Pacific Palisades Has a Great Book Store

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Sue

Jeff Ridgway the owner of the book store on Antioch had an author event for the book “Rhoda.”

People are still bemoaning the fact that there isn’t a bookstore in Pacific Palisades. These people are uninformed and next time you hear someone say that, please set them straight.

There is bookstore. Called Collection Antiques and Books, it is located at 15326 Antioch, and it is owned by Jeff Ridgway, who at one time worked in Village Books on Swarthmore.

Ridgway has an eclectic selection of new and old books . . .and some hard-to-find Pacific Palisades books that are out of print.

He had his first book signing with author Joel Pollak (“Rhoda, A Biography, ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order!’”) on February 2.

Ridgway continues to offer a special on mysteries, $10 for a hardcover or three mysteries for $20.

Connie Goetz, who used to work at Village Books, is now working Thursday afternoons. Residents loved how friendly and helpful she was and Ridgway said, “I consider her the best ‘hand’ book seller on the West Coast.”

The store is always fun to visit, for several reasons. Abby, the dog, the canine who Jeff inherited when a friend died, is always ready for a “pet.”

And Ridgway always has something new and interesting in the store. Right now he has a collection of polar bears, some stuffed, some are ceramic, in differing sizes. “I’m proclaiming February National Polar Bear Month,” he said, and noted “that 20 percent of all proceeds from polar bear sales will go to Greenpeace.”

If there’s a special book that you would like and don’t see it on the shelves, Ridgway will order it for you. When CTN has ordered books, depending on availability, they are usually in the store within a week.

A book might make a nice Valentine’s present, just saying.

There is a wide selection of polar bears available at the bookstore.

Posted in Books | 4 Comments

Menopause Symptoms: Dr. Rodi Explains Treatments Exist

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Sue

The New York Times in the February 5 edition of The Morning, wrote “Menopause has long been a taboo topic. Talking about it can help women learn more about an overlooked treatment.”

The story noted “But one effective treatment has been overlooked for decades, signaling that women’s suffering is widely regarded as unimportant, according to the cover story in today’s New York Times Magazine. I spoke with Susan Dominus, who wrote the article, about her reporting and the reactions it has received from women.”

The overlooked treatment is a menopausal hormone therapy. CTN ran a story about the importance of this therapy in April 2022 after talking to Dr. Ingrid Rodi.

Importance of Treating Menopausal Symptoms

The importance of estrogen replacement for women undergoing menopause went from a “good idea and a standard” in the late 1960s and through the 1990s, to an almost complete cessation that was not based on factual research.

Dr. Ingrid Rodi

According to Dr. Ingrid Rodi, a world-renowned reproductive endocrinologist at the Pacific Fertility Center-Los Angeles, the onset of menopause occurs at around age 50, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, osteoporosis, cancer and cognitive decline start to emerge 10 years later, which coincides with diminishing estrogen levels.

“There is a window of opportunity between the start of the peri menopause and five years after the last menstrual period to start estrogen therapy,” Rodi said. “If estrogen is started during that time many benefits can result. These include reducing menopausal symptoms, reducing hip fractures, reducing coronary artery disease, and increasing life expectancy.”

Prior to 2002, it was common for doctors to prescribe estrogen, a hormone that helps develop and maintain the reproductive system. Women on estrogen therapy showed a reduction in coronary heart disease, mortality, osteporotic fractures and even a decrease in Alzheimer disease.

Estrogen levels vary among individuals and fluctuate during the menstrual cycle and over a female’s lifetime. As women approach menopause, normal estrogen levels drop.

Produced by the ovaries, estrogen contributes to bone health and the function of the cardiovascular system. The highest death rate for woman is not breast cancer, but rather coronary heart disease (CHD).

As estrogen levels decrease, weight gain may occur, and bone loss may become more common. Estrogen affects vaginal lubrication and dryness may occur, resulting in painful intercourse. Increased urinary tract infections could occur because of the thinning of the tissue in the urethra.

Rodi has long advocated for hormone-replacement therapy for women.

“The primary reason is to treat menopausal symptoms,” Rodi said. “These include: worsening depression, anxiety, insomnia, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, pain with intercourse, decreased sexual desire, and fatigue. There are an estimated 27 million women who suffer from sub-optimally treated menopausal symptoms.”

