Hayempour, Founder of Petticoats Rule, Raises Awareness for Menstrual Kits

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Sue

Kayla Hayempour is raising awareness and funds for period poverty.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28 to help break the silence and build awareness about the fundamental role that good menstrual hygiene management plays in enabling women and girls to reach their full potential. But still it is not a topic that is openly discussed, even in the United States.

Palisades High School senior Kayla Hayempour told Circling the News that “The stigma, myth, and taboo of menstruation is a human rights issue. Many girls in developing countries are forced to use leaves, dirty rags or cornhusks to manage their periods since they can’t afford sanitary products.” She said that is known as period poverty.

“This issue forces girls around the world to miss or drop out of school, leading to lower socioeconomic status and increased poverty,” said Hayempour, who is the founder of Petticoats Rule, an organization focused on period equity and breaking down menstrual stigma.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Hayemour attended Kenter Canyon and Paul Revere, and struggled with the stigmas and taboos surrounding menstruation.

When she discovered the menstrual equity movement, she felt empowered to speak and effect change through her organization Petticoats Rule, which she founded in 2020.

Her activism started at PaliHi with the formation of Girls Learn International (GLI), another feminist and human rights organization.

“We started with a general focus on student activism and voter registration as even the girls who came to the meetings were embarrassed to talk about periods,” she said. “Once I opened up about my experience and we got to know each other more, this changed. We even recently had a school-wide screening of the documentary  Period. End of Sentence. and discussed the period poverty issue with about 60 other students (different genders).

“Initially, the girls were reluctant to talk about periods but grew out of their shell once we created a safe space,” she said. “I’ve seen this shift in a lot of different places, even in activist ones where you’d think everyone is automatically open and comfortable.”

She’s even taken the message to her family. She has two younger brothers Ariav,15, a freshman at Pali and Ronen, 12, is a seventh grader at Revere. “I’m proud of how they are both learning about women’s issues,” Hayempour said. “Ariav even talked about period poverty in one of his classes a few weeks ago.”

This year, the UCLA-bound senior, was chosen as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

She connected with an organization in Nigeria called HAFAI, Health Aid for All Initiative, and shipped them 100 sustainable, reusable, menstrual pad kits.

Led by Dr. Ugochi Ohajuruka, HAFAI promotes the rights of girls/women to education and safe healthcare choices using a holistic approach to behavioral change, and sustainable menstrual hygiene management solutions.

Petticoats Rule and HAFAI are now launching a joint education and fundraising campaign.

Please join them at 2 p.m. on May 27 via zoom.  Register here.

Donations may be made to: Click here.

Posted in Education, Health | 2 Comments

OPINION: Times Editorial Calls Bonin Enterprising, Shames Pacific Palisades Residents

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Sue

People living in other areas of the City have asked the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness for advice on dealing with the homeless.

Led by the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, abandoned homeless campsites, located in high fire severity zones in the brush, were cleaned up. This one was below the Via de las Olas bluffs.

The Los Angeles Times editorial on Sunday (“Shelter Next to the Beach?”) stated that Councilman Mike Bonin’s idea of turning the Will Rogers Beach parking lot into a village for the homeless should be considered.

Since many Circling the News readers don’t subscribe to the newspaper, I’m providing a summary of the editorial and a copy of the letter that the Pacific Palisades Community Council sent in response.

Here are excerpts from the Times editorial:

Councilman Bonin wants creative solutions to keep homeless people safe. They’re worth studying.

Recently, Councilman Mike Bonin proposed to study the feasibility of several locations for tiny homes or safe camping (and, in one case, safe parking) for homeless people. Bonin wants to consider county-owned parking lots at two beaches in his Westside district — Will Rogers State Beach and Dockweiler Beach — and another at a boat- launch ramp in nearby Marina Del Rey. 

 . . .And he wants to consider using portions of Westchester and Mar Vista parks where homeless people are currently camped. 

But the mere idea of evaluating these sites has drawn vocal opposition from several Westside neighborhood and community councils, as well as an online petition signed by more than 20,000 critics. 

Another online petition, signed by more than 12,000 people, urges that Bonin be recalled. The executive committee of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, which represents the area by Will Rogers State Beach, wrote in a letter to city and county officials, “We reject in the strongest possible terms the proposition that an ‘immediate emergency’ exists.” 

Well, homelessness is an immediate emergency. Isn’t that what most city residents (except the ones in the Palisades, apparently) keep saying to anyone who will listen? And Bonin is an example of a council member acting on that. 

The Times then calls Bonin “enterprising and, frankly, brave in the face of ferocious community opposition.”

. . . This proposal is not about allowing tents on beaches. The study would explore the feasibility of putting a sanctioned campsite or a tiny-home village in a beach parking lot, where there would be security, restrooms, food and water, and service providers to help people get to the next level of housing. 

It’s possible that putting camps even in parking lots will pose too many problems. Will it interfere with beachgoers trying to park? Will the Coastal Commission approve? Those are legitimate questions. So let a study examine all that.

. . . “The rest of the council should heed his words and approve Bonin’s proposal when it comes up for a vote. . . .

