5-Year-Old Boy Attacked by Mountain Lion in Malibu Creek State Park, Now Recovering
Child Airlifted to Hospital After Father Fights Off Mountain Lion
During Family Picnic
On Sunday, a five-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion while he was with his family at Malibu Creek State Park on Sunday according to reports from a state agency and KTLA News.
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) press release, the boy was attacked at around 4:30 p.m. as his family was having a picnic at Tapia Park. A mountain lion came out of the trees, and the boy was grabbed by the mountain lion by the head. The animal
attempted to drag the child away while his terrified family members and several other children looked on in horror.
The boy’s aunt, who spoke to KTLA anonymously, recounted the harrowing moment. “Somebody screamed the baby’s name, and his dad started running,” she said. “The father grabbed the mountain lion with his hands and fought it off. Then the mountain lion let go.”
Approximately 40 people witnessed the attack, and some of the witnesses said that the mountain lion showed no fear of anyone. Responders from California State Park Rangers, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, CDFW officers, and Los Angeles Fire and Rescue arrived soon after the incident.
The boy was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center for treatment and was released later that evening. However, this child was returned to the hospital because of complications having to do with his facial wounds to his eyes.
Authorities located the mountain lion in a nearby tree, where it had retreated after the attack. After consulting with CDFW wildlife officers and conducting tests to confirm the attack, a state park ranger deemed the mountain lion a
Local Santa Monica Restaurant Isla Announces Closure After
18 Months of Service
Restaurant Will Close Its Doors on September 21, Cites Economic Challenges
Isla, a popular local Santa Monica restaurant, will close on September 21, 2024, after 18 months in operation. The closure is due to economic challenges faced by the restaurant and the broader hospitality industry. It was opened by the team behind Crudo y Nudo, Chef Brian Bornemann, and interdisciplinary artist Leena Culhane.
In a heartfelt statement, Isla expressed deep gratitude for the community’s support throughout its business. “We are incredibly thankful for our guests’ loyalty and our staff’s dedication. It has
been a privilege to be part of so many special moments in your lives,” the statement read.
Despite the restaurant’s struggles, the team behind Isla has been performing at its best. The kitchen, led by Chef de Cuisine @not_my_ritchieee, has continued to impress diners, while the wine list, curated by @jobrisk and @ brittmhoffman, and the cocktail program by @craftandconsume, have received high praise. Under the leadership of @mrpmdyoung, the front-of-house team has delivered exceptional service throughout Isla’s tenure.
In the final three weeks of operation, Isla will continue to serve its full menu at 2424 Main Street. The team encourages guests to visit and celebrate the time they’ve had to bring their culinary vision to life.
The restaurant also said, in a second post, “Our dear friend @nedbenson will DJ for the final Isla Noches this coming Friday, 9/6. As sad as we are
public safety threat and euthanized it.
The CDFW press release said, “CDFW and State Park officials are thankful that the family is safe, the child is recovering, and no one else was injured.”
to be closing, we couldn’t think of a more perfect person to play us out. Ned and his partner (and @lorenzarose winemaker) Michèle have been incredibly supportive of me and Brian and all three restaurants we opened since 2021. They are inspiring creatives, super foodies, and beloved friends. Our hi-fi system has basically run round the clock since it was installed, and that, too, is Ned’s doing. Music is such an integral part of giving a space a sense of place, and we’re super grateful to have someone who shares that love and belief to spin Isla’s swan songs. If you’re gonna go out, go out dancing. See you Friday!”
Rated R 3 Minutes
Released August 16th
BEHIND
THE SCREEN
By Kathryn Whitney Boole
Didi premiered at Sundance 2024, where it received the US Dramatic Audience Award. This film is the major feature directorial debut of director/ writer Sean Wang, who was previously a student in the Sundance Institute programs. Wang has been making films since 2016, when he was in his early 20’s. In 2023 he directed an acclaimed documentary on Lil Nas X. Didi is Wang’s intricate undertaking to piece together a tween/teen cinematic soliloquy on the angst of fitting in and make it flow in a dramatic storyline. This movie succeeds in that flow and in a sense of realism. Our hero, “Chris Wang,” is played beautifully by Izaac Wang, who is already an accomplished actor at age 16. This hero makes mistakes, he rarely wins his battles, and he tries so hard, to the point of sinking into such a deep depression that it might make any of us hit the wall. But he perseveres, survives, and grows stronger from the experience, over and over again. That is, you may recall, the
story of your own teen years.
Chris and his sister “Vivian” (Shirley Chen), play hilarious pranks on each other, and the mischief is realistically gross – my two brothers and I can vouch for that. Chris’s first time at an unsupervised teen party, trying to be cool while too enthusiastically sampling Jello shots, weed, and alcohol, is painfully realistic. The dream sequence that follows is almost, down to its minute details, similar to one I experienced in my late teens. I’m sure the director has been there done that. The story is set in 2008 and is smartly punctuated by visuals of email correspondence from that era on AOL, Myspace, and flip phones.
