On May 20, the new Expo Line will open. Brentwood residents who no longer want to drive downtown can climb on a train at the southwest corner of Olympic and Bundy. Trains will leave every 12 minutes from the new Bundy Station.
There will be plenty of buses, we’re told, taking people to the Expo Line from different points in Brentwood (and back). Check out the Big Blue Bus (line 14 goes down Bundy; line 15 goes down Barrington) and Metro.net.
It’s hard to recall now, but in 2008 we passed a tax increase on ourselves in the middle of a recession (with a 2/3 majority, no less) to fund all this. And now it’s coming to pass, we are seeing the benefits.
Zev Yaroslavsky, Antonio Villaraigosa and Mike Feuer deserve a lot of praise for their efforts in pushing this through. I have a feeling the new Expo Line is going to be a very positive thing.
Alvin Mills is about to serve as maestro for the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony one last time May 15 at University Synagogue. He has been terrific all these years, a real inspiration.
Steve Lopez of the LA Times gave Alvin a nice write-up recently and Congressman Ted Lieu is having that article read into the Congressional Record. Great job, Alvin!
Chang’s Chinese restaurant is gone. A note was left on the front door the other day saying Albert and Polly Chang, who kept the place going for 35 years, are now in retirement. I was just there the week before.
My kids grew up loving that place. The Chang’s always had an encouraging word for the kids, telling them they should work hard and get good grades.
Speaking of students, if there any local high-schoolers (or college kids) who might want to intern on a couple of news-related projects, have them send me an email: jeffhall@brentwoodnewsonline.com.
We’ve had a wonderful history of creating opportunities for interns. And it works both ways, we get a lot out of the association. I like the kids, they help keep things fresh.
At all homeowner gatherings, we are told that if we see something we should say something. I saw something rather odd a few weeks ago.
A woman had run her car up over a brick wall in front of my new neighbor’s house. The new neighbor hasn’t moved in yet, so the house is empty.
This woman’s car was quite stuck, she was in some distress. My wife and I offered assistance, but she seemed very nervous, like she didn’t want help.
I asked a few questions, and she said she was an asbestos inspector for the city. That seemed pretty unbelievable – it was 7 pm on a Friday night. I asked to see some ID, and she refused.
It seemed to me like she was casing the joint. So I called the cops. Soon there were two tow trucks and two police officers. She then changed her story and said she got lost, tried to turn around in a driveway and got stuck.
The police said she had technically not committed any crime, so they had to let her go. I don’t think she’ll be back again.
See something? Say something.
That’s it for now. See something you want us to know about: Send an email to jeffhall@brentwoodnewsonline.com. I’ll pass it along to our new reporter, Mike Perkins. Welcome aboard, Mike.