The editorial board then lectured homeowners about how this is “the moral crisis of our time in our city.” It didn’t acknowledge that Pacific Palisades has been successfully dealing with the homeless since 2016, when the nonprofit Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness was formed.

Social workers were hired through private funding and began working with the LAPD and community volunteers to help dozens   of homeless individuals make the decision to accept services and move away from their sidewalk and hillside encampments.

Unlike residents in all other parts of the city, Pacific Pacific homeowners and organizations devised a creative and humane approach to the homeless crisis.

The editorial concluded “…stop resisting them moving into a safe space near you or your favorite haunts.”

Instead of lecturing residents of Los Angeles about how we are not compassionate, why not start an investigation and account for all the money that the City has spent on homelessness. Where has it gone? What has been accomplished?

Find out why the mentally ill are allowed to roam on streets like feral cats: How can they be helped? Ask why prisoners are released with no place to go. Ask why drug addicts are allowed to languish on the streets.

Stop lecturing good people who are already paying taxes through Measure H and Prop. HHH and find out why the homeless aren’t being helped.

According to an October 2019 report by L.A. Controller Ron Galperin, “Almost three years after voters approved Prop HHH, only 19 projects are under construction and once completed they will provide 1,260 total units, 892 of those are supportive housing units.

“The median cost of building these units ($531,373) approaches – and in many cases, exceeds – the median sale price of a condominium in the City of Los Angeles ($546,000) and a single-family home in Los Angeles County ($627,690).”

Fortunately, Galperin is scheduled to appear at this Thursday’s Community Council meeting via Zoom. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about the homeless crisis, and how he responds to some tough questioning by board members and residents.

Posted in City/Councilman Mike Bonin, Councilman Mike Bonin, Crime/Police, News | 4 Comments

Opinion: Bonin Doesn’t Address Mentally Ill Homeless with “A Budget to Build Back Better”

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Sue

 

Councilman Mike Bonin

Councilman Mike Bonin sent a May 23 Newsletter to residents, “A Budget to Build Back Better,” detailing how he would spend $1 billion to fight the homeless crisis. The solutions and money centered almost solely on housing.

He noted:

1) More than $360 million would come from HHH to build more than 5,600 permanent housing units in 89 projects throughout Los Angeles.

2) That $140 million would be provided for hotel and motel conversions to offer 1,500 rooms for housing and shelter to get people out of encampments and off the street quickly.

3) There would be $100 million to increase the supply of affordable housing, homeless and eviction prevention, and homeless outreach programs. Plus increased mobile hygiene stations and sanitation services to help keep areas with encampments clean and sanitary.

4) There would be a pool of funds to tap for Encampment to Home programs that move people from areas of large encampments, such as Venice Beach, into long-term housing.

5) There would be some funding for a multi-disciplinary team that reaches out to unhoused neighbors in Council District 11, offering help for those suffering from mental health and substance abuse problems.

6) About $3 million for the Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA RISE), which provides job development activities for homeless individuals and for participants at A Bridge Home sites.

Reading Bonin’s proposals, it would seem that the majority of the homeless are poor, have lost jobs or have been kicked out of apartments for not paying rents (which has been illegal under Covid-19).

The reality is there has to be a plan in place for:

1)    Those who are severely mentally ill;

2)    Those with substance abuse issues;

3)    Any persons who have garnered early release from prison (a prisoner needs a reliable release support plan that includes transitional support and housing).

Members of the Palisades task force approached the man camping and smoking in a very high fire severity zone. When they were threatened with a knife the police were called.

Based on the experiences of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, those who are truly down on their luck say they will take assistance in finding housing, but those who are in the other category — about 67 percent, according to the L.A. Times — say they will not.

What plans does Bonin have for the mentally ill and the drug/alcohol users and early release prisoners?

He doesn’t, beyond creating the multi-disciplinary outreach team. And his housing plans involve taking away beach locations and City parks.

This Wednesday, the L.A. City Council will vote on a Homeless and Poverty Committee Report, the Bonin-Ridley-Thomas motion (CF 21-0350) that would evaluate and identify funding for 1) tiny homes at Will Rogers Beach, 2) tiny homes or safe camping at Dockweiler, 3) tiny homes at Fiji Way in Marina Del Rey, 4) instruct Recreation and Parks to look at parts of Westchester Park and Mar Vista Park to house homeless, 5) look at an airport-owned site the City can use, 6) fund a temporary shelter for homeless women in the vacant space next to Council District 11 offices at Corinth Avenue, and 7) purchase additional hotels and motels.

To hear the proceedings at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, visit: https://clerk.lacity.org/calendar. Members of the public who wish to offer public comment to the Council should call (669) 254-5252 and use Meeting ID No. 160 535 8466 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID.

One resident wrote on Nextdoor: “Although the Motion calls only for an ‘evaluation’ and to ‘identify funding,’ anyone who has dealt with the City knows that those supposed preliminary actions are only pretenses to deter or deflect criticism of what the City has already planned to do. Direct actions, such as legal actions, by private citizen groups such as PPRA or by private citizens are the most effective way to impose sanity on the flailing actions of the City’s politicians.”

To date, numerous petitions, letters and comments from the general public opposing the idea have been labeled as NIMBYISM. The Pacific Palisades Community Council is considering legal action (visit: pacpalicc.org), as is the Pacific Palisades Residents Association (visit: palisadesresidents.com).

 

Posted in City/Councilman Mike Bonin, Councilman Mike Bonin, Homelessness | 1 Comment

Street Racing and RVs Addressed at PCH Task Force Quarterly Meeting 

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Sue

RV overnight parking and street racing continue to be a challenge, according to CHP and L.A. County Sheriffs. At the quarterly virtual meeting of the PCH Task Force on May 12, both enforcement groups voiced frustration. (LAPD and Santa Monica police were not in attendance, but will be reminded to join in future meetings.)

There were complaints from residents about RV parking along PCH, despite the fact that signs are posted that prohibit overnight parking. The Coastal Commission approved L.A. County posting signs prohibiting parking on the landward side of the highway between midnight and 2 a.m., and the seaward side between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

RVs can be ticketed, but it means that law enforcement officials would have to visit the RVs at those hours, a difficult challenge with reduced law enforcement personnel. “When we show up, we only issue two to three tickets, everyone else moves,” the CHP officer said.

Several people in Malibu were concerned about dangerous street racers. Once again, lack of enforcement was cited as a problem. “We have had 12 STU’s (street racing enforcement) in the past three months and made multiple arrests,” the CHP officer said.

If the district attorney decides to prosecute, then officers are required to appear. “I don’t go to court very often,” one said, explaining that when people do go to court, “The cases are being dismissed as a slap on the wrist.” The people easily get their cars back and just see it [enforcement] as an inconvenience.

“Cases are dismissed in the interest of justice,” one officer said.

According to the officers, racing is being monitored in the entire area, but “there are only so many officers on a shift. It’s a numbers game; we would need money for more officers.”

Attendees were told that the street racers are organized groups, “who use social media, have spotters, and use binoculars. They are very sophisticated groups.”

Caltrans Supervising Transportation Engineer for District 7 Abdi Saghafi reported that McClure Tunnel improvements are underway. The $6.3-million project will improve visibility inside the tunnel by upgrading the lighting system with LED lights. A queue warning system will also be installed, and the tunnel painted.

Saghafi told CTN in a May 14 email, “The schedule shows completion of the McClure Tunnel project in early 2023.”

He was also asked about the improvements suggested for PCH at Chautauqua, W. Channel Rd. and Entrada. In that same email Saghafi told CTN that he was working on identifying a remaining issue and “I will provide you with an update shortly.”

Pedro Garcia, project manager for George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon, said that grading was completed, and the landscaping bids had gone out, with the awarding of the contract expected in the next few weeks. Construction to finish the park and install a riparian habitat should start in June and be completed in 2022.

The possibility of a pedestrian overcrossing from Potrero to the beach is considered safer than a tunnel or a mechanism/light that would stop traffic on PCH, but there is no money for a bridge.

“We’re looking for funding,” Garcia said, noting that there will be a trail from Potrero Canyon to Temescal Canyon so that people can cross at the signal at that intersection. It is an additional quarter-of-a-mile walk.

People were urged to go to the PCH Facebook, which is once more operational and being updated.

The PCH Task Force, which meets every quarter, serves an important role by bringing together representatives of three politicians (Assemblyman Richard Bloom and State Senators Ben Allen and Henry Stern; three cities (L.A., Santa Monica and Malibu) and their law enforcement entities, plus the California Highway Patrol.

Task Force members are especially focused on activities and concerns related to the 10 miles of Pacific Coast Highway from the McClure Tunnel to the Malibu Pier.

The PCH Task Force was formed in 2000 by Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, who is now an L.A. County Supervisor. Visit: Facebook Pacific Coast Highway Taskforce

Although no overnight parking signs (for specific hours) are posted for portions of PCH, it is sometimes tough law enforcement to do enforcement.

Posted in Community, Crime/Police | Leave a comment

Letter to a Midwesterner Explaining the Palisades Fire and Homelessness

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Sue

Dear Mom,

Photographer Lesly Hall took this photo of the Palisades fire.

You may have heard that we had a brush fire in Pacific Palisades. Even though the brush hadn’t burned in nearly 60 years, we were lucky because there were no winds and no structures burned.

They caught a guy who was seen lighting fires. He is homeless and doesn’t speak English, but no one wants to say where he is from—probably because they don’t want to embarrass his family.

I know if I had a 48-year-old son with a hole in his chest from a bullet or a knife wound, who was walking around setting fires, I wouldn’t want my name associated with Ramon Santos Rodriquez or Ramon Flores Rodriquez or whatever name he was using.

Initially they set his bail at $75,000, but once they found out he was mentioned in several law enforcement databases, that went up to $350,000.

I know you’re probably wondering how he got here, and has he had his Covid-19 shot? That I can’t tell you, because the interpreter who spoke to him didn’t ask about the vaccination.

How did he get here? Here’s one theory. You may have heard that Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin, who is my representative, wants to convert a beach parking lot into a homeless site.

I suspect that Ramon may have heard about that wonderful opportunity to live on the beach in a tiny home, but he took the wrong turn and went several miles up a road to the Highlands. Once there, he realized there were no hotels, no supermarkets, no drugstores.

He got lost on a hiking trail, but he had some matches, so he could light the way. As any novice hiker might tell you, you can end up going in circles and in that heavy and dense brush, he needed to light more fires to try and figure out how to find his way back out of there to the beach—and the tiny home.

That’s probably why he pleaded “not guilty”—this wasn’t arson, it was survival.

The Will Rogers Beach parking lot served as the command center for the Palisades Fire.
Photo: Shelby Pascoe

But, then it got complicated because the City and County firefighters established a staging area on that parking lot where Bonin wants to house the homeless.

Now that the brush fire has been extinguished (it burned more than 1,000 acres) and Ramon is in jail, the City Council on Wednesday will address Bonin’s proposal to turn the beach parking lot and several parks into homeless centers. (If there’s another fire, I’m sure they can stage those firetrucks on Temescal Canyon Road.)

Mom, this might seem odd to you, but people who do not work, who are mentally ill, and who are addicted to drugs, apparently deserve beach-front property. I expect the Council to back Bonin’s motion to take away recreation sites from lower-income residents, who drive here from all over Los Angeles.

I remember when our family of seven was living in a four-room apartment and going to the parks on a Sunday, because it was free and the only entertainment we could afford.

Now, poor people can simply look at the beach as they drive by. They can always wave at the homeless—or try to not to hit them when the transients run across six lanes of heavy traffic.

Poor people living in apartments near designated homeless parks won’t be able to let their kids outside, but let’s stay positive: they will be able to look out their windows.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of Safe Parking. That means if you’re homeless and have a car, you can park it anywhere and live in it. As a Midwesterner, you might ask the obvious question, “Where do they go to the bathroom?” The obvious answer, “Wherever they please.” The other day a neighbor complained because her two young children saw a man peeing near her yard.

I always say, “Look on the bright side. At least there weren’t two men peeing in her yard—not yet anyhow.”

You may have heard that so many people have moved out of California that we have now lost a representative to the U.S. Congress. But not to worry, once the word gets out to everyone in America that they can live on the beach and receive three meals a day—problem solved.

Take care of the cat, hope your garden is doing well.

Love,

Sue

 

Posted in Accidents/Fires, Councilman Mike Bonin, Crime/Police | 4 Comments

Alan Eisenstock’s Playlist: It’s the Kids

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Sue

(Editor’s note: When Palisadian Alan Eisenstock is not researching and writing one of his nonfiction books (18 thus far!), he pursues what he calls “a crazy labor of love side project” that he started in March 2020: sending a weekly Covid-themed playlist of songs to his family and friends. These playlists, which can be downloaded on Spotify, Click here. span rock ‘n’ roll and pop music from the 1950s to 2020, and Eisenstock adds one or two lines of commentary about each song that is clever, amusing and informative.)

Hi, Everyone,

Big news! Last week, the C.D.C. recommended that the Pfizer vaccine be given to kids ages 12-15. Soon, the “kids will be alright!” What to do? Idea. Here are 21 songs about “kids,” “teenagers,” “children,” “boys,” and “girls.” Listen up!

 

