Results tagged “venturablvd”

       

The new Studio Oaks Park, officially a wide median along Ventura Boulevard with a walking path that straddles the border of Sherman Oaks and Studio City, is practically finished. The meandering walking path is open to the public, except for one block that was flooded out by a trunkline break on Coldwater Canyon, and all that needs to be done to complete the project is some landscaping, which has become an issue between neighbors.

Despite progress on a broken water main that flooded a part of Studio City, officials do not know when the busy canyon route will re-open. "At this time, it is not possible to estimate when street repair work will be complete and Coldwater Canyon Avenue will be reopened," a statement read from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

After opening a second location in Hollywood last year, Loteria Grill is readying a new one in Studio City, according to a land use committee agenda (.pdf) with the Studio City Neighborhood Council. This Wednesday, the group will discuss and possibly make a motion in regards to the restaurant's application for a full line alcoholic beverage license. Loteria, which has a space on the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd., is also planning to obtain a permit to allow for live entertainment between 11 a.m. and 2 a.m.

    

Late last night a 64-inch water main burst in Studio City at Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon, according to the LA Times. The water flooded into area businesses and homes, and was 3-4' high in places, according to an LAFD email alert.

Despite an abundance of precaution over a possible bank break-in, police officials have called a code 4--everything back to normal, no issues--at a Bank of America branch in Sherman Oaks. Around 8 a.m. when the bank manager arrived, things seemed out of place and suspicious noises were heard coming from the vault area. Police were alerted who in turn shut down Ventura Blvd. between Cedros and Willis for 3 and a half hours. Search teams found no one or any evidence of of a robbery or person. A transient with a black duffle bag--wrong place, wrong time, wrong bag--was temporarily detained and eventually let go. In the photo to the right, captured by an LAist reader in an office building across the street, police are seen on the roof of the bank building.

Police have shut down Ventura Boulevard between Cedros and Willis in Sherman Oaks after bank employees suspected a possible break-in in progress this morning. Upon arriving around 8 a.m., bank workers heard suspicious noises coming from the vault area. They alerted police who in turn precautiously shut down the busy artery during rush hour as they prepared to enter the building. As of 9:40 a.m., police were preparing to enter the building, according to Officer Bruce Borihanh at Media Relations. UPDATE: A police search party exited the building empty handed, but noticed a man carrying a black duffel bag. He has been detained in handcuffs and is being questioned, according to KNX1070. UPDATE 2: The man was determined to be a homeless person not related to the incident. UPDATE 3: Ventura Blvd. has reopened, but police continue to search for a possible suspect.

Although the big event has come and gone, the Encino Neighborhood Council is meeting tonight to discuss with city officials about crowds and media that are expected to still visit the Jackson Family compound on Hayvenhurst Avenue, just south of Ventura Boulevard. "As a result of the tragic death of Michael Jackson, the LAPD has exercised considerable restraint in accommodating worldwide media and mourners with access to the Jackson family residence on Hayvenhurst Avenue," according to a statement from the council that the Daily News printed. "At the same time, Hayvenhurst is a vital community access roadway, especially for evacuation and emergency response." The police said strict enforcement would begin last week. The meeting, open to all to attend, will be held at the Encino Women's Club, 4924 Paso Robles Ave.

One of the most consistent tips police give retail business owners along Ventura Blvd. is to leave cash registers empty and open over night to show potential burglars there's nothing to steal. However, that doesn't mean they'll try anyway.

Since last week's death of Michael Jackson, crowds and media have flocked to various locations related to the superstar. In Hollywood, it was his Walk of Fame star; on the Westside, his Holmby Hills rental mansion; and in the Valley, his family home on Hayvenhurst Ave., just off Ventura Blvd.

              

Although her weight gain and amazing loss has been grabbing tabloid headlines as of late, the real news about Melissa Joan Hart is her new sweets shop that just celebrated its grand opening on Saturday in Sherman Oaks. Meet Sweetharts, a whimsically decorated frozen yogurt, gelato, cake, cupcake, hard and soft candy store.

They may be only a fourth mile apart, but both family friendly yogurt chain Menchies and newcomer Sweet Rarts just recently opened in Sherman Oaks' restaurant row. First came the addicting and popular Menchies of Valley Village fame, which opened at Ventura and Dixie Canyon, most appropriately next to an elementary school.

       

When it comes to police surveillance cameras, Los Angeles is still way behind New York City, who feeds thousands of live images to their centralized Real Time Crime Center. Here in LA, MacArthur Park and the Hollywood Entertainment District have had cameras for a few years and now the Valley can claim home to them too.

As Los Angeles began to reach out in all directions from its tenuous core in the early part of the 20th Century, the city became a place for families and for visitors, and finding ways to make money off keeping them entertained was a frequent pursuit of many visionaries and entrepreneurs. Although a massive theme park like Disneyland didn't come on the scene until the 1950s, in the 1940s animals were the stars at many local attractions.

