11-21-11 by Los Angeles Downtown News

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November 21, 2011

Battling the Skid Row Drug Hydra Eighteen Months After Announcing a Novel Strategy to Fight Dealers, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Has His Hands Full

Urban Scrawl celebrates Thanksgiving.

The man behind the Pico House.

Fresh ideas and fresh water.

The Fashion District’s economic power.

Carmen Trutanich wants to rid Skid Row of its most entrenched drug dealers. He says his Central City Recovery Zone has worked, but dealers still proliferate.

A new Downtown food find.

‘Drawing the Lines’ at JANM.

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hen City Attorney Carmen Trutanich set out in April 2010 to rid Skid Row of its most entrenched drug dealers, he knew it would be difficult. More than 18 months later, it’s clear his groundbreaking plan faces even steeper challenges than expected. When he decided to tackle the Skid Row drug problem, he ordered deputies to devise a legal strategy to keep dealers out of the neighborhood. He gave them two months to bang out something enforceable. Instead, they confronted a slow-moving legal system: It took a year for a judge to fully approve the plan, an injunction that identifies 78 individuals with multiple drug sale convictions, and makes it a crime for them to be in Skid Row. It took another three months to train local police to enforce it. During that time, the problem has become worse. There are now approximately 1,600, about 80% more people sleeping on Skid Row sidewalks than there were the day Trutanich announced the proposed Central City Recovery Zone. There are more

parolees in the area too, and the recent shift in state inmate release guidelines is expected to keep more drug offenders on the streets longer. “You can only assume that on a pro rata share, there are going to be more drug dealers, because the market’s gotten bigger,” Trutanich said during a recent afternoon in his eighth floor office in City Hall East. Police only started enforcing the injunction in September, so it’s too early to score its full impact. The 78 dealers identified must be served with papers in person before police can enforce it. So far, a specially trained LAPD Central Division unit has only been able to track down and serve three individuals. Two of them were later seen in the area and arrested, said Lt. Shannon Paulsen. Violating the injunction is a misdemeanor, however, and overcrowded prisons and jails mean that non-violent offenders won’t likely spend much time behind bars. One of the two individuals arrested for being in the Recovery Zone was released from custody in less than 24 hours. The other remains in custody on a parole hold for an unrelated case. Still, the fact that Skid Row cops can’t find most

The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles

of the defendants is evidence to some that the injunction, even in its infancy, is already working — if authorities can’t locate the dealers, it means they’re not in the area. “Right now the injunction is a 100% success,” Trutanich said. “It did exactly what we wanted it to do. It chased out the known drug dealers.” Trutanich knows that success has an asterisk. Even if the dealers never again set foot in the neighborhood, others quickly take their place on the block. It’s the Skid Row hydra rule: Eliminate one dealer and two more take his or her place. “What we have now is another problem, which is some other jerk is coming in behind them and filling in the gap,” Trutanich said. “It’s like that game where you knock one down, and another one pops up. What do they call it? Whack-aMole.” The DTGs The Central City Recovery Zone encompasses a nearly square mile patch of streets in Skid Row and a few blocks of the Historic Core. The name stems from its core objective — to make Skid Row a safer, more viable place to go for recovery from see Skid Row, page 12

2 Downtown News

AROUNDTOWN Architecture Firm Moves Into Downtown Home

he architecture firm Gensler has designed numerous projects in Downtown Los Angeles, and its current roster includes the proposed NFL stadium in South Park. Now, the design giant has left its home in Santa Monica for the Central City. After more than 20 years on the Westside, the firm this month took up residence in the “Jewel Box,” a three-story building between the twin 52-story towers of Thomas Properties Group’s City National Plaza. “We totally love it,” said Ron Turner, a principal at the firm, referring to the Downtown home. “We love the space and we worked with Thomas Properties to create this building and bring it back to L.A. It’s a very important building that had sat vacant for nine years.” Gensler signed a 12-year lease for a space that currently measures 32,000 square feet, but the firm plans to build a mezzanine that will expand its footprint to about 45,000 square feet. The firm’s local offices have 250 employees, though Turner said they intend to expand by more than 40% in the next five years. Gensler, whose Downtown projects include the Ritz-Carlton/J.W. Marriott hotel at L.A. Live and the current overhaul of

November 21, 2011

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the 7+Fig shopping center, also leased 5,000 square feet in the building’s basement concourse level.

Mills Act Funds Running Out for Historic Properties

or the past 10 years, Downtown developers and condominium buyers have counted the Mills Act as a key incentive for purchasing historic properties. The law allows owners of certain historic buildings or units to pay lower property taxes. The program, however, is set to expire once the total savings afforded to all participants adds up to $1 million. For the fiscal year that ended in July, the program was up to about $835,000, and the $1 million limit is expected to be reached in the current fiscal year. That’s why 14th District City Councilman José Huizar last week authored a motion directing the city Planning Department to do an updated accounting of the program and study the feasibility of lifting the cap. “The Mills Act really incentivizes historic preservation,” Huizar said. “People not only want to preserve their structures and their homes because it’s the right thing to do, but if it also benefits them

Joan Didion

Aloud at Vibianas

November 16, 2011

financially they would have more reason to do it.” The cap has been increased before. In 1999, it was raised from $500,000 to the current $1 million. If the cap is not lifted, the impact could be felt strongly on Broadway, where Huizar has pushed revitalization and preservation initiatives. “This is one more tool that we could make available to property owners for them to invest in their properties again,” he said. The Planning Department is due to report back

on the proposal to raise the cap in 30 days.

Businesses Busted for Counterfeit Goods

ity and federal officials last week came down on three local businesses, and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is looking to close them for good. On Thursday, see Around Town, page 8

November 21, 2011

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November 21, 2011

EDITORIALS Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

Skid Row Property Removal Injunction Does More Harm Than Good

n September 2006, city officials took steps that seemed simple in scope, but at the time were radical in concept. They turned out to be moves that made an immediate impact in the life and evolution of Downtown Los Angeles. Now, because of a recent judicial ruling that did not take a long-term view and consider unintended consequences, some of the benefits that have been achieved are being dramatically reversed. If officials do not act quickly, then the quality of life in the most impoverished part of Downtown will continue to unravel in ways that are self-defeating. It was a little more than five years ago that officials including then-Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa launched the Safer Cities Initiative. The program assigned 50 additional officers to Skid Row. They agreed to work there; this was not a Sheriff’s Department-type situation where the newest employees were placed in one of the toughest situations imaginable. The officers were ordered to enforce the law. This didn’t mean only “big” laws, such as arresting people for major transgressions like assault and theft, but rather all laws, including what are commonly referred to as “quality of life” crimes. Basically, the department ceased tolerating public drinking, people relieving themselves in the streets and other illegal activities that occurred routinely and with impunity in Skid Row. The vast majority of Downtown stakeholders rejoiced that behaviors that would never be allowed in the Palisades, Hancock Park and other wealthy neighborhoods were now also forbidden in the Central City. Safer Cities was the most important public action taken in Skid Row in decades. The stepped-up enforcement dovetailed

with other efforts, including attempts to shrink the homeless encampments and reduce the number of people sleeping on the streets of Skid Row, and even get rid of graffiti. The effects were quickly apparent, as sidewalks that were formerly clogged with items became cleaner. It didn’t transform into the Palisades, to be sure, and the daily demonstrations of poverty would still have struck outsiders as shocking, but for those who spend their lives living and working in the community, it was a noticeable improvement. Now, in the wake of a new judicial ruling, some Skid Row sidewalks are blocked again, and the city can’t stop it from happening or worsening. This isn’t a nighttime activity, but rather something that occurs in broad daylight, in front of police officers, business owners and people in area residential complexes trying to turn their lives around. It’s not every sidewalk, but the public territory is becoming blocked by shopping carts, sleeping bags, tents and even lamps and sofas. This reversal in the public good, which was chronicled last week as part of a three-part series on Skid Row by Los Angeles Downtown News staff writer Ryan Vaillancourt, stems from, specifically, a June ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez. In responding to a lawsuit filed on behalf of eight homeless individuals, he ordered an injunction that prevents the police or the Bureau of Sanitation from removing apparently abandoned items from the streets unless it can be proved they are abandoned, or unless they hold the items for 90 days. This is a case of a legal decision having an unintended effect. In ruling for a few, Gutierrez has lowered the quality of life for thousands of individuals, including those who have worked for years to better the area.

His decision, surely unintentionally, lays the groundwork for the spread of disease — vermin are prone to settle in trash. It also facilitates the proliferation of drug sales, with activity easier to conceal amid the mess. This is the wrong step in an area where opportunistic dealers from outside Downtown come into the community to prey on and exploit the addicted, many of whom are mentally ill. The court needs to look at the consequences of the ruling and take steps to lift or adjust the injunction. An idea to right a wrong has, instead, produced many more wrongs. We hope that the judge and other representatives of the court will visit Skid Row to personally examine the area and get a complete picture of the situation and the proceedings that have been enabled. They need to understand the full consequences of the ruling. We don’t dispute the intent of Gutierrez’s injunction. He was responding to claims that the property of homeless individuals was being seized and trashed by LAPD officers. Attorneys for the homeless alleged that this sometimes occurred when the possessions were left for only a few minutes while people did things such as visit area missions for a meal or a shower. We find it difficult to believe that officers on Skid Row were uniformly acting in such a malicious manner. Perhaps it did happen in some instances, and if so it’s inexcusable behavior, but we doubt that it was common practice. That opinion, however, is beside the point for now. The more pressing matter is the realworld implications on behavior that have come in the wake of Gutierrez’s decision. As the Downtown News article explained, police now are on tenterhooks. Instead of taking immediate action when they see items

that appear to have been abandoned, they leave them on the street, watching to see what happens before making the decision that they do not belong to anyone. Detritus can be left out for days or longer. As Lt. Shannon Paulson, who oversees the Safer Cities Initiative, said, “A broken piece of furniture could be presumed trash before, but now we have to presume it’s property.” It’s the exact opposite of the “broken windows” philosophy of policing that led to Safer Cities. That holds that when a small crime is allowed, greater transgressions follow. In this case, leaving one apparently abandoned item sends the message that more will also be tolerated. Then the mess happens. The city still has the ability to remove things that pose an immediate public danger. Unfortunately, the fear of violating the injunction has resulted in the situation at hand, one where the clutter piles up. It’s an especially pointed issue in Skid Row because the possessions of some homeless individuals often appear to be little more than mounds of trash. The injunction holds that anything taken off the street has to be available for retrieval for 90 days. However, this also leads to unintended consequences: It sometimes means moving what appear to be garbage piles and then having to keep them for three months in a new locale in case someone comes to claim them. It’s not practical, realistic or healthy. Those in favor of the injunction say the lawsuit was filed to prevent city officials from trashing the possessions of the homeless even when people are there and protesting. That is worth supporting — no one should have their property (as opposed to piles of garbage) taken away. However, the rights of ownership should not mean personal items can be placed in the right-of-way and block public access. Those rights do not trump the rights of the rest of the community to have a healthy, safe neighborhood. The injunction has led to too many problems, and it is not ultimately helping the homeless or the community. It needs to be revisited.

November 21, 2011

Downtown News 5

Opinion

The Readers Speak Out Website Comments on Skid Row, Sandwich Shifts, A Spring Street Bike Lane and More

very week Los Angeles Downtown News gets online comments to the stories we publish. These are some of the most interesting responses. Additional comments are welcome at ladowntownnews.com. Try it, you’ll like it. Regarding the article “State Prison Shift Puts Skid Row at Risk,” published online Nov. 4, by Ryan Vaillancourt

nfortunately, realignment addresses the Supreme Court’s concerns regarding overcrowding and inhumane conditions at our state prisons by shifting the problem to the county level. This is evident given that 32 county jails are currently under State or Court ordered population caps, and L.A. County, our nation’s largest system, has been under the Court-ordered watch of the ACLU for decades for the same problems. L.A. County has received more than 700 new inmates since Oct. 1 due to realignment and expects to be full by Christmas. Jails are not prisons and were not designed to hold hardened criminals for long periods of time — this will become evident very quickly. There are now two possible scenarios: overcrowded, inhumane county jails — exposing AB 109 as a shell game designed to dump the state’s problems on our counties — or we must stop prosecuting people for “non-violent/serious” crimes like burglary, car theft, involuntary manslaughter, drug sales, etc. With the jails full, and the threat of consequences removed, what do you think will happen to our crime rate? —Phillips Claire, Nov. 4, 4:29 p.m.

f the best and brightest of our local and state government cannot break up Skid Row, we need a higher power (federal) to come in and correct this community. There is too great a concentration of sex-offenders, addicts and the mentally ill in one place. It’s not constructive for those on parole, and it’s not safe for those who are not. How can Skid Row ever transform into a place of healing with statistics like these? —Katherine McNenny, Nov. 5, 12:20 a.m. Regarding the article “Central Division Captain Transferred,” which referenced Todd Chamberlain’s move in the wake of a series of lawsuits filed against the LAPD, published Oct. 24, by Ryan Vaillancourt

o “infer” that this leadership change has anything to do with mere allegations of improper behavior does this captain a disservice. He is an advocate for the community and has the support of his staff and officers. The filing of lawsuits does not tell a story. Rather, the measure of character is in the words of people who know this individual well. I understand that he has supported men and women of diverse ethnic backgrounds throughout his career. Perhaps those folks have something of value to add. —Tree Lea, Oct. 26, 8:31 a.m.

