A new ordinance favored by L.A. City Council on Tuesday may force many Venice Beach boardwalk vendors to move their goods elsewhere. Council unanimously approved a measure prohibiting commercial vending along the west side of Ocean Front Walk in a 12-0 vote. more ›

Occupy LA protesters craving the salty sea air and bohemian spirit may be headed west to Venice Beach. A handwritten flyer taped over the prominent "Federal Reserve Bank" mural at Occupy LA reads, "PLAN B: Occupy Venice Beach!" more ›

How did two bodies end up in the waters off SoCal's coast within a 24-hour-period? Two separate cases are under investigation in two counties.The first incident involves the body of 32-year-old Sarah Overholser of Oxnard, whose body was removed from the waters at Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County. more ›

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, along with three generations of skateboard pros and regular skaters, graced Venice Beach on Saturday, October 22, to show SoCal how it's done in Sonic Generations of Skate. more ›

They're cute, and they seem almost downright cuddly, but sea lions can be vicious. An elderly couple out for a swim off Venice Beach Thursday evening found themselves the victims of an attack by a sea lion, reports KTLA. more ›

"Boobies are for babies!" cries out a bare bellied, and bare chested, expectant mother amid a small crowd of her topless sisters. It is Venice Beach, on a sunny Sunday, and the cause is laid out for all to see: Women should be allowed to go topless, just like men. This is the annual Go Topless Day protest, march, and gathering. more ›

As if Topless Day isn't enough for Venice Beach this Sunday, the bohemian shoreline will host the fifth annual Supergirl Jam. Two female-centric events, both boasting the spirit of feminism and girl power, will take over the land. However, only one group will bare all. We're fairly certain the athletes will remain fully clothed. more ›

August 3 marked a sad day for sea lions and animal rights groups. An injured adult female sea lion - shot three times - washed up on the Venice Beach shore, bleeding profusely and dead. more ›

Going out in Venice tonight, ladies? Guard your drinks. Over the last month, two separate incidents have been reported by three different women involve being "roofied" at local Venice bars, as reported by Yo! Venice. more ›

Jim Morrison, the leather-pantsed lizard king of Venice Beach and lead singer of The Doors died this day in 1971 in Paris, France. The Doors, though perfectly audible and resonant the world over, sound just a little clearer when played within limits of Los Angeles. more ›

As skateboarders turned out in droves for "Wild in the Streets," an event put on by clothing and shoe company Emerica, cops were at the ready to ticket mischievous skaters, should there be any. And indeed, there were. KABC reports that, "Skateboarders blocked streets, congested traffic and hung onto cars...Dozens of citations were issued. Some of the skaters were handcuffed, but there were no arrests made and no vandalism was reported." more ›

SoCal officers are are cracking down on Venice Beach in an effort to set a tone of "public order" following a recent series of violent incidents including a boardwalk shooting during a flash mob and a stabbing at a drum circle, reports the Associated Press. more ›

As gas prices keep rising and pollution levels are at their worst (congrats again to greater Los Angeles for having the lousiest air quality in the U.S. according to the American Lung Association) it’s time to get out of your car and get back on a bike. What better way to spend a Saturday then by the beach and on a cruiser in the name of something good--beer and bikes good. more ›

A body was discovered floating in the main Venice canal this morning, reports KTLA. According to LA Now, firefighters, police and lifeguards are working to recover a corpse of male in his 20s or 30s found near at the 2300 block of Grand Canal Court. LAPD homicide detectives are investigating on the scene. more ›

A sand replenishment project has been approved for Venice Beach, which means the eroded landscape will soon get a $1.6 million boost in the form of 30,000 cubic yards of sand, according to CBS. more ›

The Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon is tomorrow, which means that once participants get out of the water at Venice Beach, they'll be hitting the streets on bike and foot to complete the race that will take them from the West side to Downtown's L.A. Live. more ›

Venice is an internationally known Los Angeles neighborhood and it's in part thanks to artists who helped make the area so eclectic. But hit Ocean Front Walk today and you won't see too much art, it's more of atmosphere made up of muscles and freaks and everything between. more ›

Before Venice Beach became the tourist hot spot it's known as today, it was one of L.A.'s secrets. Actually, it was a topless secret. Before 1974, Venice Beach was a nude mecca and apparently pretty private. But thanks to some media attention, a gubernatorial candidate campaigning in the nude and word spreading throughout town, people started to come and check out the spectacle. Controversy, of course, came to a head and the city banned nudity. But that didn't stop people from coming to Venice. "... it was too late to turn back the clock," wrote historian Jeffrey Stanton wrote in Venice California: Coney Island of the Pacific. "For people had discovered that Venice still existed and was actually a relatively safe place to visit during the day." more ›

It's all in the name of equal rights. Why should it be okay (legally) for men to walk in public shirtless while it's not for women? Here in Los Angeles it's illegal. "There could be some consequence for that," an LAPD spokesperson, calling it indecent exposure, told LAist. more ›

This Thursday night the Venice Art Crawl will have its inaugural tread through the community, showcasing the area's renowned artist community and spirit. more ›

A middle-aged man drowned last night while taking a swim off the shore of Venice Beach, according to cbs2. The victim, whose identity has not been released, was reportedly fishing near the breakwater late last night when he opted to cool off with a dip in the ocean. "The man got caught up in the swift currents and immediately yelled for help, but witnesses say they couldn't see him in the dark." Lifeguards located the man about 30 minutes later, floating near some rocks; he was pronounced dead after transport to the hospital. This is the second recent drowning at Venice; 31-year-old Brian Patrick Dunn of West Hollywood jumped off the Pier on July 4th, and his body was recovered last week in Santa Monica. more ›

For its sixth season, The Next Food Network Star was shot in Los Angeles, and among the 12 finalists vying for their very own Food Network show are 3 locals, including food blogger and LAist alum Aarti Sequeira. Each week, Aarti will give us her take on the episode, from her unique insider's perspective. Will she be named The Next Food Network Star? We won't know until the finale. Last week the contestants cooked for L.A. chefs Susan Feniger and Eric Greenspan; here's how Episode 5 looked from inside the kitchen... more ›

Yo, Venice! A fight that involved some 70 people on Venice's boardwalk last night has prompted the LAPD to kick up their presence today, according to the LA Times. Around 8 p.m. a fight erupted on the boardwalk near 17th and Windward Avenue... more ›

Venice's iconic boardwalk is no longer just a place to kick back and enjoy a stress-free afternoon stroll, thanks to the weekly lotteries that are taking place to award vendors coveted spots, according to the Daily Breeze. more ›

We're no snowy Chicago or any other place with a traditional winter. But that doesn't mean we can't have our polar bear swims on New Year's Day! Here's what's happening: more ›

"To this area of Los Angeles, as to similar areas of other large cities, have come the rebellious, the nonconformist, the bohemian, the deviant among the youth," wrote Lawrence Lipton of Venice, the "Slum by the Sea," in 1959. more ›

Leave it to a Venice Beach resident to combine Cirque du Soleil with the sunshine. That's what Atlaz Branthoover does for exercise. In this Rue Cyr video he finds a use for Santa Monica's oversized chess board that would surely bestow motion sickness onto this writer. more ›

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email. more ›