Happy Hanukkah!
BEVERLY HILLS NUMBER 50
www.bhcourier.com
City leaders celebrated Hanukkah with a menorah 4 lighting this week.
BHUSD held a toy drive to benefit the Compton Unified School District. 5
Peter Bowling is new Director at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. 14 • Real Estate • Birthdays • Letters to the Editor
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Cultural Heritage, Rec & Parks Commissions To Recommend Doheny Fountain Restoration By Victoria Talbot At a liaison meeting that included Mayor Lili Bosse, Councilmember John Mirisch, Recreation and Parks Commission Chair Howard Rosoff and Commissioner Simone Friedman and Cultural Heritage Commission Chair Noah Furie, plans to add paths and to drain or only partially restore the historic Doheny Fountain were rejected in favor of fully restoring the fountain and maintaining the historic integrity of the park as part of the ongoing restoration of Beverly Gardens Park. The fountain was built in 1931 when the City hired Beverly
Hills architect W. Asa Hudson to build a fountain that would mark the eastern entry to the City as part of the second phase that completed the 23-blocks of Beverly Gardens Park. The original phase had only the three blocks that included the lily pond and the two adjacent parks, built in 1907. By 1931, the (see ‘FOUNTAIN’ page 19)
NEW YEAR’S EVE IN BEVERLY HILLS The Beverly Hilton Sunday bubbly brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $45/person and New Year’s Eve six-course dinner at CIRCA 55 from 6-11 p.m. with Champagne toast and live music. $95/person. 310-887-6055.
Waldorf-Astoria Beverly Hills
George Christy, Page 6 December 10 Was A Historic Day Celebrating The 101st Birthday Of Kirk Douglas With His Family And Friends At Home. Kirk and Anne Have Contributed Megamillions To Major Charities
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
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December 15, 2017
BHUSD Budget Calls For $5 Million In Employee Cuts
GOLDEN GLOBES — The Beverly Hilton played host to the unveiling of the 2018 Golden Globe nominees on Monday morning. Director Guillermo del Toro's fantasy romance The Shape of Water scored a leading seven nominations. For a full story on the Golden Globes nominations, see page 10. Pictured: Miss Golden Globe Ambassador Simone Alexandra Johnson, and nominee announcers Sharon Stone, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Bell and Alfre Woodard. Celebrity Photo/Scott Downie
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Dinner at Jean-Georges – first seating at 5 p.m. is a four-course menu. $165/person. Second seating, beginning at 8:30 p.m., is a six-course menu for $280/person. 310-860-6566.
The Peninsula Beverly Hills
Dinner will be served in both The Belvedere (at 8 p.m.) and The Living Room (7:30 p.m.), followed by a live band and dancing. Six-course prix fixe menu is $295/person and $195 for kids 12-and-under. 310975-2736.
The Beverly Hills Hotel First seating – three-course menu with amuse bouche. $150 per person, 5-9 p.m. Second seating – five-course dinner. $295/person, $50 per child. 9 p.m. to midnight. 310-887-2777.
SEE PAGE 4 FOR MORE FUN NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECIALS
By Laura Coleman While the 90210 zip code may evoke illusions of mansions for all, the reality for the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) is much more dire. On Monday, four days before the deadline set by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) for public school districts to submit their 2017-18 First Interim Report, the Board of Education voted 5-0 for BHUSD to adopt and submit its report to the county for approval. The report, which has a positive certification, makes changes to the district’s previously adopted budget, which was approved last June.
The district’s latest budget calls for $5 million in staff reductions for the 2018-19 fiscal year. Previous board discussions use the assumption that the average employee costs the district $100,000 annually. In layman’s terms, that means the district is currently assuming that 50 people will be receiving pink slips in March. “It is currently out of certificated salaries, but reductions can be made anywhere,” clarified BHUSD Assistant Superintendent LaTanya KirkCarter Latham. “It is there to show LACOE that we acknowledge we are over-staffed.” (see ‘BHUSD BUDGET CUTS’ page 15)
#MeToo In Beverly Hills: Former Student Details Sexual Harassment While Attending BHUSD School By Laura Coleman The inappropriate behavior started after school in fall 2016, just as she was starting her eighth grade year in Beverly Hills Unified School District. The girl, now 14, recalls clearly the day her friend’s behavior crossed a line, and in fact she wasn’t alone when it happened: she was waiting with friends outside the Beverly Hills K-8 school to be picked up by their parents. A friend called the boy, who was also in the eighth grade at the same school, to join them outside. Soon, he was playfully hugging the girl. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he comes up behind, he puts his hands behind me and touched my breasts and mimicked a humping motion,” the girl recalled of that one day over a year ago now. “I felt dis-
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
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gusted. “I was pushing him off me, telling him, ‘Stop. What are you doing?’” At the urging of a friend, the girl ended up reporting the incident to the administration. Reports were taken by school officials. “I was told [the administration] would try to find out why he did this and get him to stop,” the girl recalled. “It didn’t stop.” For a while, there was just verbal harassment, she said; no more touching. Then he crossed the line once again and touched her on the bottom while they were on the PE field in February. Once again, there were witnesses and once again reports were taken by school officials. However, after having (see ‘#METOO AT BHUSD’ page 19)
PARTY PEOPLE — Dwayne Johnson with partner Lauren Hashian, who is infanticipating, along with Meg Donnelly attended Columbia Pictures’ Los Angeles premiere of Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle at the TCL Chinese Theatre. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.