Regarding the article “Sandwich Haven Blue Cow to Replace Cal Plaza’s Casa,” published online Oct. 25, by Richard Guzmán

nother sandwich shop in Downtown? There are seven within two blocks. Casa was the only decent Mexican food and bar in the area. —Patrick S., Oct. 25, 9:22 p.m.

o! Casa was the best! Best margaritas, best food, best outdoor dining. Super disappointed that it’s going in this direction. I hate sandwiches! —Paula Samuel, Oct. 26, 7:02 p.m.

ad move! Casa was a unique restaurant in the area with great food. Isn’t Mendocino Farms, which is about 50 steps away, already a fancy sandwich place? A bulk of the restaurant business Downtown comes from lunch patrons from the surrounding buildings. What we crave is options. The last thing we need is more sandwiches. —Sarah Brekke, Oct. 27, 7:04 a.m. Regarding the editorial “The Price of Art Walk,” about who should contribute to the event’s costs, published Oct. 31

hy should the restaurants in the area pay big bucks just to make money for the food trucks and the parking lot owners who rent spaces to the food trucks? The point, to the restaurant owners, was to make profits from the foot traffic. They must feel that they have been burned by the one or two parking lot entrepreneurs who have figured out how to screw them out of their windfall gain. —Michael Salerno, Oct. 31, 1:01 p.m. Regarding the article “Spring Street to Get Bike Lane, Parklets,” published Oct. 28, by Ryan Vaillancourt, and the Nov. 7 editorial “Rethink the Green Bike Lane”

his is great news! So, with this new bike lane, can we all agree to not ride bikes on the sidewalks? Please? —Bettie Miner, Oct. 28, 11:22 a.m.

ike lanes on Spring are great, but parklets seem like a trendy waste of time and resources. I’m all for installation art, but call it that. These are not effectively solving any open space problems and they are just silly. I hate being the guy against something with a cute name like parklets, but I just can’t get behind them. —Michael Britt, Oct. 31, 3:39 p.m.

imilarly worth considering are the skateboarders on the sidewalks. I’ve almost gotten run down by them more times than I care to admit. Most of them aren’t even courteous enough to say “On your left!” —JoAnne Golden, Nov. 8, 9:42 a.m.

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November 21, 2011

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The Power of Pico The Man Who Gave Name to the Boulevard Also Built L.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Three-Story Structure by GreG Fischer

ost people who live in Los Angeles are familiar with Pico Boulevard. Few, however, know the story of the man who gave the thoroughfare its name. The final Mexican governor of Alta California was the renowned Don PĂo de Jesus Pico. He was one of the few Angelenos descended from an original settler of the town that was founded in 1781. Pico was born at Mission San Gabriel Arcangel in 1801. He lived in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California during the Spanish foundation, the Mexican period and well into the American era, dying in 1894. He married DoĂąa Maria Ignacia Alvarado in 1834 at the Church of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels on what is now the El Pueblo Plaza. Governor JosĂŠ Figueroa was the best man. The reception was held across the street from the church at the home of Don Pioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother-in-law, Don JosĂŠ Antonio Carrillo. As governor just prior to the MexicanAmerican War, Don PĂo moved the capital of Alta California to Los Angeles. L.A. was then the largest town in the state. It was home to several hundred people. After the war, in 1850, Los Angeles was incorporated as an American town. At the time, Don Pio and his brother, General Andres, owned almost all of the 60,000 acres in the San Fernando Valley. The dividing line was about where Roscoe Boulevard is today. Don Pio owned the lands south of Roscoe and General Andres owned the properties to the north. A few years after the Civil War, in 1869, Pico sold his interest in the San Fernando Valley lands to a Bavarian, Isaac Lankesheim. Lankesheim, whose name we now recog-

nize as Lankershim, needed a ranch foreman and hired a Dutch migrant from New York, Isaac Newton Van Nuys, who later married Lankershimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, Susanna. With the proceeds of the sale of this enormous property, Pico went to the plaza in the center of town. He acquired a lot and the home of his brother-in-law where Picoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wedding reception had been held decades earlier. He then hired architect Ezra Kysor and had Kysor, who also worked on St. Vibianaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cathedral at Second and Main streets, design a three-floor Victorian hotel. The hotel, the first three-story building ever seen in Los Angeles, was the grandest structure in town. It proudly boasted a bathroom on each and every floor. The center contained a wonderful courtyard. It was the site of many banquets and fiestas in late 19th century Los Angeles. A notable feast was held here in the mid1870s. The financial panic of 1875 had caught Los Angeles in its grip. There were two banks here, Farmers and Merchants, and Temple and Workman. The latter quickly became insolvent with the onset of the panic. A loan was arranged with Elias Jackson â&#x20AC;&#x153;Luckyâ&#x20AC;? Baldwin for $210,000. The bank reopened and a party was held at Pico House at which the notables of Los Angeles celebrated the institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s return to service. However, the bank was open only several weeks before it closed for good, a victim of poor recordkeeping and an even poorer track record on lending. Stagecoach and trolley service assured that the hotel was an important place. Since it was sited literally at the center of town, it was a popular gathering point.

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The Pico House at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument was the first three-story structure in Los Angeles. It was built as a hotel by Don PĂo de Jesus Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California.

As the center of Los Angeles shifted south toward West Temple Street and South Main Street, Pico House fell out of fashion. The Nadeau House hotel at First and Spring streets, where the Los Angeles Times is today, and the Hollenbeck Hotel at Second and Spring streets, now a parking lot, drew the better clientele away from Pico House. The hotel suffered a long, slow decline. Its time had passed. Its name was changed and it became second rate. Like the Plaza itself, the hotel slid down a slippery slope and never recovered its former glory as the town center. Like the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder and namesake, time was not kind to the Pico House. The hotel is now a public property. It an-

chors a corner of the Plaza, a nod to a bygone era of travel by train, hoop skirts and unpaved streets. Pico House made a contribution to the city of Los Angeles that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be denied and, fortunately, it continues to remind us of a part of our story. It needs to be repurposed, but that will come later. By the way, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pico Boulevard was once known as Don PĂo Pico Street. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very old street by our standards. It was the first named street south of Temple in the Downtown area, sandwiched between 12th and 14th streets. Now you know why there is no 13th Street in Los Angeles. Greg Fischer is a Downtown resident and an amateur historian.

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Downtown News 7

DowntownNews.com

New Stadium Design Features Removable Roof by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR

he development team and architects behind the proposed Farmers Field last week unveiled new designs for the $1.1 billion South Park stadium. The biggest difference from past renderings is a roof that can literally be placed on and taken off the 72,000-seat venue. “It looks like it has wings and can lift off the ground, which I think is fitting for the City of Angels,” said Tim Romani, CEO of Icon Venue Group, the project manager hired by developer Anschutz Entertainment Group. “It’s very open and very inviting and you can see the energy going on inside the building.” Romani, along with Ron Turner, the lead architect on the project and a principal at the firm Gensler, presented the new plans at L.A. Live on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The updated look, which resembles football shoulder pads from certain angles, has been in the works for about eight months. Romani said the previous design by Gensler, which in March was named as the project architect, was never meant to be the final look of the stadium. “I thought the original concept was too heavy for this district,” he said. Original discussions had centered on a retractable roof that could open and close over the field as needed, whether during inclement weather or for the needs of a specific event. The new proposal, called a “deployable” roof, would be nearly transparent. It would be loaded from the ground and completely removed when not in use. The exact process for attaching and removing the roof is still

renderings courtesy of AEG

Updated Plans for $1.1 Billion Venue Abandon Retractable Top being determined. “We found that the number of times we would actually have to have a closed event and a closed stadium were in less than 10% of all the events that are going to occur,” Turner said. “That just said to us that we don’t need a roof that closes in just minutes, so why not look at a different technology which opens us up to a lot more flexibility.” The stadium would be made from a material which comes from a Teflon base that can be clearer than glass, Turner said. Plans call for construction to begin in 2013 with an opening in time for the 2016 NFL season. However, that timeline depends on AEG finding a team to move to Downtown. No team has yet been lined up. Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.

New renderings for Farmers Field feature a roof that can be taken on and off the stadium and a translucent design. Anschutz Entertainment Group hopes to begin construction of the $1.1 billion facility in 2013.

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Around Town Continued from page 2 Nov. 17, El Soclo, Moda Bivalvi Inc. and Bell of California No. 1, which are all in the 200 block of East Pico Boulevard, were shut down after a joint LAPD/FBI investigation called Bell Bottoms II, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for Trutanich’s office. The office filed nuisance abatement lawsuits against the businesses the same day. The businesses are alleged to have sold and possessed more than $1.5 million in counterfeit apparel in the past four years. According to the City Attorney’s office, El Soclo and Moda Bivalvi stored counterfeit goods in secret rooms behind hidden doors. The lawsuits seek to close the businesses, to place restrictions on the de-

fendants’ future employment, and to prevent the defendants from returning to the Fashion District.

Another Smash and Grab Robbery on Broadway

hree men robbed a Broadway jewelry store on Monday, Nov. 14, making off with $13,000 worth of goods. The incident, which occurred on the east side of the 700 block of Broadway, marks the ninth “smashand-grab” heist on the street this year. As in previous incidents, the suspects carried

had been brandishing the blade in front of a store. The suspect, 73-year-old James Proctor, was shot in the stomach and is expected to survive. Officers were flagged down by a woman on Los Angeles Street. According to police, the officers saw a knife in the man’s back pocket. They tried to communicate with Proctor and repeatedly ordered him to turn away from them and put his hands above his head, but he refused. He then allegedly grabbed the knife and turned toward the officers, at which point he was hit by gunfire, a beanbag shotgun and a Taser. “This all occurred simultaneously,” said Central Area Capt. Horace Frank. “Whatever movement he did required the officers to respond.” No officers olice on Sunday, Nov. 13,1264 shotW. a knifewere in theCA,incident, per LAPD First Street, Loshurt Angeles, 90026 •which, 213.481.1448 wielding man near Seventh and Los protocol, is being reviewed by the departAngeles streets after witnesses said he ment’s Force Investigation Division. pepper spray and hammers and they wore gloves and hooded sweatshirts, said Lt. Paul Vernon. One suspect wore a black sweatshirt and the others were in gray sweatshirts. A woman drove a getaway vehicle, a small white SUV that some witnesses said might have been a Mercury. The robbery comes after a relative lull on Broadway since police arrested five smash-and-grab suspects in early August. There had only been one such incident in Downtown since then, but it occurred in Chinatown.

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Fresh Waters and Fresh Ideas Downtown Company Puts Modern Tastes on an Ancient Drink by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR

hen Arnold Ventura first came Downtown in 2001, he was an architect working on loft conversions for the well-known firm Killefer Flammang. Later, he became a financial advisor, helping people manage their money. Things are a bit different now. These days, he works out of a 600-squarefoot office at 117 W. Fifth St., though he spends an ample amount of time peddling drinks, sometimes hand delivering them to vendors, touting the flavor and freshness in the hopes of making a sale. It’s all part of Cobá, a natural fruit drink company inspired by aguas frescas (or fresh waters), a traditional Latin beverage whose roots go back to pre-Columbian times. “They’re juice waters,” said the 32-yearold. “They’re not as heavy as a juice concentrate and not as light as an enhanced water. They’re something in between and they have a little bit of pulp.” It’s a nascent business, with $50,000 in sales in 2010 that Ventura hopes to increase to $500,000 this year. The company, with four full-time and seven part-time employees, has its goods in about 500 spots. Those include Downtown Los Angeles establishments such as the Bunker Hill Market and Deli, Downtown Car Wash, a 7-Eleven and the Historic Core’s Stray Cat Café. “We had some regulars try it and it was a great hit,” said David McGrath, the owner of Stray Cat, who has been carrying the products for about five months. “I thought it was delicious.”

photo by Gary Leonard

Arnold Ventura runs Cobá out of headquarters on Fifth Street. His company sells four varieties of natural fruit drinks.

