Yo! Venice October 30, 2020

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VENICE www.yovenice.com

October 30 – November 27, 2020

‘Recall Newsom’ Head Hung From Venice Ballerina Clown

Cardboard cutout of Gov. Newsom’s head hanging from iconic Venice art installation B y S am C atanzaro

A cardboard cutout painting of the California governor’s head with the word “Recall” was spotted hanging from the iconic Ballerina Clown art installation in Venice.

The cardboard cutout was first spotted Wednesday morning hanging from the sculpture that sits above the CVS on the corner of Main Street and Rose Avenue .By Saturday the installation was removed.

The “Recall Newsom” head featured the artist tag “Sabo”, a conservative street artist from Los Angeles.

“THIS WAS FOR CHRISTMAS, THIS WAS FOR THANKSGIVING, THIS WAS FOR CANCELLING THE 4TH OF JULY,” reads an Instagram post from the artist showing the installation.

Sabo could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Ballerina Clown, 30 feet tall, made of aluminum, steel, painted fiberglass electric motor Permanent installation was created in 1989 by artist Jonathan Borofsky.

“The Venice Boardwalk is full of all kinds of people in all sorts of outfits and the atmosphere is very festive with many live street performances taking place, especially on weekends. This sculpture is an accommodation or resolution of opposites in one. Not only does this image

Photo: Sam Catanzaro bring the male and female together into one figure, but also, two opposite types of performers are represented: the formal classical ballet dancer and the traditional

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street performer. Of course, this public sculpture might push the envelope in ‘taste’, but if you have ever walked the Venice Boardwalk on a Sunday

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afternoon, you might understand why this figure is right at home,” Borofsky says about the culture.

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October 30 – November 27, 2020

Petition Calls for Bonin to Hold Public Saftey Town Hall Petition circulating citing increase in crime

By Sam Catanzaro Over 1,700 people have signed a petition calling for Councilmember Mike Bonin to hold a virtual Venice public safety town hall citing a surge in crime.

“Dear Councilman Bonin, there has been a surge in crime in Venice. We, your constituents, call on you to hold an immediate online town hall with the Venice Neighborhood Council to address these issues and answer constituents’ questions,” reads the petition, which as of noon Monday has over 1700 supporters.

Those who signed the petition mentioned recent shootings, encampment fires, dirty sidewalks, robberies and drugs as among reasons for their support.

“The ineptitude and dereliction of duty

by Mr. Bonin is appalling. People are put in harms way daily and this does not need to be so. We have lived here for over 10 years now and when we bought our home 7 years ago — invested all of our savings — it was a very nice neighborhood; things were very different in Venice back then. The downward spiral was devastatingly quick,” reads a comment from an individual named Kat Singh.

According to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Adrian Acosta speaking at the August

Venice Neighborhood Council meeting, Venice now contains 30 percent of all of the crime in the Pacific Division, which also contains Mar Vista, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Palms and Westchester, as well as LAX. LAPD data shows that while property crime has decreased by 12.2 percent year to date, motor vehicle theft has increased by 51.5 percent and violent crime has increased by 8.9 percent in the Pacific Area this year.

Shooting victims have increased by 23.5 percent while shots fired have increased by 58.1 percent, according to data. Complete data can be found here: http://lapd-assets. lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/pacprof.pdf While Bonin has not responded to Yo! Venice for a request for comment, petition organizer Alexander Poe said that the following response came from Bonin’s Venice deputy, Nisa Kove: “We are aware of this and the Councilmember is working with LAPD to gather more details and figure out next steps to appropriately respond. I’m meeting with constituents frequently and making sure the Councilmember is aware of the community’s public safety concerns.”

Poe, however, says this is not enough.

“While I respect Nisa as a member of our community, I do not find this to be a sufficient response to the current situation. I continue to believe that we deserve a public town hall with our elected representative, not individual meetings with select constituents,” Poe wrote.

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October 30 – November 27, 2020

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Mark Twain Middle School Community Raising Money to Restore Mural Colorful mosaic mural in front of school in need of repair

By Sam Catanzaro Mark Twain Middle School community members are raising funds to restore late Venice artist Agustin Gonzalez’s mosaic mural on the front of the school.

The colorful mural was commissioned in 2000 by Venice Builds and constructed by the late Venice artist Agustin Gonzalez and students of the school.

“The mosaic faces Walgrove Avenue so it is the view that greets not only students as they go to school each day but also the community at large as they drive by on this busy street or view it from the neighborhood,” said Alyssa Moffitt, a parent and a board member of Friends of Mark Twain, a charitable 501(C)3 supporting Mark Twain Middle School. “This

wall has long been a symbol of the hope we have for our students’ future and a landmark of the neighborhood.”

Over the summer, members of the school community noticed the mural had begun to separate from the wall. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Local District West tile workers removed and repaired the most urgent of the tile work. Friends of Mark Twain say, however, there is still remaining work to do to ensure the mural’s longevity and that this work may cost in excess of $32,0000.

“Please join us in raising $50,000 to pay for any further repairs and restoration of this historic public art piece and to support continuity of the arts at Mark Twain Middle School,” reads a GoFundMe set up to restore the mural.

In addition to the quest to save the mural, Friends of Mark Twain fundraises for field trips, afterschool programs and beautification of school grounds, among other endeavors, including raising money for an art teacher, as Mark Twain does not have one. In addition, the

Photo: Sam Catanzaro

The Mark Twain Middle School mural.

group says they hope to do another community mural project with the students in the future.

To view the fundraiser, click HERE.

Venice High Teacher Named One of Top Educators in County

Venice High School’s Hazel Kight Witham recognized by LA County Office of Education

By Chad Winthrop

A Venice High School Teacher has been named by LA County as one of the top teachers of the year.

Ten educators were announced Oct. 1 as the 2020-21 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year, representing the best of the profession in the state’s largest honors competition for K-12 educators.

LACOE Superintendent Debra Duardo presented the outstanding educators in a virtual ceremony broadcast on social media.

“During this time of extraordinary challenges to our school communities, it is especially important that we pay tribute to our outstanding teachers who, in the face of a pandemic, are bringing care, compassion and ingenuity to their virtual classrooms,” Duardo said. “I am truly impressed by their innovative practices and the partnerships they are building to keep students learning and thriving.”

The winning educators, comprised of seven women and three men, teach a range of grades and subjects at a diversity of school locales, including: Azusa, Baldwin Park, Burbank, Gardena, Los Angeles, Norwalk, Palmdale, Pearblossom, Redondo Beach and Santa Clarita.

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Hazel Kight Witham of Venice High School, who has been teaching for 19 years, was among these teachers.

In addition to teaching English Language Arts to 10th and 12th graders, Witham coaches spoken word poetry at Venice High School and has had her work published in a variety of literary journals. One of her greatest joys is listening to her students’ stories and nurturing community in a classroom of readers and writers.

“The thing that has kept me going every day of these last 19 years…is the community and the family that a school becomes. I could not do this work without the incredible network of fellow teachers and support staff, administrators and the students themselves.

This is the most community-minded work.

You know we really create a family on the school campus,” Witham said before going on to reminisce on her early days of teaching.

“My colleagues that were first-year teachers with me in those early years, we would have lunch every day and we would share just the horrors of the school day. Of how we didn’t understand how to reach a kid, or we made just a mistake, and we would just process the work together. So the thing that has kept me going and motivated me is just the family of fellow colleagues and the overall school community.

It’s really just a magical place to be.

Judged as the county’s top public-school teachers for this academic year, the 10 educators serve as standard-bearers for the teaching profession and their 72,000 classroom colleagues countywide. Each will receive a cash gift of $1,000 from the California Credit Union, the program’s main sponsor. Additional sponsors include Presenting Partner Arizona State University and Lakeshore Learning.

Photos: Sam Catanzaro/LA County Office of Education

Hazel Kight Witham.

The 10 were selected from a field of 48 teachers representing 44 districts who participated in the 39th annual Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year competition, organized by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. All participants were recently selected as teacher(s) of the year by their respective school districts.

In addition to being interviewed, contestants submitted essays, lesson plans and other materials to judging panels comprised of peers. At all levels, “TOY” contests are designed to focus public attention on teaching excellence and to honor exemplary dedication, compelling classroom practices, positive accomplishments and professional

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commitment.

The 10 Los Angeles County winners automatically advance with other county titlists from around the state to the California Teachers of the Year competition this fall.

The state is scheduled to announce its five co-winners in October. But only one of those state co-winners will be chosen to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year contest next spring.

The Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year Program is the largest local competition in the state and nation, and is part of the oldest and most prestigious honors contest in the U.S. for public-school teachers.

October 30 – November 27, 2020

Three-Story Apartment Building Planned Near Venice Canals 1940s triplex could be replaced by co-living facility

By Toi Creel Plans are in the works to demolish a 1940s triplex near the Venice Canals and build a larger housing project.

Documents were submitted to the City of Los Angeles on October 1 for a multi-family building located at 522 E. Venice Boulevard.

Currently, the space is a co-living facility with 60 beds. If plans are approved, the property owner Mark Judaken would

demolish the building and make way for a three-story complex.

The complex would feature 26 apartments above a 31-stall parking garage. Seven of those apartments would be set aside for lowincome affordable housing.

As is, the project would require special approval for its density, along with a conditional use permit to exceed the current zoning rules.

The architect leading the project would be Breakform Design, describing the building as a contemporary low-rise structure with a center courtyard.

The project will require approval by the City Planning Commission before construction can begin.

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Two Developments with 100+ Units Underway Near Venice High School Duo of multifamily apartments on Venice Boulevard beginning to rise

By Kerry Slater Over a year after breaking ground, a duo of multifamily apartment buildings are beginning to rise near Venice High School.

The first property, located at 12575 Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista, will include 52 apartment units in a five-story building with 48 underground parking spaces. The development, expected to be completed in 2021, currently has a tower crane on site doing work.

The second property, located across the street at 12444 Venice Boulevard, will include 77 units above 2,1000 square feet of ground-

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floor retail and parking for 84 vehicles on a lot that used to be a shopping center. The development, expected to be complete in around two years, currently has rebar cages protruding from above ground.

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October 30 – November 27, 2020

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Hyperthermia Cancer Institute: The Best Cancer Treatment You’ve Never Heard Of Santa Monica-based cancer institute uses FDA-approved treatment to help patients

By Sam Catanzaro “THE BEST CANCER TREATMENT YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF” is right here in Santa Monica at Hyperthermia Cancer Institute (HCI). Hyperthermia is an FDA-approved treatment designed to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Hyperthermia is a gentle therapy with little to no side effects, and no known adverse effects on normal tissue. HCI attracts patients from across the country for this treatment, and the treatment is covered partially or completely by most forms of insurance.

Hyperthermia is a non-invasive procedure, it uses ultrasound delivered from the outside of the body. Hyperthermia can deliver heat as deep as 10 centimeters in addition to the thickness of fat. So the heat can reach tumors that are at the surface, as well as those that are quite deep in the body.

Tumors are heated to up to 109o F for 45 minutes. The heat increases blood flow to the tumor which does three things. It brings more chemotherapy inside the tumor, it brings oxygen that helps radiation therapy work better, and it induces your own body’s immune system to attack the cancer.

The Medical Director at HCI is Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone, an internist and endocrinologist by training, who has been involved in NIHfunded molecular cancer research as well as clinical cancer research for many years.

While Dr. Pinzone learned about this form of heat therapy when in residency in the early 1990s, it was not until more recently that he understood how powerful the practice could be, particularly when added to other therapies.

“As I understood that, I realized this is something that we have to get out there. It hadn’t really caught on previously in this country, but because I have the ability to both understand cancer at a molecular level and to communicate the potential benefits of cancer therapy, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for me to use my skills to establish this as a cancer therapy that everyone could take advantage of,” Dr. Pinzone said.

HCI uses the Sonotherm 1000, a device that is FDA-approved to treat all solid tumors in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. According to Dr. Pinzone, any place you can have an ultrasound done in your body, the

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Sonotherm 1000 can be used to treat cancer.

“The particular device that we use, and the particular technology that we use here at HCI, has been validated by studies that have been presented to the FDA and the FDA has found them to be effective and safe. And so specifically, we have the backing of the FDA in terms of our ability to represent that we have effectiveness and we have a good safety profile,” Dr. Pinzone said.

“Somewhere between 106o-109o seems to be a magic window where a variety of changes take place in that tumor,” Dr. Pinzone said. “It is a little higher than a fever and a little cooler than the hottest California day. We heat the tumor for approximately 45 minutes at that temperature. What that does is increase the blood flow to the tumor.”

This heating process, Dr. Pinzone says, helps fight tumors in three ways.

First, if you are on chemotherapy or any systemic therapy, hyperthermia increases the blood flow to the tumor which allows better access of that therapy to the tumor, particularly to the central portion of the tumor where the blood vessels are often poorly formed. The increased blood flow delivers oxygen to the tumor, and if you are receiving radiation, the radiation works much better in a well-oxygenated environment, Dr. Pinzone says.

Second, many traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy agents and radiation therapy damage the DNA of the tumor. This targets that tumor cell for destruction.

Hyperthermia has the effect of slowing the enzymes that repair the DNA that is damaged by the chemotherapy or radiation therapy. “This is really critical. We don’t want that DNA repaired, we want it to stay damaged because that targets the cells that have the damaged DNA for destruction and removal. So that is actually how many types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy work,” Dr. Pinzone said.

Third, according to Dr. Pinzone, hyperthermia stimulates an immune response. “The great thing about our technology is there are no known adverse effects on normal tissue. When we heat to 109o F, we stimulate the release of what are called heat shock proteins. The same proteins that get released when you have a fever and their job is to alert the immune system to get rid of anything that is foreign,” Dr. Pinzone said. In addition to releasing the heat shock proteins that stimulate the cells of the immune system, the therapy also directly disrupts the cells of the tumor.

