The Canyon Chronicle - July 24, 2020 (Volume 1, No. 3) - www.thecanyonchronicle.com

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July 24, 2020

Vol. 1 No. 3

Unbridled Generosity The coronavirus surges again, grateful to humans for being such generous hosts.

Thwarting the attack, we are hunkering down yet again in our microcosmic enclave, increasing our supply of masks, keeping our distance, and planning our grocery shopping as we limit trips outside of the canyon. Grocery lists are essential if we’re laying in supplies for two weeks.

It reminds me, as a child growing up in the country, how we shopped for the week’s groceries on Friday nights. My mother came home from work, made supper, my father would start the car, a 1941 Ford, and we’d drive five miles to a co-op they had helped establish in the village.

Life is so quiet now, I find myself wandering into mental monologues, philosophical treatises on The Meaning of Life. I find meaning in little things I never noticed before like the swallowtail butterfly feeding on the geranium patch gone wild. I spent ten minutes just watching. Happy encounters with masked neighbors always give a lift to the day; I’ll be happier when I can see their lips move.

If you’re looking for The Meaning of Life, you will definitely find it in the generosity of spirit that seems to be a trademark of Topanga. So many people volunteer year-round wherever they see a need that resonates with whatever they are able to give. On a larger scale, look at the abundance of food programs in the canyon during this time, pushed forward by the SAGES and the Community

STAFF BOX

Center with food provided by our restaurants with help from the County. Then, of course, there’s

Publisher & Editor Flavia Potenza

Rocco’s Cucina who was way ahead of the curve seeing our specific need for elderly, house-bound and disabled residents early in the pandemic.

In the news, taggers decided Pine Tree Circle was their canvas; Waste Management’s fee hike

Associate Editor Kait Leonard

was sidelined by the Department of Public Works; and a member of 5G Free California revealed an unpermitted installation of wireless telecommunications equipment on Topanga Canyon Boulevard

Media Manager Eleanor Zeri

that was halted on June 13.

For those who might appreciate a retrospective of summer songs of the ‘60s, Joel Bellman’s “The

Creative Director Eiffel Nazaryan

Sound of Summer Playing” (Pages 12-14) will bring back memories for some and maybe inspire curiosity for younger generations to discover the broad musical shoulders today’s music stands upon.

Contributors: Linda Ballou Joel Bellman Annemarie Donkin Kathie Gibboney Paula LaBrot Amy Weisberg

Talented Topanga kids, Jamie Mazur, and brothers, Alex and Brody Gage, get the spotlight as they step into the future. Jamie will be pursuing a career in comedy at USC come fall, and the Brothers Gage appear in their second round on America’s Got Talent Sunday night.

Finally, Topanga Poet, Jean Colonomos, is keeping a COVID Diary (Page 19) to mark the days of quarantine, remarking on Juneteenth, her grandaughter’s laughter, and a quote from a friend, who observed, “Because we’re isolated, we have time to go deeper into ourselves.” That’s one way to

Layout & Design Eiffel Media

discover a new friend.

Copy Editor: Ellie Carroll Social Media Coordinator: Miranda Anapol

home across the George Washington Bridge (New York) and had a panic attack. Working her way

My mother once told me about an incident when my sister and I were little. She was walking

Cover Photo: El Matador Beach in Malibu

through the emotional onslaught, she started thinking about what she would make for dinner for my father. The moral of that experience that she passed on to us, was that thinking about someone else was an antidote for anxiety.

The Canyon Chronicle™ is an independent community newspaper published bi-weekly

by Canyon Media, Inc.© 2020 All rights reserved.

One thanksgiving, my son, around 10 at the time, and I had no one to share the holiday with.

Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we found a charity downtown that was feeding the homeless and volunteered to help. On the trip back home, we were both on such a high, having served, laughed with, and talked to strangers we would never have met otherwise, and knowing there were those in that community who served year-round.

www.TheCanyonChronicle.com

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Kind of like the Topanga I know.

—Flavia Potenza

NEW

An amalgamation of Gypsy and Jetset, Gypset is a style creation that incorporates the nomadic free spirit of the former with the latter’s bon vivant existence. Gypset does not belong to one culture or continent.

GYPSET STYLE

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scape LA to this 7 acre European country compound located in the heart of Topanga Canyon just minutes up from the Malibu Coast.

Greenleaf is about a lifestyle centered in nature and a wholistic approach to what a home can be that provides what we now yearn for; privacy, stunning nature, streams, and ancient forests in a retreat space like no other. The stunning main house features 5 bedrooms, 2 story living room, a huge roof top deck with fireplace to stargaze, a gourmet kitchen, and a 2 room master suite. There is a two unit guest house with a roof top deck of it’s own and an old rustic barn that makes a perfect indoor/ outdoor living space with an attached caretaker unit, plus a rustic yurt beside the horse arena. Surrounded by life giving gardens, towering trees, grassy lawns, veggie gardens, and a beautiful sparkling swimming pool, even a private yoga deck wth a view.

Listed for $4,995,000. More at 701Greenleaf.com

We‘ve sold $30,000,000 since Janurary 2020.

Thats a home sold every ten days.

Nobody in Topanga sells as much as we do. Period.

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Do right by your home. List Wisely.

Melissa Oliver | 310.403.4455 & Paul Ferra | 310.455.1717 D R E

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© 2020 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All rights reserved. Coldwell Banker®, the Coldwell Banker Logo, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury® and the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC in the United States and by Coldwell Banker LLC outside the United States. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker are independent contractor sales associates. Statistics by CLAW MLS and company records for the period 1/31/2020 thru 7/15/2020 and include all SFR transaction sides closed or currently in escrow. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. © OliverFerra 2020

COMMUNITY NEWS Taggers Vandalize Pine Tree Circle

By Annemarie Donkin

“Thankfully, it has been very rare and minor at Pine Tree Circle. What is most important is to address it quickly. To that end, we immediately touched up the paint as a bridge until the main paint job, which has been scheduled, [can be completed].

We have installed additional security cameras at the property. A few months ago we upgraded our remote monitoring system for the entire property and have been looking into additional security services.

“The maintenance of a family environment is something that is most important to us.”

To obtain more details of the incident, The Canyon Chronicle sent photos of the tagging to the Sheriff’s Department and received this reply from Deputy Michael Cerveny, C.I.T Team, Los Angeles Sheriff Department, Malibu/Lost Hills Station: “I checked and I have found no record of a report being taken for the below graffiti,” he wrote. “In cases like these the victim of this crime would have to request a report. As for the gang angle, I am unaware of any gangs or tagging crews within the Topanga Canyon area. However, I will look into it a little further and see if LAPD knows of any crews in the Valley in which that graffiti looks similar to any others.”

Further, the LAPD indicated that individual taggers throughout the city and county are often responsible.

“The graffiti depicted in this picture was not created by a criminal street gang member; it was created by a tagger,” wrote Senior Lead Officer Charles “Sean” Dinse of the Los Angeles Police Department, Topanga Community Police Station in Canoga Park. “It’s hard to identify the identity of the tagger by moniker but I’m sure images in the tag are commonly found in all of his/her tags. It’s common for taggers to tag the same sign, symbol, tagger crew, and/or moniker when they’re vandalizing property.

It’s a form of non-verbal communication identifying themselves to other taggers.

Taggers’ intent is to vandalize as much property as possible while at the same time placing it in the most visible spots, especially when those locations are completely out of reach. The larger the mural and/or excessive amounts of tags helps build the reputation of the person in the tagging world.”

Tagger’ graffiti mars he beautiful new door on the former Seed & Feed building.

Photos by Teresa Royer

The Topanga Women’s Circle storage bin and two other locations at Pine Tree Circle were vandalized between Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12.

“Some time on Saturday evening or early Sunday morning someone vandalized our bin by spray painting over the beautiful hand-painted rocks by Liz Dupuy,” wrote Debra Silbar, a volunteer and board member of the Topanga Women’s Circle via an email. “They also spray painted on the new wood garage door of the old Seed and Feed location and we have heard that Flower Power was vandalized as well. We will now have to spend hundreds of dollars on painting; that money could have been used to help the homeless in Los Angeles.”

To mitigate the damage, Teresa Royer, Co-Chair of the Topanga Women’s Circle, hired Do-It-Wright painting to paint out the top of the graffiti on the storage bin.

“Seed and Feed was also tagged and Gidget at Flower Power said her business had been vandalized,” said Lin Ilsley, Co-Chair of the Topanga Women’s Circle. According to Ilsley, Dupuy spoke with graffiti artists about removing the paint. “After Dupuy attempts to remove the tagging on her rock artwork, the bin will be power washed and repainted. We are hoping Liz’s beautiful artwork can be saved,” Ilsley said, adding that some weeks earlier, several Black Lives Matter flyers were superglued to the storage bin.

“In general, minor vandalism does happen every once in a while in the course of the management of properties,” said Nate Daneshgar, owner of Pine Tree Circle.

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Artist Liz Dupuy’ beautiful River Rock Wall painting was also vandalized but there are plans to restore it.

Topanga Women’s Circle (TWC) is an organization of volunteer women who help the neediest of families by furnishing their new housing with the necessities we take for granted. One hundred percent of donations are used to help the families it serves. If you have questions, comments, or wish to donate, please contact Lin Ilsley at linilsley@gmail.com.

LETTERS Illegal WTF Installation on Topanga Canyon Blvd.

What a Great Team!

By Annemarie Donkin This is a letter Brian Planas sent to Sheila Kuehl when he observed illegal installation of wireless telecommunications equipment being installed on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

Dear Sheila and Planning Department, An illegal WTF (wireless telecommunications facility) installation was caught and stopped near 1440 Topanga Canyon Blvd on Saturday, June 13, 2020. Please see attached pictures, from around 2 p.m.

The crew, apparently working for Ericsson, said they were replacing a broken antenna with an upgraded antenna for Sprint. They did not have any plans, specifications, permits, or anything to show. I informed them that this was an illegal activity since they had no permit for upgraded equipment. They called their supervisor and, after finishing, said “Wow, you really know your stuff!” They then informed me that they would stop what they were doing, remove the new equipment they had installed, and put the previous equipment back because they did need a permit for what they were doing.

CAPTION... CAPTION... CAPTION... CAPTION...

Needless to say, the crew was quite surprised. I proceeded to inform them of all the ensuing shenanigans by Telecom companies with the FCC (this occurrence was a perfect example), the myriad health effects of wireless technology (as currently designed), and of the need for an immediate moratorium on wireless expansion.

This occurrence is also a fantastic example that our power is in the permits. Those unaware of the serious health hazards of wireless technology, continuing with business as usual, have been led astray by the aggressive profiteering telecom industry, and have been making significant decisions without being properly informed.

We are dealing with HAZARDOUS POLLUTION: MICROWAVE RADIATION. We can issue a moratorium. We can stop issuing permits. This is actually very serious. No further wireless expansion should be permitted until the entirety of the situation is exceptionally clear, including total risks and total liabilities for all parties involved, including our environment. Then and only then may we make the correct informed decisions for our collective future.

Please help lead the way.

In harmony, Brian Planas

For 14 years Jeanne Dancs Arthur belonged to a dream circle called the Turtle Dreamers and painted about 12 different turtle and tortoise watercolors, “just for the love of it.”

Thank you for bringing your vital paper to our community!

What a great team you are! The design and graphics are so tasty making it such a pleasure to read. The articles are relevant, helpful and interesting, With kind wishes to you all for every success!

—Jeanne Arthur Dancs I am soooo inspired by your story, your efforts and, needless to say, the quality of journalism of The Canyon Chronicle. And thank you for so beautifully articulating, “There is a rumor...

But here’s the other world disease: the world is alive with discriminatory fear of ‘other’. Ageism...like other isms creates, at the least, a hostile environment.” Yours is the first warning about “othering” that I have read in print and am so grateful it is beginning to resonate in our collective consciousness.

Please keep going!! I’m unemployed, paying high Topanga rent, but giving anyway!

Let your Voice be heard!

—Alexandra de la Vega

FOR THE RECORD In my article, “Arthur Valentine—1892-1967,” (The Canyon Chronicle, July 10, 2020), I observed that “Kneen’s Kamp advertised with the initials KKK by inserting the word ‘Komfort’ into its name.” However, I have no evidence that this was a reference to the Ku Klux Klan, or that the Kneens were supporters of that group.

—Pablo Capra

5G Equipment Upgrades Pose Risks Dear Fellow Resident, The 5G Free California Team wants to bring your attention to the rollout of technology infrastructure that is happening in the canyon, some of which is being attempted without the requisite building permits.

This equipment will not only be an unsightly addition to the already overloaded power poles that blot the landscape of our scenic routes, but it is also harmful to health. In addition, it has the potential to significantly increase fire risk, a subject close to the heart of all canyon residents.

HEALTH RISKS 5G technology requires the installation of “small cell” units that can be as large as a refrigerator and need to be placed every 200 feet. Most neighborhoods will also require taller, wider poles to carry the heavier equipment that can include 300-pound antennae and six-foot buzzing boxes. None of this equipment has been safety tested for humans, and scientists warn that the millimeter wave technology involved causes increased cancer risk, genetic damage, neurological disorders, learning and memory deficits, and poses a particular risk to children and the elderly. The existing 3G and 4G equipment—already known to be a Class 1 carcinogen that causes multiple other adverse health effects—will not be replaced by 5G, rather, 5G will be added to it.

ILLEGAL UPGRADES WITHOUT BUILDING PERMITS Upgrades to the existing telecoms’ equipment are already being attempted, despite no building permits being in place for such work. A sharp-eyed Topanga resident recently witnessed an attempt to upgrade equipment on Topanga Canyon Boulevard for which no permits had been granted. His quick actions led to the new equipment being removed immediately by the engineers who were unable to provide the appropriate legal documents. Upgrades to the power lines have already taken place on Old Topanga Canyon (increasing the voltage from 4,000 to 16,000 volts), which will facilitate the increased power needs of 5G technology. This has already led to adverse symptoms for some residents due to the increased Electro-Magnetic

Frequency (EMF) radiation emitted by the power lines alone.

FIRE RISK Telecom engineers have recently raised concerns about significant overheating risks of the 5G equipment, which is poorly understood and under-researched. As our canyon is a high-risk fire area, we simply cannot afford to have this volatile equipment anywhere near our neighborhood.

WHAT CAN WE DO? As residents, we need to demand that our local officials step in to address these safety concerns. However, we are also the ‘boots on the ground’ who must remain vigilant to the installation of illegal equipment by stealth. We are asking for volunteers to display signs in their yards to help raise awareness of this issue.

• Here are some things you can do to protect our canyon: • If you see work being done, request to see the building permits. If these can’t be provided, ask them to cease the installation until such documents can be shown.

• Take “before” photos of the existing equipment on poles in your area and note any changes with “after” photos.

• Display one of our signs in your yard or driveway to warn others.

• If you are concerned about equipment installation in your area, contact 5G Free California for more information.

We all need to work together as a community to ensure that our canyon remains safe for humans and wildlife, is protected from increased fire risk, retains its natural beauty, and is free from illegally installed hazardous equipment.

Formore information and to sign up to our email list, attend our regular monthly meetings, get useful information and advice, and learn more about how you can help us to keep our canyon safe: https://5gfreecalifornia.org.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

—The 5G Free California Team

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COMMUNITY NEWS Topanga Cares Meal Distribution Launch

By Kait Leonard

Dayna Miller, Nonie Shore, and Kristina Rocco Levy proudly display a meal provided by Rocco’s Café.

Photo by Kait Leonard.

On Monday, July 13, 2020, Topanga Cares successfully launched the new meal program Meal pick-up area. to help Topanga neighbors facing food insecurities.

The program is sponsored by the Topanga Community Center in partnership with Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s office. Rocco’s Cucina, Café 27, and Waterlily Café will be providing meals. Prior to the first day, 139 people pre-registered to receive meals.

Volunteers wearing face masks and shields scrambled to get the assembly line ready for the 3:30 opening on Monday, where meals of pasta and broccoli provided

by Rocco’s Cucina were distributed. Beautifully prepared and packaged food waited in coolers until recipients drove through the library parking-lot-turned-meal-pickuplane. The instructions were simple for everyone who preregistered: put car in park, pop the trunk, and keep your mask on.

Those who hadn’t registered online could sign in at a front table and receive a meal as long as they lasted. Any unclaimed meals were donated to unhoused members of the community, the fire department, and the highway patrol officers who worked the event.

Waste Management’s Fee Hike

By Annemarie Donkin When customers in Topanga received their Waste Management bills on July 1, many were surprised to find their trash collection fees had increased dramatically, in some cases by $60-$70.

In 2018, the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works awarded a new seven-year contract to Waste Management for trash pick-up, recycling, and green waste collection services.

“Universal Waste Systems was the previous waste hauler for the Santa Monica Mountains Residential Franchise,” wrote Neonika Walker, Community Engagement Manager, Los Angeles County Public Works. “The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors awarded the Santa Monica Mountains Residential Franchise contract to Waste Management on January 30, 2018 and services under this new contract started on April 1, 2018,” she wrote via email.

After the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works determined that the fee hike was unauthorized, customers received an email notice from Sheila Kuehl’s office: “Good morning all, I am writing to provide an update that we received from our Department of Public Works (DPW) on the Waste Management (WM) fee increase situation,” the letter stated. “DPW has determined that WM did not receive the proper consent for this fee increase. It was therefore concluded that WM made an error in their billing. WM will be contacting every customer who was charged the additional amount to explain the mistake and issue a corrected bill. Our office and DPW will continue to monitor this situation to ensure appropriate action is taken. We will be sure to update you if there are any further developments on the matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. We thank you for your diligence in bringing this problem to our attention.”

Yet, after much pressure from the public and hundreds of calls and emails to local officials, Waste Management issued a statement to its customers: “Dear Valued Waste Management Customer, effective immediately, we are reversing the amount charged for the Difficult To Service surcharge on your July 1, 2020, invoice. This surcharge was mistakenly added to your bill. You will receive a new invoice with the revised amount due. If you have already paid the July 1 invoice, we will credit the difference to your account. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions, please contact us at (800) 675-1171 or visit us online at https://www.wm.com. Thank you for being a valued Waste Management customer.”

Regardless of the assurances from WM, outrage rang through the Canyon as folks reacted to the unauthorized billing. Asked if she would pay the bill and wait for a refund, one of the most outspoken residents, T. Olivia Ferrari, wrote that in no way would she pay the bill.

“It is highway robbery in the first place and in the second, this company seems to have all sorts of problems with the canyon; our streets are too narrow, the trees hang too low. Right now they have implemented a sort of “concierge” service (at no extra cost ...they say) to haul all of the cans on our street out to Topanga Canyon Boulevard so that trucks can empty them and then later, another concierge comes by and puts them all back,” she wrote via email. “It’s not cost effective and it’s not practical to have these larger City style trucks on our sensitive vintage streets. As an aside, but related, other companies used to be able to bid every year and this kept things competitive, but now it is only WM. What the hey?! WM has only ever given us average service while raising the amounts charged over imaginary improvements.”

Topanga Gets a Portable Toilet

By The Canyon Chronicle Staff

Jenna Miller waits to help bag the meals.

Meal service ran from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Monday. Because the program is new, the first half hour brought only a handful of people, giving volunteers time to get the hang of things.

As cars entered the lot, they were checked for registration, volunteers at the other end of the loop transferred meals from coolers to To-Go bags. By the time each car looped around the lot, a volunteer was ready and waiting to load the goodies into the trunk. Maintaining social distance, event staff exchanged a few words of greeting and drivers expressed gratitude. Then it was on to the next car.

Meals will continue to be provided in the same manner on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

TO REGISTER Online—Go to Topangacommunitycenter.org to complete the form online. You may print the form and turn in at the Waterlily Café or Café 27.

Over the phone—Call the Topanga Community Center at (310) 455-1980 and leave a message. Tell them your name and which days you would like a meal, and if you are not picking up personally, who will be getting your meals for you. Then come on the first day of meal service to complete the rest of the information.

In person—You do not need to pre-register, but pre-registration will guarantee your meal and/or toiletries. If you would rather register in person, simply come to the Library on the first day of meal service.

For additional information please visit Topangacommunitycenter.org.

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A portable toilet was installed in June on Old Topanga Canyon Road, just north of Topanga Canyon Blvd., just past the Inn of the Seventh Ray. A hand-washing station has been ordered, but the date of arrival is unknown.

Stacy Sledge, former president of the Topanga Canyon Town Council, facilitated installation of a portable toilet that was maintained for decades behind the Topanga Creek Market but was removed in 2018..

“Since the Porta Potty that had served our community had to be removed from the General Store’s back parking lot,” said Sledge, “the Topanga Town Council and other volunteers worked with the County to find a new, but temporary location that could provide this necessary public service during the Covid-19 crisis. With other community restroom facilities not available, this Porta Potty is critical to the health and wellbeing for not only locals, but visitors that come through the canyon.”

The current facility came out of CARES Act funding, separate from the Pit Stop program. The facility will not be staffed. “In the Third Supervisorial District, we received just Photo by Kait Leonard. over $55,000 to help the Topanga community address the impact of Covid-19 on residents,” wrote a County spokesperson in June, as the facility was being installed. “With community input, we have decided to spend a portion of the funds on a Porta Potty and a handwashing station.” While the Porta Potty won’t be monitored, the spokesperson said that Los Angeles County will pay for its maintenance out of the Block Grant funds. .

COMMUNITY NEWS Town Council July Zoom Meeting

By Annemarie Donkin Topanga Canyon Town Council members and Topanga residents discussed many issues, including a new County financial relief program; fire safety and a new telemedicine program; traffic and crime reports.

The Topanga Canyon Town Council met via Zoom on July 8 at 6 p.m. as Council President Carrie Carrier, Vice-President Alisa Land Hill, and Board Member Stacy Sledge worked through a full agenda with representatives from L.A. County Fire, the West Valley CHP, and the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY REPORT In response to the devastating effects that COVID-19 is having on the local economy, the County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles, in partnership with institutional and corporate philanthropy, have come together to create the LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund. The regional fund will offer loan and grant resources to micro-entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profits with about 40-60 recipients and a lottery system setup. The grant are between $5,000 to $15,000.

Tessa Charnofsky, West Valley and Mountain Communities District Director for L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, said there were six rounds of grants, with $530,000 for each round. For more information: www.lacovidfund.org.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE REPORT Acting Assistant Fire Chief Andrew Smith reported that there were about 42 responses in April, May and June with no major emergencies.

“There were about 25 rescue calls, quite a few service calls,” he said. “People think they see smoke in the canyon which turns out to be fog,” Smith said. “We don’t have large fires in Topanga outside of September. We had weatherrelated false alarms, two mobile home fires with property loss of about $30,000 due to the quick response of Engine 69 and Fire Station 62.”

Chief Smith added that fire reporting has been really quiet and due to COVID-19, they have initiated a telemedicine program for medical emergencies.

Telemedicine Program. “We are really doing a robust patient assessment,” Smith said. “If they don’t need hospital care, we can do a tele-medicine call, interface with a doctor and perform a patient assessment outside of the emergency room over a video platform. We have an iPad and tech folks with software support. We did get some grant money with our equipment to put iPads on engines for paramedics.”

Get Ready for Fire Season> Chief Smith advised that Topangans should get ready now for fire season.

“We are always working with Cal Fire. They pay us money to be stewards of the land,” he said. “The Los Angeles unit is the largest in the nation. We automatically get air resources at the push of a button and on high-risk fire days we get two fixed-wing aircraft based on the fire danger analysis put together for the County, fixed-wing on a first alarm and always on request from the Unit Commander. We have a large tactical air force and sometimes it is best and quicker to go to 69 Bravo Helispot with a Fire hawk, than anywhere else that is filling.”

“What can people do to prepare ourselves,” asked TTC President Carrier. “What can we do right now?”

“Have a Plan in Place. There is a simple program called “Ready, Set, Go” online at www.fire.lacounty.gov,” Smith responded. “Have valuables pre-packed with what you know you will need to have, so when an order is given, you can leave your home; the life safety component is the most important.”

Chief Smith said homeowners should also clean up around their homes and property, including creating defensible space with brush clearance to prevent embers from catching fire.

TCC Board Member Stacy Sledge asked about the two fires—one at Mulholland and Stunt Road, and a recent blaze atTopanga and PCH. Chief Smith said the fire at Mulholland and Stunt was a one-vehicle collision into a pole which burned about 20 acres around it. “The fire at PCH and Topanga is of unknown origin,” he said. “There was no arson in evidence, no [sparking] brakes or cigarettes; it appears to be human error.”

CHP TOPANGA MONTHLY TRAFFIC COLLISION REPORT—JUNE 2020 In June, CHP responded to eight traffic collisions on Topanga Canyon Blvd. (SR-27) from the two-mile bridge south to PCH (compared to eight traffic collisions in June, 2019) with zero injuries, according to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Weston Haver.

Officer Haver reported the cause of the collisions were determined to be unsafe speed, unsafe turning movements, unsafe U-turn at an intersection and DUI. No injuries occurred in four traffic collisions on SR-27 in June from the two-mile bridge north to the L.A. city limits (compared to five traffic collisions in June, 2019). The cause of the collisions were determined to be unsafe turning movements and DUI. To report unsafe driving, call (818) 888-0980; (800) TELLCHP; or e-mail Officer Haver Haver at weston.haver@chp.ca.gov.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF’S REPORT Sheriff’s Lieutenant Mark Winn was preparing to talk about the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department crime report but was surprised with a special Commendation from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for his “33 years of dedicated service to the Sheriff’s Department.”

To commemorate Winn’s pending retirement, TCTC President Carrier read the Commendation in full “On behalf of the Topanga Town Council, we have items for you … we have a card from the Town Council and community groups,” Carrier said. “Thanks from the whole bunch, we are eternally grateful and we are coming with presents; you are so much more, you are a member of the community, you are so approachable and accessible.” There were many presents from many Topanga community groups.

Winn found himself momentarily speechless, so TCC board member Stacy Sledge spoke up. “You have been a rock we can lean on during times of crises and confusion,” Sledge said. “You helped guide us through things. We hope you are not totally going away and hope you have a wonderful retirement.”

“You can’t get rid of me,” Winn laughed. “I plan on coming to the TTC meetings and helping out as a Topanga CERT member.”

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: • Topanga Town Council Mask Program—The Council is providing free masks to seniors and vulnerable members of the community. If you need a mask, please call (310) 455-3001 or email contact@topangatowncouncil.org.

• Topanga Cares Program—Several Topanga nonprofits are teaming up with Supervisor Kuehl’s office to bring meals and toiletry items to those in need. The program began July 13.

Those facing food insecurities in the canyon will have access to free prepared meals at the Topanga Library parking area three times per week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-5 p.m.).

Meals are provided by Rocco’s Cucina, Café 27, and Waterlily Café.

To get on the list for meals, please complete a registration form and submit it to Waterlily Café or Café 27.

• Topanga’s Theatricum Botanicum offers summer classes for all ages and interests—For more information, visit: theatricum.com/category/featured-classes/ • Topanga Youth Services presents summer online workshops and classes— For more information: onetopanga.com/79-news/831-summer-fun-for-topanga-kids • 2020 Topanga Access Cards are available. Renew your cards online. First-time cardholders should call to arrange an appointment at (310) 455-3001, and press 0 to leave your name and phone number.

GOVERNMENT CONTACTS • Third District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s Office—Contact Tessa Charnofsky at: TCharnofsky@bos.lacounty.gov; Phone (818) 880-9416 • State Senator Henry Stern’s Office—Contact Jeremy Wolf at: Jeremy.Wolf@sen.ca.gov; Phone (818) 876-3352 • Assemblymember Richard Bloom’s Office—Tim Pershing at: Tim.Pershing@asm.ca.gov; Phone (310) 450-0041 TOPANGA CANYON TOWN COUNCIL Formed in 1977 in response to needs unique to the mountain community, residents created the TCTC to serve as a liaison with Topanga’s official governing body, the Los Angeles County Supervisor’s Office.

Meet your local Sheriff, CHP, and other government representatives the second Wednesday of the month when they deliver their reports.

The next Topanga Town Council General Meeting is August 12 at 6 p.m.. Look for a follow-up invitation and agenda.

Access Cards. TCTC is looking for volunteers to help on various activities, but especially to help with the Access Card program as it rolls out the expanded Caregiver program. To volunteer: contact@topangatowncouncil.org; or (310) 455-3001. To Obtain Topanga Access Cards, contact Lindsay Zook for an appointment at (310) 569-8931; For general information: onetopanga.com.

FRS Radio Giveaway

By Neighborhood Network Team Staff

Andrea Makshanoff, Catherine McClennahan, Mariko Chouinard, Paul Grzymkowski

The TCEP Neighborhood Network (NN) team gave away 24 pairs of FRS radios to each NN coordinator who came by the booth at Pine Tree Circle on Saturday, July 11.

The radios were purchased thanks to a North Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council grant funded by Southern California Edison (SCE).

The NN team will schedule another day and time to continue to give radios to the coordinators, until every existing coordinator has them. The team is working to get the Topanga community covered with a means of communication that doesn’t require power. If a Public Safety Power Shutoff is called for, TCEP will transmit on Channel 15 a “Top of the Hour” (TOTH) report informing the public of the status of the incident.

Don’t know what a NN is? Go to tcep.org.

Don’t know if you’re in one or want to start one? Contact us at nn@tcep.org

July 24

Catherine McClennahan assists NN coordinator Matt Doolin with a pair of FRS radios.

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COMMUNITY NEWS LAUSD Update

By Amy Weisberg, M.Ed.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) agreed to distance learning as the model for opening the school year on August 18, ahead of Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement on July 17.

Currently the LAUSD and UTLA are in negotiations regarding the conditions and expectations. It is expected that the results of these negotiations will be announced as soon as an agreement is reached with hopes for late July or the first week of August. Both the Union and the District are working together to provide a robust education program including accountability, devices, and connectivity for all, training for both parents and teachers, and guidelines for instruction.

Some of the items being discussed (per the published UTLA Platform) are a broad community preparedness that shows a clear commitment to stopping the spread of the virus through objective metrics and dramatically increased funding. *Necessary Conditions for Restarting LAUSD Schools in 2020-2021 UTLA educators are eager to start another school year where we can care for, laugh with, and most importantly, teach our students, but, even more than teaching, our job in a pandemic, is to keep our members, students, and communities safe.

LAUSD educates more than half a million students, employs more than 60,000 adults, and is spread out more than 720 square miles. The vast network of busing and commuting results in an extraordinary number of travel and contacts, which undermines physical distancing and contact tracing. This means that more than 500,000 students will potentially bring the virus to schools, exposing other students and staff, and/or take the virus home, exposing family members and the communities they live in.

Furthermore, with more than 80 percent students of color, more than 80percent of LAUSD students living in poverty, and more than 13 percent of students diagnosed with a disability, our students and their families are disproportionately vulnerable to serious illness and death from the virus because of structural racism, poverty, and/or disability.

Restarting schools safely and equitably can only occur in a broader setting of community preparedness, requiring greater federal and state resources to support a strategy of physical distancing in small, isolated groups, with a strong emphasis on hygiene and responsiveness to the rapidly emerging epidemiology of this novel virus.

To put it bluntly, we must implement best practices to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission, or thousands of educators, students, and family members will become ill, with many at heightened risk for death.

Best Practices Therefore, UTLA proposes that the following practices are necessary to restart schools in a healthy and pedagogically effective way, in the context of the current pandemic, the fight for racial and economic justice, and the struggle for Black Lives. Furthermore, it is UTLA’s position that the conditions related to the safety of a physical return to school sites must be met before we can return to classroom-based teaching and learning.

• Clear, specific, and consistent guidance from public health officers • Decreasing infection and hospitalization rates in Los Angeles County for 21 days and an absolute case number that indicates community spread has stopped

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• Close monitoring of the transmission rate (R0 rate) to ensure it does not rise above 1.

• Paid sick leave for parents to be able to keep symptomatic children home • Dramatically increased federal and state funding Testing and contact tracing protocols that allow for rapid identification and response to new cases and prevention of community spread, especially among disproportionately vulnerable school communities.

• Fixed seating assignments to support effective contact tracing • Quarantine protocols for active infections within the school community • Clear procedures for confirming that members of student households do not have the coronavirus 100% available and free testing and treatment for the entire community that explicitly addresses access issues among Black, Brown, and lowincome communities • Physical distancing that limits close physical contact among students and staff at the school site, consistent with the most recent epidemiological information.

• Staggered arrival, recess, lunch, and pickup times and one-way travel in hallways and campus entrance points • Class sizes of no more than 12 students and 1 adult per classroom, with lessons taught outside when possible.

• Appropriate personal protective equipment provided and required for all staff and students • Amended transportation plans to ensure physical distancing Emphasis on hygiene that ensures our students and staff have the supplies, time, and school administration support to mitigate viral spread according to epidemiological best practices.

• Installation of hand-washing stations in every entryway and classroom • Strict cleaning and sterilizing regimens for all classrooms, restrooms, and workspaces • Student and staff symptom and temperature screening before entering buses or school buildings • Designated rooms for isolating students and staff who exhibit symptoms • Improved air quality in classrooms and buildings to reduce the likelihood of viral buildup in an enclosed space, including plans to ensure comfortable classroom temperatures Protections for high-risk students and employees that mitigate the outsized risk a physical restart of schools will have on people with pre-existing conditions, students with disabilities, and Black, Brown, and low-income communities subjected to structural racism and economic inequality.

• Options for students and staff who are high risk or have family members who are high risk • Clear guidelines for students and staff with health issues who cannot safely wear PPE or who need specialized PPE (such as deaf and hard of hearing students and staff who rely on lip reading) • Clear guidelines for safe service delivery for students with disabilities • Additional support for parents who have vulnerable individuals in the household to be able to stay home to reduce chances of infection and death Increased health, emotional, and academic supports for students, families, and staff, many of whom will restart school having experienced trauma from the health and economic effects of the pandemic.

• Equitable online access for all students and educators • “Smart Start” to the school year, including extensive training for students, parents, and educators on all necessary learning and accountability platforms, and a delayed start to the school year.

• Appropriate technology devices and support provided to all students, educators, and HHS staff • Free, universally available tutoring classes for parents to help them better assist their students in the educational processes including tutoring methodology and content.

• Dedicated staff teams to follow up with at-risk students and those who have been out of contact with their teacher • Explicit communication plans to avoid marginalization of families where English is not the primary language and opportunities for parent feedback in all school community languages • Utilization of substitute teacher teams for daily academic support • Teacher-driven professional development focused on adapting to crisis distance teaching • Significant investment in improving crisis distance teaching and learning for students and parents if

• • • • •

conditions prevent the physical return to school sites.

A nurse in every school Increased mental health and academic supports through increased staffing of counselors, psychologists, PSWs, and PSAs Explicit plans to carry out health and safety protocols without resorting to punitive policing and punishment No standardized testing Explicit plans for providing IEP-required services, including compensatory services, for students with disabilities

Significant investment in improving crisis distance teaching and learning for students and parents if conditions prevent the physical return to school sites.

• Equitable online access for all students and educators • “Smart Start” to the school year, including extensive training for students, parents, and educators on all necessary learning and accountability platforms, and a delayed start to the school year • Appropriate technology devices and support provided to all students, educators, and HHS staff • Free, universally available tutoring classes for parents to help them better assist students in the educational processes including tutoring methodology and content • Dedicated staff teams to follow up with at-risk students and those who have been out of contact with their teacher • Explicit communication plans to avoid marginalization of families where English is not the primary language and opportunities for parent feedback in all school community languages • Utilization of substitute teacher teams for daily academic support • Teacher-driven professional development focused on adapting to crisis distance teaching Investment in schools and communities that reflect a societal commitment to basic human rights for people, as opposed to profit for billionaires and corporations.

• Income replacement for all workers displaced by the COVID-19 economic downturn • Continued $600 per week unemployment insurance supplement • Increased access to EBT cards for all in need • Financial support for undocumented workers displaced by the COVID-19 economic downturn • Free COVID-related medical treatment for all • Paid sick and family leave for all workers • Rent and mortgage forgiveness for those impacted by the economic crisis • Investment in healthcare, community, and jobs programs with a focus on remedying centuries of racism and inequity Full funding of IDEA by the federal government, which has failed to follow through on its funding commitments related to special education Increased taxation of wealthy people and corporations through a wealth tax, millionaire tax, and passage of Proposition 15 (Schools and Communities First) • Repurposing funding for police and prisons to needed programs • Increased funding for public schools, public health, and other needed services • Moratorium on new charters and co-locations based on need for consistent application of health and safety standards Requirement that charter schools adhere to district policies regarding the physical opening and/or reopening of school sites. Investment in schools and communities that reflect a societal commitment to basic human rights for people, as opposed to profit for billionaires and corporations. *NOTE: This is the wording of the UTLA Platform in negotiation. Not all items are directly related to the start of school, but to systemic changes that are needed/ recommended.

Teachers are working through the summer to prepare for distance instruction in addition to taking professional development classes and working with colleagues virtually. It is our intent to support parents and students in a safe virtual learning environment as instruction continues. While our desire is always to be with our students, teaching in person, as is the best practice, we are grateful for the District’s care for the health of all students and school personnel. In the meantime, we prepare to teach in these unusual times.

PEOPLE Spotlight On… Jamie Mazur

Mazur hones is acting skills

By Amy Weisberg M.Ed. Jamie Mazur grew up in Topanga and attended Topanga Elementary Charter School, Paul Revere Middle School, and Palisades Charter High School. I first met Jamie as a four-year-old transitional kindergarten (then called developmental kindergarten) student in my class at Topanga Elementary Charter School. He impressed me immediately as a dedicated and creative student and I have been fortunate to watch him perform in school musicals and follow his progress as a student.

When asked how growing up in Topanga influenced him, he acknowledged the Topanga Community’s support of the arts and creative expression where he had many opportunities to participate in creative endeavors. He noted how welcoming the Topanga Community is to young artists. Jamie credits his supportive parents, Susan Clark and Kenneth Mazur, for encouraging him to follow his artistic dreams.

Jamie graduated this June from Palisades Charter High School and was

Jamie Mazur as a Kindergartner

awarded the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) award for Excellence in Performance and Writing. As a student at PCHS he was active in the theater program. In his senior year he was the president and head writer, under the direction of theater teacher Ms. Nancy Fracchiolla, for Friday Night Live, the high school’s sketch comedy group, and participated in musicals and plays. He has produced work as a cartoonist and animator in addition to his theatrical writing.

Jamie received a university grant to the University of Southern California, majoring in screenwriting with a minor in comedy. He is excited to collaborate with other students with shared interests and to work with professors as he hones his writing. He is also interested in stand-up and sketch comedy. Future goals include writing for Saturday Night Live, television shows and film. Congratulations Jamie!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? We know the Topanga diaspora extends nationally, if not globally. We’re always curious about where our Topanga kids and young adults, who grew up in or attended school in Topanga, are and what they’re doing. Maybe they still live here.

If you are a former Topanga kid, or know someone else who has a story to tell, please send a paragraph (100 words or so) and a high-resolution photo to editor@ thecanyonchronicle.com.

As they say, “You can take the kid out of Topanga, but you can’t take Topanga out of the kid.” Or as we say, “Once a Topanga Kid, always a Topanga Kid.”

Jamie Mazur on the way to USC

Spotlight On… America’s Got Talent, July 28

By Amy Weisberg M.Ed. Tune in to America’s Got Talent (AGT) on July 28 to watch Topanga brothers, Alex and Brody Gage, perform in their second-round audition.

As one of the lucky teachers living in the community where I teach, I get to see many of my students grow up. When students start Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten, I don’t always see their skills and talents revealed, but slowly, as they get comfortable and gain confidence, the children begin to share. This was the case when I met Alex Gage in my TK class, who started out as a shy young boy who surprised all of us with his harmonica talents by the end of the year. When Brody was in my class a couple of years later, I had a clue that he possessed the same musical talent and was proven right. I remember both boys as focused students with a love of art and music. Watching Alex and Brody grow into the young men they are, good students, and amazing musicians, has been a true pleasure.

According to their website (brothersgage. com), “The Brothers Gage, Alex and Brody, first learned to play harmonica from their dad when they were both five years old. Within the next few years, they began singing, playing guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. They performed live for the first time at a local talent show in October 2013 (they’ve since played it six years in a row). Brody was eight years old and played harmonica while his brother Alex, 10 at the time, sang and played guitar performing the song “Wagon Wheel”.”

The boys’ father, Dave, has taught harmonica for 40 years at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, so it was natural that Alex and Brody Gage he would start teaching the kids to play when they were little. He wanted to give the kids a skill they could take into adulthood, which also taught self-discipline via daily practice that began with 15 minutes a day, but it had to be every day, and by “every day,” he meant even on birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc Dave’s philosophy is that if you miss one day, it makes it easier to miss more days.

He ultimately found bribing them with weekly allowance money was the trick to keep them practicing. Miss a day, no allowance for that week. All of this practicing and commitment to perfecting their craft led to the Gage brothers’ love of music and the strong bond they share, which is clear in their performances.

The Brothers Gage debuted on America’s Got Talent (AGT) on June 30, 2020,

for their first-round audition. They performed their original two-man harmonica instrumental “Trading Eights” (available on streaming platforms), received four yes votes and a standing ovation from all four judges: Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, and Howie Mandel.

As Alex and Brody’s former teacher, watching that AGT show was a thrill that brought tears to my eyes. Mrs. Kort, their Kindergarten teacher, was equally moved and we were both so excited when they received the four yes votes!

The Brothers Gage started playing in public at The Topanga Talent Show, which was a great way for the kids to have a goal of performing, rather than just practicing. After they got up on stage for the first show, they were excited to do it again the next year and the years following.

Their humble beginnings at The Talent Show led to their shows at Topanga Days, the first year as the opening act on the Main Stage, followed the next year by a performance on the Corral Stage.

Their mom, Tina, says her role as their mom has been a supportive role, since she doesn’t know how to teach music. She does contribute opinions about song choices, does the graphics for their flyers, and answers the ever-present question, “What’s for dinner?

The Brothers Gage currently perform in the Los Angeles area at local clubs, events, fundraisers, pep rallies, and parties. They’ve played numerous times at McCabes’ Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, opening for the band Jacksh*t (including guest stars like Jackson Browne and Dave Alvin), and played an opening set for the band, Big Daddy, in 2018.

They recently won first place at a local talent show called “Agoura’s Got Talent” in Agoura, California.

In December 2018, the Brothers Gage released their first instrumental single, “Trading Eights,” which is currently available on Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes.

I am sure there will be more to look forward to with these two amazing musicians.

Alex says, “We’ve grown up playing music and played many shows over the years, but it’s exciting to get to this level and play for millions of TV viewers.”

Brody adds, “The response to our act has been amazing, and being on the show was a cool experience.”

Be sure to watch the Brothers Gage’s next appearance on America’s Got Talent, July 28.

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LIFESTYLE Necessities of Life

By Kait Leonard

and Partners, revealed that conditions for the homeless fell far short of the standards set by the United Nations for refugee camps. Previous attempts to provide restroom facilities failed, as bathrooms became private spaces used to conduct unlawful activities like drug sales and prostitution.

In the face of the Hepatitis A outbreak in 2017, the Los Angeles City Council and the Mayor authorized the implementation of the mobile Pit Stop program, according to Heather Johnson, Principal Public Relations Representative for Los Angeles Sanitation. Using some out-of-the-box problem solving and recruiting the help of the perfect partners, the city gave both housed and unhoused Angelenos a reason for optimism. The Pit Stop program launched in March 2020, and due to its success is expanding citywide. On March 1, one of the most heavily trafficked locations in Skid Row became a fully staffed, 24-hour facility.

Roland Whirley sits outside his PitStop facility, ready to greet those needing to go and to point them toward the handwashing station when they exit. Photos by Kait Leonard.

While maintaining as much distance as possible, people are lined up on a downtown sidewalk, waiting. Some read newspapers, others engage in small talk, and some quietly watch the occasional passing car. A uniformed attendant donning rubber gloves manages the event.

Given our current orders to stay at home as much as possible, why are these people lined up? They are waiting for their turn to use the toilet. The Pit Stop facilities are one of the hottest attractions in Skid Row. The scarcity of bathrooms in areas with significant unhoused populations is not new, nor is it connected to COVID-19.

In light of the current crisis, however, the need for sanitary conditions has become paramount.

Anyone who has ever walked by a homeless encampment has been assaulted by the smell of human waste. The lack of public facilities forces unhoused people to relieve themselves on streets, in doorways, and in bags that are then discarded in waste bins, when bins are available. A shocking report from the 2017 audit, conducted by the Central Providers Collaborative, Skid Row Community Residents

The well-maintained interior of a permanent PitStop facility

To truly appreciate the effort that went into the current program and its younger sibling, Shower Stop, it’s important to be aware of all the pieces of the puzzle that came together to make it a reality. First, the City of Los Angeles had to create a budget for the program and find the right partners to support its day-to-day operation. In 2017, a partnership with Five Keys Schools and Programs was formed, according to Dave Bates, Director of Reentry and Transitional Employment for Five Keys.

Jennifer deSpain, CPA, CFP® Business/Personal Tax & Financial Services Tel. 818.883.4800 www.CanyonOakFinancial .com

Photo by Miriam Geer.

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LIFESTYLE In San Francisco, Hunters Point Family already had a successful Pit Stop program. Five Keys came onboard to oversee expansion of the project to Los Angeles and to provide operational oversight. They then subcontracted with Urban Alchemy to handle staffing needs. To identify staff, Urban Alchemy connected with Amity Foundation and Chrysalis, two organizations dedicated to empowering marginalized people by helping them acquire skills needed to reenter the workforce.

With the complicated pieces in place, a picture of success began to emerge.

The Pit Stop program is now bringing some measure of dignity to the lives of the unhoused population as well as to the formerly incarcerated individuals who staff the facilities.

In spite of these wins, however, the situation in Skid Row remains dire. The number of toilets continues to fall extremely short of what is called for by the UN, and city streets still need pressure washing to minimize the health risks created by the unsanitary living conditions in the encampments. In addition, a handful of local politicians argue that the money allotted to the Pit Stops could be better spent providing shelter, thus removing the need for the toilets. Some Angelenos fear that providing toilets enables encampments, making it harder to get people off the streets.

These concerns have merit. We have a long way to go to solve the problems associated with homelessness. But before judging the Pit Stop program, it is valuable to listen to the people who know it best, those who run it, staff it, and use it.

Unsurprisingly, the management team wants to view Pit Stops in the best light possible. But their enthusiasm goes beyond simple support of a project. “It’s my baby,” says Bates. “I’m really proud of this program, what we’ve been able to do, taking men and women from long-term prison placements and preparing them for jobs. This is a success.” When Bates talks, you hear his enthusiasm in every word.

He describes taking individuals who have been in prison for “20, 30, 35 years” and placing them in a Pit Stop facility to get hands-on job experience. They also go through a five-week training program to learn cell phone etiquette, how to use email, basic computer skills, and job interview skills. Participants even participate in mock interviews. Bates speaks with pride about graduates who have gone on to work for Los Angeles Metro or for nonprofit organizations as case managers. From this perspective, there is no questioning the success of the Pit Stops.

To further assess the program, the opinions of those who staff the toilet stations should be considered. How do they feel about cleaning, stocking, and monitoring toilets all day?

“They’re embracing the program with enthusiasm,” says Bates. He says the workers are grateful for a chance to play productive roles in a society from which they have been alienated for a very long time. But don’t take his word for it.

At the facility on the corner of Fifth and San Pedro, you might meet Hattyrun Hunter as he tends to two toilets and a hand-washing station. Hattyrun is a young man who proudly describes himself as “one of the best workers anywhere.” Before he will allow you to use the toilet, he’ll double check the already pristine facility for cleanliness. It must come up to his standard before you can enter. At another location, you will find Roland Whirley. Roland smiles at everyone entering the toilet, and upon exit, he points them to the hand-washing station. If you ask him what he thinks of his work, he’ll say, “It’s the best job I ever had.”

