Top 5 Westside Stories: Earthquakes, LAX Expansion, VA Hospital Scare, Venice Potholes, Santa Monica Airport

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:

• Another small earthquake shook Southern California Thursday, prompting residents from Newbury Park to San Pedro to report they felt the 3.2-magnitude shaker. The earthquake, which struck off the Malibu coast, came just days after .

• The Los Angeles City Council voted to expand LAX despite strong objections from residents in Westchester and Playa del Rey. The $4.8 billion plan to extend a runway and make other improvements will increase traffic congestion and air pollution, the residents said. According to airport officials, the expansion would increase safety, create jobs and accommodate jumbo jets. 

• A man walked into the Veterans Administration West hospital's emergency room with a replica hand grenade on Monday, setting off an evauation of the facility. The Los Angeles sheriff's bomb squad determined the replica grenade posed no threat and the emergency room was reopened. The man, known to the hospital staff, was detained. 

• Potholes and other problems on Venice Boulevard drove a group of residents to stage a protest directed at Caltrans. Mar Vista resident Linda Jones organized the demonstration after she said her two years of complaints to Caltrans went nowhere. Jones said the problems have gotten worse in that time. "Cars are almost hitting other cars or almost hitting bicyclists," Jones said. "It's horrendous."

• Santa Monica Airport landing fees will more than double as the City Council took steps to reduce the airport's dependence on city funding. The council approved the increase Tuesday, raising fees from $2.07 to $5.48 per 1,000 pounds of aircraft by Aug. 1. All aircraft, including those belonging to flight schools, will be affected. Some pilots said the fee increase appeared to be an attempt to drive out flight schools and other businesses in order to close the airport. Councilwoman Gleam Davis said the increase is an effort to bring "budgetary balance" to the airport operations fund.

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