Retrospective: MB approves the $5 electric shuttle — and rates finally exhale

The one thing. A $5 ride around Manhattan Beach. Council approved a six-month pilot with Circuit Transit on April 7 — five electric shuttles, on-demand, 11 AM–9 PM daily, $5 flat per ride — funded with up to $540,626 in Prop A transit money. The vote: 3-1, Franklin opposed, Charelian abstaining. Easy Reader →

Your money. April 10 was the line: LA County's second property-tax installment went delinquent after that date (USPS postmark counts). Same week, Treasury finalized the "No Tax on Tips" occupation list under the new federal tax law — relevant to every restaurant on the strand. TTC →

The market. Rates exhaled: the 30-year eased to 6.37% from 6.46% (Freddie Mac, week of April 9). Zillow's March report, out that Monday, had LA-metro values slightly down on the year — and the second-busiest pending-sales month since 2022. Cheaper money, cooler values, faster deals. Zillow →

At City Hall. Also on MB's April 7 docket: a public hearing on the citywide parking study (meter and merchant-permit rates on the table) and a $460K sole-source police data-platform contract on consent. The Planning Commission took up the Housing Element zoning amendments the next day — the code changes behind the state's housing quota. Agenda →

The pulse. Easy Reader crowned its Best of the Beach: Shellback Tavern (53 years in) took bar food for MB, and Martha's — a 22nd Street institution since 1984 — won breakfast for Hermosa. Winners →

Next → tax day lands, and the new superintendent gets her formal vote.

Pier to Pier — the smart local read for MB & Hermosa. General information, not advice.