AYSO Field Crisis Averted

Transcription

AYSO Field Crisis Averted
TEEN SETS
WEIGHTLIFTING
RECORD
Vol. 1, No. 23 • October 7, 2015
Uniting the Community with News, Features and Commentary
See Page 18
Circulation: 14,500 • $1.00
Effects of a Blood Moon
Council Spat
Over By-Laws
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
T
Many people watched the full moon on September 27 (“Super Blood Moon” and the eclipse), but earlier in the day, Palisades
photographer Jim Kenney captured another related facet: the exceptionally high tide. Kenney said the surf at the Malibu
Photo: Jim Kenney
Lagoon overwhelmed the narrow beach and brought thousands of fish (striped mullet) into the lagoon.
AYSO Field Crisis Averted
P
alisades-Brentwood AYSO soccer
was set to begin its third week of the
season last Saturday, October 3, when
AYSO Regional Commissioner Janet Anderson was told by Barrington Park officials on Thursday that the park was closed
starting Friday.
Barrington Park, the dog park and the
post office are all on VA property and a closure sign had been posted by the VA “As
of October 2, The Park Will Be Closed.”
“I write to you to express our community’s
shock and disappointment at the sudden
closure of the Barrington Park fields,” Region
69 Referee Coordinator David Schneiderman said in a Friday letter to Congressman
Ted Lieu. “Almost every Pali/Brentwood boy
who has played AYSO soccer in the past 20
years has experienced Barrington Park.”
“We have been in this community for
more than 40 years and we serve over 1,700
neighborhood children consistently each
year,” said Anderson, who explained to Lieu
and to Vincent Kane, special assistant to VA
Secretary Bob McDonald, that it would be
nearly impossible to relocate on such short
notice. “As you might be aware open space in
the area is at a premium. Barrington Park is
one of only two parks between the 405 and
the ocean with open field space. The park is
filled with children all day, seven days a week.”
Anderson, who comes from a family of
military veterans, acknowledged the VA’s
plan but added, “This action without the
courtesy of at least some notification seems
mean-spirited.”
She noted that the soccer fields are not
directly connected to the VA Campus and
there is no access from the campus.
“What is the point of closing the field
when it will lie fallow for months, if not
years? How is that benefiting veterans’
health issues?” Anderson asked. “And how
does unnecessarily antagonizing a community that strives to be supportive of veteran
needs further the goals of the Master Plan?”
Friday morning Kane responded, “This
is resolved. VA will let youth use the field
through the change process. As you know,
we are trying to work with everyone. I am
waiting to speak with city officials to make
sure they are communicating about changes as we go forward. I will personally meet
with the athletic clubs next week.”
Yee Haw Day Kicks Off
At Pali Elementary
Palisades Elementary will host its annual
Yee Haw Day from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, at the school, 800 Via de
la Paz. The public is invited and there is
free admission.
Enjoy rides, inflatables, games, go karts,
face painting, music, lots of food and a raffle. Tickets for various events are $1. All proceeds go directly to the school for classroom
size reduction and enrichment activities.
here was a firestorm at the Community Council meeting on September
10 when members debated proposed
changes to the bylaws that would eliminate
permanent membership seats on the board.
Four organizations in town currently
have permanent seats on the Council: the
Chamber of Commerce, the Historical Society, the Pacific Palisades Residents Association (PPRA) and the Temescal Canyon
Association (TCA).
Other town organizations, service clubs
and schools are grouped into five categories—each with a voting seat on the Council—and must rotate within their category
every year.
If the bylaws are amended, the four organizations with standing seats would be
moved into specific categories and forced
to rotate with other category members. In
addition, two new categories would be
created: Faith Based and Business.
The current Business seat now held by
the Chamber of Commerce would have to
rotate with a Business Improvement District
representative. The new appointed business
representative would serve for a year and
then the process of nomination, vetting and
board approval would be repeated.
This plan would double the voice of the
business community on the council, consistent with other councils throughout the
city which customarily have much greater
business representation.
The Cultural category would include
Friends of the Library, Historical Society
and Theatre Palisades, who would alternate.
Education would remain the same with
11 public and private schools rotating the
one seat.
The Faith Based category would offer a
one-year rotating seat to one of 10 churches
and temples in Pacific Palisades.
Civic League, Garden Club, Palisades
Beautiful and P.R.I.D.E. would be combined
under Civic and would rotate in that chair.
AYSO, PPBA and YMCA would continue to be the three rotating organizations
under Recreation.
The Environment seat would include
PPRA and Temescal Canyon Association,
which would alternate every other year.
Service Clubs would remain the same with
six clubs (American Legion, Lions, Masonic
Lodge, Optimists, Pacific Palisades Woman’s
Club and Rotary) alternating in the seat.
The final category would be a business
representative and that seat would be appointed by the Council board.
(Continued on Page 5)
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Page 3
Palisades News
Left to right: Fourth graders Jacob Lewis, Isabella Cammarata and Matteo Salcedo
The Calvary sanctuary was filled with energy as the New Directions Veterans Choir
Photos: Bart Bartholomew performed during the launch of this year’s school-wide community service program.
joined the Calvary Christian School celebration on Friday.
Calvary Celebrates 10 Years of Service
C
alvary Christian School kicked off
its 10th year of service to others
with a celebration in the church
sanctuary on Friday.
Boy and Girl Scouts served as the color
guard and were escorted to the front of the
church with music provided by bagpipers
Darrell Calvillo and Samas Cyne and drummer Mike Jett.
Music director Omid Heidari arranged
a melodic rendition of the “Star Spangled
Banner” that was performed beautifully by
Kyleg McClung, Gemma and Grace Holsher and Yasmeen Hatayeb.
Head of School Vince Downey reminded
everyone of the theme of this year’s outreach program, “Rejoice” and remembered
the first program theme: the “Power of You.”
“I can’t think of any way better of showing our love than going out and serving the
community,” Downey said. “Ten years ago
Head of School Teresa Roberson asked
Kelly Holsher and Annie Barnes, whose
kids were in preschool at the time, to develop a community service program.”
Barnes and Holsher, who spoke on Friday, explained that Roberson wanted a
program that was more than a one-time
project. She asked them to develop ways
for kids to serve so that it would become
part of his/her life.
“I see service as love,” said Roberson,
who was in attendance. “Love is a verb and
love does.”
Holsher explained, “You may only be one
person in this world, but to one person you
may be the world.”
“Kids can make a difference and once
they make a difference it will inspire them
to do more,” Barnes said.
This year, school-wide, students will
join with Soldiers’ Angels, a nonprofit that
works with military families, deployed
service members, wounded service mem-
bers and veterans.
The youngest students will work with
Operation Christmas Child, packing shoe
boxes of special gifts for the needy. First
grade will work with the YMCA Ketchum
Downtown preschool and second grade
will work with the Children’s Bureau.
Third grade will focus on working with
the elderly, and fourth grade will work with
local food banks. Fifth grade will help children with special needs, while sixth grade
works to understand education equality
by visiting and helping in the Stella Middle School Academy.
Seventh grade goes to the Union Rescue
Mission and eighth grade will work at the
Veterans Administration. The middle school
classes also collaborate with the Casa Hogar
Sion Orphanage in Mexico and have since
the inception of the community service
program.
New Directions Veterans Choir per-
formed a “Military Medley” and “America
the Beautiful” before keynote speaker Ketric
Newell, author and inspirational speaker,
took the stage.
Everyone laughed as he recounted a
“delicate” first-grade memory.
“Sometimes in life we find ourselves in
messes and need help,” Newell said, remembering how his mom came to the school
office to help him. “Even though my circumstances had changed, my mom’s love
for me had not.”
He felt the kids at Calvary were lucky, because they were being taught to serve. “I
had a reading disability and was put in special classes and didn’t know I could serve
people,” Newell said. “But everyone has
gifts and everyone can serve.”
Closing with the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the Veterans Choir left the students
inspired as they surged out of the church.
Palisades-Malibu YMCA Turns Golden
T
he Palisades-Malibu YMCA is celebrating its 50th anniversary from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, in Simon Meadow, at the corner of
Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon
Road. The community is invited to join the
celebration, meet the new executive director, Beth MacAller, and enjoy the food,
music, shopping and awards.
During a special ceremony from 2 to 3
p.m., Carol Pfannkuche, YMCA executive
director from 2005-2015, will honor the
Y’s special benefactors and introduce
MacAller. The Palisades High School Jazz
Band will perform.
Two food trucks, Soho Tacos and Brew
N Wings, will be located in the Simon
Meadow parking lot from noon to 3 p.m.
Hand-blown glass pumpkins and fallthemed glass items designed by Santa Monica College artists will be available for sale
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Proceeds benefit the
Palisades-Malibu YMCA and the SMC Art
Department and students. Contact: Terry
Bromberg at bromberg_terri@smc.edu.
From noon to 2 p.m., the YMCA will
showcase its fitness programs with free
demos in Zumba, drumming and youth
archery. There will be a bounce house, an
obstacle course slide and a hay-bale maze.
Contact Beth MacAller: bethmacaller
@ymcala.org.
The Pumpkin Patch, which opened on
October 3, will run through October 31.
The location offers a wide selection and
varied sizes of pumpkins.
Hours are Monday through Friday from
3 to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thousands of Palisadians have fond
memories of field trips to the Y Pumpkin
Patch and proceeds benefit the local YMCA.
To arrange a field trip, contact Oscar Rodriquez: oscarrodriquez@ymcla.org.
Page 4
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Alcohol Tasting Approved at Gelson’s/Ralphs
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
G
elson’s and Ralphs will be able to
hold instructional alcohol tastings
in their stores, starting this month.
A new ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control)
license, 86, allows holders of a Type 20 or
Type 21 license (generally a retail licensee,
such as a grocery store) to obtain this license without a hearing.
The tasting license requires the involve-
Free Movie To
Screen at Library
The Palisades Branch Library will screen
its monthly movie at 1 p.m. on Saturday,
October 10, in the community room, 861
Alma Real. The movie is free to residents.
This 2002 movie stars Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman and Ed Harris.
The year is 1951, and Laura Brown, a
pregnant housewife, is planning a party for
her husband, but she can’t stop reading Virginia Woolf ’s novel Mrs. Dalloway. At the
same time, Clarissa Vaugh, living in present
times, is throwing a party for her friend
Richard, a famous author dying of AIDS.
The stories are linked to the events in the
life of Virginia Woolf.
ment or participation of a qualified supplier and cannot be obtained where motor
fuel is sold, unless the retail area is at least
10,000 sq. ft.
At a tasting, only a single type of alcoholic beverage may be sampled. If there is
wine, there will not be beer or a spirit. The
amount consumed is limited to three
ounces of wine, eight ounces of beer or
one-fourth of an ounce of a distilled spirit.
Those testing must be 21 years old and
his/her identification checked. Customers
may not be charged for tasting the product.
Hours alcohol may be sampled are between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., and a consumer
may not leave the testing area with an open
container of alcohol.
The event must be separated from the
remainder of the off-sale licensed products
by a wall, rope, cable, cord, chain, fence or
other permanent or temporary barrier.
Any unused alcohol must be removed by
the license holder or its representative.
The event may be advertised, and permitted advertising includes flyers, newspaper ads, Internet communications and
interior signage.
No gift, free goods or other thing of value
shall be given away by a licensee or designated
representative in connection with the tasting.
Alex Campbell, representing Ralphs, answered questions at the Pacific Palisades
Community Council meeting on August 27.
Q. Besides looking at identification, can
a vendor refuse service?
A. Yes, they have the right to say no.
Q. If you have different kinds of wine,
can you get three ounces of each kind?
A. No. Even if the vendor is serving red
and white wine, you only get three ounces.
Q. How many vendors can you have in
a day?
A. One vendor a day. One alcohol a day.
Q. In your experience has anyone with
an 86 license run into problems?
A. This is a new license, only about five
years old. To my knowledge, I haven’t heard
of any problems.
Q. Kids of all ages visit these grocery
stores with their parents or on school trips.
It seems like these tastings send a confusing message [by encouraging drinking
and driving]. How come we didn’t get to
register a complaint about this license?
A. It is a new and a piggy-back license.
Q. Is Ralphs planning to sell more alcohol and less groceries?
A. No. It will still have the same proportion. About 6 to 7 percent at most will be
dedicated to alcohol. In L.A., only nine
Ralphs are getting this license, and this is one.
Atria Offers Programs for
Senior Palisades Residents
Atria Senior Living, at 15441 Sunset Blvd.
(across from Gelson’s), offers its programs
free to Palisades residents. Seniors do not
have to live at the facility to take advantage
of the programs, but please RSVP to (310)
573-9545.
R&B singer Marian Calhoun will perform at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 8.
World-class pianist Alexander Borghese will perform at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 10.
There will be a breast cancer survivor
luncheon at noon on Wednesday, October
14. If you are a breast cancer survivor,
please bring a guest to join you at lunch.
There will be entertainment.
Frank Sinatra impersonator Jimmy
Brewster will perform Thursday, October
15 at 3:30 p.m.
Atria Park staff and residents and the Dr.
Susan Love Research Foundation will honor
the millions of Americans who battled
breast cancer and won. There will be food,
entertainment and raffles for prizes to local
spas, restaurants and shops.
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October 7, 2015
Council
(Continued from Page 1)
Before proposing this change, the bylaws
committee of George Wolfberg, David Kaplan, Maryam Zar, Reza Akef and co-chairs
Richard Cohen and Jennifer Malaret polled
the members in March about making bylaw
changes and were directed to proceed.
At the September 10 meeting, a disagreement first erupted because several members said when they voted for bylaw committee to go ahead, it did not mean organizational representatives should be changed.
“The straw poll grew out of dissatisfaction,” said Malaret, who at prior Council
meetings had asked for volunteers to help
the committee as it addressed officer elections, changes on how meetings are run
and the organizational representatives.
Then, a motion was made and passed
that the vote about the proposed organizational changes should be by secret ballot.
Former Citizen of the Year Randy Young
spoke against a change for organizational
reps. “The permanent seats are the ones
that have the [town’s] memory” he said,
and added: “I was the Council president
and we had no secret votes. I got flack from
everybody. We were brave. This organization has changed.”
Donna Vaccarino, the Civic League representative, said “I am not against looking
at reorganization, but no one reached out
to any of the three boards I am on.”
Page 5
Palisades News
Wood Left on Temescal
A
Wood is often stacked up along Temescal Canyon Road.
Akef responded, “My voice was being
marginalized by groups that had carte
blanche on this Council. One person can
be on three boards and continuously remain on this Council.”
PPRA President Emeritus Barbara Kohn
urged members to keep the current system
intact, explaining that PPRA was a founding member of the Community Council.
reader asked if it was legal to leave wood along Temescal
Canyon Road, and if the News knew whether the
people cutting down the trees had a permit.
“I asked someone leaving wood and the guys said that
they leave it because all Palisades residents can enjoy this
wood for their fireplaces. Oy!” the reader wrote.
On Thursday, September 24, wood had been left on the
sidewalk below the Temescal Academy School and stretched
along the curb about 200 yards towards the ocean on Temescal.
Five days later, a man, who did not wish to give his name,
was picking up smaller pieces of wood and loading it in his
pickup. He said he used it for his wood-burning pizza oven.
He also said that the larger pieces of wood are used by
furniture makers. “By Wednesday, this will all be gone,” he
said. “The only reason there’s so much right now is because
it’s hot. When winter comes, it’s gone fast.”
Wood was still left on Wednesday, thanks to additional
deliveries of cut-up trees.
We know that firewood and logs have been left along
Temescal for years. How do News readers use this wood? Do
any of your tree cutters leave wood? Is this a mutual benefit
service for local residents? E-mail spascoe@palisadesnews.com.
“PPRA is one of the only communitywide all volunteer organizations that has
and is willing to take legal action to enforce
city codes and to cooperatively join with
and assist other organizations in legal action when necessary.”
Kohn, a former Council president, also
argued that Historical Society and TCA
should remain in place.
“The Historical Society is the holder of
our archives, our history and is the backbone of the community,” she said, and the
TCA provides a citywide and community-wide service by its efforts to protect
mountain resources.
The Community Council board will
likely vote on the bylaws proposal at its next
meeting on Thursday, October 8.
Page 6
Palisades News
Heard
About Town
October 7, 2015
ANN CLEAVES
Getty Is In Pacific Palisades
The Getty Villa is located in Pacific Palisades, not Malibu. The dividing line between Malibu and Los Angeles (Pacific Palisades) is Coastline Drive. Next time you
hear someone say the Getty Villa is located
anyplace but Pacific Palisades, please correct
them. We need to stand up for our town!
Mailbox Warning
When I opened my online bank statement I found one of my checks had been
hijacked and cashed to a stranger, Jose D.
Figueroa. It was indeed my check, originally made out for less than $100. I had
sealed it in an envelope and dropped it in
one of the USPS mailboxes, either the one
by the Pacific Palisades Library or by the
Post Office on La Cruz. My check had been
altered, cashed and my account debited
several thousand dollars. I contacted my
bank, and they are investigating, but all
my snail mail from now on will be walked
into the post office building. Please warn
folks about this kind of crime in our town.
VIEWPOINT
Lawn Removal Taxed?
I replaced my lawn with drought-tolerant plants, but had to give tax-identification information to the Metropolitan
Water District. Do you know why?
(Editor’s note: The L.A. Times ran a story
[“Tax May Follow Lawn Removal,” September 23]. Anyone who received rebates of more
than $600 may have to pay a tax to the federal government. The federal tax code provides an exemption only for rebates related
to energy efficiency. The state tax board has
asked the IRS to clarify whether the exemption also applies to water-efficiency rebates.)
Coyote Sighting 8,376
A neighbor reported on Nextdoor Palisades that they had spotted a large coyote
off Friends Street and Lombard. As they
drove towards it, the coyote turned and
ran back down the bluff, where it stopped
and continued to watch them. Please remember to keep pets inside at night.
Lewd Billboard Truck
There is a billboard truck for a strip
club that parks itself in front of the Gladstone’s parking lot on weekend days. Are
there no limits on this?? It’s not something I wish for our children to see in our
neighborhood. I did call the non-urgent
police number, and was told there was
nothing they could do unless it was a traffic violation. I have not yet called Zoning, as I can’t imagine our area would be
zoned to have these kinds of ads.
(The News contacted Councilman Bonin’s office and the Design Review Board to
see if they could offer any help.)
———————
If you’d like to share something you’ve
“heard about town,” please email it to
spascoe@palisadesnews.com
Choosing How and What to Report
By LAURA CARR
Special to the Palisades News
I
’ll be the first to say it: virtually all newspapers
are guilty of sensationalizing stories in some
way or another.
As the editor-in-chief of The Denisonian, the
student publication at Denison University, I’ve
had to make decisions regarding a news piece
or feature that borders on sensationalism. That
being said, bias is inevitable.
Every newspaper has an angle—print
journalism is already a dying form as it is, and
in order to continue to remain relevant and
popular among a group of people, it has to cater
to that group’s beliefs and interests. My paper
certainly does; as a college newspaper, we very
narrowly walk the line between “professional”
and “colloquial.”
While we can criticize the schoo’s administration as much as we please, we have to be
more careful about the way we cover student
issues. We have to be mindful of what we
write about so as not to harm a fellow Denison
student in any way. That is where we draw the
line, and that is where our bias comes in.
As a lifelong Palisadian, I think I have a pretty
good sense of what people in the community
care about, and also that there are very rarely
any extreme stories to report. So, naturally,
some digging must be done.
This was very evident in the July 23 issue of
the Palisadian-Post, when an article about Denton Jewelers and its owner’s financial mishaps
and various pending lawsuits was printed.
This article spanned more than two pages, and
I think effectively ruined the store’s business.
I’m not sure if the new management at the Post
comprehends the power that a newspaper has
over public opinion. I doubt many Palisadians
will be venturing out to get their jewelry cleaned
or fixed at Denton’s any longer, and I think it
is a travesty (albeit very ironic) that the many
people quoted in that story will probably never
receive their money back because of this.
This is the problem with sensationalist
journalism—it’s ruining the integrity of what
we print and how we cover things. The bizarre
story of gunslinger, womanizer and wannabesecret agent Jeffrey Alan Lash, who died more
than two months ago, is still receiving heavy
coverage. While the story was interesting at first,
I would hardly go out of my way to receive
updates on the latest findings in this ongoing
saga, especially since there are so many other
issues worth discussing.
We could be talking about issues of racial
violence, sexual assault or the fact that homelessness has risen 12 percent in Los Angeles
since 2013—and the fact that we are now having
to find ways to tackle this particular issue in
our own safe haven of Pacific Palisades. But
instead of dedicating valuable space to create
an open dialogue about these issues, we, the
media, dedicate more space to talking about
Donald Trump’s latest gaffe, or his hair.
While it may all seem interesting, and I of
all people love a dramatic story, that is what
US Weekly and Perez Hilton are for. Leave it to
the gossip rags to ruin someone’s business or
create unneeded sensation over a story about
some crazy old man with a gun obsession.
(Editor’s note: Laura Carr is a PaliHi graduate
and a junior at Denison University in Granville,
Ohio. She is an English major with a creative writing
concentration, and editor-in-chief of the campus’
student newspaper The Denisonian. She is the
daughter of Palisadians Peter Carr and Sara Tucker.)
Thought to Ponder
“Kindness is the language
which the deaf can hear
and the blind can see.”
― Mark Twain
Founded November 5, 2014
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Palisades News
October 7, 2015
A forum for open discussion of community issues
Page 7
EDITORIAL
Community Service for the Middle-Aged
T
he Palisades News editor attended two interesting
events in Pacific Palisades last week. The first was
the installation of Kane Phelps as the new Optimist
Club president. The club, which was chartered in March
1956, still has two of its original members: Dr. Mike Martini and Hal Vieau. The men, in their 90s, are still active
in the service club that supports youth and education.
The other event was the 10th anniversary kick-off
for the Calvary Christian School community service
program. Students from preschool through eighth
grade celebrated the start of a school year that will be
intertwined with service that benefits other children,
the elderly and the military.
Annie Barnes and Kelly Holscher designed the program
after a great deal of thought. They knew they wanted to
institute something at the school that would help ingrain
the idea that service is not a once-a-year kind of event,
but rather something you do as part of your life.
At the service, fourth grader Gage Grimes said, “When
I help someone, I know they’ll help someone else.”
Most middle schools and high schools now have a
community service component. Students at Palisades
High School must perform 40 hours of service in order
to graduate.
Interestingly enough, many of the young veterans
when they leave the military join Team Red White and
Blue or Mission Continues. Both organizations have a
service component, which allows those who have already
served the country to continue to do so.
It appears as if we’re training our children well to help
others, and our service clubs in town (Rotary, Lions,
Freemasons and Optimists) have elderly members. We
also have vets in their 20s who are going the step beyond.
But, there’s a whole age group that appears to be
missing—the middle-aged.
At the Optimist Club installation, governor-elect of the
Pacific Southwest District, Dana La Mon, 63, made a plea
to try and interest younger members in the organization.
Commenting on La Mon’s request, former club
president Naidu Permaul said, “That’s what you used
to do—you got a job, a home for your family and then
you joined a service club.”
Why aren’t the middle-aged joining service clubs?
A New York Times story (“Service Clubs Rallying to
Reverse Their Slide,” October 4, 1992) stated that one
reason for the decline in service club memberships was
the economy. As people lost their jobs, it became harder
to pay dues.
A second common reason given was that there were an
increasing number of families where both parents worked.
Many opted for more family time over community service.
Perhaps the most interesting speculation in the story
came from New Jersey resident Robert Wagner, a
52-year-old executive who was the district governor of
the Lions Club. Describing the 1980s as “the yuppie
period,” he said the prevailing hedonism of that decade
affected the willingness of young professionals to become
involved in community activities.
In the long run, Wagner said, he expected membership
would increase as the country become further removed
from the attitudes of the ‘80s. He was convinced that
refugees from ‘80s-style selfishness would eventually find
the route to altruism. More than 20 years later, Wagner’s
hope hasn’t seen an increase in service club memberships.
Still, we need to appreciate what Albert Einstein
wrote: “Example isn’t another way to teach, it is the
only way to teach.”
It’s great that we’re requiring our children to give back,
but that also means parents could look into joining a
service club, too. Just as Calvary School works to instill
the idea of service in its students' “genetics,” Palisades
parents can strive to be part of something bigger, too.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Join YMCA Sunday
To Celebrate Its 50th Year
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend our
50th Anniversary event that will be held at Simon
Meadow on Sunday, October 11, from noon to 3 p.m.
This event is a friendraiser, fundraiser, introducer and
family fun day. It will be family oriented with activities for
children, Y-program demonstrations and information.
At the event, we plan to recognize past volunteers and
donors and introduce Beth MacAller to the community
as the new executive director. Previous director Carol
Pfannkuche will be there for the special presentation.
We need your help in several ways. Make your annual
gift to the Y to help support the cause. We want to raise
at least $50,000 through donations and sponsorships.
There is an even greater need to raise funds this year.
Family requests for financial assistance just increased by
$10,000+ because we gained such a great response from
our Palisades High School teens to join the YMCA Youth
and Government program.
There are 109 teens who want to participate but not
all of them can afford the full fees. So, we really need to
raise money by the year end.
Think of people you can invite to introduce them to
the Y as a prospect for becoming a member, board member
or donor, and ask them to come as your special guest.
Rick Politte
Palisades-Malibu YMCA Interim Director
Concerns about Power Outages
In Castellammare Area
This was our second power outage in three weeks
(Monday, September 28). The previous one was Tuesday,
September 8. I don’t know how many customers or
neighborhoods were affected then. But our entire street
(Tranquillo Road) in Castellammare Mesa was out for
several frustrating hours.
Will the DWP try to use these outages to bolster its
claim that it must have a new power station in the western
portion of the Palisades—anywhere from Marquez to
Castellammare? But do these outages have anything to do
with the lack of a new power station? Will the DWP use
the power station argument as a way to allow themselves
to be lax about getting to the core of these outages?
There’s a lot of new home construction dotting the area
(on Tramonto, Bellino, Livorno and elsewhere), which
you’d think might demand a lot of additional electricity.
That, in itself, could be used by DWP as another argument
for the power station. But new construction rules require
LED lights, which use dramatically less electricity. So
would such an argument be valid, if it were to be used?
Ultimately, what is causing these outages and what is
the DWP doing to correct the situation?
Rosalie Fox Huntington
(Editor’s note: LADWP was contacted and we received
the following reply from spokesperson Carol Tucker, who
said they were looking into the most recent power outages
and would let the News know. She added, “LADWP has said
many times in community meetings that the main reason
for building a new power substation in that area was to
meet increasing power demand and improve reliability.”)
Ugly Cell Tower Is Proposed
Near Revere
Verizon Wireless has proposed the construction of a
large cell tower that can be seen on Sunset Boulevard
between Canyon View Drive and Rockingham Avenue.
The proposed cell tower will have six very large cell
panels. It will be 55-feet high and have its own electrical
vault. The proposed wireless cell tower does not fit in with
the environment and is incompatible with the character
of our residential neighborhood.
The Ground Facility Ordinance (AGO) provides that
such an installation be in-line with existing utility poles/
street lights and be consistent with surrounding landscaping. The proposed tower is absolutely inconsistent
with landscaping throughout our neighborhood.
The City of Los Angeles Transportation Element of
the General Plan designates Sunset Boulevard as a
“Scenic Highway” and therefore it is subject to Section
D Scenic Highway’s Guidelines, Section (5) Utilities (a)
“To the maximum extent feasible, all new or relocated
electric, communication and other public utility distribution facilities within five hundred feet of the center
line of a Scenic Highway should be placed underground”
(b) “Where undergrounding of such utilities is not
feasible, all such new or relocated utilities shall be
screened to reduce their visibility from a Scenic Highway.”
By federal law and city ordinance, the city is not
required to notify homeowners of the construction of
this cell tower unless the property is immediately adjacent
to the tower (about one to six residences). This is for the
obvious reason to keep residents from finding out about
their intentions until it is too late to take action and appeal.
Please contact Councilman Mike Bonin with your
objections: (213) 473-7011.
Angelo M. Mazzone III
Palisades News welcomes all letters, which may be mailed to
spascoe@palisadesnews.com. Please include a name, address
and telephone number so we may reach you. Letters do not
necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Palisades News.
Page 8
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
SAVE THE DATE!
YMCA 50th
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Past, Present, Future
Sunday, October 11, 2015
12 - 3 pm
Simon Meadow, 15551 Sunset Boulevard
(corner of Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road)
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October 7, 2015
Page 9
Palisades News
Flu Vaccines Recommended for Kids
By DR. CATILIN COLVARD MEHRAN
Special to the Palisades News
F
all season routines should include a
visit to your pediatrician for your
child’s yearly flu vaccine. Yet, I frequently encounter hesitation among parents when offering the flu vaccine.
Parents ask, “Do my kids really need
this?” The answer is “Yes.”
The bottom line is that influenza, “the flu,”
is a dangerous life-threatening illness and
young children are among those at highest
risk for serious flu-related complications.
Last year in the U.S., there were 140 flurelated pediatric deaths reported by the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The
single best way to protect your children
from the flu is to get them vaccinated.
Experts recommend that children six
months of age and older receive the flu
vaccine. This is especially important for
children considered high risk for developing complications from the flu and for kids
who are around high-risk children.
High-risk children include those with
chronic health problems such as asthma,
heart disease, diabetes, cerebral palsy, seizure
disorders, chronic lung disease, blood disorders, and poor immune systems (children
with cancer or those on chronic steroids).
Two forms of flu vaccines are offered:
an intramuscular shot and a nasal spray.
Both are safe and effective, but the shot is
approved for those six months and older,
the nasal spray for healthy children over
the age of two.
If your child has an egg allergy, you
should speak to your pediatrician before
receiving a flu shot. The nasal spray should
NOT be given to children with a history of
an allergic reaction to a previous flu vaccine, an allergy to eggs, those with weakened immune systems, a history of asthma
and wheezing within the past 12 months,
or other chronic health conditions.
Children aged six months through eight
years who have never previously received
a total of TWO or more doses of the flu
vaccine before July 1, 2015 will require two
doses of this year’s flu shot.
These shots will be administered at least
four weeks apart. Two doses are necessary
because the first dose “primes” the immune
system and the second dose allows the
“primed” immune system to mount an appropriate response to an invading flu virus.
Often, parents will ask me if the flu vaccine itself will make their children sick. The
vaccine contains viruses that have been
weakened to prevent them from causing
the flu. Few children experience mild side
effects, such as a low-grade fever, in the days
directly following vaccine administration;
however, these symptoms are rare and certainly are preferred over a true flu illness.
Dr. Catilin Colvard Mehran of Pacific Palisades
Some parents worry about thimerosal,
a mercury-based preservative, which has
been used for more than 70 years in vaccines to prevent the growth of bacteria and
fungi in multi-dose vials. Single-dose vaccines are made without thimerosal.
The nasal spray flu vaccine is produced
as a single dose unit and does not contain
thimerosal. The majority of the flu shot
vaccines in the United States are now sin-
Vaccines Advocated for Middle-aged/Seniors
W
ith the focus on vaccinating infants and children, middle-aged
persons and seniors are being
reminded they should also request and
have vaccinations, for pneumonia, shingles
and whooping cough.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that adults should receive the flu
vaccination every year. Although the vaccine is not always 100 percent effective, it
can reduce the intensity and the risk of
long-term complications. Just over 45 percent of adults ages 50 to 64 received the
vaccination in 2012-2013.
Every adult should have a dose of Td, a
Tdap booster for tetanus, diphtheria and
pertussis (whooping cough) every 10 years.
Even as California has seen a rise in whooping cough, the number of adults getting a
booster has not risen.
Only one in four adults over 60 have received the shingles (Herpes Zoster) shot.
If one had chicken pox, the virus lies dormant in the body and can recur as a blistering painful condition. It can cause
complications with eyes and result in
post-herpetic neuralgia.
Most have heard that seniors need pneu-
monia shots, but the CDC actually recommends that same shot for people as young
as 27. It is recommend specifically that all
adults over 65 receive two different pneumococcal vaccines (PCV13 and PPSV23)
to protect against the bacteria that causes
pneumonia, as well as ear and sinus infections, and can invade the blood stream.
Additional adult vaccines recommended
are for hepatitis A and B and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b).
Consult your primary physician or visit
CDC.gov for more information on the recommended adult vaccination schedule.
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gle-dose units and thimerosal free.
The timing of flu season is unpredictable
and the severity of the flu illness varies
from year to year. Getting your kids vaccinated by October can help ensure protection before the flu season begins.
(Editor’s note: Dr. Mehran, who lives
with her husband in Pacific Palisades, was
born and raised here. She attended Corpus
Christi and Marymount High School.
Mehran works at Morningside Pediatrics in
Santa Monica.)
Flu Shot Clinic
Will Be Held at
Knolls Pharmacy
A flu shot clinic will be held from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 17 at
Knolls Pharmacy, 16630 Marquez Ave.
The nursing service will offer a preservative-free vaccine for $30 for ages 9 and
up. Medicare part B will be accepted.
Call Knolls Pharmacy: (310) 454-6000
to sign up.
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October 7, 2015
Palisades News
UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS
BUSINESS NOTES
Dine in LA Series Features Kristin Loberg
CLOSINGS
Jack in the Box, which opened off Sunset
Kristin Loberg, coauthor of Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and
Boulevard (north of PCH) in 1972, closed
Protect Your Brain for Life, will speak at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, at the Palisades
on September 11. A Palisades News editor
Library Community room, 861 Alma Real. Admission is free and books will be
stopped by that morning as the signs were
available for purchase and signing.
coming down. Carlos Briceno, director of
Loberg and coauthor Dr. David Perlmutter write about how much of our health,
operations for that franchise, said that the
and especially our brain health is impacted by the microbes in our gut. The book
20-25 people who worked there were being
includes recipes, food plans and tips to help manage issues such as weight loss,
offered employment at other Jack in the
blood sugar control and memory.
Box locations. At that time, a person who
The lecture is sponsored by the Friends of the Palisades Library and the Library
did not wish to be named said that the loFoundation of Los Angeles, in conjunction with the “To Live and Dine in L.A.”
cation wasn’t doing enough business and
program. Call (310) 459-2752.
that fact, combined with lease negotiations,
were responsible for the closure.
On September 21, Jack in the Box comCulinary historian Linda Civitello will present a lecture on “America Takes the
munications officer Brian Luscomb said the
Cake,” at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, at the Palisades Library. Admission is free. lease was set to expire at the end of SeptemCivitello will discuss how American cake bears little resemblance to European cake. ber and the operator “made the decision to
Nineteenth-century industrialization changed the types and milling of flour, the
close the location after failing to reach an
processing of sugar, created commercial flavoring extracts and most importantly, the agreement with the landlord on a lease exchemical leavening shortcuts that reduced cake-making time from hours to minutes.
tension.” Luscomb was asked to comment
Participants will trace the evolution of cake from yeast-risen and bread-like to pound,
on the sales. “Sales can vary significantly
sponge, angel, devil, wedding and birthday. The icing on the cake? Technological
from location to location,” he said. “Unforinnovations changed that, too, with most toppings shifting from egg-based icing to
tunately, I’m not able to discuss sales at that
butter-based frosting. Call (310) 459-2752.
restaurant. I’m sorry.”
‘America Takes the Cake’ Presented by Civitello
Screenwriting Lessons Offered Oct. 10, 17
Chris Ruppenthal, former writer for the television show X-Files, and Jim Uhls,
screenwriter for Fight Club, will teach attendees how to format a television or movie
script as well as how to successfully pitch a script.
The pair will work with aspiring screenwriters from 10 a.m. to noon, on Saturday,
October 10 and 17, in the Palisades Library community room, 861 Alma Real Dr.
Call (310) 459-2754.
GIVING BACK
The Yogurt Shoppe on Swarthmore,
through its Happy Hour donation program, hosted a fundraiser for Station 69 on
September 11 that yielded a check for $90.
Between 5 and 7 p.m., Monday through
Friday, a percentage of sales goes to a des-
ignated group. Most recently, $136 was
raised for Griefhaven, $132 for BBYO
Jewish Youth Group and through October
3, the Pali Quarterback Club. Interested
groups are invited to contact owner Kevin
Sabin. Visit: aplacetomix.
The Shoppe’s Good Grades program
continues. Every Monday, a free yogurt goes
to the first 10 kids who show a graded exam
or assignment with a grade of B+ or better.
(Editor’s note: If your business has an
anniversary, an opening, closing or an announcement, send an email to
spascoe@palisadesnews.com.)
Council Agenda
Features By-Laws,
Shell Station
The Pacific Palisades Community
Council meeting will meet from 7 to
9 p.m. on October 8 in the Palisades
Library community room, 861 Alma
Real Dr. The public is invited.
A continued discussion of a bylaws
amendment that would change the
organizations that sit on the Council
(See story p. 1). There will also be a
discussion regarding the Village
Shell Station conditional use permit.
DAN URBACH PRESENTS
THE HOPE RANCH
82 ACRES
GRACIOUS
HIGHLANDS ESTATE
ENCOUNTER THE
UNEXPECTED
HIGHLANDS
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Malibu
16678 Via la Costa
Pacific Palisades
5958 Paseo Canyon Dr
Malibu
7113 Palisades Cir
Pacific Palisades
OFFERED AT $5,990,000
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Open split-level floorplan w/ hi ceilings in liv rm & din area. Priv direct
entry 2-car garage. Complex features 2 tennis courts, pool/spa.
82 acres across Encinal Cyn from the
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Equestrian facilities; barns, stables,
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www.1172Encinal.com
Breathtaking 5bd/7.5ba ocn view
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Dan was recently congratulated by John Closson, Vice President and Regional Manager of Berkshire Hathaway
HomeServices, for being the “Top Producing” agent in the Pacific Palisades office for 2014, as well as one of
the “Top Ten” agents nationwide out of more than 35,000 Berkshire Hathaway sales professionals.
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P E C I A L I Z I N G
I N
PAC
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A L I B U
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O N I C A
Dan Urbach
Luxury Property
Specialist
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Page 11
Your Neighbors Might Be Tourists
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
O
n a recent visit to the web sites
Airbnb, HomeAway, One Fine Stay
and VRBO (Vacation Rentals By
Owner), this editor found four of her
neighbors’ homes (in a two-block area near
Temescal Canyon) listed as available for
short-term rental.
The Airbnb site listed 134 rentals in Pacific Palisades; HomeAway had 88; One
Fine Stay listed 13 and VRBO had 89. A
prospectives tourist could pay from $72 per
night for a “quaint studio” to $4,600 per
night for a seven-bedroom house.
Short-term rentals are not technically
allowed in most neighborhoods in Los
Angeles, including Pacific Palisades. Some
cities, such as West Hollywood, ban them
entirely, and other cities permit them with
few rules, in exchange for collecting the
hotel tax from visitors.
L.A. City Councilmen Mike Bonin and
Herb Wesson have asked the Planning
Department and the City Attorney’s office
to craft an ordinance that: 1.) authorizes
a host to rent all or part of their primary
residence to short-term visitors, permitting someone to rent a spare room, a back
house, or even their own house while they
are out of town; 2.) prohibits hosts from
renting units or buildings that are not
their primary residence or are units covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance;
and 3.) captures Transit Occupancy Tax
(TOT) from all hosts.
“We don’t want to take away someone’s
ability to make ends meet by renting out
an extra room or guest house, but we cannot tolerate how a growing number of
speculators are eliminating rental housing
and threatening the character of our
neighborhoods,” Bonin said in asking for
the motion.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) debated the ordinance’s merits
on September 24.
Area 2 (Highlands) alternate representative Diane Bleak said, “We bought here
to raise our children. It makes for a very
creepy neighborhood for our kids. They
don’t know the strangers.”
Youth representative Schuyler Dietz
pointed out, “My brother had a four-month
internship in Finland and stayed in one.”
A member of the audience commented,
“My wife’s friend, who is a widow, rents
out her room and that allows her to keep
her home.”
Temescal Canyon Association representative Gil Dembo said, “This is a problem
that his happening all over the country.
We need to take a strong stand. The City
gains nothing.”
By an overwhelming majority the Council voted to send a letter opposing Bonin/
Wesson motion.
The letter read: “The City’s current regulations in fact do ‘anticipate’ and ‘effectively’
regulate short-term rentals. They are illegal
in R zones for very good reasons . . . Our residential neighborhoods were never intended
to accommodate hotel-like environments
with transient occupancy by strangers and
the noise, parking, traffic, litter and other
activities not usual and customary. Safety
of neighborhoods is threatened every time
alarm and gate codes are given to strangers,
Neighborhood Watch programs (founded
on residents knowing their neighbors) are
compromised and emergency responders
are placed at-risk by having to respond to
increased and unknown numbers of people
coming and going out of what were meant
to be single dwelling units.”
PPCC’s objection to the motion also
noted, “The answer to technology, innovation and the way that some people want to
travel, make friends or make ends meet is
not a blanket commercialization of the
City’s neighborhoods. In response to allegations that the City does not have the resources or will to enforce existing zoning,
PPCC suggests that the existing Los Angeles
Municipal Code be amended to allow
property owners a private right of action,
with recovery of attorney’s fees, in response
to the illegal operation of short-term rentals in residential zones.”
Page 12
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
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11
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15
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(310) 454-1111
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(310) 459-7511
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©2015 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office is owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker® and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered
service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Broker does not guarantee the accuracy of square footage, lot size or other information concerning the condition or features of property provided by seller or obtained from public records or other sources, and the buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that
information through personal inspection and with appropriate professionals. * Based on information total sales volume from California Real Estate Teechnology Services, Santa Barbara Association of REALLTORS,
TORS, SANDICOR, Inc. for the period 1/1/2013 through 12/31/2013 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego,
Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Due to MLS reporting methods and allowable reporting policy, this data is only informational and may not be completely accurate. Therefore, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does not guarantee the data accuracy. Data maintained by the MLS’s may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
Page 13
Rigo Manzanares Plots a New Course
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
I
f you ever went into Gelson’s wine
aisle and needed assistance picking a
wine, chances are you had help from
Rigo Manzanares.
The Pacific Palisades resident retired
from the store a year ago, after 34 years
with the company, and he’s now a personal trainer.
Growing up in the San Fernando Valley,
Manzanares graduated from Van Nuys
High School and got a job at Gelson’s in
1980. A vice president, Bill Roulettes, saw
a determination and intelligence in Manzanares, and told him, “Kid, I want you to
become a wine person. Just don’t recommend Blue Nun.”
Manzanares was sent to City Valley College for wine classes and afterwards attended a six-month course that included dining
two times a week and learning how to pair
up food and desserts with different wines.
“The company provided us with fivestar wine dinners,” Manzanares said. “I was
able to taste a lot of different wines, it was
like a playground.”
He arrived in the Palisades in 1985 and
met his second wife, Uschi, whom he married in 1999.
Manzanares’ expertise was valued by the
Rigo Manzanares is now offering personal training services.
company and they sent him to open stores
in Marina Del Rey in 1990 and then a few
years later to Century City, before bringing
him back to the Palisades in 1996.
At the Palisades store, Manzanares managed four people in the wine department
and was the union shop steward, representing 295 people. “I have nothing but praise
for Gelson’s,” he said. “They went beyond
Upper El Medio to Bienevenda
By MICHAEL EDLEN
Special to the Palisades News
T
here are actually several small, yet
distinctively different sections in
the area north of Sunset roughly
bounded by El Medio and Bienveneda.
Many people are unaware of significant
variety of features in this area.
At the top of Bienveneda, above the
Lachman tracts that begin north of St. Matthew’s, is the gated Bella Oceana block.
And just a bit further up are the Ridgeview
estates, with 24-hour guard gates located at
the entry of the end of Bienveneda and the
start of Shadow Mountain. This is a mostly
flat subdivision of large luxury homes that
are situated on big lots with dramatic city
and ocean views.
To the east of Bienveneda is Maroney
Lane, a cul-de-sac road characterized mostly by ranch-style homes. Originally, it was
two large estates that were zoned for horses, and had additional access from Las
Lomas. One of those estates was split into
parcels many years ago, and the other is
currently in process of becoming several
large luxury homes.
Above and further east of Maroney is
the Palisair Tract, which includes much of
Las Pulgas, Las Canoas, upper Las Lomas,
Anoka, upper El Medio and Palisair.
There are CC&Rs in that Tract that include height limits on structure and vegetation that may impact views from other
sites in the area. Most of the homes on Alcima are part of Tract 9300, which are subject to the Civic League jurisdiction regarding changes to home exteriors.
There is also a small area along lower El
Medio above Sunset, including the northern
section of Muskingum and east end of Alcima. These sites are generally much larger
properties than the adjacent areas of Palisair or Tract 9300, and many of the homes
are proportionately larger in size as well.
There are three trailhead access routes
to the Santa Monica Mountains along the
top of this area, from El Medio, Las Lomas
Place and Bienveneda.
Michael Edlen has been ranked in the
top percent of all agents in the country with
nearly $2 billion in sales and more than
1,200 transactions. Call (310) 230-7373 or
email michael@michaeledlen.com.
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
the check for their workers—and the check
is all they really owe you.”
Manazanares appreciated how the company also helped him grow personally by
allowing him to make purchasing decisions. “I was like a kid in a candy store with
my wine—and have gratitude for the people I met.”
He explained that becoming an expert
about wine is like investing in the stock
market, that one has to keep up on the
vineyards, the weather and years. “That’s
the beauty of wine,” he said, noting one of
LAX Upper-Level
Construction
Is Underway
Residents dropping off or picking
up guests at Los Angeles International
Airport should plan for constructionrelated delays.
The upper-level departure roadway
is undergoing major repair work for
deteriorating concrete and surface
cracks, as part of a $32.4-million project scheduled to be completed in 2016.
Construction on the upper level
began September 14. The road remains
in use throughout the repair work:
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Work on Fridays and Saturdays will
last from 11 p.m. to 1 p.m. the next day.
This phase of the project is expected
to be completed just before Thanksgiving, officials said.
Visit: laxishappening.com.
his favorite wines is Chateau Montelana.
One of his favorite companies is Pali
Wines, because the owners of the winery
are Palisadians Judy and Tim Perr. Gelson’s
was one of the first Westside stores to carry
their product, mostly because of Manzanares’ recommendation.
After retiring from Gelson’s at age 55,
Manzanares wanted to try a different field.
“A friend said, ‘Why don’t you be a personal trainer?’” Manzanares had been Mr.
Venice Beach in 1985 and again in 1986,
and also Mr. L.A., and the idea made sense
to him.
“We take our body for granted,” he said.
“It’s one of the most perfect tools and we
destroy it.”
He has had experience with weight issues. During high school, the 6-ft. tall athlete stayed fit because he played football
and baseball. But when he married he
stopped sports, and his weight soon went
up to 205 pounds.
“I love to eat, and potato chips are my
kryptonite,” Manzanares said. “I got really
chubby and when someone saw me who
hadn’t see me in a while, he asked, ‘What
happened to you?’”
As a personal trainer, Manzanares helps
his private clients set reasonable goals, works
with previous injuries and goes over eating
habits (including the number of cocktails
and glasses of wine) and sleeping patterns.
“Exercising is not fun,” he said. “That’s
why having someone help motivate you,
and motivate you on the proper way to
exercise is needed.”
He compares teaching fitness to selling
wine. “You have to be honest and tell the
truth.”
Manzanares said that in order to be fit,
you don’t have to be a gym rat, but he will
help wean you out of bad habits—slowly.
Call: (310) 454-2450 or (310) 387-4945
or email umanzanares@gmail.com.
Chamber Mixer
At Modo Mio
On October 15
The Pacific Palisades Chamber of
Commerce will hold a mixer from 5:30 to
7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 15.
Hosted by Debby Harrington and Bruce
Schwartz of Palisades Realty (visit: PalisadesRealty.com), the event will take place
at Modo Mio, 15200 Sunset Blvd. There
will be raffle drawings and a chance to network with other business people. Members are free, nonmembers are $25. Call
(310) 459-7963.
Page 14
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
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October 7, 2015
Page 15
Palisades News
How to Buy Before Your Home Is Sold
By ANTHONY MARGULEAS
Special to the Palisades News
I
n one of the hottest sellers markets (and
I am not talking about the weather) in
20 years, how does one buy a home if
they need the equity from their current
home for a purchase?
The best way is to structure a contingency sale for the buyer’s property. Contingency sale offers are not easy to do, especially when a buyer may be competing with
all-cash and multiple offers.
An agent’s experience is crucial and a
buyer should ask their agent how many
contingency sale transactions they have
done in the past five years.
The buyer’s agent should also be local so
Free Senior Flu
Clinic to Be Held
There will be free flu vaccines for
seniors (over 50), caregivers and families from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday,
November 12, at the Woman’s Club,
901 Haverford Ave. This service is
first-come, first-served and limited
pediatric doses will be available.
they are familiar with Palisades agents and
have built up a long-term trust because it
comes down to personal relationships. The
buyer’s agent needs to convince the seller’s
agent (listing agent) why the buyer’s home
will not have any problem selling.
It is also important that the buyer prices
their current home at market value or ideally a little below to show the listing agent
that they want to sell fast. We recommend
the buyer’s agent invite the listing agent
out to see the home so they can verify its
condition and pricing.
When structuring a contingency sale,
occasionally the buyer will need to offer the
seller of the property they are buying a premium, since the seller is taking a risk by
taking their home off the market.
When looking for ideal sellers who may
be open to a contingency sale, the buyer’s
agent should look for homes that have been
on the market for a while and may have been
overpriced. For these types of properties,
the sellers are going to be much more motivated and willing to work with the buyer.
Also, off-market homes or new homes that
are under construction are ideal candidates
since the owners are not in a rush to sell
and they may need the extra time as well.
It helps if the buyer’s home is already on
the market or in escrow. A contract for a
contingency sale has a clause that says how
Celebrating 12 Years!
long, usually 17 days, before the seller can
start actively marketing the home for backup offers.
Another option is to rent for the shortterm after the buyer has sold their home but
no one wants to move twice. Since it is such
a strong seller’s market, the challenging part
is finding a home and being the successful
bidder if there are multiple offers.
There is tremendous value in structuring
P
rominent L.A. independent school educators will address “What Are the
Proven Keys to Student Success, Both in the School and the Future?” from 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, at the Luxe Hotel, 11461 Sunset Blvd.
The fee is $179 per person and space is limited. Call (818) 864-6725.
“This is going to be an extraordinary event for parents,” said Sue Slotnick, the
CEO and co-founder of Educational Test Prep and director of advancement at
Village School.
Keynote speaker is Dr. Rob Evans, the author of three books, including Family
Matters: How Schools Can Cope with the Crisis in Childrearing. He will outline key
dilemmas in raising children and adolescents today and offer concrete suggestions
for successful coping at home and school.
Following his presentation, parents can attend different workshops, hosted by 10
experts on various topics, including “Standardized Test Prep Demystified,” “Fostering
Literacy and Enhancing Academic Self-Esteem” and “Adolescence 101: A Guide for
Parents.”
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Anthony Marguleas founded Amalfi Estates 21 years ago. He has sold $750 million
in properties and was selected by The WSJ
this year as one of the top 100 agents in the
country out of one million agents. Call (310)
293-9280 or visit:AmalfiEstates.com.
Student Success Conference
Is October 17 at Luxe Hotel
From my family to yours,
THANK YOU for your continued support.
(310) 597-5984
a contingency sale but there are a lot of
complexities, so make sure your agent is an
expert with a lot of experience.
310.230.7377
hollydavis@coldwellbanker.com
www.hollydavis.com
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Whether you are buying or selling a home,
condominium or income property, I will produce
the results you are looking for and have the
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Page 16
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Page 17
Gaining the Most from Breakfast Programs
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
A
lthough low-income students have
received breakfast every morning at
Paul Revere Middle School in the
past, the year the school unveiled LAUSD’s
Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC).
BIC began in 2013 and is part of a threeyear program that is slated for all LAUSD
schools.
The reason cited in an LAUSD press release for the program, the largest of its kind
in the nation, is “this means students will
get the nourishment they need to excel
academically.”
Many parents and teachers questioned
the need for the program at Revere, where
26.2 percent of the 2,100 students are considered low income and the school routinely scores as the highest-ranking middle
school in the district.
The News visited Revere on the second
day of the program and watched as “Breakfast Ambassadors” (volunteer students
from each of the classrooms on campus)
walked to the cafeteria and then rolled the
food to the classrooms.
After the bell rings, the teacher reads out
the name of each student and asks if they
are having breakfast. That morning there
was a small box of Cheerios, an apple or
pear, milk and a Gogurt.
Broker Associate
Fine Home Specialist
30+ Years Experience
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Even if a student only wanted the milk
or Gogurt, he or she were required to take
every item of food. This writer watched as
students traded food at their desks.
The process came to a halt early when
there were only eight breakfasts, and 23 kids
requested one that morning. The Ambassador was sent back to the cafeteria to see
if there were more containers of food.
Each day the number of breakfasts requested in a classroom are recorded and
then the number of breakfasts sent the
following day are reflected by the prior
days’ requests.
The day before only eight kids had chosen the burrito—and of those, four had
thrown it away. Generally, the burritos were
not a popular food choice, and according
to one cafeteria worker, 1,700 burritos,
which had been sent to the school but not
selected, were thrown away.
Milk posed a problem for one classroom
because the cartons were past the expiration date. In another classroom, a carton
of milk spilled on the floor, requiring janitorial cleanup.
One teacher who wished to remain
anonymous said, “I already have problems
with ants in this classroom and there are
rodents, too. The food is only going to
make it worse.”
One student ambassador brought several cartons of milk and a bag of pears back
Insulated food containers are lined up at the cafeteria for every classroom at Paul Revere.
The Breakfast in the Classroom program began September 14.
to the cafeteria, so they could be used again.
They cannot. The items were thrown into
the garbage.
Parents worry that the breakfast is taking away from instructional time, but the
LAUSD website states, “The time utilized by
BIC is considered part of the instructional
minutes for the day.”
Although LAUSD says the paper trays
and the pre-wrapped spoon used for cereal
are biodegradable, all of the waste in the
classrooms at Revere was put in a big black
plastic bag and thrown into large trash bins
on campus.
A month later, it appeared that most
students still did not select the burrito,
more chose the cereal, but the breakfast
coffee cake was selected by almost everyone for breakfast.
Although reporters are not allowed to
speak to kids on campus, one seventh
grader reported in the Village that they had
run out of milk on October 1 and were
given orange juice for the cereal.
Food is available in California through
CalFresh (formerly known as food stamps),
an entitlement program that provides
monthly benefits to assist low-income
households in purchasing the food they need
to maintain adequate nutritional levels.
Other households qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program
(SNAP), a federal program available for
both U.S. citizens and certain noncitizens.
If there are means for the poorest to feed
their own families, why would LAUSD unroll a three-year program to ensure that
every student in its system, rich and poor,
receives a breakfast?
Money. BIC is funded by state and federal
dollars. An analysis by the Blue Sky Consulting Group found: “A 10 percent expansion
of California’s school breakfast program
would generate $42.7 million in economic
activity while creating 1,000 new jobs.”
According to the group’s co-founder,
Tim Gage: “For an investment of $2.1 mil-
lion, or about 11 cents per meal, California
would receive more than $40 million in
federal funds.”
LAUSD’s Benavidez told the News it
costs the district $0.95 per breakfast, which
includes the paper costs. The money received by LAUSD from state and federal
dollars is less at Revere than some schools
because only 26.2 percent of the students
qualify for free and reduced lunches. Rates
received are $1.66 for free students, $1.36
for reduced and $0.29 for paid.
If the number of students receiving
free/reduced meals is 40 percent or greater,
the district receives $1.99, $1.69 and $.029.
Benavidez said about $6 million was generated from the breakfast program last year.
In 2013, LAUSD Board Member Tamar
Galatzan estimated that feeding breakfast
to all of the District’s more than 664,000
students would bring in $56 million in by
the 2015-16 school year.
The District website states, “LAUSD
schools missed out on $107 million in additional federal meal reimbursements during 2009—10 due to low school breakfast
participation. That is, if the additional
361,784 students who qualify for a FRP
meal participated daily, [this] would mean
an additional revenue of $615,000 per day!”
‘Spooktacular’ Set
For October 25
The Marquez Elementary Halloween
Festival Spooktacular will be held from
noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 25.
There will be game booths, food stands,
cake walks, rides, prizes and a haunted
house. The community is invited.
Sponsorship activities are available. Parents are also sought to help build and set
up the event. Call Loren Schmalle at (310)
600-1714 or e-mail Ericka Gair, theGairs
@mac.com.
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
Page 18
Olson Sets Weight-Lifting Record
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
Photos by Bart Bartholomew
I
f you see David Olson on the streets or
in Gelson’s, you might assume he’s your
typical 18-year-old Palisadian high
school senior. But everything about Olson
is far from typical.
For starters, in March he set an American Powerlifting Federation state record in
the category for 17-year-olds, drug tested,
with 607.5 pounds lifted: a combined total
of squats (195 pounds), bench press (140
pounds) and the dead lift (272.5).
Olson also prepares and cooks most of
his own meals at the home he shares with
his mom Karin Olson, stepdad Daniel Espinosa and sister Cara, who attends Marlborough. He spends three to four hours in
the gym every day; and is home-schooled.
“I have complete drive and I’m focused
on obtaining excellence,” he said. “I can’t do
all the things that normal guys want to do
like partying and drinking.
“I have always just wanted to be number
one in whatever I do,” Olson said.
He first went into a gym at age 9 because
his dad, Edward Olson, lifted, and there
were also weights around the home. “I did
the farmer carry (like carrying around two
buckets),” he said, copying what he saw
other weightlifters do.
When Olson was 11, he started doing
push-ups and running, and joined a running program at USC. He worked for a
while with Shelton Sharp, who taught him
basic physical conditioning.
Although Olson is now 6’2” and 260
pounds, he’s also fast and more than once
has been approached about playing football, but has stuck with powerlifting.
“I started noticing girls for the first time
when I went to Revere and I thought if I
were bigger they’d notice me,” Olson told
the Palisades News.
Asked if it worked, he replied, “Sort of.”
Around seventh grade, he started working out at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA with
Todd Tharen, who showed him some lifting
basics. “I was really strong then,” Olson said.
“I could do 40 pull-ups and 40 push-ups,”
and by the time he was 14, he could curl
130 pounds.
He began working out at the YMCA
every day with other Palisadian teens, and
admits he was ego lifting—just throwing
weight on the bar. “Older kids were calling
me a prodigy.”
One day a fellow lifter asked Olson, “What
do you do for a leg day?” Until then he had
just been targeting the chest and arms.
With that query, he started a weightlifting program that targeted the full body.
“My dad came in and worked on proper
form with me,” Olson said.
He continued to focus on powerlifting
and by the time he was 17, adolescence and
testosterone had kicked in, giving him the
edge. “I just shot up. I feel like I’m on steroids but I’m not.”
Olson explained it’s easy to spot someone
on steroids because their deltoid muscles
look like they’ve “popped,” jaws get bigger
and there is hair all over their body. “There’s
a big problem with women taking them—
they get facial hair and a deeper voice.”
Besides having great genetics, Olson takes
care of his body. “I eat a lot of food,” he said.
A typical breakfast might include four Quest
protein peanut butter cups, a half-pound to
a pound of ground meat and a cup of oatmeal. He does most of his own cooking.
He used to eat eight to a dozen eggs every
morning but got so tired of them, “Now I’d
throw up, if I had to eat them.”
His second meal is around 10 a.m. and
includes about two cups of rice and an-
David Olson started his lifting training at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.
other 8 to 12 ounces of meat. Although he
likes chicken, he limits it because “if you
undercook it and you get sick you’re out
of commission for five days.”
He also likes fish, but it generally doesn’t
provide enough calories and, he said, “It’s
so expensive and I’d have to eat pounds of
salmon.”
Olson’s lunch consists of rice and meat
and his 2 p.m. meal might be a sandwich
like roast beef. He admits his least favorite
meal is chicken and a “bunch of sweet potatoes” at 4 p.m. Afterwards, he goes to the
gym for 3 or 4 hours before having dinner.
“Food is one of my least favorite parts of
the day. It’s expensive, it’s a hassle,” he said.
He also cleans up after himself in the kitchen. “If you don’t, your mom will scream
at you.”
(Continued on Page 19)
David Olson prepares for competition by doing bench presses, as well as squats and dead lifts. Olson set the 17-year-old California powerlifting record.
October 7, 2015
Page 19
Palisades News
Olson
(Continued from Page 18)
Most of Olson’s school work is done in
the morning and he’s currently also applying to colleges. “I study, eat and train,” he
said, noting that one of his favorite subjects
is English literature. The book that’s had
the biggest impact on him was one of the
first he read: History of the World.
After college he’s considering a career as
a firefighter.
He admits that not a lot of people understand powerlifting as an athletic endeavor. “People put it down. They say it’s
ridiculous because you just ‘pick it up and
put it down.’”
His sister doesn’t really understand why
he does it, but Olson said she is supportive.
“Even if I had millions of dollars, I’d still
weight train,” Olson said. “I don’t care what
people think about the sport. I go into a
different part of my head when I train.”
He explains that many kids his age try to
get into that different part of their brain
with drugs or alcohol, because they don’t
know how to access the other part of their
brain. “This has kept me out of trouble. I
can’t do those things.”
“I started weightlifting to try and get
girls,” Olson said, but admits this is no
longer an important motivation. With his
training schedule, he doesn’t have time to
date or to go to parties.
“I can’t really explain it, but I dream
PaliHi Beach
Team Ranked
P
Varsity player Danny Miller goes high for the spike while Shane Selznick
Photo: Dane Selznick
looks on.
about this. There’s not a moment of the day
I’m not thinking about powerlifting or
something related to powerlifting.”
“When I’m in the gym, I don’t think
about yesterday or tomorrow,” Olson said.
“All thoughts fall to the side.”
1038 Swarthmore Ave | Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 | (310) 459-8451
alisades High School’s Interscholastic
Beach Volleyball League (IBVL) began its
season on August 29, coached by Dane
Selznick, whom Olympic gold medal winner
Kerri Walsh calls “hands down best coach there
is in the world of beach volleyball.”
The playoffs start this week and PaliHi is
ranked 9th (5-3) out of 24 teams. It is second
in the Ocean League, behind Santa Monica (6-2),
which is ranked 8th overall. Redondo, last
year’s champion, is ranked first. The finals will
be held Saturday, October 10.
The boys IBVL began in the fall of 2013 with
15 schools competing. The girls program began
a year earlier with eight teams competing.
Schools compete with three pairs of doubles
teams to form a school varsity or junior varsity
squad. Each school competes against another
school’s pair of three teams, in order of rank, to
determine the dual match winners. Most
divisions are at centralized sites with the top
teams qualifying for post-season competition.
Visit: ibvl.org
Given his size, does anyone ever try to
pick a fight with him? “Not anymore,” Olson said. “I don’t have many confrontations. I don’t start fights. I don’t look for
fights. If I hit someone they could be dead.”
Coached by Scott Mendelson at Gold’s
Gym, Olson achieved the state record on
his second attempt at Buellton this past
March, shortly before turning 18. “I was
going to try a third attempt, but the coach
said, ‘Just leave it. It felt pretty good.” He is
now aiming for the APF National record.
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Page 20
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
October 7, 2015
Page 21
Palisades News
Monhoff-Designed Home Opened to Public
M
odern architecture enthusiasts
will get a rare opportunity to
visit a pristine example of midcentury residential architecture and compatible contemporary addition at a salon
hosted by the Santa Monica Conservancy
from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 10.
The house was recognized with the
Conservancy’s 2015 Project Award for the
“conscientious renovation and expansion
of a distinctive mid-century Santa Monica
home,” and was featured by Dwell on Design in a 2015 home tour.
A reception will include elegant hors
d’oeuvres, a wine bar and a talk by renovation designer Abeer Sweis.
Located seven blocks from the beach, the
house is ideally suited to the inside/outside
living flow of this simple architecture style
that emerged after World War II and has
found resurgence in popularity today. The
single-story flat-roofed structure is constructed of simple off-white wood siding,
contrasted with grey-green header beams.
Designed in 1950 by architect Frederick
Monhoff, the house retains the signature
features of the post-and-beam style that allowed for an open floor plan and light-filled
spaces. Santa Monica builder Jack Stone
commissioned the architect and owned the
house until his death in 2006.
Intrigued by all the glass and the lightfilled spaces, current owners David and
Elaine Vukadinovitch bought the house in
2008 but immediately realized that it was too
small to accommodate their family of four.
They hired Synthesis founding designer
Abeer Sweis, who was able to add the needed bedrooms, baths and den without disturbing the integrity of Monhoff ’s minimalist aesthetic. Slight upgrades in the
main house included removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room, opening the dropped ceiling in the living room
to reveal original beams, and adding floorto-ceiling windows to allow for more light.
Monhoff designed numerous public
buildings and private residences throughout
Southern California, including the midcentury house on the corner of 7th and Georgina, the Carlthorp School on San Vicente,
and most notably, the Palm Springs Biltmore Hotel, which was demolished in 2003.
His design for this house featured a
number of custom flourishes such as the
slightly off-plum walls in the living room,
and the open-air skylights cut into the overhanging eave line at the back of the house
inviting more light in the back yard.
Sweis designed the back yard area and
spa, which is accessed from both the living
and dining areas. She echoed some Mon-
A view of Monhoff ’s designed home.
hoff details in the new addition, including
pocket doors, the sky blue color palette, and
a slight bend in the hallway, mirroring
Monhoff ’s acute wall angles.
He taught design for over two decades
at the Otis Art Institute and was an instructor at UCLA.
For tickets ($150 for Conservancy members, $175 for the public), visit smconservancy.org. Proceeds benefit the Conservancy’s educational programs.
—LIBBY MOTIKA
Bryan’s Smile Educates about Drug Use
W
hen Santa Monica dentist Melanie Gullett lost her 26-year-old
son to an overdose of heroin,
she started the nonprofit, organization
called Bryan’s Smile, which educates families about drugs, addiction, depression and
self-esteem in youth.
The nonprofit uses the Reality Tour®
Drug Prevention program created in 2003
by Norma Norris of Butler, Pennsylvania,
in which participants follow the fate of a
fictitious teen addicted to drugs. The program includes a peer-pressure scene; an arrest and prison experience; an emergency
overdose scene and a funeral scene.
A narrative by the “addict” precedes each
scene and includes the constant reminder
to the audience that “I’m just like you.” The
program is free and each attendee is given
a drug-abuse profile to adopt during the
program so he/she can become familiar
with different addictive drugs and gateway
drugs. Parent and youth (ages 10-18) must
attend together.
“My son played football, he had friends,
he was just like everyone else,” Gullett said.
“The ‘not my child’ and the ‘not me’ attitude, along with the lack of knowledge
about addiction and depression, have created a disturbing increase in deaths of
America’s young.
“Our goal is to help other families from
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going through what our family did and give
the youth in our community the knowledge to recognize drugs and make wise
choices if offered drugs and alcohol,” said
Gullent, a Brentwood resident. “In addition, we share our family’s own experience
and we have created a scholarship which
we award to a college-bound senior who
participates in our program. We awarded
the first one this past May.”
The program will be held from 5:45 to
8:15 p.m. on Thursdays, October 22 and November 12, at St. Martin of Tours Church,
11967 Sunset Blvd. Advance registration is
necessary because space is limited. Donations are welcomed. Visit: bryanssmile@
bryanssmile.com.
Photo courtesy of the Santa Monica Conservancy
L.A. Library Essay
Contest for Students
In Grades 3-8
FOCAL (Friends of Children and
Literature) is hosting an essay contest
for children in grades three through
eight in Los Angeles.
To enter the contest, students should
read the book Separate Is Never Equal
by Duncan Tonatiuh, then write an
essay of no more than 300 words to
express a reaction to the book, or to
describe a character or scene that was
meaningful or what it would mean to
meet the author.
Three essay winners will have lunch
with the author and receive a signed
copy of the book. The student’s teacher and parent will be invited to the
luncheon.
Entries must be postmarked by November 6 and must be typed on white
8.5” by 11” paper. The child’s name
goes on the back of the essay and on
the entry form. Winners will be notified by November 23 and the luncheon is Saturday, December 12.
Visit: focalcentral.org.
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Page 22
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Jordan Marks: The
Therapist Is In
By LAURIE ROSENTHAL
Staff Writer
W
hen Jordan Marks moved back to
Los Angeles, he knew he wanted
to live in a family-centered town.
“The reason I’m here in Pacific Palisades,
specifically, is because it’s community-oriented. That’s what I was focusing on,” he
told the Palisades News.
Marks is a psychotherapist who specializes in individual and couples counseling as
well as marriage and family therapy.
His particular approach to healing incorporates many different modalities, including meditation, biofeedback, somatic
therapy and breath work, in addition to
standard treatment such as psychoanalysis that he learned while becoming a marriage and family therapist.
“Adolescents are prime clients,” he said.
“Whether they know it or not, adolescents
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Caregivers of cancer survivors have special challenges, including maintaining an
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A free six-week program for caregivers
will meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., every
Monday (October 19 and 26, November 9,
16, 23 and 30) at the Roxbury Park Community Center, 417 Roxbury Dr., Beverly
Hills. Call (310) 299-8473 or e-mail
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Developed by Palisadian Michael States,
Dr. Jan Berlin and Timothy Tillman, the
course will teach tools for coping with caregiver stress and develop positive strategies
to support a loved one.
are needing a lot of support while navigating
through an immense amount of change.”
With kids spending an inordinate
amount of time plastered to their various
electronic screens, Marks has seen a difference in their behavior.
“The problem that I see in the office is
that children are losing the skills of being
in a relationship with somebody else faceto-face,” he said.
His office on Via de La Paz, which opened
over the summer, boasts a small garden in
front that Marks proudly created himself.
He likes cutting through Palisades High
School for his short walk to work from his
home in the El Medio Bluffs neighborhood.
“I didn’t know it would take a move to
L.A. to be able to walk to work,” he said.
The most common reason people come
to see Marks is anxiety, followed by relationship issues and depression.
“Basically, I like to reverse negative patterns. With people who have anxiety, it
often becomes a symptom in the physiological system,” he said.
The offspring of two teachers who
taught in the Los Angeles Unified School
District for 25 years, Marks was inspired
by his parents’ profession.
“Originally, I wanted to be a teacher like
my parents. I became a special education
teacher at a young age.” But then he realized
that he really yearned to have a one-on-one
relationship with kids, which meant going
back to school to become a certified school
counselor. He began teaching 12 years ago,
became a school counselor seven years ago
and has been a licensed therapist for five
years. He hopes to get into the local schools
as a consultant.
“I was the lucky benefactor of counsel
when I was in [Beverly Hills] high school,”
Marks said. He credits that positive experience for helping him decide to attend college.
After graduating from San Francisco State
University, Marks entered California Insti-
Jordan Marks opened a new psychotherapy practice in the Village.
tute of Integral Studies to earn a master’s
degree in psychotherapy. He is currently a
Ph.D. candidate in mind-body medicine.
While studying to be a therapist, Marks
was required to get 100 hours of psychotherapy, but enjoyed the process so much that
he kept going—for seven years. “I equate
therapy as a gym for the mind,” he said.
“I don’t see therapy as something someone should go to because there’s a problem.
I’m waiting to have a client who says, ‘Everything is going well. I just want to keep getting
better, keep evolving and learn how to grow
as a human being,’” Marks said, and added:
“Don’t wait until there’s a problem.
Come in now.”
Before moving back to Los Angeles,
Marks lived in San Francisco for 15 years.
He met his wife, Ashley Salomon, via mutual friends when Salomon was visiting.
Marks flew up to Seattle for their first date,
and followed her to Tucson for her residency.
They have been married for two years.
Salomon is now an integrated physician
in West Los Angeles, specializing in alternative methods to deal with chronic pain
and illnesses such as cancer.
Marks, still athletic at 34, played soccer in
high school and college, and now leans towards surfing, rock climbing, yoga and lawn
bowling at Douglas Park in Santa Monica.
Photo: Shelby Pascoe
Though new to the Palisades, his connection to the town goes way back.
On the Fourth of July, “We would come
to Palisades High School just for the fireworks. I must have come 15 times, every
year with my parents.”
While most people hope to be employed for a long time, Marks has a different objective.
“Essentially my goal is to have my clients
fire me, because that means hopefully that
they can do the work themselves, and they
don’t need me or someone else to help
them through it.”
If you would like more information on
how you can hire—and eventually fire—
Jordan Marks, go to jordanmarksmft.com.
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October 7, 2015
Page 23
Palisades News
to Speak
Andrea Zetlin Named Cal State Wishnick
At‘Food for Thought’
L.A. Distinguished Professor
P
alisadian Andrea Zetlin, a professor
of special education and counseling,
was named as Cal State L.A. President’s Distinguished Professor.
The award is presented to a previous
Outstanding Professor award recipient and
recognizes superlative teaching and exceptional commitment to students, as well as
professional accomplishments and services.
Zetlin, who has been a member of the
Cal State staff since 1989, has conducted
extensive research in the education of children and youth in foster care, an area that
had not been well researched in California.
Her research has changed the ways foster-care students are supported in schools.
Zetlin helped establish an educational liaison
to serve between the school and foster youth,
ensuring each child is provided with academic, emotional and behavioral support.
Zetlin’s research also contributed to the
establishment and implementation of
state and federal legislation to support
foster youths.
Additionally, she has co-authored several
books on the subject, including Placed at
Risk by the System: The Educational Vulnerability of Children and Youth in Foster Care.”
In addition to her work in the foster sys-
tem, Zetlin launched the Murchison Street
Elementary School Integrated Services Center (near the college), which features family
resources and a pediatric health clinic.
Using a U.S. Department of Education
grant, the program pays for a nurse practitioner at the school and provides clinical
health services to children from the nearby
Ramona Gardens Housing Project, including those from undocumented families. This
service cuts down on children’s absences due
to untreated minor health-related issues.
Zetlin also created the C. Lamar Mayer
Learning Center, a Saturday literacy development program at Cal State for local children. That center serves as a fieldwork site
for Cal State candidates in special education credential and school-based family
counseling programs. It also provides parenting and English language development
workshops for families while children are
in learning sessions.
Professor Zetlin has worked with the Los
Angeles Unified School District, the California Department of Education, and the
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing in order to develop teachers who
can successfully support K-12 students,
with and without disabilities, to achieve
Andrea Zetlin was named Cal State L.A.
President’s Distinguished Professor.
college and career-ready standards.
She received her bachelor’s degree from
Queens College, CUNY, her master’s degree
from New York University, and a Ed.D. from
Columbia University. She completed her
postdoctoral work at UCLA’s Department of
Psychiatry as a research fellow in the SocioBehavioral Research Unit (1979-1981).
Zetlin has lived in the Palisades since
1986 with her husband Barry and son Josh.
Palisades Presbyterian Church will
continue its “Food for Thought” speaker
series on October 22, at 11:30 a.m. in
Janes Hall, off El Medio at Sunset.
The speaker will be Arnie Wishnick
who has been the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce Executive Director for
22 years. Before working at the Chamber,
Wishnick was vice president of two banks
in the Palisades (Southern California Savings and Gibraltar Savings).
Wishnick has served as the president of
the Palisades Parade Association (twice),
and now looks for celebrities to ride as
grand marshal in the parade. “I’ve been
told no by all of the stars,” he said.
He has co-produced three musicals at
Theatre Palisades, including Damn Yankees, The Pajama Game and The Marvelous
Wonderettes. For 12 years, Wishnick reviewed movies for the Palisadian-Post.
Optimist president, honorary fire chief,
Community Council Sparkplug winner,
P.R.I.D.E. treasurer, vice-president of the
Village Green Committee, Wishnick has
done it all.
Atria Senior Living will once again serve
a complimentary lunch (donations welcome). The event is free, but please RSVP
to (310) 454-0366 to ensure there is
enough food.
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Palisades News
October 7, 2015
Page 24
Suisman Has Pulse of Public Spaces
By LIBBY MOTIKA
Palisades News Contributor
Photos courtesy of Suisman Urban Design
D
evelopers spawn projects, architects
draw plans, governments provide
infrastructure, but urban designers
create successful public space: the elements
that humanize the experience, that take into
account the public’s need to navigate, to locate a specific place, to drink water, to rest,
or simply to watch the world go by.
Palisadian Doug Suisman’s urban design
work focuses on these interstices, the allimportant aesthetic, look, logic and ease of
the plan.
For the Third Street Promenade, Suisman
was called upon to upgrade and reconceive
the street infrastructure and furnishings,
which over the last quarter century had become dated and frayed. He also addressed
an ongoing challenge for shoppers: finding
what they were looking for at the outdoor
mall that comprises three identical blocks
with no distinguishable landmarks. The solution was to add tall pylons that signal the
name of cross streets and are visible from a
distance. New detailed maps were enclosed
in larger, more visible cases. The teal color
scheme of the mall, popular when it opened
in 1989, was toned down, furnishings were
painted in a soft gray and new lighting was
added to highlight the trees.
Suisman, 60, is an internationally recognized award-winning urban designer and
architect who believes that he and his fellow
professionals must take in the wider context when considering a project.
“From the largest-scale planning projects
to the smallest renovation, the architect has
the unique capacity to satisfy all technical
and economic claims and still reinforce the
free and open nature of public space,” he
Doug Suisman worked with Downtown Santa Monica to bring the Third Street Promenade up-to-date, improve wayfinding and
freshen up the hardscape.
eloquently wrote in his book on the evolution of major streets, Los Angeles Boulevard:
Eight X-Rays of the Body Politic, reissued
in 2014.
His firm has developed master plans for
cities, transit districts, university campuses
and even a scheme for an eventual Palestinian state envisioning an integrated interurban rail and infrastructure line linking the
West Bank and Gaza.
Suisman’s goal is always to enhance the
comfort and movability in a public space,
which then promotes a sense of ownership
and belonging to a community.
It’s often the small projects that are most
satisfying, Suisman says. “The nature of this
work must take into consideration starts
and stops, phased-in completion, politics
and budget.”
He is proud of his collaboration on two
projects in his own community, admitting
his personal interest. Suisman and his
wife Moye and children live in Santa
Monica Canyon.
First, he collaborated on a project at
Canyon Charter School when his children
were enrolled, and now that his daughter
Claire (and next year, son Teddy) is enrolled
at Palisades High, he is assisting in a threephase renovation of the campus.
Palisadian Doug Suisman founded Suisman
At Canyon, Suisman conceived a new
Urban Design in 1990.
image for the facility that included a vibrant
paint scheme, graphics that highlight the
coastal canyon setting, and historic photos
that depict the history of the 121-year-old
school, bringing its past and present together.
At PaliHi, where the challenges are going
beyond cosmetic improvements, his involvement began at his first Booster Club
meeting. President Dick Held was looking
for somebody to help place the bronze
dolphin (PaliHi’s mascot) at the school’s
entrance and suggest landscaping ideas.
Suisman innocently raised his hand, averring that he knew a little bit about plants,
and the job was his.
Following the same protocol he does
with all projects, big and small, Suisman
began by walking around the campus, tak(Continued on Page 25)
Suisman’s goal at the elementary school was to bring a lively, colorful palette to the
buildings and recognize the 121-year history of the school by displaying black and white
photos from the early days.
October 7, 2015
Suisman
(Continued from Page 24)
ing in all perspectives, snapping photos.
“As I looked at the corner at Temescal
and Bowdoin, I immediately saw that we
had a major safety problem—a dangerous
mix of fast traffic, crowds of students arriving and leaving, and the obstruction caused
by an electronic billboard at the corner.”
He continued his research, reading the
history of the campus, poring over historic
photos provided by town historian Randy
Young and studying blueprints. He documented all existing materials, brick, tile and
the original color palette.
PaliHi is a mid-century modern complex
of architectural importance. It was designed
by Wilson Associates in 1961 and photographed by renowned architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Even Time magazine did a story when the school opened.
Suisman applied his principles for establishing a community at Pali by striving to
make the campus more aesthetically pleasing and welcoming, and creating a homeaway-from-home the students and faculty
could claim as theirs.
Banners and large-scale graphics now illustrate the history of the canyon, and California native plants more appropriate to
the climate have replaced quick-grow bush-
Page 25
Palisades News
es. The school’s fingerprint blue, neither
sophisticated nor historic mid-century,
was toned down, while other surfaces were
painted in soft brown that is more compatible with the landscape. Lisa Onodera
Spence directed all the landscape design
and plant selection, including the upcoming landscaping at the Temescal corner.
Awaiting final approvals and sufficient
budget, the third and most dramatic phase
of the project reimagines the entrance to
the school. It emphasizes safety, uncluttered
comings and goings and a welcoming oasis
under the Chinese elms at the corner of
Bowdoin and Temescal Canyon Road.
“The school was designed for students to
be dropped off in a convertible Corvette in
front of the school,” Suisman says. “When
you had half of today’s student population,
you could do that. But right now, every
day, 1,000 kids are funneled into a 3-1/2-ft.
bottleneck between a fire hydrant and the
corner. Our plan incorporates a lovely
wood bridge, that will become the way kids
enter. This bridge, 15 to 20 ft. wide, will be
the main axis right-of-way.”
A gateway garden will allow students to
sit on a serpentine wall, which will offer a
beautiful view of the mountains and a slice
of the sea.
“We also wanted to emphasize transit,”
Suisman says, “so we incorporated an enhanced bus stop and waiting area into the
Suisman’s master plan for the La Brea Tar Pits Museum included improving signage
and wayfinding outside and transforming the 1970s interior into a bright, contemporary
setting for the Ice Age bones housed within the buildings.
design for the kids who take the bus to
school. Part of the idea is to dignify bus
transit. Kids who take public transit are
environmental heroes. They deserve a
nice place to wait.”
Sustainability, walkability, honoring history: These are tenets that guide Suisman’s
design.
A project of considerably larger scope and
area that will keep Suisman busy for years involves five Hancock Park museums—a mas-
The design proposes a more generous walkway for the hundreds of students who arrive and leave campus at peak hours at the corner
of Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin. The proposed Senior Garden is intended to be a community space with a serpentine wall
providing seating that captures views to the ocean and mountains.
ter plan that will attempt to bring coherence
to a campus that includes not only LACMA
and the La Brea Tar Pits Museum, but also
the Petersen Automobile Museum, the Craft
and Folk Museum and the soon-to-be-built
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
For the last 18 months, Suisman has
been working on implementing the new
master plan for the La Brea Tar Pits Museum (formerly the Page Museum).
“After the Natural History completed the
renovation of its Exposition Park facility,
then-president Jane Pisano wanted to do
one more thing,” Suisman says. Admitting
that NHM had let their “colony” slide,
Pisano hired Suisman to envision the Tar
Pits over the long term.
Again, Suisman followed his scheme,
“walking, walking and photographing the
site. I studied the history of the site, looked
at old maps, photos and documents of the
Rancho La Brea.”
Working with graphic designer Kim Baer,
Suisman updated the whole site, which
hadn’t been touched since George Page
opened the facility in 1977. “We renovated
two of the viewing pavilions, Pit 91 and the
Observation Pit, and repainted the museum and polished the floors.
“It looks like a new space,” Suisman says.
“It looks fresh, like somebody cares. The
museum is transformed.”
Transformation, like change, can be disorienting, Suisman says, “but total continuity can be stagnant, blinding and narrow.
What do we hold on to and where do we
welcome transformation? That is the constant set of questions.”
Nominees Sought for Citizen of the Year, Sparkplug Awards
T
he Pacific Palisades Community Council
(PPCC) is accepting nominations for the 2015
Citizen of the Year and Golden Sparkplug
Awards, which will be presented at the PPCC annual
holiday party on December 10 at Gladstones.
Nominations should be submitted to info@pacpalicc.org or to P.O. Box 1131, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.
The deadline is midnight, October 31.
The Citizen of the Year Award honors long-term,
steady and continuing outstanding volunteer service as
well as a recent extraordinary accomplishment by an
individual that resulted in a substantial benefit to the
Palisades community. The recipient must be an adult
resident of the Palisades.
The Golden Sparkplug Award honors those citizens
who ignite ideas and projects into community action
that benefit Palisadians throughout the community.
The project must have been initiated, in progress or
completed during the current or prior calendar year.
Adults and youth are eligible, and must either own real
property in, reside in or operate a business in Pacific
Palisades at the time services were rendered.
In the case of both awards, the accomplishment must
have been voluntary and not related to the nominee’s
business or occupation. Visit: pacpalicc.org and click on
tab for Citizen of the Year and Sparkplug Awards, or
e-mail PPCC President Chris Spitz at info@pacpalicc.org.
Page 26
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
We’re Still Here. Shop Local.
BENTONS SPORTS SHOP
MAISON GIRAUD
THE Sporting Goods Store
1038 Swarthmore (310) 459-8451
The French Restaurant and Bakery
1032 Swarthmore (310) 459-7561
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The Beauty Supply Store and Blow Dry Bar
1030 Swarthmore (310) 454-8022
The Men’s Store
1020 Swarthmore (310) 454-3891
The Hair Salon and Spa
1016 Swarthmore (310) 454-1885
The Bank on Swarthmore
1012 Swarthmore (310) 873-5301
The Skate Shop
1019 Swarthmore (310) 230-1242
The Luxury Designer Resale Shop
1017 Swarthmore (310) 454-1920
The Full Service Hair Studio
1015 Swarthmore (310) 454-0321
The French Gift Store
1032 Swarthmore (310) 459-9423
The Toy Store
1014 Swarthmore (310) 383-2252
BOCA
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October 7, 2015
Page 27
Palisades News
Harmony Project Promotes Music
By SARAH STOCKMAN
Special to the Palisades News
P
acific Palisades is privileged because
local schools value visual and performing arts. Despite threats of closure to these programs, parents and the
community have come together to prevent
that from happening.
Most Los Angeles students are not as
lucky. Many public schools have closed their
arts programs in recent years due to budget
cuts or never had arts programs in the first
place. Luckily, there are people and programs
out there that believe making music is one
of the most important things in our schools.
Long-time Palisadian Mary Kinzelberg
is one of these people. Born and raised in
the San Francisco Bay Area, she grew up in
a family with a rich musical past, including
three cousins who performed at Carnegie
Hall and a mother who played the violin
on the radio. Although Kinzelberg does not
play an instrument herself, she finds her
love of music more than makes up for it.
“[Music] is the next best thing to being
able to play,” Kinzelberg told the Palisades
News. “It’s just life to me.”
After graduating from San Jose State
with a major in sociology and a teaching
credential, Kinzelberg spent 12 years teaching in various schools across the country.
A majority of these schools didn’t have
music or arts programs, an absence that
saddened Kinzelberg.
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Mary Kinzelberg (left) and Maya Barrera (with the flute) are working to bring music
Photo: Matt Stockman
to disadvantaged children.
“Where [music] isn’t taught, kids are not
given a creative outlet . . . We may be missing out on the next Henry Mancini,” Kinzelberg said.
After retiring from teaching because
she felt her “heart was not in it” any more,
Kinzelberg began pursuing a variety of
artistic pursuits including designing jewelry
and painting (her paintings were recently
featured at Café Vida on Antioch).
She continued to advocate for children
by volunteering for the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN)
and for LA’s BEST, an after-school program
for disadvantaged children.
This past January, Kinzelberg’s good
friends Janet and Marvin Jubas told her that
they had recently donated a very old violin
to a nonprofit organization called the Harmony Project. This program, as Kinzelberg
learned, was founded in 2001 with the simple mission “to promote the healthy growth
and development of children through the
study, practice and performance of music.”
One of the most important aspects of
Harmony Project’s musical development,
besides the teaching of music, is to try and
help kids stay out of trouble.
Helping a nonprofit that taught music
to children desperately in need of it was exactly what Kinzelberg wanted to be doing.
She contacted Harmony Project Development Associate Maya Barrera, who told her
that what they needed the most, besides
money, were instruments.
Kinzelberg took it upon herself to collect as many instruments as she could. She
posted on the community social network
Nextdoor, thinking that Palisadians had
to have some instruments lying around in
need of a new home. So far she’s only received two. However, she’s not deterred.
“I will continue to pursue this endeavor.
It is in my heart as I am an enthralled
music listener,” Kinzelberg said. “I feel like
this is a testament and remembrance to
honor my mom, who loved playing and
hearing music.”
To donate an instrument, please e-mail
marykinzelberg@yahoo.com, call (310)
454-6530, or visit harmony-project.org.
House Band to Play Oct. 17
T
he House Band, which stars locals
Keith Turner, Andrew Stewart, Paul
Hodgdon, Doug Masterson, Shel
Cohn, John Nahra and Jeff Siegel, takes
their show to the Trip bar on Saturday,
October 17 at 9 p.m. The bar is located at
2101 Lincoln Blvd. (two blocks south of
Pico). Attendees must be 21 or older.
The band, which has played The Roxy
and The Viper Room on the Sunset Strip,
has stayed together longer than many
other rock bands.
NEXT ISSUE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21
Send us your comments and suggestions to
spascoe@palisadesnews.com
Get Your Advertising in Place Now!
Stewart (keyboard and guitar) and Turner (drums) started the band when their
daughters were at Methodist Preschool.
They were soon joined by Masterson
(vocals) and Cohn (guitar). Guitarist Nahra
and bass player Siegel round out the band.
Turner, Cohn and Nahra live in the Palisades; Stewart and Masterson are former
residents.
Initially, the House Band played cover
songs, everything from the Beatles and
Rolling Stones to Wilco, Police, English
Beat, Muse, Grateful Dead and Elvis Costello, but now play mostly original music.
“Andy and Shel write the originals in a
variety of styles—rock, classic rock, blues,
country, reggae and alternative rock,”
Turner said. “We have more than 300 songs
in our repertoire.”
Trip has 16 beers on tap and more than
60 beer selections, including craft beers
from Belgium, Germany and Great Britain.
There is also a limited menu of pub food,
including sandwiches, tacos and quesadillas.
Call Trip at (310) 396-9010. To book the
band contact Turner drum2law@me.com
or Steward drewstewmusic@aol.com or
call (310) 990-4373.
.
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Contact Jeff: (310) 573-0150 • jeffridgway@palisadesnews.com
Grace: (310) 454-7383 • gracehiney@palisadesnews.com
AMAZING MUSIC STORE.COM
THANK-YOU TO OUR ADVERTISERS!
Please patronize them, and tell them
you saw their ad in the News!
ALL AGES, ALL STYLES!
Group & Private Lessons • Instrument Rentals & Sales
Page 28
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Violinist Dicterow Opens
St. Matthew’s Season
S
t. Matthew’s Music Guild will open
its 31st concert season on Friday,
October 16 with a concert by The
Chamber Orchestra.
Renowned violinist Glenn Dicterow will
be featured in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto
No. 2. He is a former concertmaster of the
New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic
orchestras and is currently on the faculty
of the USC Thornton School.
The program will also include Mozart’s
Symphony No. 29 and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite.
The combined Chamber Singers and
Concert Choir of the USC Thornton
School—with more than 80j singers performing—will be presented November 6.
The traditional “Hallelujah” Chorus
from Handel’s Messiah will highlight the
annual holiday concert on December 11.
On January 22, Pittsburgh-based Chatham Baroque returns for their fifth Music
Guild engagement in “A Mediterranean
Odyssey.”
Eight of Los Angeles’s finest choral
artists will team up with members of the
Chamber Orchestra on February 26 for
Violinist Glenn Dicterow
“Extravagant Music from Venice, Leipzig
and London.”
All concerts take place Fridays at 8 pm.
Admission is $35 or Music Guild Season
Pass. The Music Guild offers season passes
which are good for all concerts for as little
as $200. Visit: MusicGuildOnline.org or
call (310) 573-7421.
Violinist Lee to perform
with Palisades Symphony
T
he Palisades Symphony, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year,
will perform at 7:30 p.m. on, Sunday, October 18, Mercer Hall, Palisades
High School, 15777 Bowdoin St. Admission
is free, but donations are welcomed.
Conducted by Joel Lish, the program
will feature the Lieutenant Kije Suite by
Sergei Prokofiev, Symphony No. 5 by Dimitri Shostakovich and “Violin Concerto in
E Minor” by Felix Mendelssohn.
Violinist Johnny Lee, who began playing
at age 5, will be guest soloist. His principal instructors have included Carol Ruzicka, Linda
Cerone, Lynn Chan and William Preucil.
Lee graduated from Harvard cum laude
with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He
received his master’s degree in 2003 from
the Cleveland Institute of Music.
He was assistant concertmaster of the
Charlotte Symphony and concertmaster of
the Canton Symphony, before joining the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2005.
Lee has been a featured soloist with the
Philharmonic, performing Vivaldi concertos at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the
Hollywood Bowl. He has also appeared as
a soloist with the Charlotte Symphony, the
Ohio Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow
Chamber Orchestra.
To join the orchestra as a musician or
donor, call (310) 454-8040.
Ninkey Dalton
Your Local Neighborhood Agent
FALL EDITION
Special Section—
October 21, 2015
Place Your Ads NOW in the
Full-Color Pages, Full-Color Ads
Distribution to the entire 90272 Palisades
Community (by US Mail to 13,300 addresses
& 1,200 distribution around town)
Special Section Pricing
(Call for details)
Make your Ad Reservation Today!
Ad Space Reservation Deadline: October 9
Camera-ready Ad Artwork Deadline: October 12
(Ads must be supplied by advertiser)
Contact for Information:
The Agency
(424) 400-5921
www.TheAgencyRE.com
Jeff Ridgway at (310) 401-7692
jridgway@palisadesnews.com
Grace Hiney at (310) 401-7694
gghiney@verizon.net
Pacific Palisades, Brentwood,
Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Venice
CalBRE#01437780
Jeff Parr at (310) 401-7690
jparr@palisadesnews.com
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Page 29
Lunch Club Storms Polo Lounge
By BOB VICKREY
Special to the Palisades News
A
s we approached the stately Beverly
Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard,
the perennial playground of the
rich and famous, we wondered if the staff
there was prepared to host the likes of the
middle-class and not-so-famous.
Our motley crew of four might not be
confused with the “Beverly Hillbillies,” but
the boyish giddiness we had exhibited in
recent road-trip luncheons certainly might
raise a few eyebrows in this traditionally
button-down palace.
The storied Polo Lounge inside the lobby
of the hotel, which has a long history of
Hollywood deal-making and star-sightings,
was the fourth stop in our newly formed
monthly dining group where our goal is
to dine in many of the oldest and most famous restaurants in Los Angeles.
The dress code at the swanky Polo
Lounge had a more relaxed policy than in
previous decades, but I was initially afraid
that we might be testing the limits with our
rather casual attire. Only Arnie Wishnick,
the longtime executive director of the Palisades Chamber of Commerce, wore a
sport coat. However, we all agreed that the
always-stylish Arnie probably wore a sport
coat when he mowed his lawn.
Josh Greenfeld had enjoyed a special history with the hotel. When he first arrived
in Los Angeles in the late 1960s as a magazine writer, the Beverly Hills Hotel was
home for him and his family during their
first two weeks in town. He reminded us,
“Life Magazine picked up the whole tab
for our entire stay.”
As we initially surveyed the impressive
dining room, Josh immediately declared
“It’s not the same.” Not only were there no
rich and famous diners on the Polo Lounge
patio, where Hollywood deals had been
struck for decades, it appeared the place
had morphed into a birthday party destination for teenagers. We spotted two large
tables filled with giggling kids who were
dining on $28 hamburgers. However, we
decided that our group could easily match
their adolescent behavior.
We could tell that our waitress, Ana, who
was obviously a seasoned pro at her job,
had sensed the celebratory spirit of our little party and entertained us with well-practiced lines she had learned through the
years. When Arnie asked her to take our
picture, she replied, “Some people think
I’m a waitress, but in fact I’m really the
hotel photographer.”
When we were initially handed menus,
Arnie closed it immediately and said, “I
already know what I want—the salmon
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TEEN SETS
WEIGHTLIFTING
RECORD
See Page 18
Vol. 1, No. 23
• October 7, 2015
ity with News,
Uniting the Commun
tary
Features and Commen
Circulation: 14,500
od Moon
Effects of a Blo
• $1.00
Council Spat
Over By-Laws
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
at the Commuhere was a firestorm on September
nity Council meeting
debated proposed
10 when members would eliminate
that
changes to the bylawship seats on the board.
permanent members in town currently
tions
the
Four organiza
on the Council:
seats
nt
l Sohave permane
ce, the Historica
AssoChamber of Commer
Palisades Residents
Canyon
ciety, the Pacific
and the Temescal
ciation (PPRA)
Association (TCA).
ions, service clubs
Other town organizat into five categogrouped
Coun
and schools are
the
a voting seat on
ries—each with
within their category
cil—and must rotate
orevery year.
amended, the four be
If the bylaws are
would
standing seats
ganizations with categories and forced
moved into specific category members. In
to rotate with other categories would be
new
addition, two
Palisades
and Business.
earlier in the day, Malibu
created: Faith Based
seat now held by
the eclipse), but
surf at the
Blood Moon” and
The current Business ce would have to
Kenney said the
Photo: Jim Kenney
September 27 (“Superthe exceptionally high tide.
Commer
into the lagoon.
the Chamber of
the full moon on
facet:
Improvement District
(striped mullet)
another related
Many people watched
rotate with a Business appointed business
thousands of fish
Jim Kenney captured
new
beach and brought
photographer
representative. The serve for a year and
lmed the narrow
would
Lagoon overwhe
representative
on, vetting and
nominati
of
then the process
would be repeated. of the
board approval
double the voice
would
campus.
plan
the
This
no access from
the council, concommunity on
ity for there is
of closing the field
ut the
in this commun
“What is the point for months, if not business
councils througho
“We have been
over 1,700
greater
sistent with other
od AYSO soccer more than 40 years and we serve tly each when it will lie fallow
veterans’ city which customarily have much
alisades-Brentwo
the
that benefiting
consisten
ation.
its third week of
how
hood children
years? How is
“And
Lieu
represent
to
neighbor
asked.
was set to begin
business
Anderson
who explained
would include
October 3, when
said Anderson,
to VA health issues?” rily antagonizing a commuseason last Saturday,
The Cultural category
l Society
Janet An- year,”
special assistant
Commissioner
to Vincent Kane, ld, that it would be does unnecessa be supportive of veteran Friends of the Library, Historicaalternate.
AYSO Regional
Park offi- and
strives to
who would
Bob McDona
by Barrington
such short nity that
of the Master Plan?” and Theatre Palisades,
closed Secretary
derson was told
the same with
le to relocate on
further the goals
that the park was
n would remain
nearly impossib
the
responded, “This
Educatio
open space in needs
Kane
rotating
cials on Thursday
aware
be
you might
Friday morning
is
use the field 11 public and private schools
the notice. “As
starting Friday.
. Barrington Park
VA will let youth
the dog park and
is at a premium
the 405 and is resolved. change process. As you know, one seat.
offer a
Barrington Park, property and a clo- the area
the
category would
two parks between
I am
on VA
The Faith Based
“As one of only open field space. The park is through
with everyone.
post office are all
of 10 churches
trying to work
posted by the VA
make one-year rotating seat to one
the ocean with
days a week.” we are
city officials to
sure sign had been
Palisades.
children all day, seven a family of waiting to speak with
Park Will Be Closed.”
about chang- and temples in Pacific
ty’s filled with
Palisades
of October 2, The
comes from
are communicating
Garden Club,
express our communi
Anderson, who
Civic League,
dged the VA’s sure they forward. I will personally meet
“I write to you to
combined
be
acknowle
at the sudden
would
go
tment
veterans,
the es as we
Beautiful and P.R.I.D.E. rotate in that chair.
next week.”
shock and disappoin n Park fields,” Region military added, “This action without
would
the athletic clubs
conr- plan but
under Civic and
notification seems with
closure of the Barringto
YMCA would
tor David Schneide
of at least some
ions
AYSO, PPBA and
69 Referee Coordinaletter to Congressman courtesy irited.”
rotating organizat
are not
tinue to be the three
man said in a Friday Pali/Brentwood boy mean-sp
the soccer fields
n.
every
She noted that
include
under Recreatio
VA Campus and
Ted Lieu. “Almost
the past 20
ent seat would
connected to the
AYSO soccer in
on,
The Environm
Park.” directly
who has played
Canyon Associati
ced Barrington
PPRA and Temescal every other year.
years has experien
ry will host its annual
Palisades Elementa to 5 p.m. on Satur- which would alternateremain the same with
1
would
from
Clubs
Day
Service
Masonic
Via de
Yee Haw
n Legion, Lions,
at the school, 800
day, October 17, is invited and there is six clubs (America, Pacific Palisades Woman’s
public
Optimists
The
Lodge,
la Paz.
g in the seat.
and Rotary) alternatin
free admission.
s, games, go karts, Club final category would be a business
apThe
be
Enjoy rides, inflatable of food and a raflots
and that seat would
face painting, music, events are $1. All pro- representative
the Council board.
Page 5)
fle. Tickets for various school for classroom pointed by
(Continued on
to the
ceeds go directly
activities.
and enrichment
size reduction
T
s Averted
isi
AYSO Field Cr
P
Off
Yee Haw Day Kicksy
At Pali Elementar
You can also read this
issue of the Palisades News
(and ALL our previous
issues) on our website.
Go to
www.PalisadesNews.com
for the link.
“The on-line edition of your complete
newspaper is one of the most helpfully
accessible and readable versions I
have ever seen—from either a large
newspaper or small.” —Jeff R.
www.palisadesnews.com
Bob Vickrey, Barry Stein, Arnie Wishnick and Josh Gree0nfeld continued their monthly
lunch odyssey at the legendary Polo Lounge.
burger.” He admitted he had done his
homework and had studied the online
menu days earlier. Josh decided to go with
Arnie’s choice until Ana interrupted with
an observation, “I believe that a man who
wears such a distinctive hat in the Polo
Lounge should not have his salmon
served on a burger.” Josh nodded in agreement. Barry Stein took only a minute to
choose the $40 lobster salad. He couldn’t
quite order with a straight face and asked
us poignantly, “Okay, how often are we
going to be together in a great place like
this?” That sealed it for me, and I was also
in for the lobster salad. (I’d meet with my
banker on Monday morning to iron out
the details of payment.)
It didn’t take long for us to scarf down
our delicious lunch, and we were only interrupted once as we joined in singing “Happy
Birthday” to diners at nearby tables. I could
only wonder what Jimmy Stewart would
have to say about the current state of affairs at his beloved Polo Lounge.
When Ana arrived with our check, and
after each of us had the chance to assess the
total damage of our lunch bill, we all broke
into broad grins. I asked, “Where is Life
Magazine when you really need them?”
Josh asked if we could tour the grounds
and check out the bungalows where he
had stayed years earlier. The grounds of
the hotel were just as well-manicured as
we had remembered from previous visits,
and we sensed it was a nostalgic stroll for
the former Oscar-nominated screenwriter
and author, who has certainly enjoyed his
share of recognition during a rewarding
writing career.
When the parking attendant at the front
entrance of the hotel took our ticket, I
reached into my pants pocket for my roll of
one-dollar bills. I felt sure that this particular
bill denomination was a rare sighting at this
hotel. He was also probably duly impressed
by the money clip that secured the bills—
a “jumbo-sized” paper clip from Staples.
As we exited the driveway, we were certain we’d left a lasting impression on the
hotel staff members, and that they were
eagerly anticipating the next visit from the
four high-rollers from the Westside.
Bob Vickrey is a longtime Palisadian. He
writes for several Southwestern newspapers
including the Houston Chronicle. He is a
member of the Board of Contributors for
the Waco Tribune-Herald and a regular
contributor for the Boryana Books web site.
JUMBLE SOLUTION
DINING WITH GRACE
Page 30
Palisades News
October 7, 2015
TAJ PALACE
15200 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades • (310) 454-0988
T
aj Palace has an exotic
ambiance that puts diners in
the right mood for its fascinating Indian cuisine. Indian artifacts
throughout the restaurant are both
colorful and subtle from the large
paintings and elegant chandeliers to
the crisp white tablecloths that set
one’s mood for the tasty cuisine.
Sip a wine or a chilled beer or a
fruit-flavored lassi while you survey the
extensive menu of appetizers, tandoori
specialties, curries (seafood, lamb or
chicken) and vegetarian delights.
Starting your meal with fish pakora
is a great way to begin. These deepfried fish are light and crisp, and served with a trio of
sauces: a slightly sweet tamarind sauce, a vibrant mintflavored green sauce, and a spicy mixture of finely
chopped carrots with lemon juice and black pickle seeds.
If you are especially hungry, there a number of soups
and salads to add to your meal. However, for me, the fish
pakora followed by tasty lasani tikka of boneless chicken
breast marinated in yogurt and garlic and cooked in the
Tandoor oven was quite perfect. The combination of
garlic with the yogurt gave a special flavor to the chicken.
The Tandoor oven is an Indian clay oven fueled by
mesquite charcoal. Dishes from this oven are served
THEATRE PALISADES
sizzling hot on a platter.
Tandoor specialties vary from mixed
grill and a rack of lamb to shrimp,
chicken, vegetables and more. These
specialties vary in price from to
$15.95 for my lasani tikka to $26.95
for a Tandoori platter containing an
assortment of shrimp, chicken and
lamb marinated in light spices and
herbs along with grilled vegetables.
My daughter opted for the shrimp
curry korma which is shrimp cooked
with almond and cashews in a mild
tomato sauce with house curry. This
was a delicious dish and went beautifully with the accompanying rice with
peas (mutter pullav). Most of the seafood and fish curries are in the $14.95 to $16.95 price range.
Not to be ignored are the 14 lamb curries such as
mango lamb curry, lamb saag (cooked with spinach
and delicately spiced) and lamb Kashmiri (cooked with
fresh fruits and tikka masala sauce).
Of course, one of the great delights at this restaurant
is the warm naan bread. It may be simply made, or may
be ordered stuffed with raisins and coconut or stuffed
with cheese, cauliflower, minced lamb or chicken. A
house specialty is onion kulcha, which is naan stuffed
with green peppers and onions.
PRESENTS
By Neil Simon
Produced by special arrangement
with Samuel French, Inc.
SEPTEMBER 4OCTOBER 11, 2015
Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m.
Sun. at 2 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $ 20;
Seniors & Students $ 18
PIERSON
PLAYHOUSE
941 Temescal Canyon Rd.
(at Haverford Ave.)
(310) 454-1970
www.theatrepalisades.com
Alper Music
School
40 Years of Happy
Students and Parents
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Award-Winning Instructor
Private Lessons
Classical Training
Weekly Jazz Bands
(310) 454-0160
GA.one@verizon.net
www.AlperMusic.com
If you are a vegetarian, Taj Palace will not disappoint
as there are almost 25 selections to choose from ($10.95
to $13.95). These vary from a mixed vegetable curry to
eggplant cooked in the clay oven and sautéed with
onions and tomatoes.
If, like me, you enjoy a taste of something sweet at the
end of your meal, check out the tabletop dessert selection.
We found the mango sorbet to be delicious and perfect
to share, especially for only $5.
Taj Palace is open every day. Lunch is served from
11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner nightly from 5 to 10
p.m. Parking is free in the lower garage.
— GRACE HINEY
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
Page 31
Page 32
October 7, 2015
Palisades News
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ou pick the charity
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A Team
Team of licensed agents with more than 90 years of combined real estate experience
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310.230.7373
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Coldwell
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Rights
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supports the
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