Local News: June 2009

Deputy Police Chief Kenneth O. Garner Passing Tribute

Some 3,000 people attended the South L.A. funeral of Deputy Police Chief Kenneth O. Garner who served the LAPD for three decades.  Garner was the second-highest-ranking black officer in the department.

 

National Mass Transit Costs Surge

As gas prices soared, so did the use of mass transit. Passenger levels during 2008 hit peaks unseen since 1957, up 4% from 2007.  Metrolink commuter trains also set records.

 

FBI Looking For Clues 

A vehicle owned by a UCLA neuro- scientist was firebombed by an anti-animal research group for using primates in his study of psychiatric disorders.  No injuries were reported.  A series of fire-bombing and aggressive acts have occurred aimed at university researchers who use animals in medical studies including cars vandalized, threatening calls and e-mails.

 

Non-Beverly Hills Residents & BHUSD After months of heated debates over non-Beverly Hills residents attending the city’s schools under special permits trustees gave a thumbs up.  The district receives $6,114 in state funding per year per student enrolled.

 

Cedars-Sinai Gets A New Tower 

L.A. Planning Commission approved plans for construction of a 200,000 square-foot expansion tower at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to include 100 new patient beds and 700 parking spaces.  Also approved was rezoning a vacant lot next to the L.A. Public Library in Westwood for a park.

 

Free Pet Spaying/Neutering; A Go Again! 

Months after L.A. city said pets had to be spayed/neutered, the voucher system that provided free service to low-income owners was OUT!  State budget cuts were behind the decision, stated department General Manager Ed Boks.  Now the department is returning the vouchers after numerous animal-welfare advocates protested.  

 

L.A. Prepares For A Water Shortage

L.A. faces a water shortage this summer and LADWP will raise its rates and give severe penalties for residents who don’t cut water use by 15% except for low-income residents whose rates will stay the same; owners of larger homes get ready for $11 a month more on bills beginning June 1, 2009.

 

Beverly Hills Library Scores High 

Beverly Hills Public Library ranked in the top 12 of 1,116 libraries in California by the Library Journal and was listed in the top three percent of 7,000 libraries nationwide. The Beverly Hills Public Library was one of 256 libraries to earn a ranking of three to five stars.  Rankings include circulation, visits, program attendance and internet use.

 

President Obama Checks In At The Beverly Hilton Hotel

New to the Presidential Suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, President Obama checked in while visiting L.A. Also on the agenda was a pit stop at The Tonight Show. 

 

L.A. City Cuts Jobs

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released a $7.05-billion budget baring down on his ability to win concessions from employee unions and bent to lease parking garages, two unresolved components to close the $530-million city shortfall. Stating that the spiraling recession requires “extraordinary sacrifice” from everyone, the mayor asked all departments even police and fire to trim costs by 10%. The $231 million saving will come from laying off 2,800 workers, pay freezes, furloughs and early retirements  The mayor pledged to cut his $223,000 -a-year salary by 12% and freeze his own staff members’ salaries.

 

Beverly Hills Elections

The new Beverly Hills City Council and City Treasurer took the oath of office in a community installation ceremony.  The ceremony and reception were held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn.  Council member Nancy Krasne was sworn in as Mayor; Councilmember Jimmy Delshad became Vice Mayor and current Vice Mayor Barry Brucker was sworn in for his second term.  Eliot Finkel is on his second, four-year term as City Treasurer.

 

A New Outdoor Sculpture

Beverly Hills picked an outdoor sculpture by acclaimed New York artist Roxy Paine.  The City’s Public Art Fund picked up the       

$ 342,800 tab and more fees of $10,000-$15,000 are estimated for transportation, installation, future maintenance, lighting and ongoing display.  The stainless steel boulder measures 7 feet tall by 15 feet wide and references a rock carried by a glacier hundreds of miles away from its original geographic location.  It will be installed in Beverly Gardens Park, this summer. 

 

L.A. Pulitzer Prize Winners

L.A.Times reporters Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart won a Pulitzer for their series on how brush fires are fought.  They found that a century after government declared war on wildfire, fire is winning.  Wildland blazes are bigger, fiercer and harder to put out.  The story also looked at ” CNN drops”: Fire commanders are often pressured to order firefighting planes and helicopters into action even when they won’t do any good.  The reason: Aerial drops of water and retardant make good television.

 

Dante Nicholson Pleads Guilty To Hospital/Homeless Scam

Dante Nicholson, 51, of Palmdale, pleaded guilty to offering money as kickbacks to recruiters who took homeless patients from skid row to hospitals, where they received services not necessary.  Nicholson, a former senior VP of City of Angels Medical Center, is the third person convicted in the scheme to defraud Medicare and Medi-Cal.  The charges if convicted carry a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.

 

Family Felon

Actor/comedian Dane Cook’s half brother was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly stealing millions from the comic.  Darryl McCauley was charged with eight counts of larceny over $250 and forgery and larceny by continuous scheme.  Prosecutors said McCauley forged a $3 million check written from Cook’s account to himself.  Sources say McCauley pulled off the scheme even though Cook paid him $12,500 a month to be his personal business manager.  

 

Cutbacks at the J. Paul Getty

The J. Paul Getty Trust, which operates two Los Angeles-area art museums, announced plans to cut 205 jobs and trim the budget amid a falling endowment. Ninety-seven employees will be laid off and the rest of the positions will be eliminated, officials said. The Getty has 1,487 budgeted staff positions at the Villa in Malibu and the Getty art museum in Los Angeles. While admission and visiting hours will remain free at both museums, the cost of parking at the hillside Los Angeles facility will increase to $15 from $10 on July 1, 2009.

 

Actor in Fender Bender

Actor T.R. Knight involved in a three-car accident, was not injured but a man and a woman were taken to the hospital by ambulance.  Police investigated who was at fault, but no citations were given.

 

Man Convicted of Starting Fires

A Riverside County jury returned the death penalty to Raymond Lee Oyler for starting the 2006 Esperanza fire in the San Jacinto Mountains.  The fire killed five fire- fighters, destroyed 34 homes and charred 41,000 acres.  Firefighters and families of victims were happy with the verdict saying that it offered some justice for a heinous crime that would affect their lives forever.  Judge W. Charles Morgan will sentence Oyler to death or life in prison without parole at a hearing on June 5, 2009.  Oyler (38) was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of arson and 17 counts of using an incendiary device.  Prosecutors said the Beaumont mechanic set fires throughout the San Gorgonio Pass in the summer of 2006 leading to the Esperanza fire.    

 

American Civil Liberties Union 

The Union sued school officials for fostering a “sexist” and “homophobic” atmosphere.  The complaint cites a show—a Facebook video posted in January 2009 in which three Corona del Mar football players threatened to rape and kill a female classmate and also used slurs to describe homosexuals.  The video was posted on the online profile of a fourth student, who threatened the young woman at school said reports.  The video has been removed, but ACLU officials say the school did almost nothing to punish the boys or protect the young woman, even though her parents expressed dire concern for her safety.  ”School and district officials, their through action and inaction, have not only failed to take steps to address this hostile environment, but contributed to it and given sanction to it,” stated the 36-page complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court.  ”These allegations are very serious and the district will utilize its best efforts to ascertain the truth of these matters, and be sure there are procedures to promptly resolve discrimination and harassment disputes.” stated district Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard.