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BEVERLY HILLS COURIER | DECEMBER 15, 2017 Page 5
Crime Roundup: Anesthesiologist Charged With Murder, Carjacker Arrested
TOY DRIVE – The Beverly Hills PTA Council partnered up with the Beverly Hills Police for its annual toy drive this week, benefiting the children of the Compton Unified School District. Pictured, front row, from left: Eliyahu Fard, Joshua Korori, Benjamin Gotfried, Nicholas Egiazaryian, Maurice Jadidolahi, and Charles Daneshgar. Middle row, from left: Laura Skirde, Lorraine Eastman, Rose Kaiserman, Mayor Lili Bosse, Kelli Schatz and Chief Sandra Spagnoli. Back row, from left: Miryam Cohen, Traffic Control Officer Elias Pilichos, Rich Waters, BHPD Lt. Elisabeth Albanese, Santa/BHPD officer Julian Reyes, BHPD Assistant Chief Marc Coopwood and BHPD Captain Mark Miner.
By Matt Lopez The Beverly Hills Police arrested a Beverly Hills anesthesiologist this week on murder charges. According to a media release, Dr. Stephen Kyo-Sung Kim was arrested after the death of a patient that occurred at Rodeo Plastic Surgery on 421 N. Rodeo Dr. After a patient died at the clinic on Sept. 26, detectives investigating concluded that the death was caused by a lethal dose of Demerol injected into the patient during recovery. After a three-month investigation, police believe the deadly dose was injected by Kim, an anesthesiologist who police say was under the influence of narcotics during the surgery.
Kim was scheduled to appear at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center for arraignment Thursday. His bail is set at $1,000,000. Carjacking The Beverly Hills Police last Friday arrested a man on charges of carjacking near the intersection of Canon Drive and Dayton Way. The incident occurred shortly after noon, when the man allegedly carjacked, at gunpoint, a woman driving a small white hatchback vehicle in an alley near Canon/Dayton. Kit Kirill Kipnis, 47, of Beverly Hills was arrested on charges of carjacking and transferred to the LAX Airport courthouse on Dec. 12.
Planning Commission To Consider Comments On 100 Crescent Draft EIR By Victoria Talbot The Beverly Hills Planning Commission is considering public comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the proposed overlay zone at 100 N. Crescent Drive for the comment period Nov. 13, 2017 – Jan. 5, 2018. The normally 45-day period was extended, taking into consideration the holidays, so that comments can be accepted after the holidays have ended. The building is the proposed Beverly Hills Media Center, and will include a major screening room component, a ground-floor restaurant and rooftop amenities. The applicant is asking the City to allow two additional stories (five total stories), which the Draft EIR shade and shadow analysis identifies as having “a significant impact,” meaning that
homes to the northeast of the project site on Rexford Drive will be impacted for more than three hours between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the winter months. At their meeting Thursday, the Planning Commission listened to public comments on the project. The documents are available at City Hall and online at www.beverlyhills.org. The meeting, “is simply one venue during the 54-day comment period in which people can provide comments,” said Assistant Director of Community Development Ryan Gohlich. “No decisions would be made as to whether the project should be approved or denied.” Approval or denial will not be considered until later in 2018, he said. All public comments will be considered in the Final EIR. (see ‘100 CRESCENT’ page 15)
Beverly Hills High School Has Less Stress During Finals Thanks To NormanAid By Laura Coleman Amidst the anxiety-riddled time that occurs around finals, Beverly Hills High School students have spent this very week stressing less thanks to the NormanAid Student Support Center. Monday’s “Puppy Bunny Day” for example, which saw 350 students pass through the BHHS student help center to cuddle with a puppy or bunny was likely NormanAid’s most successful event ever, remarked BHHS 11th grade student Alexa Khorshad, a Peer Counselor. Throughout the week, in partnership with the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation, the center has hosted a multitude of inventive activities, all designed to help BHHS students manage their stress and anxiety and build coping skills during Finals Week. From serving more than 300 cups of tea, mostly green, in the first few days, to having students practice yoga and mindful meditation, not to mention playing with puppies and bunnies, the center continues to work to make itself accessible to the student body. “I’m hoping that it’s helping to normalize that it’s a helpful place for kids to come,” said BHHS Intervention
BHHS Student Kate Marks and bunny
Counselor Ali Norman-Franks. “Stress affects our mood. Ultimately, if stress gets out of hand it can lead them to other mental health issues.” Keys to de-stress include: practicing mindfulness, being in the moment, doing meditation, performing any type of physical activity; getting enough sleep; and eating healthful, balanced meals. “There’s a lot of stress at school,” Alexa said, noting the during finals stress levels are always higher. “I had someone say, with the puppy thing, ‘These are like the best two minutes of my life.’”
SING FOR THE SEASON – The Beverly Hills High Madrigals participated in the Beverly Gardens Holiday Concert last Sunday, along with the BHUSD Honor Choir and the La Cienega Park preschool choir. Pictured: BHHS madrigals Sydney Strickland, Andrew Liner, Joshua Coone, Alan Lubinsky, Daniel Kohanbash, Keeley Black, Kate Froemmling and Willa Ziegenfuss. Photo by Victoria Talbot