Ventura decided to locate his company in Downtown because of his familiarity with the neighborhood and the renaissance that has occurred. “I like what is happening here,” he said. “I thought it would be cool to inject ourselves

into the neighborhood. Fresh Roots Aguas frescas are popular in Mexican and other Latin restaurants and can often be seen in huge, unmarked, barrel-shaped glass containers. In some Latin American countries

they are also referred to as frescos or aguas de fruta (fruit water), but they’re all based on three ingredients: fruit, water and a sweetener. Raised in a Mexican-American family in San Diego, Ventura grew up drinking aguas frescas made by his mother. Today, his Cobá versions come in four flavors: guayaba, jamaica (hibiscus), mango and tamarind. Each bottle includes only agave nectar, water and one of the flavors. “It’s the less-is-more approach,” he said. “For me it’s also about the sweetener. We use organic agave as our sweetener, which is healthier.” The idea for Cobá started when Ventura and his wife were students in Berkeley. They would go to the same restaurant again and again not for the mediocre food, but for the aguas frescas. The idea didn’t become a business until he went to Stanford. In 2007, he and fellow student Jose Domene founded the company (Ventura said Domene now has a part-time role), financing the launch with credit cards. They started with about 80 bottles, printing labels in the Stanford computer lab and passing out samples to friends. They called their drink Bonadea. “The initial feedback was good, so we did a small run and tried to sell the stuff,” he said. That involved Ventura showing up on the doorsteps of small retailers in Northern California with a box of drinks and an offer of a helping hand. “The way I got one of my first accounts was by showing up at five in the morning when they’re putting up the drinks on the shelf,” he recalled. “I introduced myself, started helping him, and as I’m putting other drinks on the shelf I was telling him why he should be selling my drink.” That hands-on approach continues in see Cobá, page 11

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Fashionable Economics Report Says L.A. Fashion Industry Is a Key But Often Overlooked Business Driver by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR

lthough many people in Downtown Los Angeles have a solid understanding of what goes on in the Fashion District, locals may be in the minority. For a lot of people in the region, the subject of fashion manufacturing brings to mind images of women lined elbow-to-elbow at sew-

ing machines, toiling in sweatshops for low wages. While that might come from a very real history in Downtown’s garment industry, it’s a far cry from today’s operations on the upper floors of Fashion District buildings. That’s among the essential findings in a new industry analysis prepared by the Los Angeles Economic

Ilse Metchek of the California Fashion Association said the industry needs to improve its branding.

Development Corporation. The report, which was released last week, argues that a more realistic portrait of the industry in 2011 “should be one of design entrepreneurs and models in a design studio located somewhere around Ninth and Los Angeles streets.” Instead of poorly paid unskilled laborers cutting and sewing, the report says, the industry looks more like this: Staffers working in well-lit studios, emailing new designs to offshore factories or local contractors; graphic artists sketching online ads; and logistics experts arranging for merchandise to be shipped to distribution centers around the world. The distinction is important because it counters a widely held misperception that the fashion industry is in decline in Los Angeles, said LAEDC economist Kimberly RitterMartinez. While free trade has led to cheaper overseas labor and a drop in local manufacturing, other segments of the industry thrive in Southern California, she said. “It seems to be an overlooked industry for as large as it is,” said Ritter-Martinez. For those unaware of the industry’s size and scope in the region, the report trots out a few key figures: n The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last year accounted for $40 billion in apparel imports. n The apparel business directly accounts for 110,000 jobs in Los Angeles County. n More than one-third of all U.S. apparel manufacturing jobs are located in L.A. and Orange counties. n L.A. County manufacturing jobs pay an estimated $15 an hour; wholesalers, who comprise most of the Downtown Fashion District, earn about $22.50 per hour. The California Fashion Association, an industry trade Continued on next page

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Downtown News 11

DowntownNews.com in the Fashion District. In recent years, the firm, which still has some goods made in China, upped its domestic production, said company president Lonnie Kane. “With labor prices rising in China, raw material prices rising in China and cost of shipping from China, there were certain goods that we could make here and be more secure about the quality at a price very similar to what we were getting out of China,” Kane said. Still, he said, there’s little chance that cheaper goods will ever return en masse to domestic production. Industrial space is more expensive, for one, and as cut-and-sew shops fled overseas, the large-scale sewing facilities that were once common in Los Angeles have largely disappeared, Kane said. Companies that want to mimic Karen Kane in upping local production will find plenty of support and coaxing from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office, said Matt Karatz, deputy mayor for the office of economic and business policy. “We hear loud and clear that the industry is convinced more than ever that the talent in Los Angeles, on design or production, is second to none, and that they want to do everything possible to keep all aspects of their business operations local,” Karatz said. Karatz added that Villaraigosa’s office plans to look into creating business or tax incentives to draw or keep apparel companies to Los Angeles. Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

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Cobá Continued from page 9 Downtown. Ventura stopped by Chris Zuber’s Sixth Street restaurant Ocho Grill when it was still under construction. “He stopped by before we even opened, introduced himself, brought some samples and from the get-go I liked him and I liked the drinks,” Zuber said. After giving a few free samples to customers, Cobá is now one of the most popular drinks on the menu, Zuber said. Dressing Up This year, the young company went through some changes. In May the drink was renamed Cobá, after a region in the Yucatan peninsula rich with Mayan ruins. The bottle was changed from a smooth glass container with a white label to one that resembles a miniature barrel. The label is now a light ocean

blue, with bright images of fruit prominently displayed. “Since we made the change it’s been like night and day,” Ventura said. “The product we moved through in the last four months already far exceeds anything we did in the previous 14 months with Bonadea.” Ventura said that since the re-branding, their retail spots have increased from about 200 to 500. Independent grocers, natural food stores and restaurants carry the drink. While it’s a strong start, competition looms. In May, Nestlé launched a drink called Aguas Frescas with tamarind, jamaica and horchata flavors. Although the food giant has extensive resources, Ventura said he couldn’t help but smile. “It’s validation that this product should exist, so that was a little comforting,” he said Then again, in Downtown at least, Cobá may have an advantage over the food giant. After all, it’s unlikely Nestlé’s CEO will stop by a local store with a box of drinks anytime soon. Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com. photo by Gary Leonard

Continued from previous page group which commissioned the report with sponsor the CIT Group, is already trying to raise the region’s profile and fix its “image problem,” said Ilse Metchek, the association’s executive director. In the next several months, Metchek said her group is going to be encouraging move apparel designers and makers to add “Made in Los Angeles” or “Made in California” labels to their garments. “We want more marketing on the design community,” said Metchek, who just a day after the study came out was meeting with label designers to get samples to show to local apparel companies, including The Gap’s denim design studio that opened on Pico Boulevard last year. Adding L.A. branded labels, she said, would bolster the already high demand for L.A. style. China Pullback Over the past decade, free trade agreements and other factors that keep labor costs much lower in foreign countries have led to traditional cut-and-sew jobs going overseas, while skilled design jobs remain in the United States. Industry advocates, however, say that rising labor costs in China, coupled with a retail craving for “fast fashion,” could lead to more local manufacturing operations in the near future. Karen Kane, a high-end women’s line, manufactures most of its items at a factory in Vernon. It has a wholesale showroom at the California Mart

Ventura said Cobá did $50,000 in sales in 2010. He hopes to boost that to $500,000 this year.

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Skid Row Continued from page 1 addiction and other ailments. From a legal standpoint, it is a novel and extreme experiment. Injunctions have become a common strategy for attacking gang activity. Usually, they forbid certain behaviors in specific areas. The Skid Row injunction is different in that it bars select individuals from actually stepping foot in a small slice of Los Angeles, no matter the circumstances. While the 78 people targeted by the injunction may be gone, there’s little evidence that there is less crack, heroin and other drugs in the area. Street deals are easy to spot in Skid Row. When police aren’t around, addicts smoke crack openly in certain stretches of the poverty-laden neighborhood, especially along San Julian Street between Fifth and Seventh streets. Though the brazen street party would seem to present easy targets for police, the drug trade is in fact a complex operation that relies on a chain of lookouts along certain blocks who alert their colleagues to keep narcotics out of sight when Los Angelesapproach. Downtown News authorities 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 On a recent weekday afternoon at about 3 p.m., three phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 people lounged on a sidewalk onrealpeople@downtownnews.com San Julian Street. A woman web: DowntownNews.com • email: facebook: L.A. Downtown News

sat on a crate and leaned against a stuffed shopping cart. Two men straddled backless office chairs. They appeared homeless, but they were doing brisk business as drug sellers. One of the men made little effort to shield himself as he cut hard cocaine into several rocks. Over a 15-minute period, four people approached. There were handshakes and exchanges, and usually the buyer wasted no time, holding a lighter to a pipe for about 10 seconds and getting high in broad daylight. While the dealers come mostly from other parts of Los Angeles, some of them are indeed homeless and live in Skid Row. According to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph, who is in charge of policing the section of Skid Row that includes San Julian Street, homeless addicts sometimes work as lookouts for low- and mid-level dealers. Their employers, for the most part, are rival gang members who in Skid Row unite under the local syndicate the Downtown Gangsters, or DTGs. “That’s why it’s so hard to get one of those big dealers,” Joseph said, “because the DTGs use these homeless folks and Editor us & PublishEr: Sue Laris for it takes one of them basically telling what’s happening GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin us to get the bigger guy.” Turning ExEcutivE the Tide Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard In September 2006, the LAPD launched theGuzmán Safer Cities photo by Ryan Vaillancourt stAFF writEr: Ryan Vaillancourt Initiative, a 50-officer unit assigned to crack down on lowIn Skid Row, the usual gang divisions and battles do not exist. coNtributiNG Editors: Kathryn Maese Downtown Newsor DTGs. Crips alignLos as Angeles Downtown Gangsters, level crimes in Skid Row. Tough stanceswritErs: on misdemeancoNtributiNG Jay Berman, JimBloods Farber,and Jeff Favre, Kristin Friedrich, Howard Leff, Rod Riggs, Marc Porter Zasada

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ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard Guzmán stAFF writEr: Ryan Vaillancourt coNtributiNG Editors: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jay Berman, Jim Farber, Jeff Favre, Kristin Friedrich, Howard Leff, Rod Riggs, Marc Porter Zasada Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard

AccouNtiNG: Ashley Schmidt AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Kim Brown, Catherine Holloway, Sol Ortasse, Brenda Stevens circulAtioN: Norma Rodas distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

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November 21, 2011

Downtown News 13

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Skid Row’s Perfect Storm

ive years after the launch of the Safer Cities Initiative, Skid Row has seen reductions in crime, homelessness and nonviolent street deaths. By most measures, the community is cleaner and safer, with more housing. Today, that progress is in jeopardy. In a three-part series, Los Angeles Downtown News looks at the state of Skid Row as it faces a new set of challenges. Nov. 7: A prisoner realignment program

photo by Gary Leonard

A poster displayed at the April 2010 press conference when Trutanich announced that dozens of people would be affected by an injunction keeping them out of Skid Row.

ors such as jaywalking and littering sparked criticism from some who likened SCI to the criminalization of homelessness. By most statistical measures, Skid Row is safer today than it was five years ago. Violent

crime in the area dropped 30% in the first year. The 27 street deaths — those found dead in public due to exposure, illness or overdose — recorded in 2005 fell to 13 four years later.

The homeless population dropped significantly too, from about 1,900 in September 2006 to 500 in April 2009. Several factors, however, have started to reverse that trend. This September, police counted approximately 1,600 people sleeping on Skid Row sidewalks. At the same time, shelters and social service providers are operating with diminished budgets, and crime, while down significantly from 2006 levels, is starting to creep back up. Two weeks ago, 19 serious crimes (10 of them violent) were reported during a sevenday stretch in Skid Row. Six years ago that would have been considered low, but after a few years of the Safer Cities Initiative, the LAPD was regularly tracking 10 or fewer serious crimes per week, Joseph said. “We got our butts kicked that week,” Joseph said. “And I think it’s just a harbinger of things to come.” Orlando Ward, director of community affairs for the Veterans of America, which operates a drop-in center on the 600 block of San Julian Street, supported the Recovery Zone injunction when it was announced. He still does, although he has little confidence that it will make a major dent in the drug trade. “I don’t think there’s going to be a huge

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has some fearing that more drug offenders and felons will wind up on the street. Nov. 14: A recent court order that prohibits the seizure of homeless peoples’ property on Skid Row sidewalks has had other consequences. This week: In April 2010, the City Attorney tried a new tactic to combat the Skid Row drug trade. As police begin to enforce it, the drug game is alive and well. effect on the ground level,” Ward said. “Symbolically, it’s a great thing. But as long as you have the consumers there that can create really a whole black market kind of economy that fuels this thing, it’s not going anywhere.” Trutanich said the injunction’s impact may not be known for years. Working with the LAPD, his office plans to add more individuals to the injunction list as additional people are convicted of sale crimes. That, however, will take time. City Attorney officials said that for efficiency’s sake, they will wait until they have about 50 new individuals before they go back to the judge. While it is uncertain when they’ll add to the list, once they do, officials expect the process to move faster. Trutanich said that even then, the problems in Skid Row are numerous, complex and won’t be solved with even the most novel strategies. Like many before him who have tried to improve Skid Row, he’s come to the conclusion that real change will require a collective political will that devotes more resources to housing, rehabilitation services, street cleaning and law enforcement, and all at once. At the moment, he said, that will doesn’t exist. Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

14 Downtown News

November 21, 2011

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HEALTH

A Nutty Situation An Unexpected Oral Condition From a Surprising Source by LesLey sauLs

mbracing international foods and experimenting with culinary embellishments has become a way of life for creative cooks, and pine nuts have become popular additions to salads, pestos, confections and baked goods. But recent reports say that these nuts are responsible for a bitter, metallic and sour aftertaste that can persist for as long as two weeks. “I ate pine nuts on a Sunday and had symptoms by Monday,” said cooking enthusiast Cheryl Thiede. “I was very anxious about what it could be.” It turned out to be pine mouth, a condition she ultimately endured for a week. Thiede’s symptoms were similar to those of others who

shared her problem. Her taste sensors were normal when chewing any food, but within seconds of swallowing, a terrible aftertaste would blossom in the back of her mouth. Fortunately, there were no other health implications, but the bad taste was distressing. “It was really disturbing because I love food and discouraging because I couldn’t get rid of it,” she said. Time is the only cure for this culinary land mine, which is selective in whom it affects. Two people can eat from the same pile of pine nuts with one escaping unscathed. The problem may have its origins in plant species and international consumerism. The pine nut has been used since prehistory as a culinary supplement in Europe and

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Pine nuts, used by creative cooks in salads, pestos and snacks, can cause an unpleasant condition called “pine mouth.”

the Southwestern United States, but it was sustainable by the people enjoying its gentle flavors until recently. Now that the appetite for what was once a gourmet item is rising, there is a supply-and-demand issue. There have been about 100 complaints of pine mouth in the past two years, notes Mike Herndon of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The first known case of pine mouth happened in Belgium in 2001, but many cases go unreported. Several studies have been performed on pine nuts in an attempt to determine what was causing the bad tastes. A report done by Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggested that like fingerprints, the fatty acid profiles of pine nuts are specific to the species of tree from which they are harvested. The report suggested that two of the several species of tree from which commercial pine nuts are taken — those commonly known as Chinese white pine and Chinese red pine — are not consid-

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ered to be edible. Other reports propose that the oxidation levels of the nuts that are to blame for the taste disturbances. The specific origin of pine mouth remains debatable, but the European Union was concerned enough about the situation to issue a warning through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed in August 2009. The EU’s explanation for the discomforting aftertaste was that edible Chinese pine nuts had been combined with inedible nuts that had high tannins and different fatty acid profiles, especially during the 2008-09 seasons. The China Tree Nut Association, the China Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Exports of Foodstuffs and the Chinese pine nut processors listened to the concerns. In November 2009, they gathered together to pursue the situation. Their determination was that the white Huashan variety of pine nut should not be used in snack, salad or bakery products. Furthermore, it should not be mixed with other pine nut varieties for overseas markets. Until market reliability returns, steps can be taken to prevent the distasteful affliction. Experts say this might be the time to broaden culinary horizons and use walnuts, almonds or pistachios to sprinkle on salads or blend into pestos. But the gentle flavor of these ancient nuts is enticing enough for some to overcome the threat of pine mouth and its horrible aftertaste. “I think I’ll eat them again,” Thiede says, “but for a long time, I will pause and think about it. I don’t want to have pine mouth again.” Article copyright 2011 creators.com.

November 21, 2011

Downtown News 15

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RESTAURANTS Grub With Guzmán

♦♦♦

Bäco in Town New Restaurant Focuses on Josef Centeno’s Hybrid Creation by RichaRd Guzmán

city EditoR ith Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time for most of us to reflect on what we’re thankful for. When I’m sitting around the table this week with my family, I will take my usual holiday shot of tequila Patron and then say I’m grateful for Josef Centeno. Then I’ll take my customary second shot of Patron and push my plate of turkey away and replace it with a delicious bäco. OK, I’m not going to do some of those things, but I am happy that I can now eat at two places helmed by Centeno. It seems like the Downtown chef just can’t do anything wrong. Lazy Ox Canteen, the Little Tokyo spot he opened in 2009, is a favorite of customers and critics alike. Now, he’s expanded his empire with Bäco Mercat, a 1,750-square-foot space next to Pete’s Café in the Old Bank District. Bäco Mercat is a project Centeno said he has wanted to do for many years. The space decked out with old school chairs, a bar, lots of windows and a patio opened in early November with lunch hours. Dinner service began last week. The focus is on Centeno’s signature dish, the bäco. It’s

an item that traveled with Centeno to places where he has worked, including Meson G, Lot 1 and Opus. The bäco is a hybrid of culinary culture. It’s been described by Centeno fans as a taco mixed with a gyro and a pizza, though to me there seems to be more gyro and taco than pizza aspects. It’s served in a plain brown wrapper and eaten sort of like an open burrito. The original bäco ($8), as it’s called on the menu, is made with pork belly and beef carnitas doused with smoked aioli and salbitxada, a thick Spanish sauce with a tangy kick that drips onto your cardboard plate. You may want to lick or wipe it up with the bäco, since it would be a shame to leave any behind. The beef is extremely tender and mixes with the crisp pork belly for a deliciously textured bite. The flavors are tricked out by the arugula and pickled onions that are also stuffed inside the warm bread, which is similar to flatbread but thicker. It only took a few seconds for me to finish it. If the bäco has a flaw, it’s that one won’t be enough to fill most people, at least not someone my size. In addition to the original bäco, there’s the Pesco, with crispy shrimp, cabbage and a sriracha and chive dressing. The El Pollo is just that, chicken escabeche, zhoug (a Yemeni hot sauce) and spiced lebni, a type of soft cheese.

photo by Xander Davies

Bäco Mercat, the second Downtown restaurant by celebrated chef Josef Centeno, opened in the Historic Core this month.

The Prochetta is made with eggplant, apple and something called sahawep. The Fava Bean Fritter has poblano feta, chickpeas and salmorejo ($8). The pizza influence is more obvious in the Coca, the traditional flatbread version of the bäco. “It’s in the vein of the Spanish pizza,” Centeno told me. “So it’s taking the same feel of the bäco but crisping it in a deck oven.” Coca choices are $9 each and include The Egg, with salsa verde topping a fried egg and ricotta cheese. Also on the Coca menu is a tomato and cheese version with confit tomato sauce, mozzarella, a smoked jalapeño and basil. Centeno also puts the bäco in a bowl with his Bazole

Restaurant Buzz

Dutch croquettes and Belgian fries doused with various dipping sauces. “Chimu was great, but we were swimming against the tide,” Michaud said. “It should have been a sit-down restaurant.” He has no plans to reopen Chimu at another location, and fries will never replace any of the dishes cooked there, but Restaurant Buzz can live with a few orders of frites for lunch. At 324 S. Hill St.

Hall restaurant Patina is getting into the holiday spirit this year with a trio of special meals. Usually open just for dinner, the establishment will offer lunch on three Fridays next month, Dec. 2, 9 and 16. Chef Tony Esnault is creating an à la carte menu paired with “winter” cocktails and wine selections from sommelier Silvestre Fernandes. Main course items include braised short ribs ($28) and a halibut lunch ($30). There’s no word yet on the cocktail list, but Restaurant Buzz is sure it will be a cool selection. Wow, that was bad. The lunch is 12-2:30 p.m. at 141 S. Grand Ave., (213) 972-3331 or patinarestaurant.com.

n Happy Meals: The Walt Disney Concert

n New Essentials: Not only did Little

Forgive and Fry-get, Happy Lunches and Essential Meals by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR

ive le Frite!: Restaurant Buzz is still a little sore at Jason Michaud for giving us the wonderful Peruvian restaurant Chimu, only to suddenly close the Grand Central Market establishment six months later. He may ultimately be forgiven, however, since he opened a new place in the same spot that gives the humble French fry the respect it deserves. Flanders Frites debuted Nov. 11 with a menu consisting of

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($10), a soup based on the Mexican pozole. “It’s my take on ramen and pozole. I make a pork broth, we make our own noodles and it’s served with pork belly and beef with a fried egg,”he said. I think that when I talk about the things I’m most thankful for this year, I may mention this soup. It’s a hearty meal and not something you would order as an appetizer, but I can see it as a post-Thanksgiving hangover breakfast to help get me over those tequila shots. Baco Mercat is at 408 S. Main St., (213) 687-8808 or bacomercat.com. Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.

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November 21, 2011

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CALENDAR Drawing From Culture

Exhibit Looks at the Contributions of Post-War Japanese American Artists by RichaRd Guzmán

lithograph by Kanemitsu titled “Oxnard Madame.” It was inspired by a story the artist pristine 1963 Chevy Stingray Corvette heard about a woman who ran a brothel yet sits on the first floor of the Japanese was well connected in the community. American National Museum. With One of Nakamura’s photographs shows its silver body and red interior, it acts like a his father, Harukichi Nakamura, in 1956. magnet for museum visitors such as 28-yearHe was a landscaper and is shown crouched old Joshua Holloway, who on a recent weekin front of a house with a well-maintained day afternoon stared into the window at the lawn. Another photo depicts the Cemetery classic American sports car. Monument at Manzanar, one of the 10 in“It’s beautiful. It’s definitely a work of ternment camps in the country where more art,” said the South Gate resident. than 120,000 Japanese Americans were inWhile its function is as a machine, carcerated during WWII. Holloway is not the only one who thinks of The exhibit also combines activism and art the vehicle in artistic terms. That comes into in a display of dozens of covers from Gidra, a play in the recently opened JANM exhibit magazine launched by five Asian American Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, UCLA students in 1969. The monthly pubDesign & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles. lication, which ran for five years, focused on The Corvette is one of hundreds of items political advocacy, particularly the anti-war on display at the museum through Feb. movement, and Asian American identity. 19. The exhibit looks at the influence that The magazine images are on two walls in photos courtesy Japanese American National Museum Japanese American artists, whose sense of An early design of the Chevy Stingray Corvette by Lawrence Kiyoshi Shinoda is one of the hundreds of a corner of the exhibit space. Some of the culture and identity was influenced by the items on display in the new Japanese American National Museum exhibit Drawing the Line: Japanese covers relate to everyday issues like back post-World War II period from 1945 to American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles. to school stories with pictures of Asian 1980, have had on the Los Angeles art scene. American children. Others are overtly poThe works cover a range of media and inlitical, such as a 1972 issue adorned with an clude drawings, photographs, paintings and illustration showing a city under the watchvideo. Then there’s the Corvette, designed by ful eye of police helicopters, tanks and men Los Angeles-born Lawrence Kiyoshi Shinoda. behind a watchtower. “This helps highlight the creativity of our “We’re really exited about bringing attenown community, to help us understand tion to this magazine,” Kuramitsu said. The better how Japanese Americans have conmuseum has also put a few issues online. tributed to pop culture,” said Chris Komai, Some of the most eye-catching pieces in the museum’s spokesman. “With the car the show are in Sakoguchi’s collection of it’s a perfect example of someone who consmall paintings modeled after old orange m or ownNews.co tributed to our overall culture andhanobody crate labels. The San Bernardino-born artist er at Downt rn co nd upper right com/forms/maillist Starts Oct.28/Nov.4 in theStingray, S Everyone knew knew was heavily influenced by the bold graphs.but the symbol the ew is th nn r E-NEWit. fo ow nt ok Lo www.ladow SIGN UPstory of that is who untold designed it, and it ics and colorful images that adorned the turned out to be a Japanese American man.” wooden crates that were stacked behind his Birth of a Scene parents’ grocery store. The hundreds of label The exhibit is part of the ongoing Pacific paintings he created touch on issues affectStandard Time, a collaboration organized by ing modern culture. the Getty Foundation that has brought toOne painting is a re-creation of the fagether more than 50 cultural institutions in mous WWII image of soldiers raising the Check Our Website for Full Movie Listings LADowntownNews.com Southern California. It aims to tell the story flag at Iwo Jima. However, in Sakoguchi’s of the birth of the L.A. art scene through exversion, the soldiers are lifting an Exxon oil hibits and programs. tower under a banner that reads “W.W. III Works in the JANM exhibit include Brand,” next to a bright orange. painter Matsumi Kanemitsu’s Illustrations “He grew up being exposed on a farm to of Southern California, a collection of prints fruits and vegetables, and from those experithat explore his perspective on the history ences he was able to make his own political of Los Angeles; some photographs by film- Ben Sakoguchi’s work was influenced by the bold graphics and colorful images that adorned the wood- statement,” Komai said. Starts Nov. 11 maker Robert A. Nakamura; a series of or- sen crates that were stacked behind his parents’ grocery store. Ultimately, said Komai, the statement this New n w to n ow .D ange crate label paintings by printmaker Ben exhibition makes is that art can be a decla.A /L m o .c cebook Sakoguchi; and aFa new installation by perforration of identity not just for the Japanese mance artist Linda Nishio, who revisits her “This exhibit really highlights a lot of “It’s a lot of different media,” Kuramitsu American culture, but all the cultures that 1981 performance Ghost in the Machine. artists that have perhaps not been given said. “There is a very broad range of work make up the city. The exhibit also features public programs the attention that they should,” said Kris and points of views from different generaDrawing the Line: Japanese American including a screening of Nakamura’s 1972 Kuramitsu, curator of the exhibit. tions and different perspectives.” Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los film Manzanar on Dec. 4, at a location yet to While much of the work reflects the Crate Works Angeles runs through Feb. 19 at the Japanese be announced. unique experience of Japanese Americans After passing the Corvette, which is roped American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Checkwith Our Full Listings LADowntownNews.com For museum officials, Drawing the Line after the war, it overlaps theWebsite civil rightsforoff on Movie the museum’s first floor, visitors walk (213) 625-0414 or janm.org. is an opportunity to shine a light on figures and women’s movements, as well as the upstairs to check out some of Shinoda’s Contact Richard Guzmán at who are often overlooked. anti-Vietnam war protests. drawings of the car. Beyond that is an abstract richard@downtownnews.com.

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Death Doesn’t Become Them

Downtown News 17

DowntownNews.com photo by Craig Schwartz

November 21, 2011

Stodgy Pacing and Thin Material Doom the Taper’s ‘Vigil’ by Jeff Favre contributing writer

allows humor can be particularly effective, given that it preys on dark, unsettling fears. The receiver has only the options of laughing or freaking out. A key ingredient to scaring the chuckles out of someone is context and character. In other words, it requires either an engaging plot or characters. Having both is preferable. Morris Panych’s Vigil, which opened recently at the Mark Taper Forum, has neither, which turns the two-hour gripe fest into a less-funny, more-grating version of a Jackie Mason stand-up routine. The show that runs through Dec. 18 is not a world premiere (it was first staged in 1995), which is a gamble because what’s on the page doesn’t always come out the same on the stage. With the knowledge of its limitations, Vigil ranks as one of the biggest missteps in Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie’s tenure. Granted, the opportunity to have Olympia Dukakis on stage is alluring, and it may attract theatergoers. But in this two-person piece, also starring Marco Barricelli, the famed movie actress has about a dozen lines, including only one in the interminably long first hour. You can see Dukakis, who is acting her face off, so to speak, but you won’t hear much of her. That’s because Panych, who also directs, has crafted more of a series of theatrical experiments with Vigil rather than a fully realized, emotionally complex story. The result is that you get one joke, which you’ve heard before, told with slight variations. Kemp (Barricelli) receives a note from his aunt, whom he hasn’t seen in decades. She writes that she is dying. He arrives to find Grace (Dukakis) in bed, and proceeds to callously plan her funeral and hope for her quick demise, which after months appears never to be coming. When she won’t die, he even contemplates ways to speed up the process. To boost the early bits of cornball, Panych accentuates his punch lines with quick blackouts. These almost serve as the nightclub drummer’s rimshot. Panych chooses not to let Grace speak, though she appears capable of doing so, and no explanation is provided for her silence. Kemp doesn’t seem to notice, because he is so self-absorbed that when he isn’t hovering like a vulture over Grace, he is complaining about his life, his parents, a woman in a nearby window who keeps staring at him, and anything else that occurs to him. Seemingly filled with a variety of psychological issues, it’s difficult to believe he had a banking job, which he left to care for his aunt. To his credit, Panych has devised a truly original second act twist, which dovetails into a sentimental but mildly engaging conclusion. However, the impact would have been twice as great if the first act was half as long. As is, it simply produces frustration and yawns, which is exacerbated by Panych’s stodgy pacing. None of the fault lies with Barricelli, whose Kemp makes Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” TV persona seem saint-like. Barricelli refrains from portraying Kemp as sympathetic, which matches the text, but it’s impossible to care what happens to him. His whines, shocks of anger and ability to fully buy into Kemp’s wildly erratic mood swings and delusions are almost unbearable. Without words, Dukakis relies on smiles, glances and some physical humor, highlighted by turning the tables on Kemp’s attempt to do her physical harm. When she does speak, Dukakis’ delivery earns some of the only laughs of the evening. Overall though, it’s a monumental waste of a versatile actress. The lone saving grace during the first act is Ken MacDonald’s intricate scenic design. Sharply angled doors and papered-over panes in a wall of windows surrounding a vintage bed turn the location into a den of loneliness and decay. It’s as though Grace has been swallowed by the bedroom, and Kemp is its next victim. Panych’s script, however, lacks the same detail as the set. Stale death-related jokes barked by an annoying man at an elderly and mostly mute woman do not equal a black comedy. Vigil runs through Dec. 18 at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 628-2772 or centertheatregroup.org.

Marco Barricelli is the nephew hoping his aunt (played by Olympia Dukakis) will die in the two-person show Vigil. It runs at the Mark Taper Forum through Dec. 18.

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he Big Easy heads west on Tuesday, Nov. 22, when New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the stunning Trey McIntyre Dance Project bound into the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The city where the river meets the sea is one of the world’s finest cultural mixing bowls, a place where centuries of trade, heartache and balmy summers have given rise to a musical identity so strong it outlasts hurricanes. The joyous rhythms of Mardi Gras and the soul wrenching strains of Second Line are the subject of the 8 p.m. performance. Dance and jazz meet on stage, so enjoy some creole cooking at Nola’s in the Arts District before grooving over to Disney Hall. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (323) 850-2000 or laphil.com.

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Monday, noveMber 21 Physics on the Fringe at Aloud 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7000 or lapl.org. 7 p.m.: Get crazy on the science when Margaret Wertheim and Jim Carter challenge our concept of what science is, how it works and who it is for. Los Angeles Auto Show Los Angeles Convention Center 1202 S. Figueroa St., (213) 741-1151 or laautoshow.com. Nov. 21-27: The L.A. Auto Show is one of the biggest happenings of the fall, bringing nearly 1 million people to check out new machines. This is the event’s final week, so fill up on turkey, bring the family and head to the Convention Center for some cars. It is open every day, including Thanksgiving. Speakeasy Open Mic Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St., (213) 488-0599 or lastbookstore.com. 9 p.m.: This weekly open mic night at one of Downtown’s largest centers of literacy attracts a wide spectrum of participants and listeners. Come try out your stuff before a supportive holiday crowd.

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Staples Center hosts a major homecoming for Katy Perry. Since her days at Santa Barbara’s Dos Pueblos High School, Katy has grown from a preacher’s daughter to the worldwide symbol of popular art that sells out arenas. It’s not just her bubbly personality, rockin’ grooves or one-of-a-kind outfits that have pulled her to the top of the charts, it’s also her joyous message about the uniqueness of each individual. Her last album, Teenage Dream, has already gone double platinum. Don’t be surprised if you glimpse her husband, reformed British bad boy Russell Brand. At 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7100 or staplescenter.com.

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photo courtesy AEG Live

ROCK, POP & JAZZ Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org. Nov. 21, 8:30 p.m.: Your favorite San Diego neoblues duo is back when Little Hurricane plays with beloved local heroes The Janks and Dartmouth. Nov. 22, 8:30 p.m.: We’re a bit unsure as to whether the scheduled performance for The Cooling Time is a band or an abstract metaphor for fall itself. The Chromium Heart and Square on Square join in the ruckus. Nov. 26, 9 p.m.: No NBA this year, so you’ve got no excuse to hate on Bostonians Hello Echo. The Californian and the Dead Ships chime in for emotional support. Nov. 27, 9 p.m.: Bubbly Deutsche pop band Super700 open for dark rooted, low-end snappers Greenhorse. Wreck of the Zephyr opens. Broadway Bar 830 S. Broadway, (213) 614-9909 or broadwaybar.la. Nov. 24, 10 p.m.: Broader Than Broadway is Comrade Stefan, Lido and HM Sound System. Casey’s Irish Pub 613 S. Grand Ave., (213) 629-2353 or bigcaseys.com. Nov. 26, 10 p.m.: Pop punk princesses Emily Wilder and Jessica Gelt are back for another night of their residency with Last in Class. Club Nokia 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia. com. Nov. 22-23, 7 p.m.: El Rey Don Omar brings his reggaeton to L.A. Live. Nov. 25, 9 p.m.: Bow before the gods of humor and burn a sacrificial lamb at the altar of Eddie Griffin. Redwood Bar and Grill 316 W. Second St., (213) 652-4444 or theredwoodbar. com. Nov. 21: Folk virtuoso Frank Fairfield should be commissioned to write a song that would replace the mind-numbing tune that repeats perpetually on the Redwood’s website. Nov. 22: White Night and French Exit do their things. Nov. 23: The talented Charlie Overbay will be appearing on this leg of his Brothers From Another Mother Tour. Nov. 25: It’s a delightful lineup tonight with The Amadans, Lightnin’ Woodcock, Bloody Brains and the Shiteland Ponies. Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., (213) 614-0737 or sevengrand.la. Nov. 21: John Daversa Small Band kicks out big sound. Nov. 22: The Makers will be hosting the official post-Katy Perry recovery concert. Copious whiskey and ever-so-soothing strains of improvisational jazz will help you forget the enthroned mediocrity you

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photo by Shannon Brinkman

SPONSORED LISTINGS Downtown On Ice Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., (213) 8474970 or laparks.org/pershingsquare. Through Jan. 16: Downtown on Ice returns, positing a patch of frozen water in an unlikely, but very welcome spot—Pershing Square. The seasonal facility has skates for rental for $2, with skate sessions costing $6. There will be an array of special events and programming at the rink for the next two months, including regular lunchtime concerts starting Dec. 19.

LISTINGS

ock up your Ferraris because Eddie Griffin’s coming to town. The stand up comedian and veteran actor recently ranked in the top 70% on Comedy Central’s “Greatest Stand Ups of All Time” list. He’ll be taking his long held mantle of “abnormally funny person” on the road with a show at Club Nokia on Friday, Nov. 25. Fans who love Griffin for his work in films like Norbit and Scary Movie 3, or those who giggled at his way-back UPN television show “Malcolm & Eddie” will get a kick out of Griffin’s saucy commentary on modern living. Griffin cuts to the heart of our social foibles with a doubleedged sword of humor and truth. At 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7100 or staplescenter.com.

t’s the final week of the Los Angeles Auto Show. Come give thanks for the aesthetics of mobility in this celebration of all things stylish, four wheeled and road worthy. The show, which runs through Nov. 27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, includes a spate of groovy debuts (such as the Chevy Camaro ZL1, shown here) and concept cars, including a whole batch of next generation green machines. The show is open every day, even on Thanksgiving. The final weekend is geared toward families with a fun zone offering face painting, bounce houses and video games. At 1201 S. Figueroa St., (213) 7411151 or laautoshow.com.

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et an early start on turkey day by thanking the artistic among us who have hit rock bottom. No, this doesn’t mean happy hour at the Down and Out — it’s a deadbeat writers double feature on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at the Million Dollar Theater. First, enjoy Mickey Rourke as Charles Bukowski, aka Hank Chianski, in Barfly. If this portrayal of the hopelessness of the creative condition in Los Angeles doesn’t satiate your urge for self-loathing, stick around for Barton Fink. John Turturro plays an imported East Coast playwright struggling beneath the weight of a terrible deadline. Shotgun wielding John Goodman will show you the life of the mind in this Coen Brothers classic. It starts at 7:30 p.m. at 307 S. Broadway, (213) 617-3600 or milliondollartheater.com.

