South Bay Echo for Oct 28
Torrance homeless shelter update, dolphins jumping, Halloween on the Boardwalk and #TBT when Black Flag played Polliwog Park
Hello friends… Welcome to the ninth edition of South Bay Echo, your source of local hometown news with a real estate angle.
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Torrance closer to erecting homeless shelter
The 45 tiny homes planned for the Torrance Civic Center as a temporary homeless shelter inched closer to becoming reality this week when the Torrance City Council approved the use of $1.6 million in Department of Housing and Community Development’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation funds. The money is meant to help local governments to increase the affordable housing stock, and allocations are based on real estate sales.
The temporary shelter — the first of its kind in Torrance modelled after a smaller collection in Redondo Beach — was approved by the Torrance City Council in June and was planned to be erected by this Fall, but the project was set back due to funding issues. At first the city intended to pay for the shelter with American Rescue Plan funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, but the guidelines had not been set yet. Instead, the $1.6 million allocation together with roughly $450,000 of discretionary funds from Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office are expected to pay the lion’s share of the project’s first year of operations.
The total cost of the shelter for 18 months, including two housing and outreach workers, comes to $3.6 million, a shockingly high number in my opinion. For that amount of money the city could house about 45 people for 18 months in hotel rooms for $150 per night.
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Dolphins were jumpy in Redondo Beach
The Redondo Beach coastline can be like a wonderland for photographers. The late Randy Ruby made capturing the scenes, often at dusk, at the southern end of Santa Monica Bay his life’s work. It’s with a photographer’s eye that we get to see our hometown in its stunning glory.
These days there is another photographer making a name for themselves and that’s Nanci Lewis, who has been sharing some astounding photos lately of our local wildlife. Nanci captured this shot earlier this week of dolphins soaring through the air in front of some surfers off the Esplanade…. truly a magical scene. Thank you Nanci for your wonderful photos.
Halloween on the Boardwalk in Redondo Beach
This Friday, Oct. 29, join the King Harbor Association for a free Halloween event on the Redondo Beach Pier. From 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fisherman’s Wharf on the north end of the pier, this free community event includes balloons, boat rides, costume contest, a live DJ, prizes, selfie wall, giveaways and trick-or-treating on the Boardwalk and Pier. For more click here.
Throwback Thursday to when Black Flag played Polliwog Park
This Thursday we take a step back into the past when the South Bay became the epicenter of a burgeoning punk rock movement in the late 1970s. This news clip from the Easy Reader by Kerry Welsh was posted this week to a local Facebook group South Bay Days of Old. What a gem of an article capturing this raucous moment in time that completely freaked out the city establishment and sent families packing. This was the infamous day Black Flag played at Polliwog Park. As the story states, these caustic punk rockers were booked “erroneously,” which sounds like nobody at the city bothered to research the group whatsoever... oops. As the Parks and Rec official explained: “We plan to screen and audition every act from now on…”
From the article:
Their ardent fans, with hair in every conceivable (and inconceivable) color, jumped up and down in the traditional punk “pogo,” pelting the band and the nearby crowd with oranges, tomatoes, watermelons, cans, rocks, and bottles as the band played their brand of frenetic, anarchistic rock.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween.