Topanga was spared from wildfire damage during the Woolsey Fire, but the National Park Service (NPS) estimates that more than 50 percent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) burned,…
As the Messenger Mountain News went to press online, the Woolsey Fire, with 57 percent containment, had burned more than 150 square miles (98,362 acres) in its inexorable march from the Simi Valley…
Editor’s note: many of the locations discussed in this article have been impacted by the Woolsey Fire. Check the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area website to check for closures before attempting…
I’ve lived in Malibu all my life. One of earliest memories is the 1970 fire, my father holding me on his shoulders in front of the house, pointing to the glow on…
A crane atop a barge anchored off Sunset Boulevard in the Santa Monica Bay is generating a lot questions from Topanga residents. It’s not part of an oil exploration project, or a…
On Tuesday, November 13, the city of Agoura will be holding a scoping meeting on the controversial development project planned for the corner of Agoura and Kanan Dume Road. The proposed project…
The poets of more northern climates lament the departure of the last songbird in autumn, while in the Santa Monica Mountains, residents rejoice in the arrival of the same birds, species that…
For the past four issues, Messenger Mountain News columnist Amy Weisberg has invited our readers to reflect on Norman Rockwell’s paintings, “The Four Freedoms,” in the context of using the message in…
On November 6, voters are being asked to weigh in on whether or not to retain two California Supreme Court justices; 17 judges currently serving on eight divisions of the court of…
On October 8, Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles celebrated the first annual Indigenous Peoples Day. In 2017, the city and county voted to transform Columbus Day into a…