Send information and possible Don’t Miss List submissions to calendar@downtownnews.com.

image courtesy AEG Live

EVENTS

November 21, 2011

Twitter/DowntownNews

photo courtesy General Motors

18 Downtown News

November 21, 2011

DowntownNews.com

just witnessed at Staples Center and maybe even give you some hope as to the future of the human race. Nov. 23: The Vibrometers are back, so buy the sax player a drink, ask Chris to play “Just Kissed My Baby” and try to mirror Molly’s facial expressions as she shreds through the guitar solos. The Smell 247 S. Main St., alley between Spring and Main streets, thesmell.org. Nov. 23: It’s a night of sonic solidarity with this free show in support of the Occupy movement a mere block away. Lucky Dragons, Emily Lacy, Ezra Buchla and Jonathan Silberman will be tickling your inner ear with tunes. Nov. 25: Buffalo, New York’s Lemuria and Roman Candles (the band, not the fun firework. That would be cool though. Maybe also a major fire hazard). Nov. 26: And the award for the week’s longest band name goes to: Sam Mickens Ecstatic Showband & Revue, who will be playing with Jewels of the Nile. Staples Center 1111 S. Figueroa, (213) 742-7340 or staplescenter.com. Nov. 22, 8 p.m.: Katy Perry graces Downtown with her presence yet again. Praise be on high. Tony’s Saloon 2017 E. Seventh St., (213) 622-5523 or tonyssaloon.la. Nov. 21, 9:30 p.m.: Judson McKinney looks ohso svelte in his camouflage jacket. Just you wait until you hear his straight-from-the-gut rock tunes. Nov. 24, 10 p.m.: Give thanks with Aaron Castle and his rangy disco shindig. The Varnish 118 E. Sixth St., (213) 622-9999 or thevarnishbar.com. Nov. 21, 9 p.m.: Jamie Elman tickles the keys. Nov. 22, 8:30 p.m.: Somewhere deep in a Downtown back room, Mark Bosserman will play you a song on his piano. Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 S. Grand, (980) 575-7099 or laphil.org. Nov. 22, 8 p.m.: Fresh from its stunning 2010 Hollywood Bowl debut, the Trey McIntyre Project performs a brand new collaboration in its Walt Disney Concert Hall debut. And, the entrancing, mystical world of New Orleans comes to life through superb modern dance and the intoxicating New Orleans jazz of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

FILM Flagship Theatres University Village 3323 S. Hoover St., (213) 748-6321 or flagshipmovies.com. Through Nov. 22: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One (11 a.m. and 1:45, 4:40, 7:15 and 10 p.m. with a 12:30 a.m. show on Friday and Saturday); Jack & Jill (1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8 and 10:15 p.m.); Puss in Boots 3D (12, 2:20, 4:40, 7 and 9:20 p.m.). Nov. 23 (Partial): Happy Feet 2 3D and The Muppets. IMAX Theater California Science Center, 700 State Drive, (213) 7442019 or californiasciencecenter.org. Oct. 7-Dec. 31: Soar over primordial earth in Flying Monsters 3D. Some 220 million years ago, dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth. But another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap: Pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction. Million Dollar Theatre 307 S. Broadway, (213) 617-3600 or milliondollartheater.com. Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m.: Check out Mickey Rourke as Charles Bukowski in 1987’s Barfly and John Goodman as Madman Munt in Barton Fink. Regal Cinema L.A. Live 1000 W. Olympic Blvd., (877) 835-5734 or lalive.com. Through Nov. 22: Happy Feet Two (11:10 a.m. and 1:40, 4:20, 7 and 9:40 p.m.); Happy Feet Two in 3D (11:50 a.m. and 2:20, 5, 7:40 and 10:20 p.m.); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 (11 a.m. and 12:50, 1:20, 1:50, 3:50, 4:20, 4:50, 6:50, 7:20, 7:50, 9:50, 10:20 and 11 p.m.); Immortals (11:20 a.m. and 2, 4:30, 7:10 and 9:50 p.m.); Immortals 3D (12, 2:40, 5:20, 8 and 10:40 p.m.); Jack and Jill (11:40 a.m. and 2:10, 4:30, 7 and 9:30 p.m.); J. Edgar (12:40, 4, 7:20 and 10:40 p.m.); Tower Heist (11:30 a.m. and 2, 4:40, 7:30 and 10:10 p.m.); A Very Har-

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old & Kumar 3D Christmas (12:10, 2:40, 5:10, 7:30 and 10 p.m.); In Time (11:40 a.m. and 2:20, 5, 7:40 and 10:30 p.m.); Puss in Boots (1:40 and 6:40 p.m.); Puss in Boots 3D (11:20 a.m. and 4:10 and 9:20 p.m.); Paranormal Activity 3 (12:20 and 2:30 p.m.). Nov. 23 (Partial): The Muppets (11 a.m. and 1:40, 4:30, 7:20 and 10:10 p.m.).

THEATER, OPERA & DANCE Bring It On: The Musical 135 N. Grand Ave., 213.628.2772 or centertheatregroup.org. Nov. 22, 23 and 25, 8 p.m.; Nov. 19, 2 and 8 p.m.; Nov. 20, 1 and 6:30 p.m.: Set in the world of competitive cheerleading, this new show proves that winning isn’t everything when it means losing something, or someone, you really care about. Through Dec. 10. Holiday Puppet Show The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., (213) 250-9995 or bobbakermarionettes.com. Nov. 15-18, 10:30 a.m. and Nov. 19-20, 2:30 p.m.: “Bob Baker’s Holiday Spectacular” has charmed audiences for generations. Join the Wizard of Fantasy and his sidekick Demi Star as they embark on a magical journey with a cast of more than 100 exquisitely designed marionettes, celebrating everything from the eight days of Chanukah to a trip to Santa’s Workshop. Romeo and Juliet LA Opera, 135 N. Grand St., (213) 972-7211 or laopera.com. Nov. 20, 2 p.m. and Nov. 26, 2 p.m.: Plácido Domingo conducts Nino Machaidze and Vittorio Grigolo in Charles Gounod’s take on the Shakespeare tragedy of two star-crossed lovers. Short Eyes Los Angeles Theatre Company, 514 S. Spring St., (213) 489-0994 or thelatc.org. Nov. 24-26, 8 p.m.; Nov. 27, 7 p.m.: Short Eyes, a term prisoners use to brand a child molester, reveals the racial, sexual and dangerously seditious personal politics wielded by group of inmates at a house of detention in New York City. Their ploys and communal rebellions are unexpectedly disturbed when they are joined by a middle-class white man accused of raping a young girl. Vigil Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., 213.628.2772 or centertheatregroup.org. Nov. 23 and 25, 8 p.m.; Nov. 26, 2:30 and 8 p.m.: Academy Award Winner Olympia Dukakis is Grace, a woman of few words and the aunt of Kemp, who, after 30 years, has traveled cross-country to be with her on her deathbed.

CLASSICAL MUSIC Monday, noveMber 21 A Festival of Strads Cicada at the Oviatt, 617 S. Olive, (213) 477-2929 or dacamera.org. 8 p.m.: L.A. Philharmonic concert master Martin Chalifour brings dazzling virtuosity to the violin sonatas of Beethoven, Faure and Jacacek performed on three Stradivarius violins. Friday, noveMber 25 Beethoven and Hillborg Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand, (980) 5757099 or laphil.org. 8 p.m.: The L.A. Master Chorale, with conductor (and former L.A. Phil Music Director) Esa Pekka Salonen, pianist Emanuel Ax, soprano Hila Plitmann and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, presents works from Beethoven and Hillborg. Also Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.

MUSEUMS African American Firefighter Museum 1401 S. Central Ave., (213) 744-1730 or aaffmuseum.org. Ongoing: An array of firefighting relics dating to 1924, including a 1940 Pirsch ladder truck, an 1890 hose wagon, uniforms from New York, L.A. County and City of L.A. firefighters, badges, helmets, photographs and other artifacts. Annette Green Perfume Museum

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FIDM, second floor, 919 S. Grand Ave., (213) 6241200 or fidmmuseum.org. Through Dec. 17: Fabulous! celebrates the past decade of collecting at the FIDM Museum in Los Angeles. With a surge in extraordinary donations and purchases since 2000, the museum gained new eminence and richness. The fruits of their labor include an Alexander McQueen couture gown and court suits. Ongoing: One of a kind, the museum is dedicated to enhancing our understanding the art, culture and science of the olfactory. Originally opened in New York City in 1999, the collection — 2,000 bottles, perfume presentations and documentary ephemera dating from the late 1800s to the present — was donated to FIDM in 2005. Also, High Style: Perfume and the Haute Couture features a selection of fragrance bottles and packaging that reflect the many ways that fame inspires design. Images of Men: A Look Through Fragrance is a new installation in the Annette Green Fragrance Archive. The bottles and accessories showcased explore how men’s diverse identities and roles are conveyed through the changing designs of the bottles themselves. California African American Museum 600 State Drive, (213) 744-7432 or caamuseum.org. Ongoing: The multi-functional Gallery of Discovery offers visitors the opportunity to connect with the lineage of their own family, engage in artistic workshops, educational tours and other programs of historical discoveries. Hear recordings of actual living slaves from the Library of Congress archives and discover stories from the past. California Science Center 700 State Drive, (323) 724-3623 or californiasciencecenter.org. Through Dec. 31: 1001 Inventions is a traveling international exhibition that promotes awareness of scientific and cultural achievements from the “Golden Age” of Muslim civilization during the 7th to 17th centuries from a diverse region stretching from Spain through China. Through interactive displays, explore basic science principles in such fields as optics, time-keeping, hydraulics, navigation, architecture and math. Ongoing: Science in Toyland presents physics through favorite kids toys. This hands on exhibit engages museum visitors with Dominos, Sails and Roller Coasters in a fun, but informational primer on friction, momentum and chain reactions. Ongoing: The Science Center’s permanent ex-

Downtown News 19 hibits are usually interactive and focus on human innovations and inventions as well as the life processes of living things. The lobby stays busy with the High Wire Bicycle, a Motion-Based Simulator, the Ecology Cliff Climb and Forty Years of Space Photography. The human body is another big focus: The Life Tunnel aims to show the connections between all life forms, from the single-celled amoeba to the 100-trillion-celled human being. The new Ecosystems exhibit explores how life on our planet is shaped by geophysical and biological processes. Chinese American Museum 425 N. Los Angeles St., (213) 485-8567 or camla.org. Through Dec. 18: Dreams Deferred: Artists Respond to Immigration Reform showcases local artists exploring the tensions, repercussions, hopes and dreams of immigrant communities in the face of new immigration legislation, through a broad spectrum of art including street art, graffiti art, sculptures, painting and multimedia installations. Through Jan. 31: To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Remembering Angel Island will showcase historic photographs, a reproduction of a poem carved on the barracks of Angel Island, artifacts and a multi-media station featuring personal stories of those who endured or were profoundly affected by the Angel Island experience. Permanent: Re-creation of the Sun Wing Wo, a Chinese general store and herbal shop, and Journeys: Stories of Chinese Immigration, an exhibit exploring Chinese immigration to the United States with an emphasis on community settlement in Los Angeles. Outlined into four distinct time periods, each is defined by an important immigration law and/or event, accompanied by a description and a personal story about a local Chinese American and their experiences in that particular historical period. El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument 124 Paseo de la Plaza, (213) 485-8372 or elpueblo. lacity.org. Ongoing: The whole of El Pueblo is called a “monument,” and of this monument’s 27 historic buildings, four function as museums: the Avila Adobe, the city’s oldest house; the Sepulveda House, home to exhibits and the monument’s Visitors Center; the Fire House Museum, which houses late 19th-century fire-fighting equipment; and the Masonic Hall, which boasts Masonic memorabilia. Check its website for a full slate of fiestas, including

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GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY @ MOCA UNION JAPANESE CENTER AMERICAN FOR THE NATIONAL ARTS MUSEUM

LOS ANGELES CITY HALL

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CITY HALL EAST

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EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER

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DEPT. OF BUILDING & SAFETY

FEDERAL COURTHOUSE

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AHMANSON THEATER MARK TAPER FORUM

110

EDWARD R. ROYBAL LEARNING CENTER

VISTA HERMOSA PARK

CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS

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Gas Stations

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CES

SPR

ALPINE HILL

ANGELINO HEIGHTS

Metro Blue Line

AS ED AM

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Metro Rail Station Access

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CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT HQ

Contact Cartifact for the full-color, every-building version of this map . Available in print, web and mobile media.