  1. “The Kids Are Alright” The Who. British rockers Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle, and Moon perform the theme to this week’s playlist from their albumMy Generation.Strangely, the song does not appear in their 1979 film, The Kids Are Alright.
  2. “A Teenager in Love” Dion & The Belmonts. Dion DiMucci joined the doo-wop vocal group The Belmonts and sings lead on this hit from 1959. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, this became one of rock’s most famous songs. The Belmonts got their name from Belmont Avenue in the Bronx where two of the guys lived.
  3. “Little Child” The Beatles. Lennon and McCartney wrote this song for Ringo to sing but he passed on it and John sings lead. Speaking of Ringo, I once saw him and his wife Barbara Bach shopping at Whole Foods in Beverly Hills. She refused to allow him to purchase any snacks.
  4. “I Am A Child” Buffalo Springfield. Folk-rock supergroup led by Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and others recorded this Neil composition in 1968. The band had pretty much broken up by this time, but somehow they managed to put out their third and final album, appropriately titled Last Time Around.
  5. “Mother and Child Reunion” Paul Simon. The first single off the 1972 Paul Simonsolo album. Jamaica-influenced, reggae-styled, Cissy Houston sings backup. LOVE.
  6. “Little Children” Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas. Britishers William Howard Ashton, who changed his name to Billy J. Kramer, and his backup band, were packaged and managed by Brian Epstein. John Leslie McFarland and the legendary Mort Shuman wrote this smash hit in 1964.
  7. “Motherless Children” Rosanne Cash. Johnny Cash gave his daughter Rosanne a list of his favorite country songs. She compiled them for her album The List. Blind Willie Johnson wrote this bluesy classic in 1928. Rosanne has also written three books and a slew of essays and short stories.
  8. “A Boy Named Sue” Johnny Cash. And here’s Johnny… Rosanne’s dad… singing his biggest hit recorded live from San Quentin Prison in 1969, written by humorist Shel Silverstein.
  9. “Lonely Boy” Paul Anka. Canadian-American, Anka, one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time, wrote and recorded this in 1959, his first song to hit #1. Anka also wrote Sinatra’s signature song, “My Way,” and the Tonight Showtheme.
  10. “Kids” Paul Lynde, Maureen Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke. From the 1963 film based on the 1960 Broadway musical. The story is inspired by Elvis Presley being drafted into the army. I sang this song frequently when my kids were young. Come to think of it, I sing it now.
  11. “Kid” Pretenders. Great British-American band with Chrissie Hynde and some other guys sing this 1979 song about a boy realizing his mother is a hooker. Hynde, a well-known vegan, opened a vegetarian restaurant in her hometown, Akron, OH.
  12. “A Teenager’s Romance” Ricky Nelson. Teenage idol and terrible actor Ricky recorded this in 1957 as the B-side of “I’m Walkin.'”
  13. “Teach Your Children” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Graham Nash wrote this when he was a member of The Hollies, but never recorded it until he left that group and joined up with Crosby and Stills. But… the song actually first appeared on C, S, N & Young’s1970 iconic album, Deja Vu. Got that? Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel guitar.
  14. “The Boys of Summer” Don Henley. Eagles’ drummer and singer Henley went solo and recorded this terrific song in 1984. He co-wrote it with Mike Campbell one of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers.
  15. “Only Children” Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit. Alabama-born, former member of the Drive-By Truckers, Jason sings this stunning song about a doomed friendship. David Crosby and Amanda Shires (Isbell’s wife) sing backup. LOVE.
  16. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” Cyndi Lauper. Brooklyn-born, pop/rock singer with a four-octave range, Cyndi belts this female anthem, her signature song, recorded in 1983. The song was actually written and recorded a few years earlier by Robert Hazard. I keep seeing Cyndi on MSNBC pitching a drug to battle psoriasis.
  17. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Tori Amos. Activist, memoirist, pianist, vegan, and mezzo-soprano, Myra Ellen Amos covers this Kurt Cobain lament off her 1992 album Little Earthquakes.Tori gave out her recipe for vegan mushroom soup on NPR. I tried it. Tasted like Spackle.
  18. “Boys” The Beatles. From 1963. The Beatles cover this Luther Dixon-Wes Farrell composition originally recorded by The Shirelles as the B-side of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Ringo sings lead.
  19. “Teen Angel” Mark Dinning. One-hit wonder Dinning sings this smash hit from 1960 written by his sister Jean and her husband Red Surrey. I cannot get this supremely stupid song out of my head.
  20. “Bad Girls” Donna Summer. From Boston, born LaDonna Gaines. Donna, aka”The Queen of Disco,” sings this huge hit from 1979 about her encounter with a cop who thought she was a hooker.
  21. “God Bless the Child” Blood, Sweat & Tears. The rock-jazz collective led by Al Kooper, Randy Brecker, and David Clayton-Thomas sings this long, complex song that sounds like three songs in five different styles. “God Bless the Child”– especially those who’ve gotten the vaccine!

And there you have it… kids, teens, and children. Allow me to give you some advice.

Don’t Forget to Disinfect… and… PLAY IT LOUD!

The Link again: Click

 

Fact Check

I did see Ringo in Whole Foods and his wife didn’t let him get one thing in the cart.

 

Tori Amos did give out her vegan mushroom soup recipe on NPR. I didn’t make it. Never tried it.

 

LAST WEEK’S POLL QUESTION:

Adult beverage preference… beer, wine, or whiskey? It’s another freakin’ tie… beer and wine!

THIS WEEK’S POLL QUESTION:

Teenager face-off. “A Teenager In Love” or “Teen Angel?” Who you got? Be honest. I won’t judge.

 

Until next week,

 

Thanks,

Alan

alaneisenstock.com

 

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Palisades High School Wins Boys/Girls Tennis Championships

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Sue

Back to back wins at the Balboa Tennis Center by the Palisades High School Girls Tennis Team on May 13 and by the Boys May 14, gave the school its 65th Team Title and Kling’s 48th.

Next up for the athletes are the individuals and State Regionals on Monday June 7.

Pali Girls Win City Tennis Championships

Halsey Hulse playing in the third position, helped her team capture a City Championship.
Photo: Bruce Hulse (www.renneerhyner.com)

Palisades girls won its 27 City Championship on May 13 at the Balboa Park against Granada Hills. This open division championships was long-time coach Bud Kling’s 20th girl’s title.

The Highlanders and Dolphins have faced each other over the years, with Granada prevailing in 2019. In the playoffs, girls use a head-to-head, best-of-seven format.

SINGLES:

Number one singles player Iris Berman prevailed 6-0,6-0. Halsey Hulse, in the third spot, won 6-0,6-3 and fellow senior Kalea Martin in the fourth spot, also won 6-3,6-1.

According to sports writer Steve Galluzzo, “The only match with any drama was at number 2 singles, where Noe Winter battled Granada Hills’ Anisa Londhe for over two hours before falling 10-8 in a super tiebreaker.”

DOUBLES:

Sophomores Jade Finestone and Anaya Ayanbadejo played and won in the number one doubles spot 6-1,6-0. Freshman Sophie Szeder paired with senior Ciara Kenney to win in the number 2 doubles spot 6-3, 6-2. Freshmen Yulia Klokova and Marlena Dobrowolski completed the doubles sweep with a 6-2, 6-0 win at number 3.

The team defeated Taft 7-0 in the semifinals on May 11. Palisades holds the record, 8, for most consecutive girls’ titles (1984-1991).

 

Pali Boys Win in Unbelievable Fashion

Bud Kling’s team won the open division tennis championship in an amazing comeback over Granada Hills (15.5 to 14) on May 14. This is the 12th consecutive City men’s title and Klings 38th title overall. Although the Dolphins were the top seed, both teams were evenly matched, and it wasn’t until the final serve that PaliHi cinched the victory.

“This is certainly one of the most exciting and most improbable final victories in my 40+ years of coaching!!” Coach Bud Kling wrote in an email to CTN.

The Palisades team had won one and lost one in singles. The doubles had won one. In order to win, a team must score 15 points and the Dolphins were behind 14-11.

“Pali came back to win the last four matches, two were in tiebreakers (number 3 and 4 singles),” Kling told CTN.

The final score: singles 8-8 and doubles Pali 5-4. “The team and parents went wild,” Kling said.

DOUBLES:

Seniors Alex Brous and Jeremy Nelson won one set in the number one position. Sophomores Peter Garff and Connor Wootten won all three of their sets at number 2. Sophomore Jack Coven who was paired with junior Lucas Dickman won a set in the number 3 spot.

SINGLES:

Sophomore Jex Frankel won all of his sets in the number 1 position. But then the Dolphins suffered a setback when number 2 singles player Noah Azaret, who had won his first set 6-4, suffered cramping and had to default his last two sets. An injury substitution was not allowed. Sophomore Todd Valkov upset Granada Hills’ Dylan Brown 7-4 in a tiebreaker in the last rotation of singles.

With only one game left, the championship titled came down to Number 3 player, junior Luke Shuman.

Whoever prevailed in this game would take the title. Shuman lost his first set before rallying to win the next seven points and the final set in a tiebreaker for the clinching point in the boys’ 15 1/2 to 14 win.

“Talk about nerves of steel,” Kling said. “I’ve never seen a scenario like this where a team had to win its last four sets to pull it out.”

 

 

 

Posted in Sports | Leave a comment

Woman’s Club under New Leadership

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Sue

Kathy Dunbar Later is the new Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club President.

Kathy Dunbar Later is the new Woman’s Club President and has exciting plans for the coming year.

She told CTN that “The Woman’s Club has been dark for a year and we are bringing back as many traditions as we can! Watch for announcements on Grants and the Town’s 90th Birthday Party.

“As Covid restrictions allow, we also plan to join forces with other local organizations like the YMCA and Historical Society to create even more community events,” Dunbar Later said. “We’re starting to plan another Wine Tasting Event in February and will participate in the 4th of July Parade.”

 

Later, who grew up West Lafayette, Indiana, home of Purdue University, spent a lot of her childhood at her grandparents’ farms. She still is in touch with high school friends and “eight of us are traveling to Naples, Florida to celebrate our 70th birthdays this month!”

She attended the University of Oregon, majoring psychology and early childhood education. Later was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and is now on that sorority’s advisory board at UCLA.

Although one of her jobs in high school was the 5:30 a.m. shift at Dunkin Donuts and claims she “learned how to carry six cups of coffee without spilling,” her first adult job was with a Portland travel agent.

“Luckily, I progressed up the ladder pretty quickly and managed Mercer Island Travel in Seattle then moved to San Francisco to work for Royal Viking Line,” Later said, noting that the cruise industry became her passion. “I was one of the first 25 employees of Crystal Cruises based in Los Angeles.”

She retired four years ago as director of reservations.

Later had moved from Seattle to Los Angeles 21 years ago and bought a house in Westchester. Shortly after she met her husband Roger, who had graduated from Santa Monica High School. Both were single until they married in their early 50s.

“We were fortunate to have a beautiful wedding on the beach at The Beach Club and now live within walking distance of the beach!” she said.

Roger had a home near Santa Monica airport, which they remodeled, never expecting to move again, but then . .. “I found a house for sale on Michael Edlen’s website and that brought us to Rustic Canyon where we have lived for the last eight years.”

About six years ago, she joined the Woman’s Club, because she knew would be retiring and wanted to give back to the community.

“The first year I retired I was elected vice-president, in charge of Home Tour,” Later said. “What an incredible experience and a lot of work!  I remember feeling rewarded and thinking how much more you get back when you give.”

She pointed out that since she didn’t grow up here and didn’t have a network that many residents have from schools/children, “It meant the world to me the first time I was able to walk from PPWC down Sunset to the bank, stop in to say hi to Susan at The Gift Garden and run into people I had only known a short while and smile and say ‘hi!’

“That experience was grounding and something I hadn’t felt since I left my hometown in Indiana,” Later said. “All thanks to the Woman’s Club and the community of Pacific Palisades.”

She mentioned that the club had surveyed members and there might be new plans such as game nights, hiking, meals together at local restaurants and classes.

