Jessica Koslow

There are quite a few characters roaming around on Venice Beach, so why would the beachfront paddle tennis courts be any different? Loving both the sport and the eclectic beachside community, Sveinn Ingimundarson and S.D. Saltarelli picked up their cameras and began to shoot the players and the game. The result is “Kings of Venice,” which premiered at Slamdance Film Festival this month and won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

“We both have a deep love of Venice,” said Saltarelli. “Sveinn and I were both out in Venice Beach, playing this little sport, paddle tennis, and Venice is just a magical place. It attracts some magical people, and we decided to try to put a camera on them, and we think we ended up with something kind of magical.”

According to the documentary, in 1961 there were over 8,000 paddle tennis courts in the U.S. Today only 50 remain, and 11 are in Venice Beach. The game is similar to tennis except it is played on a quarter-sized court with a lower net, wooden paddles and a tennis ball with its pressure reduced by a hypodermic needle. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Executive Director Valarie Gomez has been working at the West San Gabriel Valley YMCA for 21-plus years. This is not the most impressive Y-related trivia relating to her life. Her grandparents met at the Ketchum-Downtown YMCA on 4th and Hope Streets after World War II. 

“My grandmother was a part-time bookkeeper, and my grandfather didn’t want to go back to Nebraska, so he came to California for the opportunity of growth and development — very similar to what the Y offers — and he landed at the Y because of the boarding that they had at the downtown YMCA,” said Gomez. “They met and fell in love, and they both stayed at the Y. My grandfather did the printing until the last 10 or 15 years of his life. Unfortunately, they’re not living anymore, but I wish they were because I could share this joy with them that I found at the Y.” . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Feeding the cats in the neighborhood is not the problem, according to Jasmine Jones, a longtime DTLA resident and creator of the group DTLA Cats. Everybody leaves food out in the neighborhood. The bigger issue, and the one Jones has been tackling for the past five years, is saving lives through trap-neuter-return (TNR and rescue, reducing shelter intake and euthanasia).

TNR consists of trapping the stray community cats; bringing them to a veterinary clinic to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and treated for fleas; allowing them to recover safely for a short period of time; and then returning them to the only home they know, which is outdoors.

“It’s the most humane and effective way to reduce the suffering and overpopulation of outdoor cats,” Jones explained. “It prevents endless litters from being born on the streets, reduces fighting and roaming, and helps cats live healthier, safer lives. Los Angeles has one of the largest stray cat populations in the country, and downtown is no exception. This work is urgent, and it’s very local.”
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Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.