Larchmont Chronicle
presort standard u.s. postage
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south gate ca. permit no. 294
SEPTEMBER 2010
vol. 47, no. 9 • delivered to the 76,439 readers in hancock park • windsor square • fremont place • park labrea • larchmont village • miracle mile
SECTION ONE B ack T o S chool Larchmont chronicLe • 2010
On the Inside ... New principals
18
Ambassador update 22
Healthy eating
27
Schools directory 30
ANNUAL section. 17-32 LARCHMONT has talent. 5 TREATING Windsor captains. 6 SYCAMORE Square. It's legit. 7 DEVELOPMENT at Ross site hearing. 9 PASS the popcorn in Brookside. 12 NORTH KOREA visit. 15 AUTHOR signings and sightings. 36 POLO to politics Around Town. 40 DISHING on restaurants.
47
SECTION TWO Real Estate Home & Garden
Criminal, civil court set for Larchmont Bungalow Owners reach out at GWNC meeting What does the Larchmont community want? Developer Albert Mizrahi, who owns some of the property along Larchmont Blvd.’s shopping center—between Beverly Blvd. and Third St.—wants to know. He also seeks to find a way to operate his Larchmont Bungalow with tables and chairs, and he would like clarification of a city ordinance— the Q condition—that prevents him from doing so. “He’d like to come to some understanding with the community and says it would be good for everyone… he feels he’s been unjustly persecuted,” said Patty Lombard, a member of the Greater Wilshire
Neighborhood Council land use committee. Mizrahi’s attorney and Bungalow co-owner Ken Bernard spoke to the GWNC Council last month. Meanwhile L.A. Superior Court Judge Spurgeon Smith set a hearing for Thurs., Dec. 16 for a criminal case against the Bungalow, at 107 N. Larchmont Blvd. The city Dept. of Building and Safety revoked the Bungalow’s certificate of occupancy soon after it opened a year ago, because the proprietor had tables and chairs on the premises. Mizrahi had signed an affidavit that he would operate as a take-out See Court dates, p. 14
Funds found for Highland median maintenance Grenery had become eyesore Medians dissecting Highland Ave. in Hancock Park “are a disgrace,” according to local residents who have seen the green expanse of lawn turn brown from neglect. The city Bureau of Street Services no longer has the funds or staff to continue maintenance of the medians, explained Councilman Tom LaBonge. In the meantime he sent a crew from the city Parks and Recreation Department to provide immediate assistance. The median mowing and wa-
tering was accomplished over the Aug. 21-22 weekend. Also, LaBonge introduced a motion in City Council to use Pipeline Revenue Funds, which are intended for street improvements, to maintain the medians over the next few years. LaBonge and District Five Councilman Paul Koretz have promised to maintain the median, said Cindy Chvatal, president of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association. See Highland, p. 7
RADIO show host bids farewell. 2
For Information on Advertising Rates, Please Call Pam Rudy 323-462-2241, x 11
Disney lends a hand to spruce up John Burroughs a good idea found a warm reception By Laura Eversz Film crews aren’t always welcomed with open arms by residents, especially when night shoots are scheduled. “John Burroughs Middle School gets shot by film companies all the time,” said Joanne Medeiros, who lives across the street from the S. McCadden Place campus. “When that happens the street is shut down, we have loud generators, lights.” Medeiros was in a meeting in the principal’s office with a location manager from Disney for the movie “Prom” when inspiration struck. “A light bulb went on and we just kind of said ‘our school is broke. If you want to come in here and shoot, you have to help us,’” recalls Medeiros. She spearheaded a recent landscaping project at Burroughs that was funded by proceeds from the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society Garden Party, and in the midst of that project, a concrete wall outside the auditorium was exposed after
Pets of Larchmont
PARK named for noted councilman. 3 GALLERY to open at LACMA. 8
a LaNdSCapiNG pROJECT, funded by proceeds from the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society's Garden Party, is ongoing at John Burroughs Middle School.
HaTS WERE OFF TO TaSTE OF LaRCHMONT. Waiting for patrons at the Hope-Net fundraiser, were from left, Sue Carr, George Plato, Tom Brandlin, Caroline Harrison. See page 8
Rescues to training tips are covered in our special section. Ad deadline is Wed., Sept. 15. Please call 323-462-2241, ext. 11.
dead juniper trees and a hedge were removed. “It was quite ugly,” Medeiros said of the bare wall that will eventually overlook a reading garden. Since the school’s opening in 1922, the brick façade has been a key feature of the building’s Northern Italian Renaissance Revival styling. The frontage of the steps leading to the auditorium, however, was made of concrete that was out of character for the historic building. See John Burroughs, p. 39
On the Boulevard Glimpses by Jane While students are sad that their summer break is over, commuters are gearing up for the increase in traffic on our local roads. And residents are still grousing about the huge delays in going anywhere during President Obama’s fundraiser on Hudson Ave. *** It will be a coed baby shower when Wilshire Rotary Club members fete Sharon and Ken Scott before the arrival of their See BLVD., p. 18, Sec. 2
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