The Courier Prays For The Families Of The Nice, France Terror Victims
BEVERLY HILLS VOLUME: LI
NUMBER 29
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SINCE 1965
July 15, 2016
City Attorney Larry Wiener Refuses To Admit Possible Brown Act Violation
iPalpiti performed for the Beverly Hills Rotary this week. 4
The Cultural Heritage Commission postponed the Lawn Bowling Green for landmark consideration. 12
Maggie is one of this week’s Freshpet Adoptable Pets of the Week 18 •Fashion •Sports •Letters to the Editor
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George Christy, Page 6 Publicist Judy Hilsinger Was Asked To Prepare An Obit For Novelist Jackie Susann Who Died From Breast Cancer, With Judy Confessing She Quit Smoking Cold Turkey That Day
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
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JUST THE FACTS MA’AM – Kids aged 10-15 in the Junior Police Academy spent a week at the Beverly Hills Police Station learning about crime scene investigation, SWAT team tactics, weapons, cyber-crime investigations, patrol school and scenarios, and defensive tactics. Other camps begin on July 18. Enroll at www.beverlyhills.org/bhregonline. Pictured back row (from left): Police Officer Jesse Perez, Jordan Kraus, Gabriel Samek, Sydney Buchsbaum, Matthew Goldner, Phillip Turkat, Nathan Keinan, BHPD Chief Sandra Spagnoli, Rodion Salnikov, Myles Krull, Zachary Kraus, Andrew Choi, Karolina Paderno, Police Sergeant Kurt Haefs. Kneeling (from left): Alexa Zarpoush, Jacob Dee, Stephen Carmona, Asher Ahdoot, Kennedy Wilson, Brook Wilson.
tiative, and due to the timing of the closed session being the last council meeting before the Aug. 12 deadline for the formal naming of the Beverly Hills Garden and Open Space Initiative, the Courier believes the item refers to the initiative that will appear on the November ballot. The closed meeting agenda contained the following items: Anticipation of Litigation Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2) Number of Cases: 2 1.Correspondence has been received by the city attorney’s office regarding City regulations. 2.The City is in a dispute
By Victoria Talbot Early Monday morning, a small group of concerned citizens watched while Beverly Hills' Urban Forest Manager Ken Pfalzgraf supervised the careful trimming of a tree on Parcel 13, along Civic Center Way and Maple Drive. The pruning was a “model tree,” or demonstration, to show the public what can be expected as the tree trimming progressed through the south side of the parcel. The trees, mostly eucalyptus, suffer from neglect that has left some branches perilously close to the street, with some trees listing. Branches have fallen onto the street. Though the trees are on
City property, the City has not managed them except to issue citations and warnings through code enforcement, to the Beverly Hills Land Company. A covenant with the Beverly Hills Land Company gave it responsibility for the trees, even though they are on an easement owned by the City of Beverly Hills. Since 2011 the City's Code Enforcement has communicated numerous times with the landowners to bring the property into compliance and to clear weeds, debris and trash from the site, and to irrigate the trees, according to documents obtained by the Courier in a Freedom of
City Ambassador Program Could Prove Solution To El Rodeo Model Tree Trimming On School’s Security Woes Parcels 12, 13 Observed By Public On Monday By Laura Coleman After months of ongoing discussions on how to best protect El Rodeo students and staff amidst ongoing construction at the K-8 school, the light at the end of the tunnel is growing closer. On Wednesday, City and school officials voiced support on hiring one City Ambassador at a cost of $48,000 to patrol the campus for the coming school year. “It’s a relatively low-cost effort,” opined City Councilman Julian Gold at the Beverly Hills
City Council Liaison/Beverly Hills Unified School District Committee meeting. The idea to utilize the City’s Ambassador program emerged following numerous meetings between El Rodeo parents, administrators and district officials. Parents at the school, which is currently undergoing construction, have been particularly concerned about student safety given that the school abuts Wilshire Boulevard and gates are occasionally left (see ‘EL RODEO SECURITY’ page 20)
Game Of Thrones Earns Leading 23 Primetime Emmy Nominations HBO’s Game Of Thrones, last year’s Emmy winner for best drama series, scored a leading 23 nominations Thursday for the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, while the much-publicized limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Fargo each earned 22. Game of Thrones was nominated for best drama series along with The Americans, Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Homeland, House Of Cards and Mr. Robot. Comedy series nominations went to black-ish, Master Of None, Modern Family, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep. Competing for the Emmy for best actor in a drama series will be
Kyle Chandler of Bloodline, Rami Malek of Mr. Robot, Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul, Matthew Rhys of The Americans, Liev Schrieber for Ray Donovan and Kevin Spacey for House Of Cards. Lead drama actress nominations went to Claire Danes for Homeland, Viola Davis for How To Get Away With Murder, Taraji P. Henson of Empire, Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black, Keri Russell of The Americans and Robin Wright of House Of Cards. In the comedy categories, best actor nominees are Anthony Anderson of black-ish, Aziz Ansari for Master Of None, Will Forte of The Last Man On Earth, William H. Macy of Shameless, Thomas (see ‘EMMY NOMINATIONS’ page 19)
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
THIS ISSUE
By Victoria Talbot The Courier has noted that an item likely discussed at the July 5 City Council Closed Session may not have been properly noticed on the agenda. The Brown Act states: “At least 72 hours prior to each regular meeting, legislative bodies must prepare an agenda containing a brief general description of each item to be transacted or discussed, including items which will be handled in closed session. A description of each item generally not to exceed 20 words, although the description must be sufficient to provide interested persons with an understanding of the subject matter which will be considered.” As there has been no action on the naming of the ini-
(see ‘BROWN ACT’ page 20)
(see ‘TREE TRIMMING’’ page 16)
ON THE RUN — Dan Aykroyd, wive Donna Dixon and family participated in the festivities at the Los Angeles premiere of Sony Pictures’ Ghostbusters presented by Columbia Pictures in association with Village Roadshow Pictures at TCL Chinese Theatre For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.