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BEVERLY HILLS NUMBER 11
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THIS ISSUE
Prolific film producer Jack H. Harris died Tuesday. 5
Professionals from around the City came together this week for the BHHS Career Fair. 5 L.A. MARATHON The L.A. Marathon is this Sunday and it’s running through Beverly Hills! Get information on street closures and more. 4 •Real Estate •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor
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Tom Ford Plunked Down $38.7 Million For The RegencyStyle Bloomingdale Estate With Its Grand Landscaping In Holmby Hills ... And Is Selling His Santa Fe Ranch For $75 Million
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
CHOIR AT CARNEGIE — The Beverly Vista Choir performed last Sunday at the legendary Carnegie Hall. Pictured are choir students who attended the trip, including: Malek Abboud, Maya Bakhshkoei-Armour, Cameron Asher, Jeri Ballard, Evan Baron, Isabella Best, Nava Bonyadi, Noa Brenner, Jayden Bulexa, Amanda Chong, Julia Coffey, Hannah-Karen Cogan, Alyssa Galen, Olivia Green, Emma Griffes, Hannah Harooni, Nikki Iv, Ashley Jourabchi, Suhhyeon Kim, Rachel Kohley, Jazmin Koncke, Madeleine Liner, Avery Lo, Sofia Maurer, Leiana Micaelli, Armita Mosaeli, Alexis Nagler, Jennifer Ortiz, Karolina Paderno, Jayden Park, Alyna Patel, Nikki Pourebrahim, Maya Rendon, Lucy Rosen, Ariela Rugendorf, Dorsa Samouha, Eva Simon, Hannah Sokolovsky, Vittoria Spadafora, Valentina Steele, Esther Wolchin, Sienna Wolfe and Eva Zacarias
Beverly Vista Choir Performs At Carnegie Hall In New York By Laura Coleman Beverly Vista (BV) choir students had the experience of a lifetime last Sunday when they took the stage at the legendary Carnegie Hall to perform a selection of musical numbers to a packed audience after winning a competition last year put on by the concert host. “When I saw the poster outside Carnegie Hall with my name and the school choir name on it, I got all teared up,” recounted BV music teacher Judith Chan. “I have never dreamt actually that I would ever conduct in Carnegie Hall.” The BV choir was selected to be the featured choir among eight other choirs that performed at the Sunday evening concert, presented by WorldStrides OnStage.
Since joining BV in 2001, Chan has steadily worked to build up the music program. After founding a Jr. Choir where students starting in second grade could sing on Wednesdays after school, she realized that she was building a true foundation for her middle school choir, so that by the time students were in sixth grade, and making the choice for their elective, they were primed to join the BV Middle School choir. “The whole idea is to get them hooked so they will take the elective,” she said. As part of the trip, which was largely sponsored by the PTA after months of fundraising activities, 41 students flew to New York for a (see ‘CARNEGIE HALL’ page 9)
Beverly Hills School District’s Budget Shows Trouble Afoot
George Christy, Page 6
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March 17, 2017
Election Update: Mirisch, Friedman, Wunderlich Lead With Final Update Looming
The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust named new leadership – Beth Kean and Paul Nussbaum. 4
El Rodeo School celebrated Multicultural Day this week. 4
SINCE 1965
By Laura Coleman Beverly Hills Unified School District’s second interim budget, which was submitted to the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) on Wednesday, clearly shows that the district’s propensity to spend more than its revenue stream is going to create a serious problem in the near future if the Board of Education does not take immediate steps. “If we don’t do anything, by 2020-21, we would be in state receivership,” stated Chief Administrative Officer LaTanya
Kirk-Carter Latham. On Tuesday, the board voted 5-0 to approve a budget with a positive certification. The current budget reflects $2.184 million in cuts from next year’s budget, far short of Latham’s earlier recommendation that the board needed to cut $5 million from next year’s budget in order for the district to put itself in better financial shape. Last month, the district’s Finance Committee recommended BHUSD cut 50 certificated staff in order to address the budget (see ‘BHUSD BUDGET’ page 17)
By Matt Lopez The race for three seats on the Beverly Hills City Council is entering the home stretch, but it’s not quite officially over yet. Since election day on March 7, the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder has released two updates which featured new results after counting additional provisional and vote-by-mail ballots. A third update is set to be released Friday at 1 p.m., which should provide finalized results for the City of Beverly Hills. After Tuesday’s update, Mayor John Mirisch widened his lead to 2,053 votes, followed by Les Friedman at 1,871, Robert Wunderlich at 1,862 and Nancy Krasne at 1,817. City Clerk Byron Pope said late Thursday that Friday’s
Current Election Results John Mirisch Les Friedman Robert Wunderlich Nancy Krasne Eliot Finkel Vera Markowitz Frances Bilak Jim Wayne
2,053 1,871 1,862 1,817 1,570 1,080 1,006 219
100% of precincts reporting, with 209 provisional and 26 vote-by-mail ballots left to count.
update from L.A. County will include an additional 209 provisional ballots and 26 vote-bymail. Pope said the latest information from the County was that Friday’s update will likely be the final day of vote updates. The Courier will update the election results after they are released Friday afternoon at www.bhcourier.com.
Beverly Hills Parents Urge School Board To Rethink Pink Slips For Teachers By Laura Coleman In one of the most emotionally charged Board of Education meetings in recent history, some 140 people packed the STC/Jon Cherney Lecture Hall at Beverly Hills High School on Tuesday to advocate on behalf of two dozen non-tenured teachers who had received pink slips. “What kind of message are we sending to our teachers, our parents, and our children if we set up our newest teachers in the dawn of their careers by
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
VOLUME: LII
striking down their faith in our district's ability and willingness to protect and take care of them the way they have protected and taken care of our kids?” inquired Beverly Hills Education Association President Telly Tse. In fact, the cuts have nothing to do with the teachers’ performances; it all boils down to seniority. “From all indications, they are very, very effective, beloved by parents, students (see ‘TEACHER LAYOFFS’ page 9)
T H E S E A R E T H E Y — Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, with their popular co-star Chrissy Metz, attended the season finale screening of NBC’s This Is Us at the Directors Guild Of America. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.