Culver City

Musical electronics retailer Beats by Dr. Dre will move its headquarters from a plush office park in Santa Monica to gritty-looking former warehouses in Culver City. Beats will occupy the entire 40,000-square-foot building at 8476 Steller Drive, plus an additional 26,400 square feet in two adjacent properties at 8401 and 8454 Steller, real estate broker Joshua Gorin of Studley said. The electronics company that sells such music-related products as headphones, earphones and speakers is now in the Water Garden, a luxury office complex dating to the early 1990s.

Made up to look like black and white drawings, the protagonists in Mary Reid Kelley's videos speak in a constant, densely allusive patter. This approach worked swimmingly in her 2010 show at Susanne Vielmetter, which featured two videos that looked at the darker side of early modernism. The stark, stylized appearance of those works perfectly evoked stripped-down modern aesthetics. Her latest efforts - in collaboration with her partner, Patrick Kelley - are less taut and more expansive.

Construction has kicked off on a $63-million apartment and shopping complex near a light-rail station on the edge of downtown Culver City as developers move to capitalize on the new Expo Line. The six-story project is being built by Santa Monica apartment landlord NMS Properties. The development at 9901 Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles, across the street from Culver City, will be known as NMS@Culver City. It will house 131 units over restaurants and shops. The complex is across from the Kirk Douglas Theatre and Sony Pictures Plaza office building.

Dear SOS: I'm not a big drinker, but there's a cocktail that Akasha Restaurant in Culver City makes that could make me a convert. It's called a Ruby Red Mojito, made with pink grapefruit juice. I've tried versions at other restaurants, but they're not as good as Akasha's. I'd love to serve this to friends on game night and would be delighted if you could get Akasha to give you its recipe. Katherine Fleischmann Valley Glen Dear Katherine: Bright and refreshing, Akasha's mojito combines fresh grapefruit juice with lime, rum, a touch of agave syrup for sweetness and club soda for a little fizz.

Companies in creative businesses that scorn traditional glass-and-steel office towers continued to rule the Westside real estate market in the second quarter as landlords scrambled to meet their demands. While large spaces in some of downtown Los Angeles' signature skyscrapers such as 72-story US Bank Tower lay fallow, homely old industrial buildings tricked out on the inside were in short supply, according to a report by real estate brokerage Industry Partners. Direct vacancy in the 17.7-million-square-foot Westside creative office market was 9.2%, the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009.

It WAS the 1950s, and developer Stone & Stone began building the first homes in an area that had been an oil field. At the nearby ranch of Will Rogers Jr., actors and actresses learned to rope and ride for the many westerns that Culver City studios were churning out. Racial integration, a fight for schools and park space and the desire for a better life played out in newly established Blair Hills, as it did in many other communities across the country.

At a new, clean, classically styled barbershop in Culver City, the three young owners sit in the sun coming through their open storefront window talking women, restaurants and booze. Casual and welcoming, the attitude is akin to that of a clubhouse - a community hangout as in times past. It helps that their shop, the Blind Barber, is also a bar. "My grandfather was a very well-dressed and put-together man," said Jeff Laub, 28, one of the partners. "He hung at his barbershop. That's where they talked about women, that's where they played cards, that's where they made deals, that's where it all went down.

Rating: ? ½ Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. . . : Outstanding on every level. . : Excellent. . : Very good. : Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory. Location: 9411 Culver Blvd., Culver City, (310) 839-6800, http://www.fraicherestaurantla.com Prices: Dinner appetizers, $12 to $18; charcuterie and spreads, $8 to $9; pasta, $18 to $24; main courses, $26 to $28; desserts, $8 to $12. Lunch salads and sandwiches, $12 to $16. Details: Open for dinner daily, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; for lunch Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m. Happy hour is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. daily.

Big Ed's bar, once a meeting place for screen stars, gamblers and prostitutes in the 1940s and 1950s, will probably be demolished next year so Culver City officials can redevelop a blighted block in the downtown area. The Culver City Redevelopment Agency wants to condemn the bar and the Adams Hotel next door and use the land for private development or a proposed new city hall and civic center.

Muddy Leek, a new restaurant by Bon Melange Catering owners Chef Whitney Flood and Julie Retzlaff has opened in Culver City. Melange and Whitney are known for staging rotating, underground dinners together, but Muddy Leek is their first independent restaurant venture. Muddy Leek focuses on farm-to-table fare, thanking their "favorite farmers" on the menu. Everything is made in-house, showcasing ingredients locally sourced from farms and markets.  The restaurant decor is a mix between an E. Stewart Williamshomeand a gastropub, with sleek, large floor-to-ceiling windows and fabric chairs, marble tabletops, peach napkins and vintage looking bar stools.   Menu highlights include the chicken fried bacon with tomato chutney ($7)

Los Angeles International Airport landed in court again Thursday when a labor union, four local governments and a neighborhood coalition filed lawsuits challenging the latest round of construction being performed at the aging facility, including a controversial plan to relocate the northernmost runway closer to homes. The cases allege that Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of LAX, violated state laws that require thorough evaluations of the environmental effects of projects as well as measures to reduce adverse impacts.

