Top 5 Westside Stories: Santa Monica Airport Avoids Cut, 2 Gettys for Price of 1, Landslide

Close out your weekend with a recap of the newsiest and most popular Patch articles from last week. Here are the five stories that topped the headlines on Westside Patch sites:

• The air traffic control tower at the Santa Monica Airport will remain open, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday. In early March, the FAA proposed to close nearly 200 towers—including the structure at SMO—as part of its plan to meet the $637 million in cuts required under budget sequestration. SMO, which handled about 370 flights a day last year, including by helicopters, prop planes and jets, will be considered in a later round of cuts.

• As of March 23, Getty visitors will be able to visit both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa on the same day for only one $15 parking fee. Oobtain a coupon good for same-day complimentary parking at the other Getty at the information desk. The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades and the Getty Center in Brentwood are about 12 miles apart, making it possible to enjoy both sites in one day, especially on Saturdays, when the Getty Center is open until 9 p.m.

• A landslide on Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades blocked traffic for hours Thursday morning while crews worked to clean up the mess. No one was injured and no structures were damaged. Also in Pacific Palisades, more than in the area Wednesday night.

• Los Angeles is gearing up to study how new corridor will impact traffic and surrounding neighborhoods. It's starting an environmental impact report on its plan to rezone areas within a 15 minute walk of the five Expo stations from Culver City to Santa Monica. The goal, according to city planners, is to encourage people to actually take the train by allowing "some increased development intensity near stations" and "improving the configuration and condition of streets to better promote pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular circulation." Other changes will likely include adding public green space and affordable housing.

• CicLAvia organizers have slightly altered the streets that will take cyclists, skaters and pedestrians from downtown L.A. to Venice Beach on April 21. While the long stretch down Venice Boulevard has been retained, the stretch along Figueroa Street has been ditched, and instead people will continue cruising along 7th Street to MacArthur Park and along Alvarado Street until reaching Venice Boulevard. 

Don't want to miss a single story? Want to be the first to know about news in your neighborhood? Click the links below to follow your local Patch sites on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for our free daily newsletter.

Santa Monica Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Venice-Mar Vista Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Marina del Rey Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Pacific Palisades Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Brentwood Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Westwood-Century City Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Culver City Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Beverly Hills Patch: Daily newsletter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter