12-07-09 by Los Angeles Downtown News

Meet the Metro Master

LOS ANGELES

DOWNTOWN

NEWS Volume 38, Number 49

Park plans, an illegal DVD crackdown, and other happenings Around Town.

Catching up with the twists and turns of the Grand Avenue plan.

W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M

December 7, 2009

photo by Gary Leonard

INSIDE

The chief’s second swearing in.

An effort to reopen the Hall of Justice.

Metropolis Books owner Julie Swayze (third from right) with Downtown authors (l to r) Dana Johnson, Hannah Dennison, Daniel Olivas, Richard McDowell and Diana Leszczynski. The Historic Core shop frequently hosts readings and signings by local authors.

Play 4th and Long Football and win prizes.

The Write Stuff Downtown’s Growing Collection of Published Authors Finds a Home at Metropolis Books by Ryan Vaillancourt staff writer

Art Walk woos Cadillac.

A fire tower’s termite problem.

ost urban bookstores have a local writers section, though “local” can cover a vague, regional set of boundaries. That’s not the case at Metropolis Books: At the small, independent bookstore in the Old Bank District, local means, quite specifically, Downtown Los Angeles. The nearly 3-year-old bookstore stocks all the bestsellers, the classics, the hot titles of the month — these days, it’s anything Julia Child related — and the usual tomes from the Los Angeles literary pantheon of Chandler, Bukowski, Didion, etc. Then there’s the locals section, where a collection of relationship-focused short stories is mixed

with a youth-oriented, ecological adventure book, some self-published poetry books and a series of contemporary mysteries written for American Anglophiles. “It’s nice to feature people who are from the neighborhood,” said Metropolis owner Julie Swayze. “We’ve had authors from England and Australia who included us on their tour, but I think it’s nice that someone can walk from upstairs to a book signing.” Swayze has also made a habit of inviting published local authors to hold book launches, readings and signings at the store. Next up is Hannah Dennison, who on Thursday, Dec. 10, will read from and sign Exposé, the third installment in her Vicky Hill Mystery Series.

I’m Here to Help An Offer to Fill All Those Mayoral Gaps by Jon Regardie

Holiday finds in Little Tokyo.

22 CALENDAR LISTINGS 24 MAP 25 CLASSIFIEDS

executive editor

ear Mayor AnVil, I’ve been observing your administration ever since you were elected. Heck, some might think I’ve been keeping a closer eye on it than you are. If you haven’t THE REGARDIE REPORT

always been able to watch the Spring Street henhouse, I understand — I know that since July 1, 2005, you’ve had a lot of donors to meet and places to go, with travels to locales like

Israel, Iceland, El Salvador, Denmark, Denver, New York, San Antonio, South Africa, Sacramento, Mexico City and Miami. But I know that no matter where you are, Los Angeles is always in your heart. In case you’re wondering, that’s a muscle in the middle of your chest. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed amidst all these travels, but there are a few holes in your administration right now. In fact, they’re bigger than the gaps that will appear under Wilshire Boulevard for those Subway to the Sea tunnels. By the way, you’re funny

Lending shelf space to local authors is not entirely altruistic: They sell well, too, Swayze said. “If it’s a local author people are sort of drawn to that,” she said. “I can sell them very well just saying that they’re local.” Los Angeles Downtown News caught up with five Downtown authors whose works are in stock at Metropolis to talk about their craft and writing Downtown. Hannah Dennison: Dennison, a native of England, didn’t set out to be an author. She came to Los Angeles as an aspiring screenwriter, then tired of the pursuit and took what was supposed to be a temporary gig as an assistant to a corporate see Authors, page 20

too: I laughed out loud in October when you said that you hope to open a few transit mega-projects within 10 years, and then when asked about it by a Times reporter, you responded with, “Yes, this is going to be tough, but I think by now folks shouldn’t count me out.” I think that’s the same line Mike Tyson used before he got clubbed by James “Buster” Douglas in Tokyo in 1990. Devastating knockouts aside, you’ve got some holes to fill. The exorcism of David Nahai left you without a leader for the Department of Water & Power, which some might consider an important agency. There is also no boss at the Community Redevelopment Agency following Cecilia Estolano’s departure for greener and more environmentally friendly pastures.

The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles

Additionally, there is the chair formerly occupied by ex-Department of Building and Safety GM Andrew Adelman, though I understand that if given the allegations that led to his departure, you might want to replace the chair too. (For all I know, perhaps you’ll fill one or more of these posts after press time. Or perhaps not.) I know you have a few other vacancies as well. The “Jobs With the Mayor” page on your website indicates that you need a chief counsel, a policy director for education, a director of speechwriting and a management analyst for the 12-2 Building Reform Plan. There are also three positions available with your Gang Reduction and Youth Development division. I congratulate you on having so many open jobs; when you fill see Jobs, page 11

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December 7, 2009

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AROUNDTOWN Group Pushes for New Park At Hill and Ninth

grassroots effort to get more parks in Downtown Los Angeles continues this week. On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the Hill and Ninth Street Park Task Force will meet to consider ideas for a proposed park at that corner. The group, made up of community members, will meet at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Columbia Building at 849 S. Broadway to get input on designs for a park in a 35,000-square-foot parcel that is currently a parking lot. The group is in the process of raising funds to buy the property and will take the park designs to state officials in the effort to obtain up to $5 million in government funds for the project. “We want people to tell us what they want in there, what kind of a park they want in the community,” said Rick Morris, the task force director. “We’re going to ask them things like if they want a running path, a water feature or a kids’ area.” For more information email rmorris451@gmail.com.

An Ice Skating Discount

heap skating is coming to South Park this week. On Tuesday, Dec. 8, the Kings Holiday Ice rink at L.A. Live is offering a two-for-one discount from 8-11 p.m. for coupon-holding couples. Coupons can be clipped from page 9 of this week’s issue of Los Angeles Downtown News. The paper is sponsoring the “Downtown Night” deal. The offer is only good for couples, and is limited to one coupon per pair. The 70- by 50-foot Kings Holiday Ice rink was erected at L.A. Live last week, and will remain up through Dec. 31. Regular admission, including skate rental, is $10 per person.

andowner and developer Meruelo Maddux Properties submitted its Chapter 11 reorganization plan in bankruptcy court on Nov. 30, detailing how the beleaguered Downtown-based company intends to climb out of nearly $453 million in debt. The plan, which details hundreds of millions of dollars in claims against the company, proposes selling units in its not-yet-open residential development 705 W. Ninth St., formerly known as 717 W. Ninth St. Financed by an $84 million loan from Century City-based Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, the 35-story tower was initially planned as condominiums before switching to rentals earlier this year. Meruelo Maddux filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. A separate bankruptcy was declared for 705 W. Ninth St. in September. Meruelo Maddux is now proposing a seven-year plan to pay off its debt on the South Park high-rise through condominium sales, with units going

photo by Gary Leonard

Save the Cherry Trees

Meruelo Maddux Plans Reorganization

for at least $322 per square foot, according to court filings. Canyon Capital, however, is reportedly requesting approval from the court to foreclose on the property. A decision on that request is expected this month, according to the real estate blog Curbed LA.

ity officials are looking at ways to save a group of cherry trees on Central Avenue in Little Tokyo. Recently, Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry introduced a motion calling for an effort to maintain and enhance the 10 trees, and ultimately restore the collection to its original 42 trees. The motion went to the Council’s Public Works Committee on Wednesday, Dec, 2, though it was continued for two months. The delay will allow for more public input into the plan, said Eva Kandarpa Behrend, Perry’s director of communications. The sakura, as pink cloud cherry trees are known in Japan, were planted about 10 years ago by the Little Tokyo Coordinating Council’s Beautification Committee on Central Avenue between First and Second streets. The tree is indigenous to Japan and other Asian countries and is often associated with clouds and the fragile nature of life. “We’ve had a hard time because at various times Central Avenue was under different steps of construction, so all that area underwent a lot of turmoil and that has affected the trees,” said Alan Kumamoto, one of the founders of the LTCC. He said the trees have also been impacted by the lack of a consistent wa-

Are You or a Loved One Facing Catastrophic Illness?

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck had another swearing in last week. On Thursday, Dec. 3, he joined Mayor Another Villaraigosa and other officials for a ceremony in front of the new Police Administrative Building.

ter source, which has forced people to hand water them, an unreliable process. As part of the efforts to save the trees, the motion calls for a “point person” from the city to coordinate future plans.

