At around 4:30 p.m. this evening a juvenile reportedly fell off their skateboard near Lincoln Blvd and Westchester Pkwy, went into the road to retrieve it and was struck by a passing vehicle. The vehicle stopped, paramedics transported the youth to the hospital and the juvenile is listed in critical condition. The injuries were bad enough that first responders did not believe the victim survived their injuries, but last word is they were in surgery - but with critical injuries. The driver fully cooperated with authorities.

From Realtor.com… I wouldn’t call the walkstreets, especially 125 Vista Pl “waterfront” ….. but whatever movietown… (it’s east of Pacific… a healthy tsunami away from waterfront).

According to LA Times, the home features contemporary architecture with beamed ceilings, sliding glass walls and two fireplaces.

Burlesque” star, Cher has reportedly put her airy Venice Beach waterfront home, California, on the open listing market asking for just $1.8 million. She purchased the home back in 2010 for around $1.5 million.

The listing records at Realtor.com reveal that the home was built in 2008 and sits on a 2250 square feet lot. The home has three bedrooms and three bathrooms spread across two stories.

In the photos, not much of the home is showcased. The interiors of the home are remodeled and have a “Cher” look about it. She is said to have a taste for neutral colors.

The living room looks like a spacious area with an open-plan kitchen. A straight flight of stairs leads to the upper level. The home has a separate dining area and a laundry. The place has a small grassy garden and two covered parking spaces as well.

Check out the photos here.

Cher recently announced that the Spring release of her album has been pushed back to September, reports idolator.com. Her mother is also not in the best of health. Just days back she tweeted that her mother was ill and down with pneumonia.

“Mom isn’t feeling well! Pneumonia is hard for a young girl of 87… Sometimes I forget she’s fragile! I think of her as tough… All the women in my family are tough, as far back as any1 can remember! She lost weight, I’m jealous! She’ll bounce back soon.”

UPDATE: Crowd has dispersed, airship waiting for full crowd to beat it home.

An LAPD airship responded to a call for a large group fight, and the first time they flew over everyone stopped fighting and was just hanging out. Ten minutes after they cleared, the call came out again, this time that a male black was beating a Time Warner Cable guy out of his truck on Westminster between 6th and 7th. And then all hell broke loose.

Fights broke out all over, a command post was set up and additional units were called to respond from outside Pacific Division. A second airship arrived and ordered all occupants of the park to go home. Officers on the scanner said that they shouted they would refuse to leave… and so out came the riot gear. Officers are donning riot gear and preparing to sweep the park… story still developing. Word is the occupants of the park are vandalizing cars and property as they move.

Thanks to @samnozik for the photo.

Thanks to @samnozik for the photo. Don’t get shot bud.

Stacks of green, yellow, red & black Rasta style beanies 20 high, mass printed posters, belts, t-shirts, hula-hoops…and the list of items technically “banned” (but available for display purposes only) litter the boardwalk. One space at Club House someone who used to use chalk, now just paints the cement in the entire space and has a jar out for money. Despite the hopes that the massive change to ordinance 42.15 which has been heavily litigated in LA Courts would bring some organization to the situation… it has just further descended into chaos, and is as bad as it every was. Once again enforcement seems to be the main issue. Per tweets by the Free Venice Beachhead and an article by them last December:

At the Dec. 15 Friends of the Boardwalk meeting Lieutenant Paola Kreefft stated that the LAPD does not have a plan to enforce the new ordinance going into effect at the end of January. According to Norman Kulla, who was also present at the mentioned meeting, signs announcing the changes have to be posted along OFW 30 days before the ordinance can be enforced. Kreefft plans to educate and warn the vendors of the changes before they take effect, but as of December 15 there was no plan to assign extra police officers to the tasks of education or enforcement.

Yesterday, boardwalk vendor Vivienne Robinson snapped a photo of Solomon being arrested for performing outside of a vending space, and the beachhead twitter said his performance items were confiscated until his trial date. A long-time fixture on the boardwalk, Solomon is known for a history of defiance, criticism of LAPD and arrests related to various actions on the beach… but like many on the boardwalk sometimes he gets away with violating the ordinance, and sometimes apparently he doesn’t.

