The Canyon Chronicle - August 7, 2020 (Volume 1, No. 4) - www.thecanyonchronicle.com

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August 7, 2020 Vol.1, No. 4

Thank You Topanga!

D E AR TO PAN GA CO M M U N IT Y, We cannot begin to express how grateful we are for all of the support, referrals, and business you have given us over the past 3+ years, since we joined together as a team, and joined Compass! It is because of you that we have become one of the top Real Estate Teams in Topanga! We are especially grateful for the trust so many of you have placed in us. We are honored, and endeavor to earn that trust, every day. To be able to work in the beauty that is Topanga and with members of the Topanga Community is absolutely wonderful!

Having both grown up here, Topanga has a special place in our hearts. It means so much to us, to be able to work here, every day, and to be able to help our friends and clients to make their dreams come true and find their place in the world!

Topanga embraced Jordan’s Grandma, Connie Wright, as a Realtor, here, and now they have embraced The Wright Way Team, as well. Jordan is the only Third Generation Realtor in Topanga! That legacy is important to us. We work every day to uphold the ethics and integrity of that legacy.

Right now, in spite of all the turmoil we are all experiencing, the whole world seems to be moving to Topanga! We know why. It is a secret paradise; far away from the city in spirit, but close by in geography! Right now is the hottest Topanga Real Estate Market that we have seen in several years.

We and other Agents of Compass are working hard to make sure we help to make every change of home ownership as smooth, pleasant, and stress free as possible. As the #1 brokerage in Topanga, we all understand the immense responsibility that comes with that mantle. Compass has quickly pivoted to come up with new industry defining tech tools to adapt to our new reality of a more virtual world, and have made it so much easier to effectively and elegantly market your home to qualified buyers, while allowing us more time for the hands on attention to guiding you forward.

We look forward to continuing this amazing journey with the wonderful people of Topanga, and we hope to have the opportunity to provide our best service for you, for many years to come.

Thank you, from The Wright Way Team.

Be safe, be well.

Adrian and Jordan.

Discover...

THE HILLSIDE RETREAT Experience the ultimate escape, through gates, down a long private drive. Heady scents of Lavender, Sage, and Citrus, float on the cool breeze. Endless soaring canyon vistas soothe the soul. A glimmer of The Pacific Ocean beckons. Nearly 7 acres of beautiful wild land and lush gardens envelope and protect you. Walls of glass open to the covered, heated patio, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and the deafening silence of Topanga. At peace, lost in the beauty near and far.

The Beach, Town, City, World, all so close, and yet, so far away. Come make The Hillside Retreat yours.

The Hillside Retreat, Topanga. $3,988,000 5 Bed 6 Bath 5,600 Sq Ft 7 Acres

INTERESTED IN LEARNING HOW COMPASS CAN DELIVER A BESPOKE, WHITE GLOVE, SMOOTH, SAFE, AND SUCCESSFUL TOP DOLLAR SALE OF YOUR HOME? CALL THE WRIGHT WAY TEAM TODAY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO 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.

Adrian Wright

Jordan Wright

818.939.6415 adrian.wright@compass.com DRE 00935559

818.746.6987 jordanwright@compass.com DRE 01952694

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 measurements and square footages are approximate. Market share based on available claw MLS data and any known off market listings.

Thinking Out Loud Vote! “...Eternity is in it” Publisher / Editor Flavia Potenza Associate Editor Kait Leonard Creative Director Nira Lichten Media Manager EleanorZeri Creative Consultant Eiffel Nazaryan Contributors Linda Ballou Joel Bellman Annemarie Donkin Kathie Gibboney Paula LaBrot Amy Weisberg Social Media Intern Miranda Anapol Copy Editor/Distribution Ellie Carroll Contact US editor@thecanyonchronicle.com General inquiries: info@thecanyonchronicle.com Advertising inquiries: ads@thecanyonchronicle.com P.O. Box 1101 Topanga, CA 90290 (310) 460-9786 The Canyon Chronicle is an independent community newspaper published bi-weekly by Canyon Media, Inc.©2020. All rights reserved. thecanyonchronicle.com

Notice something different about The Canyon Chronicle’s look?

That’s because Nira Lichten agreed to sign on as our Creative Director, smoothing the way to an efficient process of not only laying out the articles but enhancing them with design elements that make them pop.’Twas ever thus: if you want to grow, get the pro.

In the lineup this time is our summertime favorite: “The Dog Days of Summer,” where our Backyard Astronomer, Eric Fitzgerald looks at the Dog Star, and contributor Kait Leonard explores the twelve signs of the zodiac that might explain some of your dog’s behavior. We have dog poems from local poet Jane Marla Robbins’ book, Dogs in Topanga 2000-2018, a feature on Service Dogs, and another on “sniffing” dogs, that can identify the scent of COVID-19.

We invited out-of-state freelance writers to contribute articles, one about identifying “Fake News,” and an opinion piece on why schools should not open. It’s good to have other perspectives.

What may be controversial but needs to step into the sunlight is growing concern about the survival of long-standing businesses in Pine Tree Circle. In an “Open Letter of Concern” to the owners, two residents are soliciting signatures to see if the community is equally concerned.

You would hardly know it, but we’re in a presidential election year, the most unusual ever, that is breaking decades of tradition due to the pandemic. Step aside for a moment from the chaos of politicking and think now about how you are going to vote on November 3.

Although the County Registrar and Recorder/County Clerk advises that “safe and accessible inperson voting options will be available,” our recommendation is to stay home, stay safe, and Vote by Mail this year. The mailers are starting to come in advising voters that every registered voter will be receiving a Vote by Mail ballot this year. Do not ignore this opportunity.

When we observed the long lines on pre-pandemic primary election day in March, we wondered why people waited until the last minute to vote in person, expecting everything to go smoothly, then complaining they had to wait so long. This year, especially, we don’t want to overload the system all at once at the last minute, so take advantage of early voting starting Tuesday, October 6. (Mailing of Vote

by Mail ballots in all elections begins 29 days prior to Election Day.) The handy-dandy sample ballot that we all mark up and take with us into the voting booth may be a thing of the past. Why not have it on your iPhone and save paper? Go Green by receiving an E-Sample Ballot accessible via email. Voters who subscribe will automatically receive an email containing a link to access their E-Sample Ballot 30 days prior to Election Day. Voters who subscribe will no longer receive a hard copy of their Sample Ballot at their home address.

To update your registration information by re-registering and for more: LAVote.net; or (800) 8152666, Option 2. The deadline to register or re-register to vote for any election is 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the 15th calendar day before that election or, in this case, October 19 by our count.

Now, with that all said, take a slow, deep breath and continue to create ways to enjoy not only the remaining Dog Days of Summer but the rest of this pandemic summer season.

Safely.

—Flavia Potenza

Honoring the Titans of The Civil Rights Movement Elijah Cummings read this poem in his first speech to Congress in 1996 I only have a minute.

Sixty seconds in it.

Forced upon me, I did not choose it, But I know that I must use it.

Give account if I abuse it.

Suffer, if I lose it.

Only a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it.

—By Dr. Benjamin E Mays

C.T. Vivian (1924-2020). American minister, author, close friend and field general of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. Vivian resided in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc. Photo NBC News

COVER ART by Valerie Walsh

The art is a “paperscape,” a painted, handmade paper creation titled “Doggies of the Canyon.”

I love all of these dogs and know it will mean so much when the owners receive this edition and see their beloved pets. I believe dogs are here to teach us how to see, feel, and behave in a loving way to each other. The dogs frolicking here on paper are: Panda and Oscar, Napoleon, Bruce Wayne, Charlie Parker, Blossom, Zuma, Ronin, Tucker, Jersey, Beezy, Yukon, Archie, Olive, and Harvey.

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The Honorable Elijah Cummings (1951-2020). Served 13 terms in the House of Representatives representing Baltimore, MD. “In the House, Elijah was our North Star….a leader of towering character and integrity whose stirring voice and steadfast values pushed the Congress and country to rise always to a higher purpose.” House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Honorable John Lewis (1940-2020). U.S. Representative of Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. “[A]fter many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on…. Everyone has to vote in November.” NY Times, July 30,2020.

Letters

Memories. Having played blues, folk, and rock in Chicago since my early teens, I came to LA in 1973 and started a band right away with friends I met here. We called the band “Free Gravity” and we played the Topanga Corral for the first time that year. We played all the clubs around, shuttling our gear in my VW, the bus I’d driven out here from the Midwest with the mattress in the bottom and the curtains all around.

The Lovin’ Spoonful were more than a favorite band for me, because I’d started out with folk and blues, and

like any stoner, I loved Jug Band music. They were also role models for me. For a while during my tender high school years, they (and the Byrds and Dylan) were probably as much of a blueprint of how to be a man as the Very Beatles Themselves!

Jerry Yester played piano on their first hit, “Do You Believe in Magic,” but didn’t become a full-fledged member of the band until right after “Summer in The City” when Zal Yanovsky quit. Jerry and I met when he’d come out to Chicago to teach some studio production classes that friends of mine were attending. We became bosom buddies and he told me if I ever came out to LA, I could stay with him.

Low and behold, the next spring found me knocking on his door!

One night soon after I’d moved out here, I went to visit Jerry in the studio to see what he was up to. He was editing a song and the phone rang. It was Zal, ex-lead guitarist from the Lovin’ Spoonful, in town to lay down some guitar tracks for one of John Sebastian’s solo albums. Jerry, Zal and I got plastered together that night and hit it off perfectly.

It wasn’t until years later, when Joe Butler, the drummer, and Steve Boone, the bass player, wanted to put the “Spoonful” back together again and do a reunion tour that I got to be in the band.

Those first experiences, you have to understand, how much they meant to me. I had only been in LA for maybe three months, and here I was, hanging out with people who had been heroes of mine just a few years before!

—Jenise Blanc & Randy Chance Topanga Residents

The Legacy of Moira Talan Dwyer

Thank You, Supervisor Kuehl

Adventures in Trash

“At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”

This quote by Maya Angelou is very true of my beautiful fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Talan, who brought exquisite energy to Topanga Elementary. I felt happiness and joy in her classroom every day. She made every lesson playful and fun. Each morning we did a check-in to see how we were feeling that day, and the practice left an impact on me. I will always remember her in my heart.

Dear Editor, As all of you know, we were scheduled to have our LA County Third District discretionary funds reduced on the assumption that other revenue (filming, events, weddings, rentals, etc.) could make up the difference. Then along came the COVID-19 closures and our revenues plummeted to near zero. We have reopened all of our trails and many facilities, but we have been struggling to figure out how to bring back our field workforce—now at only 50 percent strength—so we can restore services such as restrooms and grounds maintenance at our most heavily used parks.

Supervisor Kuehl’s action suspending reductions for the next two years will have a marked impact, especially at the most heavily used parks where otherwise mundane activities have been challenging, what with the rush of folks wanting to get back outdoors and individual park revenue nowhere near breaking even. That is where the Third District subventions have been a godsend.

Thank you, Sheila.

—Joseph T. Edmiston, FAICP, Hon. ASLA Executive Director, State of California, Natural Resources Agency

Dear Editor, Like all of the other homeowners in Topanga, our $116 Wastemasters trash bill became $186 overnight.

I was told the bill was due and payable and the reason for the 60 percent increase was “special trucks”. Now the story has become a “billing error”.

What was initially surprise turned to anger and then to stone cold resolve. I immediately cancelled our Wastemasters account and they picked up their bins. Even if the bill returns to the existing rate, those lying cheats will not get another nickle from us.

So, we have begun our adventure in trash by sorting and bagging it and taking it to the dump ourselves. We already compost all our food scraps into rich soil and chip all of our green waste into useful moisture-retaining mulch, so there’s actually not a lot left over to deal with. We have one bagging barrel for trash and another for flattened plastic containers and metal cans. When there’s a decent load, which will easily take months, I’ll simply take it to the Calabasas landfill and dump it for $56.

Instead of becoming weak, helpless victims whose only power is to complain, we used this situation as a catalyst to take positive responsible autonomous self-governing action.

Once you get a taste of freedom...you never go back.

—Greg Mamishian

as for the well-being of our broader community.

This letter is a request for your consideration of our community at large. We are a tight-knit community whose lives are often interwoven through necessity.

The Pine Tree Circle has served as an important hub in Topanga, which has provided a space for many community businesses, services, and events. Since 3D Investments has acquired Pine Tree Circle, we have seen that many of our businesses have found it much more challenging to stay profitable and open, and some have closed their doors given the new considerably higher costs to maintain business. With the repercussions of COVID-19, it has become even more difficult. We are worried that we will lose more of our dearest businesses at a huge cost to our community in Topanga.

The businesses and services at Pine Tree are integral to many of our lives. Yoga Desa has served as a consistent community resource for nearly 20 years.

Besides being an incredible yoga studio with some of the finest teachers in Los Angeles and in the United

States, it also serves us with workshops and events of great diversity, including women’s monthly gatherings, karate, African dance, 5 Rhythms Dance class, Sound Healing, and concerts of diverse music from around the world. It also has served as a place to celebrate, and as a gathering place to mourn and share our love when tragedy has befallen our community. I imagine you might not know what Yoga Desa means to our community, which is understandable since you haven’t had these experiences. Please consider the larger impact your business decisions will have on our community.

Losing Yoga Desa would be a great loss.

Pacific Canyon Cleaners is another long-time service in our community where we connect and do business locally. If either of you has not met Vika, please say hello to her. Her consistently great attitude, hard work, and service is an unmeasurable asset to our community. I don’t know if you are aware of Vika’s story, but she also is the sole provider for her family and cares for a disabled

Success Story in Crazy Times Thank you for publishing the article for Canyon Limo about driving people in their own cars (See Letters,“Canyon Limo Prevails,” The Canyon Chronicle, June 26, 2020). This has been a big success.

Almost everyone who calls, wants us to drive them in their cars to the airport and then, after we drop them off, we return their car back to their house and it’s very simple! They feel safe! They feel like no one else has been in the car and they feel free from any germs during this crazy time! Masked up and away we go in their car with our drivers! Call (310) 456-4284 for information or a reservation.

—Jenise Blanc & Randy Chance canyonlimoservice.com

A Lovin’ Spoonful of Sugar The Canyon Chronicle is a great paper! I had a lot of fun reading about all the bands and those are all the favorite stations that I love to listen to right now, the ‘50s and the ‘60s over and over and over again with Randy [Chance], as we drive together! (See,“The Sound of Summer Playing,” by Joel Bellman, The Canyon Chronicle, July 24, 2020). Anyone who has driven with us has gotten the best stories from Randy (who was lead guitarist in the Lovin’ Spoonful and the Boxtops at one time and who did play with Philip Sloan amongst other bands).

Whenever he is driving you, he will be giving you a little piece of something from that era to think about!

Crossing the Threshold In memory of Ms. Talan In the heavens bright above us The harmonious land is an escape from the Perilous nonsense of man.

To never return is the burden of life But is greatly accepted Once lived, as it can.

Love leisurely floats Alongside peace, as its friend For this is where the souls arrive.

One may not visit, but live instead And recall individuals From the memory’s archive.

O the waters and the shimmers Humbly gift you with calm And the colors of flowers and marigolds.

The journey awaits For every being in this world, The experience is as some say…

Crossing the threshold.

—Daphne Huffman

Open Letter of Concern Dear Friends and Neighbors, Below is a letter of concern written in support of our local businesses at Pine Tree Circle. Please read and sign if you would like to show your support by adding your name to form.jotform.com/202057173462147. We will send this to the new owners of Pine Tree Circle after gathering signatures. Please feel free to forward to those who may be interested.

Thanks, —Rick Ellis, Jens Koepke Dear Nathan Daneshgar, Joseph Daneshgar, and 3D Investments, Welcome to our Topanga community. We are many of the local patrons of Pine Tree Circle. We are writing to you as concerned citizens and sincerely hope that this letter will inspire you to take a moment to reflect on the impact your decisions are making and will make on our community. Our motivation is personal, as well

Randy Chance Remembers

See Letter of Concern, page 6

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

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COMMUNITY NEWS Topanga Chamber Zooms Meditation Mixer

By Annemarie Donkin Toasting to love and light, the Topanga Chamber of Commerce’s Evening Zoom Mixer on July 30 aimed to open the hearts and minds of its members.

The Mixer was facilitated by Topanga healer Dianne Porchia of Porchia’s Wish—Whole Integrated Self Health, A Path to Loving, Healing and Living Consciously.

“Welcome to this Zoom meeting with your open mind and heart while reconnecting with the people you know and cherish in our unique mountain community,” Porchia wrote in the email inviting the community to log on.

Porchia urged each Chamber member to offer a toast to celebrate “Topanga’s resilience, reducing mental-emotional stress, and future visioning for your Self, your work and your community.”

Topanga musician Tony Selvage opened the meeting with a beautiful

electric violin serenade. “I’m playing my music to send love and light,” he said.

“This is a great place to get all the gossip,” said Chamber President Kriss Perras. “Topanga is making it through disaster as one community; we are strong together,” Kristina Rocco Levy received praise from the members, honoring her for her outstanding work delivering Rocco’s Cucina meals to seniors three times a week in the Canyon and also providing meals to the Los Angeles County Grant Meal Program, Topanga Cares, at the Topanga Library each week.

“The SAGES are keeping me busy with food deliveries. I have friends to feed; I’d rather be helping rather than sitting at home,” Rocco Levy said. “I want to propose a toast to this incredible Topanga community who gives so much; to Tony with love and music; Joseph [Rosendo] is tireless in protecting Topanga. The Chamber of Commerce has always been at the

Chamber members enjoyed their first virtual that included a healing meditation led by Dianne Porchia.

Photo by Dianne Porchia

forefront of good from when it started 12 years ago; it’s at the core of Topanga, the core group in the community as a force for good. I want to keep the history of Rocco’s going in Topanga, keep the legacy and my father’s recipes alive!”

Other members offering toasts and good wishes to the group were Anne Christine Von-Wetter; Joseph and Julie Rosendo; Ron Fomalont; Kirsty Iredale; Cecilie Stuart; Julie Levine; Kathleen Gildred; and Ron Kramer.

After the toasts, socializing and music, Selvage played another piece that worked to lead into the guided meditation with some improvisations and well-known songs, such as “Amazing Grace,” to put everyone in a contemplative mood, and offered one last affirmation and his definition of “heal” as “Heaven’s Energy Around Love.”

Porchia then closed her eyes and facilitated a guided healing meditation for the members, giving each participant permission to relax into a blissful state. It was divine! n For information on the Topanga Chamber of Commerce: topangachamber.org.

Trash Warriors’ Trash Report July 12-26

By Beth Goode Another Sunday morning, another big ol’ mess…and then, a pristine natural environment for all of us to enjoy. This lasts for a few hours so get out and enjoy it by two o’clock.

One week’s collection found eight bagged or toweled up human feces, and eight was more than enough for us!

Sorry, no photos. Over the last three Sundays, masks and gloves kept their place high on the list of collectables.

The all-time winner for I don’t know how many weeks in a row now? Empty containers of alcohol in all shapes, sizes, and materials from plastic to glass to metal. It’s been a rough year. This Covid thing is really taking a toll on the livers of mankind. By the end of my own jaunt through the refuse, when I found myself looking to see if there was any whiskey left in any bottle I retrieved, I knew it was time to quit and go take a shower.

I felt so forlorn about the state of humanity and our irreverence toward our planet, it was almost overwhelming. This was right around the time I contemplated drinking out of the discarded bottle. As I pulled, tugged and gracefully grunted (or maybe no so gracefully) in an attempt to get my overstuffed Caltrans bag out of the cart I used to wheel it up and down the canyon road, a nice man bicycling up

On April 22, Caltrans presented the Topanga Trash Warriors with the Volunteer of the Year award. In June, a blue-ribbon plaque was affixed to their Adopt-A-Highway sign along Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

from the valley, stopped and asked me if I’d like some help. My faith in humanity fully restored, I carried on with the task of cleaning up after the masses. Thank you, bicycle stranger.

The usual car wreck debris was taken care of. Recently, drivers are treating the canyon road as if it were the Daytona 500. It’s not a big surprise that wreckage litters our roadsides more than usual even though the number of motorists is extremely depressed.

Also, up in numbers are the

construction dumps that continue to rise as folks re-carpet their homes in which they are now for the most part hunkered down. Apparently, all that pacing going on as we socially distance from the rest of humanity in our homes has worn the carpets threadbare. We found roll after roll of used carpets and the padding that goes under it. There was disposable everything scattered all around these carpet dumps.

I discovered the “Trash Tree,” which used to be rare, but is now popping up all over the place. Trash billows in the breeze from the branches of the tree. It’s a sight to see, not pleasant. Piles of mail continue to appear on the sides of the Boulevard, along with the usual sauce packets (my personal nemeses), masks and fast food cups found in little piles up and down the roadside. Cigarette butts are everywhere. Just outside of Edelman State Park, we found a used condom and two bright green plastic spoons that had been used to eat the ice cream from cups tossed across the parking lot, away from the other remnants of the evening’s activities.

For our early-morning efforts over the last three Sundays, we have filled 79 Caltrans bags with trash. There was also a perfectly good large doghouse left in a ditch. At two different locations in the State Park, we found very dry

palm fronds and trimmings unloaded there. This is because the park is a good alternative to the dump. This is sarcasm because it’s not a good place to dump trash of any kind.

We had some new blood this past Sunday. Brody and his daughter, Catalina, Bill and his son, Vishwa, joined us along with a recently returned Ric and his family members (who clean later in the morning). It is not easy for teenagers to rise and get out of the house in the wee hours of the morning on a weekday; on a Sunday, it is an act of heroism and tremendous resolve. We thank you.

Waking early enough in the morning to hit the Boulevard by 7 a.m. has its upside.

The sunrises are magnificent.

Although we experience defeat every week as we watch the trash pile up, sometimes, before the full bags have been removed, we continue to make our way out each Sunday morning to clear the trash that manifests after we have gone.

Come join us in our exercise in futility because it feels good, the hillsides will love you for it, and the relationships forged among the Warriors provide all the fulfillment you could ever need. We also have all of the equipment to get the job done.

Join us at Topanga Post Office, 7 a.m., every Sunday. n

Letters Open Letter of Concern, from page 5

loving husband and beautiful young daughter. Pacific Canyon Cleaners has been serving our community for more than twenty-one years.

These businesses matter to us and are the fabric of our community. We could elaborate on what all these businesses bring beyond their obvious services. Jane at Topanga Homegrown, Peter at Canyon Gourmet, Maria at the Waterlily, Gidget at Flower Power, Nancy at Canyon Chiropractic, Larry at the Canyon Bistro, Paul and Melissa at Coldwell Banker, Ron at Kramer Insurance, Jessica at Bouboulina, the Topanga Canyon Gallery, Jocelyn at Pilates In Topanga, Glynn Design Build, The Topanga Historical Society, and City Hearts, are all folks who have invested in our community with their businesses and lives.

Although visitors from the city or even tourists

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do occasionally support the local stores, it is overwhelmingly Topangans who provide the core revenue for the businesses in Pine Tree Circle.

Please understand what a unique benefit it is in today’s world to be able to support and enjoy local businesses that are embedded in a community.

We want to make clear that we value these local businesses. We’ve heard that you have some creative ideas for Pine Tree and have expressed some interest in working with our community to achieve that.

This is our hope.

Our concern is that you may misjudge the uniqueness and traditions in our community and try to impose a business model that ultimately doesn’t work here for you or us. This is not Santa Monica or Malibu Cross Creek or Brentwood. We are Topanga.

Most of us who live here, celebrate our uniqueness.

We are writing to you in hopes of not losing many of our finest resources and businesses. We are asking you to deeply consider finding ways to work with our longtime local businesses, adjusting costs to help them thrive and finding ways to make it through this COVID crisis and beyond.

Although we may only seem to represent a figure on your spreadsheet, we sincerely hope you will also see that those figures are actually intertwined businesses, families, and lives that matter here in this community. If these businesses thrive, the new tenants you bring will as well. We are hoping to get behind your plans and the creative spark you may bring in a win-win scenario.

Thank you for taking the time to listen and consider our views. Please let us know if we can be of any help.

—Concerned patrons of Pine Tree Circle

Positive Changes for Education | B y Am y Wei s berg, M. Ed. “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

—Nelson Mandela On June 27, Governor Gavin Newsom signed his state budget for the fiscal year 2019-2020 and educators couldn’t be happier! The new budget contains the largest-ever investment in not only K-12 education, but in early childhood education, childcare, and college loan assistance to help fill a statewide teacher shortage. This funding, according to EdSource, will make up 45 percent of the state’s general fund. This is going to have a noticeable impact for California’s families. Here are some of the highlights according to the official announcement from the Governor’s office:

IMPROVEMENTS FOR PARENTS The Parents Agenda addresses specific cost-ofliving issues faced by parents of young children. It includes the expansion of paid family leave from six weeks to eight weeks for each parent or caretaker of a newborn child. This potentially allows a child to benefit from as much as four months of paid family leave, bringing California closer to the goal of six months of paid family leave and is especially helpful to lower-wage workers who pay into the system and will be able to take the benefits.