She added, “The second reason is to increase life expectancy and quality of life.”

If hormone replacement can result in fewer fractures in women, reduce cardiac problems and prolong women’s lives, why did most doctors stop prescribing hormone replacement therapy (HRT)?

In 1988, the FDA held an advisory meeting to consider an ‘indication’ for the cardioprotective effects of estrogen and decided that randomized clinical trials were needed.

Since cardiovascular disease is rare in young women, the trials were carried out in women in their 60s, who had established cardiac disease. The results showed that replacement therapy showed no benefit and perhaps increased harm in the first one to two years.

During this time, the Women’s Health Initiative, sponsored by the NIH-National Institute of Health, also conducted hormone studies, but the majority of the women in the trial were over 60 (menopause onset is around 50), and many of those in the trial had established disease.

After five years, the study was presented to the media, with the message that hormone replacement was associated with increased risk of coronary disease and breast cancer.

The media ran with the story (2002) and proclaimed it was true for all ages of women and all kinds of hormone replacement.

In a 2016 report titled “Hormone-Replacement Therapy: Current Thinking,” Dr. Roger A. Lobo wrote: “More alarming for women was the message the media heard, and which was disseminated to the public; that is, a manifold increase in risk of harm was associated with HRT. For example, a borderline significant relative risk of breast cancer (1.24) was portrayed as a 24‑fold increase in risk; absolute numbers of increased risk were never provided.

“Surprisingly, the principal investigators of these NIH-sponsored trials were not involved in the data analyses and did not see the data before it was presented to the media,” Lobo said.

“The acting director of the NIH made the statement that the data were pertinent to all women and for all types of hormone therapy. Following this announcement, almost all women abruptly stopped using HRT.”

A May 2017 MedicalNewsToday story (“What You Need to Know about HRT”) noted that new research had questioned the NIH-sponsored trials.

“Critics point out that the findings were mixed, and since different hormone combinations can have different effects, the results did not really show how hazardous or how safe HRT might be,” said the author.

“In the case of breast cancer, a combination of progesterone and estrogen was linked to one extra case of breast cancer per year for every 1,000 women,” the story noted, though acknowledging there was still some confusion.

Recent studies “suggest that hormone replacement therapy might improve muscle function, reduce the risk of heart failure and heart attack and lower mortality in younger, postmenopausal women and be ‘quite effective’ in preventing skin aging, if used cautiously in some women. . .”

Lobo concluded, “The pendulum has swung widely and, at present, seems to be swinging back closer to where it was prior to various randomized trials in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in which the data were not properly interpreted or communicated.

“Indeed, the benefit for all-cause mortality, which is similar to that reported in observational trials many years ago, makes a strong argument to consider HRT for primary prevention in young women,” Lobo said.

Rodi said, “It is imperative that the word get out to women and physicians that it is time to adequately treat menopausal symptoms.”

 

Posted in Health | 1 Comment

Santa Monica Lacks Safety for Visitors: Businesses Ask City for Help

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Sue

(Editor’s warning: the photos at the end of the piece are graphic and disturbing. This editor will leave a space between the end of the story and the  photos, so readers can exit and avoid looking at them.)

A sign went up on the Promenade on December 18 that caught national attention “Santa Monica Is Not Safe – Crime, Depravity, Outdoor Mental Asylum.”

Circling the News visited Santa Monica on January 6 at noon to walk the streets and see the situation first-hand.

The Santa Monica Third Street Promenade used to be a place to take out-of-town visitors, now it is not recommended.

There are two issues for visitors. The first is the parking structures. Elevators are out-of-service or have homeless sleeping in them. One of the elevators in Parking Building 5, nearest the mall, had a fire almost a year ago, but now neither elevator is working.

Lack of elevators in five and six story structures means there are no ADA accommodations. Additionally, the electrical outlets are being used by the homeless for phone charging.

The second and perhaps most troubling issue are the disheveled and mentally ill that roam the streets – and the way they are ignored, as if people lying on the street are simply street furniture.

In front of an empty store front in the 1300 block of Abercrombie & Fitch, a man was masturbating as he was lying on the sidewalk. As soon as he finished, he folded his hands and . . .and continued to lie on street.

