Jun 23, 2026

Heat Advisory in Effect Through Thursday — Wednesday Is the One to Watch

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for LA County running through 9 p.m. Thursday, with Wednesday forecast as the hottest day and higher humidity compounding the heat-illness risk.

Why it matters: The advisory covers inland coastal areas and the valleys — Mar Vista's coastal position keeps daytime temps in the upper 70s–80s, but the elevated humidity is the variable that makes even that feel rough, especially for older residents and anyone without AC.

Westside Current, Jun 23 · Forward

Jun 23, 2026

The Marina WaterBus Is Back — $1, All Summer Long

Marina del Rey's WaterBus shuttle has returned for summer weekend service through Labor Day, September 7, with a $1 cash-only fare per ride and a full loop of the harbor — stopping at Fisherman's Village and Burton Chace Park — taking about 45 minutes.

Jun 23, 2026

Oakwood Wants to Map Its Own History Before Someone Else Does

On Friday, June 27, the Oakwood Cultural Mapping Workshop convenes at the Oakwood Recreation Center in Venice — organized by the Getty Conservation Institute, the City of LA Office of Historic Resources, and community partners — to document the sites, stories, and landmarks that define one of the Westside's oldest African American communities.

Zoom in: The event features community storytelling sessions and an interactive mapping exercise — essentially neighbors drawing their own authoritative record of Oakwood's Black heritage before gentrification pressure and fire rebuilds rewrite the landscape.

Yo! Venice, Jun 23 · Forward

Jun 23, 2026

Palisades Fire Arson Trial: Closing Arguments Are Underway

What's next: Rinderknecht faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted — and for displaced CD11 residents still in temporary housing months later, a verdict would be a significant moment either way.

Westside Current, Jun 22 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

City Hall Moves to Carve Up Measure ULA — and November's Ballot Could Finish the Job

The LA City Council voted 9–5 on June 17 to begin drafting a ballot measure that would exempt newly built apartment and mixed-use residential buildings from Measure ULA — the 4%–5.5% transfer tax on property sales above $5M — for their first ten years.

The wrinkle: Separately, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association's Local Taxpayer Protection Act — certified for the November 2026 statewide ballot on May 3 — could replace ULA's surcharge with a 0.05% statewide cap entirely, and the council also advanced a Pacific Palisades exemption for fire-damaged properties on the same day.

Mar Vista Voice, Jun 19 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

County Warns Parents to Stop Using Recalled Infant Formula in Botulism Probe

LA County health officials are urging parents and caregivers to immediately stop using Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Powdered Infant Formula after investigators identified the product as a common exposure among three suspected or confirmed infant botulism cases across California, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

What changed: Nara Organics voluntarily recalled all lots of the formula on June 13; the product was sold nationally through Target and Nara.com from July 2025 through this month — discard any on hand and do not return it to stores.

Yo! Venice, Jun 19 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

A Year After Federal Raids Began, Westside Street Vendors Are Still Reeling

A year after federal immigration agents began pulling vendors from their carts across the Westside, street vendors in the Venice–Mar Vista corridor report that sales have not recovered, with some seeing revenue cut by more than half and others by as much as three-quarters, according to Mar Vista Voice reporting published today.

The hook: The Westside Vendor Buyout program has worked with over 50 vendors and placed 83 in catering jobs — but persistent fear of enforcement means foot traffic has not rebounded even as the city separately settled a lawsuit requiring it to lift vending restrictions and cancel citations issued in no-vending zones.

Mar Vista Voice, Jun 19 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

LA Pumps the Brakes on SB 79 — the State Housing Law That Would Have Changed What Mar Vista Looks Like

The LA City Council voted on June 3 to adopt two ordinances — a Phased Implementation Ordinance and a Low-Rise Ordinance — that push SB 79, California's transit-oriented housing law, past its July 1, 2026 effective date and potentially into 2030.

Why it matters: SB 79 would have allowed up to 160 units per acre and building heights up to 95 feet within a half-mile of qualifying transit stops — and Mar Vista sits near Expo Line and bus rapid transit corridors on the state's eligibility map — meaning the delay preserves the neighborhood's current zoning envelope for now, while the state and city head toward a legal collision.