The new budget puts California on the path to provide universal preschool access for all four-year olds and full-day kindergarten funding for childcare workers (some districts still do not offer this) and will expand state-subsidized facilities and increase slots. Resources will also be provided for lowincome parents including home-visiting services, Black infant health programs, developmental and trauma screenings, temporary cash assistance to families with children to meet basic needs, child savings accounts to support future higher education expenses and a sales tax exemption on diapers and menstrual products.

The budgets will establish or increase Cal Grant

Access Awards for student parents attending the University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges. This will help students complete their education and by doing so, increase their future earning potential and provide additional support to their children.

IMPROVEMENTS IN EDUCATION Governor Newsom’s new budget makes a huge investment in education for all Californians with the path towards universal preschool, recruiting and retaining qualified educators, and facilitating tuition freezes at the UC and CSU systems.

Addressing the needs of K-14 education, spending will include approximately $5,000 more per K-12 pupil than eight years ago. This long-needed investment in our students and in the future of California is a great beginning to a collaboration between school districts and the state and may lead to a more reliable funding of education. Also included is the investment of $90 million to recruit and retain qualified educators to teach in high-need fields such as special education, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and bilingual education and will address California’s teacher shortage.

Additionally, $43.8 million will be invested in providing training and resources for classroom teachers and paraprofessionals to build capacity around key state priorities including California standards, teaching excellence, student success, and accountability. In response to the concerns from school districts about rising expenses for students with disabilities, a 19.3 percent increase in funding for special education is included in this budget.

INCREASES IN HIGHER EDUCATION The new budget includes increased funding for higher education including the facilitation of tuition freezes and increased enrollment slots at the University of California and the California State University systems for the upcoming school year.

First time, full-time Community College students

will be provided two years of free tuition and $41.8 million will be provided to increase the number of Cal Grant scholarships from 25,750 to 41,000 for income-eligible Californians.

To assist student parents with dependent children and in the process increase degree completion, qualifying new or renewal Cal Grant A recipients will receive an access award of up to $6,000, Cal Grant B recipients will receive an increase in their award from $1,648 to $6,000 and Cal Grant C recipients will receive a book and supply award increase from $1,094 to $4,000.

In what Governor Newsom calls a “cradle-tocareer education strategy,” $50 million is dedicated to child savings accounts that aid families in managing future higher education expenses. According to an article by Felicia Mello in the East Bay Times, January 28, 2019, fans of the child savings accounts say they help children envision themselves attending college from a young age.

These changes and additions to funding will help provide a more stable foundation for parents and young infants and children. It is an investment in families, children, and the future of the state, and highlights Governor Newsom’s priority on education.

We all will benefit from aspects of this budget focus, whether we are parents of young children, educators receiving additional support, students aspiring to attend college, higher education students accessing their education or citizens of California, who will surely benefit from an educated population of future employers, employees, and community leaders. n

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

–Nelson Mandela Amy Weisberg, M.Ed.—Named LAUSD and LA County Teacher of the Year, 2018-2019, she teaches Kindergarten/Transitional K at Topanga Elementary Charter School. With 40 years of teaching experience, she consults with teachers and parents and provides support for students.

For more information: CompleteTeach.com; amyweisberg@gmail.com.

Opinion Don’t Open Schools

By Victoria Tralies Schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District will not be opening on time as planned. On July 29, LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner gave a press release that emphasized how important it is to prioritize students and their needs in this time of crisis. “I don’t believe one-size-fits-all, top-down, compliance-driven bureaucracies are the answer,” he said.

The answers lie at the grassroots in the classrooms of the communities we serve. I implore other superintendents, in Los Angeles and nationally, to share the same vision and remember what education is really about: doing what’s best for the students.

Unequivocally, the most important truth I held after my first year of teaching was simple: no one understands students’ academic, emotional, and social needs quite as well as teachers. The teachers understand what is best for them, next to parents and the students themselves.

Teachers are the changemakers, the midwives of equity, justice, and growth in the lives of the students they teach. I am confident that most teachers and students should not return full time to school in person this fall.

It may have disastrous consequences for the health and safety of all stakeholders if they do so.

COVID-19, thus far, has already impacted Americans tremendously, infecting 3.8 million and killing more than 141,000 people. This is devastating not just for the gross loss of life, but for the children

whose lives and upbringings will indelibly be marred by this national tragedy. Precautions such as mandatory mask mandates, earlier stay-at-home orders, and ethical leadership may have prevented these deaths. It is up to teachers and educators everywhere to help prevent further loss of life.

While I understand that teachers are expected to go well beyond the responsibilities their job entails, I also know that no one understands classrooms like we do or advocates for children like we can. Hence, this responsibility again falls on us to stand up for the rights of children and families, especially those who live at or below the poverty line. Though this is not ideal by any means, the notion that returning students to the classroom and business as usual is absurd and violates our moral obligation to protect American youth.

While the White House claims that “young people do extraordinarily well” with COVID-19, current statistics tell a different story. In Los Angeles County alone, 4,213 people have died from the virus, while the entire state of California has seen 8,049 deaths. The truth is that not only can young people die from COVID-19, they can pass it on to at-risk family members. If going back to school means putting students, faculty, and staff at risk, especially in underserved areas, that risk is one that educational leaders should not take.

Part of the reason this topic is difficult is the fact that schools do more than educate students. Repercussions from COVID-19 highlight the disparity of resources

that continue to exist in impoverished communities nationally. Schools feed students, provide emotional counseling, distribute medical information, offer childcare, and provide networks of support for crisis and care. In 2018, eighty percent of 2.4 billion breakfasts provided under the School Breakfast Program were free, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. School districts are doing their best to continue providing these services even while students are being taught remotely.

Additionally, teachers and their students are not all alike. Though the coronavirus has demonstrated that national mandates can work well in times of public health crises, the same does not always apply to education. Classrooms, student bodies, types of education, and needs differ between and within school districts. While working at a public school in Phoenix, I recognized early on that rules and regulations depended on the students and families in each community. While I urge public officials and school board members to act quickly and ethically, I also call on them to do justice to the specific communities they are serving. n Victoria Tralies is a high school teacher and has instructed English for the past two years in public schools in Phoenix, Arizona. She has a M.Ed. from Arizona State University and a B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University. She specializes in teaching English as a second language and literacy strategies.

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

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COMMUNITY NEWS Ferreting Out Fake News Online

By Sinead Hawkins The 2020 election is only a few months away and the amount of information available to the public is overwhelming.

Social media sites, blogs, online publications, and videos provide a plethora of information, making it a challenge for the average news consumer to discern facts from false reports, whether written in articles, or viewed in videos. In the world of technology, opinion, and data overload, how can you be sure sources you are consuming are real? Here are a few ways to know the stories on social media are accurate.

Is the News Source Real?

Fake news sites tend to copy well known organizations by giving a “real look” and mimicking a similar title, logo, URL, and style of a reputable source. If you are quick to trust the site without doublechecking, you could fall for the visual trick. Another smart practice is to read the “about” page of a site and check to see if an email or phone number is listed. Is it a private blog, political satire, or is it written by an organization that’s unfamiliar? Was the article published today or is it from years ago? News circulating online at times isn’t current or verified. Research the author’s name and other published content before deciding to trust information.

Have Other News Outlets Covered This Story?

If there is a piece of major breaking

news, chances are multiple newspapers and websites will cover the story. Read other articles that are similar and compare the content. Multiple sources reporting the same news will more than likely confirm that it’s from a legitimate source.

Could it Be a Joke?

There are stories that will introduce a real news topic and then slowly become comedic toward the end of the piece. The purpose of these articles is to entertain and give a funny perspective, not to inform the public on correct information.

The intention is for the fake news to spread without readers taking the time to properly verify it, although, easier to spot, these types of stories are common.

Make sure a news story is legitimate by fact-checking information. Become familiar with organizations like Snopes, factcheck.org and American Press Institute which specialize in filtering the media for inaccuracies, rumors, halftruths and satire stories.

Beware of Misleading Headlines Clickbait, provoking headlines designed to drive readers to advertiser’s sites, is often used to lure in people who are scrolling through the web.

The article written may not reflect the headline. Read through the entire article before sharing it or have a conversation with a friend about the headline. If you want another telltale sign, the comment sections of articles like these are usually filled with angry warnings about the headline being misleading and different from the rest of the body paragraphs.

Look Out for “Deepfakes” Artificial intelligence technology is advancing, making it possible to create fake videos of real political figures, news anchors, and celebrities. These videos have audio and imagery convincing enough to seem realistic. According to the world’s first visual intelligence threat company, Deeptrace, at least 15,000 manipulated videos have appeared on social media platforms.

Many deepfake videos are difficult to spot but there are obvious signs such as the subjects of the video not blinking, strange lighting, or audio that is out of sync with the person speaking on camera.

Misinformation There are some stories that are outright, fake news. The intention is to persuade a targeted demographic on social media that the story is true.

Look for grammatical errors, unusual punctuation, font in all caps, and lack of organization in the story.

Check Your Confirmation Bias Many podcasts, YouTube shows, blogs, and news outlets have direct bias towards the political left or the right. It’s important to challenge your personal views when consuming news that doesn’t confirm your political ideologies. Research news bias charts to

assist you with choosing neutral news organizations and news wires that are written with objectivity. Finding nonbiased content and consuming stories with a perspective different from your own views will give you a deeper understanding of the widely disputed issues and events happening now.

References: n bloomberg.com/news/ articles/2020-05-14/how-disinformationhas-morphed-for-the-2020-electionquicktak n theguardian.com/technology/2020/ jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-howcan-you-spot-them n forbes.com/sites/ johnbbrandon/2019/10/08/thereare-now-15000-deepfake-videoson-social-media-yes-you-shouldworry/#398b8f1c3750 n freedomforuminstitute.org/firstamendment-center/primers/fake-newsprimer/ n prattlibrary.org/research/tools/index. aspx?cat=90&id=4735 n freedomforuminstitute.org/firstamendment-center/primers/fake-newsprimer/ n psychologytoday.com/us/blog/socialdilemmas/201711/how-spot-fake-news n Sinead Rose Hawkins is a storyteller who has a fiery enthusiasm about politics, culture, history, and adventure. She has a lifelong fascination with news. ENFP. Artist. Confident. Journalist.

Sheriff Villanueva Holds a Virtual Town Hall with Topangans

By Annemarie Donkin

Topangans expressed their concerns at a virtual town hall meeting with L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Captain Salvador Becerra of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s Station.

Fires, evacuations, crime, motorcycles and illegal street racing led the conversation as about 100 Canyon residents asked questions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff on July 16.

“I want to thank you for dialing in and attending,” said Sheriff Villanueva.

“The deputies that work, especially those in Topanga, are dedicated and determined, putting their lives on the line, that’s what speaks volumes.”

Captain Becerra said it had been decades since the Sheriff communicated directly with Topanga and asked for questions from the residents.

One concerned resident inquired about the resolution of the situation of an armed man on Old Topanga Canyon early that morning that resulted in about a dozen patrol vehicles, two armored trucks and the EMT positioned at Pine Tree Circle.

“We served a search warrant on the suspect this morning and filed a

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criminal complaint; the helicopter was used for surveillance and the suspect is in custody,” Captain Becerra said.

As many residents continued to express their concerns during the town hall, the majority of the questions concerned illegal road racing, excessive noise violations, the Wednesday night motorcycle club, and speeding on Old Topanga Canyon Road.

“I live and work in Topanga, on Old Canyon; my question is in two parts,” said Karen Dannenbaum. “Traffic on Old Canyon is on the increase and the road racing at night and on the weekends … someone totaled a car on a pole in front of my house. The second part— there are three kids that race mini-bikes from Fernwood to Old Topanga, to the Skyline loop every day, they had a BMW boxed in; I am concerned about the lives of those kids.”

Captain Becerra considered Dannenbaum’s questions carefully.

“We had an accident on Old Topanga Canyon Road just last week,” he said.

“We are trying to get the California Highway Patrol to patrol more up there; we will be looking for the three mini-bikes to see if we can stop that for their own safety.”

Tam Taylor of the Canyon Sages said she had two questions regarding evacuations.

“We were told to leave your door open unlocked when you evacuate so fire fighters can enter quickly when needed,” she said. “During the Woolsey fire, we left our doors unlocked for seven days with lots of people coming in and out of the Canyon during that time… so how do we best protect

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva

ourselves, after the three-four or five days that we left our houses unlocked?”

Sheriff Villanueva answered without hesitation. “Lock your house and leave,” he said. “If, there is any reason for firefighters to get in, you have many more problems than that, so lock your doors.”

Taylor continued with concerns about evacuations out of Topanga: “A great many of the houses are on dead-end streets,” she said. “There is only one way in and one way out. The notion of people trying to get out when emergency responders are trying to get in, I don’t know what the protocol is, evacuate early, while at the same time, you can easily get locked in because it won’t take very long for Topanga Canyon Boulevard to get jammed up with traffic. We need to have suggestions of what to do when we can’t get out.

Again, Sheriff Villanueva did not mince words. “When we pull the trigger and decide to evacuate, we will create an uninterrupted flow out of the Canyon,” he said. “That didn’t happen

very well during the Woolsey Fire; we learned from that.”

Captain Becerra also addressed the issue of Canyon evacuations. “We need to improve the evacuation situation,” he said. “We need early evacuations of the homeless, homebound seniors, and animals with trailers. We need to have the people who are most vulnerable ready during a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). We will go house to house with door knocks, loudspeakers, facilitate people driving out, and evacuate them in a short matter of time.”

Sheriff Villanueva said more than once that the effectiveness of his Department was a matter of what he considered to be proposed budget cuts by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors.

“This is a process by which we can have this conversation to provide more public safety to Topanga,” he said. “An almost 50 percent reduction of the County budget is falling on the Sheriff ’s Department, especially for the detectives.

We have a three-front problem with the budget crises to provide services and we need you to speak with the Board of Supervisors, to reach out to them; they need to hear from you.”

The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s Station is comprised of LASD Reserve Deputies and civilian volunteers from all professions, who provide their expertise to aid residents and visitors of the Santa Monica Mountains recreation area (lasd.org). Text your Zip Code to 888777 to receive cityspecific alerts. The Sheriff ’s Dispatch Non-Emergency number is (818) 8781808. n

: k n u P e u Plag

Steampunk GoesViral

By Sari Scheer

T

Topanga Canyon Gallery is an artist-owned mutual benefit corporation.

It is located at 120 N Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga CA 90290. For more information: info@ topangacanyongallery.com; TopangaCanyonGallery. com. August Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5pm.

op anga C anyon Gallery is pleased to present “Plague Punk: Steampunk Goes Viral by Kitonius V Plumii,” aka Kit Plumridge, that opened August 1.

The gallery will be open Saturdays and Sundays from noon–5 p.m., for three weeks on August 8, 9, 15, 16. The gallery will stay open later on August 8 to ensure social distancing. This fantastical show will also be shown by appointment.

From the subtropical shores of South Africa’s east coast, to the vibrant shores of the U.S. west coast, Kit Plumridge has managed to create a diverse portfolio that reveals his unique, inter-continental skill set through a variety of media. Discovering his entrepreneurial and artistic talents at a young age, Kit honed his craft over the years, with his passion for sailing and surfing a source of endless inspiration.

His growing years provided a comprehensively eclectic palette, evident even in his more modern steampunk collections. His school days at a traditional Irish Catholic boarding school were interspersed by unforgettable holidays with family spent avoiding sharks in the KwaZulu-Natal surf. Conscripted into the South African army at 18, Kit’s death-defying encounters with a rogue African elephant and a pride of lions further deepened a love for the African wildlife that will forever remain.

At the age of 36, Kit relocated with his family to California, finding a home in Malibu where he has resided the past 27 years. Drawing on inspiration from his African heritage, his family and the natural world, Kit creates vibrant seascape pieces on canvas and wood panels using an austere palette of oils and acrylics. His signature series of brightly-colored lifeguard towers, inspired by Ed Massey, reflect his detailed, complex, often photo-realistic style.

Kitonius V Plumii Once a year, Kit unleashes his alter ego, Kitonius V Plumii, aka The Unstable Genius, creator of his notable steampunk artwork. His 2019 collection, “Steampunk Drawing Machine,” was incredibly well-received and precipitated his 2020 showcase, “Steampunk Instruments,” which features seven handmade musical instruments and accompanying characters in the style of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. The characters— either a torso or head-and-shoulder vignette—are donned in headgear crafted from burnished and Verdigris handstitched leather with natural waxed sinew. In line with the steampunk genre, Kit has taken a modern approach to the traditional by creating strong female characters which didn’t feature in the original 1800 narratives. n —Megan Plumridge

Photos by Rich Schmitt Photography

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CanyonOakFinancial .com August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

9

The Theatre

Theatre 31 Goes Zoom!

By Annemarie Donkin

Adapting live theatre to the Zoom world is a challenge for any company, yet with a group of actors between the ages of 7-14, Theatre 31 has accomplished the feat with style and panache!

“I “Dick Van Dyke came to the show and did a workshop with the students at the end of the 2016 performance of Mary Poppins while the audience watched,” Chad Scheppner wrote. “At the end, we all sang “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” together; it was a really a magical moment with tears of joy coming from many of the kids who had no idea he was coming!”

am not throwing away my shot!”

What can you do when a worldwide pandemic hits and no one can gather together in the dark to experience the magic of a play, especially when your mission is to provide a theatrical summer camp and education for student performers?

The answer is: Adapt, because the show must go on!

For Chad Scheppner, a Shakespearean-trained actor, founder and artistic director of Theatre 31, this is exactly what his theatrical summer camps and school programs strive to accomplish.

The hit song, “My Shot,” from Hamilton, performed by his students and streaming on the Theatre31 website this summer (theatre31.com) is the perfect example of this adaptation. This is due to the dedication of Scheppner and his multi-talented staff members with experience ranging from Broadway to Cirque Du Soleil.

“Theatre 31 is fortunate to enjoy professional relationships with many accomplished artists who are passionate about the arts and about sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience with our students” Scheppner wrote.

The Mission Statement for Theatre 31 is “to provide fun, non-competitive, all-inclusive theatre arts classes

From Once On This Island, Lincoln Middle School, 2018. Photo courtesy of studiosigal.com

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and camps that give students an opportunity to strengthen their abilities to perform and collaborate, enhance their skills of interpersonal awareness, and build self-confidence.”

As anyone can see from the music videos found on the Theatre 31 website, these students are dedicated, disciplined, and motivated to perform to the best of their abilities regardless of the quarantine. The main benefits of performing arts for young people include improving life skills and academic performance, so despite COVID-19, Theatre 31 was determined to conduct its summer classes…remotely. They will also continue with a full curriculum of remote classes in the fall.

THEATRE 31 SUMMER CAMP Scheppner recalled how his summer camps were conducted prior to COVID-19.

“Some programs ran up to 25 students, some had more than 100 students involved as actors and technicians producing a weekend of performances,” he wrote. “The summer programs had about 40 students per session and ended in a single presentation.”

Essentially, Scheppner feels his classes play an essential part in elementary and middle school education.

“There are several different theatres and schools that we work with on the Westside, from Malibu to Santa Monica and the Venice area,” Scheppner said. “We run after-school programs as well as programs that are held during the school day at public and private elementary and middle schools.

We also rent out theater spaces like the Electric Lodge and Beyond Baroque in Venice, and the Lincoln Middle School Auditorium in Santa Monica, which has a capacity of about 600 seats.

Scheppner said they are fortunate to have many funding streams, depending on the school.

“With some programs, we are funded by the parents of our students. In others, we receive grants from PTSA’s, and organizations such as the Santa Monica Education Foundation, which is a great reason why we are involved in the schools in Santa Monica,” Scheppner said. “Some funding also comes directly from the schools, on a case-bycase basis.

THEATRE 31 IN THE TIME OF ZOOM The Canyon Chronicle asked Scheppner if Zoom limits or expands teaching options and if it can sign up many more kids than might otherwise be able to participate?

“It allows us to reach out beyond the Los Angeles area, which is really cool,” Scheppner wrote back. “We’ve had students over the summer from all over California and even participating from different states. However, because distance learning has such a negative connotation in most people’s households, our camps have a third of their usual enrollment. I’m hoping, however, that as we move forward and more people see what we are able to do in this format and our intentions with distance learning, that parents and students will be excited to add this to their learning schedules.”

Regarding their first music video of the summer, “My Shot” from Hamilton, Scheppner wrote, “For some, it was their very first theatrical experience, and I was very pleased with what they were able to collaborate to create.” On the video, one can also see that he also joined in on the fun.

Theatre 31 will soon be posting their second music video of the summer, a rock version of “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan (in collaboration with Greg Hilfman, accomplished Topanga musician and producer), and will end its final distance-learning summer camp of the year with “Mean Girls,” a musical with a strong message of standing up for what is right regardless of how others may judge you.

“In this camp we will collaborate to create a video recording of “I See Stars” and much more.” Scheppner said. “With this camp, we’re beginning a new and exciting program called “Speak Up” that will be offered to schools in the Fall, along with our already existing performing arts curriculum.”

For more information and to register for Fall: theatre31.com.

All photos were taken pre-pandemic at the Lincoln Theatre production of Mary Poppins in 2016. Photos courtesy of Theatre 31

Above: Chad Scheppner, Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre 31. Photo courtesy of Chad Scheppner Left: Dick Van Dyke visited with actors and the audience from the Lincoln Theatre production of Mary Poppins that Chad Scheppner directed in 2016 at the Lincoln Auditorium.

Theatre 31 Zooms Online in the Fall AN ACTOR PREPARES Chad Scheppner was born in Fresno, California and had his first acting experience in elementary school.

“My family migrated to the Central Valley from Oklahoma during the Dustbowl Era—real life Grapes of Wrath style—and my mom’s mother’s side immigrated from the Azore Islands in Portugal. My first experience with theatre was with the winter programs that our elementary school did each year.” He laughed as he recalled “being a duck one year for a play about Thanksgiving. I really liked it and recall how seriously I took the role,” he said, laughing again. Yet, acting didn’t occur to him until he met a certain teacher in high school.

“I didn’t do anything theatrical after elementary school until my senior year of high school when I decided to try out for a Shakespeare play because my friends in English class thought I read Hamlet well when we were studying the play in class. I enjoyed performing in that play but thought that it would be the end of acting for me until auditions for the musical came,” Scheppner wrote. “I wasn’t going to audition until my high school drama teacher, Robert Bullwinkle, a man of giant stature at 6 feet, 7 inches, told me that if I didn’t audition for this play it would be the worst mistake I made in my entire life. I auditioned and ended up getting the lead.

It was one of those ‘magical experiences’ on the stage that left me wanting more. I then went on to pursue Theatre Arts in college.”

After college Scheppner performed roles at many Regional Theatres across the country, including Don John in Much Ado About Nothing and Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Edmund in King Lear and Orlando in As You Like It at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in Kansas City, MO; and the Lover/Hawker in The Who’s Tommy at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.

THEATRE 31 AND WILL GEER’S THEATRICUM BOTANICUM Scheppner lives in Topanga with his wife, Megan GeerAlsop, an acclaimed stained-glass artist, who, with Willow Geer-Alsop, is one of the daughters of Ellen Geer and Peter Alsop. Chad and Megan have two children; their daughter graduated from Topanga Elementary Charter School this year, where their son will start third grade in the fall.

Asked how, as a young actor, he discovered the Theatricum, he told a fun story.

“I was making my way back to California after having been a part of several Shakespeare Festivals and Regional Theatres,” Scheppner wrote. “A dear friend I met at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, David Anthony Smith, told me about Ellen Geer and the Theatricum. He had played several roles, including Hamlet at the Theatricum, and told me about the amazing work that was happening there. I auditioned and was cast as Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice (alongside Alan Blumenfeld as Shylock) and

Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

It was the meeting with Megan that created a real connection with him at the Theatricum.

“The first time that I saw Megan was in 2002 at her mother’s house for the first read-through of The Merchant of Venice. I remember seeing her wander in and out of the kitchen during our read-through and I was immediately struck by her beauty,” he wrote. “It wasn’t until a few years later, after we both ended long-standing relationships, that we connected and I, of course, learned to love her for much more than just her looks!”

He’s been a company member at the Theatricum for years now, playing many roles including Richard III in Richard III; Valere in The Miser; Dracula in Dracula, and the role of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra.

“I also was part of their educational programs, where we would tour shows to schools and played several other roles including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Brutus in Julius Caesar, Scheppner wrote.

THEATRE 31 Scheppner founded Theatre 31 in 2005.

“Theatre 31 began about 15 years ago, when I turned 31-years-old,” he said. “The company name came from my age at the time, but also from some friends of mine, who called me Chad 31 or just 31 when we were younger. I had an affinity for that number and some of its meanings in numerology. I was going through big transitions in my life at the time, and the name made sense to me. This was the point when I stepped out on my own, focusing on my own educational theater company.”

We asked Scheppner what drove him from acting to teaching theatre.

“I came to a point in my career where I felt more inspired by teaching, directing and writing instead of being on the stage,” he wrote, “I had been working as an instructor and an actor in tandem for years, and absolutely love the creative process of both, but started to find that I was enjoying my work as an instructor more. I really loved seeing what kind of direct effect the classes were having on young people and it felt more important to me. I also found that the transition to focusing on theater education allowed me more time to be with my family.”

He didn’t do this all on his own and credits his fellow theatre instructors.

“I do feel lucky, and couldn’t create this company without a lot of people I’ve met over the years who inspire me as an artist and have a dedication to inspiring and sharing their experience and expertise with our young students.” he said. “Theater education is especially important right now because there is a real depression that I am seeing in young people as they deal with this pandemic. I think that theatre education is a great way for them to get to express themselves and what they are experiencing during this difficult time. In many ways, I see what we do as Art Therapy.” n

Mean Girls, a musical with a strong message of standing up for what is right, will end the distance-learning summer camp and a collaborative video recording of “I See Stars.” a new and exciting program, “Speak Up” will also be offered to schools in the Fall, along with the theater’s existing performing arts curriculum.

Zoom Meetings. Students meet with the instruction team each morning at 10 a.m. for one hour, with instruction in theater and improvisation games, script/scene work/ acting/dancing and singing Tutorial Videos. At least one hour of instruction is available per day in dance, choreography and singing, Self-taping (recording from home), acting for the camera, costuming your character and more. Students may access a private folder with videos posted on YouTube.

Culmination. Students will be assigned roles in at least one scene and/or song from the musical we are studying and will be asked to learn their parts from home. They will be asked to record themselves performing their parts and send in their recordings. Theatre 31 will edit the recordings together and create a “Showcase” video that will be made available to all families involved.

Requirements • Access to the Internet with a reliable connection that will allow students to be part of our Zoom classes.

• Earphones, earbuds, or headphones and a device on which students can listen to music (computer, iPod, telephone, etc.)

• Access to YouTube and a place where they can practice their dances.

• Students will need to download the music tracks that will be sent to them via Dropbox.

• Access to a video recording device (separate from the one mentioned above). A phone with a video camera will work great.

• Parents may need to help our younger campers with their home recordings.

For more information and to register: theatre31.com.

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4 11

Zodiac Dogs

Hey Baby(dog)! What’s your sign?

Kait Leonard

The Dog Days of Summer span from July 3 to August 11, 2020. Let’s celebrate the Dog Star, Sirius, by checking out what the heavens have to say about our own pooches. If you don’t know your dog’s birthdate, read each sign. If the description sounds familiar, you can be pretty sure you’ve found your dog’s sign.

WHAT THE ZODIAC REVEALS ABOUT YOUR POOCH Aries (March 21-April 19) – Represented by the ram and ruled by Mars, the planet of courage and combat.

Think leader of the pack. These ram-like pooches will need to be trained by a patient but firm hand. They can be bullies or they can be leaders. Which one you share your life with has a lot to do with early training.

Aries dogs want to go on adventures, get physical, prove their courage. Hiking the trails, off-leash running, and ultimate frisbee prove to be tons of fun, but serious training, like carrying the family’s items in a backpack, guarding their people or home, and protection work will suit them nicely as well.

Taurus (April 20-May 20—Represented by the bull and ruled by Venus, the planet of love, beauty, and physical comfort. These dogs love to love and they want all the comforts, fine food, a cozy bed, and even a beautiful collar.

They are also practical and dependable, but they have the reputation as being one of the most stubborn signs of the

Stella the Taurus appreciates life’s simple pleasures.

The Backyard Astronomer: The Dog Days of Summer

By Eric Fitzgerald

The dog days of summer are upon us. Those steaming days in August when the warmth of the spring and early summer wears out its welcome and the heat can become downright oppressive. The term “dog days” has its roots in astronomy.

The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, the Dog Star. Sirius is so-called the Dog Star because it is also the brightest star in constellation Canis Major, or the Big Dog. The Big Dog can be found nipping at the heels of the Hunter, Orion. Orion is perhaps the most recognizable winter constellation. If Orion and Canis Major are winter constellations, why then, you may ask, are they associated with the sweltering days of summer? The answer lies in the fact that our Sun inhabits the winter stars in the summer which is why we obviously can’t see them in the summer. As we spiral through the year, the upcoming season’s stars start to appear briefly in the sky just before dawn, ahead of the rising Sun. The dawn is like the “coming attractions” trailers for the next two seasons of stars and constellations.

When a star first becomes visible before dawn in the course of the year, it is called the heliacal rising of that star. Given that Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, the Dog Star’s heliacal rising has been carefully noted by faithful sky-watchers throughout history.

It wasn’t lost on our ancestors that Sirius’ heliacal rising coincided with the scorching days of the waning summer. The ancient Greeks and others believed that the combination of the Sun and Sirius’ energy caused the unpleasantly hot weather. The ancient Greeks knew the star as Seírios or “Scorcher.”

The reappearance of the Dog Star in our morning sky also occurs just as the Nile River regularly floods each year, so Sirius’ heliacal rising was a red-letter day on the ancient Egyptian calendar.

While the Dog Star is so bright and one of our nearest neighbors in space at 8.6 light years, there is no meaningful heat added to our summer from its energy. The warmth of summer in the temperate

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latitudes of our little planet is caused by the tilt of Earth’s rotational axis in relation to the plane of our orbit around the Sun. When we reach that time of year when our hemisphere points toward the Sun, the days are longer and hotter.

Sirius is not one star at all, but actually two stars.

The majority of stars we can see in the night sky are binary systems of two or more stars. Sirius A is twice as massive as our sun and 25 times more luminous.

So, Sirius is much bigger and more luminous than the Sun and very close to us. No wonder the Dog Star blazes so brightly in our winter sky.

Sirius B is a white dwarf star that was once a

bright, blue star like Sirius A before blowing up into a red supergiant, consuming most of its atomic fuel and collapsing back into a white dwarf. Very patriotic, Sirius B—it’s been red, white and blue, or blue, red and white in turn.

So, as the sultry dog days wear on this summer, remember the Dog Star for which they are named and look for Sirius’ glittering white light low in the southeast sky just before dawn. n Questions, comments or stellar observations for The Backyard Astronomer?

Email: backyardastronomer365@gmail.com.

zodiac. Like Aries, they do best with consistent training.

They like regular routines. Don’t worry about providing a variety of toys or food. They enjoy going into nature, so hiking and trips to the park will get tails wagging, but just snuggling on the couch with plenty of petting and treats is paradise to the loving Taurean.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)—Represented by the twins and ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication and travel. These furry friends are sociable, talkative (think of those yappers) and smart. They keep everyone laughing and count on their people to provide tons of fun and an ever-changing menu of activities. They also want to greet every person and dog they meet, so make sure they are well socialized as puppies. This will give them the skills they need to maintain positive canine relationships. Channel their curiosity and energy into sports like agility, flyball, or scent tracking and don’t overlook the simple things like taking them on errands, letting them run, and arranging doggie playdates.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)—Represented by the crab and ruled by the Moon, the planet of emotion and nurturing. Cancerians are sensitive souls who probably prefer to stay close to home, although they will venture out as long as they feel secure with their favorite person.

Those born under this sign can be prone to anxiety, and “fear biting” can be a problem. Cancer canines need to be conditioned from the time they’re puppies to accept the absence of the pet parent and to be okay when they go into unknown places. Avoid over-coddling, as this will only reinforce fear, but don’t hold back on the physical affection. This pet is easy to please. Just hanging out with the family is all the party necessary.

Leo (July 23-August 22)—Represented by the Lion and ruled by the Sun, the planet of personal identity, the ego, and authority. These dogs like to shine. They have energy to burn, and one way or another, they’re going to find ways to burn it. They want to play. They want to compete. Their strong wills can be either an asset or a problem, depending on how they’re managed. Leo pups need to start obedience training as early as possible. It will harness their physical and mental energy but don’t stop with puppy classes. These pooches want to show off their skills. Consider activities like guard dog training, tracking, and even fun sports like flyball, dancing, and agility. The worst thing you can do with Leo pups is ignore them. Leaving these dogs in the backyard all day will lead to neurotic behavior and property destruction.

no matter the size of the pup, this cannot be tolerated.

They also tend to be jealous, so they do best in single pet families. These canine companions get stressed easily and need plenty of daily exercise. When handled correctly, Scorpios love time with their favorite human, especially when the activities are kept low-key.

Advanced obedience training will stimulate them and keep them in check without causing too much anxiety.

Sagittarius (November 21-December 20)—Represented by the archer and ruled by Jupiter, the planet of expansion, exaggeration, and generosity. These happy dogs want to travel far and wide. Take them on trips and find opportunities where they can run free, but not too free.

These pooches tend to take off and just keep going. It’s not that they want to run away from you. It’s just that like the arrow being released from the archer’s bow, they want to fly free. They can also be so enthusiastic they break social etiquette rules, which can make other dogs angry. To keep them safe, start training the recall (“come”) command from the second you bring your pal into your life. (Pro tip: This is not as easy as some people think. Get professional advice to get started.) Having a Saggi that will come on command will help ensure they don’t run away if they escape the leash, and it can help bring them back when other dogs look like they’ve had enough. These sociable pups do well in multi-pet households, so feel free to incorporate another fur-baby into the family.

Capricorn (December 21-January 20)—Represented by the mountain goat and ruled by Saturn, the planet of discipline, ambition, and boundaries. These dogs love rules, so they love training. They can become nervous if they don’t understand what’s going on. Bringing a new puppy into the home can be a problem because Cappies don’t like it when others misbehave. They might take the little one’s training into their own paws. If you do incorporate a puppy or kitten into the household, move slowly when introducing, supervise closely, and make sure you teach the youngster how to respect his or her Cappy elder. These intense characters do well with activities that give them a purpose, like carrying a backpack, guarding, or protecting. They may also enjoy hiking the trails but above and beyond all else, they love the rules of advanced obedience.

Aquarius (January 21-February 20—Represented by the water bearer and ruled by Uranus, the planet of freedom and independence. This is the sign of the rebel. These dogs want to go their own way. If you say, “No digging!” you won’t have to search long to find holes in the yard.

Train, train, train. Depending on the breed, Aquarians can do well in team activities like flyball, relay, or even herding. This is also the dog that could enjoy being on the surfboard with you. They love other animals, all kinds of animals, so bring in that guinea pig you’ve been longing for. Don’t get hurt feelings if your dog doesn’t always want cuddles. They need time alone to recharge, so they can come back and amaze you with their brilliance.

Pisces (February 20-March 20)—Represented by the fish and ruled by Neptune, the planet of idealism and spiritual union. These sensitive souls live to cuddle.

They are empathic and will feel all your emotions, so they don’t do well in chaotic environments and don’t do well with rambunctious children. In the right setting, like adult wards of hospitals and senior homes, they can make brilliant therapy dogs. They enjoy activities like doggie dancing and canine yoga but don’t let their sweetness fool you. They have an independent streak and use stealth when they want to break a rule but when they do, get ready for the eyes of remorse when you catch them.

In honor of Sirius, the original dog star, the long dog days provide canine lovers everywhere extra time to deepen their relationships and find new ways of honoring their fur friend’s unique gifts. Flyball probably won’t start up again until our world returns to something that resembles normal, but the trails are just waiting to be explored and doggie dance lessons can be found on YouTube. Samba anyone? n Kait Leonard is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, who applies research-based techniques to train dogs and other animals. She is also a professional psychic who gazes at the stars, Tarot cards, and a crystal ball to provide a wide range of astrological and spiritual services. She will be contributing a monthly astrology column (for humans) starting in September. Her website and YouTube channel, Stir the Cauldron, will be launching in August.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)—Represented by the virgin (but think fussy schoolmarm) and ruled by Mercury. Like Leo, Virgos want to be in charge, but their way of taking control is to manipulate. You know those puppy dog eyes kids make? Get ready to see where that expression came from. These picky pups tend to be finicky eaters, choosy about toys, and will only go on walks in one direction. Why? Because that’s the right way to do it. Obvi! These dogs can also be talkative. Training them to accept changes in the environment, like taking different routes on outings, playing fetch with a different ball, and even offering different treats, will prevent rigidity. Beyond that, they do well with all activities that keep their minds active, so search-and-retrieval and advanced obedience training suit them well.

Libra (September 21-October 20)—Represented by the scales and ruled by Venus. These pooches are often physically attractive, flirtatious and social, but sometimes also indecisive and a bit scattered. They require positive, consistent training, and their tendency to distraction means you need to be patient. It’s not that they lack intelligence, but rather that they flit from one idea to the next. They want to be with you everywhere you go, and they want to interact with everyone they meet. Socialize them early with people and other dogs.

It is important they learn to greet others appropriately.

