A sewage spill has forced officials to close down a one-mile stretch of beach near Ballona Creek today, and the beach will remain off-limits to surfers and swimmers until at least late Thursday afternoon. more ›

A planned nature walking trail in the Ballona Wetlands that is halfway completed may be stopped due to the discovery of a nearly extinct wildflower. Rains have brought out a patch, possibly the largest population in existence, of bright yellow Orcutt's yellow pincushions in the middle of the four-acre project a few miles north of LAX. Now two environment groups want the L.A. Department of Public Works to stop the project so state wildlife authorities can examine the site and project. Nature-lovers are "killing nature with a wildlife-enhancement project," said Ballona Institute director Robert Jan van de Hoek. The Center for Biological Diversity is also siding with Hoek. more ›

It's happened and happened and now happened again: "I was doing my normal bike ride on Ballona Creek bike path I had just gone 23 miles out of 26 and was going about a speed of 19 and 4 hispanic guys about 15 -18 years of age(they had on jeans and t-shirts some with black T's and they ambushed me into the rail and I flew over the rail on the crew side. they started beating me up and wanted everything I had." more ›

The City Council has been looking at closing an access gate on the Ballona Creek Bike Path because in the vicinity of the 405 Freeway of crime. One such incident just happened. Via an e-mail sent to Streetsblog LA, here are some highlights: more ›

Remember when you moved to LA just south of Downtown, and you thought all those people who got to live in Santa Monica and Venice and Manhattan Beach were so lucky? Or maybe that was me. Either way, you were (I was) overlooking one of the major advantages of living so far from the beach -- you can bike there and get a great workout! more ›

The folks at Farmlab are hosting another free Friday-at-noon event. Representatives of the Surfrider Foundation and the Ballona Network will present their progress on developing a plan for cleaning-up and restoring the habitat in Ballona Creek. more ›

When it rained this weekend 150 tons of trash from LA's sewers flushed beneath us and ended up in the ocean. This is why we can't have nice things. "The volume of trash collected at the L.A. River boom is a powerful reminder that everything in the street - trash, cigarette butts, pet waste, even oil that leaks from cars - washes into the ocean after each heavy rainfall," said Emma Ayala, Head, Public... more ›

Attention all surfers, beach combers, visiting tourists, etc. The beaches of the South Bay, specifically from Ballona Creek to the Manhattan Pier, will be CLOSED from Tuesday through Thursday this week. You might think it's because of the rain, god know that's usually reason enough to stay out of the water for fear of skin and sinus infections, but this time it's due to "periodic" maintenance from the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant: more ›