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BEVERLY HILLS COURIER | MARCH 9, 2018 Page 5
Education Specialist Chris Hertz Tapped To Head Security At Beverly Hills Unified
The aisles at Jayde’s are beautifully stocked with a tantalizing selection.
New Jayde’s Market Brings Grocery Excitement To Bel-Air By Victoria Talbot Jayde’s Market has arrived, and no doubt, hilltop residents will be delighted to welcome the new marketplace and deli to the Glen Center, bringing an unrivaled selection of culinary imagination that is bound to lure the neighbors below Sunset and along Mulholland Drive to shop and dine. It is a total immersion experience. Every feature of cuisine is skillfully addressed and arranged in attractive, appealing displays that are simply tantalizing, abandoning the image of shelves stocked with the tedious accoutrement of day-to-day life. This is an adventure, an invitation to leisurely explore the delightful treasures throughout the store. At Jayde’s, said owner Thomas Plejer, “We consider ourselves a marketplace, not a market.” A local himself, Plejer moved to the canyons “at the tail end of Joe’s” when the market was on a downhill slope. The store closed in 2014. The commu-
Thomas Plejer and Joseph Ramos
nity was underserved, and being an entrepreneur, he realized, “I could really bring some life back into this.” Plejer’s vision was more than a store. He wanted to create a “community hub” where people can look forward to going shopping. (see ‘JAYDE’S MARKET’ page 15)
THE COURIER ON TOUR IN CAMBODIA – Rock star realtor and philanthropist Michael J. Libow, made certain to take the Beverly Hills Courier on his trip to Southeast Asia, where he stopped at many historic sites including the Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia where he posed for this picture. Join the Carry the Courier club by emailing mlopez@bhcourier.com.
Man With Gun Arrested After Entering Beverly Hills High School Campus By Matt Lopez Beverly Hills police arrested a man last Wednesday who police believe entered the Beverly Hills High School campus and followed a student as she left school. Michael Alphonso Barona, 25 of Los Angeles, was arrested just after 5 p.m. last Wednesday after officers were called to investigate a suspicious person in the area of Moreno and Robbins drives, according to Lt. Elisabeth Albanese of the Beverly Hills Police Department. The caller, a Beverly Hills High student, told police that when she left campus and got in her car, she noticed Barona following behind in his car, a green Toyota Camry. "Officers located the vehicle occupying the suspicious person, conducted
a traffic stop and made contact with the sole occupant,” said Albanese. “During a lawful search of the subject's vehicle, officers discovered a loaded firearm inside the vehicle's glove box, a misdemeanor in the state of California. The firearm was otherwise legal to possess.” Police determined that the driver, Barona, had entered the Beverly Hills High campus through an open gate, parked his vehicle and was seen walking around campus. Barona was arrested on suspicion of violating the Gun-Free School Zone Act, a felony, and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle while in a public place, a misdemeanor, Albanese said. Barona was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail and was due to appear at the Airport Courthouse last Friday for arraignment, Albanese said.
By Laura Coleman On the morning of Tuesday night’s public unveiling of the City’s commitment to fund an interim security program at Beverly Hills Unified School District that places Beverly Hills police officers at each school, Beverly Vista parents were alerted via email at 7:25 a.m. that the school’s interim Assistant Principal Chris Hertz was to be replaced by Physical Education teacher Todd Radonsky, effective immediately. Hertz, a BHUSD administrator for the past six years who most recently served as its Director of Student Services and Special Projects concurrent with his two-month stint at Beverly Vista, had been tapped to serve as the school district’s newly created “Director of School Safety.” Superintendent Michael Bregy said that by creating the new position, BHUSD has the opportunity to become a model for how school districts should function in the face of rising security threats. “This is an area that we should be leaders in, and not followers in, and I think that we’ve reached a tipping point in the country when it comes to keeping our staff and students safe; we can’t just sit down and react to each incident,” he said. “I think we need to be more progressive in the area of safety and security.” Hertz told the Courier that he was just in the initial stages of preparing to create and convene two security committees as an initial step to ensuring
Chris Hertz
that all stakeholders have a voice while simultaneously shoring up school safety. “Our very first task is to secure the perimeter on every school by April 26 (when students return from Spring Break),” he said, noting that he had yet to present his greater vision to Bregy for approval. “My intention is to infuse new life and vigor into the site-level safety committees. I also intend to reestablish the district’s safety team to improve decision-making and responsivenesss.” While Hertz’s nuanced strategy in order to best ensure school safety extends further than working toward streamlining all five schools to allow just one central point of entry during the school day and the convening of committees (one of which includes parents), BHPD Chief Sandra Spagnoli emphasized how important having a (see ‘BHUSD SECURITY’ page 19)