Santa Monica Pier

A disaster-prone Texas tourist destination that for more than a century has been an on-again, off-again home to oceanfront amusements will once again lure thrill-seekers with roller coasters, midway games and carnival confections. PHOTOS: New rides at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier The $60-million Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier plans to open in May with 16 rides, including a vertical-lift steel coaster, a 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel with programmable LED lights and a 200-foot-tall swing tower offering panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico.

A disaster-prone Texas tourist destination that for more than a century has been an on-again, off-again home to oceanfront amusements will once again lure thrill-seekers with roller coasters, midway games and carnival confections. PHOTOS: New rides at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier The $60-million Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier plans to open in May with 16 rides, including a vertical-lift steel coaster, a 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel with programmable LED lights and a 200-foot-tall swing tower offering panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico.

A hearty appetite is encouraged at the Los Angeles BBQ Festival, a three-day celebration of basted and sizzling meats, including spare ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket. Sample delectables from Texas Thunder BBQ, Chicago BBQ Co., Bourbon Q and more, with live music provided by Ticket to Ride, Peter Cash, Sgt. Peppers and Black Crystal Wolf Kids. Santa Monica Pier, 1550 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.-Sun. (310) 902-6955. http://www.labbqfest.com.

Dive into the Canadian circus and dance troupe Cirque du Soleil's latest fantastical world. "Ovo," meaning "egg" in Portuguese, presents a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a nonstop riot of energy and movement. Santa Monica Pier, 1550 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica. 8 p.m. Tue.-Thu.; 4 and 8 p.m. Fri., Sat.; 1 and 5 p.m. Sun. Through March 20. $45-$145. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ovo

A pilot and movie producer who startled beachgoers by buzzing the Santa Monica Pier in a Soviet-era military jet was convicted Thursday of recklessly operating an aircraft. A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found that David G. Riggs, 48, violated a rarely used section of the state public utilities code designed to protect life and property from careless and reckless pilots. Judge Harold Cherness is scheduled to sentence Riggs on Monday. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Re "Police Link Suspects in Pier Shootout to 3 Killings," July 6: Alleged gunmen brazenly open fire and take hostages at the Santa Monica Pier. Five people are shot but not killed. Fifteen people are held hostage and released after a five-hour standoff. Jan Palchikoff, head of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp., stated, "While it was tragic . . . in the grand scheme of things it was minor." Excuse me? Perhaps the most chilling reminder will be the photograph of a child "playing a shooting game" after the pier reopened.

Santa Monica Pier juts out into the Pacific like Jay Leno's jaw, a defiant, whimsical and improbable landing pad. Just 100 feet below, sharks are at play, scarfing the occasional hot dog and Coke cup that plop into their Sunday soup. Up on deck, L.A. is at play too. Here, on SoCal's splendid splinter. Passing woman: "I just need to decompress." Male companion: "How'd you get so compressed?" Well, no doubt he had something to do with it. Besides, this is L.A. You can get "compressed" just waiting in line at Starbucks.

Santa Monica Pier tenants will be advised to turn their amplified sound speakers toward the ocean to minimize the level of music heard by residents, the City Council agreed Tuesday night. Councilwoman Christine Reed said she received complaints about amplified sound from the pier after the Cinco de Mayo festivities, when the sound system was elevated on 20-foot platforms on the pier.

The Santa Monica Pier is back! It reopened on a beautiful spring weekend, and what a joy it was to be there. The fresh air, the world-class view from inside the bay, the excitement of the fisherpeople as they hauled in their big ones, the feelings of detachment from the hustles and bustles of the city, the good feelings shared by the throngs of all sizes, colors and shapes--it was all there and more. The rebuilt pier is strong and solid and well-done. It is a good omen for the next phase: a cafe, bait-and-tackle shop and Harbor Master's office.

A movie producer who buzzed the Santa Monica Pier in a Soviet-era military jet to promote an action film was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and fined $900 for recklessly operating an aircraft in a manner that endangered life and property. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Harold I. Cherness also placed David G. Riggs, 48, on three years' probation, imposed $260 in court fees and ordered him to clean city beaches for 60 days as community service. Cherness, however, stayed the jail sentence pending an appeal.

A movie producer who made low-level passes over the Santa Monica Pier in a Cold War-era military jet went to jail Wednesday for flying an aircraft in a manner that endangered lives and property. Having lost his appeal, David G. Riggs, 48, surrendered to authorities at Los Angeles County Superior Court and began serving a 60-day sentence imposed by Judge Harold I. Cherness in June 2010. Cherness further ordered Riggs to clean beaches for 60 days and pay more than $6,000 in penalties and court fees.

A hearty appetite is encouraged at the Los Angeles BBQ Festival, a three-day celebration of basted and sizzling meats, including spare ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket. Sample delectables from Texas Thunder BBQ, Chicago BBQ Co., Bourbon Q and more, with live music provided by Ticket to Ride, Peter Cash, Sgt. Peppers and Black Crystal Wolf Kids. Santa Monica Pier, 1550 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.-Sun. (310) 902-6955. http://www.labbqfest.com.

You could spend a solid year sniffing out cool spots for travelers in Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and Malibu - scores of hotels, hundreds of restaurants and bars, more than 30 miles of coastline. But you're new to the scene, or you haven't visited in a while, and who has a year anyway? We offer the seventh installment of our yearlong series of Southern California close-ups - 11 micro-itineraries that will lead you to fresh fruit, ancient art, pub darts, magic, gymnastics, Venus on roller skates and J. Paul Getty on how to be rich.

Pacific Park, the brightly lighted amusement park on Santa Monica Pier that has become an international symbol of Southern California, has been acquired for $34 million by a Florida real estate trust. CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. said Thursday that it bought Pacific Park and a ground lease for the two-acre property from Santa Monica Amusements, a group of investors who built the park and opened the first phase in 1996. FOR THE RECORD: Pacific Park: An article in the Jan. 7 Business section about the sale of Pacific Park, the amusement park on Santa Monica Pier, said Curt Caffey was the managing director of CNL Lifestyle Properties.

Water quality at California beaches has continued to show improvement, even as the future of monitoring programs remains uncertain because of state budget shortfalls, according to a report released Wednesday by Heal the Bay. This summer was one of the cleanest on record for California beaches and the fourth straight summer of excellent water quality grades statewide. Of the beaches tested, 92% received A or B grades during the high-traffic beachgoing season, according to the environmental group's End of Summer Beach Report Card . But if money isn't found to continue funding the $1-million-a-year beach testing program next year, the state and coastal counties may be forced to discontinue water-quality monitoring, ending public alerts when the ocean poses a health risk to swimmers and surfers, according to the report.

After discarded cigarettes caused fire damage at the historic Santa Monica Pier, the City Council voted this week to snuff out smoking on the century-old landmark. Smoking has been allowed in nine designated areas on the pier. But on April 30, a blaze caused by an unextinguished cigarette in a designated smoking area resulted in damage to about 30 square feet of the structure and threatened a restaurant, according to Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of Pier Restoration Corp.

The first phase of restoration work on the Santa Monica Pier, which was damaged by winter storms three years ago, will begin soon. Healy-Tibbit Construction this week was awarded an $840,000 contract to begin strengthing and repairing about 60,000 feet of timber that supports the pier. The work is part of a $12.7-million reconstruction plan approved by the council last May.

A movie producer who buzzed the Santa Monica Pier in a Soviet-era military jet to promote an action film was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and fined $900 for recklessly operating an aircraft in a manner that endangered life and property. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Harold I. Cherness also placed David G. Riggs, 48, on three years' probation, imposed $260 in court fees and ordered him to clean city beaches for 60 days as community service. Cherness, however, stayed the jail sentence pending an appeal.

A pilot and movie producer who startled beachgoers by buzzing the Santa Monica Pier in a Soviet-era military jet was convicted Thursday of recklessly operating an aircraft. A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found that David G. Riggs, 48, violated a rarely used section of the state public utilities code designed to protect life and property from careless and reckless pilots. Judge Harold Cherness is scheduled to sentence Riggs on Monday. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.