Bust a Pirate, Earn Money

he Fashion District business improvement district and the Motion Picture Association of America last week announced a new step in the effort to crack down on illegal DVD sales — they are willing to pay whistle blowers. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, they said they will offer rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to the closure of illegal DVD-producing locations in the area. Los Angeles Police Department officials routinely net thousands of see Around Town, page 17

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Amid Slowdown, Grand Avenue Plans Change Officials Look at New, Short-Term Project for Part of Bunker Hill Site by Anna Scott staff writer

lthough the glitzy $3 billion plan to erect condominiums and retail on Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill remains stalled, a city official said last week that a new, smaller development on part of the site is moving forward. “I’m looking at one of the parcels for a short-term project,” said City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose Ninth District includes the Grand Avenue site. “It is a more immediate project.” Perry would not divulge any details about what the new project would encompass or even who would develop it. More information will likely be revealed at a meeting of the Grand Avenue Authority (the city-county agency overseeing the Grand Avenue development), tentatively scheduled for Dec. 14, Perry said. Perry also indicated that there might be other changes to the multi-phase mega project, formally titled The Grand, being developed by the New York-based Related Companies. “It’s impossible to predict the future, but I’m guessing they may have to rethink their plan for [phasing] it in, while preserving the elements we agreed upon,” Perry said. “Whether it’s condos or apartments remains to be seen.” Related West Coast President Bill Witte, when asked about potential changes to the timeline or other aspects of the project, said, “There’s a lot of stuff being talked about right now. I can only say it wasn’t Related that precipitated this discussion.” Witte confirmed that a new, short-term project is in the works for part of the Grand Avenue site, but also would not reveal any details or say whether Related will develop it. Changing Times The Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue project was originally expected to break ground in October 2007. The $1 billion, 1.3 million-square-foot first phase of The Grand would bring a 48-story Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Residences with 295 hotel rooms and 266 condominiums, a 19-story tower with 126 market-rate apartments and 98 affordable residences, a 250,000-square-foot retail pavilion and a 16-acre Civic Park. Subsequent phases would bring more than 2,000 additional housing units, a grocery store and health club, and would nearly double the amount of retail in the project. The entire development is slated to occupy 3.6 million square feet of space across from Walt Disney Concert Hall. The project was initiated by the Grand Avenue Committee, a public-private partnership formed in 2000 and chaired by Maguire Properties CEO Nelson Rising and philanthropist Eli Broad. The Grand Avenue Authority, which includes city, county and Community Redevelopment Agency officials, oversees the project. The Civic Park, budgeted for the $56 million that Related has already paid the county for its ground lease on the site, is expected to break ground next summer, Witte said. The rest of the project is on hold as the developer waits out the frozen lending markets to obtain a $700 million construction loan. That could still be a long wait, experts say, as projects based on selling high-priced condominiums have been largely derailed by the crash of the housing market. “Condo prices everywhere have dropped dramatically and on the… spreadsheets they use to project out the value of these projects, they don’t make sense anymore,” said attorney Eric Rowen of Greenberg Traurig LLP, who handles litigation involving real estate financing. He emphasized that he is not specifically familiar with The Grand’s financials. Difficult Months The Grand has in recent months seen potential signs of slowing momentum. In September, architect Martha Welborne announced that she would leave her post as managing director of the Grand Avenue Committee to join the L.A. office of the Portlandbased architectural firm ZGF. Welborne said the move was natural with The Grand on hold. She will continue to oversee the development of the Civic Park through the end of the year. “In January, it will be nine years that I’ve spent on this project,” said Welborne. “I’ve given it my all. It’s very hard to predict when the development side might come back, but I need to predict my salary, so it was time to move on.” As for whether plans might have to change for the project, she said, “The position I’m in, I can’t speculate on that.” In late November Dubai World, the parent company of Grand Avenue investor Istithmar — a sovereign fund controlled by the royal family of Dubai that put $100 million into

Downtown News 3

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the project — began talks with banks to restructure $26 billion of debt. Witte said the troubles at Dubai World will not impact The Grand. “We pretty much spent all the money we need to get ready, including their money,” he said. “As far as we know, there’s no material effect on us.” Still, in order to break ground before The Grand’s entitlements expire in 2011, Perry said, “I think it would be incum-

photo by Gary Leonard

December 7, 2009

Bill Witte, west coast president of Related Companies, which is developing the $3 billion Grand Avenue project. The project remains on hold amid the frozen lending market.

bent upon Related to come back to us with proposals that would reflect the elements we think are important and possibly look at different staging based on economic indicators.” That, she said, might mean a short-term development strategy as well as a long-term plan. Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.

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EDITORIALS Trash Trouble in Toy Town

t’s an understatement to say that a serious problem has erupted in the Toy District. In short, the sidewalks there have become a horrific mess. Unfortunately, it seems to be a problem that area merchants and landlords have made on their own despite ample warning. Now, it will be up to them to find a solution. It won’t be easy, but it will be messy. Last week, Los Angeles Downtown News reported on the area’s mounting mounds of street trash. Already the 12-block district’s gutters and sidewalks teem with discarded cardboard, fast food refuse, plastic bags and containers and plenty of unmentionables. In about three weeks, the situation is poised to grow from bad to volcanic. The trash trouble actually started more than a year ago, when landlords were asked but refused to dip into their pockets to renew the local business improvement district for five more years. Like in the countless property-based BIDs across the country, landowners faced the decision of whether to “tax” themselves to pay for services beyond what the city provides.

With regard to trash, businesses are required to arrange for their own rubbish disposal. Although most other Downtown BIDs have been renewed, a batch of Toy District stakeholders decided they did not want to shell out the extra fees. At one level, that is understandable. Times are hard and the last thing any businessperson should do is pay for something they can provide themselves more efficiently and for less money. The problem here is that the local BID was also picking up commercial trash. The Toy District BID has operated with a roughly $500,000 budget, and will sunset on Dec. 31. Now, with funds dwindling, BID workers have begun cutting back on the amount of commercial trash they have been hauling away. With local merchants content to toss their wares into the street, the piles are rising. Another untenable part of the problem is that some neighboring communities are seeing a trash spillover. A Fashion District official recently said that some Toy District merchants or landlords have been moving their garbage away

from the Toy District, expecting others to do their dirty work. That is unacceptable. Now, Toy District landlords are in a fix. We’re not sure what the solution is, though morally and legally they are required to clean up their own mess. A meeting is scheduled for this week with the longtime head of the area’s BID to discuss possibilities. Certainly the current dirty state of the district should convince them to install a lot more dumpsters or provide private garbage removal for their tenants. Or maybe the solution is to contract with another BID on some sort of stopgap trash removal effort until the Toy District BID can be reconstituted. Either way, area landlords and business owners have made a mess of things. The former do not need to pay for a BID if it does not work for them, but they must ensure that their tenants have a way to get rid of their trash. The merchants, meanwhile, should know better than to dump their garbage in the street. It is simply not how responsible adults behave.

Safety First

Public safety is the most important service a government provides. The issue is crucial in Downtown, which for years has battled a reputation of being a dangerous place (although Central Division has long had one of the lowest per capita crime rates in the city). The new housing stock and the restaurants, bars and service businesses that have opened in Downtown would have a hard time gaining a foothold if crime was rising and people felt unsafe living or visiting here. LAPD Commander Blake Chow, who was just promoted from Central Area captain by new Chief Charlie Beck, spent significant time during his year atop the local station working with business improvement districts and other neighborhood groups. BID leaders confirmed that the paths of communication became more open and clearer during 2009, enabling safety teams from the various entities to share information with Central Division officers who are on the streets or tracking crime trends. The crime decrease seems to have proved one of the tenets of “community policing,” meaning that law enforcement is more successful when officers immerse themselves in the area they patrol and become a frequent and visible presence. Chow himself took this to another level by sending regular emails with statistical and other updates to hundreds of Downtowners, and giving his emails with address to anyone who wanted it. That both communicated facts and delivered a symbolic message of connectivity.

