1. health and fitness
2. disease
3. autism and pdd

COACH
BETSY
KNOWS
BEST
Vol. 1, No. 11 • April 1, 2015
Uniting the Community with News, Features and Commentary
Circulation: 14,500 • $1.00
See Page 16
Accused Revere Teacher Reinstated
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
P
At Paul Revere Middle School on March 23, more than 400 students, parents and teachers showed support for suspended teacher
Photo: Sue Pascoe
Steven Carnine before school, calling the alleged racist remarks untrue.
Support Autism Fundraising April 12
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
A
pril is Autism Awareness month. To
honor families who have someone
affected by an autism spectrum
disorder, the third annual “Go Blue or Go
Home” event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3
p.m. on Sunday, April 12, at the Palisades
Recreation Center. The public is invited.
There will be food trucks, a moon bounce,
carnival games, a Boba truck and a DJ,
sponsored by the Apartment Market Group,
Black Ink, Branches, Carly K, Elyse Walker,
Friendship Circle, Gerry Blanck Martial
Arts, Helen’s Cycles, Jaimie Geller Jewelry,
Jonathan & George Salon, Juice Crafters,
Kier Design, Liberty Mutual Insurance,
Maemae Jewelry, Marc Michel Eyewear,
Meche Salon (Guy Riggio), Pacific Palisades
Pediatric Dentistry, Palisades News, The Yogurt Shoppe, Wieder Dermatology, Working With Autism and Yogi Girl Yogi Guy.
All proceeds will benefit Autism Speaks,
the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization, which is dedicated to
funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism.
Yogurt Shoppe co-owner Jennifer Sabin
founded Working with Autism, Inc. in
1997, and is the executive director (visit:
workingwithautism.com). She initially began working with children on the autism
spectrum under Dr. Ivar Lavaas at UCLA,
while earning her psychology degree.
“My experience with Autism Speaks is
they provide immediate and individual
support to the parents of newly diagnosed
children,” Sabin said. “Recently, a parent
spoke to me about her initial experience,
and said that within 48 hours of her son receiving an autism diagnosis, Autism Speaks
had mailed the ‘100-day kit,’ which included all of the information necessary at
that point to help her understand and plan
(Continued on Page 3)
PAPA Seeks a
Parade Theme
Ever since American Legion Post 283 revived the Pacific Palisades Fourth of July parade in 1961, a theme has helped define the
parade. This year is no different, and PAPA
(Palisades Americanism Parade Association) is asking your help to pen a clever,
witty, poignant or memorable theme.
Last year’s winner was Kim Traenkle’s
entry, “Star-Spangled Palisades.”
Submit your best idea(s) to info@ palisadesparade.org, by Friday, April 3. The
winner will be selected at the next PAPA
meeting on April 6.
If your theme is selected, in addition to
bragging rights, you can also ride in the
parade aboard a fire engine (with selected
family members) and Palisades News will
feature you in a story.
aul Revere Middle School teacher
Steven Carnine was reinstated to the
classroom on Thursday. He had been
pulled from his job on Monday because a
family filed a lawsuit alleging racism.
On March 23 close to 400 students, parents and teachers rallied in front of Paul
Revere before school to protest the suspension of the 27-year-veteran at the school,
who teaches sixth-grade English/history
and eighth-grade U.S. History.
The following morning LAUSD held a
meeting for parents about racism and initially denied parents the right to speak, until
parent and noted urban planner Doug
Suisman claimed his right, and spoke, followed by others.
That afternoon on the popular John and
Ken show on KFI 640 radio, the pair discussed LAUSD’s lack of common sense in
suspending Carnine without thoroughly
vetting a lawsuit filed by a Shawn B. on behalf of his daughter, Maggie B., seeking unspecified damages.
According to the suit filed in Los Angeles
Superior Court, the plaintiff is under 18
and is half black and half white. She started
attending Paul Revere School in 2013 as a
seventh-grade student and had been in
Carnine’s eighth-grade class for seven days
in January when race and stereotypes were
addressed.
According to the suit, “In discussing the
[Fergurson] incident, Carnine said that
the guy was a thug and he got what he deserved,” according to the suit, which alleges
that the teacher also said, “Black people are
judged for not being smart because they are
not smart. A lot of them are just athletes.”
The lawsuit alleges that Carnine said if
he was walking alone at night and there
were two black men behind him, he was
“immediately going to be scared and think
they are either going to steal from me or
hurt me,” and “We all know Jews like to
hoard their money.”
The suit also stated that Carnine, during a lecture on the Civil War, stated that
“people didn’t like Lincoln because he was
a (N-word) lover,” and that Carnine was
“staring and smirking” at the plaintiff when
he made the remark.
Katie T., who was in the class, posted
these remarks on the online Save Mr. Carnine petition that garnered 500 signatures
in 24 hours: “Mr. Carnine said that stereotypes were wrong, but sadly they are still in
our world today. He was discussing these
stereotypes with us in order to help us understand history and how different races
(Continued on Page 9)
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Page 2
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
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April 1, 2015
Page 3
Palisades News
Autism
(Continued from Page 1)
for the appropriate support and therapies.
“The strength of Autism Speaks is in the
wealth of resources that an organization
such as this has, and the individual support,
which is provided to the families at a time
of need,” Sabin said.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), about 1 in 68 children have
been identified with an autism spectrum
disorder, which means those diagnosed can
range from bright, verbal and autistic to
mentally retarded and non-verbal. Parents
who have a child with ASD tend to notice
a developmental problem before the child’s
first birthday.
Autism is almost five times more common among boys than girls. Studies have
shown that among identical twins, if one
child has ASD, then the other will be affected
about 36 to 95 percent of the time, too.
Parents who have a child with autism
have a 2 to 18 percent chance of having a
second child who is also affected, and children born to older parents are at higher risk
for the disease.
CDC notes that autism commonly cooccurs with other developmental, psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal and genetic
diagnoses. The co-occurrence of one or
more non-ASD developmental diagnoses
is 83 percent.
“The label of autism should not inhibit
parents from striving to maximize their
child’s potential,” Sabin said. “There is a great
deal of variability within the autism diagnosis, and the right combination of quality
Locals participating in last year’s Autism Speaks fundraiser were (left to right) Frankie Sabin, Sirena Warren, Colette Taheri and
Photo: Kevin Sabin
Holland Mueller.
interventions and parental involvement are
significant factors in determining the child’s
progress. Equally important, the earlier that
a parent can detect these areas of concern,
the earlier the intervention is started, the
better the chance of a positive outcome.”
Sabin says one of the most “common misconceptions is that individuals with autism
are unable to build social relationships.”
Autism Speaks raises money to support
research to look at the genetic and environmental factors that may cause autism, including susceptibility genes, environmental
toxins and maternal viral infections. It
funds the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, a DNA repository and family registry of genotypes and phenotypes.
Since last year, that organization has
partnered with Google on Mssng to collect
The next volunteer meeting for PAPA and study the DNA of 10,000 families that
(Palisades Americanism Parade Association) will be held at 7 p.m. on April 6 at
the American Legion when a theme will
be selected. The public is invited.
It is not too early to start thinking about
parade entries. “We would love new entrants,” said Daphne Gronich, second-term
PAPA president. “It’s more interesting for
residents to see different bands and floats
in the parade, and we encourage people to
put them together.”
A search is on for a parade grand marshal, as well as a headline band for the evening concert at Palisades High, which was
attended by 7,000 people last year.
Lawyer, Palisades resident and concert organizer Keith Turner said that he has already
heard from local bands that would like the
opportunity to play on the second stage.
The day, which also features the 5/10K
Will Rogers Run, a parade, a concert and
fireworks, is made possible by volunteers and
community donations. If you would like to
volunteer or donate, and are unable to attend the meeting, visit: palisadesparade.org.
Volunteers
Sought to Help
With Parade
have been affected by autism. The goal is
to create the world’s largest database of sequenced genomic information of Autism
run on Google’s cloud-based genome
database, Google Genomics.
Autism Speaks works towards improving diagnosis and the possible therapies,
which include medication, behavioral and
psychological interventions.
The organization believes that vaccines
have been shown to be safe for most children
and support vaccinations to prevent serious
diseases such as measles and mumps.
Visit: autismspeaks.org.
Eggstravaganza at Rec Center
The Palisades Recreation Center will
host its annual Eggstravaganza from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 4 at the
park, 851 Alma Real Dr. The cost is $5 per
child (please bring cash).
Activities include two large bounce
houses (one for toddlers and one for bigger kids), crafts and face painting. From
10 a.m. to noon, the Reptacular farm an-
Return to
The 1860s
At Marquez
Marquez fourth grade teacher
Theresa Chaides alerted the
Palisades News, “All fourthgraders are stepping back in
time to the 1860s on Thursday
and are attending school in full
pioneer garb. It’s always neat to
see them coming to school in
long skirts, hats and boots.”
Elena Roby (left) and Sophie
Davidson find out how bonnets
worked as natural sunblocks
while Archie Galbraith used a
“backpack from the 1860s.”
Photos: Tom Hofer
imal petting zoo will be open. At noon
there will be an egg hunt for children up
to 8 years of age (bring your own basket).
At 12:45 p.m. there will be a puppet show
by the Franklin Haynes Marionettes.
Hot dogs, drinks and snacks will be
sold. The Easter Bunny will arrive via Fire
Truck around 10:45 a.m.
Page 4
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Galvez Recognized by Palisades Optimists
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
P
alisades High School senior Daniel
Galvez was recognized as Pacific Palisades Optimist Club Student of the
Month. The College Center recommended
him because “He is a kid that doesn’t give
up, even in difficult circumstances. He just
puts his head down and keeps going.”
When Galvez’s father lost his job in early
winter as an apartment manager in West
Hollywood, the young man served as his
father’s headhunter. (His mom Dora is a
house manager in Sherman Oaks.)
“I began searching on Craigslist and
other job-searching websites, but quickly
realized everyone asked for a resume and
cover letter,” Galvez said. “So I made both
of them, with my dad along my side. Once
we had those, I started looking for apartment manager jobs, mostly on Craigslist.”
“When I was applying for jobs for my
dad, there were a couple that were closer to
PaliHi but they didn’t call back. Then, I
found an ad for a job in Glendale,” Galvez
said. “This was one of the last ads I applied
to before we were basically being kicked
out of our old apartment by the new building owner.”
Earlier, the family had visited Glendale
and thought it would be a great place to
Daniel Galvez was the January Optimist
Photo: Rich Wilken
Student of the month.
live, but since Galvez and his sister, a junior,
who also attends PaliHi and didn’t want
to transfer, they didn’t consider it.
Galvez said his dad got a call one day
before they had to move out. “Once my
dad went over for the interview, he got the
job and keys to the new apartment.”
Although the stress and anxiety of possibly being homeless was now gone, Galvez
was faced with a new challenge: waking up
at 5 a.m. to drive to Pacific Palisades five
days a week.
Palisades News spoke to Galvez in midFebruary. “I have had the worst two weeks
of my life,” Galvez said. “It all started out
with my car breaking down on the freeway.
The gas pump failed and I was left stranded by Palmdale on the freeway shoulder.”
Without a car, he and his sister missed the
next day of school.
A week later another catastrophe hit.
“My camera bag [Canon 60D], my most
prized possession, was stolen from me at
school,” Galvez said. “It had my lenses and
microphone along with the camera body.
I had worked for every single penny of it
and it was just stolen away from me as if it
were nothing. I had over $2,000 of equipment in my bag.
“It was the camera I shot all my films
with and did my school photo projects,
too. I had to file a police report and I’ve
been trying to see who could’ve possibly
stolen it and see if fliers would work to get
it back,” he said. Posters describing the
equipment were hung around the school.
Galvez, who attended elementary school
in West Hollywood and then Paul Revere
Middle School, said he had taken various
jobs like cat sitting and saved his money for
years in order to buy the equipment.
He cites his favorite classes as AP Human
Geography and English. “My favorite
teacher is Ms. Korbonski, because she was
the one who understood when I could not
turn in an assignment because of what
was happening.”
The commute makes it hard for Galvez
and his sister to do after-school activities.
“My sister had to give up lacrosse because
traffic back home was way too bad,” said
Galvez, who also plays the guitar and likes
to long board.
Galvez has been accepted into UC Irvine
and CSUN, but was waiting to hear about
financial aid. “I plan on possibly taking the
Santa Monica College route if aid doesn’t
come,” Galvez said.
(Editor’s note: A Pacific Palisades “angel”
heard about Galvez’s stolen film equipment
and has offered to help him replace it. Galvez
was speechless and then said, “Thank you.
That is so amazing.”)
DRB Meeting Cancelled
The Pacific Palisades Village Design Review Board has cancelled its regularly scheduled meeting on April 8 at 7 p.m. at the
Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is
April 22.
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April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Page 5
Gottesman, Masi Win Teen Contest
D
Danika Masi and Daniel Gottesman, Miss and Mr. Palisades 2015.
Photo: Shelby Pascoe
aniel Gottesman and Danika Masi were named Mr. and
Miss Palisades at the 56th Annual Teen Contest, celebrating
youth in Pacific Palisades on March 26 in Mercer Hall at
Palisades High.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Arnie Wishnick, who
has been on the organizing committee for 36 years, said: “The kids
were fabulous—any one of them could have won.”
Gottesman and Masi, who both attend PaliHi, each received a
$2,000 cash prize and food for a year at Palisades Garden Café, plus
the opportunity to ride in the Fourth of July parade and on the
firetruck with Santa Claus at the Chamber’s Ho!Ho!Ho! celebration.
Thursday’s show opened with a performance by The Filharmonic,
a six-member boy band. The emcee was Christian Saglie (Mr.
Palisades 1996).
Masi, a junior, competed against eight other girls: Zoe Dutton
(Harvard-Westlake senior), Audrey Kailer (Westmark sophomore),
Shaler Williams (Viewpoint sophomore) and Pali students Makayla
Michelini (junior), Kimara Velez (junior), Miya Eberlein (senior),
Sophia Eberlein (sophomore) and Cleo Hoffman (junior).
Gottesman, only a freshman, competed against Brett Schneid
(Crespi sophomore), Evan Epstein (Brentwood freshman) and Pali
students Gabriel Galef (sophomore), Noah Alcus (junior) and
Algimantas Leitzinger (junior).
The contestants, in addition to performing a talent, were judged
on extracurricular activities, honors, community service and poise
in speaking.
Masi, who dances at Fancy Feet and is a member of “Acapali”
(PaliHi’s a capella group), sang a song from In the Heights for her
talent. Gottesman, a member of the PaliHi concert, marching and
jazz band, and director of fundraising for the PaliHi rocketry team,
played the French horn, before going to the piano to play and sing
Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.”
Page 6
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Heard
About Town
ANN CLEAVES
Theatre Palisades Youth
I went to the Theatre Palisades Youth
performance of Doo-Wop Wed Widing
Hood, and I laughed so hard. Someone
should give Dorothy Dillingham Blue an
award—those kids are directed so well,
they even know the little facial expressions to make.
Urban Decibel Ordinance
I don’t understand why an urban decibel ordinance can’t be passed. If a motorcycle is too loud, the owner should have
to make changes. Do spot checks like they
do for sobriety checks and it would help
get all the noisy ones off the road.
Control Streetside Clutter
There’s a new free magazine out about
Westside real estate (what else?) called
Digs, and a new box has been installed
close to the mailbox on Antioch, directly
across from the Chamber. They likely have
installed other boxes willy-nilly. Doesn’t
the City enforce the placement of boxes?
(Editor’s note: Councilman Mike Bonin’s office directed the reader to check with
Street Services Investigation & Enforcement
Division, Attn: Newsrack Section, 1149 S.
Broadway, 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA
90015, [213] 847-6000.)
Dog Pick-up Law
There are dog walkers who habitually
violate Los Angeles County Code Sec.
10.40.060. “Defecation—Persons walking
a dog on any property other than their
own must carry a suitable bag or container
for the purposes of removing feces and to
immediately remove any feces once deposited by their dog.” Please obey this law.
Ugliest Cell Tower
The town should have a contest and decide whether the ugliest cell phone tower
is the new one on Sunset (near Capri) as
you drive through the Riviera section. All
along the route are charming old-style
street lamps, in contrast to this large silver
pole with a light sticking out. Or would
the ugliest tower be the wood monstrosity that has gone up on Via de la Paz at
Bowdoin. How can they City call either
of these esthetically pleasing?
Remember to Look Both Ways
A young man texting on his phone
stepped into the middle of the intersection
without regard to a car that had started to
turn from Via de la Paz onto Antioch (by
Gelsons). Although pedestrians have the
right of way, a near accident was avoided
when the car slammed on the brakes.
———————
If you’d like to share something you’ve
“heard about town,” please email it to
[email protected]
VIEWPOINT
Loving Children Equally
By BARBARA GOULD
G
irls growing up today can aspire to be
a scientist, astronaut, doctor, inventor
or even President of the United States
and have a reasonable expectation of meeting
those goals.
Not so in my generation. If we went to college, we most likely became teachers. When I
turned 18, I moved out of my parents’ house.
I tried to work part-time and stay in school,
but I couldn’t support myself with a part-time
job, so I never finished college. I had always
wanted to get married and have a family: that
was really important to me and it happened. I
have three sons, all of whom I can proudly say
are Eagle Scouts.
My oldest son, Russell (born 1965), is married
with two sons. But if I ran into them on the
street, I would not recognize them because he
has decided not to be a part of our family. The
last time I saw his sons, they were 3 and 1. Now
they are 14 and 12.
My second son, Ron (born 1968), is married
with two daughters, who are 15 and 7. During
school vacations Alyce, the oldest, takes the
train from San Diego and spends time here so
we can do “girl” things. We visit the mall, go
to museums and lunch, and see my elderly
neighbor who watched her grow up.
My youngest son, David (born 1970), is
single, but for the last 20 years has been a youth
counselor for the San Gabriel Fellowship group.
At a surprise party for his 40th birthday, the
house was filled with teenagers from his youth
group, who roasted him in glowing terms. It
was enough to make his proud mother cry.
Each child is different, so they need to be
treated differently—but equally. You may need
to speak differently to them to get your point
across. But however you do it, you must instill
them with your values in a way that they will
take them into adulthood.
My girlfriend, Lila, whom I’ve known for 45
years, said that when her children got to be
adults, she asked each one privately if they felt
she had a favorite child.
Jeff answered that being the first-born he was
the favorite—but don’t worry, “we were treated
so equally that no one would have known.”
David said that Jeff was kind of difficult and
as he, David, was very easy going, he was the
favorite—but don’t worry, “we were treated so
equally that no one would have known.”
Richard was sure it was him because he was
the youngest—but don’t worry, “we were treated
so equally that no one would have known.”
Lisa, being the only girl, was sure she was the
favorite—but don’t worry, “we were treated so
equally that no one would have known.” They,
like my children, are all amazing adults.
(Gould lived in Pacific Palisades from 1957-60.
She and her husband returned to town in 2000
when her parents passed away. For the past 21
years, she has worked as a sales representative
for a candy distributor.)
OOPS!
In our March 18 story about Ogden
Cleaners, the new owner was identified
as Tommy Goullais. His name is actually
Tommy Goulla. Our apologies for the error.
Thought to Ponder
“Go placidly among the
noise and haste, and remember what peace there
may be in silence.”
― “Desiderata,” a 1927
poem by Max Ehrmann
Founded November 5, 2014
———————
15332 Antioch Street #169
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
(310) 401-7690
www.PalisadesNews.com
———————
Publisher
Scott Wagenseller
[email protected]
Editor
Sue Pascoe
[email protected]
Graphics Director
Manfred Hofer
Digital Content and Technology
Kurt Park
Advertising
Jeff Ridgway
[email protected]
Grace Hiney
[email protected]
Advisor
Bill Bruns
Contributing Writers
Laura Abruscato, Laurel Busby,
Danielle Gillespie, Libby Motika
Contributing Photographers
Wendy Price Anderson,
Bart Bartholomew, Shelby Pascoe
———————
A bi-monthly newspaper mailed on
the first and third Wednesday of each
month. 14,500 circulation includes
zip code 90272 and Sullivan, Mandeville and Santa Monica Canyons.
Online: palisadesnews.com
All content printed herein, and in our
digital editions, is copyrighted.
Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Page 7
A forum for open discussion of community issues
VIEWPOINT
An Important Victory at Revere
By LAURIE ROSENTHAL
today’s standards. We cannot change the past, and it
would be a tremendous disservice to our children to
e live in a time when the daily news is often try and sugarcoat what truly happened. History isn’t
bad—political gridlock, melting Polar ice,
always pretty, but hopefully by studying it our children
terrorist attacks—so it felt good to have a
will learn to create a better world.
victory in our part of the world last week. The victory
I think LAUSD officials were going to take their time
was not only in swiftly getting Paul Revere Charter
investigating the matter, and leave Carnine suspended
Middle School teacher Steven Carmine back into his
while doing so, until they were bombarded with letters,
classroom—it was seeing how our community came
phone calls, emails, protests and more from students,
together quickly and worked for a common cause.
Carnine was summarily removed from his classroom teachers and parents supporting Carnine. More than 100
parents showed up at a District-sponsored meeting at the
after 27 years of teaching at Paul Revere because of a
lawsuit brought on behalf of a mixed-race student who school on March 24. A Facebook page kept everyone
informed. Within a few days, an online petition to save
had spent a whopping seven days in his eighth-grade
history class. The lawsuit claims that on January 20, the Carnine’s job—started by a student—gathered over
1,300 signatures.
day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Carnine made
LAUSD learned we are not sheeple. The powers that be
racist comments, something that all the students in the
didn’t
know what they were up against, and I don’t think
class who have come forward vehemently deny. The
the
Revere
community knew how powerful we could
plaintiff is suing for violations of the Unruh Civil
be
until
we
were put to the test. What was happening
Rights Act, and is demanding a jury trial.
was
unjust.
We were not going to let one student ruin
What other students have confirmed is that Carnine
the
reputation
of this man who has devoted his life to
made statements about race to prove points about racism,
teaching
our
children.
I think it’s remarkable that the
including slurs against Jews and African Americans. It
District
completed
its
investigation
in a few days and
wasn’t that Carnine was saying he believed these things;
allowed
Carnine
back
into
his
classroom
last Thursday.
he was pointing out what some people say and believe.
Kudos
should
be
given
to
the
people
who
hastened the
All the other students seemed to understand that the
best way to get this across was to use words and phrases process; to make it a long, drawn-out episode would
have been divisive and disruptive to the entire Paul
that are offensive and deemed politically incorrect by
W
Revere community.
What’s truly criminal is that two months after the
incident, only four kids who were in the class had been
interviewed. Four! Many parents at last week’s meeting
were outraged when this little fact slipped out. And even
with the outrage, the LAUSD staff did not commit to
interviewing ALL the students who were in the classroom
when the alleged incident took place.
I’ve been told by a reliable source that the plaintiff
has made similar accusations against the Beverly Hills
Unified School District and a soccer club.
How one unsubstantiated claim could be allowed to
possibly destroy this teacher’s reputation is patently
unfair. Apparently the family never even spoke to
Carnine; they spoke to the principal, who in turn told
them to speak to Carnine, standard protocol. (The
assistant principal was also involved.) It seems they
didn’t like that solution, and voilà, we have a lawsuit.
A prominent local attorney told me that the law of
the land in England is that if you sue and lose, you
have to pay the lawyers’ fees for the winner as well as
your own. Imagine if we had that system here; I doubt
this family would have been so quick to file a lawsuit.
(Laurie Rosenthal is the former editor of the Santa
Monica Mirror and a former staff writer for the PalisadianPost. Her son, Dylan, is an eighth grader at Paul Revere,
and a former student of Steven Carnine’s.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Local Attorney’s Case Wins
CA Supreme Court Ruling
A March 5, 2015 California Supreme Court decision
[Tract 19051 Homeowners Association v. Maurice Kemp]
was in my client’s favor. In a nutshell, the issue before
the Supreme Court was a prevailing defendant’s right
to statutory fees.
My client was being sued by a homeowners’ association
in the Baldwin Vista area of Los Angeles and 50 or so
neighbors to stop construction of my client’s home. The
plaintiffs alleged that my client’s construction violated
the CC&Rs, which precluded two-story homes. It was a
view community. The plaintiffs alleged that the tract
was a common interest development under the Davis
Stirling Code, and they sought fees under that statute,
which provides: “In an action to enforce the governing
documents [of a common interest development], the
prevailing party shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s
fees and costs.” We won the case by proving that the
tract was not a common interest development.
This case started for me in April 2008, when I was
retained before litigation was filed, by a title insurance
company to defend its insured.
I won at the trial court and was awarded 100 percent
of attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeal affirmed our
substantive victory but reversed the attorney’s fees award.
I filed a petition for review of the unpublished decision
on the attorney’s fees issue, which the California
Supreme Court granted. I argued in February and on
March 5, I received the Supreme Court’s decision in
my favor.
The Supreme Court was concerned with the dual
edge policy that attorney’s fees provisions: (1) providing
access to justice; and (2) discouraging meritless cases.
The Court’s decision was based on logic, fairness and
that the principles of mutuality of remedy applies to
statutory attorney’s fees provisions. Perhaps an
oversimplification of the holding: a prevailing defendant
is entitled to attorney’s fees if the plaintiff would have
been entitled to fees if it had won.
“First, the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees is
supported by the language of the statute: Plaintiffs’
underlying lawsuit was an action to enforce the governing
documents of a common interest development, and
defendants were the prevailing party in the action.
Second, because plaintiffs clearly would have been
entitled to an award under the statute had they prevailed
in the action, denying defendants an award under the
statute when they were the prevailing party would
unquestionably violate the reciprocal nature of the statute
and thus defeat the evident legislative intent underlying
the statute.”
In other words, as my client liked quoting: “Sauce
for the goose is sauce for the gander,” or “Same monks,
same haircuts.”
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions
or comments about the decision or any HOA, CC&R,
neighbor vs. neighbor or view rights issues.
Keith Turner
Woman’s Club President
Sends Message to Community
It has been my pleasure and privilege to serve the as
the president of the Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club
this past year. As I complete my term of service, I want
to share just how important 2015 is as a milestone in
our community. The Woman’s Club is 90 years young
in 2015 and continues to be a vital and vibrant part of
life in this town. This year also marks the 30th Annual
Pacific Palisades Home Tour, the 80th anniversary of
the founding of the Junior Women’s Club, the 50th
anniversary of the YMCA, and the 90th anniversary of
the Palisades Elementary PTA. Each of our organizations
has contributed to the character and nature of Pacific
Palisades.
