by Mark McDermott
After a year contending with COVID-19 surges, the City Council last week was faced with reports of a potentially nettlesome but altogether different kind of surge. Of beekeeping.
At the behest of Council, city staff launched an investigation into animal-related nuisances and specifically examined existing regulations governing bees, pigs, and chickens in residential areas. At the April 20 council meeting, staff reported that there had been a “beekeeping activity surge,” as evidenced by four animal-related nuisance complaints received since 2018 three relating to bees, and one regarding roosters.
City planning manager Talyn Mirzakhanian told the council that urban beekeeping generally is on the rise due to the planet-wide disappearance of bees.
Dear ER:
Rescue Our Waterfront has tirelessly fought for the revitalization of King Harbor, on behalf of Redondo Beach residents. With a citywide election coming on March 2, 2021, we feel it’s vital to ensure that an in-depth discussion of this extremely important community resource takes place. All candidates for Redondo Beach Mayor and City Council seats have been invited to share their vision for the future of King Harbor. Questions will be submitted from community leaders and Redondo residents. The questions will not be shared with any of the candidates in advance.
The forum will be moderated on Jan 13 at 6 p.m. via Zoom, with a live feed on the Rescue Our Waterfront Facebook page.
Manhattan Beach an improbable focal point for protests in 2020
SHARE In November, parents and students held a rally in Polliwog Park, calling for schools to be reopened. Photo by JP Cordero
Joe Franklin leads a May 18 rally at the Manhattan Beach City Hall of protesters demanding that businesses be allowed to reopen. In November, Franklin was elected to the city council. Photo by JP Cordero
The pandemic in Manhattan Beach was met with an uneasy mixture of community cooperation and outright defiance in a year in which the city’s conflicts would mirror the nation’s.
Manhattan Beach by year’s end will have experienced four deaths and more than 750 COVID-19 cases, a lower incidence than most of Los Angeles County and much of the United States, but by global metrics a higher incidence rate than India, Russia, and Peru. Yet the city found itself in the regional and sometimes national spotlight as the pandemic progressed, first when a surfer was fined for defying a pu
Outdoor dining decks along Highland Avenue, now controlled by the city, attracted bustling business last Friday. Photo
The City of Manhattan Beach’s attempt to help local restaurants by repurposing outdoor dining decks into city-controlled, public seating has come under direct fire from Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis.
Davis sent a letter to City Manager Bruce Moe that said the city’s repurposing of the dining decks “violates both the letter and the spirit” of the Safer At Home public health order issued by the County on December 9. Davis said the ban on outdoor dining is an essential part of the effort to limit gatherings.