Despite the success, continuing the crime drop will be difficult. Due to the city budget crisis, the LAPD will be unable to grow, and instead will only tread water in terms of the number of officers. Although Downtown’s population will continue to climb, it is not feasible to expect large numbers of officers to be shifted from other divisions to the Central City. The police and the community will have to do even more. Fortunately, the path to continued success seems apparent: Chow’s successor and the rest of the department should build upon the good work of the past year and enhance the relationship with the BIDs and the other neighborhood groups. As they have noticed, local stakeholders are committed to helping make the community safe. They want to be involved and do whatever it takes to reduce crime. No one expects to eradicate crime. There will always be a certain level of it wherever there are people. Addicts and others who see an opportunity will always commit robberies or break into cars when they glimpse valuables such as computers or smart phones left on seats. Some streets in Downtown continue to be dark and empty after sunset, and people who stroll these thoroughfares could make themselves targets. Residents can always use a reminder about the risks of urban living. The good news is that crime has fallen and communication has increased. This provides the base on which to make things even better.

he population of Downtown Los Angeles has grown in the past year, with residents moving into new housing complexes such as Sakura Crossing in Little Tokyo, the Haas Building in the Jewelry District and The Rowan in the Historic Core. While more people in the area might theoretically lead to more victims of crime, the opposite has happened. Crime has fallen in Downtown in the past year, and at least part of the decline looks to be the result of increased cooperation between local law enforcement and neighborhood and business groups. It is a pleasant demonstration of the benefits of synergy, and speaks to the need not just to continue but to enhance the relationships, especially as the Los Angeles Police Department faces some difficult budgetary challenges. Violent and property crimes have fallen a total of 7.8% in the first 11 months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to statistics provided by the LAPD’s Central Division, which covers most of Downtown. Total violent crime in the area has declined 9%, highlighted by an 11% drop in aggravated assaults. Burglaries and auto thefts have decreased 22% and 25%, respectively. Thefts from cars and personal or other thefts have been essentially the same, both declining just 1%.

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

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Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard Guzmán stAFF writErs: Anna Scott, Ryan Vaillancourt coNtributiNG Editors: David Friedman, Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jay Berman, Jeff Favre, Michael X. Ferraro, Kristin Friedrich, Howard Leff, Rod Riggs, Marc Porter Zasada Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins ProductioN AssistANt / EvENt coordiNAtor: Claudia Hernandez PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Ashley Vandervort AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin sAlEs AssistANt: Annette Cruz clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Steve Epstein, Catherine Holloway, Tam Nguyen, Kelley Smith 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. It is also distributed to the extended urban communities of Glendale, Hollywood, Wilshire Center, Los Feliz, Silver Lake & Larchmont Village.

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CONVERSATIONS

Pennies and Minutes With Art Leahy Metro Chief Talks About Shaping the Future of Los Angeles by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR

he late Arthur F. Leahy was a Los Angeles streetcar operator and MTA bus operator. His son, Art T. Leahy, learned to drive a bus in 1971, a year before his dad retired, to earn money to help him through school. Neither could have predicted that the gig would lead to a lifelong career in public transportation for the younger Leahy— it reached its high point in March, when he was named CEO of Metro. Leahy, 60, wears a suit and tie to work, but his heart seems more with the rank and file operators, maintenance workers and schedule organizers. The Highland Park native, who now lives in Orange County (he headed the Orange County Transportation Authority before rejoining Metro), recently ordered that some slick, professional photographs in the agency’s 25-story Downtown headquarters be removed and replaced with images of buses, trains and construction crews in urban areas. The switch, he said, is meant to remind the rest of the suits about the people who make up the majority of the Metro workforce, including the bus operators. And don’t make the mistake of calling them “bus drivers.” Leahy recently sat down with Los Angeles Downtown News to talk about the Gold Line, the proposed Regional Connector, and other Downtown transportation issues. Los Angeles Downtown News: The Downtown Regional Connector was recently selected as one of only two projects to compete for a national share of federal funding.

Why is this two-mile line that will link the Gold Line with the Blue Line and other lines so important? Art Leahy: There are a couple problems that are trying to be solved. One is train traffic congestion at Metro Center. Right now we’re running about a five or six minute frequency on the Blue Line up from Long Beach. When the [under construction] Expo Line comes in, we’re going to have a lot of trains coming in and out of that tunnel. To maintain adequate service, specifically as we build out the Expo Line, is going to require more and more frequency on those lines. Another problem is that the Gold Line — it’s to extend out to Azusa and ultimately Montclair — is going to be a heavy line into L.A. and ditto the Eastside Extension, which opened Nov. 15, so we’re going to have a lot of people arriving at Union Station, having to transfer to the Red Line. That discourages ridership. Then, some will have to transfer again at Metro Center to get on the Blue Line. With the Connector, we’d connect at Metro Center on a different alignment so we further open up Downtown L.A. with another Downtown station. It swings over to the east by Little Tokyo and hooks in with Union Station. I like to tell people when this happens you can go from the Westside up to Pasadena with no transfers to see USC beat UCLA at the Rose Bowl, or you can go from the Eastside out on Expo to see ’SC beat UCLA at the Coliseum. Ultimately, we relieve congestion at Metro Center and provide better connectivity with the San Gabriel Valley and the south and west. see Leahy, page 7

photo by Gary Leonard

As Metro CEO, Art Leahy helms an agency with 4,000 employees. He began his career in mass transit in 1971 as a bus operator.

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Hall of Justice Could Reopen County Hopes to Bring Back Historic Civic Center Structure by RichaRd Guzmán

According to the motion, the 1925 building is structurally sound. Current decreased construction costs could reduce the price of the project by 20% or more, said Bell. Additionally, he noted, low financing rates and available federal funds could make the project feasible. There are no estimates on the cost of reopening the building, and part of the feasibility study will be to determine a price tag, Bell said. County officials previously placed estimates as high as $300 million for the project. The county’s Chief Executive Officer will report back to the supervisors within 45 days on the potential cost of the project, and a comparison detailing the savings from transferring departments back to the building. “I think we have to do this,” said Dan Rosenfeld, senior deputy for economic development for Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “The county owns the building. It is a historic building and sooner or later it has to be addressed.” Rosenfeld previously served on the Ten Minute Diamond planning team, which sought to maximize the use of government buildings within a 10-minute walk of City Hall. “It can’t just sit there forever and this is the least expensive time to do something that will really light up the atmosphere

city editoR

fter sitting vacant for more than 15 years, county officials have begun looking at what it would take to reopen the Hall of Justice. In a unanimous vote Dec. 1, the Board of Supervisors approved a motion to look at the feasibility of restoring the 14-story edifice at 210 W. Temple St. that once housed the Sheriff’s Department, a jail, the Coroner’s office and the District Attorney’s office. “It’s centrally located and has the utility of providing a location for the sheriff and other public safety agencies in L.A. County,” said Tony Bell, communications deputy for Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who along with Supervisor Gloria Molina introduced the motion. He noted that since the plans are in the early stage, completion of the project could be years down the line. The building was vacated after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and currently sits empty and gutted. A previous restoration effort was halted in 2004 when questions arose over the extent of the damage and the cost of restoring the structure. But several factors now justify a new look at the project, Bell said.

in Downtown,” he said. While he would not speculate on the cost of a new project, he said he hoped that figure would be back under $200 million. A Monument Rosenfeld said the Hall of Justice is an important symbol for the city that represents optimism and pride, and signified that Los Angeles had arrived on the world stage. “It represents a period in Los Angeles history when the city emerged as a major metropolis,” he said. “It’s symbolic because it captures a moment of L.A.’s history and it’s symbolic because it’s about justice.” One of the biggest proponents for reopening the building is Sheriff Lee Baca, who has frequently expressed his desire to move the department back to the Hall of Justice. The department is now headquartered in Monterey Park. “He believes that the building is not only historical and represents the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, but it’s also a centerpiece and he believes the Sheriff’s Department should return there,” said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Baca. The building’s jail housed many notable inmates, including Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. Whitmore said, however, that the jail would not return to the building. If the move happens, Whitmore said plans call for the Sheriff’s Detectives Division to take over the Monterey Park space. If reopened, the building could also be a striking figure in the Downtown skyline. Rosenfeld said the building is made of Sierra granite, which when cleaned is bright white. Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.

