Same Sex Seniors Rock for Rights

WWW.BEVERLYPRESS.COM
INSIDE
• Fairfax Theatre
undergoes historic
review. pg. 3
• WeHo hosts
womenʼs
conference. pg. 4
Sunny and
clear, with
temps around
80º
Volume 20 No. 14
Serving the West Hollywood, Hancock Park and Wilshire Communities
April 8, 2010
T-Mobile Files
Lawsuit Over
Carthay Circle
Cell Towers
Budget Woes Worsen with
Loss of DWP Funding
n Residents Still
BY EDWIN FOLVEN
Contend Equipment
Poses a Danger
L
n Mayor Proposes Cuts to Services, While City
Council Contemplates Other Measures
BY AMY LYONS
T
-Mobile has filed a lawsuit
against the City of Los
Angeles aimed at reversing a
decision made last year that
blocked the cellular phone company from placing cellular phone
antennae on top of a building at
6333 San Vicente Blvd., near an
elementary school.
The Los Angeles Planning
Commission on July 14 sided with
Carthay Circle residents, led by
activist Gene Krischer, who filed an
appeal after a zoning administrator
approved the cellular equipment
placement. The residents were
afraid the equipment would have a
negative impact on children at nearby Carthay Center Elementary
School. The appeal was granted
with the help of Councilmember
Paul Koretz, 5th District, who sided
with the Carthay Circle residents.
The appellants could not argue the
case on the basis of child safety,
because
the
Federal
Communications Commission’s
Telecommunications Act of 1996
See Lawsuit page 20
photo by Amy Lyons
Alice Herman sought help from the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center after
her partner died and she could not afford to stay in her apartment.
Same Sex Seniors
Rock for Rights
n Groups Will Take to the Streets in Hollywood
BY AMY LYONS
A
lice Herman was married
to Sylvia, for 45 years
before Sylvia’s death last
year. The two women first met in
New York, their opposite personalities serving as the basis for a
strong partnership.
“She was a gregarious ‘Village
kid’, I was a quiet, uptown col-
Heilman Rolls Lucky 7th
Term as WeHo Mayor
BY IAN LOVETT
W
hen West Hollywood
City Councilmember
John Heilman is sworn
in as mayor later this month, it
will be the seventh time he has
held the position — more than
anyone else in the city’s quartercentury history. Of the city’s five
councilmembers, Heilman alone
has been continuously involved
in city government since before
West Hollywood even incorporated as a city. As such, his career
in the city council offers a kind of
parallel with the history of the
city itself, as it has grown from
infancy to a well-entrenched
municipality.
Heilman first settled in West
Hollywood in 1981, after he
See Heilman page 22
lege girl studying to be a schoolteacher,” Herman said. “She was
everything I wasn’t and I was
everything she wasn’t, so together we were pretty okay.”
When Sylvia died last year, 73year-old Alice was devastated.
“All I could think is ‘I don’t
know who Alice is without
Sylvia’,” she said.
See March page 22
Mountain of
Money Still
Needed to
Save Peak
See Budget page 21
Cops Hot on the Trail for
Dog Tip Bandit
BY IAN LOVETT
W
photo by Edwin Folven
West Hollywood Mayor Pro
Tempore John Heilman last
served as mayor in 2006.
ith less than a week
remaining before its
exclusive deal to buy the
Cahuenga Peak property adjacent
to the Hollywood sign runs outs,
the Trust for Public Land (TPL)
still has $3 million to raise to prevent the plot from returning to the
open market and potentially being
developed.
“We’re going to make it,” said
Los Angeles City Councilmember
Tom LaBonge, 4th District, who
has worked with TPL to help raise
money for the “Save the Peak”
campaign. “It is absolutely critical
"&*%".
os Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa announced a
plan Tuesday to cut services
at city parks, libraries and other
non-essential facilities two days per
week in an effort to balance the
city’s budget. The plan would not
pertain to police and fire department services, but could affect local
senior and community centers, and
facilities like the Griffith
Observatory.
The announcement came after
the Los Angeles City Council and
the Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power (LADWP) came
to an impasse last week over rate
increases, with the city council calling for a .6-cent per kilowatt hour
increase, and the LADWP Board
calling for a .7-cent per hour
increase. Because the city council
blocked the LADWP Board’s suggested rate increase, LADWP general manager, S. David Freeman,
notified the city Monday that the
utility would not turn over $73.5
million it had previously agreed to
provide to the city, money that city
council leaders were counting on to
balance the budget. Freeman told
the council that the $73.5 would
now be needed to cover the utility’s
operating costs.
Many members of the city council balked at the mayor’s plan to
shut down city services. The council is currently looking into ways to
force the LADWP to transfer the
money, and other ways to make the
utility more accountable to city
leaders. Currently, the LADWP
operates as a quasi-governmental
agency, with its own Board of
Commissioners making decisions.
Los Angeles City Council
President Eric Garcetti said the
LADWP’s assertion that it needs
the $73.5 million to pay for operating costs is false, and added that the
decision not to transfer the money
amounts to political posturing.
“The DWP has approximately $1
billion in reserve funds and had
committed to making the transfer to
the city’s general fund, regardless
of whether or not there was a rate
increase,” Garcetti said. “The
department’s CFO testified before
the council in February saying that
this was financially feasible. This
!
$),'-$#" ' "'(,+
! ! " See Donations page 20
photo by Ian Lovett
Police are searching for a suspect who robbed Pinkʼs Hot Dogs
early Monday morning. See Page 14.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
2 April 8, 2010
9 Luis De Jesus Los
Angeles and John
Henry
Calendar
ner. Call (323)466-2210. Catalina
Jazz
Club
is
located
at
6725 Sunset Blvd.
L
uis De Jesus Los Angeles gallery
will present artist David Adey’s
“John Henry” at its Bergamot Station
location from April 9 - May 15. An
artist’s reception will be held on
Friday, April 9, from 6:00pm to
9:00pm. Named after the larger-thanlife character from American folklore,
the exhibit combines hardcover
books, clamps, sawhorses, and steel
with logic defying engineering. The
gallery is located at 2525 Michigan
Ave. Call (310) 453-7773.
12 Holocaust
Remembrance Day
T
he Museum of Tolerance will
host a Holocaust Remembrance
Day (Yom Hashoah) event on
Monday, April 12 at 11:00am. Irwin
Cotler, a Canadian member of
Parliament will discuss the Holocaust
and human rights. An international
human rights lawyer, Cotler served as
counsel to former prisoners of conscience in the former Soviet Union
and in South Africa, including Nelson
Mandela. The program will also
include a presentation by students in
the Museum of Tolerance’s Jewish
Student Leadership Initiative. RSVP
required.
Call
(310)772-2526.
Museum of Tolerance, Simon
Wiesenthal Plaza, 9786 West Pico
Blvd.
Turkey Day in April
A
new comedy, “Turkey Day”, will
premiere at The Eclectic Theatre
on Friday, April 9 at 8:00pm. The play
tells the story of Bruce and Buffy, and
the innocent family dinner that turns
into a nightmare of dysfunction.
Tickets are $15. The Eclectic Theatre,
5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Call
(818)508-3003.
10 The Marx
Brothers at The Alex
13 Small Business
Ownership for
Veterans
T
he Alex Film Society presents
two screenings of The Marx
Brothers in “A Day at the Races” on
Saturday, April 10 at 2:00pm and
8:00pm. The film will be presented in
35mm black and white. With a sanatorium under threat from a local racetrack mobster who wants to turn the
place into a casino, the Marx Brothers
must save the day. Author Joe
Adamson, who wrote “Groucho,
Chico, Harpo and Sometimes Zeppo”,
will appear at the Alex prior to the
8:00pm screening. Tickets are $13.50
general admission, with discounts for
seniors, students, children and Alex
Film Society members. The Alex
Theatre, 216 North Brand Blvd. Call
(818)754-8250.
11 It’s a
Crooked World
T
he American Cinematheque at the
Egyptian Theatre will present a
double feature of noir films on
Sunday, April 11 as part of its annual
Film Noir Festival. First up will be
O
Photo by Craig Schwartz
Left to right, Kevin Tighe and Glenn Davis star in the critically acclaimed
“Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo”, which was on stage last year at the
Kirk Douglas Theatre and is being mounted again at the Mark Taper
Forum from Wednesday, April 14-May 30. For tickets and more information, call (213)628-2772. The Mark Taper Forum is located at 135 N.
Grand Ave.
“Drive a Crooked Road”, in which
Mickey Rooney is cast against type as
a car mechanic whose craving for fast
cars and faster women steers him into
a blind alley in which there are no pit
stops. After that, check out “Walk a
Crooked Mile”, the story of an FBI
agent (Dennis O’Keefe) and a
Scotland Yard inspector (Louis
Hayward) who track a spy ring in San
Francisco. The double feature starts at
7:30pm. Tickets are $11 with discounts for students and members. Call
(323)466-3456.
The
Egyptian
Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Jazzy Love Songs
S
inging a sultry array of love
songs, Tamela D’Amico will perform at the Catalina Jazz Club on
Sunday, April 11 at 7:30pm.
Accompanied by a seven-piece band,
the singer will perform pieces from
her new DC, “Got a Little Story”.
Tickets are $20, plus a two-drink minimum. Doors open at 6:00pm for din-
Experienced, personalized, and
affordable tax and accounting services
Provides in home care
and companionship
to help you remain
independent and
happy at home.
• Tax preparation for individuals, corporations, and
partnerships/LLCs
• Tax planning for small to medium-size businesses
• Real estate investors and developers
• Tax-exempt entities, such as 501(c)(3)
and private foundations
• Bookkeeping and business planning
Please call for a free consultation.
March Special
$49 for 3 hrs.
of service to New Clients
For more information
please call
(323) 932-8700
William W. Hurtt, CPA
12011 San Vicente Blvd.,
Suite 330
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-9200
[email protected]
n Tuesday, April 13, the U.S.
Small Business Administration
has teamed up with the Veteran
Business Outreach Center and a handful of additional entities to present a
workshop on loan programs, technical
assistance and government contracting for veterans seeking small business ownership. Presentations will
include such topics as service disabled
veteran-owned businesses and VA
sponsored employment programs.
Registration begins at 3:00pm, workshop begins at 4:00pm. The VA
Hospital, 11301 Wilshire Blvd.,
Building 500. Call (818)552-3222.
Breast Cancer
Treatment
A
free public lecture on breast cancer treatment will be held at the
UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center on
Tuesday, April 13, from 7:00pm 9:00pm. Sara Hurvitz, a medical
oncologist, is actively involved in
designing and leading multiple clinical trials that are aimed at improving
the treatment of breast cancer. Hurvitz
will clarify the basic approach to systemic breast cancer management and
shed light on ongoing clinical trials
and new approaches to treatment.
Ronald Reagan Medical Center
Auditorium, B Level, Room B130,
757 Westwood Plaza. Parking on
campus costs $11. For more information, call (310)794-6644.
Student Design
Challenge
T
hos. Moser, designers and
builders of hand-crafted wood
furniture, has partnered with
FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design &
Merchandising and the Southern
California chapters of the American
Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
in the Thos. Moser student design
challenge, which will include an
awards ceremony on Tuesday, April
13. The competition is the culmination of the FIDM course “Furniture
Construction and Design” and invites
advanced students to design companion pieces to the Thos. Moser chaise.
Awards will be given at a ceremony at
the Thos. Moser Los Angeles
Showroom from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.
For
more
information,
visit
www.thosmoser.com. The showroom
is located at 8705 Washington Blvd.,
Culver City. Call (310)204-5761.
14 Student Production
of Blood Wedding
A
production of Federico Garcia
Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” will
be performed by the fourth-year theatre students from the Los Angeles
County High School for the Arts at the
Barnsdall Gallery Theatre on
Wednesday, April 14 and Thursday,
April, 15 at 7:30pm. The production
will utilize song, chant, poetry, and
music to explore the play’s themes of
love, death, passion and betrayal.
Lorca based the tragedy on a true
newspaper account of a young bride
who abandoned her groom on her
wedding day to join her lover. For
tickets, call the school at (323)3436579. Barnsdall Gallery Theatre,
inside Barnsdall Art Park, 4800
Hollywood Blvd.
Cathedral Chapel School
Kindergarten through Eighth Grade
755 South Cochran Avenue • Los Angeles, CA 90036
A Member of the Miracle Mile Community since 1930
A Catholic Education is an Advantage for Life
• Academic Decathlon Program
• Honors Math Program
STILL
• Spanish Program
ACCEPTING
• Instrumental Music Program
• Departmentalized Junior High APPLICATIONS
• Extended Day Care
• CYO Sports
• Lunch Service
• Outreach Concern Counseling Program
• Computer Lab with Internet Access
• Fully Accredited by WASC and WCEA
Call for information:
(323)938-9976
www.cathedralchapelschool.org
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
3 April 8, 2010
Theatre Will be Considered as a Historic Resource
n Buildingʼs Owner
Continues With Plan to
Build Condominiums
BY EDWIN FOLVEN
T
he Los Angeles Cultural
Heritage Commission voted
unanimously on April 8 to consider
whether the Fairfax Theatre should
be designated a cultural historic
landmark.
The decision is the first step in the
designation process for the theatre,
located at the corner of Beverly
Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The
five-member cultural heritage commission and officials from city’s
Office of Historic Resources will
now tour the theatre and hold another hearing at a later date to decide
whether the theatre should be designated a historic resource. The date
of the on-site tour and additional
hearing have not yet been set, but
the tour will likely take place during
the first week of May, and the hearing will occur either on May 20 or
June 3, according to Edgar Garcia,
preservation planner for the Office
of Historic Resources.
The owner of the building that
houses the Fairfax Theatre plans to
convert the structure into a 71-unit
condominium complex and retail
space. According to Ira Handelman,
who represents the building’s
owner, Alex Gorby, the goal is to
revitalize the corner by creating a
residential and retail complex. The
See Theatre page 21
photo by Edwin Folven
The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission will tour the Fairfax
Theatre as part of the process to determine whether it qualifies as a cultural historic landmark.
Letters to the Editor
Fairfax Theatre is
Important Part of
Historic Neighborhood
R
egarding the article titled
“Fairfax Theatre to be
Considered
as
Historic
Landmark” in the April 1 issue,
Fairfax Avenue is the most historical, sociological street in Los
Angeles. After all, where else can
you feel the atmosphere of New
York, Eastern Europe and the
Middle East, simply by taking a
stroll?
As a Southland teenager of the
1950s, the area has many memories for me. Parking cars at the
long gone Billy Gray’s Band Box,
a nightclub which was the after
hours headquarters of Mickey
Cohen, the head of L.A.’s
“Kosher Nostra”, who gave a
bonus for keeping an eye on his
bulletproof Cadillac. The neighborhood is also home to the Silent
Movie Theatre and the Fairfax
Theatre, where you could see two
features for seventy-five cents. It
is not ironic that the Fairfax
Theatre’s closing coincides with
Passover.
Eddie Cress
Sylmar
City Should Fix the
Budget Without Raising
Taxes and Fees
T
wo of the front page articles in
the April 1 issue caught my
attention, including “Hundreds
Protest Cuts to Services” and
“City Council Approves DWP
Rate Increases”.
Who can blame L.A. residents
who protest cuts to services? Your
front-page story refers to the loss
of services for children. The primary duty of our mayor and other
elected officials is to provide for
the well-being and needs of our
citizens. That implies a careful
assessment of priorities, especially in a time of economic hardship.
Certainly providing for children
has to take priority over the huge
number of bureaucrats and administrators who draw salaries from
the city’s coffers. Furthermore, astute leadership
would find ways to augment the
city’s revenues without raising
taxes and fees, but it’s a lot easier
to just increase the DWP rates. As
to the amount of the rate increase,
using the technique of “asking for
more than you hope to get” seems
to work for our mayor. At least
some of our city council members
saw through that tactic and voted
in opposition to the rate increase.
Kudos to them.
George Epstein
Detroit Street
Liquor License Article
Was Wrong About
Permit Type
R
egarding the article titled
“Liquor License Hurdle is
Hard to Overcome” in the April 1
issue, the article states that Little
Bar owner Angelo Vacco needs a
Type 41 license, which allows an
establishment to serve liquor
without also serving food. That is
incorrect, it is a Type 48 alcohol
license. An alcohol license of any
kind covers “the sale, service and
consumption” of alcohol. Type 41
covers beer, Type 42 covers beer
and wine, Type 47 covers the service of food with spirits, and Type
48 covers spirits without the service of food.
I love reading the Beverly
Press, since it fills the need for
information so well regarding
community and neighborhood
news in West Hollywood,
Hollywood and the Miracle Mile.
Jeanne Dobrin
West Hollywood
No Surprise Bowlʼs
Easter Service
Wasnʼt a Success
In regards to the article titled
“Sun Won’t Rise on Easter
Services at the Hollywood Bowl”
in the April 1 issue, let me get this
right; from the article, 700 volunteers produced a “spectacle” that
only 1,000 people attended? No
wonder it’s cancelled. When you
have almost as many volunteers as
attendees, this certainly can’t be
considered a successful event.
Jon Burrows
Have an Opinion?
Sound Off!
The Park Labrea News and
Beverly Press encourages our
readers to submit Letters to
the Editor. Letters must be
signed by the author, and a
contact phone number must
be included. If you would
like to have your opinion
heard, e-mail us at :
[email protected].
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
4 April 8, 2010
Police Say Valley and Hwd. Murders Not Connected
n Investigators Are Still
Asking for Publicʼs Help
in Both Incidents
BY EDWIN FOLVEN
D
photo courtesy of the 13th District Council Office
Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti has launched a new
app for the iPhone where residents can report problems.
Garcetti Launches Direct
Line to City Services
L
os Angeles City Council
President Eric Garcetti on
Tuesday launched “Garcetti 311”,
a new application for iPhones that
will allow users to submit photos
of potholes, graffiti and other
problems in the 13th Council
District. The application, developed by CitySourced, is a pilot
program that is designed to speed
up the time in which the city
responds to neighborhood problems.
“The new app empowers
Angelenos to improve our neighborhoods by providing a quick,
easy way of letting city government know where there are problems that need to be fixed,”
Garcetti said.
Using the “Garcetti 311” appli-
cation, users will be able to report
problems including abandoned
bicycles and vehicles, deceased
animals, bulky items, graffiti, illegal dumping, broken sidewalks
and potholes, and overgrown
trees.
The application will automatically provide the location of the
problem, simplifying the reporting
process for users. During the yearlong pilot program, Garcetti’s staff
members will submit the requests
to the appropriate city departments
for action.
The application will be made
available free of charge via iTunes
later this month. Within the next
three months, CitySourced also
expects to expand availability
soon to other mobile platforms.
etectives investigating the
murders of three members of
the same family in the Little
Armenia District of Hollywood
said there is nothing to connect the
crimes to the murders of four
Armenian men shot to death in a
North Hollywood restaurant on
April 3.
Det. Dan Myers, of the Los
Angeles Police Department’s
Robbery-Homicide Division, said
investigators have looked into the
possibility that the crimes were
connected, but found no evidence
linking the incidents.
“At this point, the only thing that
is similar is the nationality of the
victims,” Myers said. “Obviously,
we are keeping our eye on the
investigation in North Hollywood,
and we haven’t ruled anything out,
but we don’t have anything connecting the two.”
Myers said the investigations into
both crimes are in the early stages.
The four men who were killed at
the Hot Spot Café at 11651
Riverside Dr. had been dining in the
restaurant when a suspect walked
up and began shooting. Three people died at the scene, and a fourth
died later at the hospital. Two other
victims were also shot and remain
hospitalized, one in critical condition. The deceased victims were
identified as Sarkis Karadjian, 26;
Harut Baburyan, 28; Vardan
Tofalyan, 31; and Hayk Yegnanyan,
25. The names of the injured vic-
WeHo Conference Helps Women Become Leaders
BY AMY LYONS
H
elane Wilbourne will ask
women an important question
on April 11: “What’s your plan?”
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":6,7057 5:79 7+,7 5 That simple question is the starting frequently meets clients who want
point for her workshop, a goal-set- freedom, independence and the
ting seminar designed to train ability to create their own financial
women to set realistic, achievable destinies. For women, she said,
goals for everyday life and career there are some unique challenges.
pursuits. An adjunct professor at
“Women struggle with the many
the Fashion Institute of Design & roles that they play,” Wilbourne
Merchandising on the subject of said. “For many younger women
organizational bewho might be on a
havior, Wilbourne
great leadership
“Women
will take her workpath, they face the
shop to the fourth
of the
struggle with challenge
annual West Hollychildbearing ‘tickwood
Women’s the many roles ing clock’, whereas
Leadership Confmen naturally seem
that they
erence, a day-long
to create an infraevent at Plummer
structure
that
play.”
Park that includes
allows them to
networking, panel
Helane Wilbourne, focus on their
discussions
and adjunct professor at FIDM endeavors.”
workshops
for
The conference
women.
is full of varying
“I have seen men take charge in workshops and options for women
situations where they were not par- working in a slew of fields. After
ticularly knowledgeable to lead per Wilbourne mentors women in her
se, but they knew what resources leadership workshop — teaching
they would utilize and were given them how to strategize, delegate
an opportunity,” Wilbourne said. and be assertive — another power“In the same situation, I witnessed ful woman, Maxine Lapiduss, a
a woman who was capable of tak- successful producer and sit-com
ing on the challenge sit quietly and writer, will dole out tips on making
then volunteer to help. After the it in Hollywood. A participant in
fact, her perception was that her the panel discussion titled “Rising
vice president must not have seen Stars: How Women are Blazing
her as capable of leading the Trails in the Industry”, Lapiduss
charge. I very gently pointed out to educates through humor and confiher that he jumped at the challenge dence. In answer to a question
and subsequently she jumped at the about the unique challenges faced
challenge to help him.”
by women in leadership roles, she
A
consultant
for
The quipped, “I don’t know, I’ve never
Entrepreneur’s Source, a leading been a man before.”
business ownership and consulting
On a more serious note, Lapiduss
organization, Wilbourne said she is said success is about “saying yes to
excited to have the chance to work everything”.
exclusively with women at the con“That is a very powerful signal to
ference. In her daily work life, she
See Conference page 21
tims have not been released. News
reports indicated that the group had
attended a funeral earlier in the day
and then had gone to the Hot Spot
Café, but Myers said the group had
attended a memorial service for a
victim who died a year earlier in a
vehicular accident. There were
“At this point, the
only thing that is
similar is the
nationality of the
victims.”
-Det. Dan Myers, LAPD
Robbery-Homicide Division
additional people at the restaurant
at the time of the shooting, but
some fled, and others gave police
conflicting accounts of what
occurred. Investigators have said
the shooting was not random, but
have not announced a motive or
whether the shooting is gang relat-
ed. The suspect was only described
as an Armenian man who was
approximately 30 years old. Myers
said officials are working with
other agencies to gather information, but added that no official task
force has been formed.
”We have reached out to anyone
who has been working in the area,
dealing with Armenian criminal
enterprises,”
Myers
said.
“Obviously, we are looking at all
possible theories.”
Myers, who is one of the lead
detectives in the Hollywood murders, said no new information is
being made public. Karine
Hakobyan, 38, was found dead in
the driver’s seat of her Honda CRV outside her apartment in the 5800
block of Lexington Avenue on
March 26. Hakobyan was found by
her daughter, who had also discovered her father and eight-year-old
sister murdered in the family’s
apartment in the 1200 block of
Tamarind Avenue in December
2008. The victims in that case were
identified a Khachik Safaryan, 43,
and
his
daughter
Lusine.
See Murders page 21
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
6 April 8, 2010
Former Owner of Musso and Frank Passes Away
n Edith Carissimi
Helped Run Restaurant
After Her Husband Died
BY EDWIN FOLVEN
M
any people in the local community are mourning the
death of Edith Carissimi, one of the
former owners of Musso and Frank
Grill, which opened in 1919 and is
Hollywood’s oldest restaurant.
Carissimi died on March 30 at
age 95 of natural causes at her
apartment in Park La Brea. Her son,
Fred Reich, said Carissimi had been
suffering from heart disease, but her
death was unexpected. Carissimi,
who lived alone but had two caregivers, died in her sleep, according
to Reich.
Reich said his mother had not
been involved in day-to-day operations at Musso and Frank Grill for
approximately five years, but had a
50 percent ownership stake until
last October, and visited the restaurant often. In 1963, she married
Charles Carissimi, the son of
Joseph Carissimi. Joseph Carissimi
owned Musso and Frank Grill since
1926 with partner John Mosso. The
restaurant was founded in 1919 by
Frank Troulet and Joseph Musso,
who later sold it to Mosso and
Mayor Launches
L.A. Fellows
Program
S
ix individuals have been named
as Los Angeles City Fellows, a
first-of-its-kind program to bring
top young talent from the business
sector into city government.
They include Alida GarciaOkoebor, a litigation associate who
primarily focuses on commercial
disputes and labor and employment
law; Jeremiah Jackson, a project
manager who was involved in the
City of Sacramento’s effort to build
a new arena for its NBA franchise;
David Kim, who has worked as a
senior
associate
at
PricewaterhouseCoopers and a
junior analyst for Bear, Stearns &
Co.; David Reich, an Iraq War
Veteran who served as an intelligence officer with a Navy SEAL
Team; Peter Vu, a private equity
associate with American Capital
who specialized in investment
analyses and financial performance; and Nicole Williams, a
business development manager for
Chatsworth-based Gigapix Studios.
The program was created by
United Way of Los Angeles, which
will manage and oversee the effort.
Fellows will work full-time fora
period of up to two years.
Each fellow will gain practical
experience in the strategy and planning between city government and
the business community. Fellows
will be assigned specific projects in
areas such as green-technology job
creation, new business retention,
and redeveloping the city’s disadvantaged communities. Fellows
will also acts as liaisons between
the business community and the
Mayor’s Office of Economic and
Business Policy.
“The Los Angeles City Fellows
program is a shining example of
what we can accomplish when we
think outside the box,” Los Angeles
Mayor Villaraigosa said. “This
public-private partnership is a great
example of a collaborative effort
among city stakeholders.”
Carissimi. When Charles Carissimi
died in 1969, Edith stepped in to
help run the restaurant with Mosso.
After he died in 1974, she operated
the restaurant with Mosso’s daughter, Rose Keegel.
Carissimi worked at the restaurant nearly every day for nearly
four decades, and did just about
everything, from greeting guests to
running the office, according to
Ricky Kaye, the long time bookkeeper for Musso and Frank Grill.
“Everyone should have an Edith
Carissimi in their life. I was one of
the lucky ones,” Kaye said. “Mrs.
Carissimi was one of those people
you thought would always be there.
I visited her at home the Thursday
before she passed away, and we had
a wonderful visit. She had a very
long and fascinating life.”
Musso and Frank, which is located at 6667 Hollywood Blvd., has
been part of the Hollywood scene
for more than 90 years. During the
1920s through ‘40s, it was a gathering place for many high-profile
people from the entertainment
industry. Their clientele included
Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford,
Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis
and Cesar Romero, among others.
The restaurant was also often frequented by famous authors of the
See Carissimi page 21
photo courtesy of Frank Reich
Edith Carissimi, one of the former owners of Musso and Frank Grill, once
received a commendation from former City Councilman, Michael Woo.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
8 April 8, 2010
Thousands to Commemorate Holocaust Victims
S
everal observances of Yom
Hashoah,
or
Holocaust
Remembrance Day, are being held
on Sunday, April 11.
Thousands of people are expected to gather at the Los Angeles
Holocaust memorial in Pan Pacific
Park on April 11 at 1:45pm for an
annual Yom Hashoah observance
sponsored by the Los Angeles
Holocaust Museum, the Jewish
Federation of Greater Los
Angeles, Second Generation and
Jewish World Watch. The keynote
speaker will be Ambassador Dan
Gillerman, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations
from January 2003 to August
2008. The Los Angeles Holocaust
Monument is located on the north
side of Pan Pacific Park, near
Beverly Boulevard. Call (310)821-
photo by Edwin Folven
The Los Angeles Holocaust Memorial in Pan Pacific Park will be the site
of an annual Yom Hashoah observasnce.
9919 or (310)280-5010 for information.
The City of West Hollywood is
also hosting a Yom Hashoah
observance on April 11 at 5:00pm
in Fiesta Hall at Plummer Park,
7377 Santa Monica Blvd. The
event will commemorate individuals who perished during the
Holocaust, and will recognize people throughout the world who have
faced hate and violence. The program will include a musical theatre
performance of “The Kingdom of
Night”, which is based on the writings of Elie Wiesel. After the program, a candlelight ceremony will
take place in Plummer Park at the
Babi Yar Memorial, which commemorates people who lost their
lives during World War II at Babi
Yar, located near Kiev, Ukraine.
For information, contact Liz Tran
at (323)848-6307, or visit
www.weho.org.
In addition, Mt. Sinai Simi
Valley will host a Yom Hashoah
observance on April 11 at
10:00am. The keynote speaker
will be Rabbi Yakov Vann, who
will discuss “Spiritual Heroism in
the Holocaust”. The observance
will also include a display of Mt.
Sinai Shoah Quilts, and a procession to the Grove of Righteous
Rescuers. Mt. Sinai Simi Valley is
located at 6150 Mt. Sinai Dr. For
information, call (866)717-4624,
or visit www.mountsinaiparks.org.
LGBT Groups Call for Changes to Census Form
C
WeHo Hosts
ʻRussian Styleʼ
Festival
T
he City of West Hollywood will
host the 5th annual “Russian
Style Festival”awards presentation
on Wednesday, April 14 from 6:00
to 9:00pm at Crystal Restaurant,
7901 Santa Monica Blvd.
Individuals, businesses and organizations that have had a positive
impact on the lives of members of
West Hollywood’s Russian-speaking community will be honored.
Guest speakers will include West
Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land;
two-time gold medal Olympic ice
dance champion Oksana Grishuk;
and host Stephen T. Nelson.
For more information or to
RSVP, contact Tatiana Rodzinek at
(323)848-6826,
or
visit
www.weho.org.
Kors, executive director of EQCA,
said the absence of questions about
sexual orientation in the census
could translate into fewer resources
being devoted to services for the
LGBT community. Data collected
in the census is used to determine
the number of seats allocated in the
House of Representatives, as well
as the distribution of federal funding for hospitals, job training centers, schools, public works projects
and emergency services. For information, visit www.eqca.org.
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plant sale
iting a lack of representation in
the current census, members of
the LGBT community are urging
the federal government to include
questions about sexual orientation
and gender identity in the next census. Senator Christine Kehoe, 39th
District, recently introduced a joint
resolution calling on the United
States Congress and President
Barack Obama to revise the census
survey and to collect data identifying LGBT individuals.
“LGBT families and households
are disproportionately under
served, and more likely to live in
poverty,” Kehoe said. “We call on
the U.S. Congress and the president
to ensure that every person living in
the U.S. is counted and has access
to culturally competent health and
human services.”
The resolution, SJR 28, is also
sponsored by Equality California
(EQCA), an advocacy organization
for the LGBT community. Geoff
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Repaving Project Makes for
Smoother Ride on Beverly
photo courtesy of the Fourth District Council Office
Work is under way on a repaving project on Beverly Boulevard.
BY EDWIN FOLVEN
A
section of Beverly Boulevard
between Rossmore Avenue
and Wilton Place is currently
being repaved, and officials with
the Bureau of Street Services
expect the work to be completed
within a couple of weeks.
David Ronge, a superintendant
for the Bureau of Street Services,
said the repaving is one of three
projects planned for Beverly
Boulevard that will be completed
by June 30, the end of the city’s
current fiscal year. They include
repaving a stretch between
Normandie Avenue and Kingsley
Drive, and between Kingsley
Drive and Western Avenue. Two
of the projects are being paid for
with Metropolitan Transportation
Authority Proposition C funds,
which come from a half-cent
countywide sales tax measure
passed in 1990, while the third
will be funded by federal stimulus
funds.
Ronge said the work on
Beverly will be done during
weekdays, and during periods that
will not affect rush hour traffic.
He added that lanes will be provided for through traffic.
Los Angeles City Councilman
Tom LaBonge, 4th District, said
he hopes the repaving of Beverly
Boulevard will make commuting
somewhat easier.
“We’ve been re-filling potholes
on Beverly Boulevard for years,
so I’m glad we’re finally able to
the right thing and re-surface it
properly,” LaBonge said. “I hope
everyone in the Wilshire area will
be patient with us as the project
progresses.”
Plans to repave sections of
Third Street and Wilshire
Boulevard remain uncertain, as
there are currently no funds available.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
9 April 8, 2010
The ʻTitansʼ Donʼt as Much
ʻClashʼ as Crash and Burn
L
et’s get something out of the
way up front: the 1981 “Clash
of the Titans” wasn’t all that great,
its top-of-the-line, stop-motion
effects juxtaposed with a rigid storyline. The 2010 remake captures
the jumbled spirit of the original,
with just as campy a presentation.
That said, I can’t deny the film’s
generic entertainment value,
despite poor performances.
Greek mythology is back for its
second time this year. We’re
reminded of the tension between
the gods and brothers, Zeus (Liam
Neeson) and Hades (Ralph
Fiennes). Zeus is just a little mad
at his finest creation, humanity,
for their lack of gratitude towards
his gift of life. So against his better judgment, the god of gods
decides to unleash his bro on the
world of the living – a nice change
of pace for the lord of the underworld – in order to punish them
and force their faith back into the
hands of the gods. But Zeus’ offspring, the demigod Perseus (Sam
Worthington), who is thought to
be dead, begrudgingly becomes
the champion of the people, trying
to find a way to destroy the evil
creature that even the gods fear,
the Kraken. Sure, the premise is
the same as the original but the
road there is very different. Expect
a couple of sequels.
Director Louis Leterrier really
needs to attend some acting classes so he can better understand how
to direct his cast. “Clash” doesn’t
respect any of the big names that
grace the screen. Jason Flemyng,
as Calibos, doesn’t get enough
screen time do anything substan-
On Screen
WITH
TIM POSADA
tial. It’s hard to make out Liam
Neeson’s face with the surplus of
CGI glow emulating from his costume. And let’s not forget Ralph
Fiennes, who proved his villainy
as Voldermort in the “Harry
Potter” films; he walks like
Quasimodo and talks like he’s on
his sixth pack of cigarettes for the
day. Sam Worthington has already
proven himself an actor worth following, and as Perseus he is ade-
The visual high
point comes
with the attack
of 30-foot
scorpions.
quate, however he never really
comes into his own as a warrior—
something they might be saving
for future films. The best characters are Io (Gemma Arterton), a
cross between god and human
courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Sam Worthington stars as the mighty demigod, Perseus, who is the last
living hope for humankind in the new version of “Clash of the Titans”.
cursed with agelessness, and the
Agrivian soldier Draco (Mads
Mikkelsen), each bringing something new to the story not present
in the original.
This is cotton candy entertainment; you see it and want to feel
that sweet nostalgia melt in your
mouth, but when it’s over all you
have left is a queasy stomach and
maybe some heartburn. The CGI
is mostly adequate. The visual
high point comes with the attack
of 30-foot scorpions, with the next
best visual big bang happening
when the Kraken demolishes a
city. The special effects low point
is Medusa…everything about her.
“Clash of the Titans” is at its best
when each fantastical creature is
unveiled, and at its worst when
characters talk about their feelings
between battles or while they sit
by fires in the woods.
Lately, films about mythology –
Greek, Norse, and the fantasy
genre as a whole – haven’t been
able to capture the same spirit of
imagination found in the source
material. Humanity’s role in the
cosmos isn’t a boring topic, yet
filmmakers seem to lack the awe
necessary to create a world that
goes beyond the limits of the
photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Medusa turns any man who looks her in the eye to stone, an evil talent
that makes her the ultimate weapon in the new re-make of “Clash of the
Titans”.
physical. “Clash of the Titans”
suffers from an insufficient understanding of Zeus’ dominion, and
feels too much like a mathematical equation that just wants to get
from A and B to end at C. If only
Leterrier read a little more Dr.
Seuss and watched fewer 3-D
tutorials.
“Clash of the Titans” could take
“Percy Jackson” in a fight but
really it’s not as much a fight worthy of the gods as a schoolyard
brawl over who’s king of the playground.
But as for the roller coaster
effect, it’ll keep you going until
the end.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
10 April 8, 2010
New Affordable Housing
Complex Opens in WeHo
photo by Richard Settle
West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land (left), Los Angeles County
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District, and Robin Conerly, executive director of the West Hollywood Community Housing
Corporation (WHCHC), celebrated the grand opening of the Sierra
Bonita Apartments in West Hollywood on April 3. The WHCHC built
the Sierra Bonita Apartments, which is the cityʼs first development
designed for low‐income individuals with special needs. The complex features 42 one-bedroom apartments over ground-floor retail
space. The building, which is located at the corner of Sierra Bonita
Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, is also the first all‐affordable,
mixed-use project in the Eastside Redevelopment Area of West
Hollywood. For information, call (323)874‐0018, or visit
www.whchc.org.
Dining With Angels
photo by Richard Settle
West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land (right) on Monday presented a
proclamation to Kim Crabtree of Project Angel Food, in recognition of
“Dining Out for Life”. The annual fundraising event for Project Angel
Food will be held on April 29 and features food from restaurants throughout the local area. For information, visit www.diningoutforlifela.org.
LAUSD Aims Koretz Visits Hope on Easter
to Strengthen
Adult
Education
T
he Great Cities Summit, a
joint federal initiative sponsored by the National Institute for
Literacy and the Department of
Education’s Office of Vocational
and Adult Education, has selected the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD) as one
of five urban areas that will present best practices for providing
adult education with an emphasis
on reading instruction.
“Reading is the gateway to
lifelong learning,” said Los
Angeles Unified School District
Superintendent
Ramon
C.
Cortines. “We are aware of a high
illiteracy rate among adults who
live within our boundaries and
we want them to know that
LAUSD is here to help them.” Expertise will be shared during
the meetings scheduled this year
and during 2011 in five cities.
New York, Chicago, Miami and
Houston also were selected
recently following a national
competition. The Great Cities
Summit will convene leading
educators who will assess their
city’s adult education needs, create action plans to address them,
learn about available federal
resources to support implementation of these plans, form supportive partnerships, and establish a
network for collaborative peer
learning.
A major goal of the Great
Cities Summit initiative is to ultimately support teachers in
expanding their knowledge of
adult reading acquisition and
strengthening their skills in
teaching
reading.
Through a series of summit meetings, this initiative will explore
the needs and concerns of adult
education students, teachers and
local program administrators in
large, urban settings.
For more information on the
program, visit www.nifl.org.
photo Courtesy of the Fifth District Council Office
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz (center), 5th District, was
honored prior to Easter services at Hope Lutheran Church in
Hollywood last Sunday, and was joined by Hope Lutheranʼs pastor,
Mark Rasbach (left), and congregation member Carl Terzian.
Koretz was recognized for recently helping to secure additional
parking around the church at 6720 Melrose Ave. during Sunday
services.
Learning Center Founder Honored
photo courtesy of Lee Salem
The Puente Learning Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to
providing tuition-free education programs to people of all ages,
recently honored its founder, Sister Jennie Lechtenberg, at its 25th
Anniversary Gala at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Lechtenberg
(left) was pictured with Los Angeles City Councilman Tom
LaBonge, 4th district. The evening also included the presentation of
the inaugural Puente Learning Center Community Service Award to
Fran Inman, president of the Majestic Realty Foundation. For information, visit www.puente.org.
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Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
11 April 8, 2010
ʻThe Arsonistsʼ Lights Witty,
Provocative Fire on Stage
Mad About Theater
O
ne of the values of Theatre of
the Absurd is that the play, the
playwright, the production, and the
players can get away with almost
anything because it’s hard to take
seriously something that seems so
nonsensical on the surface - words,
thoughts and actions that would be
shunned, banned, or considered
libelous, obscene, or merely actionable in a serious context. Laughter
removes the sting from hate-speak,
whether it’s culturally, racially, ethically or even personally obnoxious, violent, vile or just plain hurtful. Taking his cue from The
Absurdists, Max Frisch, a Swiss
architect who’d sat on the sidelines
during the rise of Nazi Germany
found his interest in architecture
fading as he began to contemplate
the apathy and non-confrontational
stance taken by Europeans during,
and after the anschluss (annexation
of previously sovereign States) by
the Nazis from 1938 and on. His
play, “Biederman and The
Firebugs”, first performed in 1958,
was inspired by the complacency
and tolerance of the rest of Europe
for Hitler’s stride across Europe on
his way to world domination.
Alistair Beaton’s translation of
by Madeleine Shaner
‘Firebugs’, titled “The Arsonists”
was first produced in 2007. It deals
with the contemporary complacency of those who have eyes, but will
not see how history might repeat
itself over and over. There’s plenty
of laughter in this smart play, but
it’s fear-tinged.
Mr. Beidermann, in an exceptionally stunning performance by
Norbert Weisser, is an upright businessman and a gentleman, who is
protective of his home and his family, which includes Babette, his
competent, but nervous wife (an
affecting and very real Beth
Hogan), and a sterling, if cheeky
maid, Anna (a perkily smart Diana
Cignoni). Everyone’s a little nervous these days – it’s the ‘50s, or
possibly the present – and there are
reports of arsonists in the neighborhood. The local Fire Department,
photo by Ron Sossi.
Left to right: Chantal DeGroat, Diana Cignoni, Alan Abelew, Beth
Hogan, Eric Losoya and Cary Thompson show up with an excellent
ensemble effort in “The Arsonists”.
doubling as The Chorus (Alan
Abelew, Chantal DeGroat, Eric
Losoya, Cary Thompson, John
Achorn, Ron Botitta, Cignoni and
Hogan), is spending sleepless
nights futilely fighting fires in the
upper class neighborhood, which
they rarely get to before it’s too late.
They’re also the class clowns, readier to stumble over their own feet
than put out fires. Achorn (hilarious
in a scary way), is also the schlobby intruder who alarmingly makes
himself at home in Beidermann’s
house, while Bottita, utterly splen-
Director Ron
Sossi takes
armed control
of this
fascinating
play, scaring us
even as
we laugh.
did as Eisenring, a suitably overbearing Head Waiter, prepares to
serve a very untasty surpise for the
heretofore secure and happy homesteaders. All that’s needed is the
Beidermanns’ consent!
Director Ron Sossi takes armed
control of this fascinating play,
scaring us even as we laugh, shudder, and maybe even pray that our
own attics be not infested with firebugs, and that we might be more
counter-active
than
the
Biedermanns if push ever came to
shove… or at least have the sense
to hide the matches.
Sossi gets great mobility and vigorous cooperation from his actordriven collaborative ensemble in
this witty and fascinating production; super set design co-operation
from Birgitte Moos; great lighting
design by Adam Blumenthal;
excellent costumes by Kathryn
Poppen; and solid sound by Sean
Kozma.
Don’t hesitate to consider the
photo by Ron Sossi.
From left to right, Ron Bottitta and Norbert Weisser star in “The
Arsonists”.
possibilities, and don’t hesitate to
see the play.
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble,
2055 South Sepulveda Blvd.
Wednesday through Saturday
8:00pm, Sunday 2:00pm, through
May 23. (310)477-2055 or
www.odysseytheatre.com.
Visit Hollywood For New
Deals and Discounts
L
os Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa launched the
new “Visit Hollywood 2010”
program on April 1 at the
Universal Hilton hotel. The program promotes tourism in Los
Angeles by celebrating landmark anniversaries, the opening
of new attractions, the introduction of new and remodeled
hotels and two new websites
offering discounts and special
offers to visitors. The Los
Angeles Convention and
Visitors Bureau and the
Hollywood
Chamber
of
Commerce have teamed up for
the campaign, which will offer
special discounts throughout the
year from participating businesses. The program coincides
with the 75th Anniversary of
Starline Tours, the 50th
Anniversary of the Hollywood
Walk of Fame, the recent opening of Madame Tussauds
Hollywood,
the
25th
Anniversary of the music
world’s landmark Rock Walk,
and the opening of the new
“King Kong 360 3D Created by
Peter Jackson” attraction.
Information, discounts and travel packages are available at
www.ExperienceHollywood.co
m and the official visitors information website of Los Angeles
www.discoverLosAngeles.com.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
12 April 8, 2010
RESTAURANT
NEWS
and Spirits, will serve a special,
prix fixe menu featuring cuisine
and wine inspired by works of art.
Influences for the artful dishes
include Fernando Botero, Laddie
John Dill, Damien Hirst, Helen
Lundeberg, Andre Masson and
Andy Warhol. The dinner starts at
6:30pm and costs $150 per person.
Reservations
required.
Call
(310)432-2000. Cecconi’s, 8764
Melrose Ave.
Art Meets
Fine Dining
T
he West Hollywood Avenues of
Art & Design and the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art
(LACMA) is pairing fine art with
fine food. On Monday, April 12,
chef Andrea Cavaliere and sommelier Stacie Hunt, of Du Vin Wine
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o help make Tax Day a little
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flavors – cinnacake classic, chocolate passion, vanilla bliss and 24carrot cake – and chase your filing
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online essay contest through April
15 for the chance to win a $100 gift
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needs more frosting. Visit
www.cinnabon.com to find a
Cinnabon location near you.
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s millions of Americans rush
to file tax returns by April 15,
Morton’s The Steakhouse is giving
certified public accounts (CPAs)
something to look forward to.
Morton’s has designated Thursday,
April 16, as CPA Appreciation Day
and is offering CPAs the chance to
win a complimentary steak and
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of the tax season. To enter the contest, CPAs can call Morton’s
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Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
California Food & Wine Festival
will create an array of culinary
experiences for guests of every
palate from April 16-May 31 at
Disney’s California Adventure
park and select locations across
the Disneyland Resort. Chefs,
winemakers and brew masters
will be at this year’s tantalizing
festival, which features entertaining culinary demonstrations, outstanding wine and spirits seminars, and delicious food, wine and
beer. This year marks the fifth
annual event, and will include
demonstrations featuring food
experts and celebrity chefs Guy
Fieri, Cat Cora and Robert Irvine
of the “Food Network,” as well as
Jeffrey Saad, Kerry Simon and
more. Daily educational and
interactive seminars on wine,
beer and spirits will be part of the
fun, as will a Riedel glass tasting
during which experts explain why
and how the glass matters when
properly experiencing wine. Find
out about all the fun by calling
(714)781- 4565.
Winemakers
Dinner at Los
Olivos
T
he Los Olivos Wine
Merchant & Café will host a
Spring Wine Maker Dinner on
Friday, April 16, at 6:00pm. The
featured winemaker will be Sam
Marmorstein, founder of Bernat
Vineyards & Winery, one of the
smallest wine producers in Santa
Barbara County, with an organically certified vineyard on a 10acre ranch in Los Olivos. The
menu includes Bernat 2006
chardonnay paired with housesmoked trout with green apple,
preserved lemon, fennel, wild
arugula, and jalapeno vinaigrette;
Bernat 2007 pinot noir accompanied by grilled loin of ahi tuna
with roasted organic tomatoes,
soy glazed wild mushrooms, and
haricot verts; and Bernat 2007
cowboy cuvee and 2005 Syrah
with leg of spring lamb smoked
over Bernat wine barrels with Los
Olivos carrot puree, minted peas,
and Syrah jus. Seating is by
advance reservation only. The
cost is $95 per person including
tax and gratuity. Call (805)6887265 ext. 214. Located in the
heart of Santa Barbara County’s
wine country at 2879 Grand
Ave., downtown Los Olivos.
13 April 8, 2010
Great Subs on Melrose:
All About the Bread
Godfather, there are plenty of other
options at All About The Bread. The
meatball sub is served with sauce on
the side, so customers can choose
how much marinara they want on
their bread. The hot pastrami is
another popular pick, and the turkey
comes with cracked pepper seasoning. Alongside the meats in the deli
case sit an array of salads and sides,
including a Mediterranean artichoke and cheese offering with
black olives, sundried tomatoes, red
and green peppers, feta cheese and
Greek dressing. The rustic tomato
with cucumber and feta cheese is
Kudos for South
Coast Winery
S
outh Coast Winery won some
nice awards in recent weeks
from the Jerry D. Mead New
World
International Wine
Competition. The winery won 17
accolades, including two best of
varietal awards, two best of class
awards and nine silver awards,
the latter of which includes wins
for the 2008 South Coast Winery
GVR; 2008 South Coast Winery
Chardonnay San Chene; 2008
South Coast Winery South Coast
Roussanne; and 2008 South
Coast Winery Semillon. The
winery is on the grounds of
South Coast Winery Resort &
Spa located at 34843 Rancho
California Road, Temecula.
South Coast Winery Resort &
Spa, 34843 Rancho California
Rd., Temecula. Call (951)5879463.
Dining Out for Life
M
ake a reservation and go
out to eat on Thursday,
April 29, when leading restaurants around Los Angeles County
will come together in support of
the work of Project Angel Food
by participating in “Dining Out
for Life”. The event is an annual
one-day fundraiser hosted by
Subaru, held at more than 3,500
restaurants throughout the country to benefit HIV/AIDS service
providers. Participating restaurants in Los Angeles will donate
25 percent or more of their sales
to benefit Project Angel Food
which cooks and delivers free
meals to homebound people
struggling with serious illnesses.
Participating restaurants include
Hamburger Mary’s, Vermont,
Kitchen 24, Buddha’s Belly and
more. For a complete list of
restaurants, visit www.diningoutforlifela.org or call (323)8451800 ext. 234.
photo by Amy Lyons
“”The Godfather” lives up to its name, piled high with fresh Italian cold
cuts by Boarʼs Head.
BY AMY LYONS
M
ove over Subway, there’s a
new hoagie store in town. It’s
All About the Bread, at the northwest corner of Melrose and LaBrea
Avenues, next to Pinkberry, pulls
freshly baked bread out of the oven
every 30 minutes on a daily basis.
What this means to customers is
incredibly fresh sandwiches served
fast.
The bread has a slightly crispy
exterior and a good deal of bulk.
Not your average sub roll, it stands
up to the sog factor, soaking in oils
and other spreads without wilting.
The king of all subs at this deli is
aptly titled The Godfather, and it’s
certainly fit for even the bulkiest of
“dons”. Piled high with Boar’s
Head meats, this baby is a large
slice of sandwich heaven. Spicy
capocollo, mortadella, prosciutto
di parma, ham, and provolone all
go into this scrumptious sub, and if
you add “the works” – a smattering
of mild or medium Chicago style
peppers, mustard, vegan mayo, oil,
lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions
– you’ll feel an explosion of textures and flavors in your mouth
that is unforgettable. The Chicago
style peppers are a particularly
tasty topping, so don’t skip these
zesty little numbers.
The space is a simple deli style
restaurant, with a half dozen tables
inside and about as many on the
small patio. It’s an uncluttered,
extremely clean place, with no garishness and a comfortable spaciousness. The menu is neatly
scripted on a chalkboard behind
the counter and another chalkboard
boasts daily specials. An orderly
arrangement of baskets is filled
with chips and cookies. Big chocolate chip cookies are freshly baked
on site, and the soda shelf includes
specialty items made with pure
cane sugar instead of the
omnipresent high fructose corn
syrup.
If you’re not up for The
The bread has
a slightly crispy
exterior and a
good deal
of bulk.
bursting with flavor, as is the
creamy dill potato salad.
It isn’t easy to find a truly great
sandwich along this stretch of
Melrose Avenue, and All About the
Bread fills the gap nicely. There are
plenty of places to munch a great
salad, or get a full-on dinner offering, but no one does a sandwich
quite as well as this tiny, tidy deli. If
you’re lucky, you might even snag
one of the eight or ten parking spots
out front.
A small sub is $6.50, a large is
$8.50, bargain prices for a quality
lunch. Call (323)930-8989. 7111
Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
14 April 8, 2010
March 28
POLICE BLOTTER
The following information was reported to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station
between March 22 and March 30, 2010. If you are a victim of a crime, here are
the telephone numbers of local law enforcement agencies; Los Angeles Police
Department, Wilshire Division (323)485-4022 and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department West Hollywood Station (310)855-8850.
WEST HOLLYWOOD
PROPERTY CRIME
March 22
After leaving his $1,000 laptop
computer and other items unattended atop a table at a restaurant
in the 7100 block of Santa Monica,
a man discovered at 8:00pm that
an unknown thief had stolen all of
the items.
March 23
At 8:04am, following an arrest for
being under the influence of a controlled substance in the 1200 block
of La Brea, a Caucasian male suspect was later additionally charged
with burglary after stolen items
were found in his backpack.
An unknown female suspect was
observed shoplifting food items
from a market in the 9000 block of
Beverly and then fleeing in a vehicle at 3:15am.
March 24
At 4:28pm, a woman reported that
while recently at a nightclub in the
7900 block of Santa Monica, an
unknown thief stole her unattended
handbag containing a digital camera, cellular phone, credit card,
identification and cash. The loss
was estimated at about $760.
At a nightclub in the 8400 block of
Sunset at 11:30pm, an unknown
thief stole a manʼs wallet containing
identification, credit cards, cash
and miscellaneous items, all valued at about $1,190.
March 25
During the night, an unknown thief
stole a microphone, valued at
$3,500, from a recording studio in
the 7200 block of Santa Monica.
At 5:45am, an unknown thief stole
a laptop computer, cellular phone
and portable backup drive from a
locker at a health club in the 8600
block of Santa Monica.
March 26
While standing on the sidewalk in
the 900 block of Hayworth at
12:40am, three women were
robbed at gunpoint by two
unknown African-American male
suspects who took the womenʼs
purses, cellular phones, identification, credit cards, cash and miscellaneous items and fled in a vehicle
driven by a third unknown male
suspect. The loss was estimated
at about $910.
At 12:00pm, an unknown thief stole
a cash bag containing about
$1,112 from the reception desk
drawer at a business in the 600
block of Huntley.
During the afternoon, an unknown
thief stole a bicycle and locks from
the subgarage of an apartment
complex in the 900 block of
Hayworth.
At 9:05pm, as she walked on the
sidewalk in the 1000 block of Croft,
a woman was robbed at gunpoint
by an unknown Caucasian male
suspect who took the victimʼs
purse containing identification,
credit cards, cash and miscellaneous items all valued at about
$370.
March 27
During the night, an unknown thief
stole a bicycle, golf clubs and roller
blades from a storage locker in the
subgarage of an apartment building in the 1300 block of Harper.
The loss was estimated at about
$2,560.
A man reported at 2:20am that
while he was at a club in the 8800
block of Santa Monica, an
unknown thief stole his cellular
phone and wallet from his pants
pocket. The loss was estimated at
about $450.
At 11:00am, an unknown thief stole
a wallet, containing about $300
cash and identification, from atop a
couch in a residence in the 900
block of Curson.
Five unknown African-American
male suspects defrauded an
innkeeper after leaving a restaurant
in the 8400 block of Fountain at
8:30pm without paying their $72
food bill.
Burglars Sneak into Downtown Loft
Two suspects managed to bypass
a security door to a downtown loft
building and then walk into three
different, occupied lofts on March
31, according to Los Angeles Police
Department officials.
“This close call is a reminder for
all residents to follow security protocols, like verifying someone’s
right to access before granting them
entry,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of detectives for the
Central Police Station. “The most
expensive, high-tech system can be
ineffective simply by someone
holding a door open for a stranger.
That puts your whole building at
risk.”
At the Nabisco Lofts, while
workmen fixed pipes outside the
building, a man in his forties and a
woman in her thirties entered the
building as a resident was leaving.
In the next few minutes, the intruders walked into three separate lofts
only to find someone present each
time. They left without taking any
property.
Police warn residents to lock
their doors even when home and
check the peep hole before opening
the door. “Had these doors been locked,
the burglars might have knocked to
see if someone was home before
trying to bypass the lock. If a resi-
During the night, unknown thieves
broke into an ATM at a business in
the 8900 block of Santa Monica
and stole about $6,800 cash and
caused about $600 damage to the
machine.
At 11:12am, at a business in the
8200 block of Santa Monica, a
Caucasian male employee was
observed stealing $97 from the
cash register.
An unknown thief stole a menʼs
bicycle, valued at $500, from the
parking structure of an apartment
building in the 1300 block of
Harper at 9:00pm.
At 9:30pm, a man reported that
unknown thieves had stolen a table
and two chairs from the patio area
of his condominium. The loss was
estimated at about $250.
March 29
While at a nightclub in the 8900
block of Santa Monica, a man left
his purse unattended in the patio
area of the club. At 1:20am, he
discovered an unknown thief had
stolen the purse and had fled on
foot.
March 30
At 8:25am, a business owner
reported that an unknown burglar
had broken into the business in the
900 block of Fairfax and stolen a
laptop computer, valued at about
$2,500, and caused about $400
damage to a glass door.
A man reported at 11:30pm that an
unknown thief had stolen his
locked bicycle, valued at$ 1,500,
from the parking garage of his
apartment building in the 1200
block of Flores.
During the week, ten suspects
were arrested for burglary or theft
after being observed shoplifting at
local markets and retail businesses.
During the week, thirteen vehicles
were burglarized by unknown suspects. Total estimate of damage
and articles taken was $25,190.
During the week, four vehicles
were stolen by unknown thieves.
During the week, eight reported
stolen vehicles were recovered and
the owners notified.
During the week, eighteen vehicles
were impounded for thirty days
since they were being driven by an
unlicensed driver or a person with
a suspended or revoked license.
dent calls through the door, the burglar will usually make an excuse
and leave.”
The man was described as bald,
nearly six-feet-tall, and more than
250 pounds, wearing glasses. The
woman was five-feet-six-inches
tall, 180 pounds, with braided hair
and wearing high-top shoes. They
drove away in a black Chevy
Avalanche.
Anyone with information on this
crime is urged to call Detective
Mike Mazzacano, Central Burglary
Unit, at (213)972-1231. TÇwÜxã YÜ|xwÅtÇ
Attorney at Law
Business Law • Personal Injury
Wills • Probate
124 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 931-2476
(323) 656-5847
(Fax (323) 931-7514
Gunman Tries to Rob Pinkʼs Hot
Dogs, Steals Employeeʼs Tips
E
arly in the morning, on April
5, a suspect robbed Pink’s
Hot Dogs, the landmark stand at
the corner of La Brea Avenue and
Melrose Avenue.
At 3:00am, Los Angeles Police
Department Wilshire Division
officers received a radio call to
investigate a robbery in the 700
block of North La Brea Avenue.
Two employees were closing the
business and walking out the rear
door when they saw a male suspect crouched behind a chair in
the rear patio area.
The suspect approached them
with a handgun, and ordered
them to open the door to the business and allow him entry.
The suspect then forced the
employees to lead him to the safe.
Once at the safe, the employees
told the suspect that they did not
know the combination. The suspect demanded money from the
employees, and one of the
employees handed the suspect a
twenty-dollar bill. The suspect
then told the employees not to
move or he would shoot them and
left the business.
The employees were not able
to see if the suspect left on foot or
in a car.
The suspect is described as an
African-American male, approximately five-feet-eight-inches tall,
weighing 170 pounds, and about
30 years old. He was wearing a
black jacket, black jeans, and a
gray ski cap with a handkerchief
over his face.
Anyone with information
about this crime is asked to call
Wilshire
Area
Robbery
Detectives at (213)473-0154.
Sting at Downtown Library Nabs
iPod Thief, Sends Message
A
43-year-old career criminal
was arrested on April 1 in a
sting operation at the downtown
Central Library, after he swiped an
iPod, placed on a table by an undercover cop.
“Thefts at the library are too
commonplace, and we want to send
a message to thieves: think twice
before you take someone’s stuff,”
said Lt. Paul Vernon.
Undercover officers cased the
library over several days, talking to
security officers and watching
patrons, to figure out the best, or
worst, place to set one’s computer,
iPod or purse. “In this instance, it
was a third-floor end table, near the
bathrooms and elevators, around
5:00pm,” Vernon explained.
An undercover officer set a laptop on the table and an iPod on top
of the computer, then walked away.
In a matter of minutes, Anthony
Eugene Johnson nonchalantly
picked up the iPod and placed it in
his jacket pocket. Officers followed him through the library for
several minutes then arrested him
when he sat down with his own laptop. The officers discovered the
iPod among the bookshelves where
Johnson had stashed it.
The detectives booked Johnson
on a felony for committing a petty
theft with a prior conviction. His
bail was set at $20,000.
In 2009, thefts at the Central
Library jumped from 35 to 47, a 35
percent increase. Bike thefts more
than doubled to eight for the year.
The most common items taken at
the library were personal electronic
gadgets: laptops, iPods, and cell
phones. For the first 3 months of
2010, thefts at the library have
dropped from 16 last year to 9 this
year. Four patrons have discovered
their bicycles stolen from the racks
outside the library so far this year.
“Thefts at the
library are too
common, and
we want to
send a message
to thieves: think
twice before
you take
someone’s
stuff.”
--Lt. Paul Vernon
LAPD Central Division
“We want to scare the crooks into
thinking that any time they grab an
iPod, it might belong to a cop,”
Vernon said. “And we want the
patrons to be more aware. I’d love
to see every reading table have a
sign to warn visitors to watch their
stuff.”
Anyone with information on this
crime is urged to call Central Area
Detectives at (213)972-1231.
EXPERT WATCH & JEWELRY REPAIR
We Change Watch Batteries • Work Guaranteed • Free Estimate
MAJESTIC WATCH REPAIR
163 S. Fairfax (across from Farmers Market) • (323)933-0288
15 April 8, 2010
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
Officials Break Ground
at Pan Pacific Park
Several local public officials were featured in a photo on the cover
of the April 2, 1981 issue of the Park Labrea News during a groundbreaking ceremony for Pan Pacific Park. They included former Los
Angeles County Supervisor Ernest Debs (not pictured); current Los
Angeles County Supervisor and former Los Angeles City
Councilman, Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District (left); the late Los Angeles
City Council President John Ferarro, 4th District; the late Los
Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley; former County Supervisor Ed
Edelman; the late State Assemblyman Herschel Rosenthal; former
State Senator David Roberti; and Pan Pacific Park Citizen Advisory
Committee chairman, Seymour Robinson.
The Board of Supervisors had approved funds for the park the previous week, allocating $520,525 for landscaping, picnic facilities and
a childrenʼs play area. Pan Pacific Park today is one of the local
areaʼs premier recreation facilities, and is home to the Pan Pacific
Park Recreation Center, a public swimming pool and several sports
fields. It is also the site of the Los Angeles Holocaust Memorial,
which will play host to an annual Yom Hashoah Holocaust remembrance observance on Sunday.
Dodgers Partner
with KABC Radio
T
he Los Angeles Dodgers and
KABC Talk Radio 790 have
extended their partnership through
the 2011 season, marking the 28th
year in which the Dodgers have
been featured on KABC. “The momentum that we built
with KABC in the second half of
last season, combined with the
quality of the broadcast and signal
strength makes KABC the place
where we desire to be,” said Dodger
chief revenue officer Michael
Young.
More than 800,000 listeners
tuned into Dodger baseball on
KABC in 2009, bringing the total to
more than 1.6 million listeners by
October, which includes postseason
ratings that were the highest in
recent history.
Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin
Scully, who calls the first three
innings of all home games and road
games against Western Division
opponents, is entering his 61st season for the Dodgers. Former
Dodger outfielder Rick Monday
begins his 17th season calling
games on the radio, and Charley
Steiner enters his sixth season with
the Dodgers. For information, visit
www.dodgers.com.
Mary Hart
Receives
AWRT SoCal
TV Award
T
elevision host Mary Hart will
receive the “Excellence in
Television On Air” award during
the American Women in Radio &
Television Southern California
(AWRT SoCal) “2010 Genii
Awards” on Wednesday, April 14 at
the Skirball Cultural Center.
AWRT SoCal is hosting the
awards for the 53rd year, and will
also be honoring several other wellknown television personalities and
media professionals.
The honorees include actress
Betty White; producer Alana
Stewart, of “Farrah’s Story”;
Lindsay Soto, a reporter and host on
the NFL Network; Lisa Foxx, a
radio personality for Clear Channel
Radio; Rosemary Hernandez, general sales manager at CBS News
Radio L.A.; Karla Keller, senior
account executive for Anheuser
Busch; and LaFern Cusack, AWRT
SoCal past president and director of
community affairs for the Southern
California
Broadcasters
Association.
Other honorees at this year’s
Genii Awards include Wendy
Burch, of KTLA News; Pat Harvey,
anchor for KCAL News; Christine
Devine, anchor for Fox 11 News;
Dorothy Lucey, host of “Good Day
L.A.”; and Ana Garcia, of KNBCTV.
The Genii Awards are given to
individuals who have demonstrated
excellence in television, radio and
related fields.
Proceeds from the Genii Awards
support AWRT SoCal’s College
Scholarship Fund and educational
programs.
The Skirball Cultural Center is
located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
For information and tickets, visit
www.awrtsocal.org.
George Lopez Immortalized in Wax
photo courtesy of Dan Steinberg
A wax figure of comedian and television personality George Lopez
was unveiled at the Madame Tussauds Museum in Hollywood on
April 1. Lopez is featured on the show, “Lopez Tonight”, which airs on
the cable network TBS. Lopez also recently starred in an HBO comedy special, and his long running sitcom, “George Lopez”, was a
prime time hit on ABC TV for six seasons.
Madame Tussauds Hollywood is located at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.
For information, call (323)798-1670, or visit www.madametussauds.com.
Hollywood Burglar Grabs $31,000
T
he Los Angeles Police
Department detectives are
searching for a suspect who burglarized an apartment unit in
Hollywood.
On March 2, between 8:20am
and 12:15pm, a suspect gained
entry into an apartment complex
located in the 1555 block of Vine
Street. Once inside the complex,
the suspect entered an apartment
unit through the front door.
The suspect stole a laptop computer, a safe box, and selected other
items, worth an estimated total of
$31,000. There was no weapon dis-
played and no one was injured.
The suspect was described as an
African-American male between
25 and 30 years old with black hair.
He stands about 6 feet tall and
weighs approximately 190-210
pounds. He was last seen wearing
a dark baseball cap, a red, white,
and gray shirt, and dark pants.
Video surveillance footage of the
suspect is available through
www.lapdtv.org. Anyone with
information regarding this burglary
or other crimes is encouraged to
contact Hollywood Burglary
Detective Dixon at (213)972-2928.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
16 April 8, 2010
Mad
Musings
by Madeleine Shaner
Hey, Ho, The Cat
and the Cabbages!
W
hen I wasn’t cooking
or doing dishes last
week, I took some
time off to plant a vegetable garden. It’s something I do every
year around this time, but for
the last couple of years I’ve had
some help from my neighbor,
who very kindly did most of the
heavy lifting for me, in trade for
tomatoes and other home-grown
goodies. It was a splendid partnership. He dug up my pocket
handkerchief patch and
schlepped the sacks of soil and
fertilizer from the nursery while
I labored at my computer composing memorable prose for my
readers. Once the ground was
turned over and replenished,
we’d shop together for the
plants and seeds – only things
we liked – no rutabaga, which
I’ve never tasted, but I don’t
like the name, or aubergine,
which I think might be eggplant.
Or carrots and beets, which
David (the neighbor) said had
too many carbs, and anyway
they, in turn, didn’t like me and
refused to grow in my garden.
Since it was mutual, I didn’t
fight it.
I’ve never been particularly
drawn to vegetables – they were
things that grown-ups ate while
they were trying to convince us
they were good for kids.
“Yummy, yummy”, Mother
would say, “here come the
string beans! They’re good for
your tummy!” in badly scanned
free verse. “No, Mummy,
Mummy,” in unison we’d say,
“They make us feel yucky; take
them away!” (We didn’t like
vegetables, but we were, all
four of us, literate – as you can
see by the semi-colon in the
middle of our loud complaints.)
I never really became a veggie lover, except for tomatoes,
Hollywood Star Crowe Gets His
Own Hollywood Boulevard Star
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced that actor
Russell Crowe will receive the 2,404th star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame on April 12 at 11:30am.
Crowe, who is originally from New Zealand, won an Academy Award
for Best Actor for his role in the 2000 film, “Gladiator”, and has
received two other Best Actor Oscar nominations for appearances in
“The Insider” and “ A Beautiful Mind”. Crowe has also been honored
by several criticsʼ organizations, including the Broadcast Film Critics
Association, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Screen
Actors Guild and BAFTA. Crowe will next be seen in Universal
Picturesʼ “Robin Hood”, which will be released on May 14. Additional
films in which Crowe has starred include “State of Play”, “Body of
Lies”, “3:10 to Yuma”, and “American Gangster”.
Croweʼs star will be located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the
Kodak Theatre. For information, visit www.hollywoodchamber.com.
which they tell me is a fruit
anyway, and it’s easy to grow.
Nevertheless, it’s hip to grow
your own, as long as it’s legal,
and I get a kick out of telling
friends I have my own little
cabbage patch, overcoming
tremendous odds - mainly
another neighbor watching me
plant seeds about 15 years ago
and insisting that nothing would
ever grow there – it never had
and it never would. I was never
one to refuse a challenge. Ha!
Did I show her?! I offered her
and her husband a sack full of
prize-size tomatoes later that
summer, but they said they had
allergies and unfortunately
couldn’t eat them.
This year, David’s gone –
moved away – so I’m up to my
fingernails in potting soil and
potash. And a bit of a diversion
here: my new neighbors have a
couple of beautiful children, and
a very handsome cat. Whereby
hangs a tail! The cat is also
beautiful, almost totally white,
and is enamored of OH (Other
Half), my husband. She’s an
inside/outside cat, and visits us
regularly. She’ll come to my
office window, get my attention,
then run like heck to get away
from me if I so much as make a
gesture as if to pet her. If I’m
sitting in the back, having my
breakfast by the pool, she’ll
come as far as the back fence,
get my attention, then race off
in the opposite direction. If OH
is back there, alone, she’ll
squeeze through the fence and
join him, stay at least while he
reads the L.A. and N.Y. Times
news sections, let him pet her,
then go about her business.
Should I perchance come outside, she disappears like a flash
of white lightning. Although she
wears a collar with three names
on it, her owners tell us she
only answers to Kitty, which
isn’t one of them. OH gets a bit
carried away by all the attention
– he’s never before been a cat
person, even through a couple
of long-term resident pussies –
“Yummy,
yummy”, Mother
would say, “here
come the string
beans! They’re
good for your
tummy!”
“No, Mummy,
Mummy,” in unison we’d say,
“They make us
feel yucky; take
them away!”
now he’s convinced that Kitty’s
sweet on him. In fact, he’s saying maybe she’s a long-ago
sweetheart of his, come back in
the form of a beautiful white cat
to wait for me to disappear.
(Well, he is a writer of movie
and TV fiction, so he’s allowed
his fantasies.)
Valenzuela Receives City Honor
L
egendary Dodger pitcher and
current
Spanish-language
broadcaster Fernando Valenzuela
will be recognized today at Central
City Association (CCA) of Los
Angeles’ 16th Annual “Treasures of
Los Angeles” luncheon held at the
JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE in
Downtown
Los
Angeles.
Valenzuela will be joined by Laker
legend James Worthy and other outstanding individuals and organizations of Los Angeles that are also
being honored for exceptional contributions in the areas of arts and
entertainment, healthcare, higher
education, sports and urban revitalization.
The annual “Treasures” event is
one of the city’s largest gatherings
of elected officials, business leaders
and prominent Angelenos. This
year’s luncheon features L.A. City
Council President Eric Garcetti as
master
of
ceremonies.
“I’m very proud to share the stage
with Laker legend James Worthy
and all the recipients of this year’s
CCA Treasures award,” said
Valenzuela. “There isn’t a city in
the world that has had a bigger
impact on me and to be honored by
Los Angeles, the town that made
my dreams come true is very humbling.”
Valenzuela made his Major
League debut with the Dodgers in
1980. In 1981, while leading the
Dodgers
to
the
World
Championship, he became the first
player in Major League history to
be named Rookie of the Year and
win a Cy Young Award in the same
season.
In 17 big league seasons,
Valenzuela compiled a 173-153
record and a 3.54 ERA with the
Dodgers, Angels, Orioles, Phillies,
Padres and Cardinals. He was
named to the National League AllStar team for six consecutive seasons from 1981-1986 and in 1986
he won 20 games while also earn-
Returning to my veggie garden: before I took off a couple
of days to make my Passover
Seder, I had planted about half
of my vegetable seedlings:cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach,
strawberries, cabbages, a couple
of other things. The rain and the
sun were cooperating beautifully
with my beautifully Davidlessdug soil growing, almost as I
watched, into healthy little
plants. There were even some
little onions peeking their bright
green heads through the dirt,
and a promise of beans. I must
say I was happy with my little
garden. Three hard-laboring
days later, I slipped out to check
on things and was dismayed to
find devastation!
Most of my little green
promises were smashed into the
moist earth, as if they’d been
scrunched by a giant’s careless
foot. All my newly planted cabbages and sprouts and yes,
rutabagas’d been savagely dug
up! And there was a series of
dirty paw prints on the wall of
my neighbor to the north,
putting the blame for the desecration where it obviously
belonged, and clarifying the villain(ess)’s escape route. Now
that’s what I call alley cat
behavior!
I called OH out and he was
equally dismayed. “Oh, that’s
where Kitty comes in through
the fence when she visits me out
back in the mornings, she
must’ve done it!”
And they talk about jealous
women being cats? Like Helloo-o, Kitty!!!
ing the Rawlings Gold Glove
Award.
This year marks Valenzuela’s
eighth season as the analyst for the
Dodgers’ Spanish-radio broadcasts
where he offers his insights from a
17-year big league career alongside
Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime
Jarrín and Pepe Yñiguez.
Answers on page 22
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
18 April 8, 2010
Jungʼs ʻRed Bookʼ Goes on Display at Hammer
Feel the ʻSpirit of Korean Danceʼ Carl
he Hammer Museum presents
T
an exhibit titled “The Red
Held at KCCLA
Book of C.J. Jung: Creation of a
New Cosmology” running from
Sunday, April 11 through June 6.
The exhibition explores the seminal work by Carl Gustav Jung
(1875-1961), considered to be the
father of modern psychology.
Jung’s “Red Book” is one of the
most influential unpublished works
in the history of psychology, but
until now, it had been locked in a
Swiss safe deposit box. The show
is the first public exhibition of the
“Red Book”, and it coincides with
the publication of a facsimile edition by W. W. Norton & Company.
The exhibition includes works of
art and archival materials, as well
as a series of public programs to
The show is the
first public
exhibition of the
‘Red Book’
photo courtesy of KCCLA
The Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (KCCLA) presents a program titled “Spirit of Korean Dance” on Friday April 9 at 8:00pm. The
program is being held in conjunction with the Korean American
Dance Association and is part of the KCCLAʼs 30th anniversary “Gala
Performance Series”. The dance program will feature “Kosong
Ogwangdae”, a Korean masked dance/drama that comes from the
village of Kosong. The program will be held in Ari Hall at the KCCLA,
5505 Wilshire Blvd. For information, call (323)936-3015, or visit
KCCLA.org.
LACMA Names
New Capital
Campaign Director
T
he Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (LACMA) has
named Cynthia Janos as the new
director of its capital and endowment campaign. Janos will help
guide the solicitation of gifts for
capital improvements, as well as
secure annual financial support for
the institution.
Janos has 13 years of executive
experience in intellectual property,
specializing in the development
and management of licensing programs. LACMA’s capital improvement campaign is designed to unify
the museum’s campus, collections,
exhibitions and educational opportunities. The first phase of the capital improvements raised more than
$200 million and included the completion of the Broad Contemporary
Art Museum (BCAM) and the
installation of artist Chris Burden’s
outdoor sculpture, “Urban Light”.
Phase II of the campaign, which
began in 2008, seeks to raise an
additional $250 million. A signature feature of Phase II will be the
Renzo Piano-designed Lynda and
Stewart
Resnick
Exhibition
Pavilion, scheduled to open in late
September.
further explore Jung’s work and
legacy.
Jung began work on the “Red
Book” in 1914 when he was 38
years old. He had established a successful private psychological practice in Zurich, but subsequently fell
into a period of personal and spiritual turmoil.
It was during this period that
Jung formulated what would
become his famous theories about
archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the process of individuation. For 16 years, Jung consistently documented his dreams and
recorded his fantasies in the “Red
Book”, which resembles a
medieval manuscript. The Hammer
Museum will also present several
oil, chalk and tempera paintings
and preparatory sketches related to
the “Red Book”, as well as other
original manuscripts.
For
information,
visit
www.hammer.ucla.edu.
' &! "'#! '
%$
#"
" !! ' ! "# photo © by the Foundation of the Works of C.G. Jung
This illustration from the “Red Book” by C.G. Jung will be featured in the
exhibit at the Hammer Museum.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
19 April 8, 2010
Butterflies Go On Display at Natural History Museum
Jewish Picture Books Visit Skirball
T
he Los Angeles County Natural
History Museum (NHM) presents the 20th annual Pavilion of
Wings exhibit running from April
11 through September 6.
Visitors can view the brilliant
colors and patterns of more than 40
species of butterflies and moths.
More than half of the species are
native to California, and include
giant swallowtails, American painted ladies and California dogfaces.
Among the new additions are the
tropical small postman butterfly,
and new species of moths including
polyphemus moths, sphynx moths
and the elaborately patterned
Cynthia moth. Visitors can also
learn about monarch butterfly
photo © 2005 by Leonard Everett Fisher.
The exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center includes an illustration
from “The Dybbuk” by Leonard Everett Fisher.
T
he Skirball Cultural Center
presents an exhibit titled
“Monsters and Miracles: A
Journey through Jewish Picture
Books” running Thursday, April
8 through August 1.
Visitors will be guided through
the colorful history of the Jewish
picture book, from the 16th
Century to the present.
The exhibit features more than
100 illustrations and texts from
time-honored classics and popular favorites, from Maurice
Sendak’s “Where the Wild
Things Are” to Lemony Snicket’s
“The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop
Screaming: A Christmas Story”.
Other featured authors and artists
include Arnold Lobel, Daniel
Pinkwater,
Mark
Podwal,
Francine Prose, Isaac Bashevis
Singer, Art Spiegelman, and
William Steig.
Several special interactive stations will also be included, where
visitors can “make a monster”
using art materials, or use headphones to hear celebrities such as
Mayim Bialik, Allison Janney,
Tony Kushner and Henry
Winkler read their favorite stories.
The Skirball Cultural Center is
located at 2701 N. Sepulveda
Blvd. For information, call
(310)440-4500,
or
visit
www.skirball.org.
migration, and the lifecycles,
defense mechanisms and host
plants of all butterflies.
The Pavilion of Wings will be
located in a newly re-landscaped
exhibition space on the museum’s
south lawn. The NHM also presents
its newly installed Victory Garden
and bird feeders, located just outside the Pavilion of Wings on the
south lawn.
Special ticketed admission
applies to the Pavilion of Wings,
with adult tickets priced at $3; students and seniors are $2; and children 5-12 are $1. Museum members and children under five are
free. For information, visit
www.nhm.org, or call (213)7633466.
photo courtesy of NHM
More than half
of the species
are native to
California, and
include giant
swallowtails,
American painted ladies and
California
dogfaces.
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MOCA Creates
Contemporary Art
Book for Children
T
he Museum of Contemporary
Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) has
created a new book titled “Breaking
the Rules: What is Contemporary
Art?” that is designed to make the
museum’s collection more accessible to children.
Written by author Susan Rubin,
the book is geared towards children
ages 8–12 and provides an introduction to the work of 25 contemporary
artists represented in the museum’s
collection. The book provides an
understanding of what contemporary art is, and how it can be created
and interpreted.
“’Breaking the Rules’ fills a gap
in the kind of art presented to young
audiences,” MOCA director of education Suzanne Isken said. “While
art books for children about Andy
Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein multiply, texts about the more contemporary artists are few and far
between.”
The book features full-color
reproductions of paintings, sculpture, photography and installations,
accompanied by artist quotes and
text. Artist biographies, a bibliography, and a resource for locating contemporary art nationally, are also
included.
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Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
20 April 8, 2010
Donations Needed to ‘Save the Peak’
From page 1
that we preserve the view of the
famous landmark and open the land
to hiking and other recreational
uses for future generations.”
If the campaign is successful,
TPL will turn the land over to the
City of Los Angeles, which will
then incorporate it into Griffith
Park. The deadline looms, however.
A year ago, TPL negotiated an
exclusive option to buy the 138acre plot for $12.5 million. But that
deal expires on April 14, at which
time the property will again go up
for sale.
Two months ago, TPL kicked off
its final fundraising push by covering over the Hollywood Sign with
banners that read “Save the Peak”.
At the time, the group had already
raised $7.5 million towards purchasing the property — $4.3 million from a City of Los Angeles
fund set aside for land conservation, $1 million from the Tiffany &
Co. Foundation, and additional
funds from private donors.
Since then, however, TPL has
only raised an additional $2 million, which leaves $3 million left to
raise in the next week if the plot is
going to be saved from potential
development.
“We feel pretty good about raising the rest of the money, because
this is what we do,” said Tim
Ahern, director of media relations
for TPL. “We’ve done thousands of
projects around the country since
1972, and it almost always comes
down to the wire.”
Ahern said the campaign has
entered “frantic fundraising” mode.
A website has helped TPL raise
more than $87,000 from 1,042
donors from 24 countries, most of
whom gave less than $100. In addition, Clear Channel Outdoor has
donated space to TPL on more than
75 digital billboards around the city,
which for the last several weeks
have run ads counting down the
days until the deadline.
With so little time remaining,
though, the campaign is now
focused on securing big donations.
“We’re reaching out to a lot of
potential big donors,” Ahern said.
“Our development people are making a lot of phone calls to prospects
that we think may help fund it —
individuals, foundations, corporations. We’re hoping to get some
“We feel pretty
good about
raising the rest
of the money,
because this is
what we do.”
-Tim Ahern, director of media
relations for TPL
yeses by next Wednesday.”
Naturally, as part of the campaign
to save the view of the Hollywood
Sign, Ahern said the TPL has been
reaching out to potential high-profile Hollywood donors. A number
of Hollywood studios, organizations, and leaders — including the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, the Walt Disney
Company Foundation, and actor
Tom Hanks — have teamed up to
donate a total of $3.1 million to the
cause.
“We have an advisory committee
of people who live in Los Angeles,
and we’re asking those people to
tap into their networks,” Ahern
said. “We don’t really do a lot of
cold calling. A lot of it is word of
mouth. For example, we’re trying
to reach out to Hollywood stars,
and Aisha Tyler has been a big supporter of ours. We’re asking her to
recruit her friends, to see who else
in Hollywood we should be reaching out to. Hopefully she can help
open the door for us with some of
those people.”
Mitch Menzer, who co-chairs
TPL’s California Advisory Board,
said he’s also hoping to raise the
organization’s profile in Los
Angeles.
“The Cahuenga Peak project has
been terrific for TPL,” Menzer said.
“We’ve worked with Tom
LaBonge, and with the Department
of Recreation and Parks. Part of
what we want to do is help cement
those relationships. I’m talking to
many friends of mine, and to local
foundations, about the campaign,
but as much as it’s about fundraising, it’s also about helping make
TPL more well-known.”
Menzer, too, said he expectes
someone, or several people, to step
in and provide the necessary funds,
which is often how TPL reaches its
goal.
If, however, TPL fails to raise the
final $3 million before the deadline,
Ahern said they would offer all of
the campaign’s donors their money
back. It would then be up to the
donors whether they wanted to
leave their money with TPL for use
towards other conservation projects.
As for the fate of Cahuenga Peak,
it’s unclear what might happen if
the TPL campaign fails. Many people, including Ernie Carswell, of
Teles Properties, who had been the
listing real estate agent for the parcel, have called the plot nearly
impossible to build on. It is, however, zoned for development, and
photo by Ian Lovett
Donations are needed to purchase the land around the Hollywood Sign
to prevent private development of the land. Approximately $3 million
more needs to be raised.
LaBonge has maintained that with
modern technologies, no piece of
land is impossible to build on.
Keith Dickson, of the Fox River
Co., which bought the land in 2002
for less than $2 million, declined to
say whether anyone has been show-
ing the plot to potential buyers, or
what his company planned to do if
TPL did not make its deadline.
“I think they’re going to make it,
so it’s going to work out,” Dickson
said. “The Trust for Public Land is
doing a great job. They’ll make it.”
Lawsuit Filed Over Cellular Towers
From page 1
does not give authority to local
governments to regulate cellular
towers and related wireless facilities on the basis of their health and
environmental effects. Both the Los
Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD) and the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors last
year adopted resolutions that call
for a change to federal law to give
local government more power on
the issue.
Though Krischer and his group
were mainly concerned about child
safety, they successfully argued that
the equipment was not needed for
sufficient coverage in the area.
Though T-Mobile filed its lawsuit
in September of last year, Krischer
said he was just made aware of the
filing last week, when an attorney
for T-Mobile called him requesting
information.
“I had no idea this was even happening until last week,” Krischer
said. “We strongly hope that the
decision to keep cellular equipment
away from Carthay Center School
is upheld for the sake of the children.”
T-Mobile spokesperson Rod
Delarosa said the company had no
comment on the case.
“T-Mobile does not comment on
photo by Amy Lyons
Opponents of the plan to install cellular phone towers claim the equipment will endanger students at nearby Carthay Center Elementary
School.
sites where pending litigation is
involved,” Delarosa said.
Koretz stood by his original decision to oppose the equipment’s
placement in the neighborhood.
“I certainly believe the decision
was correctly reached and absolutely the right one to be made for the
sake of the community,” Koretz
said. “The later filing of a lawsuit
was predictable but might not make
a difference. Those who don’t get
their way often resort to litigation,
which they often lose.”
The lawsuit alleges that the city’s
denial of T-Mobile’s application
violates the Telecommunications
Act by discriminating against TMobile. The discrimination claim is
based on the fact that the city
allowed a competitor, Metro PCS,
to place its equipment on an adjacent building. The lawsuit also
states that the application denial
prohibits T-Mobile from providing
wireless service in the area, a claim
Krischer said he personally tested
and found to be untrue.
“We had groups of people go to
the areas where T-Mobile indicated
their weakest coverage, and we got
full coverage,” Krischer said “We
already proved before the planning
commission that there is no gap in
coverage.”
Michael Alberts, a resident of the
area who helped block T-Mobile’s
application, said he also just learned
about the lawsuit, but was not surprised.
“We essentially set a precedent
that others can follow,” Alberts said.
photo by Amy Lyons
T-Mobile wants to install cellular phone antennae on this building in the
Carthay Circle area, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to receive permission.
“Of course they want to do away
with a precedent setting decision.
They are not looking at the community impact, they are just looking at
their bottom line.”
Koretz said the residents opposing the application were steadfast in
their original appeal and he thinks
the decision will stand.
“What impresses me the most is
the grassroots activism I’ve seen.
It’s been a great privilege, working
closely on this issue with so many
concerned members of the community. Our fundamental goal remains
the same – to protect a neighborhood from the inappropriate and
intrusive placement of these cell
towers, whenever there’s an effort
to impose them where they don’t
belong,” Koretz said.
A hearing is scheduled on
October 19 in the U.S. District
Court, Central District of California.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
21 April 8, 2010
Budget Will Worsen Without DWP Funds
From page 1
shouldn’t be about politics or personalities, this is about the ratepayers and the accountability they
deserve from the department if they
are being asked to pay more. The
department should make the transfer.”
City Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th
District, said he expects the city will
eventually receive the $73.5 million,
and added that the mayor’s plan to
cut city services two days a week
will not occur. Koretz said the city’s
Chief Legislative Analyst testified
before the city council on
Wednesday, saying that the mayor
could not impose the plan unilaterally, and that council would have to
vote on it. He added that there is little chance the council would
approve such as plan.
“[For that to happen] I think L.A.
would have to be hit by a meteor,
followed by a large earthquake. It’s
an incredible proposal, and I am
absolutely certain it is going
nowhere,” Koretz said. “It is just a
tactic to get the council to do what
the mayor wants with the DWP.”
City Councilman Tom LaBonge,
4th District, also denounced the
mayor’s proposal, and called for the
LADWP to transfer the money per
the original agreement.
“This is a crisis, there’s no doubt
about it,” LaBonge said. “The
mayor wants to close the city down
two days each week. We can’t let
that happen. I support the $73 million fund transfer from the DWP,
which is the equivalent of the
agency’s property tax to the city. I
hope that we can work together to
resolve these issues as quickly as
possible.”
Koretz explained that large
money transfers occur on an annual
basis because the city does not
charge the LADWP property taxes
Carissimi
From page 6
period, including F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Nathaniel West and
Ernest Hemingway.
Throughout the years, Musso
and Frank Grill maintained its
reputation as a Hollywood hot
spot, and today continues to be a
place where tourists and residents
can dine in the same location as
celebrities such as Johnny Depp
and Sam Worthington. Like
Carissimi, many of the restaurant’s employees have worked
there for decades. Kaye said
Carissimi always treated the staff
fairly, which was one of the reasons people stayed for so long.
“She treated us like family,”
Kaye added. “This is one of those
places where if you are here for
twenty years, you are still the
on its facilities, as outlined in the city
charter. Koretz added that if the
money is not transferred, the council
may try to change the city charter to
allow the utility to be assessed property taxes, or may consider litigation
against the utility. Los Angeles City
Councilman Greig Smith, 12th
District, also announced Wednesday
that as many as eight motions could
“This is a crisis,
there’s no doubt
about it. The
mayor wants to
close the city
down two days
each week. We
can’t let that
happen. ”
-Los Angeles City Councilman
Tom LaBonge, 4th District
be proposed to enable the city council to exert control over the LADWP
Board, including changing the
process by which the board is
appointed. The mayor currently
appoints members of the LADWP
board, and they are then confirmed
by the city council. Smith’s plan
would allow the mayor to appoint
two members, while two members
would be appointed by the city
council, and the fifth by members of
neighborhood councils. Under
Smith’s plan, the city council could
also remove the members of the
board and the utility’s general manager with a two-thirds vote.
Koretz said, however, that it is
more likely the council will return to
new guy. She knew everybody
personally, and was wonderful to
the personnel.”
Charles Carissimi was Edith’s
second husband. She had previously been married to William
Reich, Fred’s father, a studio
executive who was involved in
American International Pictures.
Reich said his mother loved the
restaurant, and would always
think about ways to make
improvements, including putting
up new wallpaper and installing
new carpeting. Reich said she
also loved the customers, and
would commonly greet them at
the front door.
“She knew every actor and
actress. She had tremendous
charisma and was extremely cosmopolitan,” Reich said. “She was
like the captain of a ship.
Everyone loved her, and she just
lit up the place.”
negotiations with the LADWP
Board on an acceptable rate
increase. Koretz reiterated that it is
not the right time to raise rates more
than .6-cents per kilowatt hour,
because many residents are already
suffering from the effects of the
recession.
“The mayor wanted to create an
expensive environmental program to
lessen the DWP’s reliance on coal,
and it is a good program, but at the
same time, we are in a near depression, and I don’t think the residents
have the money to take that step
right now,” Koretz added. “The
council did the responsible thing,
which was to approve a rate increase
that would allow the DWP to pay its
bills.”
Villaraigosa has not backed down
on his plan to shut down non-essential city services, but also indicated
that he would ask the LADWP
Board for a portion of the money —
probably around $20 million — to
keep the city fiscally solvent for the
time being. City Controller Wendy
Greuel has said that the city would
not be able to pay its bills at the end
of the fiscal year on June 30 if the
$73.5 million is not transferred from
the LADWP.
“There are no easy decisions or
simple ways to solve this budget crisis,” Villaraigosa added. “But as the
CEO of this great city, it is my
responsibility to make these difficult
but necessary decisions to steer the
city out of this crisis and onto solid
financial ground.”
The DWP Board is not scheduled
to meet again until April 19. Both
Garcetti and Koretz said in the
meantime, the city would continue
to work with the LADWP to come
to an agreement. Koretz said the
council would address the budget
again on Friday.