Graffiti was evident, including swastikas on several lamp poles. The Abercrombie and Fitch sign had been tampered with. On the 1400 block mailboxes that led to upstairs apartments had been opened.

CTN witnessed a drug deal at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Street. Further up the street, across from REI, human feces and toilet paper were next to a building.

Promenade fountains have become bathing and laundry sites for many homeless.

At one time there were no empty store fronts on the promenade, and stores included a Barnes & Nobel, an Old Navy, The Gap, Banana Republic, J. Crew and Guess.

Now there is a 47.5% vacancy rate on the Promenade, and 39% vacancy in the overall Downtown Santa Monica area  (this does not include office space vacancies).  If one excludes pop-up businesses, the true vacancy is closer to 55 %.

In the Santa Monica Place Mall, located at the base of the Promenade, store front after store front is empty. At one time Macy’s, then Bloomingdales, anchored the large space on the ground floor, now it is empty (visit: https://www.santamonicaplace.com/Map#/).

CTN asked Santa Monica residents where they did holiday shopping and was told they went to Century City, which was “really nice, safe and had a nice combination of expensive and affordable stores.”

Gap, which used to be on the corner of Santa Monica and Promenade, suffered from looting during the 2020 riots. A resident said there were two fires within the store and that “no one was killed,” but said that police were asked to stand down, while rioters destroyed the building.

On Friday, there were four guards at the Promenade’s Apple Store. According to one source, the Adidas store on the Promenade has had its window smashed in April and November. The Footlocker has had its windows smashed four times in the last 16 months.

But, the most recent trend, instead of “smash and grab” is “walk in and grab.”

CTN was told those crimes are not always reported to police because landlords feel nothing will be done to the perpetrators and because tenants think it is bad for business if tourists know. Store’s insurance rates go up.

Although total residents have increased in Santa Monica, 75,000 (2019) to 94,000 (2022), the number of police officers has declined from 230 (2019) to 175 (2022). Santa Monica Police Chief Ramon Batista has said a necessary number for the city would be 250.

At the Santa Monica Place mall, at the foot of the Promenade, three weeks ago on a Saturday morning, criminals drove a vehicle through a Louis Vuitton window, grabbed merchandise and drove out.

Now fencing has been installed nightly around the perimeter of the mall.

A Santa Monica resident said so many stores have left the Promenade,  “because the landlords want to much for rent.”

Asking a Santa Monica landlord why so many stores have left, he responded “they [city government] gave up on Santa Monica.”

In its heyday, Promenade rents were comparable to Rodeo Drive.

Now, “Landlords have to respond to the situation,” a landlord said. That means that it is better “to have a tenant in a space – to have it filled – even if you’re not getting a lot for it.”

That means that some of the store fronts have been filled with “pop-ups.” Those tenants are on a month-to-month basis. The rent is often about 10 percent of the sales, plus some share of triple net (the tenant pays the property tax, insurance and trash.)

Per the City and Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. sales tax revenues for the fourth quarter were down about 20 % from the previous two quarters, and the Apple Store, which is a main anchor on the Promenade, reported a 23% decrease in sales for the same period.

Sales tax revenue is the main source  (30% to 40%)  of funding for Santa Monica’s Police and Fire Departments, and paramedics.

As people went through the trash cans, and others seemed to be mentally ill, talking to themselves, CTN asked about policing.

The new Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis is on record as saying, “we don’t want to see police.”

The Promenade is under the DTSM, (Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.) which is a nonprofit organization that works with Santa Monica to manage the business assessment district. The group includes six people elected by property owners, six people appointed by the City and the City Manager David White or his designee is the 13th person.

DTSM, in 2021, replaced police with a “Safety Ambassadors” program. These people patrol the streets and “address quality-of-life issues.”

CTN sent several emails to White asking about sales tax revenue and the effectiveness of the Ambassador program, but never received a reply.

The ambassador in front of three sleeping homeless people on a bench was cheerful and explained that he was there to answer any questions visitors might have.

This editor asked him if the people behind him were getting help, he responded, “They can sleep there if they want.”

In Tongva Park, a children’s playground had a homeless man sleeping on a bench next to the play structures. An ambassador was asked if that was allowed, and he said, “I was just over there, let me go tell him to move.”