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Leahy Continued from page 5 Q: In 2008, voters passed Measure R, a half-cent sales tax that will raise up to $40 billion. What challenge does the down economy pose to that? A: Sales tax is down. Measure R and the Long Range Transportation Plan that the board just passed a few weeks ago is a 30-year plan, and there are assumptions in the plan about recovery, about what kind of federal money there might be, about ridership, about construction cost. Some of those assumptions are not going to work out. In some of those areas, the information will be better than we assumed today, and in other areas it might not be so good. Right now in Washington they’re debating a federal transportation bill that probably won’t be done for 18 months. We don’t know what shape that bill will take. We don’t know what the state of California is going to do. We have to do the best we can to get projects ready so if there are opportunities to access federal money we want to make sure Los Angeles is well positioned to compete for that. If you look at Measure R, because of the timing, it becomes a jobs creation program in Los Angeles and it puts us in a very good position to compete for federal dollars. So even if the federals are willing to spend money, many areas are going to have a hard time having a local match to bring those dollars home. We will be in a relatively strong competitive position because we have Measure R passed. So what we want to do is get our projects ready so that when there’s an opportunity, we’ll be ready to take advantage of it. Q: What more can or should Metro do to reduce gridlock Downtown? A: I think there are a lot of things that we are doing and a lot of things residents are doing. The fact that so many people are wanting to live in Downtown Los Angeles is a very powerful statement about people not wanting to get caught up in traffic every day. We have the expansion of the MTA bus system now supplemented by rail so it’s easy to live in Pasadena or East L.A. and work in Downtown. It’s easy to work in the San Fernando Valley and take the subway into Downtown L.A. That will be true in the future on the Westside. In addition to that, as partners with Metrolink, we have people coming from all over Southern California into Union Station. Right now on the I-5 freeway between Fullerton and Los Angeles, during the peak, there are as many people on Metrolink and Amtrak as what would require 1.5 lanes on the I-5. So there is a reduction in congestion occurring because of those investments. If you add to that the potential high speed applications from San Diego into L.A., up north into the San Fernando Valley and to the Bay Area and out east to the Ontario airport, these are all long range capital investments that we need to make that will resonate with the transit oriented development that is beginning to occur right now. That would have been unimaginable 20 years ago. Q: Recently you were in the spotlight for disagreeing with the mayor over the proposed contract with rail car manufacturer AnsaldoBreda. What was it like to be so new to the job and sparring with the mayor? A: Well, I don’t think that we were sparring. I knew that there were a lot of people in favor of that contract. I understood that. So I asked MTA staff to negotiate in good faith with Breda and to attempt to achieve a deal that would allow us to realize the promises they made. When I was not convinced that that was the case I made the recommendations I made to the board. I give the mayor great credit. At no time did he twist my arm in any fashion in any way to have me not do the business [deal]. Repeatedly, in fact, he encouraged me to do the right business [deal]; then the board could do whatever they wanted with it. In the end, we tried really hard to negotiate the deal with AnsaldoBreda and on the last day they declined to sign a document that embodied the promises they made. Q: Would Metro fund or be involved in any way with the Broadway streetcar that Councilman José Huizar is pitching? A: We’re aware of the project. We looked at it. We’ll see. What I’d be very interested in doing is ensuring that that project hooks up with the services that we’re operating so that we create synergy. We should take advantage of the investments MTA is making and create synergy between these projects. Q: Metro knows trains, and there’s a train on Bunker Hill not running. Any chance of Metro getting involved with Angels Flight? A: We’re always willing to have any discussion. I think the service, it would be nice if it ran, to hook up service with Grand Central Market. I’m not aware that the owner or operator would like us to be involved. But we’d be happy to have any dialogue anybody wants to have. Q: Your first job with Metro was as a bus driver—

DowntownNews.com A: Bus operator. Drivers carry freight. Operators carry passengers. Q: Do you ever have the urge to get back behind the wheel? And what did you learn as a bus operator that now informs your job as Metro CEO? A: I haven’t driven a bus for about three weeks. There’s a parking lot that we own, and about a month ago I took the entire MTA executive staff over with me and I had them all drive a bus on our yard. I wanted them to know what it’s like to be behind the wheel of a piece of equipment that weighs 35,000 pounds. I worked my way up. I worked in schedules, in maintenance for a while. I was superintendent of transportation. I was director of schedules and I was chief operating officer for eight years. I was here during the Olympics, during the rail starts, during the big earthquake and the Rodney King riots, so I’ve seen the system operate under crisis and also during a period

Downtown News 7

of expansion and what I’ve observed is this: Like with the Long Range Transportation Plan, there’s the big cosmic, big picture, 30-year trends that we have to deal with. We are shaping the future of Los Angeles. At the same time we have to respect those people who work in operations who worry about pennies and minutes. Pennies and minutes are important. When the schedule, the timetable, says the bus leaves at 4:42 p.m. westbound from Wilshire and Western, that’s a contract with the passenger. They have the timetable, they read it, they look at it. That’s important for this management group to appreciate. There’s a bus stop in front of my office. That’s all purposeful. It’s to acknowledge and have part of our management group focused on clean buses, on time service with a courteous operator and a reliable piece of equipment. That’s important. I like the capital projects. I like the subway. I like the Downtown Connector. I like the Eastside Extension. But that’s not the only thing that we do. Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

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Art Walk: Brought to You by Cadillac? Monthly Event Courting Corporate Sponsor by Ryan Vaillancourt staff writer

ttendees of last month’s Art Walk may have noticed something different than the usual illuminated galleries and huge crowds: A Main Street parking lot held four new, gleaming Cadillacs. The cars were not the artists’ personal rides, nor were they part of an art installation. Instead, they were advertisements for Cadillac. Art Walk attendees can expect to see them again at the event on Thursday, Dec. 10, said Marc Loge, Art Walk’s interim director. Cadillac’s presence at Art Walk represents a trial run for what could turn into a lasting sponsorship. Loge envisions the potential deal as a way to generate funds to help manage the event that now draws about 10,000 people and support local arts and cultural institutions. Loge said he is asking the car company for $50,000 for the coming year. Under the proposed sponsorship model, Cadillac would park its cars inside the same parking lot on the east side of Main Street, north of Fifth Street. The Art Walk board would reserve the rest of the space in the lot for local arts and cultural institutions. The deal has not been finalized, but Cadillac executives in town for the L.A. Auto Show are expected to scope out the car exhibit next week, and an agreement could be worked out shortly thereafter, Loge said. “This is an artsy crowd and this is an artists’ community and what I’m trying to do is present a forum for all the arts and cultural nonprofits — as big as Center Theatre Group, or as little as the Downtown Art Galleries Association or Inner City Arts — to display their programs and even solicit contributions or sell tickets,” said Loge, who added that the board could go after additional sponsors. As the event held on the second Thursday of the month has grown in scope, so too have the responsibilities associated with managing operations. “It’s really become a full-time job,” Loge said. Loge stepped in as interim director after volunteer director Richard Schave resigned from the post last month. The Art Walk board has not yet named a permanent replacement. Any leftover funds, after covering event set up and admin istrative costs, would be used as grants to support local arts organizations and nonprofits, Loge said. Power Struggle Amid Art Walk’s period of flux, multiple Downtown sources said there is an ongoing conversation about whether the Historic Downtown Business Improvement District and its leadership should have a heightened role or presence in the event. Russell Brown, executive director of the HDBID, confirmed that the organization is evaluating its role in coordinating public events. “Nothing has been decided yet, so we’re in discussion of how is the best way to get all the operations of the BID taken care of and what’s the best way to manage Bringing Back Broadway, Art Walk and all the community programs,” he said. Loge and Brown spearheaded the Cadillac deal. The arrangement of the first trial run in November came together as Schave, who four months earlier had established a nonprofit entity to run Art Walk, was facing pressure to resign. Schave said he knew about the potential deal with Cadillac, and was not opposed to bringing in corporate sponsors, but he was dismayed at the time that Brown seemed to be leading the negotiations. “I was aware that Russell was working with Cadillac and… I informed [Cadillac] that they weren’t working with the nonprofit that ran the event,” Schave said. Schave said he was soon forced off the board. “I was told if I didn’t step down I’d be voted out, so I stepped down,” he said. Board members said Schave’s departure came as Art Walk looked to work more closely with Brown, the HDBID and other Downtown entities involved in event logistics. Brown contends that his involvement in Art Walk was a natural step. “The BID represents the folks who are providing the sidewalk maintenance, safety and security and the buildings hosting all the venues, so I don’t see a contradiction between the galleries, the property owners and people who maintain the neighborhood working seamlessly together,” Brown said. “It’s not a one side versus another side.” Though the Cadillac deal could generate concern from stakeholders who might fear Art Walk’s identity would be compromised by corporate sponsors, Brown said he and the board are intent on maintaining the event’s character.

Downtown News 9

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“We’re trying really to create an experience where people understand the support the sponsors can give, but don’t feel the Art Walk has been sold out,” Brown said. “I’m not particularly worried that it’s going to be overly corporatized because the amount of emphasis that’s put on commercial ad space is very minimal and the resources are going right back into the arts and cultural institutions.” Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

photo by Gary Leonard

December 7, 2009

Russell Brown (shown here) and interim Art Walk director Marc Loge are working with Cadillac on a potential $50,000 annual sponsorship of the popular monthly event. Other sponsorships could also be secured.

10 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

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Continued from page 1 them, you’ll get to take personal credit for lowering the city’s unemployment rate. All this follows a bunch of other defections or resignations that you filled, sometimes with style. If you were mad that LAPD Chief William Bratton only gave you a few hours notice before telling the world that he would quit, you didn’t show it, and instead made a score with Charlie Beck. After Fire Department honcho Douglas Barry stepped down, you brought in Millage Peaks, offering Los Angeles the heretofore unexpected opportunity to say that we are all now Millage people. Also, after Housing Department GM Mercedes Marquez hopscotched to the Obama administration, you decided that no Angeleno knew enough about housing, and instead hired Douglas Guthrie from Chicago. I hope that works out better than a previous Midwest body-snatching; in 2006 you installed Michigan’s Gloria Jeff as your director of transportation. Strangely, all her snowplow expertise did little locally, and she was chased out, complete with a consulting contract, 18 months later. Bye Mom You’ve done well on a few other hires. When Mom, aka Chief of Staff Robin Kramer, left shortly after term two began, you promoted gang guru Reverend Jeff Carr. Everyone likes RevCarr.

me right for any job. First and foremost, I’m willing to stand behind you. I mean this not just figuratively, but also literally: If you call a press conference for the media trolls, I’ll happily be three feet back and two steps to your left or right as you smile at the cameras. I won’t even wince when you take credit for a success I spent years working on. In terms of advice, I’m willing to fall in line with most of the others and tell you exactly what you want to hear. If you need to hear that running for senator in 2012 would be a good idea, I’ll do it. If you need to hear that journeying to Denmark will somehow benefit 4 million Angelenos, then I’ll be the first one to email you a picture of a Great Dane. I’m even willing to follow Lu Parker on Twitter. Actually, that might help me keep up with you. Thank you for your consideration. I’m here to help. Yours through thick and thin skin, Jon Contact Jon Regardie at regardie@downtownnews.com.

The departures of DWP chief David Nahai and CRA CEO Cecilia Estolano give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa two high-profile posts to fill. There are others vacancies as well.

After Fire Department honcho Douglas Barry stepped down, you brought in Millage Peaks, offering Los Angeles the heretofore unexpected opportunity to say that we are all now Millage people.

Actually, the loss of Kramer raises an interesting question. When you decided that it was time to pull the water and power rug out from under Nahai, how did the conversation among your staffers go? Was it something like: Junior Staffer #1: Okay guys, whose gonna go over and tell Nahai that he’s no longer the water wizard? Junior Staffer #2: I dunno. Does it have to be one of us? Junior Staffer #3: Yeah, Mom always used to handle this stuff. Junior Staffer #1: Fine, we’ll do round robins of rockpaper-scissors. Junior Staffer #2: Someone make sure to write up a press release to be sent out late on a Friday when most people won’t pay attention. Junior Staffer #3: Shut up! Dad’s coming back. Quick, turn on KTLA so he thinks we’re watching Lu Parker. There have been other good choices. Although you elected to pay new City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana an amazing $256,000 amid a monstrous budget deficit, City Hall insiders say he’s solid with the number crunching and is communicating well with the GMs. Apparently he’s not a yes man either. Hopefully that won’t get him canned. All of this brings me back to my original point: If you need someone to fill one of those myriad gaps, whether on an interim or permanent basis, I hope you’ll consider me. I’ve got some qualifications. In regards to the legal counsel post, I’ve watched a lot of “Law and Order,” and also routinely catch “The Good Wife,” which happens to star an attractive and telegenic brunette woman, in case that is of any interest. If you don’t think that is right for me, then I could do the DWP gig: Unlike Nahai, I don’t over-water my lawn, and unlike you, I don’t have pesky gophers chewing through my pipes. I totally set my sprinklers for Monday and Thursday morning watering only. And if you wanna gussy up another solar power initiative like the failed Measure B, I’ll do my best to make the sun shine. I admit, I don’t know much about gangs, and my only experience with building and safety is living and working in buildings and trying to be safe in and around them. Then again, people with fewer qualifications have been appointed to various posts or commissions in this city, and not just ones having to do with pensions. And I think I pulled myself out of the running for speechwriter a few years ago when I crafted a faux speech about your Israel voyage titled “Shalom Los Angeles!” However, I have a few other qualifications that would make

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December 7, 2009

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Tower of Termites Insect-Ravaged Little Tokyo Landmark To Be Replaced With a Metal Replica by RichaRd Guzmán

the street from the tower. “That fire tower has actually become one of the signature icons in Little Tokyo, so for it to have been removed and not replaced with anything I think would have been unfortunate.” A Symbol The tower was built in 1978 as part of a Little Tokyo revitalization effort. It is a replica of a traditional fire lookout tower in rural Japan. Those towers played an important role in the identity of small communities since they were often the tallest and most visible structure in the area. Cracks along the wood beams are clearly visible throughout the structure, and several spots have obvious damage, making it appear much older than its 30 years. Recently the tower has been seen on local buses and rail cars as part of Metro’s Neighborhood Poster series, which aims to show the character of neighborhoods serviced by the transit agency. “For many, not just in the JapaneseAmerican community, the tower symbolizes Little Tokyo, so from that standpoint it’s important to maintain that symbol,” said Alan Kumamoto, vice-chair of the Little Tokyo Community Council. It is not known how the termites reached the tower in the center of the urban core. It is also uncertain whether prevention materials were ever applied to the structure.

city editoR

t has stood as a symbol of Little Tokyo for more than 30 years. With its bright red wooden beams and blue roof tiles, the Japanese Village Plaza Fire Tower is hard to miss. Especially for wood-loving insects. A plan to replace the 55-foot structure, also known as the Yagura Tower, was approved by the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission on Nov. 19. The wooden tower, designed by David Hyun, is infested with termites and will be replaced by a metal replica, said George Takayama of Rothenberg Sawasy Architects, a firm working with American Commercial Equities, owner of the JVP. “It could become a hazard and become structurally unsound if it’s not replaced,” he said. The plan still needs the approval of the City Council. No timeline has been set for the $500,000 project, Takayama said. Although the tower has become an important part of Little Tokyo, marking the entrance to the popular outdoor mall, community leaders welcome its replacement. “Given that the structure is termite-infested, I’m pleased that they decided to try to replace it with something similar,” said Chris Komai, spokesman for the Japanese American National Museum, which is across

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“There are ways to make sure that things like this never happen, but it’s likely that it was never treated properly,” Komai said. A metal replica, while a significant step away from a traditional wood structure, will still feel at home in Little Tokyo, Komai said. “I know it’s not going to be exactly the same because it’s not going to be wood, but it’s not really a fire tower in the first place. It’s more of a symbolic role,” he said. Old and New For Chris Aihara, executive director of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, combining the traditional form of the tower with a modern metal structure could come to symbolize a new side of Little Tokyo. “I think the new structure in some ways can be part of the old and part of the new,” Aihara said. “It will still be a Little Tokyo symbol, but having it in metal can also mean some of the changes that are happening, so I don’t see it as a negative thing at all.” The replacement project is part of renovations at the mall by American Commercial Equities, which purchased the property in 2007. Other plans include new walkways and landscaping, and replacing some storefronts. The company also intends to remove a wall that encloses the center at First Street and Central Avenue to create a new entrance. Kumamoto said that ideally the tower would be replaced with one of the same material, but given the safety issues, he understands the plaza owner’s desire to rebuild it with metal. “The prior owner didn’t really do anything to the whole place and the tower fell into disrepair,” he said. “I don’t think anybody really took care of it, so it had become a symbol of

photos by Gary Leonard

The Japanese Village Plaza Fire Tower, built in 1978, will be torn down and replaced with a metal replica. Area stakeholders generally applaud the move.

