WE HAD AN ELECTION! Who really won? See below
FREE
FRIDAY • APRIL 4, 2014
INSIDE: WWII in the Pacific .................
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Fashion Show Fund Raiser .................
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VHWC Sings in Riverside .................
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CCRC Rotary Event .................
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Be a Fire Lookout Volunteer! .................
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Antique and Plant Sale .................
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OLL Fish Fry This Friday .................
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Earthquake Prep is Sound Advice .............
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DEPARTMENTS What Folks Are Doing........... 2 View from the Rock.............. 3 Letters and Perspectives........ 3 Chef Randy........................... 5 Artfully Speaking.................. 5 Take My Card....................... 9 Auntie Gail’s Pet Corner...... 10
THE PAPER WITH AN ATTITUDE!
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 7
Billy Martinez Memorial Removed by City of L.A. A roadside memorial to Billy Martinez on Foothill where he was killed by a motorist was removed by the City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Street Services for being a “eyesore and hazard” according to Leticia Reed. A memorial had been set up for Billy by his friends and family and a “ghost bike” marked the site where he was was killed while riding home in the dark. According to ghostbikes.org, a site that chronicles memorials set up in the New York City area and elsewhere, the first ghost bike was created in 2003 in St. Louis Now they’re all over the world —including Southern California. Last fall, a gallery in East Hollywood showcased art related to ghost bikes in the Los Angeles area. Painted completely white, the bikes help bring closure to those who lose friends and family on the road, according to members of the cycling community who erect ghost bikes. Danny Gamboa, who has worked on a 60-minute documentary about ghost
bikes, is one of several activists who create the memorials in the Los Angeles area. Gamboa’s Web site is filled with photos of the memorials. “We’ve placed ghost bikes for cyclists as young as 6-yearolds and as old at 90-yearolds,” Gamboa said. The mission is “to make sure that anyone killed on their bike isn’t forgotten and isn’t dying in vain,” according to a Facebook page for Ghost Bikes-LA. According to federal data, 726 cyclists died in collisions in the U.S. in 2012. As a growing number of Southern California cities seek to add or consider bike lanes and cycling advocates becoming more vocal, such deaths are increasingly in the spotlight locally. The intersection at Mc Vine and Foothill Blvd. is known for it’s accidents. This is the site of the second fatal accident last year. The Ghost Bike memorial creates a lasting impression on drivers and a monument to another family destroyed on Foothill Boulevard.
Ghost Bike Memorial for Billy Martinez
Family and friends gather at the spot where Billy was killed by a motorist.
STNC Term Limits Challenged The neighborhood council elections are over but the challenges continue to be heard by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). The Foothills Paper filed five separate election violations based on the bylaws calling out term limits for the Sunland-Tujunga board. The bylaws call out a maximum of FOUR terms that any board member can hold. At question are the positions of President Mark Seigel and Cindy Cleghorn who have held board positions since 2003 when the STNC was charted. Independent Election Administrator Jose Sandoval, who receives $7,200 for his services,
possibly gave out wrong information to the candidates and potential candidates. It is now up to DONE to determine if his varying answers as to the time limits, term limits and validity of the “provisional voters” was correct. The STNC board cannot be empaneled before DONE makes its determination. If DONE does not make it’s determination before the board becomes empanelled, there is the possibility that under DONE regulations, the STNC could be DE-CERTIFIED and have to become re-certified again. This would put the 4th of July Fireworks and Parade in jeopardy.
Monthly STNC board meeting.