Metro Gold Line

CHINATOWN

NEW

E ST

CHINATOWN STATION

ALPIN

700 S. Flower St, # 1940 Los Angeles, CA 90017 213.327.0200 maps�cartifact.com

DYNASTY CENTER

CASTELLAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

COLL

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November 21, 2011

Downtown News 21

DowntownNews.com

CLASSIFIED

plaCe your ad online aT www.ladownTownnews.Com

FOR RENT

l.a. downtown news classifieds Call: 213-481-1448 Classified Display & Line ad Deadlines: Thursday 12 pm REAL ESTATE RESIDENTIAL

out of state

lofts for sale

TheLoftExpertGroup.com Downtown since 2002

Bill Cooper

213.598.7555 real estate services NO CHARGE Loan Modification Assistance. Greg Foster 213910-5060.

20 ACRES-LIVE On Land Now!! Only $99/mo. $0 Down, Owner Financing, No Credit Checks! Near El Paso, Texas, Beautiful Mountain Views! Free Color Brochure. 1-800-755-8953. www.SunsetRanches.com (CalSCAN) vacation Homes ADVERTISE YOUR Vacation Property in 240 California newspapers for one low cost of $550. Your 25 word classified ad reaches over 6 million+ Californians. Free brochure call Elizabeth (916)288-6019. (CalSCAN)

“Be wary of out of area companies. Check with the local Better Business Bureau before you send any money for fees or services. Read and understand any contracts before you sign. Shop around for rates.”

apartments/unfurnisHed

All submissions are subject to federal and California fair housing laws, which make it illegal to indicate in any advertisement any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income or physical or mental disability. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

BRAND NEW Luxury Apartments Homes. Orsini III. Now open for immediate Occupancy. Call for Specials. Never Lived in, Free Parking, Karaoke Room, Free Wi-Fi, Indoor Basketball, Uncomparable Amenity Package. Call today to schedule a tour - 866-479-1764.

REAL ESTATE COMMERCIAL office space lease/sale

The Downtown Renaissance Collection

CALL FOR SPECIALS @ the Medici. Penthouse 1 & 2 bdrm apts. Granite kitchens, washer/ dryers, business center, 2 pools, spa! Visit TheMedici.com for a full list of amenities. Call 888886-3731.

loft for lease 1,100 square feet

fully furnished with kitchen.

$1,250 per month.

213-327-0105

Be Inspired...

condominiums/furnisHed

Best Downtown Locations!

PROMENADE CONDO. View. 1 br, 1000 sf. Paid cable, gym 818788-6688 cell 818-522-7838.

LOFT LIVING

Your number 1 source for Loft sales, rentals and development! downtownnews.com

Continued on next page

Beautiful

Orsini

EstD 1912

550 NORTH FIGUEROA ST.

877-231-9362

Historic beauty. Modern refinement. Eclectic elegance.

WWW.THEORSINI.COM

Medici 725 SOUTH BIXEL ST.

877-239-8256

noW leasinG

WWW.THEMEDICI.COM

$1,400’s/mo.

ROOFTOP GARDEN RETREAT WITH BBQ AND LOUNGE GRAND LOBBY • FITNESS CENTER • SPA MODERN KITCHEN w/CAESAR COUNTERTOPS PET FRIENDLY • DRAMATIC VIEWS MARKET, KELLY’S COFFEE, DRY CLEANING, MAC AND CHEEZA and LA BREWERY on Ground Floor

Pricing subject to change without notice.

the loft expert! group

Voted Best Downtown Residential Real estate Agent Call us today! Bill Cooper • 213.598.7555 • TheLoftExpertGroup.com

Fully furnished with TV, telephone, microwave, refrigerator. Full bathroom. Excellent location. Downtown LA. Weekly maid service.

Santa Claus

is Coming to Town!

Monthly from $595 utilities paid. (213) 627-1151

Crest Labor Inc. dba Crest Moving Co. Serving the greater Los Angeles area for 39 years.

Have Santa at your company party, event or home. Reasonable Pricing. Call early to set a date & time. Call Martin @ 323 373-5112 With my visit, all you’ll need are your cameras.

madison hotel Clean furnished single rooms. 24-hour desk clerk service. •Daily, $30.00 •Weekly, $109.00 •Monthly, $310.00 (213) 622-1508 423 East 7th St.

(2 blocks west of San Pedro St.) Starting Jan. 1, 2011

Household and Commercial Office moving. Removal of junk, of any kind, services available. Currently doing business with the City and County of Los Angeles. No matter the size, we haul it all!!!

Piero 616 ST. PAUL AVE.

877-235-6012

WWW.THEPIERO.COM

Visconti 1221 WEST THIRD ST.

866-690-2888

WWW.THEVISCONTI.COM

FREE Rent Specials On Select Floor Plans

Downtown since 2002

756 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 213-892-9100 | chapmanf lats.com

Elegant World Class Resort Apartment Homes

• Free Resident/Guest Parking in Gated Garage • Private Library, Business Center & Conference Rooms • Free Wi-Fi & DSL Computer Use • Resident Karaoke Lounge • Directors Screening Room • Lavish Fountains & Sculptures • On-Site Private Resident Park with Sand Volleyball, BBQ’s and Jogging Track • Night Light Tennis Courts • Indoor Basketball

• Brunswick Four-Lane Virtual Bowling • Full Swing Virtual Golf • 3100 Square Foot Cybex Fitness Facility • Free Tanning Rooms • Massage Room, Sauna & Steam Room • Rooftop Pools with Dressing Rooms • Concierge Service • 24-Hour Doorman • 24/7 On-Site Management • Magnificent City Views *Amenities vary among communities

rosslyn Hotel Studio 280 sqft. Full Bathroom Apartment $600 mo. to mo. $580 on 6 mo. Lease No Application Fee! - Sec. Dep. $175 Free Utilities, 24 hr. laundry, Around the Clock Courtesy Patrol

112 W 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 213.624.3311 • Rosslyn@SROhousing.com

Furnished single unit with kitchenette, bathroom. Excellent location. Downtown LA. Weekly rate $275 inc.

Monthly from $550 utilities paid. (213) 612-0348

Please call for an estimate 213-626-7671 office or 213-216-7522 cell

7000 sqft. Basement Space ✦ set up for Gallery/Office space

downtownnews.com

213.627.6913 | cityloftsquare.com

premiere Towers CALL For PrICE

• w/Gallery Lights • Wide Private (Spring St.) Entrance • Ideal for Art Gallery, SPA, Office Space • Wired for internet service/telephone outlets • Prime Location in Downtown (Gallery row, residential area, wine bar, café, market)

Version 1

Client: Publication: Size/Color:

Elevate Your Lifestyle @ PE Lofts Today!

G.H. Palmer Associates LADT News ■ 24 Hr. State of the Art Fitness Center 4.3125” x 8” 4C ■ Covered On-Site Parking ■ Heated Pool and Spa

■ Rooftop Lounge with Cabanas,

Fireplace and BBQs Design by: apluscreative@yahoo.com

Ph: 323.474.4668

(866) 561-0275 • PELOFTS.COM • 610 S. Main, Downtown LA

35 Boutique Style “Live/Work” Residences starting at $1,450 Studio Lofts 600-1800 sq. ft.

855.240.7518

fter the .

22 Downtown News

November 21, 2011

Twitter/DowntownNews Continued from previous page

Do you have something to sell? (Marketplace and Automotive Categories ONLY)

Name: Address: City Phone: Cash $ Credit card #: Exp. Date:

CONDOMINIUMS/UNFURNISHED

$2650/mth. 2 flr, 2 bd/ 2 ba + Ad Copy: _________________________________________

Old Bank District

loft. 11’ x 9’ storage. 2 parking spaces. Built in wall unit. Kitchen appliances incl. Washer & Dryer incl. in unit. 213-280-1088

The original Live/Work Lofts ________________________________________________ from $1,100

Ad Prices • Items under $300 • Items $301 to $500 • Items $501 to $1200 • Items $1201 to $2000 • Items $2001+…

Loft/Unfurnished

FREE! $11.50 $14.00 $16.50 $19.00

12 words, 2 weeks 15 words 15 words 15 words 15 words

All ads run for 2 weeks. Ads may be renewed after two weeks for 50% off the original price of the ad.

With a circulation of State Check $

47,000,

Zip Credit Card $

our classifieds get results!

Cafes, Bars, Shops, Galleries,

Parking adjacent. Pets no charge ________________________________________________ FOR LEASE Spacious, 2 BedCall 213.253.4777 LAloft.com

room, 1 Bathroom, unfurnished Condominium.Appliances, Inside patio, very quite area, close to shopping, bus, freeway, and schools. 323-359-7710

________________________________________________ REAL ARTIST LOFTS High ceilings, hardwood/concrete floors, kitchen, fireplace, pool/spa, gated parking, laundry, sorry no dogs. Open House Sundays 12-3pm. Leasing office @1250 Long Beach Ave. & 14th St. 213629-5539

________________________________________________ BUNGALOW

________________________________________________

ECHO PARK bungalow 1 bdrm. 1 bath. Refrigerator stove and A/C. Starting at $850 a month. 213-250-4810 leave message.

________________________________________________ TERRIFIC ART STUDIO. 240sf, 15’ceiling, enclosed, great light, gated parking, internet. Part of larger studio in Santa Fe Art Colony, near downtown and freeways. $340/mo WORK ONLY/ NOT LIVE-IN 213-509-4403

________________________________________________

LOFT LIVING

Your number 1 ________________________________________________ source for Loft

sales, rentals and Restrictions: Offer good on private party ads only. Ads must be pre-paid by cash, check or credit card. Certain classifications excluded. Deadline: Thursday at noon fordevelopment! next issue. DowntownNews.com

Ad Copy: _________________________________________

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

d. Certain classifications excluded. Deadline: at by noon issue. Restrictions: Offer good on private party ads only. AdsThursday must be pre-paid cash, for checknext or credit card. Certain classifications excluded. Deadline: Thursday at noon for next issue.

THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

EMPLOYMENT Drivers A BETTER CAREER With Melton. Great Equipment & Benefits. 2 Months CDL Class A Driving Experience. 1-877-2588782. www.MeltonTruck.com (Cal-SCAN) COMPANY DRIVERS - Teams Needed - Regional Runs - Western States! Sign-On Bonus * Excellent Pay * New Equipment * CDL-A, 1-Year OTR Experience Required. HazMat Required. 1-888-905-9879. www.AndrusTrans.com (Cal-SCAN) DRIVER - BUILD Your Own Hometime! Part-time, Full-time, Express & Casual lanes! Daily or Weekly Pay. Modern equipment! CDL-A, 3 months recent experience required. 1-800-4149569. www.DriveKnight.com (Cal-SCAN) DRIVER - STABLE Career, No Experience Needed! Sign On Bonuses Available! Top Industry pay & quality training. 100% Paid CDL Training. 1-800-3262778. www.JoinCRST.com (CalSCAN) DRIVERS/CDL Training - Career Central. No Money Down. CDL Training. Work for us or let us work for you! Unbeatable Career Opportunities. *Trainee *Company Driver *Lease Operator Earn up to $51k *Lease Trainers Earn up to $80k 1-877-3697091. www.CentralDrivingJobs. net (Cal-SCAN)

Educational LOOKING FOR a tutor to teach video editing on an Apple computer.The hours are flexible. $25 an hour 213-446-6443.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Management COMPUTER SYSTEMS Manager: Resume/Ad to: Samtex Fabrics, 1418 E. 18th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Help Wanted JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Get paid to train in the California Army National Guard Up to 100% tuition assistance. Part-time work. Full-time benefits. www. NationalGuard.com/Careers or 1-800-Go-Guard. (Cal-SCAN)

SERVICES Attorneys

ABOGADO DE IMMIGRACION! Family, Criminal, P.I. for more than 20 yrs! Child Support / Custody Necesita Permiso de trabajo? Tagalog / Español / Korean

Get your GREEN CARD or CITIZENSHIP Law Office of H. Douglas Daniel Esq., (213) 689-1710

Business Services ADVERTISE A display Business Card sized ad in 140 California newspapers for one low cost of $1,550. Your display 3.75x2” ad reaches over 3 million+ Californians. Free brochure call Elizabeth (916)288-6019. (CalSCAN) ADVERTISE YOUR Truck Driver Jobs in 240 California newspapers for one low cost of $550. Your 25 word classified ad reaches over 6 million+ Californians. Free brochure call Elizabeth (916)288-6019. (CalSCAN)

November 21, 2011

REACH CALIFORNIANS With a Classified in Almost Every County! Experience the power of classifieds! Combo~California Daily and Weekly Networks. One order. One payment. Free Brochures. elizabeth@cnpa.com or (916)288-6019. (Cal-SCAN)

Cleaning CONCEPTO’S CLEANING Crew. Professional, experienced, cleans apartments, homes, offices and restaurants. Call for a quote. 323-459-3067 or 818-409-9183. DRY CLEANING Eco friendly Cleaners in DOWNTOWN. Lowest prices. Expert Alterations Available. Elite Cleaners 213628-0603. eduCation HIGH SCHOOL Diploma! Graduate in 4 weeks! Free Brochure. Call Now! 1-866-562-3650 ext. 60 www.SouthEasternHS.com (Cal-SCAN)

Sell Your Car!

