Twenty years ago, Keith Martin had dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, of jogging into a stadium full of cheering fans, all chanting his name.
PICO NEIGHBORHOOD — Along a light yellow hand-painted wall with creative creatures that resemble aliens and even Pac-Man figures stands what Joey Bravo calls his “treasure chest” — a colorful chest with bold jungle animals grazing by a bright blue river.
SM PIER — The Santa Monica Pier is losing perhaps its most ardent booster. Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Pier Restoration Corp., is leaving his post to become the leader of one of Seattle’s most popular tourist destinations, the historic Pike Place Market in the city’s central business
SECOND STREET — Since becoming the executive director of Community Corp. of Santa Monica in 1991, Joan Ling has overseen the addition of 1,200 units to the city’s stock of affordable dwellings, quadrupling the number of apartments the organization manages.
Benedicte Schoyen was having photographs taken of her and her dancing at the Santa Monica Dance Studio. The photographer was walking with a cane, and Schoyen found out that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
DOWNTOWN — Frances Noble became so hyper aware of the multitude of homeless women that populate the streets of Santa Monica while she was working on her latest book, “Blanket of Stars,” that she stopped walking by, let alone going to, public parks.
DOWNTOWN — Megan Kilroy’s favorite place to go in town is the Santa Monica Pier. She thinks its crowded and touristy, but she loves looking out over the edge and watching the waves crash against the pillars.
THIRD STREET — While the rest of the world is focused on the nail-biting intensity of World Cup soccer matches, 82 year-old Melanie Downing is gearing up for another competition; The Veteran’s Wheelchair Games.
DOWNTOWN — Scott Anderson still remembers the first surfboard he shaped. It was his first year in high school, and he and a friend had purchased a surfboard “blank” from ET Surf in Hermosa Beach.
MID-CITY — Barbara Browning always wanted to be a nurse. As a little girl watching her aunt dress in her nursing uniform, Browning knew one day she would do the same.
Sitting in Tel’s Barber Shop, there is a feeling of warmth and coziness that cannot be ignored. Tel Trujillo, his two sons and his grandson are the only barbers in the family-run shop, and it’s been that way since 1988.
MID-CITY — As a patient arrived at the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, Gail Abarbanel, center founder and director, noted that it was the third patient of the day, and not even nightfall yet.