This editor also found a man on a park bench that appeared to be motionless—no discernable breathing—and a helpful ambassador called a paramedic.

In a June 22 Santa Monica Lookout story (“Downton Officials Reject Calls to Replace ‘Safety Ambassadors’”), it was reported that “DTSM operates a dispatch center to help triage calls and relay valuable information to our friends at the SMPD.

“All ambassadors observe and report unwanted or criminal activity. But they cannot enforce the law. Only police officers can do that,” said Barry Snell, the former board chair and interim CEO for Downtown Santa Monica).

CTN reached out to Constance Farrell, Spokesperson for Santa Monica City and asked:
1) How many people are currently hired by the City of Santa Monica to be ambassadors? What is the pay scale?

2) When did the program start?

3) How many homeless have been helped? And are the total incidents reported involving the homeless going up or down?

Circling the News never received a response.

There appears to be no health care for the man lying on the sidewalk next to a center.

 

The Santa Monica Library now has a two-hour maximum for people using it. CTN first noticed the influx of questionable people when she deemed it wasn’t safe to park in a public city lot under the library to take a yoga class a block away.

According to reports and photos, the parking lot has now seen an increase of nighttime activity that includes sex, and drug trafficking.

Reed Park has become a needle distribution site. Members of The Santa Monica Coalition, a group of property and business owners, and residents, who are trying to see the homeless are helped and public streets safe for residents, discovered that Santa Monica has a needle exchange program in local parks.

The Santa Monica City Attorney told the Coalition to send a letter to then County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, recommending the program be moved to City-owned buildings and done under medical supervision.

Kuehl’s response was to expand the program to Tongva, Douglas and Palisades Parks, in addition to the 3rd Street Promenade.

One of the four founding members of the Coalition and a property owner on the Promenade, John Alle, contacted Supervisor Lindsay Horvath’s office weeks ago and spoke to top deputy Myrna Gutierrez, who said neither she nor the Supervisor knew anything about the program and would get back to him.

When Alle followed up, Gutierrez said she had discussed the program with Horvath. But the Supervisor would not take a position until a new Health Services Director was brought in.

Alle said, “the parks are ‘backyards’ for 75% of the SaMo residents who live in apartments. That has been taken away from resident by addicts from outside the city and others who want to experiment with drugs in the fresh air.”

People are given a bag with clean needles, synthetic drugs, condoms and a card that says, “Have a nice high.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why would a landlord stay on the Promenade or even Santa Monica?

“Let’s admit we have a problem and let’s address it,” Alle said. “This could be the biggest come-back story –  if we take care of the issues.”

Visit: thesantamonicacoalition.org.

 

 

 

 

WARNING: The images below, taken in downtown Santa Monica, may be disturbing.

 

 

Posted in businesses/stores, City, Crime/Police, Homelessness | 22 Comments

Pianist David Kaplan Will Perform at St. Matthew’s Music Guild

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Sue

Pianist David Kaplan will present a solo recital entitled, “Quasi una fantasia” at St. Matthew’s Music Guild at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 10.

“Quasi una fantasia” takes its name from the original title given to two sonatas by Beethoven: the famous “Moonlight” (Op. 21, No. 2) and its companion, the Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 21,No 1).

The two Beethoven sonatas will frame music by Couperin, Brahms and Schumann as well as more recent works by Ligeti, Anthony Cheung, Kaija Saariaho and Andrea Casarrubios.

Kaplan has been called “excellent and adventurous” by the New York Times and was praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. He has performed with orchestras throughout the world, including the Britten Sinfonia and Sinfonie Orchester Berlin and has performed recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Sarasota Opera House, and National Gallery.

He has participated in chamber music festivals such as the Seattle Chamber Music, Bard, Mostly Mozart, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, and Barge Music. He has recorded for Naxos, Nonesuch, and Marquis Records.

As an core member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, he performs frequently in New York’s most exciting venues, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art to National Sawdust.

He has recorded for Naxos and Marquis Records, as well as with Timo Andres in the acclaimed disc, Shy and Mighty (2010), for Nonesuch. Kaplan was a student of the late Claude Frank, and previously studied with Walter Ponce and Miyoko Lotto.