Expose your auto to Downtown Los Angeles. With one of the fastest growing residential areas Los Angeles Downtown News gets results.

Call 213-481-1448

Downtown News 23

DowntownNews.com ALLIED HEALTH Career training - Attend college 100% online. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. SCHEV certified. Call 800-481-9409. www.CenturaOnline.com (Cal-SCAN) EARN COLLEGE Degree Online. *Medical, *Business, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. SCHEV certified. Call 888-210-5162 www.CenturaOnline.com (CalSCAN)

HealtH & Fitness VIAGRA 100MG and CIALIS 20mg!! 40 Pills 4 Free for only $99. #1 Male Enhancement, Discreet Shipping. Only $2.70/ pill. Buy the Blue Pill Now! 1-888904-6658 (Cal-SCAN)

legal SOCIAL SECURITY Disability Benefits. You Win or Pay Us Nothing. Contact Disability Group, Inc. Today! BBB Accredited. Call For Your Free Book & Consultation. 877-490-6596. (Cal-SCAN)

GET FLEX TV de Dish Latino with packages starting at $19.99. Flex TV has no contracts, no credit checks and free installation. Call 888-515-5924 today! (Cal-SCAN)

doWntoWn l.a. auto grouP Porsche Volkswagen audi Mercedes-Benz nissan cheVrolet cadillac

2007 NISSAN 350Z TOURING Certified, Carfax, 1 owner, multi-disc CD, leather, premium wheels, Black NI3822 / M552797 $20,499 call 888-838-5089

DOWNTOWN

$10,999

OVER 500 PREOWNED CARS, TRUCKS, SUV’s & VANS IN STOCK!

$11,399 2008 Nissan Rogue SL ....................................... $17,999 Certified, White. 8W306558/NI3868 2009 Infiniti FX35 .............................................. $36,499 Only 18K Miles. Certified. NI3876/9M103735 2008 Nissan Sentra ............................................ Certified, Blue. 8L606912/N111396-1

888-I-LOVE-LA DTLAMOTORS.COM

AUDI OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

$21,374

DOWNTOWN L.A. AUTO GROUP 888-I-LOVE-LA (456-8352) W W W . D T L A M O T O R S . C O M

Certified, Low miles..

$27,886 2008 Audi A4 Cab .............................................. $26,761 Certified, Low miles. ZA10041/8K010261 2008 Audi A4 Avant .......................................... $27,989 Certified, Auto, Low miles. ZA10077/8A034874

$10,995 $14,995 Certified, Automatic Trans. UC828R 2009 Cadillac Escalade ..................................... $40,995 Loaded! Must see. UC754R 2010 Chevy Cobalt LT ....................................... 4 Door, auto, 37 mpg, AC, CD. UC886R/7175189

2009 Chevy Malibu ...........................................

DOWNTOWN L.A. MOTORS MBZ

$14,387 2009 VW Jetta SE ............................................... $15,693 Certified Low Miles. ZV1381/9M005971 2010 VW CC Sport .............................................. $24,875 Certified Low Miles. ZV1422/ AE511890 2008 VW Passat WGN ........................................ Certified Low Miles. ZV1386/8E052689

Singing, dancing, performing and fun! For boys & girls ages 3 and up!

SunshineGenerationLA.com 909-861-4433

$28,991 $39,991 Certified, White/Cashmere, 3.5 Liter, 20k miles. 110405-1/A535101 2010 Mercedes E350 .......................................... $42,991 Certified, Sport, P1 pkg, Nav, AMG Wheels. 112375-1/A065173 PORSCHE OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

$10,995

888-781-8102 1900 S. Figueroa St. • vwdowntownla.com

Certified, Low Miles.

Certified, 35K Miles, 7 Speed, Auto, Silver, Moonroof.

2010 Mercedes ML 350 W2 ...............................

2008 NISSAN VERSA

$17,780

$26,991

2009 MERCEDES C300 SPORT Pewter/Black, 39k, 3.5 Liter. 1955382C/B104255

888-845-2267 1505 E. 223rd St., Carson carsonnissan.com

VOLKSWAGEN OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

Sunshine Generation

4 door SUV, Automatic

2007 Mercedes E350W ......................................

CARSON NISSAN

Certified Low Miles. ZA10040/ 8N130733

Children’s Performing Group

$13,995

2011 CHEVY HHR UC843R/ S529063

111766-1/R065710

2008 Audi A6 ......................................................

ZV1301/9M048090

Helping kids heal. Free Arts for Abused Children is looking for volunteers to integrate the healing power of the arts into the lives of abused and at-risk children and their families. Today is the day to get involved! Contact Annie at volunteers@freearts. org or 310-313-4278 for more information.

888-319-8762 1801 S. Figueroa St. • mbzla.com

ZA10002/8A133334

2009 VW JETTA WOLF

volunteer oPPortunities

FELIX CHEVROLET

888-583-0981 1900 S. Figueroa St. • audidtla.com

2008 AUDI A4 2.0T

ADVERTISE YOUR Auction in 240 California newspapers for one low cost of $550. Your 25 word classified ad reaches over 6 million+ Californians. Free brochure call Elizabeth (916)2886019. (Cal-SCAN)

888-879-9608 330 S. Figueroa St. • felixchevrolet.com

L.A. AUTO GROUP

Black Leather, Moonroof and alloy.

auCtion

WEDDING GOWN Sale at Unbelievable Prices. Was $900 to $2,500 Now $299 to $499. Many Leading Designers. Limited Quantities. Act Now! Up-land. 909-985-6336. www. DeborahsBridal.com (CalSCAN)

DONATE YOUR CAR, truck or boat to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 888-9026851. (Cal-SCAN)

2007 NISSAN MAXIMA 3.5 Certified,3.5L V6, Only 27k Miles, Auto, ABS and much more!! N111041-1/7C823560 $20,499 call 888-838-5089

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MisC. iteMs

autos Wanted

Fictitious Business name statement FILE NO. 2011117930 The following person is doing business as: BASICALLYCLOTHED. COM, 874 Hammond Street, #7 West Hollywood, CA 90069, is hereby registered by the following registrant(s): LISA S. TAHK, 874 Hammond Street, #7, West Hollywood CA 90069. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant(s) has not begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. This statement was filed with DEAN LOGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk on October 18, 2011. NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code). Pub. 11/14, 11/21, 11/28, 12/5/2011

AMAZON KINDLE new with book $60. OBO (323) 668-0926

ITEMS FOR SALE

For a complete list of our pre-owned inventory, go to www.DTLAMOTORS.com

FiCtitious Business naMe

Books

ADOPT (OR FOSTER) your forever friend from Bark Avenue Foundation. Beautiful, healthy puppies, dogs, cats and kittens available at Downtown’s largest private adoption facility. Call Dawn at 213-840-0153 or email Dawn@BarkAveLA.com or visit www.Bark Avenue Foundation. org.

2009 VW PASSAT KOMFORT 2.0L, 4-Cyl Turbo, Only 21K Miles, 31 mpg highway, Gray/ Blue V111147-1 / P001654 $19,890 Call 888-781-8102.

2007 MERCEDES ML350 3.5L, V6, Low miles, Rear Seat Ent., Navigation, Black/Black #5358C / A432886 $35,991 Call 888319-8762.

LIKE NEW Refrigerators for sale. Small $100, countertop $50. Can deliver. 323-441-0983.

adoPt a Pet

2008 PORSCHE BOXSTER CONV. Certified, 2.7L V6, Meteor Gray/Black, Only 25k Miles, Alloys, spoiler ZP1347/8U711448 $39,785 Call 888-685-5426.

LEGAL

aPPlianCes

PETS/ANIMALS

2008 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S Carfax, 1 owner, only 48K miles, Auto, CD, White N120068-1 / C155663 call 888-838-5089

Pre-oWned

888-838-5089 635 W. Washington Blvd. • downtownnissan.com

N111536-2/5C460027

DONATE YOUR Car: Children’s Cancer Fund! Help Save A Child’s Life Through Research & Support! Free Vacation Package. Fast, Easy & Tax Deductible. Call 1-800-252-0615. (CalSCAN)

2008 CHEVY TAHOE 4 DOOR 5.3L, V8, Low Miles, Dual Zone AC, Rear Split Bench #UC782/ R160804 $26,995 Call 888-8799608

AUTOS

NISSAN OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

2005 NISSAN FRONTIER LE CREW CAB

2008 AUDI TT 2.0L, 4-Cyl Turbo, Only 21K Miles, 31 mpg highway, Gray/Blue ZA/9954 / 1044026 $27,993 Call 888-583-0981

MisC. serviCes

Certified, Silver, Low Miles. C120039-18L401750

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix ............. Blue, miles 71k C120132-1/1270939

$7,995

888-685-5426 1900 S. Figueroa St. • porschedowntownla.com

$88,895

2010 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4S COUPE

Black/Black,Only 5K,CPO, Nav, Bose, Sport, Chrono, Plus, Like New.

AS720756

$44,593 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo ......................... $69,998 Certified, Twin Turbo, Blk/Blk, Only 17k miles, 32V-V8. ZP1370 / A82999 2010 Nissan Titan ..................... $21,995 2011 Panamera ................................................. 8k miles, blue. C111234-1/N301408 GT Silver/Blk, 20” Turbo II Wheel, Nav, Prk Assist, Bose, CPO. ZP1413/BL012265 $76,894 2009 Nissan Cube ..................... 31k miles, silver. CU0426R/T105795

Real Estate Specialist of San Gabriel Valley Proudly serving the communities of San Gabriel, Alhambra, Monterey Park, Montebello and El Monte.

Cal Best Realty

Emi Terauchi Realtor / Notary • Lic.No.00810238

English/Japanes/Chinese speaking emiterauchi@yahoo.com • (626) 786-9086

$14,995

2008 Porsche Cayman S ..................................

Certified, Meteor Grey/Black, Tiptronic, Heated Seats, CPO. ZP1410/8U781143

MR. CABINET Free estimate Specialize in

Kitchen Cabinet Entertainment Center Vanities Closet Bar

Crown Molding & Baseboard Granite Top All Wood Jobs Custom Make Work

Residential and Commercial

Ask for Mario (909) 657-7671

is your teen experiencing:

• School problems? • Conflict at home or with friends?

adolescent support group now forming ages 13-17 low fee Call Marney stofflet, lCsW

(323) 662-9797

4344 Fountain ave. (at sunset), suite a los angeles, Ca 90029

24 Downtown News

November 21, 2011

Twitter/DowntownNews

Listings Continued from page 19 Cinco de Mayo, Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in November and December’s beautiful candlelight procession, Las Posadas. Open daily, though hours at shops and halls vary. Grammy Museum L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or grammymuseum.org. Through Feb. 12: George Harrison gets a Martin Scorcese documentary and an exhibit at the Grammy Museum? Holy smokes. The most underrated Beatle finally gets his day in the sun. Through Jan. 22: Say It Loud: The Genius of James Brown focuses on the Godfather of Soul — blazing a trail in American music by blending gospel, pop and soul. The exhibit depicts Brown’s role as a trendsetter in both fashion and dance, as well as illustrate how he used his music and celebrity to positively impact the civil rights movement and race relations of the 1960s. Through Nov. 28: Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock-n-Roll explores the life and legacy of music legend and cultural enigma Roy Orbison — black sunglasses included. Through Feb. 2012: Barbara Streisand commemorates the icon’s 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year honor and her upcoming 50th anniversary in the music industry with a case dedicated to her memorabilia. Ongoing: White sequined gloves and other wardrobe pieces are the focal point of the new exhibit case paying tribute to the life and legacy

of Michael Jackson. This special display serves as a follow-up to the Museum’s past exhibitions, Michael Jackson: HIStyle and Michael Jackson: A Musical Legacy. Housed on the Museum’s third floor, the launch of the new exhibit coincided with the second anniversary of Jackson’s death.

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Hundreds of listings of fun and interesting things to do in Downtown Los Angeles can also be found online at ladowntownnews.com/calendar: Rock, Pop & Jazz; Bars & Clubs; Farmers Markets; Events; Film; Sports; Art Spaces; Theater, Dance and Opera; Classical Music; Museums; and Tours.

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Community Amenities: ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby ~ Concierge ~ Pool / Spa / Saunas ~ Fitness Center ~ Gas BBQ Grills ~ Recreation Room

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