Back in October of 2010 in the location of the former Lighthouse restaurant at 2nd and Arizona, (201 Arizona), a notice was posted in the window announcing the imminent arrival of a new Tender Greens. I remember seeing over the summer that the spot was empty.
Along with Anisette Brasserie, Broadway Deli, and Fat Burger, this is just another instance of a downtown Santa Monica restaurant closure.
There are other signs that things are not all roses for these businesses. My doorknob was recently the recipient of a dinner special notice at Wokcano, which used to be one of the most posh dining establishments in the area.
The LA Public Library has only one photo entry for "Soldiers Home" that seems to depict the slum that once existed where the 405 and the 10 intersect.
If you’ve used Google Maps in a major metropolitain area, you may have noticed one or two “neighborhood labels” that seemed bizarre and new to you even though you know the area quite well.
As best as I can determine, some of these names go back to the 1960s. The reason I think that is because of a little area in west Los Angeles that on Google Maps is labelled Home Junction.
If you look at the intersection of the Santa Monica freeway and the San Diego freeway (I-10 and I-405 respectively), Google Earth has a little label for the area and that label says “Home Junction.”
In fact, if you drive around the area where National crosses under the 405 there is one of those weird blue City of LA signs denoting that you are in a “named region” of the city. It also says, “Home Junction.”
Home Junction? WTF is that? I like to think I know the west L.A. area quite well — between the different neighborhoods and their historic origins — I find that stuff interesting. Palms, Sawtelle, Mar Vista, Rancho Park — it’s my albatross.
So, what I’ve pieced together is this: the junction was so named because it was the meeting point between the spur line and the main trolleyway that once connected Santa Monica with downtown Los Angeles. The spur line connected to the Veterans Administration facility via a little street called Sawtelle. Back then the VA was called “The Old Soldiers’ Home”, hence, Home Junction.
I thought this was a headline from “The Onion,” but it appears not.
The newly inducted president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands has announced the tiny Pacific nation had legalized the use of cocaine by executive order.
President Jurelang Zedkaia, a traditional chief and politician, said the Marshall Islands would also be introducing a no-visa unrestricted entry program for foreign nationals of any country.
Apparently, the country’s leader feels like, “we can totally not sink, if we can just keep doing blow.”
QuantumTom 