I receive at least 3 emails per day and usually about 4 phone calls per week from people who want to set up in a vending space on the boardwalk and they want to know the rules. I ask them what they want to put in the space, and I can say that I have yet to receive one inquiry that fits the ordinance. When I tell those inquiring that technically per the ordinance their item does not comply and they could receive a ticket, be told to leave or after repeat offenses have their items confiscated… they all say the same thing, ” but when I was there I saw people selling all kinds of stuff all over the place. ”

Yep.

Only the beach officers are fully versed in the 42.15 ordinance, local patrol officers generally know set up and tear down times… but don’t know the confusing definition of what is allowed, since the ordinance ridiculously allows ANYTHING to be “displayed” in a space…but not sold. So, of course, when approached by officers people state they are just “displaying” items and not selling them. The ONLY way a ticket or arrest can be made is if an officers witnesses the sale of a prohibited item, or do a vice operation where an undercover officer catches a vendor selling them banned items.

Sonia B. of Horizon has given up. ” This is just ridiculous. The violations are so widespread they could give tickets and make arrests all day every day. I see how it is difficult to patrol and enforce, but is that really a reason for LAPD to have no plan, no consistency and seemingly do nothing. Some officers seem to care and try, and others have actually said their lack of clarity on procedure results in them taking no action, rather than an action that won’t make it to court.”

As Spring breakers fill the boardwalk, even members and regular attendees of the Boardwalk committees recognize that there is no seeming leadership or plan on this long-standing issue. After three years of paying extremely close attention to this, I realize that officers have decisions to weigh when working the boardwalk. It is busy. There are violations from smoking in the park, to open container abuse, to vending violations, to theft, robbery and assaults in volume on any given day… and the heat and the Summer season ratchet all of those numbers higher.

So, here we are again. What is the major problem? Clearly, it is the hole in the vending ordinance allowing people to “display” items but not sell them, which we all know vendors sell out of eye and earshot of LAPD. Nobody is there to “display”… and being honest the boardwalk vendors are skilled at skirting the system. So are there plans to change the ordinance? Fix the hole? Address the issue with some kind of plan so the underhanded chaos that is vending on the Venice Beach boardwalk is managed in a way that isn’t like Chinese water torture for the residents? At this moment, the momentum for that change as always must be driven by and incorporate LAPD, and nobody involved in the boardwalk issues that I have spoken with is aware of any plan.

After a discussion yesterday with six residents whom I would classify as “extremely involved” in Boardwalk issues, aside from a handful of reliable officers that really care and attempt to address the chaos, their numbers don’t make a dent when it comes to the larger looming issue of their being any material plan to manage the runaway train. The residents and business owners try, but without LAPD to manage the situation… or Rec and Parks stepping in to assist… we are once again left holding the bag. Ronnie, a boardwalk shop owner commented,

“The leadership is gone. Everyone is just kicking the can down the road to nowhere at this point. The days when there was a spirit of wanting to make this area great with vending as a place for artists and free speech, as it was intended have been abandoned…and here we are.”

It’s going to be another great Summer. I’ll signal the “All Clear” in October when residents have a shot at enjoying the boardwalk again without needing blood pressure medication.

In the meantime… here’s an example of a typical day on of inquiries that lead to emails and phone calls at Venice311… enjoy:

If you take a stroll down the boardwalk and are overwhelmed with disappointment at the oft perpetual state of squalor… just meander out to the sea…or bookmark Osher Günsberg’s tumbler page for an eyeful of serenity and surf that is just a few steps west… usually wondrous photos of surfers and surf… the images never disappoint. His twitter account ain’t half bad either.

Searching for a missing teen yielded some interesting information about the property at 811/815 Ocean Front Walk known as the old “Billy’s Apartments”. Bear Trap Entertainment has been operating out of the facility has reportedly just purchased a building at 72 Windward, are relocating their studio and supposedly have an MTV reality show brewing about them. Let’s hope that also signals long awaited renovations to the property on Ocean Front Walk.

New solar light poles are up and installation is being finished. Should be on in the next week