I am committed to ensuring that the Woman’s Club
can continue to offer the community its “living room” as
a place to meet, celebrate, learn and grow and that the
club continues to have a valuable and positive influence
on the Palisades and the generations who live here in
the next 90 years. So, I am asking for your support in
three simple ways to make this a reality:
(Continued on Page 8)
Palisades News welcomes all letters, which may
be mailed to [email protected]. Please
include a name, address and telephone number so
we may reach you. Letters do not necessarily
reflect the viewpoint of the Palisades News.
Page 8
Letters
(Continued from Page 7)
Join. Are you a woman who works in, lives in or cares
about Pacific Palisades? Did you belong to either the
Woman’s Club or Juniors in the past? JOIN TODAY!
Tell us a story. Tell us about how the Woman’s Club
has had an impact on your life, your child’s life, your
neighbors’ lives and our community! TELL US A STORY!
Give to preserve the clubhouse. We welcome any
amount and place a priority on celebrating all of our
gifts, large, small and in between. GIVE A GIFT! Visit:
theppwc.org.
With much appreciation for all of your support,
Terri Lyman
Paul Revere Middle School
Teacher’s Suspension Unfair
(Editor’s Note: The following letter was one of many sent
to LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines. The author
is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and specializes in
business law.)
As the parent of an eighth grade student at Paul Revere,
I read with dismay about the suspension of Mr. Carnine
from his teaching position at Paul Revere. While I understand litigation has been commenced and you of course
must follow the advice of your counsel, it seems to me
that this would be a relatively easy situation to investigate,
at least to the extent to determine whether a suspension
from teaching is warranted during the litigation.
It is my understanding that the litigation was filed
based upon allegations of one student. Assuming that
there were about 35 students in the class, it should not
require a lot of work to question the other 34 students
in the class to see whether any of them will substantiate
Palisades News
the allegations. To the contrary, I understand that many
of her classmates state the allegations were untrue
and/or taken out of context.
If no substantiation can be found, I see little risk to
the school district to permit Mr. Carnine to continue
teaching while the litigation continues. This is not an
allegation such as child molestation where there is danger
to the children from his continued interaction with
them. Of course, should you do so, I would transfer the
student making the allegations into another classroom.
It seems almost criminal to me that a teacher with
decades of teaching experience without a blemish can
have his career derailed by one unsubstantiated allegation.
The decision to suspend him based upon this
unsubstantiated allegation seems more than unfair. Can
you imagine a student making a similar allegation and
commencing litigation against you and your being sent
home to wait for some indeterminate period?
Worse still, the remaining students in the class are
being deprived of an excellent teacher and continuity
in this course. I would do everything possible to have
him back in the classroom at the end of spring break.
Thank you for your consideration.
Robert S. Rein
California Incline
Closes April 20
The closure of the California Incline is now slated for
April 20, message signs alerting motorists have been
placed along PCH. Once the 1930 bridge is demolished
and removed, construction will start on the new one.
The project was bid as 365 days of work; construction
is slated to be completed in the summer of 2016.
April 1, 2015
Spring Propagation Tips
The Veterans Garden, the not-for-profit nursery of
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, will host a workshop
“Spring Propagation Tips” from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on
Saturday, April 11, at the West L.A. VA, 100 Davis Ave.
The Botanic Garden’s own propagator, Ernesto Alvarado,
will share basic tips and techniques. The event is free, but
please RSVP to (424) 234-0481 or visit [email protected].
The nursery, which carries native plants, is open
Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Chabad Adds Service
In Palisades Village
In addition to weekly Shabbat services at the
Chabad Jewish Community Center at 17315 Sunset,
Rabbi Yekusiel Kalmensohn leads weekly services
at a second location in the Palisades, “Chabad in
the Village.”
The space for the services, in the former US
Bank building and adjacent to the Mobil Station,
was generously provided by developer Rick Caruso,
whose company owns the property. Each week
following the prayer service, a lunch and discussion
takes place, amid friendship and acceptance.
Rabbi Zushe Cunin, executive director for the
Chabad Jewish Community Center, said: “May we
always celebrate growth, happiness and success,
together with the ongoing support of this wonderful Palisades community.”
Visit: chabadpalisades.com.
April 1, 2015
Page 9
Palisades News
Carnine
(Continued from Page 1)
were treated and sometimes still are.
“He said that SOME PEOPLE think that
black people are not smart and only good
at sports, and that Jewish people are known
for being very wealthy. He taught us that
these stereotypes are wrong and should not
be used, but there are still many people in
America who believe these stereotypes.
“Mr. Carnine discussed how many
people didn’t like Lincoln, because they
claimed he was an n-lover. He did not
even use the word; he spelled it out and
said ‘Excuse my language, I really do not
like using this word, but this is how
harshly the African American people were
treated.’ Mr. Carnine also said he was
completely against the word, but he was
trying to teach us about the harshness of
slavery before the civil war. It was important to learn about how harsh it really was
in order to understand this history better.
He did not want to ‘sugarcoat’ it to us, like
many other teachers tend to do.
“Regarding Ferguson: Mr. Carnine said
that the man was a ‘t—g,” but he absolutely
did NOT deserve to be harassed like he was.
He also mentioned that it was not fair to
have an all-white police squad on the job,
because there was bound to be racism, even
though the amount of racist people has
noticeably decreased and our society has
overall evened out.”
On Monday, Zack Blake, also an eighth
grader in that class said: “Mr. Carnine was
telling us how it was, how people thought
back then.”
Student after student, parent after parent
spoke up on support of Carnine, as KTLA
5 and NBC 4 recorded the protest.
Student Leela Gowland said, “He was
one of my favorite teachers ever. I had him
a whole year and he would never be racist.
Mr. Carnine is not like that.”
Seventh- and eighth-grade English and
journalism teacher Eric Wechsler said, “He’s
a great teacher and we want him back.
There’s more than 100 kids today, who
won’t have their teacher because of this.”
Rosenthal Launches Latest Book
Palisadian Betsy Rosenthal will sign her
latest book, An Ambush of Tigers, at 3 p.m.
on Sunday, April 12 at Diesel Bookstore,
at the Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th
Street, Santa Monica.
Illustrated by Jaco, the book was released
April 1, by Millbrook Press and targets children ages 5 to 9.
Publishers Weekly wrote, “Rosenthal and
Jago’s collaboration stands out for the sheer
inventiveness they bring to the subject. Witty
delights abound as a shiver of sharks bundles up in winter knitwear and a bouquet
of pheasants peers glumly out of a tall vase.”
Visit: betsyrosenthal.com.
Loyola Car Wash Supports Junior Jake Peters
L
oyola, Marymount, Marlborough
and Homeboy high schools are holding a car wash from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
on Saturday, April 11, at 100 Venice Way
and Pacific Avenue (across from the
Erwin Hotel).
This is Loyola’s third bi-annual car wash
benefiting Homeboy Industries, and also
to benefit fellow Loyola junior Jake Peters.
Homeboy Industries was founded in
1993 by Father Greg Boyle to provide
meaningful “on-the-job training” for atrisk youth and those recently released from
incarceration. Currently, Homeboy Industries runs more than 10 successful busi-
pekarellis.com
nesses providing such training.
When a Homeboy is hurt or shot, the
Homeboys hold a car wash to raise money
for medical and living expenses of their
fallen brother.
Students have decided to emulate the
Homeboys’ philosophy by holding this car
wash in honor of their classmate Jake Peters, who following baseball practice in December 2014, was struck with a rare and
terribly debilitating neurological disease.
Thirty percent of the proceeds will go
to an adaptive technology fund, which
will allow Jake to continue his Loyola
studies and graduate with his fellow class-
mates in 2016.
Also on April 11, Loyola High School is
celebrating its 150th Day of Service in honor of the school’s 150th anniversary by asking all Loyola students, parents and alumni
to perform a day of service.
Cub volunteers will fan across Los Angeles to serve 100 projects at a variety of nonprofit organizations that will benefit shelters, centers, soup kitchens and missions.
Loyola students (including many baseball, volleyball and swim team members)
will join Marymount and Marlborough
students to work side-by-side with Homeboys to give your car the “wash of your life.”
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Page 10
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Toppel Takes Reins at Woman’s Club
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
P
acific Palisades resident Haldis Toppel has long been active in community organizations, as evidenced in
2012 when she received the “Pioneer Woman of the Year” award from City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
At that time, she was president of the
Marquez Knolls Property Owners Association, vice president of the Palisades
Community Council and a member of
the Palisades Park Advisory Board and the
LAPD West Los Angeles Community Police Advisory Board.
Now she takes on a challenging role as
president of the Pacific Palisades Woman’s
Club on April 1, only the second person
(after Terri Lyman) to hold this position
since the Junior Women’s Club merged
with the Woman’s Club in 2013.
When Toppel, who was the Club’s communications director, spoke to Palisades
News at the end of March, she was looking
for volunteers from the 180-member body
to serve as chairs on various committees.
“The first thing I’m going to tackle in
parallel to bringing on new board members is to serve the community through
donations and service,” said Toppel, who
recalled the difficulties of merging two
Broker Associate
Fine Home Specialist
30+ Years Experience
KATY
KREITLER
Haldis Toppel is the new Woman’s Club president.
disparate organizations.
“The Junior Women spent considerable
time raising money and donating it to philanthropic causes. Often they raised between
$70,000 and $100,000 a year and then gave
it all away. The Woman’s Club was more of
a social club, but they owned the building.”
The clubhouse had fallen into such a
state of neglect that, in 2012, the Woman’s
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
Club discussed selling the building (located on Haverford, below Gelson’s). The
Junior Women, working to save this vital
community meeting place, proposed a
merger instead.
It will take an estimated $1.5 million to
update and renovate the 1951 building and
the 1956 addition. One of Toppel’s biggest
challenges will be the ongoing capital cam-
paign to bring this about.
“We need to give our clubhouse a facelift
and bring it up to today’s standards,” she
said. “We need to make an old lady into a
young bride.”
Another issue Toppel faces is helping
members accustomed to a social environment to understand that all money, even
something as simple as bridge wagers, must
be accounted for because of IRS issues.
“I’m coming in, I’m listening, I’m hearing concerns and problems,” Toppel promises members.
“I would like to bring the Club back to
a central meeting place for women of all
levels, from stay-at-home moms to professional women,” Toppel said, noting that
the club hopes to attract a broader membership. “Just as the homes in the Palisades have moved away from ranch to
two- and three-story, so has our local
population changed and we need to serve
the current population.”
She added, “The club is a well-kept secret. More than 1,000 people come through
our doors every week with nonprofits and
other charitable groups to use this facility
at a greatly reduced rate.”
Organizations such as the Garden Club
and AA meet at the clubhouse, and club
members and residents alike can participate
(Continued on Page 11)
April 1, 2015
Page 11
Palisades News
Toppel
(Continued from Page 10)
in activities such as tai chi, yoga, senior
exercise and toddler music. There are also
club luncheons and dinner meetings, a
speaker series, and major events such as the
club’s birthday party for the town’s 90-yearolds, a fashion show, the home tour, a wine
tasting, a father/daughter dance and a
spring installation tea.
Toppel has never been one to shy away
from challenges. At age 10, living in Germany, she was selected by the German/Norwegian Red Cross as a junior ambassador to
live with a Norwegian family for the summer to help mend relationships between
the two countries following World War II.
She began her professional career as a
flight attendant for Continental Airlines
Community Yoga
At Woman’s Club
Certified yoga instructor Alison Burmeister, co-owner of The Yogurt Shoppe,
teaches community yoga classes (all levels)
Mondays at 9:45-11 a.m. at the Woman’s
Club, 901 Haverford. Beginners are welcome. The class is donation based ($15
suggested). Participants should bring a
mat, water, towel and a smile.
Visit: alisonburmeister.com.
and then became a commercial pilot and
flight instructor. When she worked at the
Santa Anita racetrack, she became the first
woman to be hired there in a management position.
“The person I replaced made $1,100 a
month,” Toppel recalled. “They told me I’d
make $900 and be on probation and then
I’d get a raise.” After a year she went back
to the controller and asked for that raise.
He replied, “You don’t deserve that kind
of money because you aren’t married, you
don’t have kids and you don’t have a college degree.”
Although that dialogue would be illegal
today, in short order she married her husband Kurt in 1976, had a son, Curt, then received her college degree from the University of San Francisco in 1983.
Living in the Palisades, Toppel spent
nearly 20 years with the City of L.A.’s Information Technology Agency, where she
headed the personal computer laboratory
and introduced PC equipment to City departments. She also developed the police
department’s initial Gangs Tracking System as well as the prototype of the mobile
laptops in LAPD patrol vehicles.
Councilman Rosendahl described Toppel as “engaging with people, using her personal warmth and intelligence to shine light
on a path to resolving technical as well as
challenging interpersonal roadblocks. She
breaks through barriers just like she soars
when piloting an aircraft high above.”
Perfectly said.
EXPO
PACIFIC PALISADES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PRESENTS THE 7TH ANNUAL
COMMUNITY
& EXOTIC/CLASSIC AUTO SHOW
Sunday, May 17, 2015
SAVE
THE !
DATE
10 am – 2 pm
On the Streets of Via de la Paz,
Antioch & Swarthmore Avenue
PaliHi Showcase
Night Is April 9
Palisades High School will hold its annual Open House and Showcase Night
from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, on the campus and in Mercer Hall.
On display will be student-produced art, drawings, paintings, sculptures,
photography and ceramics. Throughout the evening there will be dance, drama,
choir, orchestra and jazz band performances, running about every 30 minutes,
starting at 6 p.m. There will also be screenings of student-produced short films.
New this year will be robotics and rocketry projects, designed by MESA
(Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) students.
Additionally, workshops will be offered for parents on using Infinite Campus
and Schoology (computer access to students grades and school reports), and
PTSA and PaliHi Boosters will be on hand with boxed dinners and the latest in
PaliHi gear for sale.
Savio, Gardening Expert,
To Speak on Unusual Fruits
Yvonne Savio, a master gardener, will
speak on “Unusual Fruits and Vegetables”
at the Pacific Palisades Garden Club’s
monthly meeting on April 6, at 7:30 p.m.,
at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave.
All Palisades residents are welcome.
Born and raised in Pasadena, Savio
worked at UC Davis in the Botany and
Vegetable Crops Cooperative growing
vegetables, and wrote gardening columns
for local newspapers and journals.
In 1994, she relocated to Southern California and began working with the California Cooperative Extension. She oversees
the Master Gardener Program as well as a
community gardens program called Common Ground.
Her talk will focus on varieties of unusual fruits and vegetables and tips for
growing them in Southern California.
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Page 12
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
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©2015 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office is owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker® and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered
service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Broker does not guarantee the accuracy of square footage, lot size or other information concerning the condition or features of property provided by seller or obtained from public records or other sources, and the buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that
information through personal inspection and with appropriate professionals. * Based on information total sales volume from California Real Estate Teechnology Services, Santa Barbara Association of REALLTORS,
TORS, SANDICOR, Inc. for the period 1/1/2013 through 12/31/2013 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego,
Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Due to MLS reporting methods and allowable reporting policy, this data is only informational and may not be completely accurate. Therefore, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does not guarantee the data accuracy. Data maintained by the MLS’s may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Page 13
SaveSorb Helps the Environment
By LAUREL BUSBY
Staff Writer
T
he oil goes in, and it doesn’t come
out. That’s the beauty of SaveSorb’s
spill absorbent, CEO Chase Ahders
said. Unlike cat litter, which dominates the
market even though it absorbs little while
instead becoming coated with spilled waste,
SaveSorb’s peat moss formulation encapsulates oil and stores it inside.
“Ours is hollow and oil moves from
outside to inside; oil is trapped in it,” said
Ahders, 41, an environmental law attorney
who began heading SaveSorb two years ago.
The product also is hydrophobic, meaning
it repels water, so SaveSorb pellets can be
used with water to absorb the oil while
leaving the water behind. “Run oily water
through SaveSorb and the water comes out
perfectly clean. You can drink it. I’ve drank
it many times to prove a point.”
The qualities of the product drew Ahders
to drop his life as an attorney for the life of
a CEO, a position which he had intended
to hold simply as a favor for a few weeks.
“I stepped in and fell in love with the company,” said Ahders, who was hired by a fellow Palisadian, venture capitalist Mark
Verge. “I was impressed with the product
and immediately saw the applications.”
For example, SaveSorb reduces waste. It
Scam of the Week
Scammers, pretending to be from
the IRS, will frequently threaten to arrest victims or take away a driver’s license or business license if an alleged
IRS bill is not paid immediately using
a prepaid debit card.
Pacific Palisades residents receiving
a phone call from someone claiming to
be with the Internal Revenue Service
are advised to hang up.
Eric Smith, a spokesman for the IRS,
says if the scammer calls back again,
your next step is to report the incident
to TIGTA (Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) at (800)
366-4484. Between 9,000-12,000 complaints are filed weekly.
According to a recent Wall Street
Journal article, the IRS will never initiate contact with a taxpayer by phone,
e-mail or text message. The IRS will
never call about taxes owed without
having first mailed a bill, and will never
require a taxpayer to use a specific
payment method, such as asking for
a credit card number over the phone.
Unpaid taxes will not cause a driver’s
license to be revoked.
Chase Ahders is SaveSorb’s CEO.
takes 35 pounds of kitty litter to clean up
one gallon of hydrocarbon waste, while one
pound of SaveSorb will do the same job,
Ahders said.
“That’s a huge difference in environmental impact, a huge difference in cost and a
huge difference in labor,” noted Ahders,
who moved to the Palisades in 2000. Also,
“if you let the kitty litter sit there or run
water through it, oil spills out.” With
SaveSorb, the oil goes in where microbes
eat it, and it’s no longer an environmental
problem.
At first, the company was focused on oil
spills. SaveSorb barriers are used on small
oil spills in boating accidents in the Marina
del Rey area, as an example. Since oil floats,
the company’s barriers can be put around
a spill, and the encircled oil can be removed
from the water with floating mats. Last
year’s 10,000-gallon oil spill in Glendale was
cleaned up with the product, Ahders said.
It took 2,000 pounds of their product, while
it would have taken more than 50,000 gallons of kitty litter to do the same thing.
But oil spills are actually a small part of
their business. “If you’re waiting for spills,
you’re going to be waiting a long time,”
noted Ahders, who with his wife Erin has
four children, twins Nolan and Liam, 10,
Wyatt, 8, and Hagen, 4.
Instead, companies with regular leaks
and first responders are their biggest customers. If a SaveSorb representative can get
through the door to demonstrate the benefits of the product line, about 95 percent
of the time, they get a sale, Ahders said. For
example, he visited a North Carolina giant
food processing plant.
“Their huge machinery is under incredible pressure and it leaks. You can’t stop
it,” he said.
He did a demo on “one of their nastiest
places to clean,” which was a 10-by-15-foot
basin of water and hydraulic oil. Normally
it would take several hours for employees
to clean and fill three 55-gallon drums with
600 pigmats—a type of thick industrial
paper towel. With 10 of Ahders’ peat mats,
company workers could clean up the same
area and fill up less than one drum in about
30 minutes.
Locally, law changes going into effect in
July have created a new type of California
customer.
Companies with parking lots and facilities that have storm drains will have to
institute plans to protect those drains
from oily water runoff, Ahders said. While
another company’s separator costing
$4,000 or more is an option, a SaveSorb
filter would cost around $300-400 for
most drains.
“We created a product that is very
unique that filters out oil as it goes in,” said
Ahders, who stars in a series of YouTube
videos showing how SaveSorb works in
comparison to other products.
“The beauty of our product is that we’re
not just helping companies save the environment, we’re also saving them money.”
Neighborhood: El Medio Bluffs to Las Casas
By MICHAEL EDLEN
T
Del Mar. Almar Plaza, the widened intersection where Almar and Wynola come together, was initially planned to have small
shops and landscaping. There is a quaint
park there now.
This combined area is within the same
Tract as the Alphabet streets and Via Bluffs,
among other areas. The Civic League was
given jurisdiction over exterior design
changes and has established architectural
guidelines that help maintain certain
heights, size and style standards.
Although many homes throughout this
neighborhood have some views, properties along Asilomar enjoy head-on ocean
views, and home prices along its fourblock stretch are among the highest in this
neighborhood. In recent years, Asilomar
has been impacted by periodic land settlement above a mobile home park off Pacific
Coast Highway.
Below is a comparison of recent market
lows and highs in the El Medio Bluffs
neighborhood.
his area, originally called “Temescal
Subdivision,” was part of the original Tract 9300 in Pacific Palisades.
Begun in 1923, the streets were laid out in
curves to conform to the irregular terrain
and most were broader than in the earlier
subdivisions near the village.
The El Medio Bluffs include the mesa
south of Sunset from Temescal Canyon to
Muskingum, adjacent to Las Pulgas Can# SOLD
MEDIAN $
AVG $
$/SQ FT
yon. The other streets south of Sunset be21
$2,100,000
$2,604,000
$908
tween Muskingum and Las Casas were 2014 (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31)
grouped together with the “Temescal Sub- 2011 (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31)
25
$1,697,000
$1,671,000
$616
division,” and some of them back up to Las % Diff
16%
24%
56%
47%
Pulgas Canyon.
Based on information from the Association of REALTORS®/Multiple Listing Service from 1/1-12/31 in 2011 and 2014 and/or other sources. Display of MLS
There are approximately 730 homes in data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS. The Broker/Agent providing the information contained herein may or may not have
this neighborhood. Many of its streets were been the Listing and/or Selling Agent. If your Property is currently listed for sale this is not intended as a solicitation of that listing. CalBRE#00902158
given Spanish and Indian names, such as
Michael Edlen is ranked #52 of all agents in the country with over $1.5 billion in sales and more than
Almar, Arbramar, Asilomar, El Medio, 1,100 transactions. He has tracked Pacific Palisades sales since 1987. If you would like to know what your
Temecula, Temescal, Tahquitz and Puerto home may be worth today, Michael can be reached at (310) 230-7373 or [email protected].
Page 14
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Fredrik’s Bench Dedicated
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
P
alisadian Fredrik Almqvist Gillette
died tragically during surgery at the
age of 47 in 2012. On March 22 this
year, his wife Nancy and the couple’s three
boys, Patrick, Max and Blake, unveiled a
bench in Temescal Canyon Park, just
north of Pacific Coast Highway.
The plaque reads: “In memory of Fredrik
Almqvist Gillette January 1, 1965 to August
10, 2012. Loving father & husbanden ‘Life
is Sweet.’”
Nancy Gillette explained that her husband had gone into the hospital to have a
simple surgery to replace his pacemaker/defibrillator wire and battery. “Nothing is ever
simple, is it?” she asked reflectively.
On March 22 son Max explained, “We
picked this spot because we played soccer
here with Coach David. It seemed the right
spot where you could sit and see kids play,
but could still see the beach.”
Brother Blake remembered when he was
eight and playing soccer at the park. “My
dad collapsed and the paramedics came and
I remember telling everyone, ‘He’ll be fine
in a few minutes. He does this all the time.’”
Patrick added, “This is where we learned
the sport we loved. This is my summer
house, and now I have a place to visit.”
Fredrik was a soccer coach and referee
for AYSO all-star teams for 11 years, and
also served as a coach and referee for club
soccer for six years. He was a positive individual, and people were attracted to his
upbeat personality.
In addition to sports, Fredrik volunteered
at Marquez Elementary, where his kids attended. He was a member of the Sons of the
American Legion and an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 223 for 10 years. All three
of his sons were Eagle Scouts. He served as
a deacon at Palisades Presbyterian Church.
Fredrik, a Swede, met Nancy in Shinagawa, Tokyo, in 1986 and came to the U.S.
in 1987. They married in 1988.
“He fell in love with the USA, and with
my father, even called him dad,” Nancy
Fredrik Almqvist Gillette
(Left to right) Max, Nancy, Patrick and Blake sit on the bench dedicated to their father
and husband Fredrik Almqvist Gillette on March 22.
said. “When Fredrik became a U.S. citizen
in 2006, he had his name legally changed
to Gillette, taking on my father’s name.
Funny, because our sons still have hyphenated last names, which is not even allowed in Sweden.”
The couple moved to Pacific Palisades
in 1991 and then to the Highlands in
1999. Fredrik graduated from UCLA with
honors in East Asian Studies/Japanese in
1995. At the time of his death, he was employed as an administrative analyst and IT
specialist at UCLA. Because he had spent
his childhood in Tokyo and his teen years
in France and Sweden, Fredrik was fluent
in five languages.
Due to construction at Temescal Canyon
Park, it has taken nearly two and a half years
for the bench to be placed in Fredrik’s honor.
Nancy feels sad that Fredrik missed seeing his oldest son graduate from USC with
an aerospace engineering degree; Max from
Azusa Pacific University with a business
marketing degree; and Blake’s graduation
from high school at Oak Park and his freshman year at APU.
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“The boys have been real troupers since
Fredrik died,” Nancy said, “and very protective of me. Even though they’ve since
moved out, they turn up for meals or with
a basket of laundry frequently.
“Fredrik’s passing affected a lot of people
in a dozen different countries. I am in touch
with many who say even after so much time
has passed, they still think of him,” she said.
“His Palisades friends also were touched
deeply by him, and his uncanny desire to
chat with everybody whose path he crossed.
“Fredrik’s father, Johan, still lives in
Stockholm, Båstad and Paris, and last year
created a Japanese stone memorial garden
in Båstad where Fredrik played as a child,”
Nancy said. “His mother, Gisela, still lives
in London, Paris and Stockholm, and
lights candles for him whenever she
passes a church.”
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April 1, 2015
Page 15
Palisades News
Joy Moeller Receives Health Award
By LAURA ABRUSCATO
Staff Writer
W
hen Palisadian Joy Moeller’s son Bryan was
in elementary school, the school nurse
would call her two or three times a week to
pick him up due to headaches. He had trouble eating.
The family couldn’t take trips to Disneyland because
he became so carsick, and they didn’t go to the movies
because he couldn’t sit still.
“I kept running around from doctor to doctor,” Moeller
recalls. “Bryan had a tonsillectomy and an adenoidectomy
at age four. I took him to a vision therapist, a psychotherapist, who said he was normal, and a neurologist who
wanted to do experimental brain surgery.”
Moeller, a dental hygienist, was working for a dentist
at the time who had taken a course in myofunctional
therapy, which uses muscular exercises of the tongue
and lips to correct tongue thrust and other dental and
speech disorders.
“He said Bryan’s tongue was in the wrong space and
he was breathing improperly,” Moeller says.
Bryan was given exercises to do at home, given a bite
splint and went to an osteopathic physician for cranial
work. Over time, his head and stomach problems went
away and his teeth started to straighten out.
In 1979, inspired by her son’s turnaround in health,
Moeller took courses to become a myofunctional
therapist, and in 1980 she opened a private practice.
Last month, Moeller received the AAPMD Pioneer
of Airway Health Award from the American Academy
of Physiologic Medicine and Dentistry at its conference
Moeller’s two sons, Bryan, who inspired her to enter
this field, and Marc, the director of his mother’s
myofunctional teaching academy, also were in New York
for the award presentation.
Patients are often referred to Moeller by dentists,
orthodontists and sleep specialists for problems such
as tongue thrust—when the tongue pushes against the
teeth during swallowing—and mouth breathing, as
well as eliminating oral habits such as thumb sucking
and nail biting. These issues can lead to problems with
sleep, eating, speech and an improper bite.
Moeller’s practice is divided about equally between
children and adults, including a number of adults
whose teeth have moved after having orthodontic
work and want to address the underlying habits that
are causing the problem.
Moeller gives patients a variety of daily exercises to
strengthen and retrain the lips, tongue and face, so that
they learn to rest with their mouth closed, tongue
touching their upper palate, and breathe through the nose.
“I feel the problems my son had inspired me to write
many articles, treat thousands of patients and work so hard
to teach others about myofunctional therapy and how it
helps sleep disorders, airway problems, orthodontic issues,
TMJ pain, posture problems, and stomach disorders.”
Palisades myofunctional therapist Joy Moeller, whose office
An Optimist Club member, Moeller moved to Pacific
is located on Via de la Paz.
Palisades in 2001 from Carlsbad and opened an office in
in New York City.
the Atrium Building. She teaches myofunctional therapy
“I am very excited,” says Moeller, who has a private
in postgraduate courses at UCLA and universities. She
practice on Via de la Paz as well as in Beverly Hills. “I
is also the co-author of Tucker the Tongue Finds His Spot,
want to transfer this information to people so that they
a children’s book.
know it exists.”
Call: (310) 454-4044.
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Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Page 16
Lacrosse Coach Betsy Knows Best
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
S
ometimes you win the jackpot, and
that’s what happened to Palisades
High School girls lacrosse team when
Betsy Economou agreed to coach.
Not only was Economou recruited by
Division I schools in three sports—soccer,
lacrosse and basketball—she served as the
Davidson College head woman’s lacrosse
coach for two years [2006-2008] after serving as the assistant women’s soccer coach
as her alma mater, Loyola (Md.) College.
“My mission is to have every little boy
and girl get the opportunity to hold a
lacrosse stick,” said Economou, who in 1990
was named the State of Maryland Female
High School Athlete of the Year and also the
state’s lacrosse athlete of the year. “I want
lacrosse to be the premiere sport in the
Palisades. That’s a fun challenge: can you
change the culture?”
Her assistant coaches this year are Julie
Wooters (St. Lawrence College) and Brooke
Flanngan (Colgate), who played for her
on the East Coast, but now work in Santa
Monica. While serving as an assistant college soccer coach, Economou also served
as the head lacrosse coach at Greenwich
High School.
She launched impact lacrosse in Greenwich [2001-2005], starting with 25 girls and
four years later had 150. The club was recognized as one of the top programs in the
nation. From 2009, until moving to Palisades, Betsy was the founder of Top Tier
Lacrosse program—one of the nation’s
most elite training programs for girls and
young women.
“Do you know that three out of four kids
quit sports by the time they are 13?” she
Betsy Economou coaches her Palisades High lacrosse team in a match against Birmingham.
asked. “It’s because there’s a destructive style
of youth coaching. A coach should fuel
passion for the sport. You want to make
kids love the sport.
“Have we truly checked out who’s influencing our young?” she asks. “We do background checks on teachers, but do you
know who’s influencing your youth? We let
abusive coaches work with kids.”
Economou is an advocate for sports be-
Coach Betsy discusses strategy with players during a timeout.
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
cause she feels they teach youth how to
focus; how to work hard; and how to be
confident.
In addition to coaching at the high
school, Economou is leading a workshop
for youth for the YMCA. “There were 10
boys [6 to 8 year olds] at my first clinic,”
she reported, and a video showed all of
them enthusiastically running up and
down the field.
Not only is she an athlete and coach, she
is the mother of three boys, “Rip” a 6-foot
5-inch freshman at Santa Monica High
School, Luke, 13, a seventh grader at Calvary Christian and AJ, a fourth grader at
Palisades High School.
The dual occupation of a mother/coach
can lead to problems for Economou.
“Coaching is my passion, it’s my profession, it’s my calling,” she said. “I’m more
aware of coaching styles, and I’m highly
opinionated.”
She also advocates for youth to play
multiple sports, not only to avoid repetitive
stress injuries, but because “I was a better
lacrosse player because I played basketball
and a better soccer player because of
lacrosse. I was on three different teams with
three different coaches.
“The system now isn’t allowing athletes
to do that,” Economou said. “It should be
mandatory in youth sports that before a
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
certain age, say 12, a kid cannot commit
year round.”
In 2006, the Baltimore Sun compiled a
list of 40 Years of Sun Athletics Standouts
and Economou was on the list. Three years
later, they did a story about her and cited
her as a four-year standout during her college career (1991-1995) on the lacrosse field
(four years), basketball (one year) and soccer (three years), where she is still ranked
fifth among all-time scorers.
WBAL Television in Baltimore sportscaster Keith Mills recently sent a message
to Economou, “You will forever be on my
all-time favorite high school and college
athlete list in the area. Not just because of
what you did, but how you did it. It was a
pleasure to follow your career.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing and a
master’s in business management at Loyola
and initially thought about becoming a
sports agent, but then was asked to coach
and never looked back.
Economou currently has 24 kids out for
the team, many of whom had never held a
lacrosse stick before this year, but already
she has plans to build a junior varsity team
next year.
“I hate mediocrity. I can’t stand being
average,” she said. “I’ll push and drive because I want my kids to be great.”
April 1, 2015
Page 17
Palisades News
PaliHi Lacrosse Roundup
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
Boys
T
SUMMER CAMPS
& SCHOOL
PROGRAMS
Special Section—
April 15, 2015
Place Your Ads NOW in the
Palisades News!
Full-Color Pages, Full-Color Ads
Distribution to the entire 90272 Palisades
Community (by US Mail to 13,300 addresses
& 1,200 distribution around town)
he boys team, coached by Bryan Cuthbert (assistant coach Gus Campos), has
had easy wins over Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and league rival Birmingham,
but was crushed by Peninsula, 15-2. “They are ranked in the top five in the
country,” Cuthbert said. “We’re ranked in the top 15.”
In order to qualify for the CIF Southern Sectional Championship, the top 16
seeds from the north (which often include Harvard-Westlake, Malibu, Agoura,
Palos Verdes, Mira Costa and Chaminade) battle it out, and the winner then faces
the top team from Orange County to determine the overall champion.
Last year, PaliHi captured its first-ever City league title in a match against Birmingham. Many of the City teams are fledgling, such as Hamilton, which just
started a program this year.
Pali seniors Kobi Hancz (midfield), Nick Nunley (midfield), Danny Donohue
(defense), Alex Clarke (defense), Evan Clark (midfield), Reece Pascoe (defense),
Nate Galper (attack) and Dimitri Sioris (midfield) are helping to guide a mostly
younger team.
“I’m extremely proud of the leadership,” Cuthbert said. “The team chemistry is
good and we’re continuing to work on it.”
The leading scorer is freshman Macchio Rissone, followed by Galper and Jake
Takajian. Cuthbert praised goalie Spence Au, who played JV attack last year, for taking
a new position. “We’ve had six wins so far,” and Au’s saves have been a key factor.
“We’re continuing to build the culture we want,” the coach said. “It takes a lot of
work, but we’re also having a lot of fun.”
The boys’ next home game is 6:30 p.m. on April 7 against Brentwood.
Girls
T
he girls team continues to rebuild under the leadership of senior captains Suzie
Ting, Bella Barber, Laura Sussman and Liesel Staubitz. New head coach Betsy
Economou has been hospitalized several times during the season, but the captains have
organized practices on their own and continue to work on passing and stick skills.
The Dolphins won numerous games at the Rose Bowl and Birmingham tournaments.
Their league rival, Birmingham, has beaten them twice, but the second game on
March 25 was decided by one point, so their City playoff game at the end of the season
is anyone’s bet.
Economou praises Ting—“very versatile, can play attack and defense,” and says
Barber has “fantastic defense savvy. What she lacks in speed, she makes up in smart
body positioning and knowledgeable slides.”
The coach also applauds Sussman for her job in the midfield—“She is the catalyst
to our fast break”—and notes that “Staubitz is a strong, low attacker, with good
field vision and Zohya Parma has tremendous speed, is agile and crafty to goal.”
Pali’s next home game is 5 p.m. on April 13 against Hawkins.
Special Section Pricing—
PLUS, additional ads on the Camps Page
in a following issue available (call for details)
Make your Ad Reservation Today!
Ad Space Reservation Deadline: April 6
Camera-ready Ad Artwork Deadline: April 7
(ads must be supplied by advertiser)
Contact for Information:
Jeff at (310) 573-0150
[email protected]
Grace at (310) 454-7383
[email protected]
The Palisades High boys lacrosse team warms up before a home match. The team’s next
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
home game is April 7 against Brentwood.
Page 18
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Greg Willis Fixes
The Beach Fence
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
W
hen Greg Willis was growing
up in Royal Oak, Michigan, he
never imagined that one day he
would be repairing and painting the fences
and benches at Will Rogers Beach across
from Patrick’s Roadhouse.
His life’s path has been crisscrossed with
mental and physical injuries, but now he
has Vinnie, a dog he adopted from the Blue
Cross Pet Hospital, to keep him company.
About a year ago, he was sitting on a
bench with his dog, looking at the ocean,
and noticed the bench needed paint and
nearby fences were rusted.
Willis was on disability after wrist surgery, and often walked to the beach from
his Santa Monica Canyon apartment. After
using the Roosevelt Pedestrian Tunnel at
West Channel Road, he noticed that the
railing directly over the channel was rusted
and filled with holes. He contacted L.A.
County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who
told him to send pictures.
He did and then met John Giles, district
manager, for the L.A. County Department
of Beaches and Harbors, who provided him
with red paint.
But before Willis could paint, he needed
to repair the railing.
“It was rusty and there was metal missing,” Willis said, explaining that he wrapped
a paper plate filled with Bondo [putty] filler
and melded it to the existing pipe. Then
he sanded by hand, added more Bondo,
sanded again and finally covered it with
Rustoleum. He repeated that same process
the entire length of the fence.
“I’ve been working on it since last July,”
Willis said. “It was all Swiss cheese holes.”
After finishing the repair work, he painted
the fence red.
“This was the original WPA installation
from the 1940s,” Willis said. “Beaches and
Harbors don’t really have the time to work
on this like I did, it would have been cheaper for them to rip it out.”
Willis also has focused his attention on
three cement benches along the bike path
in the area. He has painted them blue, but
noticed that in the center of the back is a
round empty space where a Coke symbol
used to be.
“They’ve [the symbols] been gone for
many years,” said Willis, who decided to fill
the hole with an image of Will Rogers. He
went to the library and found a children’s
book and made a copy of a photo of Will
Rogers. He used epoxy glue to affix the
photo to the back of the bench.
In December, Willis flew back to Michigan to take care of his mom, and when he
returned to the beach, all three images had
)5((
3$,1/(66($53,(5&,1*
been stolen from the back of the benches.
He would like to recreate the Will Rogers
image for the benches, because he now feels
he has a tamperproof method using a mortar drill and allen head bolts, but this would
cost about $50 a bench. He’s hoping he can
find sponsors. Willis said the Santa Monica
Canyon Civic Association has provided him
(Continued on Page 19)
PREVIEWS ESTATES DIRECTOR
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Greg Willis and his dog Vinnie on a bench that Willis painted at Will Rogers Beach.
310.230.7377
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April 1, 2015
Page 19
Palisades News
Willis
(Continued from Page 18)
with some financial support for repairs.
Willis worked on Live Aid in 1985 and
then moved to California in 1986, where he
drove non-union “honeywagons” (portable
bathrooms) for films. He said his favorite
director was Robert Altman. “He was the
nicest; he would give his actors full rein.”
In early 1988, Willis broke a leg and underwent a serious operation. He developed
osteomyelitis, but credits Dr. Michael
Patzikas, who worked at USC, as helping
him emerge with his limb intact.
By 1995, Willis became a union worker,
which was also the same year he lived on
Hampden Place with his wife and daughter Monica.
But now, “I have mental health issues
and my daughter doesn’t want to deal with
me,” said Willis, who also acknowledges,
“Her mom won’t talk to me either.”
Willis said he went on Prince’s Purple
Rain tour and toured with Van Halen, but
now, “Things are hard for me. I was directly
impacted by runaway production.”
Even as Willis plans to return to work,
the next time you take the pedestrian tunnel at Channel Road to the beach, notice
the red fence and reach out and feel how
smooth it is. Then walk a few hundred
yards to the benches along the bike path
and silently thank Willis for his homegrown disability “therapy.”
John Closson,
Vice President
and Regional
Manager of
Berkshire
Hathaway
HomeServices,
congratulates
Dan on
being the
Top Producing
Agent in the
Pacific
Palisades
office
for 2014.
Community Service
Opportunities Are
Available Locally
Most schools require students to
perform community service as a requirement for graduation. The following four events need volunteers:
1. EGGstravaganza at the Palisades
Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to
1 p.m. on Saturday, April 4. Help is
needed with setup and the egg hunt.
2. The 11th Annual Brentwood Community Fair and Silent Auction
from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday,
April 19, at 740 Gretna Green Way
(Bundy and San Vicente).
3. Optimist-YMCA 43rd Annual Track
Meet from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Sunday, April 26 at the Palisades
High School Stadium. Timing,
helping organize heats of runners
and assisting with ribbons.
4. Marquez Elementary Beautification
Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. Volunteers will assist
with weeding, planting, spreading
woodchips and other tasks.
E-mail: [email protected] if
you would like to volunteer.
NEW LISTING
High School Art Sought
For National Competition
Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual-art competition to recognize and
encourage artistic talent. Since the competition began in 1982, more than 650,000
high school students have participated.
Congressman Ted Lieu invites all students in his district to enter the competition. The submission deadline is 5 p.m.,
Friday, April 10, at 5055 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 310, L.A. 90036.
The winner will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the national awards
ceremony, where work will be displayed for
one year at the U.S. Capitol. There are also
district prizes for second and third place.
Artwork must be two-dimensional and
each framed artwork can be no larger than
28 inches long, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches
deep. No framed piece should weigh more
than 15 pounds.
Accepted mediums include: paintings
(oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.); drawings
(colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels,
charcoal); collages (must be two-dimensional); prints (lithographs, silkscreen and
block prints); mixed media; computergenerated art; and photographs.
Each entry must be original in concept,
design and execution.
Congressman Lieu will host a reception
and awards ceremony for his district on
April 20, at the Fantasea Yacht Club, 4215
Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey.
Call Ashley Fumiko Dominguez at
(323) 651-1040 or e-mail [email protected] or David Leger at
(323) 651-1040 or e-mail david.leger
@mail.house.gov. Visit: lieu.house.gov/
services/art-competition.
Texas Hold ‘Em Poker
Coming on May 9
The second annual Rotary Texas Hold
‘Em Poker Tournament will be held from
5 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, in Janes
Hall at the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian
Church. Proceeds will benefit the Palisades-Malibu YMCA and the Rotary
Club of Pacific Palisades Foundation.
The prize pool will be more than
$5,000. The initial buy-in is $200 (includes dinner) and the maximum number of players is 100. The deadline is May
1, unless player spaces are sold out sooner.
Contact Pete Crosby at (310) 454-6387
or [email protected]; or Perry Akins at
(310) 459-8551 or [email protected].
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S P E C I A L I Z I N G I N P A C I F I C P A L I S A D E S , M A L I B U , S A N TA M O N I C A
Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Page 20
Santa Monica Beach Memorial, the Iraq war.
Vietnamese family refugees leaving their home and village during the Vietnam war.
Nick Ut Visits PaliHi
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
Photos courtesy of Nick Ut
Kim was admitted to the hospital.
“The Terror of War” or “Napalm Girl”
That Pulitzer-winning photo was almost not published
because it included full frontal nudity of the little girl.
In 1972, nudity was an absolute no-no at the Associated
any agree that Nick Ut’s photo of the naked
Press, but New York photo editor Hal Buell agreed the
little girl burned by napalm and running
news value of the photograph overrode any reservations
down a road in Vietnam helped bring about about nudity. When the AP offered the picture to its
the end of that awful war.
clients, it was published on front pages of newspapers
The photo of 9-year-old Kim Phuc near the Trang
around the world.
Bang village captured the horror of the war in a way
Soon thereafter the United Nations classified napalm
that viscerally upset a nation. Titled “The Terror of War” as too brutal for even war and banned its use. In January
or “Napalm Girl,” it won the 22-year-old Ut the 1973
1973, the United States, North Vietnam and South
Pultizer Prize for Spot News Photography.
Vietnam signed the Paris cease-fire agreement.
On March 20, Nick spoke to more than 400 Palisades
Not surprisingly, Ut and Kim, who lives in Canada,
High School photography and history students about
have become close friends over the last 40 years and see
his career. Ut showed numerous photos from Vietnam each other often.
and Cambodia and spoke about that day in 1972.
Ut recounted his early life growing up in Long An
A journalism student asked, “When you took a
(near Saigon) and how his older brother, La, was an AP
photo of Kim, what was going through your mind?”
photographer in the Saigon bureau. La’s goal was to
“It was a war zone, everything was sudden, I was the take a photo that would end the war. Instead, La was
AP photographer and my job was to take pictures
shot and killed by the Viet Cong.
when things happened,” Ut said. “I saw group of kids
Ut “inherited” his brother’s cameras and was soon on
run away from napalm explosion, one burned badly
the streets of Saigon and then the battlefields. He was
with no clothes.”
wounded three times: in his knee, arm and stomach,
He quickly shot a few frames and immediately tried to but when his wounds healed he returned to shooting
wash the napalm from the little girl’s skin with canteens pictures. Ut estimates that 90 percent of the AP
he had filled with water. A nearby hospital refused to
photographers who covered Vietnam were wounded.
Nick Ut answered student questions about photography
treat Kim and said she would have to travel to Saigon, a
In June 1972, Ut heard that there was fighting near
and the Vietnam war. In the background is the photo
journey she could not survive. Ut pushed his way to the Trang Bang, and he rushed to the scene. A South
(Continued on Page 21) that won him a 1973 Pulitzer Prize. Photo: Bart Bartholomew
doctor and showed his AP press credentials and finally
M
April 1, 2015
Page 21
Palisades News
Nick Ut
(Continued from Page 20)
Vietnamese plane had accidentally released a load of
napalm on the village.
Ut took photos of a man carrying a child, and a
woman running down the street with a burned boy in
her arms. Next he took the photo of Kim covered in
napalm, screaming.
“When I took the photo, I knew it was the one that
could stop the war,” Ut said. His photo has been called
one of the most haunting and memorable of the 20th
century.
Students at PaliHi learned that photography and
newsreel film transmitted during the Vietnam War was
often delayed two- to three-days because film had to be
developed, then jetted to other countries for transmission.
Today, digital cameras and iPhones make photography
instantaneous, and photographers are battling “citizen
journalists” for space on the printed page. AP in Los
Angeles used to have 10 photographers but today has
just four. The Chicago Tribune has fired all of its staff
photographers, as has Sports Illustrated.
After the war, Ut was told to leave Vietnam because his
life was in danger. He first landed in Camp Pendleton
before being transferred to AP Tokyo. He moved to Los
Angeles in 1977.
In September 2013, Ut became the third person
inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame for his contributions
to photojournalism. The 35mm Leica M2 camera that
he used to shoot “Napalm Girl” is in the Newseum in
Washington, D.C.
Ut shared some of his more recent work for AP’s Los
Angeles bureau, including movie stars, brush fires,
politicians, and even the space shuttle framed by the moon.
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He was asked if there were AP assignments he prefers.
“No. I cover the Los Angeles area. If I am needed anywhere, I will be there.”
For students who wanted to know how to be a good
photographer, Ut said,
“Capture memories,
scenery, art: you will be a
good photographer.”
Ut’s talk was arranged by Lisa Saxon, who teaches Media
1, a college-credit course at PaliHi and is the advisor for
the award-wining student-run magazine, The Tideline.
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Ut captured Vietnamese fishing in central Vietnam.
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Page 22
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Five Win Full-Tuition Scholarships
By LAUREL BUSBY
Staff Writer
T
here’s a posse at PaliHi, and they’re
ready to ride. After a series of hurdles,
five Palisades Charter High School
students triumphed—garnering four-year
college scholarships from The Posse Foundation to four different institutions: Northwestern University, Kalamazoo College,
Middlebury College and Tulane University.
Like the other winners, Jonathan Shiler, 18,
who earned a Northwestern scholarship, received the news via a phone call. He immediately told his mother and sister. “My mom
started crying. My sister too. I was shocked.”
For Shiler and four other students,
Shougat Barua, Josh Holmes, Jessie Kolliner
and Angelica Rodriguez, the scholarships
mean their full tuition will be paid for four
years at each university. They will also get a
new posse, because each university accepted
10 Posse students from the Los Angeles area.
Since they were selected earlier this year,
the groups of 10 have met regularly at
Posse’s downtown Los Angeles office where
they do various activities together to enhance their leadership skills and form
bonds with each other.
When the students reach their selected
school, the contact will continue. Not only
will they already know nine other students,
30 more Posse scholars are already at the
school—ten sophomores, ten juniors and
ten seniors—so they have upperclassmen
to help them transition into university life.
The scholarships target students with
leadership potential who might be overlooked in the traditional selection process,
and 51 colleges participate with support
sites in 8 other cities. Los Angeles students
can apply for scholarships to Pepperdine
University and UC Berkeley plus nine other
institutions outside the state, so 110 scholars across the city earned free tuition.
To receive a scholarship, each recipient
had to first be one of approximately 15 students nominated by their high school. Each
was also interviewed by the Posse Foundation, participated in a group event with varied activities that allowed the foundation to
see the students’ leadership skills in action,
and then had an individual interview with
representatives of their chosen college before
learning whether they received a scholarship.
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Five Palisades High students won four-year full-ride scholarships including Josh Holmes, Angelica Rodriguez, Jessie Kolliner and
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
Shougat Barua. (Not pictured is Jonathon Shiler.)
Jonathan Shiler
hen he was 9, Jonathan Shiler’s father
left home and never returned. This
was a seminal moment for the young boy.
“The result of the divorce was me becoming more responsible at a much younger age than my friends,” said Shiler, who
also has a younger sister, Rebecca, a sophomore at Pali, who he wanted to help
through this crisis. “I took it upon myself
to not bring any other pain into the situation. I took it on myself to help her.”
In essence, that increased sense of responsibility was part of what drove him
to take harder classes and bring him to the
point where he was selected for the scholarship, he said. Now, he’s focused on working toward a degree in engineering or
computer science at Northwestern.
At PaliHi, he is part of the Robotics Club.
He’s also a Pali Ambassador who gives parents and prospective students tours of the
school. The Brentwood resident also participates on the Palisades Park Teen Council,
which organizes activities such as movies at
the park or collecting sports equipment to
donate to schools that need the gear.
W
In addition, he is an active member of
Chabad in the Palisades. Shiler, whose parents
moved to the United States from Israel, also
speaks Hebrew fluently and says his religion
of Judaism is an important part of his life.
Throughout childhood, “it was a constant
thing of celebration. I was raised with it and
I like it. It’s another part of my identity.”
Shougat Barua
hougat Barua dreams of becoming a
cardiac surgeon.
The medical field is a family interest. His
mother and father, who were a dentist and
doctor respectively before moving to the
United States from Bangladesh 14 years ago,
are respiratory care practitioners at CedarsSinai Medical Center. Barua has volunteered
at Cedars since the summer before his ninth
grade year. The experience has cemented
his interest in joining a medical profession.
“I have really liked how the doctors interacted with their patients,” said Barua,
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who won a Middlebury College scholarship. “I was impressed with the way they
handled uncooperative patients—their
communication skills.”
At Cedars, where he volunteers in the
(Continued on Page 23)
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Page 23
Palisades News
Shougat Barua
(Continued from Page 22)
summers, Barua also has a chance to work
with patients in the cardiac department
“to make their experience at the hospital
a little bit better.” He might bring them
water or magazines, and he also gets to
chat with them, sometimes in meaningful
conversations. He runs errands for the
nurses and enjoys watching them and the
doctors at work.
Barua earned entry to PaliHi via the lottery and lives in Hollywood, which means
a two-hour commute each way to attend
school. An only child, Barua participates in
Pali’s Science Bowl team, the Robotics club
and the Rocketry Club.
At Middlebury, he plans to major in
biochemistry, which came alive in PaliHi
teacher Carole Smith’s AP chemistry class.
“The way that she taught was really, really
amazing,” Barua said. “It was thanks to her
that I got a really good score on the AP
chemistry exam.”
the PaliHi team, but in his senior season as
a team captain, his baseball interest waned.
“My body was breaking down. I didn’t want
to play anymore.”
The kid who once dreamed of becoming
a pro baseball player, now imagines being a
doctor. So he stopped playing baseball at
Pali and instead won a scholarship to Tulane University, where he plans to major
in biomedical engineering before heading
to medical school. He is not sure what
specialty he would like yet.
“I don’t want to be a surgeon—having
someone’s life in my hands doesn’t appeal
to me,” Holmes said. But he is intrigued by
prosthetics. “My grandmother and grandfather have diabetes and might have to have
prosthetics one day. I want to make sure I
can help them if I need to.”
His mother, a DWP senior clerk typist,
and his father, a DWP air conditioning
mechanic, raised him and his older sister,
Kaesha, in their Leimart Park home. His
grandfather lives with the family, while his
grandmother lives close by, so he frequently visits with both after school.
At PaliHi, he has volunteered with both
the Human Rights Watch and the Kiwanis
clubs, but baseball was his central activity.
It also helped him get into Tulane, because
he wrote his college essay about the sport.
“Baseball was a huge part of my life,” said
Holmes, who played for 12 years. “When I
played, I forgot about all the stresses of the
world. I was able to play my heart out without any worries.”
Jessie Kolliner
essie Kolliner is equally at home in Los
Angeles and Ecuador.
Josh Holmes
A citizen of both countries, Kolliner, who
or most of his PaliHi career, Josh won the second Northwestern University
scholarship, spends her summers in her
Holmes was all about baseball.
He played shortstop and second base on mother’s homeland of Ecuador, while the
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NOTICE TO READERS
The Palisades News welcomes submissions of obituary notices
for Palisadians, past and present. Notices must be 400 words or
less. A photo may be sent for possible inclusion. There is no charge
for the notice, nor the photo. For questions, or to submit, please
e-mail [email protected]. The desired deadline for submissions is Thursday before the intended publication date (the
first and third Wednesday of the month).
Jessie Kolliner
school year is spent in the United States, her
father’s birthplace.
No matter where she is, Kolliner tries to
give to others. “I feel really fortunate and like
I should be doing something,” said the 18year-old senior, who particularly enjoys giving to children. “Especially if I can donate
my time, if I can help them and guide them,
that’s the best way I can spend my time.
Kolliner, a West L.A. resident, volunteers
at the Anne Douglas Center for Women,
where she helps with the children while the
mothers are getting other assistance from
the center. She also works with children in
Ecuador, where she volunteers in a government-run day care. And since her freshman
year, she has donated time on campus with
Pali Buddies, a group that matches special
needs students with other students at the
school to provide connection and support.
Heal the Bay has been another campus
club where she has participated.
When she reaches Northwestern, Kolliner plans to major in economics and minor
in international studies with the goal of
perhaps one day becoming the CEO of a
company.
“I see that people have so much faith in
me and I want to live up to that faith,”
Kolliner said.
Angelica Rodriguez
ngelica Rodriguez’s three-year-old
cousin has Aicardi syndrome, a condition that has left her blind and with no
spinal function. Yet, the little girl still works
hard and brings joy into the world.
A
“She tries to do the best little babies can,”
Rodriguez said. “She makes her mom
happy. Seeing that connection between
them makes me want to help other kids.”
So Rodriguez, who won a scholarship to
Kalamazoo College, has decided to become
a pediatrician. “I just like helping smaller
people that can’t stand up for themselves.”
She already spends some time helping
others. At Pali, she has been involved with
the Red Cross and Animal Shelter Helpers
clubs. On Saturdays, she also volunteers
at her neighborhood Catholic Church in
South Central L.A. to help with the children’s activities there.
Her parents, who moved to Los Angeles
from Mexico, own a convenience store, and
Rodriguez sometimes works with them at
the store and also helps out with her younger sister, Gabriela, who will be starting at
PaliHi in the fall.
All of these activities and accomplishments would probably surprise the doctors
who attended Rodriguez’s birth. Due to
Angelica Rodriguez
some complications, they had told her parents that she might not survive, and if she
did, she would likely suffer from mental
paralysis. She was in and out of the hospital frequently until she was three years old.
As she grew, the doctors’ predictions were
obviously incorrect. Rodriguez excelled at
school, and she found that when she worked
for things, she could achieve them.
“You have to be confident in your own
skills,” Rodriguez said. “You have to take the
opportunities. I took the opportunity of
Posse when I had it, and here I am.”
Michael C. Solum
, Principal
Insurance and Financial Services Agent
881 Alma Real Dr., Suite T-10
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
(310) 454-0805
[email protected]
PaliInsurance.com License #OG51003
Page 24
Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Nick Tate Stars in Corktown
P
alisadian Nick Tate is starring in the
world premiere play Corktown ‘57 at
the Odyssey Theater, which opened
March 28 and runs through May 3.
The play, directed by the Tony-nominated Wilson Milam, takes place in a
Philadelphia community known as “Cork-
town,” a hotbed of pro-Irish activity that
reached its climax in the late 1950s, when
Irish Republican Army splinter groups had
begun to advocate violence against civilian
targets as a strategy to drive Britain out of
Ireland.
Playwright John Fazakerley said, “The
Perfect Wedding Opens
On April 10 at the Pierson
Perfect Wedding, by Robin Hawdon,
under the direction of Sherman Wayne,
opens Friday, April 10 at 8 p.m. at Pierson
Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd.
A bachelor party gone awry—or was
there a party?—leaves an appalling situation: the bridegroom wakes on his wedding morning in the bridal suite and finds
an attractive stranger in bed next to him.
He doesn’t know her name, can’t remember even meeting her: but worse, his
bride-to-be arrives while the strange girl
is still in the bathroom.
What’s an earnest young man to do?
Lie about it, of course. He persuades the
best man to pretend the stranger is his
girlfriend. Now, the best man’s real girlfriend has to be kept ignorant of the situation. Each lie breeds another, and by the
time the bride’s parents and half the hotel
staff are involved, chaos reaches nuclear
proportions.
Theatre Palisades favorite Wayne specializes in madcap physical comedies, and
this production will probably be “Perfect”
and filled with laughs.
Producers are local Palisadians Sylvia
Grieb and Martha Hunter, who have been
the recipient of past Theatre Palisades
awards.
Hunter, a noted actress, will also play the
bride’s mother. Other actors include Holly
Sidell, Maria O’Connor, Marisa Van Den
Borre, Nick Thompson and Nicholas Dostal.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays
at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through
May 17. Ticket prices: adults ($20); seniors
and students ($18). Call: (310) 454-1970.
atthew
fé
G
ar
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play is a fiction, but it’s inspired by memories of my family.” After his father died, he
discovered a shoebox of old photographs
that included a 1948 photo of his grandfather holding him as a baby.
Tate plays the family patriarch, who is
told he has six months to live. With that
death sentence, he hatches a scheme to regain his status in the eyes of the Irish Republican movement. His oldest son, John, is
regarded as a turncoat to the family because
he joined the reviled British military, and
his son-in-law, Ciaran, is an IRA activist.
Tate was born in Sydney, where he started his acting career. When his parents divorced, he went to England with his father.
One of his first roles was Private James in A
Pior for Private James. Film roles followed,
with parts in A Man for All Seasons, Submarine X-1 and The Battle of Britain, before his big break, returning to Australia
to play Nicholas the Gallant in a musical
version of The Canterbury Tales.
In 1976, he won the AFI Best Actor award
as Victor, the alcoholic priest in The Devil’s
Playground. He continued to commute
between England and Australia, appearing
in numerous television shows and films.
In 1989, Tate won a part in Fox’s new sitcom Open House, and relocated to Los Angeles, where his career in both television
and film has flourished. He appeared in
Palisadian Nick Tate stars in Corktown ‘57.
Steven Spielberg’s Hook as Noodler, and in
The Public Eye and Bed of Roses. He has also
had a successful career as one of Hollywood’s premier voice-over artists.
Tate recently finished writing his first
screenplay, The Legend of the Black Fire
Opal.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 through May 2, and Sundays at
2 through May 3. Tickets on Friday and
Sunday are $25 and on Saturday $30. The
theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda
Blvd. Call (323) 960-5770 or visit:
plays411.com/corktown.
DINING WITH GRACE
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Page 25
FIG RESTAURANT
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows • 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica • (310) 319-3111
T
he New Year brought in a new chef at Fig
Restaurant: Yousef Ghalaini, who was last at Pebble
Beach and before that on the East Coast. The new
menu reflects Chef Yousef ’s many intriguing additions.
My daughter-in-law and I enjoyed the patio setting at
Fig with its full-length wall of glass windows overlooking
the gleaming swimming pool and outdoor patio.
Marble-topped tables and Italian bistro chairs add to the
relaxed atmosphere, while the bar area with its attractive
wine cabinet and tables is more bustling.
At Fig, servers are extremely helpful with selections;
our server, Jillian, recommended the slow-cooked
octopus with caper berries and butter beans, as well as
the spicy crab and avocado toast as starters.
The slow-cooked octopus was tender and delicious.
Spicy dungeness crab on an avocado-topped toast,
flavored with meyer-lemon oil and radish sprouts was
another winner. Chef Yousef certainly knows how to
combine flavors compellingly.
We shared a simple arugula salad with red onion
and a lemon, olive- oil dressing topped with a grated
flavorful Pecorino cheese. This light and zesty fresh
salad was the perfect intermediary before our entrees.
Jillian had also recommended the herb-roasted lamb
sirloin. She was right. This dish was exceptional.
Beautifully cooked tender slices of lamb were served on
a bed of horseradish potatoes with pea tendrils and a
cured olive tapenade. Each bite had wonderful flavor.
The milk-braised pork shoulder with spicy harissa
chickpeas also had terrific flavor. With the pork came
sautéed Swiss chard with honey and nuts, along with
an aromatic coriander crema. The mixture of flavors
was outstanding in both entrees.
Also recommended by Chef Yousef was “Eric’s Stash of
Cheese” rather than dessert. (Eric’s charcuterie sampling
is also available as a starter at the beginning of your meal.)
The “Stash” is served on a wooden board with a variety
of cheeses marked on an accompanying list, such as Cow,
Blue Veined, Goat and Stinky, etc.
With the thin slices of raisin bread there were small
arrays of nuts and honey, almonds and thinly sliced
apple, and a little guava jelly along with the cheeses. Our
board featured sweet and spicy mixed-milk pecorino
from Italy; a delicate, velvety Ashed Rind goat cheese
with a lemony taste; Bleu de Chevre from France with
a smooth texture and distinctive tang; a pungent classic
Munster from France and a robust raw-milk cheddar
from Devonshire pastures in Great Britain.
As we finished my large cup of decaf coffee and my
companion’s pot of tea, we found this dinner to be
exceptional and satisfying. Prices are as you would expect
in a first-class hotel restaurant. Starters vary from $10
for a roasted tomato soup to $18 for the spicy crab and
avocado toast, with a few starters in the $11 to $14 price
category. Salads are $13 to $15.
Entrees vary from $23 (vegetable curry with organic
rice) to $35 for seared Eastern scallops. The terrific herbroasted lamb sirloin is $29, as is the roasted half Jidori
chicken with butter beans and San Marzano tomatoes.
Wagyu beef sirloin with roasted root vegetables and salsa
verde is $33. The milk-braised pork shoulder is $27.
Eric’s “Cheese Stash” is $26, or you may select for
yourself at $6 for each cheese.
Make sure you have your valet parking receipt validated
before you leave the restaurant, as it makes parking more
reasonable. Fig is open for breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m.
every day. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from
11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner service is Tuesday through
Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., with Happy Hour (meaning
half off most items) from 5 to 6 p.m. Lunch is served
Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
— GRACE HINEY
Page 26
April 1, 2015
Palisades News
Playwrights Showcase Plays at Festival
S
et aside three Tuesdays this month to
enjoy local talent when the sixth annual Theatre Palisades Playwrights
Festival is held at the Pierson Playhouse.
There will be wine, snacks, and a questionand-answer period after each performance. Admission is $5 at the door, or $10
for all three plays through Goldstar (goldstar.com). Call: (310) 454-1970.
Poof!, a musical by Lew Hauser with
music and lyrics by Kenny Michelson, is
perfect family fare. The show takes place in
a musician’s hat. There is a serious problem
because the musician has lost his “poof!”
A cast of characters help him trying to recover it, but with an ever-lurking villain,
they face a daunting task. This reading, directed by John Dantona and Ronnie Sperling, will be staged April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Lew Hauser was director in residence for
the Queen Mary Dinner Playhouse and is
currently directing at The Vagabond Players. At Theatre Palisades he has directed
Witness for the Prosecution, Charley’s Aunt,
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,
Smokey Joe’s Café and last year’s musical,
JUMBLE SOLUTION
Lew Hauser
David Reuben
Jim McGinn
The Marvelous Wonderettes.
The following Tuesday, April 21 at 7:30
p.m., Reprieves, by David Reuben, directed
by Ria Erlich, will be staged. Through his
characters, Reuben explores complicated
and fragile family relationships and what
happens when they become stressed during a time of crisis. The perspectives of the
patient, family, and physician clash as
each struggles with ethical and medical
dilemmas at the end of life.
Reuben, a Sunset Mesa resident, has written four plays, two of which have had readings. He is the director of a multi-campus
program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics,
and Archstone Professor of Medicine at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
The final playwright, featured on Tuesday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m., will be Palisadian
Jim McGinn, who teaches screenwriting
at USC.
His play, Six about Sex (Plus Jogging),
explores virginity, sexual harassment, seduction, adultery and paternity, through six
vignettes. Some funny, some sad and all incisive. In between each “mini-play,” a young
man and a young woman jog together in
the mornings.
McGinn has written six full-length plays
and five have received productions in Connecticut, Michigan, New York and Switzerland (in German). He has also written eight
short plays that have premiered in small
theaters in Los Angeles.
He enjoyed a long career in television in
Chicago, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles as a writer, producer and programming
executive. He and wife Patty have three
grown children, Shannon, Michael and
Sean; a daughter-in-law, Janie; and two
grandchildren, Laney and Perrish James.
ALARMS
Interactive alarms are now standard and keep you in
control. We install and maintain integrated alarm
systems to protect your home and family. Our local
state-of-the-art, 24-hour Central Monitoring Station
is staffed with professional operators ready to assist
you at home and in the community.
PATROL/RESPONSE
Our academy-trained patrol officers ensure your
safety and security at home and in the community.
Highly trained and quick response, we are the most
effective patrol service in town.
CAMERAS
Palisades Patrol installs cameras that deliver exceptional
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respond to camera monitoring.
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April 1, 2015
Page 27
Palisades News
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Palisades News
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April 1, 2015
Palisades News
April 1, 2015
Page S-1
Corpus Students Win Optimist Contest
T
he Pacific Palisades Optimist Club
announced the winners of the annual Optimist International essay
contest, “Optimism Should Be a Priority.”
The top three places went to Corpus Christi
eighth graders. Taking Gold and a cash prize
of $150 was Andrew Arth. Second. The $100
cash prize for second went to Bella Hooper.
Third and $50 went to Keely McMahon.
Arth, after opening with a quote from
Eleanor Roosevelt, “The future belongs to
those who believe in the beauty of their
dreams,” said Roosevelt was talking about
optimists. He then spoke about Thomas
Edison, who invented the record player, the
microphone, power plants, the movie camera and batteries, noting that when something first didn’t work, Edison would say:
“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000
ways that won’t work.”
Arth spoke about Jim Valvano as an example of an optimist inspiring others
through his basketball coaching and then
his battle with brain cancer. Arth concluded: “Optimists were successful because they never stopped believing in
their own dreams.” He is the son of Jim
and Susan Arth. His essay will now advance to the district level.
Bella, the daughter of Kristin and Brandon Hooper, wrote about Dr. Martin Seligman’s book, Learned Optimism, which
states that pessimistic athletes have worse
performances than optimistic ones. Using
the example of a middle-school volleyball
team, she pointed out that although they
were the favorites to win, they lost focus
and soon found themselves losing 0-10.
The players started lashing out at each other
and questioning the referee’s calls.
“. . .They lost their confidence, became
pessimistic and ended up losing the championship game.” Afterwards the girls spoke,
realized pessimism was the wrong direction
and made an effort to cheer each other on—
be optimistic. The following year they won
(Left to right) Corpus Christi teacher John Dowling, Optimist member Dr. Mike Martini, Optimist President George LaBrot and
Photo: Shelby Pascoe
essay winners Bella Hooper and Keely McMahon. (Andrew Arth is not pictured.)
league and advanced to the sectionals tournament, making it into the sweet sixteen
round. Hooper said, “Even though we lost,
at least we did not beat ourselves this time.”
The daughter of Eileen and Johnny
McMahon, McMahon wrote, “Optimism is
especially important to me because of how
it has helped me through so many rough
times in my life.” She recalled of how her
grandfather, John, told her about serving in
the Korean War and how he was injured,
but how his optimism helped him recover.
Her grandfather was later diagnosed with
throat cancer and all during chemotherapy
he still stayed strong and happy.
She also wrote about when her mother
was diagnosed with cancer, and after the
operation, the family felt optimistic.
McMahon said, “I was really happy because she was getting a lot better, the doctors had gotten the cancer out and she
was going to be okay.”
There were 32 entries; each had to be at
least 700 words, but no more than 800.
Judges not only looked at content, but had
to deduct points for failing to adhere to
rules, such as not centering page numbers.
The annual contest is open to any student living in Pacific Palisades or attending
school in this community, as long as they
are under 19 years of age and have not
graduated from high school. Club President George LaBrot is hoping that next year
there will be even greater participation.
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Page S-2
Palisades News — Summer Camps & Schools
April 1, 2015
Bryan’s Smile Focuses on Drug Awareness Spring Golf
When Santa Monica dentist Melanie
Gullet lost her 26-year-old son Bryan to
drug addiction, she formed Bryan’s Smile,
a nonprofit organization dedicated to
bringing awareness about addiction and
depression.
“The ‘not my child’ and the ‘not me’ attitude, along with the lack of knowledge
about addiction and depression, have created a disturbing increase in deaths of
America’s young,” Gullet said. “Our mission is to bring awareness and communi-
cation about what is being called an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.”
On April 16 and May 14, there will be
programs from 6 to 9 p.m. at St. Martin of
Tours, 11955 Sunset Blvd., in Brentwood.
Participants will follow the fate of a fictitious teen addicted to drugs, which includes
arrest, jail and ultimately a funeral.
Each attendee will be given a drug-abuse
profile to adopt during the program, so
he/she can become familiar with different
addictive drugs and gateway drugs. Participants will hear from an addict in recovery,
and Gullet will speak.
The organizations believes that the best
way to prevent substance abuse is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
The program is open for youth ages 10
to 17, who must be accompanied by a parent. The event is free and advanced registration is necessary because space is limited.
RSVP [email protected].
Visit: bryanssmile.com
ECC Offers Preschool Option Community
T
he newly opened Palisades Jewish
Early Childhood Center is under
the direction of Chana Hertzberg
and is one of the few outdoor Jewish
preschools near the beach that is Reggio
inspired.
A Reggio philosophy means children
and teachers are co-learners that explore
together, using tools of listening, observing, and flexibility to create the learning
space. Curriculum has an underlying
structure based on guided learning and
collaboration, which engages the interests
and skills of each individual child, interweaving teachings on a broad range of
disciplines through real world learning.
Currently there are 60 children en-
rolled and as a result of the success and
popularity of the school, there is now
opened enrollment for a pre-kindergarten
class starting September 20.
Additionally, the Friendship Circle now
offers a safe haven for mothers, as well as
children and teens and Navah Paskowitz,
who recently became director, has increased attention and services for families
of children with special needs. Paskowitz
pairs these children with teenage volunteers, exposing them to a unique friendship, as well as offering social and
communal experiences they might not
otherwise receive.
The Center is located at 17315 Sunset
Blvd., call (310) 454-7781 or visit pjecc.org.
Talent Show
A community talent show will be
held on May 8 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in
the quad at Palisades High School.
Entrance is free, with a suggested donation. There will be food trucks at
the event.
If you would like to participate, auditions for the talent show will be held
from April 15 to 24. Palisades residents,
students, and school faculty are welcome to audition and participate in the
talent show. Please e-mail Annie Loy at
[email protected] to receive
an audition time slot.
Camp Offered
For Juniors
A spring golf camp for juniors ages 6 to
16 will be held through April 10 at the Heroes Golf Course at the West Los Angeles
VA grounds. The co-ed camp offers full
day (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or half day (9:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 1 to 4 p.m.) options
on the nine-hole course. All levels are welcome and students can sign up for the day
or week to best fit their schedule.
PGA Teaching Pro Carlos Rodriquez
teaches all aspects of the game while playing the course with students. Youth golfers
are taught rules, etiquette and course
management. Visit: LAGolfAcademy.com
or call (310) 230-2052 or e-mail [email protected].
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards
Yu-Gi-Oh! the Trading Card Game is
held from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. on the first
and third Wednesdays of the month in the
Palisades Branch Library community
room. All youth are invited, including beginners. The game improves skills in math,
reading, strategy and statistical analysis.
All levels are welcome.
Call: (310) 459-2754.
April 1, 2015
Palisades News — Summer Camps & Schools
Page S-3
Seven Arrows
Offers C.A.M.P.
S
even Arrows is offering a summer C.A.M.P., with
its own unique spin—Creators; Artists; Makers;
Performers.
“We are incredibly excited to introduce the summer
C.A.M.P. to the entire Westside community,” said
Margarita Pagliai, Seven Arrows Head of School. “Under
the direction of our amazing music and drama teacher,
Colin Simson, children will have the opportunity to
explore their talents and ignite their imaginations in a
fun, engaging camp experience.”
One does not have to be a Seven Arrows student to
participate in a camp designed for elementary students
in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Youth will work on visual arts with Clinton Bopp, a
renowned up-and-coming L.A. street performance
artist and will learn performing arts with Simson.
Music will be taught by Norma LaTuchie, an
accomplished flutist and multi-instrumentalist, who
has more than 30-years’ experience teaching music.
Recording artist Brooke Mori will work with new and
innovative methods of creative movement.
For those youth more interested in the technical
aspect of how and why things work, Seven Arrows
technology specialist Sara Kaviar will put those students
under her tutelage.
All campers have a hands-on experience to first
dream and imagine, before constructing a personal
artistic creation from scratch. The concept of allowing
participants to choose their path to fulfilling their creative
role in the production reflects the Seven Arrows vision
Second grader Castor Maynard works on a technology project, one of many creative endeavors offered at Seven Arrows
Photo: Courtesy of Seven Arrows
Summer C.A.M.P. on La Cruz.
of an interdisciplinary, integrated and individualized
approach to education.
Students may write and perform an original play;
design and paint a backdrop; write an original song
and choreograph movements; design costumes and set
pieces, build and play their own instruments; explore
behind the scenes technology; and play outside
through structured athletic activities.
“There’s something for every kid here,” Simson said.
“Our captivating theme-based sessions will allow children
to express themselves through a variety of activities.”
The first week of camp, the theme is “Deep Sea
Adventures,” and the following week it is “Circus,
Circus!” The end of each session culminates with a
final performance and art exhibition.
In addition to individual achievement, the Seven Arrows
summer C.A.M.P. teaches public speaking, conflict
resolution and teamwork. Visit: Sevenarrows.org.
Page S-4
April 1, 2015
Palisades News — Summer Camps & Schools
Calling All Youth Techies
I
f your youth is a computer whiz who
is fascinated by learning coding, likes
creating games and is interested in robotics, then ATAM (Art of Technology,
Art and Music) is the place to spend the
summer.
Located at 881 Alma Real Dr. (next to the
library and across from Ralphs), the camp
promises an ATAMic learning experience.
Youth will meet like-minded campers, who
want to discuss the educational side of
Minecraft, or who like taking a computer
(or technology objects) apart and putting
it back together.
Anthony Wamble founded ATAM in
2012. He was an art director before becoming an educational technologist and teacher
who taught technology and music for over
15 years in private schools and homes
from Beverly Hills to Pacific Palisades.
A father of two himself, Wamble knows
the importance of balancing the “screen”
with nature, so every day at camp includes
outdoor fun at the nearby Palisades Recreation Center.
All skill levels of youth are invited to
participate in the weekly sessions, which
start June 8 and run through August 28. (A
spring camp is available through April 18.)
Every week, the emphasis is on a different
technology application including Movie
Makers Special Effects, Lego Robotics—
Race Cars Demolition Derby, Mobile App
Game Design and Makey Arduino Makers.
“I wanted to create the cutting-edge center
for kids and adults to pursue their passion,”
said Wamble, who notes that regular classes
include all levels from beginners to highly
gifted members of Mensa; and age levels
from 2-1/2 to great-grandparents. “When
you learn technology at ATAM you are also
learning deeper levels of math, geometry
and engineering—it’s cross-curricular.”
Camp hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, and extended care
is available until 6:30 p.m. Sessions are flexible and students are allowed to sign up for
the day, week, month or entire summer,
with an early-bird discount of $50, if one
registers before May 15.
With the ever-increasing push toward
technology, this camp will give kids a head
start on learning the important skills they
will need in the future.
In addition to technology, “We record
musicians and we teach DJs and techies how
to record and engineer,” Wamble said, noting
that DJs and pro audio techies can learn ProTools, Logic, Reason, Ableton Live, Composing, sampling, recording, mixing, editing,
mastering and Garage Band podcasting.
Because sitting in front of a computer
can be a solitary experience, this camp is
important for the socialization it offers. “We
have specialists who create a unique experience for each camper, allowing that youth
Anthony and Mary Wamble have fun with the children at ATAM, the Original Learning
Photo: Bart Bartholomew
Center for Everything Technology, Music, Art and Recording.
to learn, create, innovate and make friends
in a group environment,” Wamble said.
In addition to spring break and summer
camps, every Friday and Saturday night
ATAM hosts game night. From 5:30 p.m. to
midnight, it’s ultimate game and 3D movie
night. Parents can have a night out, while
youth play computer games, iPad games,
PC and MaC games, XBOX and XBOX
360—all under close supervision. Food,
drinks and snacks are provided.
Visit: atampalisades.com or call (310)
573-0012 or e-mail techandmusicteacher
@gmail.com.
Make a Duct-Tape Wallet
The Pacific Palisades Library Teen Council will meet from 3:30 to 5:30 on
Tuesday, April 7, in the community room, 861 Alma Real Dr.
At this meeting participants will make a wallet out of duct tape. “Design a
fashion statement to carry your cash.” All teens are welcome and supplies and
instruction will be provided.
AMAZING MUSIC STORE.COM
ALL AGES, ALL STYLES!
Group & Private Lessons • Instrument Rentals & Sales
with
Beach Lot
Santa
Santa Monica
Monica - 2030 Ocean
Ocean Avenue
Avenue – Beach
Lot #4 south
ower 18)
Pacific
Pacific Palisades
Palisades - W
Will
ill Ro
Rogers
gers S
State
tate B
Beach
each ( TTower
ugust 28th
June
June 8th thru
thru A
August
Sinjin Smith
Boys & Girls ages 7-18.
All skill levels welcome!
olleyball Camps: 9:00am to 12:00pm (M-F)
Beach V
Volleyball
Sand & Sea Beach Camps: 9am-12pm and, or 12-3pm (M-F)
RE
REGISTER
GISTE R ONLINE AT
www.beachvolleyballcamps.com
For more information call 310-940-7166 or email us at [email protected]
NOW ENROLLING
SCHOOL YEAR 2015-2016