Southbound PCH left lane closure from Coastline Dr/Topanga to McClure Tunnel/Santa Monica on Thursday June 9 from noon to 10 pm. NO LEFT TURNS allowed for 5 miles from/to PCH to allow for emergency vehicles for that Summit Of Americas event. Plan ahead. Take alternate routes.

The CA Incline will also be closed to all traffic.

UScension Volleyball Event benefiting the Veterans Housing Crisis at the Pier 360 Festival

Come be part of a HUGE Santa Monica event! Join thousands of beach and sea athletes at the PIER 360 Festival while supporting our efforts in the Veteran's Housing Crisis.

Play Volleyball, Dance and Meet High VIBE people that are making an impact in the world!

BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT at the PIER 360 Festival includes a Yoga Warm-Up followed by a Coed Beach Volleyball Tournament, or choose the Volleyball CLINIC & FUN Games for those new to the sport and a fiery DJ lineup that'll have you moving and grooving all day & taking you into a special sunset DJ set before you depart!

Date and time
Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 8:30 AM PDTT

Location
Santa Monica Pier
200 Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica, CA 90401

For more info and to register, Click Here

The world-famous Santa Monica Pier will host a weekend full of World Tour and Open racing, as well as our City Paddle Festival with a $25,000 prize purse on offer.

Jun 24, 5:00 PM – Jun 27, 5:00 PM

Registration for all Pro-Am and Amateur races can be found HERE and all pre-qualified athletes will recieve entry information directly from the APP.

The US Open of SUP at Santa Monica Pier will be the most inclusive and high-profile SUP event to have taken place in the US for many years. The Event will bring together Professional Competition, with Amateur and Corporate participation, as well as youth and health and wellness enthusiasts all wrapped up into our City Paddle Festival and World Championship Tour stop.

As the US flagship stop of the APP World Championship Tour, the US Open of SUP will feature all the World’s very best Stand Up Paddle Racers as they kick off their 2022 campaign for the World Title and for the 25k prize purse at the iconic Pier.

The Sprint Racing in the surf will provide a dynamic sporting spectacle in a fast paced, elimination format that will see the top contenders competing round after round until the Final. This 300m course will provide the most spectacular racing imaginable, and the view from the Pier will be unparalleled in terms of sports entertainment. There will also be amateur, open sprint racing for all non-professional attendees.

The Pier-to-Pier Distance Race will provide an iconic and high- performance course for the World’s Best, leaving from Malibu Pier and finishing at Santa Monica Pier, a 16km/ 10-mile race. It will be particularly poignant given the significance of this stretch of coastline in history as the regular commute that California’s first Surfer of African American and Latino descent made from Santa Monica to surf up at the famed waves found in Malibu. There will also be a slightly shorter, 8km/ 5 miles distance race from Topanga to Santa Monica Pier for all non-professionals to compete in.

Whilst there will be non-stop competitive SUP action, our City Paddle Festival will provide plenty more opportunities to enjoy the water and the ‘So-Cal’ life. With SUP yoga, youth clinics, fun racing and relays, our City Paddle Festival will fully immerse you into the life of Stand Up Paddling and will provide plenty of entertainment in-between. There will be live music, entertainment and food and drinks for when you need to relax in between adventures or cheering on the pros.

Whether you're hanging with the family, competing on land or at sea or partying with your friends– the City Paddle Festival has got it all!

The Santa Monica City Paddle Festival will mark the launch of our global corporate challenge, the APP Nautical mile, which is an immersive team building experience, which takes place in the heart of Major Cities across the globe as an integrated element of the APP World Tour’s City Paddle Festivals.

The City of Malibu Arts Commission presents Art of Surf at the Malibu City Gallery located at Malibu City Hall (23825 Stuart Ranch Rd). The exhibition will be open from June 27 through August 31, 2022, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 11:00 AM. RSVP not required

For more information about the exhibition and the Malibu Arts Commission, Click Here.

Video by Green Cloud Art Org

Designers that are completely out of touch with surf and skateboard culture, show off their guady "surf and skate inspired" clothing designs.

From Loic Prigent:

"Kim Jones is working with emerging brand ERL for his Spring 2023 DIOR collection! We decipher all the references to surfing and skateboarding (skateboarding was born nearby in Santa Monica). We have fun annoying almost all the guests with our absurd questions. The show is a variation on blue, HAute Couture, the Belle Epoque, skateboarding, the wave, all together. Oh and Christina Aguilera was here! The young couple Brooklyn and Nicola Beckham pelz too! They were on their honeymoon and barely restrained themselves from french kissing in front of the camera! "

A man was fatally struck Saturday by a hit-and-run vehicle in Malibu, authorities said.

The man was in the number two lane of Pacific Coast Highway, near Via Escondido, when he was struck at about 12:45 a.m. by a vehicle traveling westbound on PCH, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The vehicle fled the scene and paramedics rushed the man to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

No further information was immediately available.

The sheriff’s Malibu/Lost Hills station urged anyone with information regarding the crash to call them at 818-878-1808 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Lavonte Anthony Montgomery (left) and Roderick Germell Thompson (right). Photo: SMPD

On May 30, 2022, at about 2:30 PM, Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) Officers responded to a radio call of a robbery in the area of 3rd & Strand Street. The caller reported a male subject took the victims purse by force, then entered a nearby Ford Explorer and fled the scene. The caller gave Dispatch the suspect vehicle’s last known direction of travel.

While responding to the call, SMPD Officers located the suspect vehicle, occupied by two subjects. The suspect vehicle failed to yield, and a short pursuit was initiated. The suspect vehicle collided into an unoccupied parked car in the 2300 block of 14th Street. The driver, later identified as Roderick Thompson, exited the vehicle and was immediately taken into custody. The passenger, later identified as Lavonte Montgomery, ran from the vehicle, and entered the backyard of a residence in the 1300 block of Pine Street. A perimeter was established, and Thompson was taken into custody without incident.

SMPD Officers located the victim’s belongings inside the suspect vehicle. Officers also learned from the victim that during the commission of the crime, Montgomery pushed the victim’s baby stroller with her 4-month-old inside it. The infant was not hurt.

The suspects were transported to the SMPD Jail and booked for the following:

• Suspect 1: Lavonte Anthony Montgomery a 32-year-old male of Los Angeles was booked for Robbery, Delaying Arrest, Reckless Driving / Evading, Child Cruelty and Parole Violation

• Suspect 2: Roderick Germell Thompson a 35-year-old male of Los Angeles was booked for Robbery, Delaying Arrest, and Reckless Driving / Evading.

From Santa Monica Close Up:

" Los Angeles County Firefighters retrieve a Public Works bulldozer that was stuck in the Santa Monica Beach shoreline on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

According to Los Angeles County Public Works Spokesman Kerjon Lee, Los Angeles County Public Works was performing seasonal maintenance at the outlet of Pico drain on Santa Monica Beach on June 3, when a small dozer became stuck at the shoreline. A second, larger dozer was brought in to assist and, while the initial piece of equipment was freed, the second dozer was caught in the rising tide and remained in the shoreline overnight.

Early this morning, LA County crews returned during low tide with an excavator to clear sand in front of the dozer. Two additional dozers and winches were brought in and the dozer was dislodged and safely removed by 9 AM."

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.

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