June - Studio City

Transcription

June - Studio City

& the Neighboring Communities of N. Hollywood, Valley Village, & Van Nuys
June 2010
No.21
Small Business Health Reform Tax Credits are Available
OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Tuesday June 8
Studio City Residents Association. Victor
Gill from Bob Hope Airport will recap the
results of the Airport’s application to the
Federal Aviation Administration for a curfew and discuss the airport’s continuing
goal of being a good neighbor. Reception
6:30 pm,. meeting 7:30pm. Beverly Garland Holiday Inn Theater. 4222 Vineland
Ave. SC www.studiocityresidents.org
Encino Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting/open house at Providence Tarzana
Outpatient Therapy Center 5-7pm. 5359
Balboa Bl. Call 818-789-4711 for info.
Sunday, June 12
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City presents “An Evening of Elegance.” Bring out your finest gowns, tuxes
or cocktail attire. The evening will feature
a catered gourmet dinner, appetizers, entertainment and a live auction. Proceeds go
to support our many programs. Doors open
at 6:30 pm. For further information call
818-769-2511.
Sunday, June 13
Family Fun for All at the Beverly Glen Fair
12-5pm Delicious Food, unique Arts &
Crafts, Kids Fun & Games, Wine Tasting,
Live Music & Performances * Raffle. Pied
Piper Parade at noon. Beverly Glen Place,
L.A. 90077 * fair@beverlyglen.org
Monday June 14
Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.
6:30pm. Sherman Oaks Elementary School
Auditorium. 14755 Greenleaf St 818-503Local Events Cont. Pg. 18.
What’s Inside
Shuman at Large..................... 5
Scoops....................................... 14
Wendy Greuel.......................... 7
Tamar Galatzan...................... 7
White Sofas.............................. 8
iTeen......................................... 8
Ellen Vukovich........................ 6
Cibo Città................................. 10
HOT Recipes............................ 10
Talk DVD.................................. 16
Grigware’s Curtain Call..........17
Gerald A. Silver........................ 6
this tax year. The IRS has begun mailing
more than 4 million postcards to small businesses around the country to help ensure
that they realize they may qualify for the
credit immediately.
There have been a lot of questions lately
about “Obamacare,” the media’s branding
of the two health care reform bills passed
by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. A community dialogue on
healthcare reform was held at the
Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel in Studio City on
Friday, May 21. Moderated by Dr. Keith
Richman of the Lakeside Medical Group,
President & CEO of Valley Community
Clinic Paula Wilson, and Glendale Memorial Hospital President Mark Meyers, the
implications of the 906-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the
companion 55-page Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act were discussed.
Meyers said it appeared that health care
providers would have to learn how to control costs in order to stay in business.
Leonard J. Comden is a senior partner at
Wasserman, Comden, Casselman &
Esensten, LLP, a mid-size law firm in
Tarzana. “We don’t know how it will affect
us specifically,” he explains, “ We have
about 100 employees so we’re caught in the
middle. We’re too big to be considered a
small business but too small to have a representative sample [of employees.]”
By Christopher Davidson
Healthcare in America is about to change,
and many local business owners are fearful
of what they don’t understand.
Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman
Oaks) says that many companies are eligible
for new health reform tax credits, which are
especially important to getting the Valley
economy moving again.
“There are over 15,000 companies in the
Valley that meet the criteria for the small
business health reform tax credit,” said
Congressman Sherman.
“This is going to make it a little easier for
companies already offering insurance to
afford it and will allow more small businesses to start providing health care coverage for their workers. It is important for
Valley businesses to know it is out there so
they can start taking advantage of it immediately.”
The tax credit is available to small businesses with 25 or fewer employees, and an
average wage of $50,000 or less that provide health insurance for their employees.
Companies with 10 or fewer employees and
an average wage of $25,000 or less get the
maximum credit—35% of what the employer is paying for employee insurance
coverage. The maximum credit rises to 50%
in 2014. The tax credit is also available to
small non-profit organizations. The tax
credits are available now, beginning with
So why is it a problem that Comden’s firm
doesn’t have a “representative sample?”
Until the new bills come into full force in
2014, insurance providers are legally entitled to charge market prices for group insurance plans, so they will hire health actuaries to estimate the total future costs of
health care for each group. Then the providers set a price for the group plan based
on this estimate.
This means that large firms with thousands
of employees are assumed to have “representative samples” - they have a normal
distribution of sick and healthy employees.
Medium size firms, however, will be examined more closely by insurance providers, because their medical care costs could
be skewed by just few workers with high
medical costs. Therefore, those plans tend
to be more expensive than the average. A
White House website,
http://www.healthreform.gov/, states:
“...currently, small businesses pay up to
18% more than larger firms for the same
insurance plan.”
The two new laws make an attempt to correct this. By 2018, when the last of the provisions are implemented, businesses will be
classified as either “small” or “large,” and
depending on their classification, they will
have the following rights and obligations:
“Large” firms with 50 employees or more
Cont. Pg. 21
BUR “Your Friendly Neighborhood Airport”
up the right to sue for noise they were happy to have their
house fitted with new insulated
doors and double pane windows, insulation and AC.
They were one of the over
1600 households that took part
in the insulation program.
Other neighbors of the airport
are likewise complimentary:
Phrases such as “it’s my neighborhood airport,” “close by,”
and “parking much easier” are
heard anytime the question
“what makes BUR so good?”
Passengers comment posi- Engine noise has declined sharply over the last 10 years, thanks to quieter
tively often on ease of access, aircraft added to the airline fleet, making neighboring airports tolerable.
check-in, and security screenseph Medical Center in Burbank and Proviing as well. Can you imagine anyone living
dence Holy Cross Medical Center in Misnear LAX saying the same thing? Studies by
sion Hills; Sponsors an annual Airport Stuindependent consultants have resulted in the
dent “Tower Banner” Art Contest for
Bob Hope Airport receiving the highest ratBurbank, Glendale, and Pasadena high
ing for convenience compared to John
school students, resulting in public display
Wayne, Long Beach, LA International and
of student art to millions of air travelers, and
Ontario Airports.
funding for the arts programs of the three
Building on this theme, the Airport particischool districts.
pates in numerous educational, chamber, and
The Airport is concerned that the Burbank,
civic events in support of its local commuGlendale and Pasadena tri-city area lacks efnity, including an annual Airport District
ficient public transportation, and the Airport
blood drive benefiting Providence Saint JoCont. Pg. 21
By Stephen Phenow
On Tuesday, June 8, at 7:30 P.M. management of the Bob Hope Airport (BUR) will
appear before the Studio City Residents Association, the SC Neighborhood Council, and
the SC Chamber at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn to review the development of the
airport’s Regional Intermodal Transit Center
or RITC.
The RITC will provide integrated access to
air transportation, Amtrak and Metrolink rail,
public buses, and rental cars at a solitary access point. The center will be Green as well,
solar-powered, reducing costs. RITC will
encourage alternative transportation to the
Airport, which in turn will reduce traffic congestion on the local streets. They will also
report on the results of Airport’s application
for a curfew to the Federal Aviation Administration that took some nine years and $7
million to complete. This application is the
only one to be completed in the last 20 years,
in the US, and most of neighbors have appreciated the Airport’s dedication of resources
towards it.
However, that is what BUR is about. Being
a friendly yet efficient neighbor.
Robin and Jack Beckwith have lived next
to BUR for 15 years. In exchange for giving
Cristina rates the best local happy hours Pg 10
/ Ralph’s store development not following the rules Pg 6.
Sherman Oaks Studio City Encino News June, 2010
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From the Publisher
Upcoming Election
There’s not much of a chance you could have
missed the barrage of campaign ads on television
and in your mailbox in the last few weeks, reminding us that California voters have a statewide election on Tuesday, June 8. Phil Shuman really nailed
it this month in his column, talking about the obscene amounts of money being spent by Meg
Whitman and Steve Poizner to clinch the Republican nomination for Governor. A lot of people are
confused about the State Measures, Propositions
13-17, so here is our take on those.
Prop.13. Provides that construction to seismically
retrofit buildings will not trigger a higher reassessment of property values. Could create jobs and save
lives. Yes.
Prop. 14. Instead of holding separate primaries for
Democratic and Republicans in statewide, congressional and legislative races, all voters would choose
any candidate from any party and the two candidates with the greatest number of votes would advance to the general election. Candidates have to
appeal to a wide range of voters and not just the
party extremists. Yes.
Prop. 15. Creates a pilot program for public financing of state campaigns, starting with only candidates for the Secretary of State in the 2014 and
2018 elections. The money would come from lobbyists and the firms and interests they represent.
Let’s have the lobbyists pay for something that
would benefit the taxpayers. Yes.
Prop. 16. Living in So. Cal., we are not that aware
of the major utility in the north and central Cal,
Pacific Gas and Electric. PG&E has spent almost
50 million to ensure they will have a monopoly on
providing electricity, but Southern California
Edison and SDG&E would also benefit from this
blatant control grab masquerading as a proposition.
No.
Prop.17. Very confusing, but if Mercury Insurance
is spending over 14 million to promote it, it can’t
be good for consumers. No.
Shuman At Large
The
Council
member
Speaks...
By Phil Shuman
A Waste of Millions
By Paul Krekorian
As the chairman of the City Council’s Education and Neighborhoods Committee, I
would like to congratulate the recent winners
of the neighborhood council elections in Studio City, Sherman Oaks and the rest of the
San Fernando Valley. Through their commitment to service on the neighborhood councils, they have collectively taken an important step toward making our community and
our entire city stronger.
Today, the neighborhood council movement
sits at a crossroads. Neighborhood councils
were born in Los Angeles just a decade ago
and we have much to celebrate in what has
been a robust start.
At the same time, neighborhood councils are
facing significant fiscal and political challenges and my committee has been deliberating a variety of proposals for the future
structure of neighborhood councils, including changes to the funding program and
wholesale changes to the Department of
Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE).
Throughout this turbulent time, I will always
be fully committed to ensuring that neighborhood councils remain a vital and effective
component of the governance of Los Angeles.
Above all else, I wanted to take a moment
and thank our newest crop of neighborhood
council leaders. Their efforts to shape and
ADDRESS: 827 Hollywood Way, Suite
strengthen our community have immeasur233, Burbank CA, 91505
ably contributed to making this city a better
www.shermanoaksstudiocitynews.com place. I look forward to working together with
PHONE: 818.982.5002 (advertising)
them to maximize the potential of neighborE-MAIL: bigvalleypublications@gmail.com hood empowerment.
Staff
In an effort to stimulate debate and ensure
Publisher / Editor
the continued growth of neighborhood counM. L. Marks
cils, I welcome your comments or suggestions
Associate Publisher
at our office or on our blog,
Jim Kaplan
cd2policy.wordpress.com. My staff and I
Associate Editor / Graphics / Production
welcome your thoughts on how we can enStephen Phenow
sure the neighborhood council movement
Contributors:
remains as strong, transparent and efficient
Wendy Greuel
as possible.
Phil Shuman
Paul Krekorian
Gerald A. Silver
Ellen Vukovich
Tamar Galatzan
Jon Epstein
Vicki Stern
Don Grigware
Anna Terra
Cristina Wheeler Terra
Christopher Davidson
Michael Mann
Stephen Phenow
Councilmember Paul Krekorian leads the city’s Second City Council District. His website is cd2.lacity.org
and the phone number for his North Hollywood Field
Office is (818) 755-7676.
The SO SC Eo NEWS is published monthly,
and delivered to 20,000 homes in Sherman
Oaks, Studio City, & Encino areas.
Delivered by Great Western Adv. Dist. INC.
Delivery problems? Call (213) 627-0539
All Contents Copyright 2010 BVP
All Rights Reserved.
I am not rich. But I know people who are.
Well, not personally, but I feel like I know
them because they are on my TV all day and
all night. Will it ever end? I’m talking about
Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman. They are
spending obscene amounts of their personal
fortunes to convince voters of two things.
First, that they are the best person to be the
next Republican candidate for Governor of
Kal-ee-for-nyah. Second, that their opponent doesn’t deserve to live.
I exaggerate but only slightly. I mean
enough already. I know that they are hardly
the first political candidates to use so called
“attack ads” in an election, but it seems these
two have raised it to new heights in terms of
dollars and absurdity. The amounts of money
they are spending to denigrate their opponents and sow seeds of distrust is appalling,
even more so due to the timing.
So many worthy organizations and causes
and institutions are fighting for financial
survival at a time when this kind of dough is
going for weakly conceived and executed TV
spots. Do Meg Whitman and her people really think that the undecided or unmotivated
voters are going to watch an ad where she
blasts Poizner for once giving some money
to… gasp...Al Gore…and think.. ‘well, that’s
it for me, I’m going with that business lady.
Now what did she do again, help invent Twitter or Facebook or something?’
By the same token, do Poizner’s people
think voters are going to listen to his ads
blasting Whitman’s relationship with
Goldman Sachs and say...‘well, thanks for
telling me that. She’s obviously evil, so I’m
going with the smart looking guy with the
glasses. Doesn’t he already have something
to do with the state or is that someone else?
He sells insurance,or what?’
Don’t these candidates and their highly
compensated cut throat consultants realize
that most people look at those kinds of ads
and conclude they’re BOTH lying! Of course
they do. They do it anyway. Why?
You can read George Skelton’s excellent
piece about all this in the May 27th issue of
the Times. It’s not information in those ads.
It’s PROPAGANDA, but the bottom line is
that the candidates and their consultants think
going negative works because it taps into
voter’s anger about the current state of affairs and the current slate of officeholders. I
don’t necessarily buy it, but that’s the conventional wisdom. See, if they’re BOTH
doing it then voters are just angry with both
of them, so how do they decide? Hopefully
they will by doing thoughtful research on
their own and reading and watching actual
debates, though they were hard to find.
Now let’s talk about numbers. In that same
piece, Skelton’s research showed that as of
that date, Whitman had spent almost 70
MILLION dollars of her own money on ads,
and Poizner almost 25 MILLION.
Take another look at those amounts. I mean
aren’t they shocking? With that kind of
money to burn, how do these people pretend to know what issues are important to
Koretz and Krekorian at Code Enforcement Workshop
(See Koretz Pg 6)
5
regular folks anyway? When was the last time
either one of them had to worry about keeping their job or making a mortgage payment
or finding health care?
I’d have more respect for Meg Whitman if
she held a press conference or made an announcement that said “You know what? I was
going to buy five million dollars worth of
slick new commercials designed to confuse
voters about my opponent’s track record, but
instead I’m writing a check to Homeboy Industries for that five million because I understand they are at risk of going under and
won’t be able to continue the great work they
do in reforming gang bangers and helping
them get jobs.”
As for Poizner...how about this… “For every million I spend of my own money on this
campaign, I’ll donate another million a charity selected on line by my supporters, starting with the Red Cross.”
It just seems like there are so so so many
better and more important ways for the rich
among us to spend their money than in attack ads. I don’t begrudge them their money,
they made it, and I guess they can spend it as
they see fit, and I know they are both charitable and philanthropic in their personal lives.
But if the whole idea of going into politics
is to serve the public, they sure aren’t doing
it this way. And this is just round one! The
primary.
Imagine the dollars that will start to flow
from whichever one survives to take on Jerry
Brown! I’m pulling the plug on the TV now.
With all the time I’ll have NOT watching,
I’ll work on a more fulfilling productive way
to run campaigns.
Phil Shuman is a Fox 11 News Reporter who lives with his wife
and two children in Studio City. You can email Phil at
Phil.Shuman@Foxtv.com
From the Desk of SOHA
Time to Re Evaluate Big Box
By Gerald A. Silver
Retailers
In 2007, Best Buy opened its 56,000 sq.
ft. “big box” consumer electronics store on
Van Nuys Blvd. and Millbank, in Sherman
Oaks. The opening was greeted with much
controversy and opposition. Opponents objected to possible increases in traffic,
gridlocked streets, while others feared the
store would harm other local merchants, restaurants, etc..
The Best Buy store in Sherman Oaks represents a new kind of big box retailer. Most
big box retailers seek large four or five acre
lots, with plenty of ground level parking on
which to build new stores. But land in the
Valley is scarce. So retailers are looking at
new store models, including multi-level parking structures, and below grade retail space.
The Best Buy store on Van Nuys Blvd. and
the Target store on Sepulveda Blvd. are examples of these new urban big box retailers.
Competitors that oppose big box retailers
say that large retailers, such as Best Buy, WalMart, Costco, Target and others are bad for
other local businesses, bad for customers and
bad for neighborhoods. But are they correct?
Since Best Buy has been in operation for a
several years, now is a good time to reevaluate these mass market retailers, and their
impact on local neighborhoods and streets.
Have these big box retailers resulted in vacant store fronts, abandoned shopping malls,
and displacement of small businesses, or are
Ralph’s Store not in Compliance
they a benefit, widely supported
by many residents? An objective look at big box retailers show they are
good for local merchants, good for customers and good for neighborhoods. Big box
retailers bring low prices, and other benefits
including excellent entry-level employment
and upward job mobility. They bring sales
volume to a community, greater property tax
base, and more sales tax for the government.
The era of the “mom and pop” retailer is
long gone—replaced by large chains. It is
through mass distribution and merchandising that consumers are able to buy food, hardware, electronic goods and services at lower
prices.
While many residents lament the demise of
“mom-and-pop” stores, the fact is that inefficient, small retailers are often the cause of
higher consumer prices.
The City through its zoning powers should
not interfere with the free market under the
guise of preserving small neighborhood
stores and shops. The City must legitimately
regulate zoning, land use and building codes.
But biasing the rules of fair competition is
anti-business.
Big box retailers that combine a discount
department store with a large grocery store,
such as Costco, are a tremendous advantage
to a community. The larger stores with their
lower prices compete with traditional superCont. pg. 18
The View from CD5 By PAUL KORETZ
Even though Los Angeles faces many tough
challenges, I have great hope for the future
of our city. The reason is simple – I’ll call it
“people power.”
Every day, people in action make a difference for the sake of their community. To me,
this is absolutely inspiring. There’s no denying that we are in the midst of a huge budgetary crisis. As a Councilmember, I do all
that I can to find governmental efficiencies
and savings, to protect people and preserve
important city services and key community
programs. But there’s no doubt that we face
hard decisions, and very painful choices will
have to be made.
If that’s all we had going for us, then these
would be relentlessly depressing times, full
of bad news.
But there’s so much good happening, because of “people power,” that I continue to
be inspired by the idea of what’s possible,
even in a time of diminished resources. Here
are a few examples:
Recently, Councilmember Paul Krekorian
and I co-hosted a “code enforcement workshop.” Nearly 100 Valley residents came to
learn how to help the City identify and crack
down on code violations such as illegal signs
and graffiti. When I talk of “people power,”
this is a perfect case – empowering people
to act knowledgeably and appropriately, to
protect neighborhoods from blight and degradation.
Two weeks earlier, at Van Nuys City Hall, I
had the honor of hosting a Valley Leadership Summit Meeting. Representatives of
many Valley community groups came to hear
from top officials of city departments – including the Los
Angeles Police and Fire Departments, Street Services,
and Transportation Department heads gave
presentations about what we face as a city,
but also took many questions and embraced
ideas shared by community leaders. This is
the kind of government we want: very accessible and direct, and motivated by “people
power.”
A different kind of “people power” took
place after a valet was left in a coma by a
hit-and-run driver. The local neighborhood
watch organization immediately sprang into
action, and got the public involved. Of
course, our LAPD detectives relentlessly
tracked down every clue. The City Council
approved my request for a reward – hours
after the “rewards” press conference, a suspect was under arrest, thanks to the public’s
response.
The people of L.A. want a beautiful, safe
and sound city, and will work with police and
city government to make that possible –
people power!
Perhaps you’ve heard that the Ralph’s store at
Hazeltine and Ventura is scheduled to become a
brand new store. That’s the good news. The bad
news is that the developer owner has filed a land
use application with the City which is not in compliance with the governing land use law (a.k.a.
the Specific Plan) which regulates development
along the entire 17 ¼ mile length of Ventura Boulevard and major adjacent streets (i.e., Sepulveda)
These laws were written to protect all Ventura
Boulevard based communities from having oversized, traffic-generating projects which have ruined parts of Los Angeles and surrounding residential neighborhoods.
The new store will be twice as large as the old
one – it will cover most of the existing property
with a fifteen foot setback from the property lines,
adjacent to streets, to the buildings. The proposed
heights are 37 feet above Ventura Boulevard and
48 feet above Moorpark. The Ventura
Boulevard Specific Plan allows a maximum of
30 feet from the highest point on the building to
the lowest point on the ground five feet away
from the building on any side…(emphasis
added). That translates to a building that is one
story taller than what the Specific Plan permits
causing Ralph’s to seek “Exceptions” to the Specific Plan, instead of originally selecting a design that meets all the objectives of the Plan. (A
signage Exception is also requested).
Keep in mind that each time a large scale development is “excepted” from the Plan; it encourages other developers to design non-confirming
projects expecting the same favorable treatment
from the City.
Further, the new building is purported to become the largest Ralph’s store in California – a
three story structure – two levels of parking, with
the store on the third level only accessible via
escalators and elevators. (See below for further
info). In other words, no longer will there be open
space and easily-accessible parking and store
access which has been a mainstay at this store
since it first opened.
Contrary to what you are told or will read,
SOHA is not opposed to this project. In fact, we
have publicly stated that we are working to bring
an even better store than the one proposed to our
community.
We have requested a full-scale EIR (Environmental Impact Report) which our Council Member, Paul Koretz, would not support. (We continue pressing Koretz to require this of these developers). We also asked him to ask Ralph’s to
design a “green” building; one that would meet
the objectives of the City’s building standards in
“LEED,” and help set the standard for future new
developments along the Boulevard.
We asked for drawings (to check whether the
stated heights are accurate) which Ralph’s has
refused to give us. We also suggested to Ralph’s
that they design a store with an entrance at street
By Ellen Vukovich
level with parking below that fulfills the objectives of the Plan.
Given the movement to build environmentally
sustainable projects and the City’s failing infrastructure: why isn’t the City requiring a thorough study of all environmental impacts? Why
won’t Ralph’s build green? Why doesn’t (y) our
Council Member insist upon the best for Sherman Oaks’ environment?
EIRs were created to address and require developers to solve traffic and congestion impacts,
as well as study noise, light and shadow impacts,
the loss of mountain views and how the project
will affect our existing failing infrastructure
(roads, above and underground utilities, water,
electrical, sewage), and more.
After all, once the store is built it will be too
late to modify its impacts on our local environment.
Related Information:
The Proposed Project includes the demolition of the
existing Ralph’s grocery store, surface parking lot,
and commercial retail buildings/structure, and construction of approx. 78,270 sq. ft. of new commercial floor area to include an approx. 65,500 sq. ft.
Ralph’s grocery store on a raised podium above 2
levels of parking, a 6,270 sq. ft. lobby area serving
the market on all 3 levels, approx. 2,500 sq. ft. of
storage space located on the first level of parking,
and approx. 4,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space
(separate from the grocery store) fronting onto Ventura Blvd. The Project will include a total of 316
parking spaces of which 194 are standard spaces,
114 are compact spaces and 8 spaces are reserved
for disabled access parking The grocery store would
continue the store hours of 24 hours per day, 7 days
a week, and as a Fresh Fare store. The Proposed
Project will require the adoption of the Initial Study/
Mitigated Negative Declaration; the approval of a
Master Land Use Permit (CPC-2009-3462) to include
a Zone Change (ZC), Conditional Use Permit (CU),
a Conditional Use Permit (CUB – alcohol), a Specific Plan Exception (SPE), a Project Permit Compliance (SPP); a Site Plan Review (SPR); issuance
of demolition, grading, foundation and building permits, and a Haul Route approval.
June Meeting Information
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck speaks Wednesday,
June 16, 2010, during our monthly Community
Meeting (no meeting July). Refreshments 6:15;
speaker 7:15PM, Notre Dame High School, Riverside and Woodman, parking.
Ellen Vukovich is a SOHA Boardmember and a
Sherman Oaks Homeowner.
RIDING LESSONS
Private - Group - Show Team
Mondays;
June 14, 21, 28
July 5, 12, 19, 26
August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Councilmember Paul Koretz leads the city’s Fifth City
Council District.
For More Information Call:
818.768.5470
Los Angeles Children’s
Riding Center
9211 Del Arroyo Drive, Sun Valley
6
Charter Discipline Policies Need
By Tamar Galatzan
Closer Scrutiny
Oversight Lacking in City Purchases
If you read my column regularly, you probably think that all I write about is how the
sky is falling and our City is in dire straights.
Well, you would be right. But it’s not all
doom and gloom at City Hall. Indeed our City
is facing financial hardship, but at the same
time my team of auditors and I have been
working hard to find places where the City
can save money and be smarter about the way
we do things.
Ever year the City purchases a substantial
amount of new equipment. From computers
to park benches, we continually make investments in our City’s future. Now more than
ever, it’s essential that any equipment that
we are able to purchase is easily located if
needed and utilized immediately.
That’s why we audited three City departments to see how they managed equipment
and items purchased with taxpayer dollars.
We looked at the Recreation and Parks Department (Recreation and Parks), the Information Technology Agency (ITA) and the
Bureau of Sanitation. (Dept. of Sanitation)
I have to tell you, our findings were very
troubling. Overall, we found oversight of
equipment location and use to be severely
lacking.
Out of the sample we looked at, we were
initially unable to find nearly 45 percent of
the items purchased with taxpayer money.
Although some items were ultimately found
in the wrong locations, nearly 25 percent of
the items, worth nearly $1 million, still cannot be found.
Some of the items that were never found
By Wendy Greuel
Not that long ago, charter schools represented
a revolution in public education. Their comparative freedom to experiment on the instruction
side, hire and fire teachers without adhering to
union-driven seniority rules, and ability to command additional funds have lured tens of thousands of students from across the country.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is today among the most charter-friendly educational
institutions in the United States. Over the past
eight years, the LAUSD Board has approved
dozens of charters, which together serve an economically and ethnically diverse student population from South Los Angeles to the western
edge of the San Fernando Valley.
The Public Choice Resolution, which the Board
approved last August, permits charters to bid on
new and poorly-performing schools, thus presenting them with more opportunities to impact
our students. In my District, a new school set to
open in August 2011 in Granada Hills and a K8 school opening in August 2012 in Porter Ranch
will likely attract the keen interest of charter
operators.
After nearly three years on the Board, I remain
an enthusiastic proponent of charter schools as
one of many options for our students. Along with
the educational advantages outlined above, the
growth of the charter movement counters the
view that school boards and school districts are,
by definition, resistant to change.
In 2010, much of the education establishment,
from the Obama Administration on down, views
charters as a necessary component of any school
system. No longer a mere idea or theory, charters are now an integral part of the future of public education in America. With this development
has come increased scrutiny of charter schools,
particularly test scores, curriculum, and teaching practices. As they do in the case of “regular”
included a video recorder purchased by the ITA for almost
$60,000, and two gas analyzers purchased by Sanitation for nearly
$250,000.
We also found that ITA and Recreation and
Parks had 138 items that are worth nearly a
quarter of a million dollars, some purchased
up to seven years ago sitting in warehouses
or staging areas unused.
Some of the items not placed into service
included nine microwaves, four rotisseries,
and one deep fryer by the Recreation and
Parks and various computer equipment by
ITA.
Departments are supposed to conduct a
physical inventory of items every two years
to maintain accurate physical inventories of
equipment. But we found that ITA and Sanitation have not conducted a review in at least
five years and Recreation and Parks has not
conducted a review of all items in at least
seven years.
We simply cannot afford to let taxpayer
money be wasted by misplacing equipment
or letting new items sit unopened in storage.
During these difficult economic times, it is
easy to cut back on oversight, which make
fraud and abuse more likely. However, it is
important now more than ever to ensure that
every taxpayer dollar is spent and used efficiently and effectively.
Wendy Greuel is the current City Controller of the
City of Los Angeles
schools, boards of education are holding charters accountable for meeting their stated
goals. Failure to achieve the promised results can
result in the denial of a school’s application for
renewal.
Recently, I have become concerned with the
practices of charters regarding student discipline.
It would seem that certain charters have displayed
a kind of dismissive, above-the-law attitude toward the State Education Code. In the last few
months, the Board has been presented with charters that have meted out punishments — typically, one-year suspensions or expulsions — far
out of proportion to the alleged crime.
One especially egregious example involved a
school that suspended a student for a year on the
grounds that she allegedly tripped a teacher, although according to the record submitted to the
Board, the teacher stated that he might have
tripped over a cord.
Other cases have come to my attention in which
charters are cracking down on student offenders
with what appears to be excessive force. It’s beginning to look as if some of them use harsh
punishment as a means to get rid of problem students and send them back to a “regular” LAUSD
school — a practice that I will not tolerate. I have
already alerted LAUSD’s charter division to be
much more vigilant in monitoring the discipline
policies and procedures of the schools under their
jurisdiction.
As charters gain in acceptance and popularity
they will be watched ever more closely by parents, teachers, school districts and schools
boards. In this environment, nothing will hurt
their standing more with the public than the perception that they are flouting the rules and cherrypicking their students.
Tamar Galatzan represents more than 100 Valley
schools on the LA Unified Board of Education.
CAN’T CAN’T DECIDE WHAT TO GET DAD FOR FATHER’S DAY?
COMFORT KEEPERS CAN HELP
On Father’s Day a lot of dads would welcome a big screen TV, new set of golf
clubs or season tickets to see their favorite sports. But when your senior years are
beginning to take a toll on your health and daily activities, nothing is as valued as
the gift of health, mobility, time and attention.
While the best gift is time and companionship (time to talk, time to listen, and
time to do things together), we don’t always live close enough or have the time to
spend together, especially given the busy lives most of us have.
Perhaps not the most innovative, but certainly among the best appreciated gifts
that can be given to a senior is the gift of independence. This is where Comfort
Keepers can help. While giving dad senior care services at home for Father’s Day
may seem like a withdrawal of independence, providing a Comfort Keeper can
allow him to remain living in his own home, stick to his schedules and routines,
and avoid being moved to a nursing home or assisted living facility.
Comfort Keepers provides seniors with the extra assistance they need to manage
their everyday life, while maintaining their independence and dignity. They provide an array of homemaker and personal care services that are tailored to meet the
need of each individual client. Services offered include companionship, light housekeeping, meal preparation, and transportation as well as personal care services
such as assistance with bathing, toileting, grooming, medication management and
so much more. Caregivers are available up to 24 hours a day, and all caregivers are
Comfort Keepers’ employees, so they handle all the responsibilities of payroll,
taxes, and workers’ compensation. All Comfort Keepers are compassionate, dependable, caring professionals who are thoroughly screened, bonded, trained and
supervised.
So this year, why not give dad what he really needs and purchase a Comfort
Keepers’ gift certificate to make his everyday life a little easier.
For further information or to schedule a free in-home visit, call (818) 776-5060
or visit them on the web at www.comfortkeepers.com.
7
White Sofas and Other
Stupid Parenting Mistakes
By Vicki Stern
Summer is finally here and to celebrate I
sit down and figure out exactly what expensive clothes and other high cost items my
son has “donated,” over the course of the
year, to his school.
He’s very generous. Fifteen sweatshirts, 20
shirts, a few pairs of ridiculously overpriced
tennis shoes, football cleats, several calculators, a few dozen full pencil cases, a phone
charger (mine), a computer case (his
father’s), 100 water bottles, (give or take 30),
and, while I wish this last item surprised me
that it was even on this list, sadly it does
not, a gerbil.
I honestly don’t understand how one child
can lose so many things during the school
year. He doesn’t go that many places. It isn’t
that hard to retrace his steps.
He gets on a school bus, he goes to school,
comes home, plays baseball, plays football,
studies, maybe hangs with a friend, sleeps,
does it all over again. It’s a very contained
world. It’s not like he’s a fighter pilot in Afghanistan. And yet, little pieces of him don’t
make it home on any given day.
When he was a baby, it was okay to pin
his pacifier to his onesie. As a toddler, it was
permissible to thread a cord through his coat
so his mittens wouldn’t get lost.
So, I really don’t see why it’s not okay to
Except Brown Jordan
iTeen
Another year has gone by, and school
is almost out for summer. For me, along
with almost every other kid in America,
this is the time we have been waiting
for the entire year.
Although I do like school, summer is
a time when I can do what ever I feel
like. If I feel like sleeping into ‘til 11am
I can, if I feel like staying up late, or
sleeping at a friend’s house on a week
night, I can. But for now, and until June
10th, I can’t. Having just entered 7th
grade and middle school, I have to end
the year with finals.
Finals, for those of you who do not
know, are a final exam to test what you
have learned and retained throughout
the year, which sounds good.
You would think they would use this
to see what you remembered and what
you need to learn again, but as I have
learned, it is not what it seems. This two
part test that lasts a total of less than
two hours of all of the hours you have
been in school, counts for around 20%
(varies per class, give or take) of the
Sherman Oaks Studio City Encino News Editorial Submission Policy
The Sherman Oaks Studio City Encino News welcomes
your letters and articles.
Letters to the Editor should be no more than 300 words,
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8
staple gun his 80 dollar ski gloves to his parka
or hot glue his expensive Quiksilver
sweatshirt directly to his skin. After all, this
is the age when they lose stuff. My kid can
lose his backpack in his own locker. “I don’t
know where it went. I put it in my locker and
now it’s gone.”
What can you possibly say to that, that
doesn’t involve the word “moron?”
I know the important lesson here is to teach
my kid responsibility. He must learn to look
after his own belongings. In order to teach
him that lesson, I told him he had to use his
own money to replace the clothing and new
calculators. That led him to decide that he
could find the square root of stuff in his head
and that shoes were overrated.
So, next year, if you happen to see a kid hoofing it to the school bus, with his text books
hot glued to his spine, you’ll know I gave up
teaching him the lesson and went for the next
best thing…the glue gun.
Vicki Stern used to be funny when she was a writer/
producer of sitcoms for TV. Now she’s a Mom and
she’s not funny anymore...just ask her kid.
By Jon Epstein
age 13
grade that you get. 20% might not seem
like a lot, but it is. Twenty percent of
Americans smoke, that is 60 million
people. Now this is just one test, that
supposedly sees what you have learned
throughout the entire second semester,
which I think is totally unfair and something that schools should change.
Over the summer, I do so much, that
it is almost not relaxing, but a job, which
is summer fun. Over all, summer is
mine, and 99.999% of kids all around
the world’s favorite time of year by far,
and I know that I will always love it.
The only problem with summer is that
once I get out of college, there will be
no more summer break.
Questions??? Comments??
jjoonnyy16@aim.com
Contact me at
ber and address for verification purposes only.
The Sherman Oaks Studio City Encino News reserves
the right to accept, reject or edit letters and other editorial material. The SOSC E News does not return letters, photos or other editorial submissions.
Editorial material of 500 words or less may be mailed
to Big Valley Publications, 827 Hollywood Way, Suite
233, Burbank CA 91505 or
emailed to
bigvalleypublications@gmail.com. The deadline is the
15th of the month prior to month of publication.
9
Cibo Città
By Cristina Wheeler Terra
It’s Wednesday, 5pm and you’ve had a long,
stressful day at work. What to do? Well I think
it’s time to stop the hustle and bustle, smell, the
roses, and enjoy a stiff drink and a savory appetizer. I don’t know about you guys, but I love
happy hour. It’s not necessarily the drinks or the
food…it’s the idea of a break after work to enjoy time with friends. It’s a pass to check out,
forget the day’s stresses and relax, what could
be better? With many different options of places
to go in the Valley, I’ve narrowed down my favorite top ten happening bars and restaurants that
have fantastic happy hours.
Before I delve into the list, I wanted to find out
about the origins of “Happy Hour”…where and
when did it start, who came up with it? It’s definitely different than what I expected. According
to www.wikepedia.org, the term “Happy Hour”
originated in the United States Navy. In the
1920’s “Happy Hour” was slang for a scheduled entertainment period on board a ship during which boxing and wrestling bouts took place,
this was a valuable opportunity for sailors to let
off the steam accumulated during the long periods at sea. “Happy” in this context meant slightly
drunk. During Prohibition, citizens would host
“Happy Hours” at speakeasies before eating at
restaurants when alcohol could not be served.
This caught on and the phrase “Happy Hour”
became a common public practice around 1960.
Interesting, huh?
1. Rocco’s Tavern: I am a huge fan of Rocco’s
Tavern. From the laid back atmosphere, delicious
food, amazing staff, and the numerous flat screen
TV’s; this place is hard to beat. Oh, did I mention the Happy Hour is 2 for 1 drinks, from 37 p.m. everyday of the week? Yep, you heard
me. Don’t be embarrassed if your 2 for 1 drinks
crowd your table. Look around, you’re not alone.
Get there early if a Laker Game is on, this place
gets super packed. I recommend ordering the 18”
pizza with unlimited toppings and extra thin
crust. The artichoke and calamari are to die for.
You can thank me later.
12514 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 985-9876
2. Townhouse: Townhouse has been open for
over a year and is located in the Sherman Oaks
Galleria. With a huge, elegant bar located in the
middle of the restaurant, they offer two Happy
Hours: Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm and Mon-Sat
11pm – Close. The prices are more than fair:
Appetizers and cocktails are $5, and beer is
$4. The food is quite scrumptious; I recommend
the pork belly sliders and red pepper hummus.
There are flat screen TV’s as well, so come in
for a game, gourmet bites, and a dirty CEO Martini with blue cheese stuffed olives, yum.
15303 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 453-9900
3. Casa Vega: Casa Vega is my favorite Mexican restaurant in the Valley. Open for over 55
years, this restaurante has established itself as
one of L.A’s best. The margaritas are cold and
frothy, chile rellenos savory with the perfect
amount of heat, and the queso fundido has
enough cheese to pave a road. When at the bar,
ask for Nacho, he makes the best margarita I’ve
ever had. Rimmed with course salt, not too sweet,
and enough tequila to make even the grumpiest
happy. This place gets packed mostly every night
of the week, so be prepared for a wait. Don’t
worry, the hostess will seat you promptly, I’ve
never waited over 30 min. If you’re lucky you’ll
be seated in Noel’s section. He is the BEST
waiter ever; I guarantee you’ll be friends by the
time you leave. Happy Hour is Monday-Friday, 2:30-7pm. Margaritas are discounted to
$4.95 and there are Appetizer specials. Olé!
13301 Ventura Boulevard. Sherman Oaks, CA
91423-3912 (818) 788-4868
5. Bistro Garden: Bistro Garden has been open
for over 20 years in the heart of Studio City. Upscale Valley dwellers flock to this garden-style,
BBQ sits well with me, for that matter. The
tables are suited with a modern gas grill, perfect for easy hands-on BBQ’ing. I recommend
the Ahi Poki, Shrimp Garlic, and the Pork Gyoza
Dumplings. Happy Hour is Mon-Thu Lunch6:30pm & 9:30pm-Close, Fri-Sat Lunch6:30pm & 10pm-Close. 50% off all appetizers, $2.95 BBQ meats, $5 Large Hot Sake,
$3 Shochu Cocktails,
$2 Cold Sake Shots,
and 99 cents for draft
beers. That, my friends,
is hard to top. (This
place is usually packed
so call ahead).
14457 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA
91423 (818) 501-5400
8. 94th Aero Squadron
Restaurant, Van Nuys
Airport: With spacious
views of the runways of
the Van Nuys airport,
this is a great place to sip
some champagne, nosh
on hors d’oeuvres, all
while watching planes
The Terras, Christine (L) and Anna with the Bistro Garden
take-off and land. The
Bartender Francisco Hernandez.
interior is a unique, clasclassy eatery. Modeled after a European
sic
WWII
setting,
with
rustic,
antique aerospace
Wintergarden with 30 ft ceilings, this setting is
perfect for those who love good, classic food and décor, and old jeeps from the war sitting outelegant cocktails. Happy Hour is M-F 5-7pm. side. Happy Hour is M-F 4-7 p.m., with great
Free food is offered during happy hour, and live drink specials, half off appetizers and a free
piano starts at 6pm. The piano player even takes mini-buffet with veggies and dip, chips and
requests and gladly lets you sing, even if you tend salsa, etc.
to go a little out of key.
12950 Ventura Boulevard. Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 501-0202
5. Teru Sushi: If you’re craving fresh albacore,
crispy tempura, and sweet shrimp, Teru Sushi is
the Japanese haven for you. According to Zagat,
Teru Sushi is “The grandfather of valley sushi
spots, where the terrific rolls and raw fish never
disappoint and friendly chefs greet you like family.” The scene here at Teru is always happening,
celebrities frequently visit and the “regulars” are
never disappointed. Of all the Valley sushi joints,
Teru is always mentioned amongst my friends and
acquaintances. Sit at the sushi bar and ask for
Richard. He is a one of a kind sushi chef with a
hilarious personality; not only will your meal be
delicious, it will be entertaining as well. I recommend the Spanish mackerel sushi, Ya An Yaki,
and Tori Goba, delectable. Happy Hour is Monday-Thursday, 5:30-7pm: Sushi rolls are $4
and $4 for large Sapporo Beer. Sake bomb, anyone?
11940 Ventura Boulevard. Los Angeles, CA
91604 (818) 763-6201
6. Rusty’s Hacienda Mexican Restaurant: The
current staff of Rusty’s is unsure when the restaurant actually opened. It was opened sometime
in the 1940’s and has been going strong ever
since. Known for karaoke, a wonderful staff,
dancing, and 99 cent margaritas on Monday, this
Mexican Hacienda is muy divertido. One can
expect traditional California inspired Mexican
food and strong margaritas. During Happy
Hour, (Monday 4-7pm, Thursday and Friday
3-7pm) appetizers are half off, margaritas are
.99 cents and pitchers of beer are $6. I haven’t
tried it yet, but I heard the Sunday Brunch is great.
Come on in for a Mexican themed happy hour,
(those are the best kind, right?) Viva Rusty’s!
6439 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA
91606 (818) 761-5176
7. Gyu-Kaku in Sherman Oaks: Not too fancy
and overpriced, this place is perfect for a night
out with friends. I love Japanese BBQ, anything
Fun note: you can listen to the air traffic controllers through the headsets on the side of the
table. Clear for takeoff!
9. Robin Hood British Pub: Brace yourself, I
have found what will be (if you haven’t been
yet) your new favorite pub. I used to pass by
Robin Hood while running and I always wondered if it was any fun. I visited, and was pleasantly surprised. Some of the regulars were telling me how authentic this British pub is, from
the perfectly friend fish ‘n’ chips to the strong,
freshly brewed English tea. I felt funny ordering
tea at a bar but, it was fantastic, warm and comforting! Some customers even call this place their
very own “Cheers”. The staff is incredibly
friendly and very easy going, (our server had an
English accent, how could you not like that?)
Happy hour is 4-7pm daily, with 50% off
appetizers and discounted drinks. Bring your
mates and watch a good English football match
up with a Shepard’s Pie and brew on the side.
Prepare for a smashing good time!
13640 Burbank Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91401
(818) 994-6045
10. Timmy Nolan’s Toluca Lake: Timmy
Nolan’s in Toluca Lake has been open for over
16 years. There are 11 flat screen TV’s (3 of them
in private booths), perfect for all you sports fanatics out there. Come out for an Irish Beer or
Whisky, with some Irish Stew or Fish ‘n’ Chips
on the side. And while you’re enjoying yourself
in the fun, casual atmosphere, look up and thank
Great-Grandfather Timmy Nolan. His portrait
hangs on the wall, and his Irish Eyes are smiling, watching all the fun his customers are having. Happy Hour: 4:00-7:00pm Monday Friday
10111 Riverside Drive. Toluca Lake, CA 916022517 (818) 985-3359
16320 Raymer St.Van Nuys, CA 91406 (818)
“HOT” Recipe of the Month
LIGHT AND HEALTHY EATING
Keeping it light this summer, this recipe is
sure to please! The colorful combination of
fresh mangos and raspberries, adds a unique
twist to the ordinary, everyday salad. Add
goat cheese with it’s pristine white color and
distinct flavor, it tops this salmon salad with
yet another delicious taste and texture. Not
only delicious, but a very healthy, meal rich
in vitamins and omegas. Add your chilled
white wine, and this wonderful dish is great
for lunches, dinner, or that special someone
you want to impress!
Grilled Salmon Salad with Fresh
Mangos, Raspberries and Goat
Cheese
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Crispy and delicious grilled salmon is
topped with fresh mangos and raspberries for a delicious combination of
seafood with fresh fruit.
1 pound fresh salmon filet
1 package European salad mix
1 package fresh raspberries, washed
1 ripe mango, sliced
Raspberry or olive oil vinaigrette salad
dressing
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons goat or crumbled feta
cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
In a shallow dish, place salmon, garlic
powder, salt and pepper and olive oil.
10
994-7437
By Anna Terra
Coat salmon on both sides. Set aside
for 10 minutes to marinate.
Using a broiler or grill, spray with olive
oil cooking spray to keep salmon from
sticking to grill.
Place salmon onto hot grill. When
using a closed grill, this cooks great as
both sides are cooking at the same
time and you do not have to turn
salmon over, as it can separate or fall
apart. Salmon should be cooked in 15
minutes or less. Do not over cook to
avoid drying out salmon. Salmon is
cooked when separated with a fork,
and it is flaky.
While cooking salmon, place salad mix
into large bowl. Add raspberries, sliced
mango, pine nuts and goat or feta
cheese. Sprinkle desired amount of
salad dressing onto salad, and mix.
You can also use both olive oil
vinaigrette, and raspberry dressings.
Toss well. Place on large serving
platter.
Place cooked salmon directly on top of
salad. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
Buon Appetito!
- Anna
www.annaterra.com
Dads Eat Free!
Father’s Day Brunch
Sunday June 20th Brunch 11am -2pm
Limit: TWO FREE Brunches per table includes Appetizer,Entree, Dessert
Sunday
Brunch in
the
Garden
11am -2pm
With Live Piano Accompaniment
Complimentary Hors d’oeuvres
Mon-Fri 5- 7pm
818.501.0202
www.bistrogarden.com
12950 Ventura Boulevard,
Studio City
Early Bird Special
20% off 3-5 pm
Mon-Thu
OpenMon-Sats 11 am - 10
pm
On Sundays 11 am - 9 pm
Lunch Specials
$10.95
11 am - 3 pm
Same portion size as
dinner
Mazzarino’s Italian Restaurant
12920 1/2 Riverside, Sherman Oaks
818.788-5050 FAX 818.990.4236
www.mazzarinosrestaurant.com
11
A Wonderland of Sweets and Treats
No 9
Unique Fashion Fix For The Stylish Chick!
Stylish chicks….your fashion fix awaits at cute, unique
Taylr’z Joynt Boutique! With Summer fast approaching,
it’s not a surprise that everyone is ready for a wardrobe
makeover, which boutique owner Taylr has recently given
her shop on Ventura Blvd! From huge fashion illustrations on beautiful turquoise store window drapes, to sparkling chandeliers and warm and welcoming central rug
and seating area, Taylr welcomes you into a comfortable,
stylish ambiance. Eclectic Indie designers such as Cowgirl Heaven, Soldat Tailoring, Li Cari, Julia Lovan, Za Za
Zsu Clothing, Rumple Munkeh, and Simone Elum, large
selection of vintage inspired pieces with a modern twist
as well some reworked vintage.
LaserAway, the tattoo and hair removal experts, hos
Guests toured the beautiful new space and sipped
shops at Woodman and Ventura. Neighbors Robert f
a few of the locals who stopped by to share in the fes
proprietors Scott, Todd, and Brock Heckmann and m
Taylr’z Joynt is hosting a Vintage Fab event on Sund
aways. The guest with the best dressed Vintage outf
Also, check out their TJZ blog in which post the lates
http://taylrzjoyntblog.wordpress.com/.
Actress Jamie Pressly was pictured in the latest issu
Taylr’z Joynt from designer ZAZAZSU.
Style Hours: Tues-Friday 11am7pm Sat 11-6 Odd Sun 1-4
Now that the warm weather is here, check out the new
are two of our favorites. And for warm weather dress
fortable as well as fashionable. Proprietress Michelle
10% OFF
to 1st TIME PURCHASERS
Taylr’z Joynt
Boutique
13549 Ventura
Sherman Oaks,
91423
818-907-7818
www.taylrzjoynt.com
taylrzjoyntboutique@yahoo.com
Sweet Harts is a one stop sweet shop that is sure to satisfy even the
pickiest sweet tooth! Our selection of goodies is endless. We offer
frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato, ice cream, a wide variety of baked
goods, hot beverages, and even walls of candy. Sweet Harts also boasts
a unique party room that is perfect for birthday parties, fundraisers,
bachelorette parties, baby showers, company events, and so much
more. To top it off, we are now offering gift baskets, boxes, and bags
that are both pre-made and made to order with anything and everything found in our shop. Sweet Harts truly is the perfect destination for kids and adults of all ages. Just come in and see for yourself!
Don’t forget Father’s Day, June 20. Dad would surely
13704 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, 91423 818.788.5004
11am-10pm Weekdays 10am-11pm Weekends
http://www.sweethartssweets.com/
Roni B. & Kara Studards at LaserAway
is the only upscale boutique in greater
LA for women size 12 and up. From
classic clothing, with a flair, to the
unusual fun and funky. From comfortable business to casual or dressy
special occasion; Abundance has it all!
ABUNDANCE
A Plus-size Boutique
13604 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks
818.990.6128
Pressly dressed by Taylr’z Joynt
Step into summer at Abundance
12
June 2010
sted a grand opening party on Wednesday, May 12.
champagne and wine at the newest addition to the
from Urban Colony and fashionista Roni B. were just
stivities and greet medical director Dr. Shalini Kapoor,
manager Kara Studards.
day June 27th with a red carpet and great giveit will receive a $500 Taylr’z Joynt gift certificate.
st news and updates about the boutique at
e of OK Magazine wearing a dress purchased at
west flavors at Sweetharts. Red Velvet and Espresso
sing, Abundance has the newest styles that are come Varon will help pull together a new summer look.
y appreciate a gift certificate to The Massage Place.
Brock, Scott and Todd Heckmann
Rows of sweets at Sweetharts
Brown can do
13
Grapes of Wrath join forces. It plays September 18through October 24 at the Victory
Theatre Center in Burbank. Décor Art Galleries’ display of historic Hollywood photos
complemented the entertaining evening that
brought together theatre, music and art lovers.
On Saturday, May 22, Décor Art Galleries
in Studio City hosted a fundraiser for
SeaGlass Theatre, the company that brought
you last year’s critically-acclaimed hit,
“Wonder of the World.”
The theme for the evening was Illuminating the American Experience, with hors
d’oeuvre and cocktail pairings from different regions of the country. Jambalaya and
corn bread from New Orleans paired with a
rum punch was a definite crowd favorite.
event. We ran into our old friend Dan
Frischman, who is best know for as playing
Arvin Engen in the long running show “Head
Just down the street on the same night was a
gallery opening at SoHo Gallery, so some of
us were walking back and forth between the
two galleries. We bumped into Michele
Vreeland, a musician who recently performed
at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. One
of our favorite painters, Michael Gorman, has
nowned artist Hollenstein create an original work of vibrant colors and distinct lines
which he will execute from the treads of
his wheelchair. The Hollenstein-signature
artwork will include hand prints of over a
dozen celebrities and benefit Shane’s Inspiration, a children’s charity. Ringo Starr
and Slash are some of the celebrities expected to attend at the SoHo Gallery at
12350 Ventura Blvd. in the SC.
Bob from the Groovy Rednecks
Denton with Marks
Decor Art Galleries was packed
Eric Stolz, most recently seen in the cult favorite cable sci fi series “Caprica,” made an
appearance to help out with the silent auction. SeaGlass Board member James Denton
from “Desperate Housewives” and the popular rock group Band From TV headlined the
of the Class” and as Chis Potter on the Nickelodeon series, “Kenan and Kel.” Before that
he and I worked together in the cult film “Get
Crazy,” in which Dan played a nerdy stagehand who gets the girl and I was a singer in
a rock band. We reminisced about filming
at the Wiltern Theatre as live music continued throughout the evening, with additional
entertainment by Luis Oliart, who recently
performed at the Wine Bistro just down the
street in Studio City. Seaglass Theatre’s next
project is to skewer Steinbeck in their new
satire, Of Grapes and Nuts, in which classic
characters from Of Mice and Men and The
Michele Vreeland
been painting up a lot of new pictures for the
new Studio City Gallery. Brother Bruce recently moved here from Switzerland to work
with brothers Craig and Scott again. An unusual, one-man art exhibit will take place on
June 10 from 5-8pm. Guests will watch re-
It wouldn’t be Memorial Day without a
bbq and hootenanny at the home of Groovy
Rednecks’ guitarist Bob Ricketts and wife
Senja in their Cheviot Hills home. After a
feast of mixed bbq featuring Bob’s amazing salmon, tri tip and brats, the sun set and
the music started. Guests included Hollywood diva Tequila Mockingbird, local musicologist Chris Morris and writer John
Sutton Smith. The Groovy Rednecks have
been playing around the Valley, with recent
gigs at Viva Cantina and Great American
Joe’s in Burbank and Weber’s Place in
Reseda, which now features roots music and
rockabilly acts most nights.
Marks is a actor, singer & songwriter.
14
OPEN HOUSE
SUN. JUNE 6th
1-5 pm
Wonderful three
Bedroom family
home in a great
neighborhood
4865 Bluebell
Ave,
Valley Village
$730,000
17036 Rancho, Encino
7,200 sf + Massive Guest House on 28K lot
$2,999,000
www.17036rancho.com
OPEN HOUSE - Sunday June 6th 2 - 5 pm
17414 Magnolia, Encino
6,100 sf + Guest House on 26K flat lot!
$2,795,000
$1,990,000
15
Interesting Releases
Unthinkable
D: Gregor Jordan
Cast
Michael Sheen
Samuel L. Jackson
Carrie-Anne Moss
Brandon Routh
Necar Zadegan
Stephen Root
Gil Bellows
Martin Donovan
Benito Martinez
Panned as a theriatrical “24” and directed by
Aussie Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelley) “Unthinkable” attempts to explore moral boundaries of
the viewers as much as those of the on-screen
protagonists.
The film asks when is torture justifiable? And
if it is, how do you balance the morality of
torture against the real world pressure that demands it?
The TV show “24” attempted to answer these
same questions. With its run completed last
Monday “24” never really answered them.
Jack Bauer would torture only as a last resort.
Yet, he discovered that torture as a last resort
was also very unreliable. The subject tended
to tell the torturer what he wanted to believe,
not actual truth.
“Unthinkable” starts like “24” with an implausible plot. A former US army munitions
expert “Younger”, (Sheen) is tired of the US’
evil plotting against members of his religion.
You guessed it, Sheen is a Musilm.
Younger claims that he has three weapons of
mass destruction placed in three different cities in U.S. territory. His demands are simple.
One is that the U.S. Government will not further support financially or militarily any other
puppet regimes or dictatorships in Islamic nations and the second is that the president will
withdraw all the U.S. Forces from all the Islamic countries.
The US reaction is predictable. The US dependence on oil makes any acquiescence to
these demands “unthinkable.” Younger will
have to give up the location or face the consequences.
Samuel Jackson is “H” - the Bauer character- brought in to crack the terrorist the same
way as he has broken others. The duel between the two personalities is the story, while
Carrie-Anne Moss represents the average citizen; the same as the ones watching, secure in
the facade of being a superior human in rights
and beliefs that gradually get eroded as the situation gets more desperate.
This isn’t the traditional entertaining suspense
film. However, the viewer’s interest will be
captured from the opening scene and intrigued
throughout. It is well acted, well scripted and
well considered.
If I had any complaint it ran way too long,
repeating the same scene again and again: Jackson asks Sheen to tell him where the weapons
are, H applies dreadful torture to him until
Moss objects so he stops. Add filler scenes,
and then repeat. That’s the whole movie right
there.
“Unthinkable” has excellent conflict and realistic dialogue that really gets one thinking
and challenges what Americans really believe
about human rights.
Shutter Island
D: Martin Scorsese
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio
Mark Ruffalo
Ben Kingsley
Max von Sydow
Michelle Williams
Emily Mortimer
Patricia Clarkson
Jackie Earle Haley
George Noyce
As with Scorsese and DiCaprio’s previous
collaborations, this is a continuation of the exploration of cinema masters, in this case the
horror/thriller genre and Hitchcock. Laeta
Kalogridis supplied the screenplay and while
following the book almost faithfully, she
doesn’t go for cheap cinemagraphic gags. Remember, she follows it almost faithfully.
Mood here isn’t sacrificed and eerie is given
full intensity. A considerable amount of this
intensity is generated by a collection of actors
that have mastered the art of playing sinister
characters; Ben Kingsley, Jackie Earle Haley,
Ted Levine, and Max Von Sydow. The cinematography of Robert Richardson
(“Inglourious Basterds,” “The Aviator,” “Kill
Bill, Volumes 1 and 2”) is marvelous. His gritty,
disturbing, atmospheric view of the daunting
Gothic castle-like structure takes on a life of
its own.
While Scorsese does pay homage to
Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” “Frenzy,” De Palma’s
“Dressed to Kill” and gives a nod to Robert
Wiene’s “Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari.
(1920)” this film releases its tension through
suspense instead of action sequences.
U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and
his new partner, Aule (Mark Ruffalo) arrive at
16
a sinister federal asylum for the criminally
insane off the coast of Massachusetts. A killer,
a young woman, has escaped and they have
been called in to investigate the disappearance.
However, nothing is as it seems in this film,
the two marshals carry on their investigation,
even though a hurricane (heavy handed plot
point) is threatening to overwhelm the entire
island, and this time constraint ratchets up the
suspense bit by bit as Daniels goes slowly
insane, having weird hallucinogenic nightmares featuring his wife, Delores (Michelle
Williams, ”Brokeback Mountain”), who perished in a fire set by a arsonist who happens
to be housed in this facility.
In these dreams, Delores keeps trying to give
Daniels clues about the place and his investigation, but he refuses to listen. He also dreams
his experience as a U.S. Soldier, who after
liberating one of the Camps with his platoon,
lined the German guards up against the wall
and executed them. All begin to question his
sanity, but the audience will be mesmerized
as the film takes even more hairpin turns until arriving at its conclusion, which apparently
outraged or upset fans of the book.
Fans of the director will welcome this effort. While no “Goodfellas” or “Raging Bull”
or “Taxi Driver,” this is more like “Bringing
Out the Dead.” That is it requires multiple
viewings to be fully realized. Its process is
more important than its narrative, its structure more important than the almost obligatory plot twists it perpetrates. It’s a thriller, a
crime story and a tortured psychological allegory about shared guilt.”
Stephen Phenow is currently writing a horror
script forLimelight Productions
Valley Curtain Call
“Rockin’ With the Ages II” at the Whitefire
Theatre in Sherman Oaks is bound to be a
staple for many years to come in the San
Fernando Valley…”Get up, get out and get
a life!” is the senior motto of producer Pink
Lady Jackie Goldberg. The second production of “Rockin’ With the Ages,” which
proves that “age is only a number” presenting talented seniors over 60, is a rousing,
rhythmic, razzmataz show featuring a bevy
of well-known Broadway and pop tunes to
suit almost anyone’s fancy. This show is
wholesomely clean, folks -but still genuinely
titillating. A cast of twenty, 16 gals and 4
gents along with Razzmatappers, pianist Ron
Rose and Craig Fine on drums, do a twohour gig full of song, dance, comedy and
even some drama to wet the tearducts.
Through June 13 only!
In Crown City Theatre’s adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan entitled “U.S.S. Pinafore,”
writer/director Jon Mullich places our team
of players on a spaceship like the Enterprise
of “Star Trek,” which is the most beloved
sci-fi show in American television history, a
true-blue institution and a great target for
satire. In the chain of command we see
how commandants like to step on captains
and captains on lowly TARs (that’s Transport Assistant Repairmen)!
The plot remains unchanged and the quickpaced, upbeat score remains. Only some lyrics have been altered to suit the new venue.
An example would be “He Is an Englishman” is now “He Is an Earthling Man”. A
great addition to the list of characters is Dick
Deadeye, a lizard-like alien who stands apart
as ugly and undesirable, making marriage
to him seem utterly impossible.
The entire humanoid ensemble under
Mullich’s ultimate skill function exceedingly
With Don Grigware
www.grigwaretalkstheatre.com
well together. Throughout June!
In “It Ain’t All Confetti!” at the
El Portal’s Forum Theatre, Rip
Taylor stretches one hundred and eighty
degrees as he delivers his life story in an 80
minute set, ingeniously directed by David
Galligan.
Taylor does his routine at the top for about
ten minutes, then sits down, takes off the
toupee and gets serious. He tells anecdotes
from his sad childhood growing up in foster
homes in D. C., as well as from his stint in
the service and his very first gigs in clubs in
war zones abroad and in strip joints back
home. There is much humor, like in referring to his being drafted, “Can you imagine
me defending you for two years?”
Or working for the first time as an entertainer in a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, while lip-syncing to Japanese songs.
Watching his mobile face gyrate to this music is great fun.
Or as he tries to get us to imagine tap-dancing Ann Miller as a nun in The “Sound of
Music,” or as he elaborately describes an
early ad for his act in burlesque: “27 Strips
and Rip!”
There are laughs aplenty, but also some
very emotionally jolting moments, like being thrown into a dark cellar as a child,
beaten up and harrassed by bullies in high
school, being unfairly thrown out into the
street from his first gig in Atlantic City after
the Korean War, or his uneasy dismissal
from TV’s The Jackie Gleason Show by the
Great One himself. Great material for an autobiography, “Confetti” makes us simultaneously laugh and cry. Extended until June
6.
Expires
6/15/2010
17
land Avenue (picnic area 15) Tickets $50
each (tax deductible donation. RSVP today.
Call Regina Zeinali 818-301-6371.
rzeinali@valleyclinic.org.
www.valleycommunityclinic.com
Cont.from Pg. 1
2399
Wednesday June 16
Studio City Neighborhood Council Board of
Directors meets the third Wednesday of each
month. CBS Studio Center Annex 1 Meeting room. 4024 Radford Ave. Studio City.
Gate A. All Council meetings are open to the
public. 818-655-5400
Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association
The Meeting begins at 7:15 p.m. with a Social Hour starting at 6:15 p.m. The Meeting
is held at Notre Dame High School located
at 13645 Riverside Dr., Sherman Oaks. Special guest, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck will
discuss his goals and vision for the Los Angeles Police Dept. Info at 818-377-4590
Thursday, June 17
Encino Chamber of Commerce Mixer/Ribbon Cutting at Syndicate Salon, 17071 Ventura Blvd., Encino. 5pm.
Wednesday June 23
Encino Neighborhood Council monthly
meeting Encino Community Center 4935
Balboa Blvd. 7:0pm
Neighborhood Council Valley Village
monthly board meeting. Colfax Charter Elementary School Auditorium. (Corner Colfax
and Addison) 6:30 – 9:00pm.
Friday June 25
Valley Community Clinic invites the whole
family to the “Grease” Sing-A-Long at the
Hollywood Bowl. Showtime 8:30 -10:30pm
and Rizzi’s pre-event party 6:30 – 8:00pm
with “Sandy & Danny” 2301 North HighCont. from pg. 6
Silver
markets, especially on bulk items, and offer
a larger variety of goods in one place, often
at substantial discounts, and make shopping
easier for busy customers.
Consider what Fry’s Electronics has done
to the computer and electronic components
market. They brought super-market retailing
to the computer, consumer electronics industry—and with it low prices. It’s the same story
with Home Depot in the hardware industry—
lower prices, greater variety.
Where would customers be without the
price-competition from Best Buy and others?
Mass marketing brings many jobs. Some jobs
to be sure are entry level. But large retailers
also employ marketing managers, supervisors, accountants, advertising executives,
copywriters, ad designers, stock clerks, sales
people and others.
Some people argue that big-box stores
spend too much money on advertising. They
say that newspaper, radio and TV advertising raises the cost of goods. But in reality
the opposite is true. Mass market advertising stimulates product interest, which in turn
stimulates sales and this in turn supports mass
production and distribution, bring down
prices.
Some small retailers serving residential
neighborhoods simply cannot compete on the
basis of price alone. This forces them to offer more personalized service. If customers
are dissatisfied with the big box retailers they
Roni B
Saturday June 26
Studio City Branch Library book sale
12:00pm. 12511 Moorpark St. Studio City
91604
Sunday June 27
Providence Tarzana Medical Center’s Health
Fair 10am-4pm. 18321 Clark St. Tarzana
Sunday, July 4
12th Annual Fourth of July Fireworks Festival CBS Studio Center, 4024 Radford Ave.
Studio City
This is a fun-filled family festival featuring
music, food, a children’s fun zone, spectacular fireworks and a business expo held on
the CBS Studios backlot.
5:00 – 9:00 pm, gates open at 4:30.Free parking in the CBS garage
Tickets can be purchased online at
www.studiocitychamber.com, by calling 818655-5916 or at the Studio City Farmers Market, Sundays in June, 8AM - 1PM.
1st & 3rd Sundays
Mobile Pet Adoptions, 12021 Moorpark in
Studio City. 11am – 4pm.
Every Tuesday
Studio City Rotary Club meets for lunch at
the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel, 12825 Ventura Blvd. Studio City. For more information
call John at 818.981.0339
will not patronize them, and return in large
numbers to neighborhood stores.
One look at a busy Home Depot, Costco,
Wal-Mart or Target shows where customers
prefer to spend their money. Big box retailers help the elderly, handicapped, and poor
most of all. In order to compete with big box
retailers, small grocery stores, hardware
stores and “mom-and-pop” shops must offer
personalized, friendly service and one-onone help are they don’t survive.
Big box retailers have a positive effect on
existing shopping areas with both land use
and economic ramifications. They provide
volume goods at a substantial saving to consumers, drawing large numbers of customers to the area providing economic vitality
to Van Nuys Blvd.
Residents need to evaluate big box retailers and their impact on the community. While
they complain that those stores may bring
more traffic and congestion to a neighborhood, often that traffic are the local residents
who patronize these stores. So they are the
ones who create the problem—in a words,
“we met the enemy, and they are us!”
It appears big box retailers in the valley are
here to stay. It is up to us to find a way to coexist.
Guest Columnist of
the Month
By Eliot Cohen
Does a Temple, which is making an aggressive/intrusive expansion into a residential
neighborhood, have any ethical or moral responsibilities to its immediate neighbors?
I believe they do.
Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) in order to better serve their Congregation and expand their
services to the Jewish Community in the surrounding areas of the San Fernando Valley
and West L.A. is planning on an approximate
175,000 square foot expansion.
This includes the demolishing of all existing structures, including the Sanctuary and
building new larger facilities. A thousand
additional car trips will eventuate through
neighborhood surface streets and over congest Ventura Blvd. Across the Densmore
Campus exists their grade level Parking Lot
for 286 spaces. This will become a 486 space
Parking Garage with Roof Top Playground
running parallel to 9 single-family homes on
Moorpark between Densmore and Gloria.
The few home owners who have had the
temerity to try and moderate VBS’ expansion sparred with the development’s best
friend, attorney Mr. Benjamin Reznick at the
City Planning Commission (CPC) hearing of
the 28th of January in Van Nuys and lost.
As one sided as a fight between a Lion v.
Guinea-Pig, VBS won permission to build
this “Mega” Temple, and further clog our
streets.
While Temple supporters where high fiving,
fist bumping and hugging Ben Reznick and
congratulating Rabbi Feinstein and each
other on their great “triumph,” a homeowner
“JG” walked away bewildered and in tears.
Speaking to the Commissioners “JG,” a
musician testified how he has fallen on hard
times and wishes to lease or sell his house.
But, because of real estate disclosure laws
all people interested acquiring needed to be
informed about the pending remodel and
change in living conditions by the construction, all interested buyers have fled leaving
JG and his family with an obligation they no
longer can afford. The building permit to
construct a Temple garage that is approximately 65 feet from “JG’s” home, is for three
years. So there is no quick cure for “JGs”
property. And he is not the only one. Independent local realtors have estimated the local homeowners around the temple will have
to take a hit of 100,000 to $150,000 less to
Gerald A. Silver is President of Homeowners of Encino. He
serves on the Ventura Blvd. Specific Plan Review Board (PRB).
He can be reached at gsilver4@earthlink.net.
18
the already depressed property values.
Spiteful even in victory, Mr. Reznick chastised another Homeowner “HE” from
Moorpark that since “you opposed us” all
remediation items are off the table, including the ones recommended by the ENC-PLU
and ENC. These were the ones agreed to in
direct talks with Ad-Hoc Committee trying
to preserve, what little dignity that VBS
would allow them. These items would have
been acceptable because we play the real
estate game. We all realize that property values go up and can go down.
But when a Rabbi, from VBS, in a public
forum rises up to his full height in front of a
Public Microphone and clasps his hand together in a solemn manner and says “Love
thy Neighbor” this gives pause for thought.
Does this mean the Moorpark homeowners
have to love and accept their impoverishment
and degradation of the quality of their lives,
because a rich, powerful, politically connected Temple demands expansion? One
would hope not since the Rabbi in question
was the venerated Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom and the Schulweis Institute.
Rabbi Schulweis wrote For his Yom Kippur
Sermon of 2009* :
“The Talmud teaches that the first question
we will be asked at the end of life is
not about fasting, it’s not about praying, it’s
not about keeping the Sabbath or keeping
kosher. It is about moral integrity in the marketplace: ‘How did you deal with money?
How did you do business?’
This was an excellent lecture in business
integrity, ethics, fair treatment of others,
money and morality and holiness.
At the end of his Sermon Rabbi asks on the
Holiest Day of the Year (sic-Where to
begin?) “Begin with this family, this VBS
family. Create a culture of honesty and truth
and love, and transform yourself. Transform
ourselves out of economic crisis into moral
compassion. Out of recession, reverence; out
of depression, elevation.”**
Which begs the question: Why is VBS
gloating over their CPC victory when real
financial tragedy with people and families is
unfolding at their doorsteps whoch is caused
by VBS?
*http://www.vbs.org/rabbi/hshulw/index.htm
* h t t p : / / w w w. v b s . o rg / r a b b i / h s h u l w /
money.htm
Have a point of view you want to air to the community? Write a column
about it for consideration. Columns are 500 words or less, and may be
edited for focus and clarity. Submit emails with attached TXT files to:
bigvalleypublications@gmail.com Place “Att. Editor, Visiting Columnist” in the email header.
Cont.from pg 1.
Huntington Learning Center Ties Math
and Sports in Math Awareness Month
By Ofra Weinberg
Huntington Learning Center in Encino participated in the annual observance of Math
Awareness Month in April, sponsored by the
National Education Association. The theme
this year was “Math and Sports”, and Math
Awareness Rulers featuring sports brain teasers and conversion charts were distributed
to team-mates of the AA Diamondbacks, to
fans of the Encino Little League and to local
schools such as Hesby Span School, Berkeley Hall, Sherman Oaks CES, Encino, Nestle,
Our Lady of Grace, St. Cyril of Jerusalem
and others..
“Baseball is well known as a numbers sport
as well as a game of physical skill,” said Ofra
Weinberg, director of Huntington Learning
Center in Encino.” Batting average, RBI(
Runs Batted In), and less known BABIP(
Batting average on balls in play),or
GPA(Gross Production Average.) It provides
a great platform to challenge kids to think
numerically, as do other sports.We believe
that this is a great way to encourage students
to apply the abstract numbers they learn in
school to a real life situation that they surely
enjoy. The rulers have math brain teasers tied
to sports, as well as useful charts for common conversions and even a chart to compare the best human long-jump to an average lion jump in feet, yards, and centimeters.”
The Huntington Learning Center, located
in the Encino Town Center, opened its doors
in 1996 as the first Los Angeles affiliate of
the national network and is accredited by
Guillaume Levrault, Managing Director of Huntington Learning Center with autograph poster from members of the AA Diamondbacks of Encino Little League.
WASC. Founded in 1977, Huntington
Learning Centers, Inc. has provided supplemental learning services longer than any
other organization. Every year, Huntington
helps thousands of students improve their
grades, raise their test scores and develop
effective study skills. By individually diagnosing what is keeping students from doing
their best, Huntington offers an instructional
program directly tailored to each student’s
needs. The program begins at a comfortable
level, with assignments gradually increasing in difficulty as each new skill is mastered. One by one, these new skills form the
foundation for further learning and success
in the classroom and beyond.
Ofrah Weinberg is Executive Director of the Huntington Learning Center in Encino. 818-907-5557
19
Sponsored By Rocco’s It
alian Res
Italian
Resttaurant
As the spring season comes to end and schools start to let out for
summer high school sports for the 2009-10 season will come to a
close. Taking a look back now on some highlights of this year’s
high school sports, you may remember Harvard-Westlake’s Football team making it to the CIF playoffs and losing to a Montana led
Oaks Christian team, or Crespi’s Boys Varsity basketball team winning the CIF Southern Section championship over Alemany, or the
Campbell Hall baseball team making it to the CIF semifinal game.
All of the schools and programs were very competitive for the most
part, with a few schools really standing out this year.
High School Sports Update
Focus: VVarsity
arsity Baseball
Do not be left out of the loop on your teams or the alumni playing in
the pros. You can now follow me online at
http://sfvalleyvarsitysports.tumblr.com/. I hope you all have enjoyed
this years high school sports as much as I have. Check out the online
forum during the month to get more news and updates about your
teams alumni playing in the pros, college and more.
With Michael Mann
-Thanks
m.mann04@gmail.com.
Crespi
Michael Mann
Montclair Prep
Van Nuys (Private)
Coach: Rick Webber
2010 Record: 23-7
League: Olympic
2010 State Ranking:
152
Encino (Private)
Coach: Scott Muckey
2010 Record: 19-4
League: Mission
Maxpreps State Ranking: 30
After starting off the season hot, the
Celts had a very uneven final part of
the season. They lost a league game
to Harvard-Westlake 0-10 and then
won the next game 9-4. Going into
the playoffs they just barely pulled
out wins against Loyola, a .500 team
in the final two games. Crespi ranked
30th in the state was upset by Yucaipa
The Celts were expected to go much
deeper in this years CIF playoffs.
They were ranked as high as 5 in the
state. Yucaipa currently ranked 80th,
took an early 3-0 lead and never gave
it up only allowing one run scored in
the 5th inning.
Monclair Prep’s baseball program
has always been up to par for the
most part in recent years. They have
had a winning record for the past
five years. This year was exceptionally good for the Mounties.
They took the Olympic league title
with a 10-2 record advancing to the
CIF Southern Section baseball Division 5 semifinals.
The semi final game was played
against Woodcrest Christian on
Tuesday June 1st. Christan pitcher
Mike Davis struck out seven and
threw a complete game to help Riverside Woodcrest Christian defeat
Montclair Prep, 4-3 ending their season.
Campbell Hall
Yucaipa advanced to the
quarterfinals, faced Santa Barbara on
May 28 and beat them 3-0. As we go Studio City (Private)
to press, they will play El Toro this Coach: Juan Velazquez
week.
2010 Record: 20-9
League: Olympic
State Ranking: 203
The Vikings placed second in the
Olympic league behind rival school
Montclair with a 9-3 record. They
advanced to the semi-finals of the CIF
Southern Section Division 5 playoffs
after cruising by Marnantha 9-3.
They played Linfield Christian on
Tuesday June 1st and lost 6-3.
Notre Dame
Varsity Lacrosse
Harvard-Westlake
Studio City (Private)
Coach:
Mark Haddad
2010 Record: 11-4
League: Mission
State Ranking: 38
Sherman Oaks
(Private)
Coach: Tom Dill
2010 Record: 11-16
League: Mission
State Ranking: 276
The Knights finished dead last in
the mission league with 3-9 record.
Not too much to say here except there
is always next year.
Grant
Van Nuys (Public)
Coach:
Eduardo Alcantor
2010 Record: 12-13
League: East Valley
2010 State Ranking:814
The Lacrosse team was knocked
out of the CIF playoff after losing to
Agoura 11-14 on May 6th. Overall
it was a good season for the fairly
new program. They finished with a
12-5 overall record and a 6-3 league
Grant High School finished with a record. Connor O’Toole led the team
disappointing 12-13 record and failed in goals with 42 and 17 assists 17.
to make it into the post-season. They
had a 7-5 league record and placed
fourth behind Arleta, Verdugo Hills,
and Poly.
Rocco’s Italian Restaurant 12514 Ventura Blvd, Studio City 818.985.9876
20
Cont.from pg 1.
Healthcare
will be obliged by law to do one of two
things: (a) provide health insurance coverage to employees, or (b) pay the government
a fee of up to $2000 per employee to cover
the costs of government health care subsidies to individual taxpayers, which will be
based on the individuals’ reported income.
The subsidies will also be implemented beginning in 2014.
“Small” firms with fewer than 50 employees will not have a legal obligation to provide healthcare. Instead, they will have two
options that are not allowable to large firms.
(a) They will earn tax credits for providing
insurance plans to employees.
(b) They will be able to buy coverage at statewide insurance marketplaces called “insurance exchanges.” Through these exchanges,
the firms will have the option of joining their
forces in a large insurance pool, which is
more likely to be have a “representative
sample” and will have greater purchasing
power.
The biggest question mark for businesses
appears to be these exchanges, which are
mandated by the new federal law but don’t
yet exist. There is also a possibility that the
state of California will develop its own
healthcare reforms and apply for a waiver
from the new federal requirements, which is
possible under the law.
Remember, Medicare was not popular either when passed, yet today it is one of the
most popular benefits of our government.
Christopher Davidson is a Studio City resident.
He can be reached at cdmitridavidson@gmail.com
Cont.from pg 1.
Airport
believes its influence can help spur improvements in public transportation and reduce traffic congestion. The Airport Authority in concert with the tri-cities, is evaluating formation
of a coalition to improve public transportation
in the tri-city area. To further facilitate rail
travel a train station could be located on the
north side of the Airport, near San Fernando
Road and Hollywood Way, to provide a direct
connection to existing Metrolink service as
well as future proposed high-speed rail service
from Los Angeles to Northern California both
which are currently under study.
But even while trying be a good neighbor,
the Airport’s concern for safety and security
remains paramount. Recently completed was
a 100 percent inline CTX baggage inspection
system that eliminates luggage search in the
ticket lobby. Bob Hope Airport is one of 14
airports in the United States that has 100 percent inline CTX inspection.
After that Boeing 727 slid off the runway
onto the local street, BUR has installed an
Engineered Materials Arresting System, designed to stop an airplane before it runs off the
runway
Involved in the community’s economy the
Airport employs 36,000 full and part time
employees per year. The Airport represents
the largest single overall source of property
valuation in the City of Burbank and is an important contributor to the area’s overall economic picture.
Bob Hope Airport’s mission to be a good
neighbor to the community is indeed being accomplished as this airport moves into the future.
Stephen Phenow is an editor at the SO SC Eo News
He can be reached at sfp55@aol.com
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June - Studio City

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