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Veterans Day Celebration On The Santa Monica Pier



The City of Santa Monica joins the U.S. Army for a Veterans Day commemoration on Friday, November 11 at 11 a.m. on the western half of the Pier parking deck

The program will include:
- Posting of the colors and national anthem
- Remarks from Santa Monica City Council
- Remarks from Congressman Ted Lieu
- Remarks from Scott Painter, Army Veteran and CEO of Autonomy
- Future soldiers swearing in ceremony
- Musical performance

"I encourage everyone in our community, on Veterans Day and throughout the year, to reflect on the extraordinary contributions the courageous individuals in the armed forces have made to our country," said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. "We proudly join the U.S. Army in this tribute and ask the community to join us in recognizing and honoring the veterans in our lives and across Santa Monica."

The event is open to the public and the Santa Monica community is invited to attend. The program will include remarks from Congressman Ted Lieu and distinguished guest speaker Scott Painter, and other special guests will include the Mayor Sue Himmelrich, City Council Member Gleam Davis, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Sonki Hong, Army Reserve Ambassador Bill Wenger, and Brigadier General John Cushing. There will be a special blues band performance.

"I'm honored to be joining the Los Angeles Army Recruiting Battalion and the California Army National Guard for a Veterans Day celebration in Santa Monica this year. Our veterans represent the very best our nation has to offer," said Congressman Ted Lieu. "Each day, we are endlessly inspired by their courage, selflessness, and patriotism. As a proud Air Force veteran, I am forever grateful for my time in the service. I look forward to honoring our brave men and women who’ve served in uniform this Veterans Day, and encourage community members to join us in this celebration. Happy Veterans Day!"

November 11th is the day the United States signed the armistice that ended our first World War. Over 100,000 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice and died in service of their country. Since then, the U.S. has fought in six major wars. Each time, calling on the men and women in our military to brave the battleground and fight for our country.

"Our military veterans show us what honor looks like every day through their patriotism, service, and willingness to put country ahead of self. On Veterans Day, let us show them the honor they deserve, and the gratitude for their service," said Sonki Hong, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army.

Haunted Heats Surf Contest Photos

Here's our photo coverage of the Haunted Heats Surf COntest.

This set of surf photos was shot by Six12 Media.

These are just a few of the 300+ photos from the contest. If you were in it, you probably got some shots, probably multiple photos, they will be in the complete contest photo gallery, check them out, the link to the complete gallery is down below.

As always wijth the Haunted Heats. the costume performance portion is first. Every contestant has 30 seconds to act out their costume.









Then comes the surfing portion of the contest.














You can find all the photos from the contest, all full size and in high-resolution, in this photo gallery:

ZJ Boarding House Haunted Heats 2022 Photo Gallery


If you were out there, we probably got some cool surfing shots of you, go check them out!

Wanna see photos from previous days at this and other local surf spots from this photographer?
Click Surf Spot Galleries and look for the spot and then the date.

Trejo's Tacos Santa Monica Grand Opening Celebration



Trejo's Tacos (Santa Monica) is excited to finally host the official grand opening party for the newest location in Santa Monica this coming Tuesday 11/1 from 1pm to 3pm

During the opening, they will be offering BOGO tacos (buy one get one free), live mariachi and a meet-and-greet with Danny Trejo.

Storm Possible For First Week Of November



A storm is still possible next week Tue - Thu, but details remain uncertain. Latest projections have backed off a bit on potential and amounts of rain.

Pit Bull Attacks Elderly Couple On Venice Boardwalk



Elderly couple walking their dogs is attacked by a pit bull, the women gets was bit several times.



Police Vs Man Armed With Knives At T-Mobile Store In Santa Monica



Santa Monica Police Officers were dispatched to what originally was reported as an armed robbery @ 332 Santa Monica Blvd. SMPD officers arrived within less than 2 minutes. Witnesses reported a male armed with a sharp object went into the store acting hysterical and asking for help. The male ran out before police arrived. SMPD personnel observed the described male go into the T Mobile store in the 1400 block of 3rd Street Promenade. When they attempted to make contact with him, he pulled out two knives.



Bay Street Boards' Board Swap



BOARD SWAP COMING November 13!!! At Bay Street Boards

Come sell/swap/display all your boards, whether they be shitters or collectors items! Bay Street Boards will surely be having a massive sale of all boards in the shop.

Best of all, Citrea Bakery will be making authentic Italian pizzas

Bay Street Boards
3216 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica,
CA 90404, United States

Surf Video - Venice Breakwater & Pier - Wednesday 10-26-2022



Surfing Clips from the Venice Pier and Breakwater shot on October 26th. Originally posted to our Instagram stories on that day.



Hot Dog On A Stick To Reopen



Rumor is that the Santa Monijca Pier Hot Dog On A Stick will reopen on Thursday, October 27th.

Fight On Venice Boardwalk



Homeless man gets beat up for threatening to kill someone.



Homeless Healer Gets Arrested



From Santa Monica Close Up:

"Santa Monica Police Officers in the Homeless Liaison Unit (“HLP”) arrest a healer at Santa Monica Beach on Thursday, October 13, 2022. The Officers were enforcing public camping when the person intervened. She was charged with Penal Code 148 a 1 PC, California statute makes it a crime to willfully resist or obstruct a police officer, or EMT, in the performance of their official duties."



Click Here for more Stories about Venice Healer Daisy Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz

Venice Surf-A-Thon Is No More?



The fate of the Venice Surf-A-Thon is now unknown.

Contest founder & organizer, Ger-I Lewis, made two announcements this morning via his social media accounts. Both announcements statimng he has decided not to produce the contest anymore, and the second announcement was the same as the first but he added in a sentence about gifting the contest to "the Venice neighborhood" , which he called aa "a strong and responsible group".

This news comes just 12 days after Ger-I had announced the 2022 Venice Surf-A-Thon date.

His full announcement:



"Family, friends and supporters of Venice Surf-A-Thon Surf Contest, I have decided to not to produce the Venice Surf-A-Thon Surf Contest any longer. Thank you for the support and a wonderful 28 years of fun and surfing! I decided to gift the contest to the Venice neighborhood and a strong and responsible group that is considering keeping the 'Thon going into the next 3 decades.
Sincerely, Ger-I"

Is the Venice Surfing Association the group Gert-I is talking about?

And does that mean the 2022 contest is still on?

Venice Beach Homeless Set Another House On Fire



657 Flower on fire again for 3rd time at 545am, Tuesaday 10/25. Neighbors say it’s a squatters drug den with vagrants going in and out all day and night. It burns again with 10+ fire trucks and 30 foot flames.


Surfing Big Closeouts At Venice Pier



Surfing big waves at the Venice Pier on October 23, 2022



Inside Venice Beach's Homeless Catastrophe



A walking tour through Venice, California - one of the communities that has been hardest hit from the homeless crisis. The host takes us through what it's like to live in a neighborhood that has been overrun by crime and chaos.

Brush Fire on PCH



The Los Angeles Fire Department responded by ground and air, working with units from the nearby Santa Monica Fire Department, to quickly confine and extinguish a fire that consumed two acres of heavy brush on a steep hillside near the 15000 block of Corona del Mar on October 16, 2022.

Photos via LAFD


Tow Truck Drives Down Beach Bike Path With Wrecked Car



A tow truck removes a wrecked car from the sand in Pacific Palisades, then drives all the way down the bike path to the Santa Monica Pier, instead of using one of the many exit points, including the one where he picked up the wrecked car, he decided to go on the scenic route.



Santa Monica Fire Department Drill



SMFD testing the fire engine hoses at Ocean Park in Santa Monica.



Beach Closure Advisory Due To Sewage Discharge



Avoid Ocean Water Near Ballona Creek

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has issued a beach closure due to sewage discharge affecting the following areas:

Ballona Creek (100 yards in each direction)

Beach closure signs have been posted.

The closure is due to a sewage spill in the street near 4545 W 62nd St., LA 90043, where approximately 1,200 gallons of sewage discharged onto the street with 500 gallons recovered and 700 gallons entering the storm drain. The sewage then entered Centinela Creek, which discharges into Ballona Creek.

Public Health was notified of the spill today at approximately 1:00 PM. At 4:00 PM, the Public Health Environmental Health Strike Team confirmed that there was flow in Centinela Creek that would then discharge into the ocean.

Due to the inability to submit samples to the lab on Sunday, sampling will begin on Monday and two consecutive samples are required to reopen the beach.

Recorded information on beach conditions is available 24 hours a day on the County's beach closure hotline: 1-800-525-5662.

Homeless Man At Palisades Park Gets Medical Help



Santa Monica Police and Fire Department aid a very sick homeless man at Palisades Park.



Weekly Venice Homeless Encampment Clean-up



From Santa Monica Close Up:

"City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works sanitation workers in white hazardous materials suits, with Clean Harbors Hazardous Waste Management and Action Cleanup Environmental Services clean-up homeless encampments at Venice Beach on Friday, October 21, 2022."

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz