy of the walking map and old photos of the Hermosa Beach historical sites is online at www.wavesofhistory.com.

In preparation for beach season, SHAPE, the #1 women’s active lifestyle magazine, is thrilled to announce that its fourth annual Summer Beach Tour, (formerly Bikini Body Tour) will once again hit the hottest beaches, starting with Hermosa Beach, on June 2, 2012 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. The SHAPE Summer Beach Tour will be filled with exhilarating fitness classes, summer fashion shows, interactive beauty cabanas, product-packed gift bags and so much more!  The tour is dedicated to helping women and men get in shape for beach season with fun-filled fitness classes led by LA’s most talented fitness instructors, including two classes taught by Hollywood Trainer Jeanette Jenkins. Guests can sweat it out with a variety of heart-pumping classes including, Jeanette’s Bikini Bootcamp or ride the waves with a surf class taught by the experts of the Jimmy Miller Foundation.  After you get your workout on, head over to the SHAPE runway and check out the hottest looks for summer straight from the covers of SHAPE, in an exclusive all-day fashion show. Plus, try your luck at the famous spin and win wheel and visit SHAPE’s beach cabanas for the latest trends and products in beauty, fitness and more! For more details check out the event website: Click Here

The City of Hermosa Beach has received a $410,000 grant from the State’s Strategic Growth Council to create a long-term plan toward reducing and eventually eliminating the city’s carbon footprint. The funding will be used to hire experts who will update and integrate the city’s General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan to create a “Comprehensive Blueprint for Sustainability and a Low Carbon Future”. The funding will be used to hire experts who will update and integrate the city’s General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan to create a “Comprehensive Blueprint for Sustainability and a Low Carbon Future. Hermosa Beach has been a leader in environmental protection, becoming one of the first cities in Los Angeles County to pledge to become carbon neutral in 2010. It was the first South Bay city to sign onto the ‘Cool Cities’ pledge and to make the city’s operations carbon neutral by reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and supporting other efforts that take carbon dioxide out of the air, such as planting trees.

One of the best ways to help the environment, support your community, and provide for your family healthy, fresh, organic food is to buy local and buy in season! How? By visiting the local farmers markets! Redondo Beach has two farmers markets, and both are located in South Redondo. On Thursdays from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., the city hosts a market at Veterans Park that features dozens of vendors that sell produce, meats, cakes, prepared food and more. Riviera Village hosts its own certified farmers market on Fridays from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Avenue I between Catalina Avenue.

Why shop at the farmers market? For starters you’re investing in and strengthening the economy of your community. It’s good for you, the food is fresh (often picked that very day), grown with minimal intervention, nutritious and delicious. Finally farmers markets are (generally) more affordable and/or of higher quality than supermarkets. A couple of tips: Go early for the best selection. Bring cash. Take time to walk around and see whats available. And stay late for best deals.

The first beach soccer tournament of its kind to be held in Hermosa Beach and the only one of its kind in the Los Angeles-area, the Sand Soccer Showcase promises to be one of the premier beach soccer tournaments in all of Southern California this summer. The tournament will be governed by the National Governing Body of Sand Soccer and hosted by the Los Angeles Galaxy and Soccer in the Sand. The LA Galaxy Sand Soccer Showcase announced the first-ever beach soccer event which will kick off what promises to be an exciting summer of soccer The event, which will hit the beach on June 29 through July 1, will be the first beach soccer tournament of its kind in Hermosa Beach and the only one like it in the Los Angeles area. Soccer in the Sand and LA Galaxy are excited to present the new competition, which will be governed by the National Governing Body of Sand Soccer and played in accordance with FIFA Beach Soccer rules. Teams will be comprised of four field players and a goalkeeper using a specially designed beach soccer ball. Each game will be divided into three, 11-minute periods with short stoppages between periods. Learn more and register: Click Here

A walk down the Hermosa Beach Plaza and you will notice there is a transition under way. Fifteen years after Hermosa’s herculean attempt at revitalizing the Downtown, it’s doing it again, but this time with no city or state funds, no fanfare, and no parking or planning wars. Hermosa is getting a major facelift, store by store, all funded by the downtown business owners, both old and new.

Sangria, a downtown icon and one of the sentinel points of Hermosa’s 1995 revitalization, is surrounded by 25-foot high boards. Hammering sawing, stuccoing and welding are plainly audible on the Plaza. The new stone and sand colors of Sharkeez next door. A newly refurbished Patrick Molloy’s stands steps away from the orange Planning Commission sign affixed to The Lighthouse, signaling yet another renewal project. A few steps further west and you will see that Hennessey’s has refinished its storefront. Waterman’s has revamped the former Dragon and features skateboard racks, clear, glassy epoxy tables and imported teak from Indonesia.

On the north side of the Plaza, check out the new Palmilla, offering of boutique tequila brands and educated Mexican flavors. Upstairs, Fat Face Fenner’s sports a new front face and signage. Mediterraneo, just a few short years ago, the new kid on the block, now stands as a stable watermark of Greek-Roman architecture, still with clean lines and blue and white colors of the Mediterranean.

Why all this renewal in the face of tight credit markets and a still nascent economic recovery? The maturation of the food market is driving many of the changes. Young, passionate kitchen crews are manning the grills at almost every new (and some older places as well) restaurant and restaurant/bar: Chef Melba, Mediterraneo, Hot’s Kitchen, Abigaile, The Rockefeller, Rok Sushi, Waterman’s, Palmilla. The newer chefs have all been to culinary institutes or hotel schools. New look and new blood have made many Hermosa restaurant community members confident that the time is right to move forward.

New Hermosa Beach Mayor Jeff Duclos proposes an ambitious project to build a pedestrian bridge across Pacific Coast Highway. Duclos’ appointment as mayor comes at a busy time for the city. Longtime city manager Steve Burrell retired last month and the City Council has embarked on a search for his replacement. Furthermore, the council is currently negotiating new contracts with city employees. Hermosa Beach leaders also recently reached a settlement in the Macpherson Oil lawsuit, and an environmental review of a newly proposed oil drilling project is expected to begin within the next year. The bridge, Duclos said, would be a symbolic structure linking two sides of the city, while serving as a gateway welcoming visitors and residents crossing the beach town’s main thorough fare. It would also provide a safe crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists. He said that a bridge – or bridges – can be constructed over Pacific Coast Highway with little or no funding. Referencing Dana Point and Santa Monica as an examples of cities that have successfully built pedestrian crossings above major thoroughfares.

It’s never too early to plan for college. The Redondo Beach Unified School District wants to make that clear, and to get the message out, the district is hosting College Information Nights for parents of students in grades 3 through 8 on Thursday, and again on May 3. The College Information Nights will offer three workshops to parents: The Road to College, Paying for College and Financial Aid, and Preparing for College Now. The district’s goal is for 70 percent of students to become A through G completers, starting with this year’s junior class at Redondo Union High School. RBUSD College Information Nights are for parents of students in grades 3 through 8. Two events are planned; the first will take place Thursday at Washington Elementary School/Adams Middle School, 1100 Lilienthal Ave. in Redondo Beach. The second will be May 3 at Parras Middle School, 200 N. Lucia Ave., Redondo Beach

The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch is encouraging residents to think about how they will act in the event of an earthquake and tsunami. Most residents are not aware that in the event of a major earthquake, Hermosa Beach is at significant risk of being drowned by a tsunami. So the group is pushing Tsunami Preparedness Week, which is this week, encouraging residents to be aware that if a major earthquake displaces the ocean floor off the Southern California coast, residents in Hermosa Beach may have only seconds to get to higher ground – and city emergency services won’t have time to send out reverse 911 or similar alerts. While there won’t be any festivals or meetings, the California Emergency Management Agency will be having a webcast on March 29 at 2 p.m. on what to do.