Both Hattyrun and Roland have faced challenges. Now, they are proud of what they do and grateful for the opportunity to serve the community. These Pit Stop workers prove the power of the second chance.

To understand how the program impacts the lives of the unhoused people of Skid Row, all you need to do is look around the facilities. Men and an occasional woman wait calmly in line. The surrounding pavement is cleaner than areas that don’t have toilet facilities. Tents and lean-tos cluster nearby attesting to the fact that people want to be close enough to make use of the toilets. And why wouldn’t they? The people living on the streets of Skid Row survive without so many things that housed people take for granted. One of these is certainly the dignity that comes with privacy.

Pit Stops aren’t the answer to homelessness. They won’t ensure that people on

Hattyrunn Hunter proudly displays the cleanliness of his PitStop facility.

the streets won’t be hit by the coronavirus. Without question, the unhoused should be using bathrooms in their own apartments or in residential facilities. And people with criminal records should be given routes back into society from all sectors of the community, not just from a few nonprofits.

There are many “shoulds” that need to be turned into realities. In the meantime, the creative thinking and serious effort by the City of Los Angeles, Five Keys Schools and Programs, Urban Alchemy and their partners, proves that the dire situation of homelessness can be transformed. The path to a solution is not simple, and there is a long way to go. But when you sleep on the pavement with only the clothes on your back as shelter, any improvement is profound.

Laura Welles Adell, Esq. Estate Planning | Probate Trust Administration

Tel. 818 - 883 -9272

www.adell-law.com

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The Sound of Summer Playing

By Joel Bellman

W

e all have our own ways of welcoming the summer. For students, it’s when school lets out for the year and vacation begins. For Druids and hippies, the summer solstice traditionally kicks things off with mystic rites and music festivals to celebrate the longest day of the year. Astronomers note the day when the sun reaches its zenith in the Tropic of Cancer and the earth’s axial tilt affords maximum solar exposure in the hemisphere.

Me, I just listened to the radio.

Growing up in the ‘60s, summer’s arrival was greeted with a bumper crop of that seasonal staple, the summer hit. As California kids, we marked the passage of time in its flight not so much by changes in the weather, but by the rotation of popular culture narratives. We knew it was fall not by the leaves turning, but by the trappings of Halloween, from horror movies and songs like “Haunted House” and “Monster Mash,” to supermarkets overflowing with pumpkins and trick-ortreat candy. A few weeks later, and it was all Pilgrims and Indians gathering for a turkey feast. Another month and everything was (fake) snow and Santa Claus and traditional Christmas carols, along with a slew of standards, from “White Christmas” and “The Christmas Song

(Chestnuts Roasting…)” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and countless other holiday pop classics.

I don’t recall too many springtime hits—maybe the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream,” the Rascals’ “It’s A Beautiful Morning”—but then comes summer.

Was there ever a more glorious time to let the audio sunshine in?

Here on the West Coast, summertime meant the beach. The beach meant surfing. And surfing meant surf music—cool instrumentals by artists like the Ventures and Dick Dale, inspired by country rocker Duane Eddy and his “twang” guitar style, and songs by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean built around recycled Chuck Berry riffs— “Sweet Little Sixteen” retooled as “Surfin’ U.S.A..”

P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri helped fuel the hit machine, cutting their own hot rod and surf songs under various names like The Fantastic Baggys and writing hits for others, like the minor classic “Summer Means Fun,” which charted for the short-lived duo of Bruce and Terry.

THE BEACH BOYS The Beach Boys [PHOTO] ruled the genre, with far too many hits to count, but my personal favorites are “All Summer Long” (poignant end title track for American Graffiti), “Good Vibrations” (released in October 1966, but what the hell—it’s still a summery masterpiece) and their triumphant return to surf music in the summer of 1968, the magnificent “Do It Again,” a #1 hit in the UK that barely cracked the Top 20 here in the States.

EDDIE COCHRAN Surf wasn’t the only ‘60s summer music. The previous decade saw a number of summer-themed hits, like the bright and bouncy “Summertime, Summertime” by the Jamies, anchored by the brother-sister team of Tom and Serena Jameson, Jerry Keller’s “Here Comes Summer,” and of course the Eddie Cochran [PHOTO] classic of teenage angst, “Summertime Blues,” famously covered later by The Who and Blue Cheer:

I went to my congressman, and he said, quote “I’d like to help you, son, but you’re too young to vote” Sometimes I wonder what I’m-a-gonna do Oh, there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues

MUNGO JERRY Beside surfing, there were plenty of other diversions for a frisky young man. Mungo Jerry:

In the summertime When the weather’s fine You got women, you got women on your mind Have a drink, have a drive Go out and see what you can find In the summer of 1966, Ray Davies and the Kinks scored a #1 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with a song about a less innocent kind of lechery—a dissolute pop star, dumped by the girlfriend he mistreated, who ran off “to her ma and pa, tellin’ tales of drunkenness and cruelty,” while he bides his time, “just sittin’ here, sippin’ at my icecool beer, lazin’ on a sunny afternoon.”

The girls had something a little more tender and romantic on their minds. Backed by a memorable minor-key harpsichord line, Marianne Faithfull sang wistfully of her “Summer Nights”:

There’s a little café Where we can hear music play They keep the lights turned down low It’s the place where lovers go Then you hold me tight and say, “Our love will always be this way,” on summer nights

T

THE DRIFTERS

he West Coast may have been all surfing and cruising, but summer carried a very different vibe in the Midwest and on the East Coast. When it got too humid in the concrete jungle, Detroit’s Martha Reeves and the Vandellas sang about “Dancing In the Street” and the “Heat Wave,” while the Drifters yearned for the peace and quiet “Up On the Roof,” or stealing an intimate moment making love out of the sun, “Under the Boardwalk.” Billy Stewart, who was born and raised in Washington, D. C. and cut many fine R&B sides for Chess and Okeh Records, is best remembered for his brassy, powerhouse 1966 arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.

THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL But for me, nothing beats the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In the City,” in which singer-songwriter John Sebastian’s good-time jug band takes a radical turn into one of the toughest urban rockers of the era, which one rock writer called “the perfect inner-city urban summer anthem” and #1 smash:

In 1968, the Stones delivered their most powerful blow against the empire with the overtly political “Street Fighting Man,” inspired by rising anti-war protests and the Paris student riots in the spring, where Jagger finds release as he channels his rising aggression into music:

Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy But what can a poor boy do ‘Cept to sing for a rock ‘n’ roll band Cause in sleepy London town There’s just no place for a street fighting man No wonder it stalled at #48 in the US charts: many radio stations refused to play it over its “subversive” lyrics. It would be three years before the single was even released in the UK at all.

Darkness and violence were the exception, though. The summer of 1966 saw Scottish singersongwriter Donovan shed his folk roots and cut one of the earliest hit singles of the dawning psychedelic era in “Sunshine Superman.” The Summer of Love inspired many classics, maybe most prominently when the Mamas and Papas’ John Phillips wrote and produced a certifiable winner in the gorgeous “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair),” for his former bandmate in The Journeymen, Scott McKenzie. An honorable mention goes to Eric Burdon, with his new Americanbased Animals, who flew Trans-Love Airways to the Bay Area and fell for a girl (or a tab) “named Sandoz” (the Swiss pharmaceutical lab where LSD was first synthesized), where “strobe lights beam/ creates dreams/walls move, minds do too/on a warm San Franciscan night.”

One reason summers are special is because they’re so fleeting. We work all year to earn our three months of carefree leisure—and then, all too soon, it’s gone. And so it was by the summer of ’69—Sly and the Family Stone’s classic, “Hot Fun In the Summertime,” one of the few American hits for that year to feature a summer theme, which ironically contrasts the advent of a summer romance (End of the spring and here she comes back/Hi hi hi there) and the bittersweet parting at the end (First of the fall and then she goes back/Bye bye bye there).

For many, that summer was anything but carefree.

We sent a man to the moon and celebrated three days of peace, love and music at Woodstock—but we also had the Zodiac killer, the Manson Family, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River literally catching fire from all its pollution (inspiring the Randy Newman song, “Burn On”), the Stonewall riots for gay rights, and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne in Sen. Ted Kennedy’s car off Chappaquiddick Island.

An important sub-genre is the summer song tinged with melancholy and regret—perhaps a last goodbye to the school friends and romantic partners you may never see again, or an autumnal reflection on the joyful summer memories that invariably begin to fade almost before the season is out.

Two of the best “farewell” songs are Brian Hyland’s mournful summer 1962 hit, “Sealed With A Kiss,” where the singer mopes over his absent girlfriend (Yes it’s gonna be a cold, lonely summer/but I’ll fill the emptiness/I’ll send you all my dreams every day in a letter/sealed with a kiss) and the Happenings’ summer 1966 hit, “See You in September,” tempering the loneliness with more than a hint of jealousy and control (“Have a good time but remember/there is danger in the summer moon above/will I see you in September/or lose you to a summer love?”).

TRAFFIC A personal favorite of mine, a Top 5 hit in the UK though a miss in America, was Traffic’s debut single from May 1967, “Paper Sun.” As Dave Mason’s trippy sitar swirls about Steve Winwood’s deceptively upbeat melody, Jim Capaldi’s darker lyric casts a jaundiced eye toward a girl “who thinks you’re having good times/with a boy that you just met,” only to find herself alone and abandoned: “Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand/A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand/The boy who had given you so much fun/Has left you so cold in the paper sun.”

(See SUMMER PLAYING, Page 14)

(SUMMER PLAYING, Contd. from Page 13)

They say that all good things must end some day Autumn leaves must fall And when the rain Beats against my windowpane I’ll think of summer days again And dream of you

The orchestra strikes an ominous chord as Nancy’s voice seductively wafts in:

We close with two of the most compelling entries in the summertime canon. Johnny Rivers’s “Summer Rain” came out in November 1967, and powered by the Wrecking Crew rhythm section, the song recalls an ecstatic summer “spent groovin’ in the sand/and the jukebox kept on playin’/‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” By song’s end, the summer has receded into the past and the weather has turned harsh and cold, yet this love story seems to have a happy ending:

F

ormer Eagle Don Henley’s [PHOTO] “Boys of Summer,” a later hit in October 1984, is another small masterpiece, also nominally about summer’s fleeting pleasures, but ultimately a melancholy reflection on time passing, dreams deferred or cancelled, love and loss, and the inevitability of age as the singer, in a reverie, vows eternal love for the girl who’s already left long before:

Winter snows drift by my window North wind blowing like thunder Our love is burning like fire She’s here by me, yeah She’s here by me Let tomorrow be

Strawberries, cherries, and an angel’s kiss in spring My summer wine is really made from all these things And we know that Hazlewood’s cowboy, who tells us in a Johnny Cash growl, “I walked in town on silver spurs that jingle to/a song that I had only sung to just a few,” is a goner. Nancy purrs: Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time And I will give to you summer wine But soon, the cowboy is done:

My eyes grew heavy and my lips they could not speak I tried to get up but I couldn’t find my feet She reassured me with an unfamiliar line And then she gave to me more summer wine A brass line nicked from the James Bond theme and a key change heighten the drama and ratchet up the sexual tension. As he finally awakens,

The sun was shinin’ in my eyes, My silver spurs were gone, My head felt twice its size

I can see you Your brown skin shining in the sun You got the top pulled down Radio on baby I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone

And like a phantom the girl has vanished. But our cowboy is beyond caring, having fallen hopelessly under her spell:

Chad and Jeremy were part of the first wave of British Invasion artists to break on American shores in early 1964, but like their contemporaries Peter and Gordon, they preferred a soft and mellow folk style rather than the hard-edged rock ’n’ roll and R&B favored by the Beatles, Stones, and others. Though it failed to chart in their native England, over here the duo’s “A Summer Song” edged into the Top 10 to become their biggest stateside hit. It’s another bittersweet end-of-the-season lament about passing time and fading love:

EDUCATE

Top 50, my personal favorite is “Summer Wine”—a 4:16 epic of sexual conquest, betrayal, abandonment…and something more.

