BRENTWOOD
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a moderate earthquake shook Southern California May 11, with Brentwood near the epicenter. The quake measured 4.6 on the Richter Scale, making it strong enough to be felt, and to rattle windows and nerves, over a wide area. The time of the quake was 9:56 a.m., and it caused no reported damage or injuries. One day earlier a much smaller quake occurred midway between Marina del Rey and El Segundo. This shaker measured 2.9 on the Richter Scale.
Reese Witherspoon likes Brentwood. A lot. The movie star has purchased her third multi-million dollar house in the gated community of Brentwood Circle. The organization known as Real Estalker said the final price for the estate was $3 million and the purchase took place in December. The property was bought under a trust, to keep the news media from poking around while the deal was consummated.
A retrospective of the work Architect A. Quincy Jones is coming to the Hammer Museum. A key figure in mid-century modern architecture in the mid-century, Jones practiced in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1979. The first major museum retrospective of Jones’ work opened at the end of May at the Hammer Museum. Among the highlights will be a look at modern housing he brought to the Mutual Housing Association, a cooperative of more 160 homes built in Crestwood Hills.
PACIFIC PALISADES
About 60 people turned out May 14 for a meeting aimed at forming a strategic master plan for Pacific Palisades. The gathering was sponsored by Palisades Beautiful, a nonprofit organization founded in 1974 with the aim of planting trees along city streets, and generally keeping the upscale community looking good. This time Palisades Beautiful was working on a strategic master plan that would impact the sale of 2.77 acres of property in the center of the Palisades.
Pacific Palisades is getting a new honorary mayor. On June 13, Jake Steinfeld is being installed at the 28th honorary mayor of the Palisades, taking over from boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard. Steinfeld was due to be sworn in by the first honorary mayor of the Palisades, Gavin MacLeod at the annual Chamber of Commerce installation dinner at the Rivera Country Club. Steinfeld has lived in Pacific Palisades for 19 years.
The Fourth of July will be a rockin’ experience for people in the Pacific Palisades area. The fifth annual Palisades Rocks the Fourth concert will be centered at Palisades Charter High School, and feature a wide array of local amateur and professional entertainment. Palisades resident Chris Shiflett and his band Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants will headline this year’s show, which will conclude with a spectacular fireworks display. Admission to the school grounds on the day of the event will be $5, with most of the tickets expected to disappear before the day of the event. Contact palisadesrocksthefourth.org for more information.
All residents of the Pacific Palisades who have reached the milestone of 90 years of age were invited to a luncheon in their honor on Saturday, June 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The annual event is taking place at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave. and admission for the honored guests and their caregivers was free.
A resident of the Pacific Palisades has been nominated by President Obama to fill one of two Republican vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. Harry I. Johnson III has already been cleared by a Senate confirmation panel. He told the Palisadian-Post newspaper that “It will be a great privilege to serve on the board.†The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent federal government agency charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices.
WESTWOOD
Twelve police officers, including one from Westwood, have been memorialized at the California Peace Officers Memorial in Sacramento. Raymond Bogart, killed in the line of duty in 1915, was enrolled into the California State Peace Officers Memorial Foundation at the state capitol after a search turned up three relatives who were invited to the ceremony. A deputy sheriff, Bogart was killed Jan. 11, 1915 in the line of duty.
Actress Brooke Mueller has checked back into the UCLA Medical Center drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, just days after what officials at the center said she went “missing following her release from involuntary psychiatric hold.†Radar Online says the 35-year-old actress left the hospital after a weekend stay on a voluntary admission to the UCLA Medical Center. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services removed her twin sons Bob and Max one day earlier due to what they deemed an “unsafe environment.â€
CENTURY CITY
It looks like the dedicated electric car charging station in the Westfield Century City Mall will soon have its plug pulled for good. The General Electric charging station was designed to keep cars made by the Coda Electric Vehicle Co. up and running. But unlike the California-built Tesla Motors sedan, the Coda never really picked up a following, and the company that builds it filed for bankruptcy in Hartford, Conn. May 1 after selling just 100 of its electric sedans.
