Don’t miss the all NEW Venice Art Walk & Auctions hosted by Google Los Angeles. Enjoy our curated silent art auction, live music, taste bud tingling food trucks, family art activities and exclusive Art & Architecture tours at Venice’s largest community celebration!

Venice Art Walk & Auctions brings thousands of community members together to celebrate Venice Family Clinic. Artists open their studios, architects open their homes, and as many as 400 artists donate their work to ensure that neighbors in need have access to health care. All proceeds from the event directly fund Venice Family Clinic health care services.

This year’s Venice Art Walk & Auctions features a celebrity-hosted kick off, new Silent Art Auction venue and community celebration and exclusive access to legendary Venice artists. Venice Art Walk & Auctions includes Art & Architecture events and once-in-a-lifetime Angel experiences. Once a weekend of events, Venice Art Walk & Auctions now spans an entire season.

Surf & Skate Auction presented by 585 BOARDRIDERS
Friday, April 27
Silent Auction: 6 – 9 pm
After Auction: party until 10 pm
Free event
Track 16 at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1, Santa Monica

Architecture Tour
Artists & Architects East of Lincoln
Saturday, May 19
Noon – 4 pm
Huguette’s Caland’s home open from noon – 3 pm only
$125
Registration opens at 11 am (Westminster School). The Huguette Caland Residence and Studio closes at 3 pm.

Angel Event
Artist in Residence: Huguette Caland: The Artist and Her Circle
Saturday, May 19
6 – 8 pm
Price included in select Angel packages

Architecture Tour
Living Between the Pacific and Abbot Kinney
Sunday, May 20
11 am – 2 pm
$125
Registration opens at 10 am (Westminster School)

Artist Studio Tour
Venture into Venice
Sunday, May 20
Noon – 4 pm
$50
Registration opens at 11 am (Westminster School)

All of the above tours include priority access for Sunday’s Venice Art Walk & Auctions on May 20.

Venice Art Walk & Auctions: Silent Auction & Community Celebration
Sunday, May 20
Registration opens at 11 am (Westminster School). Access is free, but limited to registered bidders or tour participants. Priority access given to tour participants.
Silent Auction: noon – 6 pm
After Auction: party until 7:30 pm
Google Los Angeles, 340 Main Street, Venice

Google becomes an art gallery! Bid on original sculptures, paintings and photographs from the biggest and brightest names in the Southern California art scene. Bring your friends and family together to celebrate Venice’s creative culture and enjoy celebrity DJs, taste bud tingling food trucks and interactive entertainment. Spend the day touring artists’ studios and take home a piece of art. All events support Venice Family Clinic, providing free health care to our neighbors in need.

Family Fun Day
Sunday, May 20
Noon – 3 pm

Free event ( Westminster School)

Bring the whole family to Westminster School for an afternoon of fun. Meet artist Gary Steinborn, creator of the beloved Blue Dog sculptures, as he teaches your children to sculpt with clay. Join us for an afternoon of music, art and imagining!

According to the LA Times:

Seven neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Venice (A) was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of three over the last three months.

As always, most of the crimes in Venice are crimes of opportunity. If you don’t leave your stuff where people can see it, it greatly reduces the chances it will be stolen. Lock your windows when you leave your home. People are stealing iPhones and cell phones from people in broad daylight… so be aware.

Not Venice, but close enough to be bothersome.

On May 15, 2012 at approximately 4:51 am, Marina del Rey Station, Deputies responded to 5800 block of Mansfield Ave. Los Angeles, regarding an occupied residential burglary in progress, the suspect was being detained. The Deputies arrived and met a 15 year old male and his father who were detaining the suspect. It was later learned that the Father confronted the suspect with a golf club. The 15 year old, armed with a baseball bat, assisted his Father with detaining the suspect who was inside the family’s home taking property. Sheriff’s Deputies arrived and took custody of the suspect and booked him at the Marina del Rey Station’s jail without further incident. The Deputies recovered a knife at the residence the knife was determined to belong to the suspect. As the investigation continued it was learned that t an attempted burglary on the same block about 3 hours early. The suspect in custody was recently released from prison and is actively on State parole.

The bold and swift actions by the Father and 15 year old Son played an active role in protecting their family from potential harm.

The quick and immediate response and arrest by Marina del Rey Station Personnel is critical to maintaining the public peace and safety to the communities that we serve.

Via his facebook page, Bill Rosendahl just posted:

For several months, rumors have been swirling in Venice that Gold’s Gym, the iconic “Mecca of Bodybuilding” was going to be forced out of its location by Google, which last year made an historic move to Venice.

This morning, my staff spoke with both local Google officials and the head of Google America’s real estate group. We have been thoroughly assured that Google appreciates the significance of Gold’s Gym to the Venice and bodybuilding communities, and wants the gym to stay where it is.