They love the outdoors, so they adore walks on trails where interaction with nature, people, and fellow fur babies all come together. They also enjoy lunch at that trendy outdoor café. You know. The one where all the other beautiful people are hanging out.

Scorpio (October 21-November 20)—Represented by the scorpion and ruled by Pluto, the planet of obsession, transformation, and even violence. These pooch pals can be tough and need humans who are up to the job of bringing out their best. Socialize and train throughout life. They can have a tendency toward aggression, and

Bowie, the Aquarian, loves everyone

This competitive fly-ball champ shows Leo at his best

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4 13

Christin Karr with her Service Dog, Ralfie

According to its manager, Malibu’s Marmalade Cafe sees many fake service animals.

Service Dog Fraud

By Judith Brister

Malibu businesses are facing a puppy problem as patrons continuously commit service dog fraud, bringing untrained Fidos into restaurants and bars.

Due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), those with service dogs are entitled to bring them places without presenting documentation of their disability. The flipside of this is that people without disabilities can bring their dogs to places and expect not to be questioned.

Kaya Ramos, manager of three Malibu Restaurants including Ollo, Bui Sushi, and Ollie’s Duck and Dive, says he handles service dog fraud daily.

“Going to the bathroom in the restaurant has happened before,” Ramos said. “We’ve had dogs bite servers before, dogs fighting with other dogs, which in turn usually causes conflict between the owners or management and the owners of the dogs.”

According to California Penal Code 365.7, service dog fraud is “knowingly and fraudulently representing yourself, verbally or in writing, to be the owner or trainer of a Service dog.” If a customer lies about their dog, they are committing a misdemeanor fraud punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

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August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

Meanwhile, if a restaurant employee confronts the owner of a service animal they believe to be fake they are subject to a $2,500 dollar fine if the animal is in fact genuine. Because of this, most restaurants will not push beyond “Is that a service animal?” although the law does allow one more follow-up question, “What service does it provide?”

Malibu’s Marmalade Cafe sees many fake service animals. “I know that 90 percent of people lie to me because their dogs will be barking and on the chairs, sitting on their lap, and licking our plates,” said General Manager Laura Lee Seimears.

Despite popular opinion, service dog fraud is not a victimless crime, service dog owner Christin Karr said.

“It’s very frustrating and it’s actually a danger to my dog because oftentimes people will have their [fake] service dog in public and it’s aggressive,” Karr said.

“My dog is not replaceable. That’s a minimum of a year-and-a-half of training.”

Service animal vests are freely available for purchase on Amazon with no documentation required, making it easier than ever to commit service animal fraud.

“People will just slap a service dog vest on their dog and call it a service dog and it’s like that’s not fair because it creates problems for those of us who actually need the service dogs,” Karr said. “We are questioned constantly and they give us a bad reputation.”

Karr’s service dog, Ralfie, is expected to follow specific protocol in public, according to his training.

“He’s invisible,” Karr said. “He’s a fly on the wall. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t sniff around. He shouldn’t be looking at things. His only focus should be me.”

When in restaurants, the protocol is similar.

“They have to be on the floor off of the tables,” Ramos said. “They technically are supposed to be working animals. They’re not supposed to be fed or eat while they’re at the restaurant. They’re supposed to be helping people.”

It is very obvious when someone lies about their dog,” Seimers said. “Service dogs are trained not to bark or beg. When a dog misbehaves even a little, it gives itself away.” n Editor’s Note: Ms. Brister, a graduating student at Pepperdine last May, wrote this as an intern for the Messenger Mountain News when the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives. Consequently, it was never published when MMN suspended publication. While restaurants and bars are closed for the most part, that setting does not apply, but service dog fraud remains a reality. It seemed appropriate to publish it in our Dog Days of Summer theme. Brister is safely ensconced in Texas with her grandmother where they are, like us, riding out the pandemic. We thank her for her contribution.

Dog days of summer Dogs In Topanga

Memory’s Fool

These spirits, these fakers,

Dancer, when I open

adventurers out to filch

your crate in the morning

a bone, a bowl of water, treats,

and scratch under your cheek,

can charm you to death with their

your long pink tongue

playfulness, coyness, flirting,

unfurls itself on my wrist.

their wisdom, their knowing sometimes it is more than right,

You came to me starving, bleeding, shaved,

simply, gloriously, to lie down,

now everyone calls you “Fluff Ball.”

do nothing and be.

Four inches of white obscure your shape, but I know who you are— I wear your perfume on my wrist.

Dog Spirit The first year, when I called,

My neighbor’s Black Lab Holds up his right front paw And will not step on it, it’s hurt And then that little pup just walks around On three legs only--walking!-Walking, as a matter of course, Not about to take this lying down, Oh, no, instead,

I’d shout your name, again and again, screaming down the ravine, and still you wouldn’t come, and now you seem to take a joy in running to me when I call.

Perhaps you smell your perfume on my wrist.

Resolved to get around, And live his life No matter what.

Jane Marla Robbins enjoys licks and laughs from her dog, Dancer.

From Dogs in Topanga 2000-2018 (Shining Tree Press ©2019)

by Jane Marla Robbins

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ENVIRONMENT

The SAMO Fund Thanks Its Online Donors

By Annemarie Donkin

The Santa Monica Mountains Fund supports mountain lion research and preservation, fish, wildlife, native plants and vital youth programs inside the largest urban national park in the United States.

“Love Our Parks” was the theme for a fun, upbeat online presentation and silent auction hosted by the Santa Monica Mountains Fund (SAMO) on July 24 to raise money for research, wildlife and youth programs.

According to its organizers, all proceeds from the event will go to the general fund of the Santa Monica Mountains Fund to help support local wildlife, outdoor education for high school youth and children in under-served communities, maintain trails, and nurture propagation of native plants and trees in the Park.

“I want to thank everyone who supported our event and who values this amazing resource—the largest urban national park in the country,” said Charlotte Parry, Executive Director of the SAMO Fund, to all those who contributed to the event to raise most of its goal of $50,000.

Under Parry’s guidance, the fund has contributed more than $1 million to fund National Park Services Programs for three of the last four years.

“We raise a lot of the money that contributes to the park,” Parry said of the SAMO fund. “It has grown…we receive income from a wide range of sources including grants and programs. The donations are just one source of income; we very much appreciate that the public appreciates the work and wants to support it.”

SAMO Programs Parry said she wanted to share some of the SAMO fund’s particularly interesting programs, such as wildlife preservation, mountain lion protection, numerous educational programs, and myriad hiking and biking opportunities in the mountains.

According to Parry, SAMO has been funding the vital mountain lion research for about 20 years and supports the proposed Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills.

“These programs inspire us in what we do,” she said.

Parry said that each year, its Summer Youth Program invites 22 college-oriented juniors and

seniors from select high schools to apply for a salaried mentorship program, where they learn directly from NPS mentors how to maintain trails, conduct plant and wildlife research and protect the mountains.

“This year, due to COVID-19, we have invited 11 students from Ventura and Los Angeles for an eight-week youth mentoring program,” she said.

“It’s a smaller version of the program running this year—safe and social-distanced—that gives young people a job during the summer.”

A National Recreation Area Hidden in plain sight from Greater Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMRNA) is a 153,000-acre national park that stretches from the Hollywood Bowl to Ventura County and a coastline that stretches from Santa Monica to Point Mugu.

King Gillette Ranch, which was funded by and constructed on 588 acres for the National Park Service (NPS), California State Parks, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, in a building that was repurposed from the former horse stable for the Gillette Mansion to serve an anticipated 35 million annual visitors. n To donate or for more information about mountain lion research, SMMRNA and the SAMO fund, go to: (https://samofund.org/santamonica-mountains-wildlife-preservation/).

The Visitor Center is located at 26876 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, CA 91302; (805) 370-2301

Top Ten Reasons to Visit SMMNRA

Escape Los Angeles’ urban jungle to find truly wild places. n Enjoy the mild Mediterranean climate, one of five such rare places in the world. n

Relax at the Visitor’s Center at King Gillette Ranch right in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains.

n

Marvel at the Milky Way at night.

n

Climb a mountain, soak your feet in the Pacific Ocean, eat a fish taco…all before noon.

n

Step back in time and discover what Southern California looked like before major urban development.

n

Learn how Native American communities lived in the mountains for more than 10,000 years.

n

Explore more than 500 miles of trails available for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians.

n

See wildlife like bobcats, quail, coyotes, dolphins, and maybe even the elusive mountain lion.

n

Did we mention our perfect weather and year-round recreation?

Courtesy of the National Park Service For more information, go to nps.gov

Photos Courtesy flickr.com/photos/santamonicamtns

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4 17

covid-19 A COVID Diary—Coping with COVID-19

By Jean Colonomos I began writing this daily diary out of a need to keep connected to my family, friends, acquaintances where some have become friends, and to the outside world.

It’s a joy to be in contact with people in many states, England, and France. What I write about on any given day is based on what hits me at the moment. I thank all the contributors who enrich my days during this difficult time.

July 15 Email from Dede: “Last Saturday I decided to iron most of the day and listen to music. I don’t need that many ironed napkins, but it was soul-calming to know they are deeply pressed for the next dinner party of eight. (Never!)”

Poem from Anita M.: Touch Nothing/How are you she asks/From across the road/One foot pointed toward/Her fuzzy white dog/the other toward a quick getaway/Not bad for a/Geriatric liability/possible casualty/I say/I’m holding in place/I do wish I would stop/Washing my hands/Peering through blinds/At the silent street/but I can’t/I have no patience for questions/ I’m squeezed tight/There is no place to set my glass/ No one to hold my hand.

From Mariam manager of Velvet in Brentwood, a clothing store for women and men. She tells me that in Dallas’ Velvet store, it now requires customers to wear masks at all times. People can try on clothes there— though not in Brentwood—but the male manager makes sure the room curtains stay open because face coverings must be worn as this state has among the highest coronavirus cases. Shocked, Mariam asks, “You mean the women don’t mind being naked?”

“No,” he replies.

July 23 Excitement today was when my hairdresser, Andre, cut my hair outside. We were surrounded by trees and Topanga’s clear mountain air.

From L.: “It costs 2.8 billion dollars to develop a new drug. The rate of approval for a new one is less than 12%.” We segue into the fact that there wasn’t a vaccine for HIV, also a SARS virus. “During the cure’s first stage, one of my housemates had to swallow this

horrible tasting drink, throw up and have diarrhea for the next three hours, then repeat this regime every day.

At some point three pills a day worked and after twenty years of drug development, there’s one pill a day.”

July 24 Washington Post has published Alexandria OcasioCortez’s eloquent and powerful rebuff of Republican House member Ted Yoho’s apology for his verbal abuse to her on our nation’s Capitol steps. The press recorded the assault. Hers is moment of light in defense of male verbal abuse targeting women. I see Icarus in AOC. She takes up the challenge, flies to the danger-ridden Apollo male sun. The taking of the risk is itself a triumph, which is Jack Gilbert’s point in his poem, Failing and Flying. The first line is: “Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.”

July 26 A good omen. Jupiter sextiles Neptune tomorrow.

These two positive change-inducing planetary connections promote deep reflection. Dreams of harmony and growth take center stage now. It’s a time to revisit our dreams and make them real or make amendments to them.

My daughter comes to California in eleven days, this state leading the country in corona virus cases. I’m scared. Sometimes I consult the I Ching for messages.

I wonder what it’ll tell me today. Maybe I’ll look tomorrow.

Mary Trump’s book sold 950,000 copies the first day. John Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where it Happened,” sold over 780,000 copies the first week. Some book sellers have objections to carrying Bolton’s book. Bob Lingle, owner of Off the Beaten Path Bookstore in Lakewood, N.Y., who only took pre-orders says: “If people want to give me money for the book, I will take their money. But I’m not a fan of a man who, when he had the opportunity to do something, did nothing and is now trying to profit off his experience.” Two stores in Portland, ME, and one in Rosendale, NY don’t stock the book and won’t accept special orders. These owners echo Bob Lingle’s complaint.

From Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, Oregon: Sheila emails: “I won’t stock certain books including

Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity but I’ll order anything. I keep forgetting to add “The Splendid and the Vile,” by Eric Larson, to our best-selling books. It really resonates with readers as he describes a horrific situation (the Blitz) but portrays a unifying and inspiring leader. It just keeps selling.”

July 28 We mourn the death of African American civil rights leader, John Lewis, who practiced nonviolence and endured many beatings and jail time. His sacrifices showed us how our country needed to change.

Representative John Lewis spent his life fighting for justice, created a better America by invoking Democracy’s better self. Though voter suppression is still widespread, John Lewis never stopped working for it.

Wall of Moms is a nationwide collective of activist Moms currently visible in Portland, Oregon. They link arms to form a human barricade between protesters and federal agents. Sometimes they sing lullabies. Some hand out sunflowers. Some wear respirators, gas masks, and helmets, and some carry leaf blowers to redirect the tear gas federal agents have used. They chant, “Feds steer clear, the moms are here,” and “Mama, Mama.”

George Floyd’s final plea while white policeman, Derek Chauvin, cut off Floyd’s air supply for eight minutes and forty-six seconds.

Praise for Topanga Creek’s General Store owners Helen and Simon. When the pandemic first hit and essentials were gone from big stores’ shelves, our General Store had plenty of these items. When I’m in the store, Helen often shows me a new sanitizing product to check if I have enough sanitizers. The other day I was buying the wrong size throw away gloves and Helen ran back to get the small. I appreciate the store’s welcoming atmosphere.

Another shop is The Canyon Gourmet. Owner Peter [Kagan], buys from organic open market sellers, seduces us with fresh produce and heaven-sent breads like baguettes, fruit breads, and whole wheat sourdoughs. They carry meat, American and European cheeses, and the emporium feels like I’m in France. The workers are head manager Cieran (hard C), Rian, Joe, and Karen, among others. When I leave, I love when they open the door for their customers, easing our way back to the outside world. n

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August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

I’m Isolated for Health, and Addicted to Law & Order Should I be Worried?

By Jane Marla Robbins When I understood the seriousness of the Coronavirus, I took to my bed. I don’t know how many episodes of Law & Order a person can watch in a day. I haven’t counted. But I’m grateful for the original series and the spinoffs. At least I haven’t been rushing out to get a video, getting sick, and dying.

Day and night, even before I go to sleep, I watch the show. A certifiable addict. It’s not just that watching TV is apparently a balm for our brainwaves. It’s the show.

People warn me that all the violence, blood, and deaths will give me nightmares. How could these shows help me sleep, they wonder. Not that anyone is sleeping all that well these days, anyway.

I’m not alone. It turns out hundreds of us are hunkered down in front of our TVs. Prisoners. And we all feel a little guilty, or embarrassed, or stupid for watching. I’m actually a little shocked and disappointed in myself for not reading well-written novels, or stories, before I go to sleep.

Many of the addicts, like me, are single women living alone, possibly lonely, with no man in their bed.

But now, in my bedroom, on my 36-inch screen, are men, and a few women, many even in uniform, all “fighting for right.” All smart. All kind. It’s certainly better than sleeping alone (or with someone not smart or kind). And in the news there are, alas, a lot of people not smart, not kind, not fighting for right.

I’ve seen so many shows, the cast is now very familiar. Family, you might say. Awake or asleep, it’s good to have family around. It feels like home. Home, where you go to feel safe. And be safe. And loved. And well. In a time of sickness, “well” is good.

Plus I love the show’s regulars. I love—how they look and talk and think. Love is healing. Good feelings are healing. Just smiling produces a chemical in our bodies that strengthens our immune systems. So we get stronger when we love. A kind and loving husband might be nice; but in his absence, this seems to be helping.

Because now, in the Age of the Coronavirus, the old laws and order of my body and my mind are chaotic. It isn’t easy keeping up with the new Rules of Survival. Stay six feet away from other humans (and we’re pack animals). Learn what to spray, how to spray, and how soon to spray — everything from cardboard, to metal, to vegetables, to ME. And the data keeps changing.

When should I wear rubber gloves, when take them off? Where to put them when I do take them off, and where to put the clean gloves so I can remember where they are? Of course I miss the Old Order.

I don’t only watch these shows for the company. It’s

a way to balance my Life. To heal. So much of what we see outside makes many of us sick. And disgusted.

And outraged. These shows may not be everyone’s best road to healing but this seems to work for me. At least in the episodes I see, when people get shot, injured, or sick, they are taken to hospitals and given immediate assistance. Tests. Care.

And each show’s DA, ADA, the detectives, the police—they all say what they mean and do what they promise. (Though not always if they’re talking to criminals. Democrats take note.) Who would not want to live in such a parallel universe, where, in practically every episode, Justice and Goodness triumph?

Plus, the series is well-written, intelligent. I am hungry for Intelligent. Not an administration that changes its mind from day to day and says inoculating us with disinfectant will get rid of the virus. Not smart.

I love that even the old episodes deal with thoughtprovoking issues that are still relevant. Racism; elder abuse; powerful people who are sure they can get away with the crimes they commit. And on and on. The regulars’ minds are all creative, their sense of humor smart, even ironic or sardonic; their wisdom grounded, or homespun.

They all have integrity, moral compasses, unlike what we too often see in the news—senators making illegal millions from the virus, with information they got before the rest of the country. A president letting hospital workers go without masks and protection.

How many weeks ago did we hear, “Everybody can get a test!”? And still, not everybody can.

Of course I sleep better after watching the shows. I watch their nurses saving lives, instead of real hospital nurses exhausted and in danger; and the bad guys get caught. That’s what I want to see before I go to sleep.

So I sleep. I wake. I watch. I sleep. I wake. I watch.

I heal.

And finally, little by little, I begin to wean myself off the show. I start to write this article. I even write a short poem about the virus, send it to people I know.

My articles and poems, I realize, are nothing but my experience put into some kind of Order.

People write me that they are comforted by the poem. This comforts me. Maybe most because it makes me feel that I am, in some way, helping other people get through this horrific time, people who, like me, are hungry for more Law. And Order n

COVID19 i The sun doesn’t know there’s a coronavirus.

He shows up daily – not burning, but smiling, warming.

If you listen, he tells you he’ll be here tomorrow and next week and a thousand years from now. ii The mustard flowers on the side of the road don’t know about it.

It’s only early March and still, a few showers and they’ve rushed out like an army.

They only wash their hands of all the panic and wait for rain. iii My neighbors’ bougainvillea flowers only know the brilliant fuchsia of their faces which shine in sunlight, mirrors of our own amazing light.

By Jane Marla Robbins

Jane Marla Robbins is an essayist, Los Angeles Times, author of Acting Techniques for Everyday Life and Poems of the Laughing Buddha. The poem mentioned above can be found at JaneMarlaRobbins.com.

Jane’s postal address: 20621 Callon Drive, Topanga, CA 90290. 310-455-1579

Topanga Christian Fellowship

“The Little Church That Could”

310-455-1048

topangachristianfellowship.org 269 Old Topanga Canyon

•

Topanga, CA 90290 August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4 19

Sniffing Dogs and Covid

By Paula LaBrot I love dogs, so, it is a great pleasure to bring this information to you, dear readers.

Roger Caras, American wildlife photographer, wildlife preservationist, writer and television personality, once wrote, “Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.”

They have helped us in war and peace, and, wouldn’t you know, they are right there on the front lines of the Covid19 Pandemic wars. Yes, dogs!

In the high-tech, data-driven Covidtesting medical world, it turns out that dogs seem to be able to sniff outpatients who test positive for the virus.

A LITTLE HISTORY According to petguide.com, your “dog actually has two air passages, one for breathing and one for smelling. As your dog inhales, the air coming in is separated by a flap and 12 percent of it is directed into a special smelling chamber. This area is filled with hundreds of tiny compartments that sift through the odor molecules, breaking down the air itself to detect even the slightest traces of odor.” Humans have taken advantage of dogs’ sense of smell since their relationship began.

Penn State anthropologist Professor Pat Shipman talks about humans’ early connections with dogs “tracking game, destroying rodents, protecting kin and goods, providing wool for warmth, moving humans and goods over long distances, and (even) providing milk to human infants.” Best of all, they love us.

According to Time Magazine, it turns out that Canis Lupus Familiaris, the domestic dog, carries, “on Chromosome Six in particular, three genes that code for hyper-sociability— and they are in the same spot as similar genes linked to sweetness in humans.”

Humans have had a parallel evolution with dogs, Megan Garbar, writing for The Atlantic, wrote, “dogs were an evolutionary technology, they may have been a technology that changed

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August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

us for the better. The old truism, “We shape our tools, and afterward our tools shape us,” dogs have made us better.

ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE COVID FIGHT So, here we are, in the middle of the worst pandemic since 1918, and who is fighting it with us? Dogs! At

the University of Hannover Medical School in Germany, dogs were able to discriminate among saliva samples infected with Sars and non-infected samples. Why not try it with Covid-19?

CNBC reports, “To conduct the study, researchers trained eight dogs from Germany’s Armed Forces for one week. The trained dogs sniffed the saliva of more than 1,000 people that were either healthy or infected with the virus. Samples infected with Covid-19 were distributed at random and neither the dog handlers nor the researchers on site knew which ones were positive.” The dogs were able to identify the Covid-19 saliva samples

94 percent of the time. Try and write an algorithm for that.

FURTHER STUDIES Further studies on canine identification of Covid 19 from saliva samples have been done in England and in the United States. Dr. Claire Guest of the British Medical Detection Dog

Charity, has a Cocker Spaniel named Asher who, along with five other “Super Six Covid Dogs, ” has been stationed at airports and is able to detect the odor of Covid 19 before people even show symptoms. Professor Dr. Maren Von Köckritz-Blickwede of the University Veterinary Medicine Hannover says, “We think this works because metabolic processes in the body of a diseased patient are completely changed, and we think that the dogs are able to detect a specific smell of the metabolic changes that occur in those patients.”

Similar programs are popping up around the world. The University of Pennsylvania has an eight-dog team

ready and Covid-19 sniffer dogs are already at work in airports in the United Arab Emirates. At the University of Helsinki, researchers are using urine samples to detect Covid-19 and, again, the dogs can pick up a positive result days before symptoms show up.

DOG VERSUS MACHINE The current testing for Covid 19 takes several days right now, even up to a week or ten days to get results because of overloaded labs. Dogs take 30 seconds.

Most dogs who will work for treats can be trained as a sniffer dog. That nose!

“The sense of smell that dogs have is millions or even billions of times better than the machines that are used to look for molecules. The dogs can find molecules in extremely small concentration,” says Professor Anna Hielm Bjorkman of The University of Helsinki (Finland). “For example, if you had a glass of water containing between one and 100 molecules of whatever you’re looking for, a dog could find it, whereas the best types of machine detection systems would need 18 million molecules.” Think of how much faster and so much cheaper it is to be tested by a sniffer dog than in a laboratory!

THE NOSE KNOWS From sniffing out Covid-19 to cancer, Parkinsons, malaria, bombs, drugs, currency, contraband electronics, firearms, fugitives, etc., right down to little lost children, dogs continue to be humans’ best friend.

One of the Helsinki sniffer dogs, Kossi, was found on the side of a road stuffed in a box in Spain. He was brought home with his researcher and became a brilliant dog serving humanity.

You can’t cuddle an algorithm or a mechanical sensor or a test kit. You get it all with a dog. Be kind to these beautiful animals as we continue to evolve into the future together. Let us know if you have any great stories of your dog to share with us.

Vamos a ver! n Paula LaBrot is a 30-year resident of Topanga, a futurist with a special interest in the uncharted waters of cyberspace.

health

Dr. Bret Feldman, MSPAS, PA-C, doing an examination on the street.

Photo provided by Brett Feldman, Director of Street Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine

The street medicine team from Keck School of Medicine of USC getting ready to go out.

Photo provided by Brett Feldman

Dr. Coley King treating patient on the street. Photo provided by Venice Family Clinic

Dr. Susan Partovi, Medical Director of Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles, and nurse treating a patient on the street. Photo provided by Dr. Partovi

Providing House Calls to the Unhoused

By Kait Leonard

Medical teams bring old-fashioned house calls to unsheltered homeless communities.

Back in the day, when patients couldn’t get to the doctor’s office, the family physician packed up a little black bag and brought the medicine to the home.

Today, street medical teams follow that model, taking primary care services to the unsheltered, no matter where they call home. Examining and treating people on the streets of Skid Row, on freeway embankments and under highways, can be tricky during the best of times, and these aren’t the best of times.

The pandemic has forced street teams to adjust their practices to keep their patients and themselves safe. This has come at a great cost according to Brett Feldman, Director of Street Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “Medical care comes after love.

Now we have to try and keep our physical distance.

Wearing masks and gloves, it’s really hard to make that intimate connection we strive for,” he says.

Feldman’s crew is trying to overcome this problem by learning to make their eyes as expressive as possible.

Sadly, they haven’t found a way to offer the hugs they usually dole out freely. “Most of the people on the streets haven’t been touched in many years other than out of anger,” says Feldman. His whole team will be happy when they can hug again.

Dr. Susan Partovi, known as the Skid Row Doctor,

has a similar philosophy. “I try to build trust. That’s where it all starts,” she says. Partovi describes seeing a man slumped on a filthy mattress on a sidewalk in Koreatown. Dirt, necrotic skin, and oozing sores covered his legs. From several feet away, she smelled human waste. “It was nasty,” says Partovi, Medical Director of Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles. “I look for the sickest, most isolated person, and then I see what I can do,” she says. “The visit on the street can open doors to getting them additional help. It’s the start of a relationship.”

Clearly, house calls have changed in many ways since their heyday in the 1930s. Even the reasons for patients needing to be seen where they live are different.

“Our patients can’t come to us because of physical disability, mental disability, transportation issues, and the need to protect their lifelong belongings that will be stolen if left unattended,” explains Dr. Coley King, Director of Homeless Health Care at Venice Family Clinic. It isn’t only these practical hardships that keep unhoused people out of more traditional medical settings. Many simply don’t trust the system. “Especially IV drug users who often get treated like crap when they go in to be seen,” says Partovi.

Since the onset of COVID-19, ensuring care for people living on the streets, in the alleys, and on freeway embankments has become even more urgent. Though “in a cruel way, the vast majority were already physically distanced, living in small encampments and having little contact with the outside world,” says Feldman. It isn’t possible for the unhoused to stay indoors completely.

The harsh reality of their lives forces them out to take care of basic necessities, and this brings them in contact

with other people and with the virus.

“Our mission since COVID-19 is much more urgent and defined, and that is finding people with symptoms, contacting public health, and getting them transferred to quarantine,” says King. The second priority is identifying people in high-risk groups, people over 65 and those with serious health conditions, and getting them into Project Roomkey, a collaboration between the State, County, and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to place those at risk in motel or hotel rooms.

As Los Angelenos do their best to maintain social distance and follow other safety precautions, street medicine carries on. With little thought to their own well-being, these medical specialists continue to make house calls throughout the county, bringing treatment, resources, and compassion to the most vulnerable citizens.

What happens next? Project Roomkey has taken thousands of people off the streets and placed them in temporary shelters. What will happen as the city returns to something more like normal? “People are indoors,” says King. “Let’s keep them in there.” He worries that these men and women, still among the most vulnerable in the unhoused population, will be returned to the streets when the current crisis passes. Right now, this question remains unanswered.

One thing we know for sure, some people will continue to live unsheltered for the foreseeable future.

And because of this, teams of dedicated medical professionals will continue to make house calls to the unhoused, providing prescriptions, treatments, and hopefully soon, those much-needed hugs. n

August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4 21

TRavel At Least We Can Dream

By Joseph Rosendo

Book Cover design by Nira Lichten

The Short Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys

Joseph Rosendo

Not willing to let the grass wither under his feet during a pandemic quarantine, Joseph Rosendo, award-winning producer and host of Joseph Rosendo’s Travelscope, continues his online Travelscope magazine, with the summer issue. With nowhere to go, he also fulfilled another dream.

“The lockdown allowed me to collect my stories written over thirty years for the print version of the magazine. Musings, The Short, Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys, will be available in print and as an ebook on Amazon very soon.

“Musings is a collection of crisp, entertaining, humorous, and inspirational stories tightly written and drawn from my travel and life experiences.

Each tale takes readers on a journey of discovery.

From travel tips and destination explorations to exotic adventures and intimate tales, these stories will arouse, amuse, and move you.

“This is a strange time to be promoting travel.

Due to the widespread coronavirus infections in the United States we are not welcomed in most countries and travel on our own is risky. Yet, that doesn’t mean we need to give up our travel hopes and dreams.

“Travelscope has been a dream weaver for a long time. Through my travel articles, magazine, blogs, podcasts, social media, radio, and television shows, we’ve offered up a world of travel possibilities that entertain, educate and enlighten. While the challenges are great, now is not the time to back away from that mission, but rather to push ahead with greater optimism and energy.

For the latest issue of Travelscope magazine, the content was chosen out of a spirit of anticipation to whet your appetites. The festivals, events, resorts, restaurants, and destinations were gathered for your consideration now, if possible, or for your wish lists for better times.

To pre-order your copy: info@travelscope.net.

Happy Traveling! n

health

Stress and Weight Gain

By Jane Hammond, PA-C, Hormone Specialist “Stop nagging me! You forgot your lunch! We’re late! Hurry up! Oh no!! The cat has the hamster!”

Stress! Stress! Stress! It can take over your life and Web MD says it not only causes weight gain but is the cause of many chronic diseases. (webmd.com/ balance/stress-management/features/10fixable-stress-related-health-problems#1) WHAT IS STRESS? Our bodies have not changed much since the days of the cavemen. Here he is, walking through the forest on a beautiful day. He sees a tiger and immediately, adrenaline is pumped into his veins, his heart starts pounding, his cortisol rises and dumps sugar into his blood to prepare him to run. He runs and runs, outrunning the tiger. When he gets safely back to the cave, he laughs and tells all his buddies just how fast he ran from the tiger. The stress is over! The chemicals in his body return to normal. He is safe. He can sleep.

For modern man, the stressors are different, yet the effects on the body are the same. We experience stress everyday: freeway traffic, raising children, an angry

boss, bills to pay, relationship troubles, and now this COVID-19 Quarantine.

The same physical process is happening as with the caveman.

Adrenaline pumps, heart races, cortisol dumps sugar into the blood…to do what? Run! But we don’t and the stress response doesn’t end. It continues, day in and day out and does some bad things to our bodies. It becomes chronic stress.

The adrenal glands produce two main stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol, both necessary for survival. The problem is when we have too much of these hormones for too long.

Normally, cortisol is high in the morning. It helps us deal with our day and get things done. By midnight it is low so we can sleep. When we have chronic stress, however, cortisol can be high all the time.

In his book, The Stress Effect, Author R Weinstein writes, “Cortisol actually helps your body lower inflammation.

But when the cortisol is too high for too long, it loses this ability. This causes inflammation to go wild. Long-term chronic inflammation damages blood vessels and brain cells. It leads to diabetes and heart disease.”

A researcher at Harvard Medical School, Mattias Neherendorf, tested

this on some of his overworked medical students. He found that high cortisol actually changed the texture of the student’s white blood cells, making them sticky. These sticky cells attach themselves to blood vessel walls and creates what we call plaque.

It is what clogs your arteries and leads to heart attacks.

Cortisol also raises blood sugar and blood pressure, contributing to an increased risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases…and weight gain.

When cortisol is elevated for a long time, as it is with chronic stress, several things happen in the body that can lead to weight gain.

First, it raises our blood sugar.

Registered dietitian, Dina Aronson, explained in her article in Today’s Dietitian: “When blood sugar goes up and down, it sends signals to the brain that makes us think we are hungry and crave more sugar. All that sugar gets stored as belly fat.

Remember, when our bodies are stressed, we are in fight-or-flight mode, but we’re not running from tigers when we are driving on the freeway. Therefore, stress just makes us gain weight. (todaysdietitian.com/ newarchives/111609p38.shtml) Stress to the body is not just from too many daily activities. It can also be from not sleeping enough, eating junk food that makes your blood sugar go up and down, and inflammation from food allergies, arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases.

The more we can control all of these factors, the better our health will be with less chance of developing chronic diseases, fatigue, and weight gain.

HOW DO WE REDUCE STRESS? Most of us can’t quit our jobs or hire a fulltime nanny for the kids but we can change how we respond to stress.

Exercise. Everyone is different and needs to find the way that makes him or her feel the best. Harvard Men’s Health

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August 7, Vol. 1 No. 4

Watch tells us: “Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol.” Even 15 minutes of walking after a meal can help.

Sleep. Christopher M. Barnes, a Professor at the University of Washington states, “those in the sleepdeprived condition experienced higher levels of stress.” A good night’s sleep of at least seven to eight hours helps the body down-regulate and balance the stress hormones. Sleep is one of the most important activities we can do to reduce stress and help the body to heal.

Meditation. New research from the Shamatha Project at UC Davis talks about meditation: “Focusing on the present rather than letting the mind drift may help to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”

Stress is here to stay. But it doesn’t have to make you sick. Find ways every day to reduce your stress and calm your mind. Not only will your adrenal glands thank you, so will your waistline.

Next time: The Truth About Adrenal Fatigue. n Jane Hammond, PA-C received her Physician Assistant degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) She has more than 20 years of experience in internal, integrative, and functional medicine.

Pritchett-Rapf Realtors

Offices in Malibu & Topanga (310) 455-4363 • PRTopanga.com

TOPANGA

Medley Lane 3 Bed | 2 Bath Listed at $1,495,000 Welcome to an inspiring home. Think architectural meets New York loft. Extraordinary views sweeping through walls of glass in front, back and interior. Industrial modern flair creates an exciting living space, that accommodates many furniture styles. The innovative, flexible, open floor plan and abundant sunlight make this home a joy to be in. Combination of wood, glass, concrete and metal. Floating metal staircase accesses the master suite. Bathroom includes a claw tub and beautiful raindrop shower head, open to the mountain views. 2 car garage plus an office. Adjacent additional space is perfect for your wine cellar. Landscaped for drought tolerance. Furniture in photo is no longer there.

Listed by Chryssa Lightheart (310) 663-3696

IN ESCROW Bonnell Drive 4 Bed | 2 Bath Christine Kapetan - (310) 804-8336

$1,499,000

Delightful and inviting home with guest studio overlooking private, neighborhood owned Bonnell Park! Located in the heart of the Canyon, two level miles from town Center with easy access to beach and both sides of the Canyon.

Hillside Drive 3 Bed | 2 Bath Chryssa Lightheart - (310) 663-3696

$1,099,000

A magical Topanga setting with stunning views on 1.3 acres. A private knoll top is perfect for picnics or meditations. Large flat garden area, 10 fruit bearing trees, Oaks and others. A 500sf brick patio, perfect for entertaining. Enough flat land for potential addition.

Vacant Land

PANORAMIC OCEAN AND CITY VIEW LOT Vista Del Mar Road $799,000 5.02 acres William Preston Bowling

AMAZING VIEWS OF SADDLE PEAK & RED ROCK PARK Portage Circle Drive $499,000 5.64 acres William Preston Bowling

TOPANGA CANYON DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY Callon Drive $439,999 0.44 acres William Preston Bowling

(310) 428-5085

(310) 428-5085

(310) 428-5085

PERFECT FERNWOOD CORNER LOT Bainum Drive $214,000 0.17 acres William Preston Bowling

2+ ACRES WITH BIG ROCK SUNSET VIEWS Oak Drive $190,000 2.05 acres Chryssa Lightheart

PEACEFUL SADDLE PEAK MOUNTAIN VIEW LOT Vesey Road $85,000 0.49 acres Christine Kapetan

(310) 428-5085

(310) 663-3696

(310) 804-8336

LOCAL & GLOBAL

Pritchett-Rapf Realtors

CalBRE 00528707

YOUR FERNWOOD OASIS AWAITS. The promise of Topanga living is kept, here. Inhale deeply, as the morning scents of rosemary, lavender and sage waft on coastal breezes, across the nearly ¾ acre usable lot. Dew sparkles along the lengthy deck. Sunlight floods the new, bright, white, kitchen, where French doors open to view decks, and a covered patio. Cement floors, cool underfoot, lead through the skylit beamed living room, and spacious view dining room. Flower filled Mediterranean gardens welcome the bees and hummingbirds to drink deeply of the nectar. Rugged Sandstone rock outcroppings frame the amazing views. You are close enough to walk to Mimosa cafe, for morning coffee and croissants. As the breeze hints, the beach is very close. Your dream life is even closer.

$1,699,000 5 Bed 4 Bath Nearly 3/4 Acre Lot

High in Fernwood, fog seeps through the hollows in the canyon below. Your 2 acres of privacy, with that rarity, a flat yard with a view. 3020 sq ft of comfort and elegance, soaring ceilings, views, a wet bar, and decks. Walk out into the peace and tranquility of the landscaped yard, vast patios for entertaining, sports, or raised garden beds. A hot tub beckons. Fragrant fruit trees are ripe for the picking. Make creative space in a finished 2 car garage. Country living, close in. Minutes to the village, the beach, the city. Exhale.

$1,799,000 4 Bed 3 Bath 2.2 Acres

INTERESTED IN LEARNING HOW COMPASS CAN DELIVER A BESPOKE, WHITE GLOVE, SMOOTH, SAFE, AND SUCCESSFUL TOP DOLLAR SALE OF YOUR HOME? CALL THE WRIGHT WAY TEAM TODAY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO 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.

Adrian Wright

Jordan Wright

818.939.6415 adrian.wright@compass.com DRE 00935559

818.746.6987 jordanwright@compass.com DRE 01952694

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 measurements and square footages are approximate. Market share based on available claw MLS data and any known off market listings.