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December 7, 2009

Medical Milestones

Convenie Convenien Convenient Heal

In The Heart of Downtown In The Heart of Downtown Los In The Heart of Downtown Los Angeles.

Miracles on Hope Street 5 Years of Excellence in Trauma Care at California Hospital Medical Center

“

n life and health, one never knows for whom the bell tolls,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky once stated about the importance of a reliable health safety net in Los Angeles. The bell has tolled for at least 2,500 people in downtown Los Angeles each year since 2004. Many of these people would not be here today were it not for the Leavey Trauma Center at California Hospital Medical Center. The Los Angeles County trauma system is one of the oldest and most established in the country. Thanks to the vision of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and an overwhelming majority of voters, anyone who sustains traumatic injuries and receives care at a Los Angeles County trauma center benefits from Measure B funds, specifically allocated for trauma care. The LA County system includes 13 trauma centers serving10 million people in 88 cities covering 4,000 square miles. There are over 20,000 trauma activations annually in LA County alone. Prior to 2004, California Hospital was known as a best practice hospital for mothers and babies. Still, community needs for emergency services quickly surpassed the hospital’s 30,000 visit capacity. Now 65,000 patients come through the emergency room each year. Prior to CHMC’s designation as a Level II trauma center, the most critically injured patients were routed to other hospitals in the area. Surgical specialists were vir-

Since it opened its doors in 2004, California Hospital’s trauma center has provided care to more than 10,000 patients.

tually impossible to recruit. This severe lack of resources resulted in the hospital’s inability to provide critical patients with solid continuity of care, causing further On Grand a stress on patients, emergency medical personnel and other hospitals in the safety net. Seeing a need to better serve the community and be a part of the solution, California Hospital applied for and received Level II trauma designation in 2004. It was the first trauma center in more than 20 years to join the Los Angeles County trauma network. “What California Hospital has done by stepping up to the plate is truly remarkable,” says Supervisor Yaroslavsky. “No one would have faulted them if they decided against taking on Medical CareCa C TraumaPatient-Centered surgeonPatient-Centered and Medical Director Medical Dr. Gudata Hinika the challenge and expense of becoming a trauma center. treats a trauma patient. Patient-Centered Medical Care Close to Work, t But we are very grateful they did.” Imaging —Close MRI, � Diagnostic Imaging — MRI, CT, UlC � Diagnostic Today, the Leavey Trauma Center at California to-back verification surveys with no deficiencies from the artInterventional Cancer Treatm �CT, ofState-of-the Surgeons. Hospital is a life-saver. It is the �busiest private Level II American State-of-the art Cancer Treatment Diagnostic Imaging —�College MRI, Ultrasound, The team’s system of providing continuity of care is a trauma center in Los Angeles County. It is also the top — Medical, Radiation & Su — Medical, Radiation & Surgica � State-of-the art Cancer Treatment transport facility in the City of Los Angeles for emer- model for others. Multidisciplinary conferences, ancillary staff and physician assistants for&a solid clinical supgency and trauma care, according to Assistant Fire Chief Radiation — make HDR IMRT HDR & IMRT — Medical, &— Surgical Treatment options port system. “Trauma demands commitment and excelDaniel McCarthy. Services � Orthopedic � Orthopedic — HDR & IMRT neurosurgeon Dr.Services John Holly. Nowhere is Volumes and positive outcomes are key benchmarks in lence,” says thanJoint with and Replacement spinal cord injuries. determining a trauma program’s effectiveness. “There is this more critical — —brain Joint / Re Replacement / Recons � Orthopedic Services strength in numbers,” according to orthopedic traumatolo- “The brain and spinal cord are less forgiving than other — Dr. Spine disorders — Spine disorders Jointpelvic Replacement Reconstruction (Hip, Knee, organs,” says /neurosurgeon Samuel Biggers. Neuro- Shou gist Dr. Brian Solberg who specializes in— treating spine surgeon Dr. Gregory Lekovic, agrees, “The quality fractures, “I liken a program’s viability to an airline pilot. — Hand, and Ankle t — Hand, Foot Foot and Ankle treatm — Spine disorders The more hours of flight time, the higher the trust factor. of outcome is dependent on the timeliness and course of Pulmonary Medicine and Res � treatments treatment.” Would you feel safer with the pilot who 30 hours Pulmonary Medicine and Respirato —has Hand, Foot and �Ankle “I was ready to donate my daughter’s organs because flight time under his belt, or the one with 10,000 hours of Ear, Nose and Throat Diagnoa � Nose andCare Throat Diagnostic � Ear, Respiratory � Pulmonary Medicine and I knew that’s what she would want when her time came,” flight experience?” says Kim whose daughter sustained lifeTo date, 10,310 trauma patients cared and for at Throat — Diagnostic, Treatm � Urology Urology — Treatment � Rodriguez, Ear,been Nose Diagnostic andDiagnostic, Treatment Services � have California Hospital. Of those, 2,729 required operative threatening injuries to the head and neck. “But the doctors — Diagnostic and � Cardiology Cardiology —up. Diagnostic and � Treatment Urology — Diagnostic, Surgical Care Hospital didn’tand give They believed in her Test procedures performed by Board� Certified surgeons. A at California they & brought back.” Services heliport allows for rapid transport to and from the facil- ability to survive. Women’s &herChildren’s Service �And Children’s — � Women’s and Testing Services � Cardiology — Diagnostic In addition to board certified otolaryngologists, general ity when needed. A multidisciplinary team is present for Emergency and Le � 24/7 24/7 Emergency and II Services — orthopedic Level II Care NICUCare � Women’s & Children’s surgeons,� neurosurgeons, surgeons and Level vasevery trauma brought to the hospital. “Our patients’ lives depend on the highest quality of cular surgeons, a digit re-implantation specialist is also � 24/7 Emergency Care and Level II Trauma Center care,” says trauma surgeon and Trauma Medical Director on staff. Upper extremity specialist Dr. Gary Chen has Dr. Gudata Hinika. “It doesn’t matter who they are or reattached digits and fashioned fingers from toes to allow what they do, our goal is to provide one standard of patients a better quality of life. “We believe in providing care for our patients: the highest standard.” California’s our patients with the best possible opportunities to get Trauma Center has the distinction of receiving two back- back to their routine,” says Dr. Chen.

great

Discover what righ Discover what the the right do Discover what the right doctor can do for y

CALL 1-888-7 CALL 1-888-742CALL 1-888-742-CHMC (2462)

December 7, 2009

Downtown News 15

DowntownNews.com

Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, California Hospital is downtown’s busiest emergency room and Level II trauma center.

* * entHealthcare. Healthcare. nt lthcare.*

n Los Angeles. s Angeles.

On Grand and Pico. 2 blocks of L.A. On Grand and Pico. Just Just 2 blocks east east of L.A. LIVE!LIVE!

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California Hospital’s trauma center has the distinction of receiving two back-to-back verification surveys with no deficiencies from the American College of Surgeons.

Number of Surgical Procedures per Year; By Specialty

% Of Brain Injury Trauma Patients That Return To The Community After Hospital & Rehab Stay From Hospital to Rehab to Home

National

FLOWER

to Home: 90.00Interventional CT, Ultrasound, Interventional Radiology ltrasound, Radiology 85.00 California ment Radiology Hospital 80.00 urgical Treatment options Trauma al Treatment options 75.00 Center Other 70.00 LA County 65.00 Trauma Centers econstruction Shoulder) struction (Hip, (Hip, Knee,Knee, Shoulder) 60.00

FLOWER

are Close to Work, Close to Home: Close to Work, Close to Home:

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STATISTICS COURTESY OF RANCHO LOS AMIGOS

treatments ments

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We’re Here You.the life is just the beginning. The real task isfor providing

ostic and Treatment Services and Treatment patient with theServices best possible quality of life. To this end,

hospital works ment and Surgical Carewith physicians and rehabilitaand the Surgical Careclosely

tion specialists at Rancho Los Amigos, the country’s top

dting Testing Services Services rehabilitation center. “There are miracles on both sides,”

Ziyad Ayyoub, chief of adult brain injury rehaes —says Level II NICU Level II Dr. NICU

bilitation at Rancho Los Amigos. “Thanks to a great

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programs provided at Rancho, our statistical reports show that the outcomes for traumatic brain injury cases are consistently better for California Hospital patients when compared with national outcomes and those of other local trauma centers.” On any given day at California Hospital, former patients visit with nurses, greet physicians, or simply come to share their story. These patients are heroes to staff and physicians alike. “Every patient we treat has

Vascular

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When compared with patients from other trauma centers (blue) and with the national average (green), more patients from California Hospital (red) are functionally independent after rehab. In addition, more patients from California Hospital are able to return to community life after rehab.