Map of New Pizza & Italian Places in Sherman Oaks | View Larger Map

      

Oh, you've got to love rumors, especially those that both anger and please people, depending on who you're speaking with. This rumor comes via a report during the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council* meeting last Monday night. During a Land Use Committee report, someone asked what the status was on the old Ventura Club building at Colbath and Ventura (just East of Hazeltine). Originally it was slated as a Walgreens, but after that got scrapped, the building sat abandoned. But now there a lot of construction going on inside as well as substantial parking lot additions. One member said he heard it was supposed to be "that English grocery store chain." Right then, the room was abuzz with "Tesco" and "Fresh & Easy," and how the Van Nuys location is not working out. No one could confirm any of this and calls to corporate late yesterday afternoon were not immediately returned, but upon a site visit, whatever's being built at the location is looking to be rather large in size (photos below)

Looks like some folks in the San Fernando Valley didn't get the memo about the city's 40 hour moratorium on violence.

      

Meet the future location of Studio Oaks Park where a grassroots effort is the only way this strip of unusable, rat-infested land will become a park. In Los Angeles, if you really want to get something done, you've got to take it upon yourself. In the southeast Valley, residents are doing just that.

*Update, 6:42 p.m.: A maintenance man familiar with the building has said they found an apparent suicide note.

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A beige Lexus SUV attempting to enter into the neighboring commercial building couldn't complete the turn, and mistakenly hit the accelerator rather than the brake. The motion sent the driver on a diagonal path through the awning of Barry's Tickets, then through the patio and front of Tokyo Ice, a sushi restaurant at 16161 Ventura Blvd. The business was preparing for its 5 o'clock opening and was therefore empty, save for the owner, who was hurt and transferred to the hospital, which is conveniently located in the same block as the accident. The driver appears to be unhurt, but major damage was done to the restaurant and another nearby vehicle was hit.

So I'm a fairly new resident of Studio City, and am still discovering little surprises on this side of town. Driving down Ventura, I have twice noticed a small, nondescript building bearing a sign with the letters ICA at Colfax Ave., which, upon closer examination while sitting at a red light, rest above the casually printed name "Intercontinental Absurdities." Clearly, this was something that called for investigation. It sounded a bit like something out of The Crying of Lot 49. So after forgetting about it twice, which is typical, I finally googled the name and came up with what you Zappa fans surely already know:

Until 8 pm Tuesday // Barney’s Beanery // 3rd Street Prominade, Santa Monica // price varies.

Author and USC professor Gina Nahai and actress Bahar Soomekh (Crash) read from Nahai’s latest book Caspian Rain – about a family falling apart just before the Islamic revolution in Iran. Immediately following, there’s a discussion of the changing lives of women of the Middle East, and relationships between Iran’s Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as how these communities interact in Los Angeles, “home to the largest population of Iranians outside Tehran.”

It’s kinda quiet on the event front, a perfect day to reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy. But if you're into going out tonight:

We've already told you where the Patriots and Chargers fans will be taking in tomorrow's conference championship games, now we'll let you know where the Cheeseheads and Big Blue will gather to watch their teams fight for a trip to Super Bowl XLII.

I wasn’t much of a Tom Petty fan in my pre-L.A. years, but like most people, I knew him from the basics…I had caterwauled the lyrics to "Free Fallin’" alongside other angsty Massachusetts teens at a dance or two, and I had been baffled by, but pretended I knew what the hell was going on in, the "Mary Jane's Last Dance" video.

• Update on why Ventura Blvd. in Studio City was shut down this afternoon by the LAPD: according to the North Hollywood Police Division, the shooting took place at De Soto Ave and Gresham St. in Chatsworth. Later, the suspect's car was found at the Studio City 7-11, prompting the LAPD shut down the area to search (hence all the helicopters). The suspect was later found in the city of Fontana and was arrested without incident. That is what we call a BUSY DAY.
• And this is what happens when you build a bunch of new condos and raise all the rents: North Hollywood is making an effort to preserve its Arts District by making sure all the artists don't move out.
• Man, Dov Charney's all up in my ass crack! Er, I should say, these American Apparel brand thong underpants are really giving me a wedgie-ache -- maybe Charney should put his ass-cheeks in another man's underpants before he gets his skinny butt sued from here to Downtown.
• Speaking of underpants, there's a Panty Thief on the loose in Palm Springs!! "'He cleaned me out of my Hustler line, all my crotchless panties, g-strings, corsets and bustiers and costumes,' said Bonnie Reiss, owner of Sensuality, A Store for Her."
• What issues are important to the African-American LGBT community this election season? NPR goes to Los Angeles to talk with local bloggers and find out.
• John Edwards hit up Los Angeles today on his campaign tour, where he spoke to a local union, while Hillary Clinton went to church in Compton.
• Apple users are full of themselves: file this in Tell Me Something I Don't Know. They also tend to throw around words like "intuitive" and "aesthetics" when referring to their computers; I throw around words like "douchebag" and "I hate you, you stupid elitist posers!"*
• The AP has written Britney's obituary already.
• Spiderman and Mary Jane broke up! Is Wonder Woman single?