Will Rogers State Beach Is Filthy!... #Plastic #Glass #Deadbird

Dateline: Saturday morning, March 25, 2017.  I started my audit of #beachtrash at Will Rogers Lifeguard Headquarters (WRHQ) and walked toward Santa Monica. It is perhaps a one mile stretch of beach and shoreline from WRHQ to the border with Santa Monica.  During my walk along the water's edge I came across glass bottles, plastic bottles, assorted trash and a great deal of storm debris, e.g., wood sticks, bamboo, logs, etc.  It is obvious that the L.A. County Dept. of Beaches and Harbors (LACoBH) has NOT bothered to have it's staff hand rake up this unsafe debris, esp. the bamboo shards and sticks that have many sharp edges.  I also came across a dead bird near the high tide line. This would be a simple task to remove IF LACoBH designed someone to walk near the water's edge and hand pick up the #beachtrash.

Here are the photos that I took along this short stretch of beach.  It is hoped that LACoBH will send out a crew to hand pick up this #beachtrash and debris instead of sending a tractor towing a rake which will just grind up this trash and debris into the sand as LACoBH has done near Lifeguard Tower #15 adjacent to WRHQ and which makes it very unpleasant to walk in and enjoy the beach in sand that is full of debris such as wood and bamboo, etc.

Below, it's a stunning stretch of beach nevertheless and it's too bad that cleaning up the #beachtrash near the water's edge is not a priority for LACoBH.  On a Saturday morning, there should not be this amount of #beachtrash and debris.

How difficult would it be for LACoBH to clean up this #beachtrash and debris?... Answer: not difficult at all.  And yet there it is!... uncollected and not disposed of as it ought to be.

You can stick a fork in it this beach is just filthy!...

And below, three angles on the dead bird adjacent to Lifeguard Tower #18 at Santa Monica Canyon.  This bird is right along the near the high tide line and right along where beach patrons walk along the shoreline.  This is what you get in return for those exorbitant beach parking rates, folks...

LACoBH can do better and usually does. Recently, however, I have observed that LACoBH is not daily or regularly cleaning up the #beachtrash and debris near the water's edge at Will Rogers State Beach. This is becoming an epidemic along the local coastline, unfortunately, in terms of #beachtrash and debris not being collected and disposed of by the government agencies charged with this responsibility.  Meanwhile, there is no let up in the collection of beach parking fees.  In other words, there is an ongoing failure of consideration. Beach parking fees and taxes are paid by beach patrons and citizens but this State Beach is not being cleaned daily or regularly near the water's edge.

It's time for LACoBH to do what it is supposed to do.

Respectfully submitted,

William Maguire,
Editor, "County Recurrent News" and
California resident and State Beach patron

(All photos by & Copyright William Maguire 2017.)

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SMN Drive By & SMHQ Strafing...

Dateline: Wednesday morning, March 22, 2017...  first, a no look and later edited shot of SMN #8 and the area vehicle on patrol... as I was driving toward SMHQ on PCH.....

SMN Tower #8 above and below...

SMHQ (aka, CSHQ), below...

OLS Greg Hall, below, living the dream with radio in hand.....

Above and below, OLS Jay Hopkins on his way to LR200 to follow up on a report of a beach whale along the Venice Peninsula...

... and OLS Greg Hall riding shotgun!...

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

(All photos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2017.)

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SMS PLUS A GNARLY FOG BANK!...

Dateline: Saturday, March 11, 2017... the morning began with blue skies and warm temps... and then by 11:20 a.m., approximately, it all went to heck..... when a major league Fog Bank rolled in and which stuck around until the evening.....

Here are the photos and videos to prove it...

And lo and behold, standing by a working a extra hour at SMS Tower #26 after finishing up his 24 hour shift at CSHQ is none other than Veteran LACoFD OLS, Jay Hopkins!...

And below, in the distance that sure looks like veteran LACoFD OL, Vic Navarro, who is also currently in the LACoFD Firefighter Academy and is set to graduate on March 24, 2017!... the academy started on Nov. 12, 2016.....

*** Video Alert ! ***

Firefighter Off Duty: The Video

     https://youtu.be/eisSTlde7D0

And then I headed down to SMS Tower #20... and just in time to see Veteran OL, Joe Decker, heading home and off duty!...  Hey Joe, where you goin' with that fun in your hand?...

At approx. 11:10 a.m., a fog bank started to roll in QUICKLY!... as seen below in a series of photos taken at Tower #20 at Bay St...

Below, Tower #24 no longer visible...

Below, the Santa Monica Pier is also no longer visible...

*** Video Alert ! ***

Fog Bank: The Video

     https://youtu.be/l38PZ5cRPMA


A short time later, below, a familiar face approaches Tower #20 with body board  and fins... Who could it be?!...

It's Santa Monica Local/Veteran Santa Monica City & LACo OL (Ret.), Kurt Ando!...

And then 5:30 pm rolled around and heading in to work Tower #20 for the last hour after closing up Tower #24 is none other than veteran LACo OL, Jack Baghakian...

Below, LR200 on a run to the Venice Breakwater for a sailboat too close to shore... only to have the call cancelled shortly thereafter.... just before 5:30 pm.....

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

(All photos and videos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2017.)

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SMN8 PLUS OLS TRAINING AT CSHQ...

Dateline: Tuesday morning just after 9 a.m. at Santa Monica North Tower #8 (aka, SMN8)... our mission began at SMN8 with our goal today to walk to the pier and back...

Enjoy!.....

And that is none other than OLS Ian Christensen at the wheel of this LACoFD Lifeguard vehicle above and below, as he patrols SMN until the area OLS for the day arrives for his shift...

And on our return to SMN8, the area OLS has arrived and it is Eric Liberty who is the lead OLS on SMN this year and works here 4 days a week.  Sidenote: I can remember visiting Eric's dad, Conrad, at SMN8 "back in the day", circa 1990's.

... and then I heard about some "OLS Training" at CSHQ so I headed off to check that out.....

Arrival at CSHQ and yes, all 13 OLS candidates in Band One were at CSHQ and had just gotten out of the ocean apparently where they participated in a shallow water body recovery dive operation simulation (there's probably a shorter way to say that...)  While I was there I saw the following OLS Candidates: Greg Crum, Jamie Jacobson (aka, Jake 2.0), Chris Barker, Dan Truax, Tucker Hopkins, and Jordan Stephens. 

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

(All photos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2017.)

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