MAXed out on low bus ridership, beach cities lose their line.

SAD MAX: Now that both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach have withdrawn from the Municipal Area Express system, the regional bus service last week decided to eliminate its beach cities route beginning April 30.

It is expected that Hermosa Beach will drop out of the three-year-old program, known as MAX, once Line 1 is eliminated, said Bob Hildebrand, transit contracts coordinator for the city of Torrance and MAX project manager.

About 342 people were boarding the underutilized line from Redondo Beach to El Segundo each week, Hildebrand said, using less than 20% of the line’s capacity.

Redondo Beach withdrew its $26,000 in annual funding late last month, prompting Manhattan Beach to drop its $12,000 contribution last week. When Hermosa Beach goes, Hildebrand said, another $8,000 will disappear.

But scuttling Line 1 will save MAX about $150,000 each year, he said, and make the overall system more efficient. Without the line, MAX’s cost per passenger will drop from $7.85 to $6.73 and the number of passengers served per hour will rise from 8.92 to 10.4.

“We had done a lot of different kinds of promotions to try to get riders, but nothing really worked,” Hildebrand said of Line 1. “The cities decided it just was not worth their while to continue in the program and we understand that.”

THROWING STONES: Redondo Beach City Council candidate Rick Abelson demanded last week that opponent Greg Hill either quit his job with Southern California Gas Co. or drop out of the runoff race. But his ultimatum may have misfired.

Abelson, a land planner, called a news conference Tuesday to announce his “discovery” that conflict-of-interest laws would prevent Hill from representing voters on all land use, redevelopment and zoning issues that “touch upon natural gas usage.”

“Greg Hill cannot properly serve the public,” Abelson said. “This isn’t Rick Abelson’s interpretation. This is the law. This is a (prosecutable) offense. It’s a felony.”

But Jeanette Turvill, a spokeswoman for the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said Abelson’s interpretation of the law is inaccurate. Elected officials, she said, have a conflict of interest only when it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision will have a substantial financial effect on them or their interests.

“It’s on a decision-by-decision basis,” she said. “For (Abelson) to basically say (Hill) would be prohibited from participating in all decisions isn’t quite true.”

For his part, Hill described Abelson’s demand that he withdraw from the race as “outlandish and far fetched.”

“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Abelson thinks he has to attack me,” Hill added. “I think there’s plenty of issues facing the city . . . and instead, he chooses to focus on a non-issue.”

BOMBS AWAY: The recent discovery of a bomb-like device at Torrance High School drew comment from a highly unlikely source: the Hollywood-based, I Hate Brenda Newsletter.

Newsletter editors issued a press release denouncing what appeared to be an attempt to bomb the set of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the popular television series that is filmed at the campus.

“We sincerely doubt that the I Hate Brenda Newsletter prompted such a psychotic act of terrorism,” the release said.

Editors decided to make a statement after the March 27 discovery of what appeared to be a dangerous explosive device under bleachers being used in a scene for the series. Two reporters had contacted the Hollywood newsletter for comment, apparently because of its reputation for disliking the “90210” character Brenda and the actress who plays her, Shannen Doherty.

The editors, who said they were startled by the bomb attempt, thought they should disavow any connection.

Contacted last week, associate editor Michael Carr said he was relieved that police had determined the device did not contain real explosives and that a second device that turned up at the school was a fake.

“I think we were really worried that people would see us as fostering that kind of behavior,” Carr said. The newsletter, he explained, is “not about hate; it’s exposing (Brenda) for what she really is.”

TESH LIVE: From the sound of the press release, which trumpeted “Tesh to perform live,” the event promises to be the hottest gig in Torrance since Susan Anton opened the Cultural Arts Center almost two years ago.

The fanfare is for John Tesh, co-host (with Leeza Gibbons) of TV’s “Entertainment Tonight,” the half-hour montage of celebrity gossip and sightings.

Tesh, however, won’t be doing live interviews with celebrities. Instead, he will be showing off his other talent as a new-age keyboardist--in the local PACE warehouse on Skypark Drive.

His soon-to-be-released album “Monterey Nights” follows “A Romantic Christmas,” which his publicist Richard Grant described as “hugely successful and almost gold.”

If Grant is right, “Monterey Nights,” Tesh’s seventh album, just might outdo the others. It “contains some of his most passionate and romantic compositions and was inspired by the cool November night in Monterey in 1991 when he proposed to his wife, actress Connie Sellecca,” Grant says.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“All the girls in my class say, ‘Ooooh, you touch fish guts! Yuck!’ But it doesn’t bother me. It’s fun.”

--Cora Webber, 7, who spends five afternoons a week helping her commercial fisherman father haul in the day’s catch.

LAST WEEK’S

CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Hermosa Beach: The City Council unanimously appointed businessman John Workman as city treasurer. Workman, one of five who applied for the post, will fill out the term of Gary Brutsch, who resigned earlier this month. The term expires in November, 1995.

Redondo Beach: Incoming Councilman Joseph Dawidziak and City Atty. Jerry Goddard were sworn into office during the council’s meeting last week, but the newly seated council had to postpone votes on several ordinances because only three council members were present.

THIS WEEK’S

CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Rolling Hills: The City Council will consider amending the municipal code to prohibit the use of skateboards and “similar self-propelled devices” on highways throughout the city.

Wilmington: The Wilmington Home Owners’ meeting Thursday will feature speeches from Los Angeles mayoral candidates Ernani Bernardi, Julian Nava and Joel Wachs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Banning Park Recreation Center, 1131 Eubank Ave.