Top 5 Westside Stories: Worker Trapped in Trench, NIMBYs, LA Marathon

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:

• A construction worker died Thursday trapped in a deep dirt trench in Pacific Palisades, despite efforts by more than 100 firefighters to pull him to safety. A second worker who was also trapped was safely rescued. He was hospitalized in serious condition, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The men were working on a stormwater improvement project. The victim has been identified.

• Watch what you put on your resume. Santa Monica is cutting ties with a planning consultant who upset residents by calling them NIMBYS. Jeffrey Tumlin, who works for a firm contracted with the city came under fire in the past two weeks after a neighborhood group distributed copies of his resume. It said "Santa Monica politics had been dominated by NIMBYS who used traffic fear as their primary tool for stopping development."

• The pope may favor a certain Culver City wine shop. Mike Carpenter at the Redd Collection wine store in Culver City received a long-distance call Tuesday from someone with an Italian accent asking for bottles of the 2008 Papale Primitivo di Manduria from the producer Varvaglione. The man ordered 115 bottles and then asked them to be FedExed to the office of the Cardinal Secretary of State at the Vatican. The cost to send them? Approximately $2500.

• The LA Marathon is happening today—24,000 runners will pass through Brentwood and Santa Monica, with thousands more lining the course to cheer them on. Click here for full live coverage of the race, results, and details about road closures. Click here to see road closures in Brentwood. Here's how to get around Santa Monica during the LA Marathon.

• New banners that warn drivers about the dangers of texting while driving are up on Sunset Boulevard through Pacific Palisades. THe banners are part of awareness campaign launched by City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and a group of concerned residents. The campaign aims to promote street safety and reduce reckless and distracted driving on one of the most iconic streets in America.

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