EMPOWER

She took my silver spurs a dollar and a dime And left me cravin’ for more summer wine

Nancy Sinatra’s [PHOTO] professional hook-up with singer-songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood yielded a handful of Top 10 hits, and though it barely cracked the

And there’s the metaphor I was searching for. Time ultimately steals nearly everything from us—our youth, our vitality, our possessions, our loved ones—leaving only our memories, and our craving for those heady, carefree days gone by. A craving that just maybe, if we’re lucky, we can satisfy with a summer song that mystically conjures it up again.

For three or four minutes, at least.

EMPLOY

Robin Becker Studio Art Sale Supporting the Mariposa DR Foundation for Girls Sunday, July 26, 2020 10:00 am to 3:00 pm or by Private Appointment Social Distancing & Masks Please - Gloves & Hand Sanitizer Provided Please RSVP to rlbecker@mac.com

I am opening my studio to support the Mariposa DR Foundation bringing education and opportunity to girls aged 8 to 18 in the “DR” the Dominican Republic.

Barbara Allen E.A. 310-455-2375

riklin@barbaraalleneataxservices.com

Tax Preparation & Audit Representation For Individuals, Small Businesses,

Pick one or more of my original art works in my studio in Old Topanga Canyon and make a donation to the MariposaDR Foundation that will absolutely help change lives.

Estates, Trusts and Tax-Exempt Entities

https://robinbeckerartist.com

INVEST IN A GIRL AND SHE WILL DO THE REST

https://mariposadrfoundation.org

The Mariposa DR Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit sustained by donations.

All donations are tax-deductible.

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www.barbaraalleneataxservices.com

ASTRONOMY NEOWISE Comet at Dawn

By Eric Fitzgerald The interplanetary interloper dubbed Comet NEOWISE has brightened surprisingly in the pre-dawn skies in the northwest.

Officially designated Comet C/2020 F3, NEOWISE was first spotted on March 27 by astronomers using the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope. Because comets stream gas and dust in the solar wind as they approach the Sun, predicting their brightness can be tricky once they are first spotted.

The attached was shot at 5:03 a.m. PDT on Saddle Peak on July 10th, 2020.

Topanga Canyon is in the foreground and the San Gabriel Mountains are across the brightly lit San Fernando Valley. It was shot using an ISO of 1000 at f/2.0 with a 44mm lens. The exposure time is about a second.

NEOWISE Tight: and this one above the San Fernando Valley was shot with an ISO of 1000, f/2.8, 100mm telephoto lens 4:47 AM PDT July 12, 2020:

NEOWISE Sunrise: July 10

S E E K I N G S E R E N I T Y A N D S H E LT E R ?

Tr u s t Ta n y a t o n a v i g a t e y o u t h r o u g h t h e s e c h a l l e n g i n g t i m e s.

TE TA S E 00 W E I 95,0 V A 9 SE $1,

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If your home is currently listed with a REALTOR®, please disregard this material. Not intended to solicit currently listed property

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2960 TUNA CANYON

2960 TUNA CANYON

2960 TUNA CANYON

$4,500,000 | Nancy Nelms

$4,500,000 | Nancy Nelms

$4,500,000 | Nancy Nelms

20711 MEDLEY LANE

20711 MEDLEY LANE

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$1,299,000 | Nancy, Drew & Sarah

$1,299,000 | Nancy, Drew & Sarah

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2 2 8 2 5 P O R TA G E C I R C L E

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$1,210,000 | Drew & Sarah

$1,210,000 | Drew & Sarah

$1,210,000 | Drew & Sarah

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

20440 CALLON DRIVE

20440 CALLON DRIVE

20440 CALLON DRIVE

$1,399,000 | Drew & Sarah

$1,399,000

$1,399,000 | Drew & Sarah

| Drew & Sarah

RELIGION Spiritual Topanga

holy names), mantra meditation (freeing the living entity from the limitations of the mind), and prasadam (food offered to Krishna). The center offers lectures and events throughout the year, geared to Vaisnav studies and devotion. nrsimhananda@gmail. com.

Compiled by Paula LaBrot Joseph Campbell said, “The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet.” Here in Topanga Canyon there is an eclectic variety of places to nourish one’s soul and one’s spiritual nature. From mainstream to alternative spiritual practices, Topanga provides a number of “soul-full” environments. Check out their websites for information as most are now closed due to state mandate until further notice

At Shamanworks Mandy King offers teaching in Shamanic Healing. Shamans go gently to the origin of unhealed wounds, enabling deep healing and far-reaching transformation. At Shamanworks you can explore Soul Retrieval, Ancestral and Past Life Healing, Ghost Crossing, Dreamwork, Divination, or Land and Home Clearing Blessing. “Mandy intuitively weaves these healing approaches together in her work to create a shamanic healing experience as unique as the client themselves.” Connect with Mandy at shamanworks.com.

The Topanga Christian Fellowship Church has been part of the canyon since 1953.

Their programs include pastors, speakers and musicians. This little country church is a vibrant, musical place, whose doors welcome all who wish to enter. They are a nondenominational, Protestant, full-service church whose mission statement sees its congregation as serving “as a local body of believers whose purpose is to witness God’s love to others as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, our crucified, risen, exalted, and soon-returning king.” Normally, there are services at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. The Fellowship is available for weddings, memorials, special holiday events, and is home to AA and Debtors Anonymous meetings.. Located at 269 Old Topanga Canyon Rd. topangachristianfellowship.org.

The Chabad Jewish Center was founded in Topanga by Rabbi Dovid Weiss in 2003 and has grown into a lively, warm, joyful, very personal organization. They have Shabbat services on Saturday from 10:30-11:30 a.m., followed by a hot lunch with challah, gefilte fish and stews. Chabad has wonderful classes like “Paint a Portrait of Your Soul,” a Women’s Circle, a Jewish-Karate fusion approach to Hebrew School, Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, Children’s Programs, The Rosh Chodesh Society, cooking classes, special events and lectures, a Torah class on Wednesday from 7 to 8 p.m. and more activities throughout the year. This vibrant, happy place is located at 1459 Old Canyon Road. www.chabadoftopanga.com.

The Vedic Cultural Center at the Pyramid House has been serving Topanga since 1979. Here you can learn the principles of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion to Krishna. You can find fellowship, knowledge, kirton (congregational chanting of the

The Beloved Witch Circle led by former Topanga resident Coco Blignaut, is a place to practice Celtic Animism. Animism attributes a soul to all forms…living beings, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena. You can meet one to one with Coco Blignaut or participate in Beloved Witch circles, where she leads searches for meaning in a topic like Covid19, teaches how to communicate with and through trees, and explores The Angelic Kingdom. Right now, the circles are online. Topics vary. When social distancing is over, participants will be able to meet at Coco’s home to listen, create, sing, dance, hear gorgeous Celtic music, experience sound baths, feast on Druid food, and get anointed with essential oils, all the while increasing one’s sensitivity and tapping into the great Universal Intelligence. Presently, Coco has a circle for teens on Saturday at 11 a.m. and a circle for women at 1 p.m.. Contact Coco at bookofseraph@me.com.

Drum Circle with Jamie Papish encourages fellowship through drumming. Jamie leads drum circles for participants age seven and up. The old expression “getting into a groove” illustrates the soul-connections music can create among groups of people playing together. You can join in on all kinds of instruments, from frame drums to pots and pans. Contact Jamie at jamiepapishmusic.com.

Twelve Step Programs in Topanga Canyon include Alcoholics Anonymous, Alanon, Narcotics Anonymous and Debtors Anonymous. There may be more I don’t know about. These beautiful programs provide a spiritual approach to living that is healing and practical. According to Wikipedia, “A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems.” It becomes much more than that to many who practice this deeply spiritual path. You can find these programs by checking Los Angeles websites…aa.org, alaonla.org, na.org, debtorsanonymous.org.

These wonderful places are a smattering of the “soul food” of Topanga Canyon.

There is more…seek and ye shall find. If you have a suggestion to add to our list, please contact us at editor@thecanyonchronicle.com. Meanwhile, wishing you all Love and Peace.

Vamos a ver!

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NEWS FEATURE

Exploring Lifecycles

Homeschool Options

By Megan Griego I want to homeschool my children…but how?

These past few months, many parents were forced to learn how to homeschool, virtually (pun intended) overnight. For many, this experience was tumultuous, especially for families who also work from home and for children that were on Zoom for too many hours per day.

For some families, however, the opportunity to homeschool was eye opening and they are now searching for ways to continue a style of learning that offers flexibility, choice, togetherness, play, significant and authentic academic growth, and time!

Exclamations like I’m not a teacher! My kid doesn’t want to learn from me! What about socialization? I wish I could, but I have to go to work! are foremost in the minds of parents forced into homeschooling.

Topanga may have an answer with several homeschool or “un-school” groups in Topanga and the surrounding area. Some are even drop-off learning collectives.

Because of their small numbers and freedom from regulation and liability, some of the programs are “covid-smart” without the need for masks or measuring six-foot distances. Following is a sampling of local homeschool “drop-off” opportunities.

Everwild. EverWild’s Nature Immersion Programming provides meaningful outdoor experiences and deep nature connection for children and communities.

Their classes encompass forest-school and place-based learning philosophies and organically implement the practice of environmental stewardship skills. Utilizing nature as their classroom, children engage in experiential, inquiry-based, and projectbased learning as they move through the rhythm of their day. (everwildla.com) Peace Guardians. Peace Guardians believe that now, more than ever, the planet is calling for young passionate leaders who work together to create peace and harmony

festivals, go on field and camping trips, and this past year they put on their first play in the woods. For more information: Eldrid at eldrid@me.com.

Petals: Petals Learning Community is a group of youth, their parents, and educators, who choose to homeschool as a collective. Petals is an acronym for the learning priorities of the families: Play, Earth, Tinkering, Art, Language, and Strength. They operate as an Agile Learning Center which practices self-directed education where academics are offered and encouraged but never imposed or presented coercively. (petalslearningcommunity.org) Topanga Youth Services (TYS): is the youth organization operating through the Topanga Community Center umbrella. TYS offers an annual musical and talent show as well as band nights, classes, and events for youth 10-17 years. (topangayouthservices.org) The Park Day Group (not a drop off program): There are several “park groups” in both the Valley and the Westside that meet at least once per week mostly for a social outing usually at the beach or a regular park. One of the benefits of the Park Day Groups is a communication forum that shares about or creates homeschooling activities such as cultural experiences or classes. For more information: Jessica at fitteacherjes@yahoo.com.

Pirate Ships

Exloring Music

in their communities and the world. They see a global network of empowered educators creating enrichment programs that nurture emotional intelligence and self-development of the whole child. Their mission is to provide training, tools, and resources for future generations to become ambassadors of peace for themselves, their communities, and the world. (peacegurdians.org) First Nature Topanga. First Nature offers programs for boys, girls, and co-ed groups from early elementary age through high school. First Nature children and youth programs emphasize exposure in science-intuitive-based learning and understanding of plants, animals, and the environment around us. Peer mentoring, learning games, development of self-leadership skills, and promoting awareness of the individual impact on one’s self, others, and the environment, locally and globally. (ourfirstnature.com) Wild Roots (not a drop-off program): A homeschool cooperative that is made up of families inspired by different homeschool methodologies, including Waldorf, Enki, unschooling, and project-based learning. Their goal is to have a community of families that come together and work together on a weekly basis for the common purpose of engaging in a communal and joyful, educational experience. Some of the core values as a community include: active engagement in the Wild Roots community, connection and reverence for Nature and low-media usage. They celebrate seasonal

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The Love School: Fundamental to their approach is creating an environment where children can cultivate a deep connection to their own true nature, Nature itself, community, and the world at large. Mentors support each child developing their own capacity to create a meaningful and fulfilling life by engaging in exploration, challenge, and adventure. This includes everything from highly imaginative free play to scientific probings undertaking geographic, historical and cultural investigations, immersion in artistic endeavors and academic projects. (wearetheloveschool.com) Ditchschool: Ditchschool is a full-service educational consulting firm offering transcript evaluation/composition, alternative schooling support, private school entrance advising, test preparation, and proctoring, college application guidance, student advocacy, essay editing, studio teaching, and one-on-one tutoring. The program’s main draw is the middle school and high school-aged academic group.

Ditchschool is home to more than a dozen 13-17-year-olds who chose to leave the traditional schools for a variety of reasons (too easy, too hard, bullying, professional athletics, business endeavors, travel, etc). They are attending college early, virtually, while working in small groups together. (quillineducation.com) We are living in a new and different world that requires new and different ways of being.

Homeschooling and it’s more radical form, unschooling, have been around a long time but now, more than ever, parents are realizing the importance of community, nature, art, and play. Check out the programs described above or spearhead your own community learning group and experience what many say is game-changing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Be sure to ask if these groups are adhering to CDC guidelines and state mandates to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

HEALTH creating feelings of anxiety, people should limit their consumption.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America agrees and suggests checking credible information sources for no more than two 30-minute periods a day.

They also recommend sticking to normal routines as much as possible.

Maintaining social distance is the best way to beat the virus, but it is crucial to engage in good mental health practices. Otherwise, an unexpected second wave could hit.

References Cigna U.S., retrieved on 4/17/20 from www.cigna.com/about-us/newsroom/ studies-and-reports/loneliness-epidemic-america Mental Health America, retrieved on 4/17/20 from mhanational.org/covid19.

Gupta, A., PsyD (2020). COVID-19 Lockdown Guide: How to manage anxiety and isolation during quarantine. Retrieved on 4/17/20 from: adaa.org/learn-from-us/ from-the-experts /blog-posts /consumer/covid-19-lockdown-guide-how-manageanxiety-and Horrom, T., (2018). In-person, but not online social contact may protect against psychiatric disorders. Retrieved on 4/17/20 from medicalxpress.com/news/2018-11in-person-online-social-contact-psychiatric.html.

Kirzinger, A., Kearney, A., Hamel, L., & Brodie, M., (2020). KFF health tracking poll— Early April 2020: The impact of coronavirus on life in America. Retrieved on 4/17/20 from the Kaiser Family Foundation website, www.kff.org/health-reform/report/kffhealth-tracking-poll-early-april-2020

Coping With COVID-19 A COVID Diary

By Jean Colonomos

Loneliness is as harmful as cigarettes and alcohol. Photo by Jeremy Wong.

Social Distance and Mental Health

By Kait Leonard Mental health issues may be the next-wave threat associated with the coronavirus pandemic According to research, loneliness is as physically harmful as cigarette smoking or alcoholism, and more harmful than obesity. Where does this leave us in the COVID-19 world?

Even as restrictions lift slightly, staying at home when possible and maintaining social distance is advised. We have also been instructed by the Centers for Disease Control to wear face masks in public. While the reasons behind these measures are clear, the mental health consequences of isolation could become a second-wave disaster.

In a recent survey, four out of ten adults reported that coronavirus-related stress has negatively impacted their mental health. Approximately one in five of them classify the impact as major. For most Americans, the psychological issues associated with the pandemic are “as important to address as…the physical health effects.” For anyone already suffering from mental illness or are at risk of developing it, this becomes more important, according to Mental Health America.

Therapists have begun to see the psychological consequences of COVID-19. “I’m seeing a spike in overall anxiety and depression levels, with an emphasis on loneliness and fear about the future,” says Dr. Maria Nazarian, Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

Liat Alon, Associate Marriage Family Therapist (see article “Ecotherapy,” The Canyon Chronicle, June 26, 2020), took one of her residential groups for a walk because they appeared “tired, haggard, and lethargic.”

In addition to reports from private practitioners, the number of calls to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has increased. Though most callers are seeking information, the department is gearing up for an anticipated increase in demand for services, according to H. Chung So, Public Information Officer.

The impact of social isolation will vary between people. For some, shelter-in-place means hunker down with family or roommates. In a sense, these individuals are sheltered with their little pack. While nerves might get frayed, loneliness is less likely.

Some individuals experienced greater isolation even before the pandemic, for example the elderly and those with physical or psychological challenges. These people may be hit harder during this period. Limited access to the casual interactions that occur in the community may create a damaging loneliness.

“People who have daily meaningful in-person interactions” score significantly lower on the Loneliness Index than those who do not, according to a recent study conducted by Cigna. The verdict is still out on what counts as “in-person.”

As COVID numbers increased, websites like Zoom, Facebook Live, and IGTV, make it possible for people to meet in real-time from home. The internet provides virtual space for dance and martial arts lessons, meditation and yoga sessions, cocktail parties, professional meetings, even visits with support providers.

There is some research indicating that social media, email, and even telephone calls do not lessen the risk of depression, but online services that allow live face-toface time provide more benefit.

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health advises that everyone use technology to stay in contact with friends and family. They are not differentiating between sites that allow live face time and those that do not. Their message is clear— to support positive mental health, stay in touch with significant people in any way possible.

In addition, “exercise indoors or walk around the block if that’s possible and eat healthfully,” advises Chung. He also suggests that if the news and social media are

These are snippets where I’ve naturally created something modular so you can step into the diary at any place you want. It’s been very freeing writing-wise.

June 19, Juneteenth—155 years ago Friday, the last group of slaves in the United States were freed. Their freedom was bittersweet—it came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863. This day seems more of a celebration for whites than African Americans.

From: #SayHerName: Breonna Taylor—Killed by police in her bed, March 13, 2020; Atatiana Jefferson—Killed by police on October 12, 2019; Charleena Chavon Lyles—Killed by police June 18, 2017; Korryn Gaines– Killed by police, August 1, 2016.

Signing off tonight with this from my friend, Etsu Garfias: Because we’re isolated, we have time to go deeper into ourselves.

June 20—Fun idea I heard today had me fall in love with its creator. My neighbor, Karla, share a story about this father she knows who registered his six-year-old son for an online class in archeology. At the next class the children are to bring chocolate chip cookies. Their job will be to scoop out the chocolate chips from the cookies that, the teacher says, are the shards for the archeological dig.

I imagine a Spanish lady of 1550ish A.D seated in a drafty room sipping a hot cup of cocoa, not knowing it was Conquistador Cortes who brought the cacao beans back from Mexico. Oh, the things we take for granted.

On Fathers’ day, my son-in-law Lou shares that eighty percent of his digital manufacturing customers are ordering again.

June 22—From Sheila and Ashland’s Bloomsbury Books: Our best selling book today was “WHITE FRAGILITY, Why it’s So Hard for White People To Talk About Racism,” by Robin Diangelo.

From Lynn, a Diesel bookseller in Brentwood, CA: Best sellers today were WHITE FRAGILITY, Why it’s So Hard for White People To Talk About Racism

by Robin Diangelo; and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. It’s about lightskinned female identical twins, one secretly passing for white, the other living as a person of color.

June 29—Good news today about the possibility of my daughter flying to LA for a quick getaway from Chicago. I found out something important from my cousin in Northern CA who has a friend working at the CDC. This friend, who takes planes all the time, says not to worry about circulating air as the airlines have much more sophisticated filter systems able to trap bad air. What he worries about are the bathrooms.

It’s a tight space and fecal matter can carry the virus. So, he recommends going on flights where you can hold it in.

I suggest to Sarah she brings a plastic bag to pee in, tie it up and throw it in the trash. I also learned today that American Airlines isn’t separating passengers anymore.

July 11—The echoes of my grandchildren’s laughter yesterday still lives in my belly. The vision of them sliding down the bouncy house water slide in the backyard that my funster daughter rented for eight hours, is still in front of my eyes. Wrapped inside Izzy’s big-sister legs, she and little Maddie speed down the bright red slide. When they land in the pool of water at the bottom, giggles peal through the yard before they climb the stairs to slide down again. All day long their laughter serenades me.

So many ways you could turn the metaphor in Breugel’s painting, Landscape of the Fall of Icarus. In it, the plowman plows, the shepherd surrounded by sheep, looks up at the sky, a fisherman sits on a rock, bends towards the green-gray water, perhaps casting a line. On the water a ship with its wind-full sails moves out to sea. Between the ship and the fisherman are two white flailing legs. The head and torso are submerged and in no time the fallen Icarus will drown. Is this what’s happening with American democracy? Our flailing laws drowning, while like everyone in the canvas, looks the other way?

July 18—Too drained for hard news tonight where COVID cases increase like our California wildfires.

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COMMENTARY

Calabasas_Turn_1360: 4 July 2020, The Condor Air Squadron flying over Henry Ridge.

My Corner of The Canyon Evident Truths

By Kathie Gibboney Fireworks can be heard in our hills. A random, surprising boom off in the distance, somewhere.

Even though the Fourth of July has come and gone, it is reported that firecrackers are still exploding all over the country.

The sound of fireworks used to excite me. Little brother and I would hear a stray, early pop carried through the morning air, as if someone just couldn’t wait until nightfall. It was a thrilling noise, a promise of what was to come, a celebratory sound in honor of our country’s independence. Now, they sound like gunshots, threaten fire danger, and we know that the land of the free, is not freedom for all.

At the 244th anniversary of our nation’s birth, I was reminded of being called, years ago, to my daughter’s school to assist with the direction of a theatrical production.

The play was an abbreviated, simplified rendering of the American Revolutionary War, a little piece designed to bring history to life for elementary students, entitled, “The Shot Heard Round the World.”

At the school’s outdoor amphitheater, I encountered the young actors taking full advantage of what must have been a break in rehearsal. While their teacher and a few students were painting a backdrop, the rest of the cast was spread out on the wooden benches surrounding the stage, in various positions of repose under the midmorning sun. A few appeared to be napping with their scripts covering their faces.

The scene they presented was pastoral and certainly more suited to Sunday In The Park With George than a revolution.

After rousing the actors and trying to energize them with physical movement and acting exercises we began but an immediate problem presented itself. Whereas the shot may have been heard around the world, because the play was being presented on an outside stage, the actors could not be heard even as far as the first row. The line, “King George is a tyrant!” could well be mistaken for, “The gorge sure is vibrant.” We worked on projection.

To their credit the actors seemed to rally and were soon shouting their lines at each other with an intensity that was sure to keep the audience at the very edge of their seats. I feared one mob scene between the colonists and British troops might escalate into a real brawl.

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Photo by: Eric Fitzgerald

I like to think the students actually felt the stirring call to revolution, to standing up to oppression, but when I asked my daughter what she remembers about the production, she recalls only shouting her line, “The Redcoats are coming!”

I remember much more because I learned it from that simple script. That rudimentary, schoolroom play taught me history I had not known. The first man killed in the revolutionary war was an African American man who was also part Native American. His name is Crispus Attucks. He was a runaway slave who worked the docks in Boston and happened to be on King Street on a cold night in March of 1770. To keep order and ensure that unjust taxes be paid to England, British troops were stationed in the colonies. A group of colonists including Attucks, angry with taxation and resenting the Red Coat’s presence, began taunting the soldiers, throwing rocks, sticks, and snowballs in protest. Things escalated between the two factions and someone shouted the order to “Fire!”

The troops shot. Crispus Attucks, a slave who had sought his own independence, fell and died for ours. Four other men were killed that freezing night in their rebellion against British rule. The incident became known as, The Boston Massacre.

Attucks’ death is sometimes credited with being the seed of the founding of a new nation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. honors him, writing, “He is one of the most important figures in African American history, not for what he did for his own race but for what he did for all oppressed people. He is a reminder that the African American heritage is not only African but American and begins with the beginning of America.”

The irony of Mr. Attucks’ death cannot be overlooked. It was a catalyst for a nation’s war for freedom, while the fight for true freedom for Black and Native Americans continues to this day. Hundreds of years later a movement, a new revolution against racism, is surging across our country and people are standing up, conversations are happening, politicians are listening, children are learning, and Black Lives Matter, matters! Crispus Attucks’ life matters and his day is celebrated on March 5.

On a Sunday in July, weary of confinement, we head to Topanga Beach. It’s the first time I’ve been out sharing the sand, albeit at a distance, with others. I feel giddy with freedom loving all I survey, while eating grapes. There is our sparkling ocean filled with surfers, our daughter in her swimsuit, the Beleaguered Husband asleep in the sun. It is officially summer 2020, there was even a banner flying overhead that read Coors Beer. It seemed so normal, but I now look with new eyes, in a new time and the old normal isn’t good enough. I appreciate how and why we are free to be here at the edge of a continent, diverse families of all ethnicities happy under the sun, together on a beach in America, which is how it always should be. Sadly, it is not. Not yet.