His mentors over the years have included Anton Kuerti, Richard Goode, and Emanuel Ax. He studied conducting at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Lutz Köhler, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship from 2008-2010.

Kaplan earned his bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 2005 and received his Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University in 2014.

He has been a member of the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music faculty since 2016 and was appointed assistant professor of piano in 2020.

Away from the keyboard, Kaplan loves cartooning and cooking, and said he is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

A pre-concert lecture, “Liner Notes with Tom Neenan,” begins at 7:10 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

All concerts are held at St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Ave. Tickets are $35 or Music Guild Season pass. Season passes for remaining 2022 – 2023 concerts are available for as little as $75. For complete information, tickets and season passes visit: MusicGuildOnline.org or call (310) 573-7422.

Contact: Tom Neenan, tneenan@MusicGuildOnline.org.

 

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

“80 for Brady” Features the Fabulous Four: Moreno, Fonda, Tomlin and Field

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Sue

Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field star in “80 for Brady.”
Photo: Paramount Pictures

By BERNICE FOX

By now you’ve heard that Tom Brady has retired from football. Again.

But the respected actresses, who star in a movie with his name in the title, seem perfectly happy to continue in their chosen careers. And we’re glad for it.

Palisadian Sally Field and former Palisadian Rita Moreno, who also was an honorary Palisades mayor, star with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 80 for Brady. Fonda has a strong link to the Palisades because that’s where her brother, Peter, lived.

Sally Field
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Let’s call Field, Moreno, Fonda and Tomlin the Fab 4.

Inspired by a true story, the Fab 4 play close friends and New England Patriot fanatics in 80 for Brady who travel from Massachusetts to Houston to see their favorite quarterback play in the 2017 Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons.

The 80 in the title refers to the decade of life of most of these four women. But Field’s character frequently reminds others in the film that she’s in her 70s, not her 80s.

The Super Bowl is the setting and its February 3 release date is timed to this year’s Super Bowl mania. (This year’s Super Bowl is February 12.)

That’s important for Field who said “I’m a sports fan. And I think the world underestimates the huge sports audience that older women are.”

Field and the rest of the Fab 4, said this film is not only about football.

Rita Moreno
Photo: Paramount Pictures

At the film’s premiere Tuesday in Westwood, Moreno said the movie clearly is about friendship. And she relates the feeling to her own friends.

“I have very close friends. And I don’t have a lot of them and that’s deliberate.”

And Moreno added “I treasure female friendship.”

Working closely with the other Fab 4, Moreno lavished praise over Field, Fonda and Tomlin, whom she now counts as her friends.

She said it was “fabulous working with these women. They’re so professional. They’re very funny. They are smart. They are wise. They are everything a girlfriend should be. And we have become friends. And that’s pretty fabulous!”

Field said she has known Fonda and Tomlin for decades. “Lily and Jane, I admire so greatly. Rita, I didn’t know. But her life… I admire her so greatly.”

Field described 80 for Brady as a romp with hi-jinx. There’s even a little dancing. One highlight is to watch Rita Moreno show she still has her dance moves. Moreno was 90 when the movie was filmed last spring.

Back to Brady. Along with appearing in some of the movie’s scenes, he produced 80 for Brady. And you could call him Palisades-adjacent. When he and Gisele Bündchen were together, they lived in Brentwood. Before that, Brady’s girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan and son lived on Radcliffe in the Palisades.

Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda star with Tom Brady in this new comedy.
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Posted in Film/Television | Leave a comment

Paul Revere Robotic Teams Master the Competition, Qualify for State

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Sue

It works! Revere Team C drives its robot.

With the money raised ($10,000) with help from Palisades Honorary Mayor Eugene Levy, the Palisades Rotary had voted to give about $1,500 to fund two VEXIQ competition kits for the newly formed Paul Revere Middle School Robotics team. Founders were awarded a check in October at a Rotary luncheon.

The club’s founder Sarah Wood, and the parent of a Revere seventh grader, updated the club on January 27 about the teams’ success.

Team A.

League finals were held at Fairfax High School on January 23, with 24 teams and 15 schools competing.

“All three of Paul Revere Middle School’s rookie robotics teams qualified for the 2023 Southern California VEX IQ Middle School State Championship while competing in the LAUSD West VEX IQ League,” Wood said.

One Revere team received the Design Award and placed third overall. Team members are Daniel Fridman, Lincoln Fiorello, Oliver O’Donnell and Joshua Cole Wood.

A second team tied for third and members are Nolyn Grey, Eugene Herzog, Taj Khan, Chris Kindle and Matthew Ojeda.

Team B

The final Revere team received the Excellence Award and the Teamwork Challenge Award and placed second overall. Members include Felix Aison, Noah Benharash, Slater Copen, Hunter McKelheer, Alessandro Prilusky and Nicholas Yates.

At a January 29 competition, the three teams faced challenges at a competition at James Monroe High School. There were 33 public and private schools that participated, but “we have a lot of work ahead of us before the state championship tournament in Chatsworth (March 11) or in East LA (March 5),” Wood said.

This was the first year for Revere’s program and in order to qualify, teams had to attend three meets. Money needed to be raised by parents, not only to purchase kits ($649), but also for competition fees.

There was no money to hire coaches, so two parents Danny Moghnie and Joe McKelheer, volunteered to assist Wood.

Mognie has a master’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s degree in software engineering.

“We have this idea that programming in particular and technology is a solo endeavor,” Mognie said. “STEM is a team endeavor and communicating your ideas as well as collaborating with others to achieve a common goal is essential for any meaningful problem in the field. A club where kids are first taught to cooperate, divide tasks and resolve conflicts is an essential skill.”

Revere Team A

Revere Team B with coaches.

Revere Group C

Posted in Schools | 1 Comment

Councilwoman Traci Park Works with Mayor on Homelessness:

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Sue

People camping along the Culver median are being offered help.

Councilwoman Traci Park continues to work with Mayor Karen Bass and the “Safe Initiative” on the Westside to aid the homeless.

There are more than 100 encampments in Park’s district, and Park has partnered with the Mayor in this Los Angeles humanitarian crisis.

On February 1, Park and Bass announced that the Inside Safe Initiative would offer housing and services to the homeless population living on the Culver Boulevard median in Del Rey. There are about 40 people living on the boulevard.

“I’m proud to partner once again with Mayor Bass to bring much-needed resources to the Culver Boulevard area,” Park stated.  “I’ve heard loud and clear how important this was for the local community, and I am so relieved that people living on the streets are going to be offered a safe place indoors.”

Bass has insisted that the Inside Safe program is not meant to be punitive, and that outreach workers will return multiple times if necessary to talk to individuals living on the streets and offer them opportunities to relocate indoors.

There are about 40,000 homeless people in Los Angeles. Although the number helped, so far, seems small, after years of inaction by former Councilman Mike Bonin and Mayor Eric Garcetti, any action is welcomed by neighbors.

Park and Bass previously housed nearly 100 individuals through the “Venice Bridge Home Inside Safe” initiative in January.

“I am optimistic about the direction these initiatives are taking and eagerly anticipate their positive impact on our communities,” said Park.

CYBERATTACK ON LA CITY HOUSING

Park also has requested the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) report on the cyberattack that targeted its systems in December.

The councilwoman wants to know the extent of the data breach, including whether personal information of the 19,000 families that live in HACLA properties were compromised.

HACLA is the largest public housing authority in the City of Los Angeles, serving more than 19,000 families, including at the Mar Vista Gardens in Council District 11.

The agency provides affordable housing for low-income families, veterans, and the elderly.

“I am calling on HACLA to provide a full and transparent report on the extent of the data breach and the steps they are taking to secure their systems moving forward,” Park said.

 

Posted in Traci Park | Leave a comment

Audition for a Play at Theatre Palisades

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Sue

Thespians and aspiring thespians are sought for the upcoming Pacific Palisades Community Theater production of “Run for Your Wife,” by playwright Ray Cooney.

The farce involves a taxi driver who gets away with having two wives in different areas of London—until he gets in an accident and contradictory personal information complicates matters.

Auditions will take place Monday and Tuesday, February 6 and 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Road. Sides will be provided, and the farce requires actors to have a British accent.  (Visit: theatrepalisades.org)

Directed by Sherman Wayne, Rehearsals will begin on Monday, February 13, and the play will run Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons from March 31 through May 6.

Actors are sought to play:

John Smith (male, 30 to 50). A taxi driver who is hiding the fact that he has two wives.

Mary Smith (female, 30 to 50). One of John’s wives.

Barbara Smith (female, 30 to 50). John’s other loving wife.

Detective Troughton (male, 20 to 50). Loves his job and will go above and beyond to solve any case.

Detective Porterhouse (male, 30 to 50). Older police detective, more seasoned, bemused.

Stanley Gardner (male, 20 to 50). John’s mooching neighbor and friend who is swept up in keeping John’s secret.

Bobby Franklin (male, 20 to 50). Flamboyant, effeminate dress designer.

Posted in Community | Leave a comment

Actor Joe Mantegna Emcees the Legion Reopening Ceremony

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Sue

(Left to right) Commander Jim Cragg, Joe Mantegna, Chaplin Joe Ramierez,  past commander Eric Measles and John Lehne at the grand reopening of the American Legion. Mantegna was the emcee.

“You have a hell of a commander in Jim Cragg,” said actor Joe Mantegna who hosted the grand reopening and naming ceremony at the local American Legion.

“This is a beautiful city in a beautiful state in a beautiful country,” Mantegna told the about 500 people gathered Saturday in front of the remodeled building on La Cruz Drive.

“In 2000, I was doing a film outside of Paris at Roubaix. As I was being driven, there was a French flag and an United States flag flying.” Mantegna asked the driver to stop and “we walked into this tiny little cemetery in France.

“I see the graves of all these Americans who gave up their lives,” Mantegna said, “That’s why I’m here [with the vets], because the tradition goes on and the sacrifice goes on.

“Let me paraphrase a saying,” he said. “Freedom ain’t free and some have to pay a higher price than others.”

CTN spoke to Mantegna after the ceremony. Since 2006, he has co-hosted the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington D.C. with actor Gary Sinise. When asked why he agreed to emcee this event, he said, “They asked. The military is my hot button. Why wouldn’t I come if I were asked?”

Mantegna didn’t serve in Vietnam, but that was all about the lottery. Many may remember that all young men were drafted based on numbers drawn corresponding to their birthday.

“I guess I’m not doing that,” Mantegna remembers thinking, when his birthday gave him a high number. He said he and Gary Sinise have spoken about those who had served, and as they got older, felt they should honor them.

“It’s our calling to serve in other ways. Some of my friends didn’t come back from Vietnam,” he said. “I’m doing this for them.”

Mantegna feels strongly that all Americans have a debt to the military. “We live in a country with the freedom to voice our thoughts,” he said, and praised the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and “the military protects our rights. They defend the Constitution.”

He made his acting debut in a 1969 Chicago production of Hair and debuted in Working on Broadway in 1978.

Joe Mantegna

Mantegna started working with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet and earned a Tony Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award for playing Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Mantegna, who has been in more than 45 films, was asked if there was a character or role he preferred and said, “I don’t have a favorite role.”

When asked about working with Mamet, “Anything with Mamet is a favorite,” he said.

His film career includes House of Games (1987) and Things Change (1988), both written by Mamet. He and his Things Change co-star Don Ameche received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival.

“I feel blessed,” Mantegna said. “I enjoy everything I’ve done.”

From 1991 to present, he has voiced the part of Fat Tony on The Simpsons. In 2007-2020, he starred in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, playing David Rossi.

A revival of Criminal Minds, called Criminal Minds: Evolution, picked up where the first series left off. According to Paramount+, after premiering on Thanksgiving Day in 2022, the series has become one of the streamer’s top five originals and has driven the overall Criminal Minds franchise to an increase of nearly six times in month-over-month viewership.

In 2011, Mantegna received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mantegna was asked if he ever rides in parades. CTN thought this friendly, intelligent and pleasant person, might be the perfect Grand Marshall for the Palisades 4th of July parade.

“Yes,” the actor said, noting that he had been in the Huntington Beach Parade and that his co-honorary marshal had been a veteran, who had given him the Tuskegee Airmen jacket he was wearing.

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CRIME – Officer Espin Reports January: Homeless Encampment off El Medio

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Sue

The beach detail discovered an encampment in a high fire severity zone.

Pacific Palisades Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin has released the crime report from January.

“Overall part one crime is lower,” he said in a January 26 email. “The only category that experience a rise was residential burglaries. We have had five since the beginning of January.” (Part one crimes include: homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, human trafficking and motor vehicle theft.)

Espin also works with the beach detail.

After residents had reported unusual activity near the El Medio trail, located in a high fire severity zone in the Santa Monica Mountains, beach detail officers investigated yesterday, January 31. Officers, Yunphian, Liam and Margin found an abandoned tent and stove.

The stove was found in the brush.

Pacific Palisades Task Force volunteers Carlos Rodriquez and Bruce Schwartz, aided Sharon Kilbride in cleaning the abandoned camps.

 

BURGLARY THEFT FROM VEHICLE:

January 2, noon to 3 p.m., Los Liones and Tramonto Drives. Suspect used a tool to gain access to victim’s vehicle and removed victim’s backpack.

January 8, 1:20 to 1:40 p.m., at Temescal Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. Suspect smashed vehicle window, removed property and fled.

January 9 to 10, 8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., in the 1100 block of Fiske Street. The vehicle was broken into, and property taken.

BURGLARY:

January 3, 4:45 p.m., in the 1400 block of Floresta Place. The suspect entered the residence through a dog door, went to the bedroom and office and ransacked victim’s belongings. It was unknown if anything was taken. Suspect fled through the front door. A neighbor provided a Ring video of suspect and suspect’s vehicle. An additional trespass report was taken from the neighbor.

January 11, 5 to 6:30 p.m., in the 1100 block of Cumbre Alta Court. Suspect broke window with unknown object. Suspect entered, ransacked the property and took jewelry and fled. Fingerprints were requested.

January 14, 6:17 p.m., in the 1100 block of Lachman Lane. Suspect shattered victim’s sliding glass door to gain entry. Suspect removed safe from residence and fled. The safe, containing jewelry was valued at $1,137,000. Video surveillance was captured.

January 18, 6:20 p.m., in the 15000 block of Sunset Boulevard. Suspects removed victim’s secured property from a shopping card and fled.

January 18, 6:20 p.m., in the 1000 block of Glenhaven Drive. The victim was in a bedroom, when the bathroom door opened, and a suspect entered. Once the suspect realized someone was in the house, the suspect fled. The victim then checked the bathroom and found there was an open window and the screen had been cut.

GRAND THEFT AUTO:

January 8, 2:09 a.m., in the 17000 block of Sunset Boulevard. The suspect gained entry into the garage and took victim’s motorcycle and fled.

(Attempted) January 8 to 11, 9 to 10 a.m., in the 17000 block of Sunset Boulevard. Suspect gained entry to garage and tried to start vehicle. Suspect was able to move vehicle 10 feet and then left it at that location.

January 19 to 20, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., in the 1800 block of Palisades Drive. A vehicle was taken from the street.

RAPE:

January 15, 2 to 4 p.m., in the 16000 block of Alcima Avenue. The suspect, which was known to the victim, sexually assaulted the victim.

ROBBERY:

January 3, 1:30 p.m., in the 400 block of Sycamore Road. The suspect pried open the victim’s bathroom window with a crowbar, and entered victims’ residence while they were asleep. The suspect woke victim and demanded property (jewelry, credit cards, purse). The victim, fearful, handed items to the suspect. The suspect fled in a waiting vehicle. CCTV possible and latent prints were requested. The suspect dropped a cell phone and that was booked as evidence.

(Editor’s note: about this robbery, Espin wrote that detectives were able to review security cameras from a neighboring residence. Espin suggests that is helpful to have security cameras angled to the street so that incoming and outgoing traffic and people are recorded.)

THEFT:

January 12, 6 to 6:30 p.m. in the 16000 block of Sunset Boulevard. The suspect, seen on victim’s Ring camera, removed keys from front door and fled.

ATTEMPTED GRAND THEFT:

January 18, 1:24 p.m. in the 15200 block of Sunset Boulevard. The suspect approached victim from behind, pushed the victim and attempted to take victim’s phone.

Officer Brian Espin

Contact: Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin (310) 444-0737 or by email 37430@lapd.online.

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