“We have discussed launching an intriguing and exciting Virtual Home Tour for this year’s biggest fund raiser,” Later said. “Covid restrictions have given us the opportunity to think out of the box and the Home Tour could be so interesting if we incorporate personality, a gorgeous home, gardens and art and décor in one really good ‘tour.’  If we could find an experienced cinematographer to volunteer their time, we have someone already lined up to coordinate the project!”

Interested members can e-mail membership@theppwc.org (visit: theppwc.org) and to be contacted by Membership Chair, Emily Scheid.  Membership for the year is $100 and “While we won’t be up to full speed, it’s a great time to join in and become familiar with our PPWC family,” Later said. “While there are no restrictions to membership, we anticipate our members are not only community spirited but also want to join for friendship, fun and philanthropy!”

Recipients of the Woman’s Club grants in 2020 were all smiles as they showed their checks.

ABOUT THE WOMAN’S CLUB:

The development of the philanthropic club parallels the growth of Pacific Palisades. Initially, the JOC (Jesus Our Companion) were Methodist women, with the male equivalent called the We Boys. As the town grew, so did the club and in 1925, women who were not Methodist were allowed to join (and it became the Woman’s Club).

After meeting in homes, church basements and open meadows, the group in 1950 decided to raise money for an assembly hall. At that time there were about 300 members and 200 juniors.

The first building was Quonset-hut style with no bathrooms and a single room. By 1956, the original building, at 901 Haverford, had been paid off and money was raised to add the restrooms, a kitchen, foyer, stage and lanai. The kitchen was updated in 1965.

In 1970, the Woman’s Club and the Junior Woman’s Club separated. In 1973, the Club bought the land that bordered Temescal Canyon, which today is the lower parking lot.

In 1984, minor interior decorating was done, which may have been when the mosaic tile on the fireplace was painted white, wallpaper added, and white wood picket fence placed on walls.

In 2014 over three years, a major renovation was done on the clubhouse to update the bathrooms, kitchen and lighting.

The Woman’s Club and the Junior Women’s Club once again merged in 2012 under the leadership of Tricia Grossman and Trish Bowe.

Annually, the club gives grants to nonprofits in the community and over the decades has awarded more than $1.5 million to local groups.

The club is rented out to community groups but has a contract with Seven Arrows School through December.

Posted in Community, General | 1 Comment

One Woman Starts Homeless Email Campaign

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Sue

Pacific Palisades volunteers were told how to deal with the needles left behind by the homeless when cleaning up a campsite.

On April 5, a resident of Studio City started a daily email campaign. This individual was frustrated because there had been no response from Councilmember Paul Kerkorian and Mayor Eric Garcetti about the plight of the homeless.

The resident told Circling the News in an email, “I finally got fed up (after years) and I realized that I was just one person emailing, calling, using social media to tell the officials how disgusted I was by the unbelievable filth and crime that I was surrounded by in my (once lovely) Studio City neighborhood. But what really put me over the edge was the fact that the homeless were dying on the street (just blocks away) and NO ONE CARED. What kind of society are we?”

The resident participated in a neighborhood Zoom call, and most were at loss how to get help for the homeless. “My idea was to flood all 60 elected officials and representatives with one email a day for the month of April,” the resident said, noting that everyone would send the same letter and demands. “The goal was to overwhelm and get the attention of the officials.”

About 75 neighbors immediately contacted her. She then researched officials’ emails to make sure they were correct and then sent instructions to those who wanted to participate. “I send everyone a ‘reminder’ email each morning.”

Neighbors asked her to extend the campaign to May, which she has done. “The idea is to get the attention of the elected officials — the residents of the city are fed up and want something done to clean up our neighborhoods. This is NOT about denigrating the homeless, it’s about doing something to help them.”

CTN is not sharing the individual’s name, because “homeless advocates” then troll and try to disrupt the campaign. The individual said that she is hearing from residents from all over the city that they are tired of the status quo and want something done.

During a Recreation and Park Commissioners meeting several months ago (as reported by CTN), many people in North Hollywood spoke against the tiny homes for homeless that were being placed in two City parks in that area.

“While laudable, this is not a sustainable solution for 66,000 homeless people and there are a few concerns,” the woman said and listed her community’s top three concerns.

  1. Many of the homeless do not want to move into the tiny homes due to the rules. There is a curfew and rules against drugs, alcohol and weapons. “I have also heard that convicted felons are not accepted,” she said. “This leaves the most dangerous people on the streets.”
  2. The privatization of park land has taken the area away from people in the most disadvantaged areas of North Hollywood: those who mostly live in crowded apartments.
  3. Paul Kerkorian, a very powerful councilman, has awarded “no bid” contracts to his political friends to build and run these “tiny homes” and has decided to build three villages and other bridge housing and apartment homes in North Hollywood, in direct opposition to the guidelines of the H bonds which state that shelters have to be equally distributed in all communities.

The Studio City resident supplied the list of demands that are being sending to officials:

  • Comply with Judge Carter’s fiscal order and provide enough shelter to satisfy Martin v Boise

  • Expand the definition of gravely disabled

  • Expand conservatorship laws

  • Repeal the Lanterman-Petris Short Act

  • Repeal the ACLU case: Jones vs the City of LA

  • Enforce existing “people with disabilities” laws

  • Use H & HHH Bonds to quickly move people into simple shelter

  • Obey the mandate that shelters be distributed equally among neighborhoods

  • Make drug and mental health treatment mandatory

  • Name an MD who specializes in addiction & mental health to the homeless committee

  • Incarcerate criminals, instead of releasing them into our streets with no support

  • Return policing to the police and above all else, hold people accountable for their actions

“I hope to grow our voices against (what I believe) is the destruction of our beautiful city,” she said.

