How Beverly Hills Voted By Precinct – Page 18
BEVERLY HILLS NUMBER 45
THIS ISSUE
Schnauzer/Terrier mix Jake leads this week’s Freshpet Adoptable Pets. 4
The Maple Counseling Center held its annual gala last week. 4
The BHHS Debate team is back in business with 25 new students. 5
The L.A. Museum of the Holocaust held its annual gala dinner. 5
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By Matt Lopez & Laura Coleman Beverly Hills voters have spoken and Isabel Hacker and Mel Spitz, along with incumbent Noah Margo, have been chosen to fill three open seats on the BHUSD Board of Education. With 100 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday night, Hacker, a community leader and political newcomer, was elected as the leading votegetter with 1,625 votes. Spitz, who served on the Board of Education in the 1970s, took second place with 1,561 votes. Incumbent Noah Margo was re-elected for a second term,
holding onto the third spot with 1,365 votes. Former Beverly Hills High Principal Carter Paysinger finished in fourth place with 1,279 votes. Incumbent Lewis Hall took fifth with 773 votes. “I’m humbled by the opportunity,” Hacker told The Courier. “It’s an enormous privilege for me to serve in this capacity. I look forward to working with Superintendent [Steve] Kessler and all the members of the board." Only 13.9-percent of regis-
See page 18 for Election Night photos!
Isabel Hacker, Mel Spitz & Noah Margo
tered voters turned out to vote based on Tuesday’s semi-official election returns. Tuesday’s election results brought to an end one of the more contentious Beverly Hills elections in recent memory, one
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George Christy, Page 6 December 15 Marks The 100th Year For Frank Sinatra, Who Weighed 13.5 Pounds At Birth, Requiring Forceps To Deliver Him That Created Damage To His Eardrum That He Suffered From All His Life
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By Laura Coleman Despite a multitude of assertions from Beverly Hills Unified School District leaders that the district had zero intention of renewing Venoco, Inc.’s lease to operate an oil well on its high school campus–the City’s only oil well now in operation–Venoco just can’t seem to get the message. In a letter dated Oct. 30, Venoco attorney Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, apprised
(see ‘ELECTION’ page 16)
Part 58 in a series on Beverly Hills residents who have grown with the Centennial City
BHUSD attorney Jeffrey Vinnick that Venoco was informed “for the first time” in September that the BHUSD would not renew the energy company’s lease to operate an oil well onsite at Beverly Hills High School beyond Dec. 31, 2016. Venoco now pays the City roughly $500,000 and BHUSD around $600,000 a year for their oil and gas lease, which stipulates
By Laura Coleman Walter Samson moved into his Beverly Hills home some 42 years ago with his young wife (19 years his junior) and their two small boys. Their youngest son had some visual perception problems and they had heard that Beverly Hills was the one community–a real community– where their son could get a proper education. “One of his teachers at Beverly Vista was a real savior,” he recalled of the person who taught their son to believe in his own abilities. Originally born in Beverly, Massachusetts in 1921 (next month he’ll celebrate his 94th birthday), Walter grew up figuring out ways to make shapes,
(see ‘VENOCO’ page 16)
City Council Rejects Bid For Rite Aid Walk-In Clinic By Victoria Talbot The City Council sent Rite Aid back to the drawing board in their efforts to receive approval for a medical overlay zone at their store at 300-336 N. Canon Dr. The permit is part of the company’s plan to enhance their retail presence by offering “Ready-Clinic,” a walk-in, one-stop service for minor, everyday medical questions that can be addressed by nurse
that included public verbal sparring back-and-forth between former elected Beverly Hills political figures and sitting boardmembers, along with anonymous campaign literature distributed to
Beverly Hills Elder: Walter Samson: WWII Veteran, Shape-Maker
BLACK & WHITE BALL — At Tuesday’s annual Beverly Hills Police Black & White Gala at The Beverly Hilton, Police Chief Dominick Rivetti presented former mayor Les Bronte with the Lawrence L. Shapiro Memorial Award for meritorious and dedicated service by a BHPD volunteer. For more photos from Tuesday’s event, see page 17.
Venoco Slowly Gets Message: No More Oil Drilling In Beverly Hills The BHHS football team picked up its first win of the year at Homecoming. 19
November 6, 2015
Isabel Hacker, Mel Spitz, Noah Margo Get The Nod For Beverly Hills’ Unified School District Board Of Education
practitioners and physician’s aids. The project would establish 474 square feet of the 19,044 square foot space for two clinic rooms, a restroom and a waiting area currently set aside near the store’s pharmacy. The City’s Municipal Code provides that public benefits must be provided in conjunction with the application for a Medical (see ‘RITE AID’ page 16)
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
VOLUME: L
Walter Samson
mostly spurred on by his father’s tooling die business. At the Samson Cutting Die Company which his father operated for a time in Rochester, New York, for example, the plant would manufacture cuttings for (see ‘WALTER SAMSON’ page 16)
T I N S E L T O W N SPARKLE — Jenna Dewan, Jane Fonda (what was she thinking!) and Michelle Rodriguez cruised the Red Carpet during the 19th annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton. Attending were Channing Tatum, Saoirse Ronan, Robert DeNiro with daughter Dreena, Thora Birch, Tim Roth, Peter Fonda, etc. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.