We’re for You. We’re HereHere for You.

Neurosurgery

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2005

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made us better—not just as caregivers, but as people,” says hospital president Jerry Clute. “This is why quality and safety are a way of life for our doctors, nurses and employees.” The Leavey Trauma Center at California Hospital is located 2 blocks southeast of the Staples Center on Hope Street in downtown Los Angles. To learn more about California Hospital Medical Center and its services, please call 888 742 CHMC or visit www.chmcla.org.

Discover what the right doctor can do for you...

CALL 1-888-742-CHMC (2462) We’re Here for You.

16 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

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Big Gifts in Little Tokyo Neighborhood Has Everything From Traditional Japanese Items to Custom-Made T-Shirts by AnnA Scott StAff writer

oliday shopping is a necessary evil: Pushing through crowded malls to the sound of piped-in seasonal jingles, combing through discount racks for hidden gems and trying to fit bargain hunting into a packed lunch hour are just a few of the perils that go along with the seasonal activity.

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Multeepurpose: Also in the clothing department but for all ages is this new coffee shop/custom T-shirt store on the ground floor of the Teramachi senior housing complex on San Pedro Street. Customers can bring a digital image — from family photos to graphic designs, as long as the image is on a disc or in another computer-friendly format — and store owner Ruriko Yamada will put it on a T-shirt while you wait. You can bring your own white or light-colored shirt or buy one at the store. Prices start at $5 for just the imprint and $15 for a T-shirt and design, and vary depending on the complexity of the work. The store has men’s and women’s shirts in various sizes, but Yamada recommends calling ahead if you want a specific fit or a large number of shirts. The free coffee while you wait is a bonus. At 269 S. San Pedro St., (213) 620-1057 or multeepurpose.com. Vantage Sport Shop: Shopping for a dad who likes to golf? Or another outdoor sports enthusiast? Don’t miss this small store tucked in a corner of the Weller Court Shopping Center at First and San Pedro streets. Vantage is stocked with all things golf, including clubs from brands including Callaway, Nike and Titleist that start at $20 and go up to more than $1,000; golf balls starting at $10; and golf bags from brands like Bridgestone in the $100-$200 range. You will also find Ray-Ban sunglasses from $100-$200, caps emblazoned with sports team and USC logos, T-shirts and $58 Manhattan Portage shoulder bags for the sporty types. And trust us, it is much easier than elbowing through your local Sports Authority. At 123 Onizuka St., Suite 102, (213) 617-0875 or vantagesportshop.com. Chado Tea Room: Even coffee addicts can find something to love at this elegant teahouse inside the Japanese American

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Sanrio in Japanese Village Plaza offers Hello Kitty accessories for children and adults.

National Museum, which offers literally hundreds of hot or iced blends. Gift certificates for food and drink can be purchased during regular business hours, from 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. every day. It is an unexpected alternative to the fancy dinner gift certificate, and a plate with four half-sandwiches (i.e. cucumbers and cream cheese, smoked salmon or egg salad) and salad or soup runs just $7.95-$10.95. Finish off the meal with a $2.50 blueberry, ginger or black currant scone with jam and butter or 90-cent Madeline cookies, then walk through JANM or the Museum of Contemporary Art’s nearby Geffen Contemporary and call it a day. At 369 E. First St., (213) 258-2581 or chadotea.com. Sanrio: If you like Hello Kitty, you’re in luck at this store, which calls itself the official home of the cartoon cat with the bow on her ear. The Little Tokyo outpost of this Japanese chain can be found inside the Japanese Village Plaza mall, and carries clothing, bags, stationary and even pillows featuring Hello Kitty and her animated friends. It’s not just kid stuff though. Sanrio also offers whimsical grown-up items, like a Hello Kitty toaster oven or ipod speaker system, plus accessories without the cat’s image. At 335 E. Second St., Japanese Village Plaza, (213) 620-0830 or sanrio.com. Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.

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Bunkado: This 64-year-old store isn’t much to look at from the outside. Inside, however, the immaculate but cozy Bunkado (which means “house of culture”) is crammed with so many different kinds of Japanese-themed items it is overwhelming at first. The inventory ranges from parasols to stationary to intricate Japanese dolls. You could find something for just about anyone, but the store is particularly well-suited to shopping for the gourmet in your life. Bunkado’s book collection includes several large, hardcover Japanese cookbooks, like the catchall Practical Japanese Cooking, which goes for $35. There are also smaller paperbacks on Japanese cuisine and sushi making for around $15. Package one of the tomes with an inexpensive set of Japanese kitchenware and you have a complete gift. A bento tray with two small, porcelain bowls, one rectangular plate and two sets of chopsticks is $30.95. At 340 E. First St., (213) 625-1122 or bunkadoonline.com. Cube: For the young trendsetter in your life, look no further than this 1-year-old clothing and accessories boutique inside Japanese Village Plaza. The store carries obscure brands of men’s and women’s pants, shirts, shoes and other clothes covering a broad price range, from $33 fitted, graphic T-shirts to hooded sweatshirts bearing the store’s name or elaborate illustrations that range from about $100-$600. If you prefer to stay on the lower end of the price scale, put together a fun grab bag of accessories and novelty items, such as the $12 raspberry soap that looks just like a popsicle, a $13.99 four-pack of lip glosses in small tubs shaped like cupcakes, or a $9.99 hip hop-themed ice tray with cutouts shaped like a boombox, a turntable and a dollar sign. At 102 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, (213) 802-0042 or cubeusa.com.

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But it doesn’t have to be excruciating. Little Tokyo offers a fun respite from the overcrowded shopping centers. Strolling the area roughly bounded by First, Third, Los Angeles and Alameda streets yields some unexpected and interesting places to snatch up gifts. Even on a weekend, you can do it without getting clogged in the usual hustle and bustle.

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December 7, 2009

Downtown News 17

DowntownNews.com

Around Town

Bainbridge Island PD Gets Used L.A. Riot Helmets

egular readers of Los Angeles City Council meeting agendas can count on occasional chuckles when votes on surplus sales crop up (hey, if you’re reading city agendas, you look for entertainment wher-

also call for 6,900 square feet of ground floor commercial and retail space. A couple of months ago, however, Kotzer said that he would put the redevelopment project on hold and instead put his 39,000-square-foot Arts District building up for lease.

Central Division Top Cop Promoted

fter a very successful year, Central Area Capt. Blake Chow has been promoted to commander and, starting Jan. 3, will work as the assistant command-

ing officer for operations in the LAPD’s Central Bureau. Chow took over for Jodi Wakefield in February, and since then has presided over a nearly 8% drop in overall crime Downtown. Chow focused on building stronger relationships with community organizations and entities, especially the security arms of the various Downtown business improvement districts. Chow said he expects that focus on communication and community partnerships to continue with the next captain. Chow’s replacement had not been announced as of press time. In his new role, Chow will work directly for Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz.