This movie really resonated with me because two of my best friends in high school were sisters in a wonderful Chinese family who had immigrated to Santa Monica from Taiwan. I spent a lot of time at their apartment. Their parents owned a Hand Laundry on Montana Avenue. They had many of the same struggles as the family in this film and overcame any hardship with hard work and a buoyant sense of humor. I remember one night having dinner with them, the whole family at the table, and my friends were trying to teach
me Chinese words. I mispronounced one word so badly that their Granny, who usually never said a word, as she professed to know no English at all, burst into uncontrollable laughter so hard she almost had her head in her plate. I remember being so impressed with her uninhibited ability to just let the laughter out. So it is with the family in this story, as you are taken on this journey with them. The cinematography by Sam A. Davis moves with the characters so that you can get close to them.
Joan Chen is absolutely brilliant as Chris’s Mom. She is a wonderful actress whose career began in Taiwan, where she rose to stardom. She was then “discovered” by international directors Dino DeLaurentis and Bernardo Bertolucci. She moved to the US to break into the film business here and was a series regular on Twin Peaks (1989-1991). She made a career in film and TV in the US before taking time off to raise a family.
There is a skateboard sequence in the movie that is skillfully cast and shot.
Director Wang recruited actual talented skateboarders who had never acted before and pulled superb performances from them. Note that shooting and
editing skateboarding has a high degree of difficulty, and here it is done very well.
Although there is a bit in the middle of the film that loses momentum, Didi is overall a touching and authentic story of growing up Asian in a society where most of your friends are not Asian. It takes a great deal of love and a huge family bond to survive and thrive when you have so many hurdles to vault.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
Speed Limits to Be Reduced Across Santa Monica
The Updated Speed Limits Will Be Rolled out This Fall, With New Signage to Reflect the Changes
The Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved new speed limits for over 30 miles of city streets, a move aimed at enhancing roadway safety for all users. The decision, made on Tuesday, follows a comprehensive speed survey
conducted from Jan. 27 to July 29, which evaluated vehicular speeds to determine effective limits.
The updated speed limits will be rolled out this fall, with new signage to reflect the changes. The ordinance is set to take effect 30 days after a second reading on Sept. 10.
Among the changes, numerous streets will see reductions in their speed limits. Olympic Boulevard will drop from 40 to 35 mph between 11th Street and Centinela Avenue. Lincoln Boulevard, Ocean Park Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard will all decrease from 35 to 30 mph on their respective segments. Several streets,
Savinar Luggage
including 2nd Street, 4th Street, and 20th Street, will see reductions from 30 to 25 mph, as well as others like Colorado Avenue and Main Street.
Additionally, speed limits will be cut to 20 mph on several roads such as 6th Street, 20th Street, and Appian Way. Other streets, including Ashland Avenue and Barnard Way, will also see similar reductions. The speed limit on California Avenue, a 0.3-mile segment between Pacific Coast Highway and Ocean
Avenue, will be the only increase, rising from 25 to 30 mph.
The speed adjustments align with the city’s Vision Zero initiative, adopted in February 2016, which aims to eliminate fatal and severe injury crashes.
Anuj Gupta, Director of the Department of Transportation, emphasized the importance of these changes, stating, “Reducing vehicle speeds on our roads is vital to creating safer conditions for getting around in our city.”
Santa Monica’s Next City Council
SMa.r.t.
Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
In the next general election, this November 5th, Santa Monica residents will be asked to vote their choices among an array of potential candidates for City Council. As in our National US election, Santa Monica perhaps faces the most crucial election in decades. The Council will have to wrestle with many other complex and publicly divisive issues as well, among which are crime, public drug consumption, safety, homelessness, and a myriad of related problems. Also, the State of California has mandated unprecedented and unmanageable growth. Only a united City Council can begin to effectively thwart the excesses of the out-of-control growth that these myopic State laws have enabled. Council action can ensure that the shape of our city’s future is not radically altered and that all new and future development respects what residents have valued as essential and non-negotiable quality-oflife issues that affect us all.
The Council will also have to tackle many other complex issues, such as wellmanaged, verifiable and accountable city expenditures and budget demands that prioritize and respect the resident’s SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE.
Finally, the next City Council will have to try to fix all these problems with a bare-bones City budget since the City budget has not yet recovered from Covid, the retail collapse, the crime surge, and numerous lawsuits.
We in SMART recommend that Santa Monica residents consider this slate of four the “Fantastic Four,” we would say, as they represent a new and energetic force to achieve our goals of good governance and good planning.
Phil Brock, Mayor, and Council Member
Dr. Vivian A. Roknian
Oscar de la Torre, Council Member
John Putnam
Hi, I’m Phil Brock, a second-generation native of Santa Monica. I grew up on our beaches, body-surfed our waves, and played on our sports fields.
I am a product of Santa Monica schools, and I’ve spent decades volunteering for local charities and our city government. I work hard for each of you on our city council and now, as your Mayor. We have faced unprecedented crises over the past four years, and while I’m proud of the work we’ve done, there is more to do. Common sense tells us that crime and homelessness must continue to be my focus in Santa Monica, and more must be done to make our city safe. I have consistently demanded the expansion of our police force and pressed for Los Angeles County and the State of California to do more to combat
homelessness in conjunction with our own efforts.
Construction out of scale for our beachside city continues to shadow the skyline because of state mandates, and more open space is of utmost importance. While I have tried hard to change city hall’s culture, many of our problems have been rooted in decades of mismanagement, machine politics, and a lack of practicality. Remaking the system has taken longer than I anticipated.
I need to finish the change we’ve all been seeking to help us thrive. I am proresident, pro-local business, pro-safety. That’s pro-Santa Monica. Pragmatism must be paramount in remaking our government into a leaner city that responds to residents and lets us flourish. I’m Phil Brock, and I’m YOUR champion on the Santa Monica City Council. Brock the Vote!
Dr. Vivian A. Roknian has been actively involved in various community services, particularly focusing on healthcare and education. Her commitment to the community is evident in her professional and personal endeavors, for example:
1. Healthcare Support: Dr. Roknian has extended special savings and services to frontline workers, including those in healthcare, hospitality, police, and fire departments, especially during the pandemic.
2. Education and Training: She has trained over 2,000 dentists in implant dentistry, dental extraction techniques, bone grafting, sinus augmentation, and advanced dental prosthetics. She is also a faculty member at the Resnik Implant Institute, shaping the curriculum and teaching methods for aspiring implant dentists
3. Fostering a Safe and Inclusive Community: Inspired by her family, Dr. Roknian is dedicated to driving meaningful and lasting change in Santa Monica to ensure a flourishing community for the next generation. She aims to enhance public safety and ensure that public facilities are clean and inclusive for all residents.
4. Addressing Homelessness: Dr. Roknian is committed to finding effective
short-term and permanent long-term solutions to the homelessness crisis in Santa Monica.
5. Supporting Local Businesses: Dr. Roknian plans to create jobs and provide support to small businesses to help them thrive.
6. Protecting Tenants’ Rights: Dr. Roknian is dedicated to preserving and protecting rent control to ensure affordable housing for residents.
7. Improving Emergency Services: Dr. Roknian wants to ensure faster response times for 911 calls, including fire and paramedic services.
8. Enhancing Public Amenities: She advocates for fully funded parks and libraries to benefit the community.
Oscar de la Torre has been a dedicated public servant and a strong advocate for the Santa Monica community. Here are some reasons why he is considered a valuable member of the City Council:
1. Public Safety: Oscar has worked to enhance public safety by hiring more police officers and contracting private security for the 3rd Street Promenade.
2. Homelessness and Mental Health: He has strengthened services to transition mentally ill and unhoused individuals off the streets, addressing one of the city’s most pressing issues.
3. Community Engagement: As a lifelong resident of Santa Monica, Oscar has a deep understanding of the community’s needs and has been actively involved in local issues. He founded a youth center and works daily to expand affordable housing and educational and economic opportunities for residents.
4. Accountability and Transparency: Oscar is committed to holding the government accountable and restoring public trust. His leadership focuses on enforcing laws, protecting renters, and supporting policies that advance environmental, economic, and social justice.
5. Experience and Dedication: With a background in public administration and 18 years of service on the Santa MonicaMalibu Unified School District Board of Education, Oscar brings a wealth of experience and dedication to his role on
the City Council.
Oscar de la Torre’s proven leadership and commitment to the well-being of all Santa Monicans make him a valuable asset to the City Council.
John Putman’s commonsense platform addresses the concerns of all residents with a focus on public safety, rent control protection with a path to homeownership, and inclusive education for all students. As a long-term Santa Monican, Putman has a historic view of the city and the progression of public safety issues related to the homeless epidemic, mental health, drug addiction, and the uptick in street crime.
While Putnam joins “The Change” slate in the call for an increased presence of law enforcement officers on patrol, he also supports compassionate care for those in need, which is backed up by a substantial record of voluntary service dedicated to providing goods and services to kids, low-income families, and healthcare workers during the COVID pandemic.
Accountability is important to Putnam. He joins the Change Slate in calling for financial accountability and measurable benchmarks for expenditures earmarked for homelessness initiatives, and a new path forward for the City of Santa Monica.
SMART, Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow, is an ad hoc group of architects and other professionals formed about ten years ago. Our mandate was to advocate for moderate, thoughtful, and welldesigned development. Development that respected the existing scale of our community and that would respect the capacity of our existing infrastructure. We have done this in our published articles, vocal advocacy, and service on City Commissions.
We would appreciate your support and consideration of our recommendations for a new and effective city Council.
By S.M.a.r.t Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow For previous articles, see www. santamonicaarch.wordpress.com/writing
Los Angeles District Attorney Launches Hotline to Combat Residential Burglaries
New Initiative Aims to Support Victims, Allow Community Report Information
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has launched a new initiative to combat residential burglaries,
a crime that District Attorney George Gascón describes as deeply personal and traumatic. The initiative includes the introduction of a dedicated hotline for victims and community members to report information about such incidents, along with a continued focus on prosecuting these crimes rigorously.
“Residential burglaries are a direct assault on the sense of safety and security that every Angeleno deserves in their own
home,” Gascón said. “These crimes are deeply personal and traumatic, and our goal is to restore peace and security to our community by holding perpetrators accountable.”
Gascón noted that residential burglaries are more than just property crimes; they violate the sanctity of homes, instill fear, and can have lasting psychological effects on victims. The District Attorney’s Office has consistently maintained a high rate of charge filings in these cases, with approximately 73% of residential burglary cases presented by law enforcement resulting in charges over the past eight years.
The District Attorney’s Office has introduced a new hotline specifically for residential burglary cases to support further efforts to curb these crimes. Community members with information about residential burglaries are encouraged to call (877) 542-9370.
The tips provided will be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for investigation and follow-up.
“We are here to listen and act on the
concerns of our community,” Gascón added. “If you have information about a residential burglary, please reach out to us. Your tips could make a significant difference in solving these crimes and protecting our neighborhoods.” Residents should continue to call 911 for emergencies or crimes in progress. Victims needing support services can contact the District Attorney’s Bureau of Victim Services at 1-800-380-3811.
Home Front Build Channels Energy of Original Designer to Revive Homes
By Susan Payne
Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival, Craftsman, Mid-Century and California Bungalows are just a few of the unique home styles that can be found in Los Angeles.
Many of those homes and styles are still loved and appreciated today in the 21st century. Home Front Build, an architecture, interior design and construction firm founded by Steve Pallrand, works to channel the energy of the original architects and adapt those homes for the way we live today without compromising history.
“Instead of remodeling the home and making it something it isn’t, it’s about cherishing the original intent of that period of design without being dominated by it, so that we can add air conditioning, solar panels, remodel the kitchen, all the modern conveniences but still live in a home that feels a part of that history and community,” Pallrand said.
Homes that were built in the early 1900s, for example, might not have been insulated well, have inefficient gas appliances, or have kitchens that were meant to cook in but not to cook while entertaining or doing homework, like we do now. Home Front Build prioritizes aesthetics and details that honor the home’s original design period, keeping those aesthetic concepts but
modernizing them to be of use today.
“Rather than imposing new ideas on these older homes, it’s about letting the home speak for itself and let that guide the design, so that we’re combining contemporary ideas of comfort and livability with traditional values,” Pallrand said.
Rebuilding homes, reviving and refreshing them — rather than demolishing and building new — is Home Front Build’s specialty, but there is a sustainability factor that drives its mission: green design.
Green design is a philosophy that focuses on creating buildings that are environmentally friendly and sustainable and reducing environmental footprint. This can include things like using recycled materials, energyefficient appliances and renewable energy sources.
Home Front Build searches for traditional buildings that are in the way of demo so that they can salvage and reuse the materials on future projects in order to reduce a building’s carbon footprint. The team designs holistically with the environment in mind, incorporating solar techniques, natural ventilation and efficient building materials with styles that fit your budget.
“It’s actually cheaper to use stronger, historic lumber than it is to buy new lumber, so that’s one way we are reducing our carbon footprint. People
don’t necessarily think of traditional homes or existing homes as being sustainable and tend to demolish them, but we can adapt them, and be part of the solution for global warming,” Pallrand said. “We have a wide variety of solutions for green design, and we are budget-conscious when doing so.”
Knowing the code is an important part of the design for Pallrand and his team at Home Front Build. After meeting the house, the team will do a feasibility study to see what the city will allow.
“Building codes in California are very complex so when we meet you and the house, we don’t do anything until we know what is possible. It’s not about
the perfect design, it’s about the perfect budget and we bring beautiful design together with a beautiful budget because those are two things you can’t separate.” To learn more about Home Front Build and founder Steve Pallrand’s mission to revive historic homes in Los Angeles, visit HomeFrontBuild.com.