Google America’s Real Estate Group confirmed that Google has acquired the lease for a number of properties in the area near its Venice campus, including the property occupied by Gold’s Gym. Google is currently negotiating with the Gold’s Gym parent company, TRT Holdings, Inc., and hopes to strike an agreement that will keep Gold’s Gym where it is for 10 more years.

I anticipate Google and TRT Holdings will make their own public statements when negotiations conclude. But in the meantime, Gold’s Gym is staying put, in the heart of Venice, as a landmark, and as the world capital of bodybuilding.

Stand Up and Speak OUT against bullying & cyber bullying

Join Monica Harmon, long time LAPD volunteer and Public Safety Advocate for a passionate, educational, and eye-opening presentation on Anti-Bullying. Find out what preventative measures you can use to stop bullying. Joining Ms. Harmon will be LAPD officers and other special guests. All ages welcome. Sponsored by the Friends of the Venice Library.
Guest Speakers: Monica Harmon – Public Safety Advocate / LAPD Volunteer
LAPD Pacific Division Captain Brian Johnson
Bruce Riordan, Assistant US Attorney
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Marcy Garcia

When: 6:30-8 p.m.

Where: Venice Public Library 501 S Venice Blvd Venice CA, 90291  USA

From The L.A. Times:

The Los Angeles City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to ban tents, sleeping bags, bedrolls and hammocks in scores of city parks, a move timed to the reopening of the City Hall lawn where Occupy L.A. protesters camped out last year.

As crews prepare to take down the fence that has surrounded the lawn for the last six months while it was rehabilitated, some homeless advocates worry the ban could have broader implications beyond keeping protesters from returning.

Others say the ordinance is redundant because overnight camping is already banned in city parks.

“It’s such a waste of legislative time,” said Becky Dennison of the Los Angeles Community Action Network.

Officials in the city attorney’s office said what’s new about the ordinance is that it clarifies what constitutes camping and includes an explicit ban on tents. According to the ordinance, tents in parks pose health and safety issues, “cause visual clutter and blight” and can ruin the experience for other park visitors.

Father Richard Estrada, who works closely with the homeless at his Roman Catholic parish near Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles, said he doesn’t think people should camp in parks.

But the fact is, he said, they do.

If city officials enforce the new provisions of the ordinance, “this will hit real hard on this community,” Estrada said.

“You’re going to shove someone out, arrest them. But what does that do?” he said.

UPDATE: SUSPECT IN CUSTODY. A citizen witnessed a man fleeing the bank robbery, discarding a grey hoodie into a trash can by Del Taco on Lincoln, getting on a bike and fleeing. The citizen followed, called 911 and the police nabbed him on Charnock. Witnesses are en route to do a field show up to make sure it is him. He put sunscreen on his nose as a diversion and a different color hoodie. Mad props to the citizen who safely followed the suspect at a distance and called 911! Hope it turns out the be the robbery suspect, who may be same person who hit the Comerica Bank on Lincoln earlier last month.

Around 3:15 p.m. today a white male with longish grey hair, a fake mustache & beard, hoodie and glasses entered Union Bank at Lincoln and Maxella and executed a simulated handgun robbery. The thief took approximately $2000. Despite 2-way locking entry and exit doors – the thief went for it, fled on foot and has not been apprehended. LAPD stopped a Metro Bus and did an immediate search of the area. The suspect was seen removing his fake beard and mustache as he fled the location.

Brown mini schnauzer. “Luna”
Her hair is a bit longer, fluffier than in this photo.
Small, about 5-8 pounds.
Missing from alley between San Juan and Santa Clara, between 6th and 7th ave.
Please call with ANY info or sightings. 310-463-1169

Last night, courtesy of one of Venice’s local gangs, the entire boardwalk got tagged. We got plenty of reports through the night and had it cleaned by 8 a.m. before people started showing up for the Spring Fling Music Fest. Totally uncool thing to do to our awesome park. The po-lice say that this shows a possible uprising in gang activity. Be alert and CALL ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY IN!

If you don’t know about the LA Times crime mapping, give it a visit. It is chock full of all kinds of crimey goodness and things that will hopefully make people start not leaving windows open, and iPads visible in the front seat of their cars. Here’s the latest excerpt for VENICE!

4:20 p.m.-Official word is that if you live east of Dell, water will be on in 30 minutes. West of Dell – 3-4 hours!

Also- Service Master International was on hand lending help. They were already working on a residents home when this happened and they brought their whole crew in. They are giving FREE evaluations and damage estimates. They are a local business and are licensed contractors. Call them at 1-855-327-8379 (or 1-855-FAST-DRY)

UPDATE: Main break capped! Water stopped.

Today a water main broke at the 200 block of Carroll Canal. It’s a doozy. Streets are flooded. DWP guy just said at 1:38 they haven’t shut off the main flood line yet. One garage in a S Venice condo is totally flooded. before FD started pumping they said the ground around one car was giving way. Victor from DWP said they are trying to turn off 5 gate valves. 3 to go. One is broken. LAFD has been pumping water out of the garage. Crews expected to stay on scene all night.