Trash lines the beaches in Venice by homeless encampments, and also the streets near the ocean.

Posted in Homelessness | 1 Comment

OBITUARY: Col. Richard Littlestone, Community Activist, Responsible for the New VA Columbarium

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Sue

Col. Richard Littlestone, a long-time Palisadian and activist, died in his sleep on May 15. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1923.

In 2019, Littlestone wrote to Circling the News, “Thanks for the delightful article on Route 66. Our family: my mother, father, brother and I, moved from the Chicago area to L.A. in 1929, driving the original Route 66.”

Littlestone transferred from UCLA to Berkeley in 1942 and was enlisted in a Navy reserve program. But in 1943, he was drafted by the U.S. Army. Then, out of 2,400 draftees, the commander recommended him to West Point, where there were 120 openings for active-duty soldiers. He was sent to Amherst College for courses and entered West Point in 1944, graduating in 1947.

Dick’s first assignment was in Germany, and he had to be in Brooklyn by July 19, 1948. He married his wife Doris in Los Angeles on July 11, the day before her 19th birthday, and even though he didn’t have orders for her to accompany him overseas, the two started driving across the country.

Their first night, in Barstow, Dick called to see if Doris had received clearance. He repeated the call from Las Vegas and every other stop until they arrived in Des Moines, where he finally was told she could accompany him.

Littlestone spent 32 years in the Army, serving as a battalion operations officer in Korea and a logistics officer in Vietnam. His valor and skill earned him a number of decorations including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and more than a dozen other medals.

In one of many notes to CTN, Littlestone wrote: “For most of that time in the Army, I was stationed, with Doris and our children, in other states and countries. Over those years, we drove Route 66 many times with our children to return to LA for visits with family & friends. An enduring sight along the Route was the changing series of fun Burma-Shave signs.”

The couple had three children — Richard, Nanette and Mark — and Doris remembers that he didn’t see his daughter until she was 16 months old because he was in Korea.

The couple, who were married 72 years, moved to the Huntington Palisades in 1972.

After 32 years of military service, Littlestone went back to school and received a master’s degree in business from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA, adding to his master’s degree in physics and nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

He served as Chair and Professor of the UCLA Department of Military Science and Associate Director of the UCLA Computers and Information Systems Research Program in the Graduate School of Management.

One day, Littlestone learned that Los Angeles vets had to be buried in Riverside, because the National Cemetery in Westwood had been filled by 1978. He started a one-man campaign in 1997 to have the VA build a Columbarium at the West L.A. Veterans Administration campus, which turned into a 22-year effort.

In 2014, Littlestone told the press: “When I started working on this, I was doing it for the veterans in Los Angeles.” And then he underwent open-heart surgery and suffered from shingles and worried that his wife would have to travel a long distance to his gravesite.

But his pleasant, quiet and determined persistence of contacting news media, Congressman Henry Waxman and different VA Secretaries finally paid off. In 2017 there was a ground-breaking ceremony for the Columbarium, which can hold ashes for nearly 100,000 veterans. The site was dedicated in October 2019.

Littlestone also volunteered on the 1984 Olympics Youth Activities Subcommission, whose report led to the creation of the LA84 Foundation, which has provided an average of $7 million in grants each year to youth sports activities and installations throughout Southern California.

In addition to belonging to Ronald Reagan American Legion Post 283, Dick was also active in Pacific Palisades Rotary. Members remembered him at a May 18 meeting. One said, “He was always a worker; always had a project in mind. His motto was always helping others.” Another commented, “He was a good guy, someone I was proud to associate with. He was not self-important.

Littlestone, with the help of then-Councilman Marvin Braude, got a stop sign installed at the corner of Antioch and Swarthmore.

“That was my first community doing and I’ve been trying to help out ever since,” Littlestone said in an interview. He later worked to get the left-turn signal installed at Mandeville and Sunset, the streetlights in the Huntington Palisades upgraded and a safer student drop-off plan adopted at Paul Revere Middle School.

Pacific Palisades Community Council President David Card said, “He single handedly got the homeowners association and the city to beautify the little street island at Alma Real and Ocampo. He made every effort to phone and write to get people to help him accomplish it.”

More recently, Littlestone was working on the sidewalk on Antioch (at the driveway next to Cafe Vida), which is not handicapped accessible. He had sent several letters to CTN and to Councilman Mike Bonin’s office.

He is survived by his wife Doris, children Rick (Toni), Nanette (Peter) and Mark (Allison) and grandsons Cooper and Hudson. Services, which will be held at the Columbarium, have not yet been set. Cards may be sent to 1158 26th Street #401, Santa Monica, CA 90403.

Dick Littlestone in front of the traffic island on Alma Real he helped beautify.

Posted in Obituaries | Leave a comment