Halloween is Monday but here in Rancho Park and the surrounding West LA area (including Westwood and Cheviot Hills), things are already getting spooky. Here is a listing for a few of upcoming community events that will get you in the Halloween spirit.

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The foodie folks over at Grub Street are enthusiastically reporting that Hokkaido Seafood Buffet will be opening in a matter of days. They say that crews are hard at work to begin serving up all-you-can-eat Japanese and Chinese fare in late October or early November. The Rancho Park location is the third location for the…

Occupy LA is planning a field trip Friday morning to Fox Studios which involves a possible Pico Blvd. "sit in" near the intersection of Pico Blvd. and Motor Ave.

The LAPD is expecting over 400 people to be arriving in stages between 9 and noon, with a possible civil unrest at 11:30.

In an email to neighborhood groups, Captain Evangelyn Nathan, area commanding…

All three of my kids went through Karen Dudley's parent and me classes at Palms Park and as I have posted here before, they are fantastic. Now Karen is offering fall parenting workshops and support groups. Read on for info more info on this great Rancho Park resource for families.…

Get Shaking Rancho Park and Westwood!

The Westside Neighborhood Council, along with several city departments, is sponsoring an Emergency Prepareness Expo today at the Westwood Public Library. No need to put off getting prepared. There will be reps from DWP, the Fire Department and…

As kids all over Rancho Park are posing for school and soccer photos, I thought it would be a nice time to host our own Picture Day here at Rancho Park Online.

Actually it is more like Picture Week. Upload your photo - either a shot of yourself for your profile, an image in a post, or a picture for the main page gallery - and you just might win a pair…

Homes in Rancho Park don't just have curb appeal, they have star power. That is the word from Stevie Nelson, a location scout for the show House, who showed up on my doorstep recently looking for an "East Coast" style home in the area to use for a scene for the hit Fox show. Talk about opportunity knocking! Alas, the show's producers eventually decided to use a soundstage instead. But as Nelson clicked photos of my home to show to the prodcution team she explained that Rancho Park and…

The end of the line will mark a symbolic new beginning for the Expo Line project when the official groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2 takes place this morning at 9:30 a.m. in Santa Monica, at Colorado Blvd. and 4th Street.

Recent stories in the Los Angeles Times and on CurbedLA indicate that leaders,…

Anyone in Rancho Park, Westwood or even greater Los Angeles has always known that the Bigg Chill frozen yogurt shop is a special treat. But now it is national news.

This weekend the New York Times ran a story on the enduring and endearing corner store that always seems to have lines of…

If you've been thinking about planting a tree in front of your house, now is the time. Rancho Park area streets have been identified as potential sites for planting free street trees under a new grant-funded program to mitigate the impacts of pollution from cars.

The trees will be supplied and planted by the city of Los Angeles. Residents  provide the water and care needed for the tree to become established, which the city estimates is five years.

Anyone…

Get delicous fresh produce delivered to Rancho Park every week and strengthen ties to your community and local farms in the process.

That's is the idea behind Temple…

As reported here on Rancho Park Online in an earlier post, the post office in the Westside Pavillion is among those being studied for possible closure by the U.S. Postal Service.

Now a Facebook group has formed to try and save Rancho Park's mall post office…

It is not every day you get a letter from your mailman, but that is exactly what arrived in many Rancho Park residents' mailboxes last week from Bob, our local mail carrier who for practically the last quarter century has dilengently delivered mail to the Rancho Park area south of Pico and west of Westwood Blvds.

"After 24 years of serving you, I will greatly miss you all," writes Bob. "It has been an honor and a pleasure to be your friend and…

The Pico Playhouse is currently staging the Mechanicals Theatre Group's latest production, Out of My Head, a new musical about breakdowns and breakthroughs by Ryan Scott Oliver. The show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:00 pm through August 21. You can purchase tickets through the Mechanicals'…

Hey Rancho Park foodies, I hope you have room in your inboxes and your stomachs because there is a new discount website in town. This one, Munch On Me, features deals on individual menu items at West LA area restaurants.

"West L.A. is dense, and the food is really good, and our users have been asking for us to add West LA for a while now," company founder Jason Wang told the…

Yesterday we bought ice cream from Will, our friendly ice cream man who has been driving up and down the streets of Rancho Park and the Westside for the past nine years. He's always got a smile for the kids and his ice cream truck music takes me back to my childhood every time I hear it. Thanks Will, for the memories and the treats!

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With tons of kid's clothing and toy stores, gym and music classes, and those great family bathrooms, the Westwide Pavillion here in Rancho Park is one kid-friendly mall.

They host some fun kid's entertainment on the first Wednesday of each month in the food court. This coming Wednesday, July 6 features a ventriliquist. Hope to see you there.

Last year, our local Palms Park Recreation Center hosted some great outdoor movie nights. Sadly, this year they tell me they likely cannot hold the events due to budget cuts.

CBS Los Angeles put together this…

While many cities, parks and agencies will be putting on great fireworks displays for the Fourth of July, you won't find any notices (other than this one) for my familiy's very exclusive Rancho Park Independence Day tradition.

We head to Cheviot Park on Motor, bring a picnic, some sports equipment, blankets and chairs and get to watch the Hillcrest Country Club fireworks show from right across the street.

Great views, no crowds and fireworks right here in our…