WEST LOS ANGELES
Work is well underway with the Metro Expo Line. So you can expect intermittent traffic snarls as construction gets going on the rail line that will connect the Westside to downtown Los Angeles, the South Bay, Long Beach, Pasadena and dozens of points in between. The idea is to reduce, at some point in the future, the vehicular traffic that frequently snarls traffic on the Westside. Ten rail stations will serve USC, Expo Park, and diverse LA neighborhoods such as Culver City, the Crenshaw District and Downtown LA. Eventually the Metro Rail system will expand to 80 stations and over 87 miles of rail to destinations across LA County.
MALIBU
In the words of Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson: “We let you down. State Parks let you down.†The head of the state Parks Recreation Department was speaking of revelations that the department had secretly stashed more than $54 million at a time when many state parks were closing due to budget shortfalls. Jackson made his comments at the Las Virgenes Homeowners Association 46th annual banquet at the Malibou Lake Mountain Club.
Malibu is not really a safe place to drive. That was the unstated determination of a months-long engineering study focusing on a 27-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway as it winds through Malibu. Engineers released their findings at two public meetings in Malibu, exposing 90 existing conditions as potential safety concerns, and asking the city to get involved in efforts to improve the dangerous roadway conditions.
Malibu has dodged a series of wildfires that burned in and around the area during what is usually a pretty fire-less spring season. Biggest of the blazes was the 28,000-acre Springs fire which scorched a large area of Ventura County and came close to jumping the county line into Los Angeles County. Eight firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the flames. They were among nearly 2,000 firefighters called out to battle the blaze. The Ventura County Fire Department says flames damaged 15 houses, destroyed 10 other structures and cost $10 million to battle. In the early stages of the fire, the flames came near northwest Malibu after roaring past Point Mugu.
BEVERLY HILLS
Marijuana luminary Tommy Chong had some widely expected opinions to express during a stop at the California Rural Legal Assistance Teguino Celebration Gala in Beverly Hills. The Grammy Award-winning half of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong called for legalizing pot on a national scale. The 74-year-old movie star told the group that a nationwide end to marijuana prohibition would offer numerous benefits, including a much-needed boost to the nation’s economy, and the introduction of hemp as a cash crop in rural areas.
Beverly Hills resident Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy in the hope of avoiding getting potentially fatal breast cancer in the future. The celebrity wife of Brad Pitt has an inherited genetic mutation that puts her at a greater risk than normal for cancer of the breast and ovaries. Jolie talked of her decision in an op-ed piece that appeared in the New York Times. The 37-year-old actress noted with sorrow that her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of cancer at 56, before she was able to meet most of her grandchildren.
SANTA MONICA
Five people are dead of gunshot wounds in the wake of a domestic dispute that apparently went haywire in Santa Monica. Officials who spoke on condition they would not be named said the shooter opened fire on a house where two bodies were found, and then the gunman moved onto the campus of Santa Monica College, where the shooting spree continued. The shooter was cornered and shot dead by police in the Santa Monica College Library, several blocks away from the first shootings.
Sheriff’s deputies are seeking the public’s help in capturing a man they’ve dubbed the “Midnight Bandit.†The robber, who has not been identified, has targeted nearly five dozen gas stations and convenience stores in Los Angeles and Orange Counties since April 2012, including one gas station in Santa Monica. The robber generally covers his features with a bandanna and approaches lone clerks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., forcing victims to open cash registers by threatening them with a handgun.
The landmark Valentino restaurant can be yours for $4.9 million. In addition to fine Italian cuisine, the landmark eatery is known for its collection of more than 100,000 bottles of wine, which will apparently not be included in the sale price. The restaurant covers 8,000 square feet of dining and food preparation space, and is owned by Piero Selvaggio. It has been featured in the vaunted Michelin restaurant guide.
MARINA, VENICE
Southern California Edison reported an unplanned outage May 12 that affected homes and businesses from Marina del Rey to Venice. Edison blames an equipment breakdown for the power outage, with some areas experiencing no electricity for as long as 15 hours. Along with the announcement, SoCal Edison issued a caution to users to be ready for unplanned blackouts, which can happen at any time. About 5,700 people were affected by the most recent outage.