Murders
From page 4
Investigators are reportedly looking
into a soured relationship the father
had with an unidentified person.
“We are still in the process of
gathering information and analyzing any physical evidence that may
exist,” Myers said. “We are also
hoping that anyone who may have
seen something will come forward.”
Myers added that the date for
Hakobyan’s funeral has not yet
been set because the family is wait-
“Obviously, we
are looking at
all possible
theories.”
-Det. Dan Myers, LAPD
Robbery-Homicide Division
photo courtesy of Fred Reich
Edith Carissimi, one of the former owners of Musso and Frank Grill,
passed away on March 30 at the age of 95.
ing for relatives to arrive from
Armenia. He said the surviving
daughter is staying with family
members, and that her security “has
been addressed.”
Anyone with information about
the murders in Hollywood is asked
to contact Det. Dan Myers or
Michael Whelan at (213)486-6850.
Anyone with information about the
North Hollywood murders is asked
to contact Robbery Homicide
Division detectives at (213)4866850. During weekends and offhours, call the LAPD’s 24-hour, tollfree hotline at (877)LAPD-24-7.
photo by Edwin Folven
The owner of the building that houses the Fairfax Theatre wants to
build a condominium complex. The theatre has been closed since
January because of damage to its roof.
Theatre to Undergo Review to
Determine Historic Value
From page 3
Fairfax Theatre has been closed
since January after rains caused
the ceiling to partially collapse.
Regency Theatres, which operated the Fairfax Theatre, has
announced that it will not be
reopeing the venue.
A group known as the Friends
of the Fairfax Theatre, which is
comprised of local residents and
preservation organizations, filed
the application with the city to
have it considered as a cultural
landmark. Mitzi Mogul, president of the Los Angeles Historic
Theatre Foundation, one of the
groups comprising the Friends
of the Fairfax Theatre, said she
is optimistic the cultural heritage
commission will designate the
theatre as a landmark. The
Friends of the Fairfax Theatre
contend that the theatre is historically significant because it is
one of the last remaining examples of a neighborhood theatre,
it was built in a distinct art deco
architectural style, and it was
once a center of the Los
Angeles’ Jewish community.
While films were always shown
at the theatre, which was built in
1929, it was also used for live
theatrical productions and
orchestral concerts, and was a
gathering place for Jews during
the years prior and during World
War II.
“I was delighted with the
commission’s decision, because
it is the first step, and I believe
we will prevail,” Mogul said. “It
has been part of the fabric of that
community for the past 80
years.”
Handelman said the decision
to consider the theatre as a
potential historic landmark is
not a setback, and added that he
is confident the commission will
not approve the designation. The
plan for the condominium complex includes the preservation of
the theatre’s art deco façade.
“We don’t believe that the
architectural elements meet the
standards for the designation,”
Handelman said. “We respect
the process and we believe after
they do this tour and the evaluation, there is a better than even
chance that it will not be designated.”
Garcia said the five-member
commission will take several
factors into consideration,
including the condition of the
theatre’s exterior and auditorium. He said the commission will
examine the original features
that remain. The theatre was
converted into a triplex in the
1980s, but the Friends of the
Fairfax Theatre contend that
much of the original features
remain, including a stage and
the mechanical equipment used
for moving props.
Garcia said a staff report will
be compiled after the on-site
tour of the theatre, and that
pubic comment is welcome. For
information, visit www.preservation.lacity.org.
Conference Teaches Leadership
From page 4
the universe to bring it on,” she
said. But before you say yes, set
your intentions, clarify your focus
and be super clear about what it is
that you want…the reason my consulting company is called 68
Seconds Inc., is because some very
tuned in spiritual teachers have
taught that if you can hold a
thought for 68 seconds, you will
manifest it.”
The cost of the Women’s
Leadership Conference is $35,
which includes a lunch, workshops
and a panel discussion on women
leaders in healthcare reform moderated by West Hollywood Mayor
Abbe Land. The conference will
run from 9:00am – 5:00pm at
Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica
Blvd. For information, call
(323)848-6840.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press
22 April 8, 2010
Heilman Set to Become Next Mayor
From page 1
moved from Cleveland to attend
law school at the University of
Southern California. He quickly
became involved in political causes, working with the Harvey Milk
Democratic Club and the Coalition
for Economic Survival (CES),
which advocates for affordable
housing. Before long, he became
involved with the campaign for
cityhood.
Even when the cityhood campaign proved successful, Heilman
said he never intended to run for
office.
“I had always been involved in
political work,” Heilman said. “I
interned for a congressman in college, and worked on the McGovern
campaign as a kid. I never really
thought about running for office,
though. But when we were trying
to put together a slate to represent
the diversity of the community,
some people asked me to do it, and
I thought it would be fun. I certainly never thought I would be doing it
for this long.”
Larry Gross, who is now the
executive director of CES, was
among the group that encouraged
Heilman to run for city council.
“He was a natural candidate,”
Gross said. “Based on his commitment to the issues, based on his
involvement in the fight for rent
control and the establishment of the
city, he was a great fit.”
With support from CES, Heilman
ran, and in 1984 he won a seat on
West Hollywood’s inaugural city
council. At first, Heilman said, the
council faced challenges that seem
very antiquated.
“When we first incorporated,
there were lots of questions about
whether the city would even work
at all,” he said. “Critics were asking
questions like, ‘Can gay people run
a city?’ That was the kind of stuff
we faced in the early days. I think
that question has been put to bed.”
Still, for Heilman, the city’s core
values, and many of the city government’s goals, remain the same as
they were 25 years ago.
“We were very concerned about
social services, and affordable
housing,” he said. “Obviously public safety and LGBT rights were
real concerns. Those were all major
topics that were part of the found-
ing of the city, and I don’t think
those priorities have changed.”
Within its first several years of
existence, West Hollywood passed
several pieces of legislation that,
though they now seem quite ordinary, were groundbreaking at the
time. The city council passed a nondiscrimination statute based on sexual orientation, and another nondiscrimination statute based on
HIV-status, in 1985 and 1987,
respectively. And in 1985, West
Hollywood also became the first
city in the country to set up a
domestic partnership registration.
“When you look
at Santa Monica
Boulevard, if you
looked back at
what it looked
like 25 years ago,
and compare it to
today, that’s a
huge
accomplishment.”
-West Hollywood
Mayor Pro Tempore
John Heilman
“John has been an elected official that we can always count on in
support of the LGBT community,
whether that is connected to civil
rights or the social services we
need,” said Darrell Cummings,
chief of staff at the L.A. & Lesbian
Center. “When he really became a
hero to us was when he worked to
establish the Jeff Griffith Youth
Center
on
Santa
Monica
Boulevard. John was a real champion for the center. He advocated
for it and made sure it was funded,
helped us negotiate with the landlord and continues to offer support,
even though it’s just outside West
Hollywood city limits.”
Affordable housing, in particular, is another cause Heilman has
personally championed. In 1987,
Heilman helped establish the West
March for Equality Scheduled
From page 1
On top of the emotional loss,
Herman also suffered a financial
loss that changed her life. Herman
worked as a schoolteacher and
social worker throughout her life,
while Sylvia was CFO of a successful corporation. Sylvia’s social
security benefit was $2,400 per
month, while Herman’s is $1,188.
When Sylvia died, even though the
couple was legally married in
California, Herman did not get any
of Sylvia’s social security benefits.
That’s because the federal Defense
of Marriage Act denies same-sex
couples – both married and living
in common law marriage situations
– Social Security protections
afforded to heterosexual couples.
Had Sylvia and Alice been hetero-
photo by Amy Lyons
Alice Herman will take part in the “Rock for Equality” march on April 11.
Hollywood Community Housing
Corporation, a non-profit organization, funded largely by the city,
which builds and maintains affordable housing in West Hollywood.
“The city is about 85 percent
renters, and we became a city at a
time of intense real estate speculation,” Heilman said. “In our community, we had seniors living on
fixed incomes, people with disabilities, and AIDS was just starting to become an issue, so we had
people living with the disease who
had lost their jobs and had no
income and no place to live. Rent
control was important to a huge
part of our population.”
Gross called Heilman the “main
architect” on the council of the
city’s rent control law, which was
one of the strongest in the nation
when it was adopted in the late
1980’s. Robin Conerly, executive
director of the West Hollywood
Community Housing Corporation,
said the city continues to make
affordable housing a priority.
“West Hollywood has really put
its money where its mouth is in
terms of affordable housing,”
Conerly said. “The buildings they
support are usually architecturally
significant, with multiple objectives. The new project on Sierra
Bonita, for example, has 42 units
of affordable housing, but it’s also
a green project, and it’s right on a
transportation corridor, to encourage the use of public transit.”
Still, it is the city’s physical
changes in its first 25 years of
which Heilman is most proud.
“When you look at Santa
Monica Boulevard, if you looked
back at what it looked like 25
years ago, and compare it to today,
that’s a huge accomplishment,” he
said. “It’s a real transformation,
much more pedestrian-friendly.
I’m also proud of the work we’ve
done on the east side with the La
Brea Gateway project, which was
big in terms of making the east
side feel like part of the community.”
In his seventh stint as mayor,
though, Heilman admits that several of his prorities for the city
have changed since he first held
the position in 1985. In particular,
he is more conscious of trying to
sexual, Alice would have been able
to get some form of survivor benefits based on Sylvia’s social security income.
Without Sylvia’s social security,
Alice could not pay the $1,600 per
month rent on the Tarzana apartment that the couple had been sharing for the last several years.
“I had no other income and I
knew I had to act fast,” Herman
said.
With assistance from the L.A.
Gay and Lesbian Center, Herman
got affordable housing at Triangle
Square, the LGBT housing complex in Hollywood run by Gay and
Lesbian Elder Housing.
“I don’t know what I would have
done if I didn’t get into that apartment,” Herman said.
Though she feels like she got
lucky, Herman is determined to
fight for the rights of same-sex couples, particularly the right to marry
and get equal benefits under federal law. On April 11, Herman will be
one of hundreds of people to attend
a rally in Hollywood to oppose discrimination in social security benefits for same-sex couples. The rally,
“Rock for Equality”, will include a
demonstration of senior citizens in
photo courtesy of Joshua Barash
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore John Heilman was pictured at the
World AIDS Day Awards held last December in West Hollywood, and
was joined by current West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land (left) and city
Councilmember Lindsey Horvath.
create a positive environment for
the city’s businesses.
“Probably in the early days, I
didn’t see the importance of economic vitality for a community as
much as I do now, and the importance of helping promote businesses,”
Heilman
said.
“Businesses create most of the tax
revenue for a city. The city can
play an important role in making
sure the businesses in a neighborhood are working together to promote the whole area, like we’ve
done on Sunset with the business
improvement district.”
Learning how to get businesses
to work together productively has
been part of a maturation process
for Heilman, for the city’s businesses, and for West Hollywood
itself. To those who charge that the
councilmembers
are
too
entrenched, and have been in
office too long, Heilman acknowledges the need for change, but
also points to the positive effects
of the government’s stability on
the city’s bond rating.
“There have been changes on
the council over the years,” he
said. “Some change is healthy, but
some stability is also healthy. I
definitely see a time when I won’t
want to do this any more, but right
now there are a lot of things coming forward — the library, expansion of the parks. I see some good
things on the horizon for the east
side, and I’d still like to be a part
of that.”
He also hopes the city will continue to mature — in a characteristic West Hollywood way, of
course. Though business promotion remains an increasing priority
for him, there are some businesses
that Heilman doesn’t think are
appropriate for West Hollywood.
For example, he said he hopes that
a plating business, which he said
uses toxic chemicals, would find
another home outside West
Hollywood. The adult shops, on
the other hand, can stay.
“Some of the adult uses are perfectly fine,” he said. “It’s more
about how the business operates.
Like Pleasure Chest, for example,
has been there for a long time. It’s
not offensive to the community,
and it’s part of what makes West
Hollywood a unique place.”
Heilman will be sworn in as
West Hollywood’s new mayor,
again, on April 19.
rocking chairs, to visually call
attention to stories like that of Alice
and Sylvia. Los Angeles City
Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th
District, will join the rally and
march from the L.A. Gay &
Lesbian
Center’s
McDonald/Wright building, to the
Hollywood Social Security office,
where the rocking chair demonstration will occur.
“LGBT workers pay into the system like everyone else,” Koretz
said. “The federal government has
no business denying same-sex couples equal benefits. It’s unfair, it’s
un-American and it must change.”
The Los Angeles City Council in
recent
weeks
unanimously
approved a resolution proposed by
Koretz and Councilmember Bill
Rosendahl, 11th District, to end
Social Security policies that deny
equal benefits to same-sex couples.
Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A.
Gay & Lesbian Center, said the
demonstration is just one important
step in ending discrimination.
“We see first-hand the devastating results of Social Security discrimination and its impact on the
lives of the LGBT seniors we serve
every day,” Jean said. “It’s nothing
short of outrageous that, having
paid into the system fairly and
equally, often throughout decades
of hard work, LGBT people are
denied the same benefits. ”
“Rock for Equality” is presented
by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
and the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force, in coalition with the
AIDS Community Action Fund. It
will start at the L.A. Gay &
Lesbian Center, 1625 N. Schrader
Blvd. at 9:30am and will conclude
after a one-mile march to the
Social Security building at 1122
N. Vine St. For more information,
call (213)388-7625.
Answers From Page 16