How proud I would like to be of a country that really is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let it not just exist, like Camelot, only in a myth. Let it be made by all of us, finally, what it is supposed to be: a shining vision of equality at last manifest.

It will take time but if courageous people, young and old, Boomers, Millennials, Generation Zs and The New Kids On The Block cry out to rid our land of racism, educate our children and, come November, cast a vote for change, we’d have a start.

May we please be graced, with every Fourth of July, to find our struggling nation ever closer to the ideals of its founding.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

That goes for women too.

COMMENTARY All Things Connected Elusive Truth

By Paula Labrot Last November I told G that I dreaded 2020. “Why?” he asked. Because this election year is going to be so ugly, so divisive, so intellectually bereft, so …. mean.” And here we are. In the middle of it. And it’s ugly, divisive, intellectually bereft and very, very mean. We are being bombarded with so much disinformation and propaganda that people don’t know whom to listen to, whom to trust. This gives Big Tech a frightening amount power over the perceptions of the public, most of whom are pretty unsophisticated users of social media and info-tech. So, here are some ideas to help you navigate the onslaught of information aimed at you each day.

BROWSERS Browsers are your search engines. Most people use Google. Have you ever noticed when you seek information about an issue or politician how the top stories all have the same slant? Positive or negative. Right or left. Well, your browser keeps track of you online…what sites you visit, whom you donate to, what products you buy etc. The algorithms running the search engine sort your adventures online and make a profile of what they think your likes and dislikes are. So, depending if you visit Fox or CNN, you’ll get news and information that suit that particular slant. That is called a filter bubble. You hear no dissent, just echoes.

BRAVE is a new kind of browser designed to give the user power over his or her privacy. According to vpn.com, “Brave is a web browser which seeks to treat each user as an individual, instead of a product.” Your web-footprint is much more private and your personal data much more secure from being harvested and sold. Brave has an open-source, transparent culture, dedicated to open, unfiltered browsing experiences.

Check it out at Brave.com.

REFERENCE INFORMATION Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced encyclopedia. There is a lot good about Wikipedia, but their own disclaimer review of itself denies its reliability. “Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time. This means that any information it contains at any particular

time could be “vandalized”, a work in progress, or just plain wrong. Biographies of living persons, subjects that happen to be in the news, and politically or culturally contentious topics are especially vulnerable to these issues. Edits on Wikipedia that are in error may eventually be fixed. However, because Wikipedia is a volunteer-run project, it cannot monitor every contribution all the time. There are many errors that remain unnoticed for days, weeks, months, or even years. Therefore, Wikipedia should not be considered a definitive source in and of itself.” Best to check other reference sites along with Wikipedia.

Infogalactic is another, excellent reference site. Their “primary requirements are for the information contributed to be true, relevant, and verifiable, rather than cited from a so-called “published reliable source”, since experience has proven how reliance upon the latter can be easily gamed by editors and administrators alike. There is no culture of notability, ideology, or deletionism at Infogalactic.” I sure like that, and I use both sites when seeking reference information as a way of fact-checking.

SOCIAL MEDIA Don’t start me. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple….all of them are on my resentment list. They took the beautiful, pristine world wide web and made it into a cesspool of greed and betrayal. They sold out their users collecting private data and selling profiles to marketing companies who use that information to manipulate and puppetize the public. They sold out American jobs and security to gain access to the Chinese market share. Worse, they sold out human beings by bending to censorship and surveillance in China and of the world beyond. They went for profit over everything. Shame, shame on them. That soulless greed is opening the door for new platforms that are attractive to people sickened by the Tech Giants.

One new social network is Gab.ai. They describe themselves as “a social network that champions free speech, individual liberty, and the free flow of information online.

All are welcome.” Your privacy is respected, and you, as the user, are meant to be in charge of your profile and data online. It’s raw (no one filtering for you, so be prepared to be upset), uncensored, and eclectic.

FACT CHECKING Fact checking sites can be biased. Before you pass information on, check it! When you have a piece of information to fact check, go to at least three reliable sources.

Check the credentials of the authors of the material you are reading. Do they work for reputable sources? Have they authored any other material? If a quote is given, Google it and check the context. Check Google Statistic to see if anyone else is reporting on the subject. Cross check with another browser.

Factcheck.org, Snopes, Politifact, Open Secrets, Science Feedback, and Media Research Center are recommended fact-checking sites. The thing is you have to check a few to get a good fact check result.

TRUST AND VERIFY? NO, JUST VERIFY Ultimately, truth is hard to come by these days. Hope this helps a little. Relish diversity, especially of ideas!

Vamos a ver!

PASSAGES Moira Talan Dwyer “Topanga,” Moira Talan told a New York Times reporter last fall, “is kind of a crystal place.” Ms. Talan — who taught at Wilbur Avenue Elementary, and Porter Ranch Community School before moving to Topanga Elementary several years ago — had a decade-long tradition of bringing her students to the annual Gem-O-Rama at Searles Lake in the Mojave Desert. The six-hour roundtrip drive to explore and interact with the astonishing beauty of the natural crystals is symbolic of the intrepid vigor she brought into her life as an educator, parent, and friend.

A proud Topanga resident, for whom the canyon’s hikes and shops felt like home long before she finally moved from Tarzana to the Top O’ Topanga community in 2017, Ms. Talan passed away peacefully at home on Friday, June 26, with her two sons at her side. After complications from cancer led to a hospitalization earlier this spring, Ms. Talan chose to suspend treatment in order to more fully enjoy her days, including celebrating her sixtieth birthday on April 27. Even as her health declined, she approached every moment with the same grace and levity that her loved ones and students adored.

Ms. Talan lived her entire life in Southern California, where she raised her boys to treat the region’s beaches and mountains with the same lighthearted reverence she brought into holiday cooking and lively conversation. Her close friends, who came from the many communities she belonged to, were family for Moira and she treated them as such. An infinite learner who never took life more seriously than necessary, she managed to thrive even when dealing with life’s most chaotic challenges. Her physical presence will be deeply missed but her candid honesty and brave spirit will forever remain crystalized in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to know her.

—Alex Dwyer

Losing My Friend Losing a friend is never easy but losing my friend and coworker Moira Talon is such a huge loss, not only for me, but for our Topanga Community, especially for our Topanga Elementary community. I will miss my friend and colleague. We only met in 2016, when Moira started teaching at school, but clicked instantly sharing educational philosophy, love of teaching and our students. We also moved to the Top ‘O Topanga community at the same time, enjoying walks in the neighborhood, swimming at the pool, and just sharing a meal. I am grateful that I got to talk to her (through her window) shortly before she passed. There is a hole in my heart, but gratitude too, for sharing four years with Moira, a special person and dear friend.

—Amy Weisberg M.Ed.

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ARTS & CULTURE Aycil Yeltan–The Artist and the Art

By Kait Leonard

Poster for Aycil Yeltan’s short film, Topanga.

I last touched based with filmmaker, actress, and artist, Aycil Yeltan, in May of 2020. I had the privilege of meeting her in her Topanga Canyon home, which she refers to as “the most creative place on earth.” We discussed her second short film, Topanga, which was and still is screening in festivals internationally. Topanga had won four awards at that point. It now has six and is up for more.

Topanga has been accepted to compete in the Irish short film festival, Still Voices, and most impressively in the seventeenth International Short Film Festival, “In the Palace,” one of the events that could qualify it to be considered for an Academy Award. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made it impossible for Yeltan to be present at these festivals. She will attend Still Voices online and is eagerly waiting for news as to whether a virtual option will be available for In the Palace.

I first interviewed Yeltan in her tiny bungalow nestled in the natural beauty of Topanga Canyon. Though her home has the usual kitchenette, mandatory writer’s

desk, and bed, it is far from ordinary. Original artwork covers almost every available inch of wall space. Some of the paintings are of Yeltan, some are by her, and together they draw you in to see, to consider, to appreciate.

Art is profoundly important to Aycil Yeltan (which she writes as “aYcil yeLtan”), and though her time is now spent making films, the cinema is not where she started.

Yeltan’s creative life began in childhood when she began studying the cello. The next big step was getting accepted into The State Conservatory in Turkey, her home country. She entered as a music student, but soon the stage called to her, and her passion for acting propelled her on.

Yeltan eventually moved to the United States to “become an international artist, as a Turkish woman, and inspire others.” She dreamed of elevating artists from her part of the world, but to do this, she first needed to establish herself as an actor. She paid the typical dues of working for minimum wage, living with roommates, and waiting for significant parts to come her way.

Finally, when the roles she wanted didn’t come quickly enough, she took matters into her own hands. She made her own opportunities by writing and producing films. This decision reveals so much about Yeltan. She believes fiercely in her art and will not let anything deter her from making it. “I am from a little town in Turkey,” she says, when asked where her artistic drive comes from. “I started studying music. From then on, my life was changed. Art has the power to transform.”

Yeltan had no experience in filmmaking and knew only what she had picked up as an actress sitting on sets waiting for her character’s scene to come around. But she didn’t let her lack of formal training slow her down.

The filmmaker at Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 5 In 2016, she wrote, directed, starred in, and co-produced her three-minute film, Marie: Clementine. Foreshadowing Topanga, this story touches on women’s relationships, vulnerability, objectification, and art. Not a single word is spoken, but the interaction between the two female characters feels real and complex and stark.

Only a few minutes are projected onto the screen, but the story haunts the viewer for much longer.

Fueled by the positive reception of her first effort, Yeltan began searching for her next story.

Fate seemed to step in when Yeltan passed a homeless woman begging on the street. The woman, pretty and fairly well kempt, looked out of place. Yeltan couldn’t shake the desire to know more about her. Eventually the two sat on a curb, talking, and eating deli sandwiches. They met a few times, and from these interactions, Yeltan found her story. She began to write.

The resulting film, Topanga, is profoundly disturbing. The assault scene is excruciating to watch, a tribute, in large part, to Yeltan’s acting. But the story is not brutal. By the time the lights come back on, the character has moved from the edge of death through physical healing and self-discovery, to ultimately find her own creative potential. This all happens in 15 minutes.

It’s hard to imagine where one goes from Topanga, but Yeltan is already planning her next film. It will be a feature shot in Turkey. She says she won’t be the star this time. She wants to keep her director’s eyes on each shot, something she can’t do when she is also in the scene. Undoubtedly, the film will benefit from Yeltan’s focus, but it’s likely audiences will miss her presence.

No matter. Anyone who gets to know Yeltan’s work will trust the artist and eagerly wait for whatever comes next.

Topanga Christian Fellowship

To p a n g a C h r i s t i a n Fe l l o w s h i p

“The Little Church That Could”

310-455-1048 to p a n g ac h r i st ia n fe l lo w s h ip.o r g “The Little Church That Could”

We’re taking back Easter!

will be closed until further notice ~ ~ We We welcome you to Celebrate the Resurrection with bell us at shall ring yet daily the 10:30 a.m.

22

Special Easter presentation June 28th with Pastor John Klein

July 24

Vol. 1

No. 3

"Just When You Thought It Was Over" 269 Old Topanga Canyon Road 310-455-1048

www.TheCanyonChronicle.com

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IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW COMPASS CAN ENGINEER A SMOOTH, SAFE, SUCCESSFUL, TOP DOLLAR SALE, OF YOUR HOME, CALL THE WRIGHT WAY TEAM TODAY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HELPING YOU AND BEING OF SERVICE. @thewrightwayteam 2020 TOP SELLING COMPASS TOPANGA AGENTS. PASSIONATE LOCAL AGENTS. UNPARALLELED MARKETING REACH. INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY. RESULTS DELIVERED. AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER.

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Jordan Wright 818.746.6987 jordanwright@compass.com DRE 01952694

Brokerage sales volume data based off available CLAW MLS data, and any known off market sales data for Topanga single family home transaction sides as of May 28th, 2020, and all of 2019, as well as CLAW MLS active listing volume and any known off market listings as of May 28th, 2020 in Topanga. Additional off market sales or listings may exist that are not known nor included. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628.

All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but has not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Sales volume represents a compilation of listings from various brokerage firms and may or may not have been listed or sold by the office/agent presenting the information.