BRENTWOOD
Supermodel and Brentwood resident Heidi Klum and singer Seal have been apart over a year now. Seal was seen having a day out with a nice looking young woman, who nobody seems to be able to identify. Klum has not been spotted recently on the arm of another suitor. Not so for Seal.
BEVERLY CREST
Actor Jason Bateman and his wife, actress Amanda Anka, have purchased a gated country English compound in Beverly Crest for $3 million. The 6,148 square-foot home sits on a half-acre knoll, and was formerly the home of Ernest Borgnine, the one-time star of TV show McHale’s Navy.
PACIFIC PALISADES
The Los Angeles Fire Department has issued a statement saying that a foul odor coming from the Santa Monica Bay in Pacific Palisades on March 3 was the result of naturally occurring phenomena and posed no threat to the community.
Local real estate agents, private homeowners and cash that came from the Pacific Palisades 27th annual home tour allowed the Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club to award $63,000 to 39 deserving community organizations in early March.
Three people tied this year for the Academy Award for sound work in movies. They were Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers, who won for their work on “Skyfall†and Pacific Palisades resident Paul Ottosson for “Zero Dark Thirty.â€
Dennis Quaid is giving a $3.1 million Pacific Palisades home to his ex-wife, Kimberly Buffington Quaid. The celebrity couple split up in November, and the actor agreed to let his ex keep the lavish home and property as a place to raise their twins, Thomas and Zoe.
SANTA MONICA
Two groups opposed to operations at Santa Monica Airport have asked officials to consider shutting down the air traffic control tower at the landing strip. Citizens Against Santa Monica Airport Traffic and Sunset Park Anti-Airport, Inc. say flights could still take off and land without the control tower, but at vastly reduced numbers.
Santa Monica-based Assurance Wireless and the Reach Out Wireless groups say they have the backing of the California Public Utilities Commission to expand a federally funded program to put cell phones – with limited access – into the hands of California’s homeless and poor people.
Actress Valerie Harper, star of television’s “Mary Tyler Moore Show†and the spinoff “Rhoda,†has been told she may have as little as three months to live after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Harper has been a very public figure in addition to her acting career, recently showing up at a benefit for Betty White in Santa Monica.
The city of Santa Monica has approved a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 15 percent of 1990 levels by 2015. The plan calls for a reduction of as much as 80 percent over the course of the next 35 years.
WESTWOOD
First Republic Bank’s quarterly Home Index indicates prices for upscale homes in Los Angeles rose by a significant 4.4 percent during the quarter that ended December 31, 2012. Westwood homes made up a sizable portion of the luxury home sales tracked by the wealth management company.
CENTURY CITY
Construction will begin next year on a $2 billion project that will build two, 46-story residential towers, 100,000 square feet of shopping and provide for a new subway line linking Century City to Westwood. Builders say the construction will mean 3,500 new jobs for the area.
VENICE
Scores of people turned out for a charity concert in Venice early in March to benefit the families of victims of a Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn. A lone gunman opened fire and killed 26 people, 20 of them children.
If you want proof that Rose Ave. in Venice is starting to show new signs of life, you can look in the New York Times. The trend-conscious daily newspaper says pawnshops and liquor stores are being replaced at a healthy pace by juice bars, design stores, upscale markets and boutiques, as well as a spate of new construction that is bringing upscale condos to the area.
MARINA DEL REY
The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey is now offering a luxury selection not advertised in virtually any other hotels in Southern California. In addition to treating yourself to a vegan meal, you can get what the hotel calls a vegan manicure. Vegans abstain from all animal-based products, including milk and cheese.
MALIBU
Standup comedian Dave Sirus waded into a group of Westboro Baptist Church protesters who gathered in Malibu to protest against the Academy Awards, which allegedly glorify homosexuality. Sirus noted to one protester that his sign said the 26 victims of the Newtown massacre got what they had coming. Sirus noted pointedly that the Westboro Baptist Church preaches against abortion, but not mass murder.
BEVERLY HILLS
A passing police officer helped “Real Housewives of Atlanta†star NeNe Leakes in Beverly Hills in early March. The actress realized she had locked both her keys and her cherished yorkie, Playa, inside her car. The dog was never in danger, but police say the actress was still upset over the pup possibly suffering heat-related problems.