“We release all the mutated proteins that are inside of that tumor, and those to our body look like foreign invaders. So when you combine the stimulated immune cells with the specific parts of the tumor that look foreign, you get an immune reaction

According to Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone, hyperthermia improves the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

to that tumor,” Dr. Pinzone said.

“There are many studies that have demonstrated a substantial increase in the response rate to chemotherapy when you heart a tumor compared to just giving chemotherapy alone. Some studies even demonstrate and increase in overall survival when you treat with hyperthermia plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone,” Dr. Pinzone said.

Dr. Pinzone added that there are similar improved results with heat added radiation therapy. Studies demonstrate that in various tumor types that when hyperthermia is provided along with radiation therapy, there is a better response rate of the radiation. “The tumor shrinks more than if you provide radiation alone, and in some cases, you can actually improve survival in patients who receive hyperthermia plus radiation, compared to radiation alone,” Dr. Pinzone said.

A session at HCI takes either one or two hours, depending on how many sites are treated, often six days a week. Dr. Pinzone notes that this takes a commitment from patients, but the frequency of sessions contains invaluable benefits. However, as stated previously, hyperthermia is extremely gentle and non-invasive. “In fact,” says Dr. Pinzone, “our patients often mediate or sleep during therapy.”

“Our patients become like family to us,” Dr. Pinzone said. “We have an environment that is extremely welcoming. There is zero pressure to do anything in particular and we provide as much support as we can. We have many patients from out of town. We often help them with travel and with housing to both coordinate it and, in

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Photos: Courtesy Hyperthermia Cancer Institute

Medical Director at HCI is Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone.

some cases, to help offset the cost through various foundations. The bottom line is that we go the extra mile for our patients. We get to know them better than almost any other provider has an opportunity to get to know them, and we advocate for them in ways that I have never seen in any other environment I have ever worked in.”

To find out more about whether hyperthermia can help you, call HCI at 888-580-5900 or visit their website at hcioncology.com.

“Patients with cancer today are more educated and advocate more for themselves and their family members than ever. That is one of the reasons we have been so successful at helping people, because they are able to find us either through their healthcare provider or on their own. We offer a unique environment and treatment option that they can’t find anywhere else and that gives people hope,” Dr. Pinzone said.

October 30 – November 27, 2020

What Was the Witch’s Favorite School Subject? Spelling By niCK melVoin laUSd diStriCt 4 Board memBer Board diStriCt 4 What was the witch’s favorite school subject? Spelling.

Classes at the Los Angeles Unified School District—including spelling—remain virtual for now and as we are doing our best to help our students celebrate Halloween distantly, it’s just a further reminder about what a tough year this has been, particularly for our students, families, and school communities.

And as the months ahead hold plenty of uncertainty, there is one thing we know for sure: our school communities need more, not less, to get through this crisis and get back into the classroom safely.

As we continue working tirelessly to keep our kids engaged and learning remotely in an ongoing crisis, we are also advocating for the resources we need to safely bring them back to school as soon as possible.

Especially with the precarious status of additional state and federal support, our kids’ futures are on the ballot this year. No matter how you plan to vote in this election, I hope you will exercise your civic duty and make your voice heard. The November ballot includes various federal, state, and local contests—including Proposition 15, the Schools and Communities First Act, and Measure RR, the local School Upgrades and Safety bond measure. If approved, Prop 15 will generate more revenue for public education statewide by increasing property

taxes for large corporations, and Measure RR will provide funds to upgrade, modernize, and replace aging and deteriorating school facilities, update technology, and address inequities in our children’s schools.

Previous bonds have enabled LA Unified to undertake the rapidly progressing campus modernization project at Venice High; complete an innovative new outdoor space at Stoner Ave And ICEF Vista Elementary; fund campus upgrades at Mark Twain Middle School, Grand View Elementary, and Braddock Elementary; and so much more.

We were also able to provide learning devices and hotspots to every student when the pandemic shut down schools last March.

Of course, there is no replacement for the in-person instruction our kids need, and more than seven months later, we are busily preparing to safely reopen our campuses for hybrid instruction as soon as we can.

That includes rolling out a free Covid-19 testing program for all students, families, and employees; getting our facilities ready with the resources and equipment we need for a healthy and safe learning environment; beginning in-person tutoring services and special education assessments for high needs students; opening supervision sites for the children of employees with a goal of expanding to make them safely accessible for more families; offering free flu shots to our school communities; and more.

I’ll keep advocating for the needs of our children at every level of government, and

Nick Melvoin LAUSD District 4 Board Member Board District 4, which includes Venice.

regardless of how you vote, I hope you will join me in exercising your civic duty this Election Day. Your voice matters—make sure it’s heard.

Photo: Courtesy

And when we do get students back in school, who will help the little pumpkins cross the road safely? The crossing gourd.

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October 30 – November 27, 2020

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October 30 – November 27, 2020