Mar Vista Voice, Jun 19 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

LAPD Running DUI Checkpoint at Venice & Culver Tonight

LAPD is operating a DUI checkpoint tonight, Friday June 19, at the intersection of Venice Boulevard and Culver Boulevard from 6 PM to 11 PM — timed to one of the busiest nights of the World Cup calendar.

Worth knowing: LAPD says it selected the location based on statistical data showing high rates of impaired driving arrests and alcohol-related collisions in the area — plan alternate routes if you're heading to or from Venice Fest events tonight.

Westside Today, Jun 19 · Forward

Jun 19, 2026

Venice Fest Returns to Venice Blvd Tomorrow — World Cup Edition

Why it matters: Organizers expect 20,000+ attendees, and local venues — Taverna at the Mar Vista, Fatty Mart, The Field Bar & Grill, Rasselbock, Lucky Strike, and Quiadaiyn — are running Goals & Grooves World Cup viewing through June 21.

Westside Current, Jun 20 · Forward

Jun 16, 2026

A Mar Vista Apartment Building Just Hit the Market at $8.2 Million

The Caswell, an 11-unit multifamily building at 12770 Caswell Ave., has been listed for $8.2 million — roughly $745,000 per unit for a 2017-vintage property sitting outside LA's rent stabilization ordinance.

Why it matters: The four-story building — with four one-bedrooms, six two-bedrooms, and one affordable unit — is exempt from RSO, meaning a buyer inherits significant rent-setting flexibility in a neighborhood where multifamily inventory rarely changes hands at this scale.

Yo! Venice, Jun 15 · Forward

Jun 16, 2026

County Supervisors Consider a New Homelessness Prevention System — Today

The LA County Board of Supervisors is expected today to consider a motion by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath to create a public homelessness prevention resource page and coordinated referral system to connect residents with housing assistance before they lose their homes — including fire survivors still displaced from the Eaton and Palisades fires.

The wrinkle: City-funded shelters on the Westside have increasingly become overflow for county mental-health referrals — a strain that city officials have flagged publicly — meaning a streamlined county prevention system could reduce pressure on the very shelters Mar Vista and adjacent neighborhoods rely on.

Westside Current, Jun 17 · Forward

Jun 16, 2026

City Council Votes Tomorrow on the Biggest Charter Overhaul in Years — Including LAPD Oversight

The LA City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday, June 17 on a sweeping charter reform package that would shift oversight of the LAPD away from the mayor's office and give the council direct authority over police policy and officer discipline.

Why it matters: The reform would move LAPD oversight from the mayor-appointed Board of Police Commissioners to elected city councilmembers — a structural shift not seen since the current city charter took effect in 2000. A key committee amendment (CRC 54) passed 3–2 on June 12, suggesting a close full-council vote is possible.

Westside Today, Jun 17 · Forward

Jun 16, 2026

After Years of Legal Battles, the Venice Dell Affordable Housing Project Gets a Court Win

A court has overturned the Board of Transportation Commissioners' denial of city-owned parking lot access for the Venice Dell affordable housing project at 200 N. Venice Blvd. — clearing what co-developers Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing called the latest barrier to construction of a 120-unit building for low-income and formerly homeless residents.

The hook: The project has already secured $42.5 million in state funding and $3 million in county funding — money that has been waiting while opponents cycled through the courts on a 2.7-acre site near Venice Beach that could become the Westside's largest new affordable housing development in years.

Yo! Venice, Jun 16 · Forward

Jun 16, 2026

VA Scales Back to 220 Units — but Upgrades What It's Building

Westside Today, Jun 15 · Forward

Jun 14, 2026

Venice Arts Connects Local Students With Creative Industry Pros at Annual Career Day

Venice Arts held its annual Career Day on May 30, bringing together students, alumni, and professionals from film, media, and community-focused creative fields — a direct pipeline for students across the Venice–Mar Vista corridor.

Zoom in: Venice Arts alumna Mia Rodriguez — now a production coordinator for PBS SoCal's Fine Cut Film Festival — spoke about her career path, alongside alumnus Grayson Alamango Shapiro, who served as first assistant director on the feature film Obsession.

Why it matters: Venice Arts is a nonprofit that specifically serves students from the Venice and Mar Vista area, and events like this one build real professional connections for young creatives who otherwise have limited access to industry networks.

Yo! Venice, Jun 13 · Forward