Outdoor dining in downtown Manhattan Beach was put on hold last week following a record number of new COVID-19 cases. Photo
Outdoor dining in downtown Manhattan Beach was put on hold last week following a record number of new COVID-19 cases. Photo
The City of Manhattan Beach on Sunday closed the outdoor dining decks it had taken over from restaurants in early December as a way to help the struggling local dining industry evade Los Angeles County health order restrictions and attract some semblance of business.
The closure was announced late Saturday night after the city experienced 47 COVID-19 cases in the previous 48 hours, its highest two day total since the pandemic arrived. Those new cases brought the total to 821 on January 2, a near doubling of cases since November 1.
Manhattan Beach has shuttered public seating areas that were transformed from outdoor dining decks, and drew the ire of Los Angeles County public health officials, because of the ongoing coronavirus surge â though the fate of those spaces will likely face scrutiny again this week.
The city on Saturday, Jan. 2, announced that it would close public seating areas, removing chairs and tables, as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue soaring, largely because of holiday gatherings and people ignoring health guidelines. Creating the public seating areas, a largely semantic strategy to allow people continue eating at dining decks near restaurants but without the benefit of tableside service, was the cityâs way of balancing public health needs with the the impact coronavirus-related business closures have had to local companies.
Three people have been rescued after their boat drifted dangerously close to a shipwreck packed with explosives.
The 27ft yacht was floating near the mouth of the Medway Estuary in Kent on Saturday morning, close to where the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery lies beneath the surface.
Lifeboat crew were despatched from Sheerness in Kent to help the yacht and ensure the safety of those on board.
The all weather lifeboat was on the scene at 11.09am and confirmed the three people were OK.
A tow rope was then fixed to the yacht and it was pulled to safety before being transferred to lifeboat crew from Southend to take it back to its mooring.
Three fishermen were rescued from their yacht when they drifted dangerously close to a shipwreck packed with 1,400 tonnes of explosives.
The 27ft vessel was floating near the mouth of the Medway Estuary in Kent, close to where the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery lies beneath the surface.
Lifeboat crew were sent from Sheerness in Kent to help the yacht and those on board and a tow rope was then fixed to pull it to safety.
The SS Richard Montgomery is feared to have enough remaining munitions on board to cause a massive 1.4 kiloton explosion which could lead to a four-foot tidal wave in the Thames estuary.
Heroes and villains of 2020: From Wetherspoon to Amazon, here are Kent s goodies and baddies of last year
Published: 06:00, 01 January 2021
What a year! It was a full 12 months ago that you crowned your hero and villain of 2019 and quite a bit has happened since - we ve picked through the wreckage of 2020 and dragged out the best and worst for you to judge from a safe distance.
And while those that came to the aid of stranded truckers over the past few weeks plus many more from 2020 are undoubtedly heroic, we ve chosen those who might have flown under the radar.
An aerial image of a sink hole Picture: Hawkeye Aerial Media