Palms Park, nestled between the Palms Rec Center and Library on Overland and the under-construction tracks of the Expo Line, has been closed for months and months and months, walled off behind forbidding fences. Last week, it opened again in a discreet…

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This Memorial Day weekend, local Rancho Park brownie troops joined with other area Girl and Boy Scouts to honor those who served our country by participating  in a flag planting ceremony at the Los Angeles National Cemetary in Westwood.…

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Tomorrow's election day. We've been bombarded with mail and tv, millions of dollars worth, and it still seems to me (and I usually try to follow these things) about very few tangible effects for the neighborhoods.(Interestingly, almost all the millions on the mayoral campaign have come from our neighbors on the westside.) The differences between the mayoral candidates are…

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It's located in Santa Monica but it's a big hospital Rancho Park adjacent, and it's just undergone a total architectural overhaul largely funded by Patrick Soon Shiong, an LA billionaire with an amazing background. (Briefly: Chinese parents, born in South Africa, educated in Canada, became a surgeon in LA, got UCLA professorship, resigned UCLA professorship to found startup which exploded, now may be richest man in town, …

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Westwood Blvd has been designated a backbone of the LA 2010 Bike Plan Network and targeted for the extension of now fragmentary bike lanes.

The many cyclists who ride this corridor everyday, along with those would-be cyclists who have been afraid to get out there under current conditions, have welcomed this news.  The stretch between Santa Monica and Pico presents particularly dangerous conditions for cyclists as now configured.  This…

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I do not understand why there are so many homeless people in our neighborhood. I know most of them have been here for years and have no where else to go, but why do they come specifically to Rancho Park?

The utilities in the Cheviot / Rancho area are old and outdated resulting in outages like we had earlier this week.  A whole house serge protector provided by DWP will prevent electrical panel burn outs caused during incidents like the one this week.  DWP will install a protector when the power enters your home.   The added charge is around $3.99 a month extra.  Our oven panel burned out several times and the appliance repair company recommended a house surge protector. .  We haven't had…

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Following the very exciting 4:30am power surge(s) yesterday, some folks in our neighborhood are still without power. DWP trucks were parked along Veteran at Brookhaven this morning, presumably working on the problem.  Neighbors report varying degrees of damage ranging from fried tankless water heaters and microwaves, to non-functioning outlets and fritzed-out X-boxes.  In our house a number of bulbs blew out, outlets fried, and appliances are malfunctioning (including our bedroom ceiling fan…

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Updating my earlier post to note that over 3500 customers in the Rancho Park, Cheviot Hills and Palms area are affected. Are you one of them?

The DWP is estimating power will be restored by 3:00 pm for the more than 1000 Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills customers without power this am. Some residents described hearing a loud pop at 4:30 am followed by their power returning briefly before going out again. Does your home have power? Homes west of Westwood and south of Exposition are out.





Here is a link with more information from DWP.…

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