The family of an unarmed man killed by a Downey police officer with a submachine gun in a case of mistaken identity has agreed to a $4.5-million settlement with the city's insurer. Michael Nida, 31, was fatally shot in the back Oct. 22, 2011, by Officer Steven Gilley after Nida was mistaken for a suspect wanted in an armed robbery at a Bank of America ATM. Prosecutors decline to criminally charge the officer, citing Nida's resistance and running from officers three times. Nida's family and their attorneys said the settlement was agreed upon by lawyers for Downey's municipal insurer last week on the eve of a trial for a wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuit.

During separate video interviews with the Los Angeles Times last month, L.A. mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel responded to questions from individual voters. Among them is Baldwin Hills restaurateur Brad Johnson, who operates Post & Beam. Johnson asked: "What would you do to cultivate a thriving economy in the Crenshaw Corridor to make it similar to other emerging neighborhoods such as Downtown and Culver City? "As a native New Yorker, I've watched with great interest as over the last five to 10 years Harlem has become a viable part of the city's economy after years of neglect.

A replica of the Bluth's Original Frozen Banana stand in all its giant, yellow glory will finally make an appearance in the Los Angeles area today. Fans anticipating the return of "Arrested Development," which was canceled by Fox in 2006 but is coming back with a premiere May 26 on Netflix, will want to head down to 9300 Culver Boulevard (adjacent to Trader Joe's) from noon to 7 p.m. If you're looking to spot an actual cast member, Judy Greer, who plays Kitty Sanchez, is scheduled to be at the stand between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.  The banana stand, which has been making the rounds on a world tour that has included London and New York, sent fans in a tizzy last week when news broke that it may not be making a stop in Newport Beach, where the stand originates in the show.

Just days before the new season of "Arrested Development" finally debuts on Netflix, the re-creation of the Bluth's Original Frozen Banana stand that cropped up in New York City last week is making its way to the West Coast. The frozen banana stand will be set up in downtown Culver City at 9300 Culver Blvd. on Monday from noon until 7 p.m. and will be handing out free frozen bananas to anyone willing to stand in line for one. To sweeten the deal, cast member Judy Greer will be on hand to help pass the bananas out from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. The banana stands appeared in New York City last week during the network upfronts, at which NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and the CW unveiled their new shows for advertisers and the media.

Police found multiple suspicious devices Wednesday morning in a Culver City home after a traffic stop in West Los Angeles, authorities said. The LAPD bomb squad was dispatched to the residence in the 3800 block of Overland Boulevard a short time after Los Angeles police pulled over a vehicle in the West Los Angeles patrol area. Few details were available, including the exact nature of the devices, but sources familiar with the incident, who asked not to be identified because the investigation was unfolding, said an early morning traffic stop yielded a device that led police to the home.

More Neapolitan-style pizza hits L.A. when Wildcraft Sourdough Pizza opens Feb. 25 in Culver City in the historic Beaux Arts Washington Building on Culver Boulevard. Set to open for lunch and dinner, the sit-down pizza place will serve wood-fired sourdough pizza that crosses the Neapolitan tradition with Southern California culinary inventiveness. The "wild" in the restaurant's name is a reference to the wild yeast in the sourdough starter that is used to make the dough for the pizzas.  The "mother dough," fed daily, is the work of executive chef Tin Vuong (also the chef at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach)

Celebrate the culturally rich and ethnically diverse past, present and future of Culver City at the annual Fiesta La Ballona, a community fixture since 1951. This year's event features live performances from '60s revivalists Aquarius, Louisiana-flavored music from Lisa Haley & the Zydekats, and daring circus acrobatics from Kinetic Theory, plus local talent showcases, a beer and wine garden and carnival rides. Veteran's Park, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City. 4:30-10 p.m. Fri., 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat., 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun. Free.

A proposal to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers to $15 per hour became an issue in the mayoral contest over the weekend, with Wendy Greuel supporting it as labor activists backing her used the proposal to urge voters to support her. Rival Eric Garcetti declined to take a position on the proposal. Greuel, whose campaign reported having little money for the final stretch of the campaign, called on Garcetti to stop all negative advertising in the last days of the Los Angeles mayor's race during a debate Friday.