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Crazy Gideon Has Options

n October Downtown electronics retailer Crazy Gideon, aka Gideon Kotzer, announced that he would likely close his Crazy Gideon’s store in the Arts District before the end of the year. Now, it looks like he will have options for what to do with the building that houses the store. The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee on Tuesday, Dec. 1, approved plans to redevelop the property into a mixed-use project with 31 adaptive reuse and 44 new live-work units at 814-828 E. Traction Ave. Plans, which still must be approved by the full council,

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Continued from page 2 pirated DVDs in raids. Yet despite the seizures, the Fashion District, in particular the area around Santee Alley, is still known as a hub for illegal DVD sales, with street vendors hawking usually low-quality versions of hit films, many of which are still in theaters. “We are trying to protect our clients and patrons who shop with us,” said Randy Tampa, who heads up the BID’s security efforts, in a statement issued by the LAPD. “Moreover, we want our clients and patrons to know the Fashion District is a safe place to shop for a quality bargain.” In the LAPD statement, Commander Blake Chow, who is based in Downtown’s Central Division, said that the sale of pirated DVDs often supports gang activity in the area. Police and the MPAA offered tips to recognize illegal DVDs, including films that are “too new to be true,” and those with loose cellophane packaging or poorly reproduced labels. Anyone with information on illegal DVD production is asked to call the LAPD’s tip line at (877) 527-3247.

ever you can). The entire council, because of the bureaucratic process, must from time to time approve the sale of certain used items to other jurisdictions or individuals, usually for “the below market value” of $1. Surplus horses with whimsical names like Music Bar have been put up for sale, as have old vehicles. Last week, there was another unusual one: On Tuesday, Dec, 1, the council approved the sale, again for $1, of 75 used riot helmets to the Bainbridge Island Police Department. Bainbridge Island, Wash., sits in the Puget Sound about 35 minutes by ferry from Seattle. According to the city’s website, the 28-square-mile island has a “friendly aura, small town charm, and natural environments.” And riots, maybe? Donating the helmets will save the city of Los Angeles about $415 in disposal or recycling costs, according to 13th District Councilman Eric Garcetti’s motion calling for the sale.

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18 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

Twitter/DowntownNews

CNS photo courtesy of Whole Foods

Diet Time

HEALTH

Pick an Eating Plan With Staying Power to Aid Weight Loss by Vicky katz Whitaker

t doesn’t take long to figure out what’s happened when the seams split on your favorite skirt, your shirt buttons pop, or those dress snaps just won’t stay snapped. All those super-sized orders at the drivethrough have made you super sized. You need a diet. Finding one that’s right for you can be a challenge, especially if you’re looking to quickly shed the pounds you’ve packed on over a long period of time. You can do it yourself by ditching rich desserts, passing on the potatoes and limiting lunch to a couple of carrot sticks and a scoop of cottage cheese. But if you’re like most people, you’ll try the latest fad diet. It’s usually the one that promises the quickest results. You may lose a couple of pounds immediately, but chances are you will gain it all back — and then some. “All diets work in the short term, because each one has a trick for helping you cut calories whether you’re actually counting them or not,” explained Colleen Pierre, a registered dietitian, licensed nutritionist and an adjunct instructor of aging, nutrition and fitness in Johns Hopkins University’s certificate on aging program who works in private practice in Baltimore. “Keeping the weight off over the long haul is the tricky part.” Pierre recommends choosing a diet with staying power. “A plan that includes all food groups, even small treats, keeps you wellnourished while you dispose of excess body fat,” she said. “Changes made gradually over time are most likely to become permanent and help you keep the weight off.” Choosing a diet can be daunting. There are hundreds of plans — some are good, some are bad. Advertising and promotional campaigns on television and in print, as well as celebrity endorsements, can make even the worst diet an instant hit with the public. Others, like the now popular Mediterranean diet, may take years to catch on. The Mediterranean diet drew scant interest in 1945 when Ancel Keys, an American doctor stationed in Italy, advanced the idea that a diet rich in olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables could translate into lower cholesterol levels and better health. In 2001, well-known

Harvard epidemiologist Walter Willett came to the same conclusion in Eat, Drink and Be Healthy, his bestselling book. Today the Mediterranean diet, which goes easy on meat and urges the daily consumption of fruits, fish, salads, bread, pasta, beans, cheese and yogurt, is the basis of several other popular plans including the Sonoma Diet, the Omega Diet and the Miami Mediterranean Diet. Some diet programs have staying power. Weight Watchers has had a following for more than 45 years. Each week, approximately 1.5 million members attend over 50,000 Weight Watchers meetings around the world. The Jenny Craig Weight Loss Program draws 150,000 a week and has counted 5 million clients worldwide since 1983. Both stress portion control and support to keep dieters on track. The biggest weight loss website is eDiets. com, whose 1.3 million paid members can choose from nearly two dozen diets including its own calorie-controlled plan and wellknown plans like Atkins, Mediterranean, Slim-Fast Optima and Glycemic Impact, or special-need diets that are wheat free, low fat, low sodium, vegetarian, high fiber, hypoglycemic, lactose free and heart smart. Members of eDiets have access to nutritionists and fitness specialists, can participate in online support boards, get recipes and diet tools, track their weight loss history and, like a growing number of other diet operations, have portion-controlled meals and snacks delivered right to their door for an extra fee. Even with close monitoring and support, many dieters still fail to lose those extra pounds. David Grotto, president and founder of Elmhurst, Ill.-headquartered Nutrition Housecall and a nutrition advisor to Fitness magazine, said dieters do themselves in by

“Getting vaccinated is an important step for you and your family’s well-being”.

The Mediterranean diet has gained a lot of respect in recent years, with its emphasis on eating heart-healthy foods such as fish.

setting unrealistic goals such as putting an “end date” on their diet. Focusing on deprivation and ignoring the details of when, what and how much to eat doom dieters along with failing to exercise, not getting at least seven to eight hours of

sleep and not keeping records of what they’ve consumed. “Every morsel needs to be accounted for if you are to ever make sense of the scale,” he said. Article by Creators News Service.

VITAL SIGNS USC Gets Clinical Trials Unit by cheryl bruyninckx

SC University Hospital and the Keck School of Medicine hosted guests for an open house recently to celebrate the opening of the new Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) on the third floor “north” at USC University Hospital. “We are delighted to move closer to USC’s growing clinical enterprise,” said Thomas Buchanan, director of the CTU. “With the purchase of the two hospitals and the planned expansion of the Keck School of Medicine faculty, this move makes sense for the entire enterprise.” The CTU is the product of collaboration between the NIH-supported General Clinical Research Center and the Health Research Association, which together created the new unit to support a broad array of human mechanistic research and clinical trials with strong support from

University Hospital and the Keck School of Medicine. The new 17,500-square-foot unit houses inpatient and outpatient research facilities and provides support in research nursing, bionutrition, exercise testing and body composition, laboratory services, biostatistics and informatics, and research subject advocacy. It will also offer off-unit testing for projects being conducted across the medical center. “The new unit will allow us to provide more comprehensive support for the whole spectrum of clinical research being conducted at USC,” said Buchanan. “We want to promote not only NIHfunded research, but also enhance academic-industry relationships. Our goal is to help great ideas from a variety of sources get translated into better care for our patients.” Additional information is at (323) 4429574. Article courtesy of USC HSC Weekly.

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LADowntownNews.com

December 7, 2009

Downtown News 19

DowntownNews.com

RESTAURANTS Restaurant Buzz

A Lunch Spot Closes, DineLA to Return, And More Food News by RichaRd GuzmĂĄn city editoR

oodbye Grille: After more than 10 years in business, Pacific Grille is closing. The popular lunch-only spot on the lobby level of the Figueroa at Wilshire building at 601 S. Figueroa St. will serve its last meal on Dec. 22. Owner Aileen Watanabe, who bought the restaurant while it was in bankruptcy in 2004, was tight-lipped about the reason for the closure, saying only that it was a combination of several things, including the economy and wanting to start a new chapter in her life. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to move on to something else, which Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very excited about,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding that the decision to close was a hard one and that minutes after announcing it through emails last week, her phone was ringing off the hook with disappointed customers. Watanabe said there are no plans for a buyer to reopen Pacific Grille. The restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liquor license is listed for sale with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Watanabe said the JW Marriott at L.A. Live has expressed interest in purchasing the license. n A Glass of Jazz: Those who want to squeeze every bit of fun out of their weekend before the return of the dreaded Monday can join other like-minded friends in South Park for Sunday Jazz at Corkbar. The wine bar last month launched the series which pairs wine, beer and food specials with live jazz from 5-9 p.m. On Sunday, Dec. 13, Hybrid Rhumba, which is described as an adaptation of musical styles inspired by the Gipsy Kings, Santana and the Buena Vista Social Club, will perform. Also likely to draw a crowd are the drink specials, which include $8 red and white wines by the glass and beer specials, along with a $10 chefâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice dinner. Just be careful

with the late night wine drinking, or your Monday could be worse than usual. At 403 W. 12th St., (213) 746-0050 or corkbar.com. n Touchdown: The football season is going strong, and Restaurant Buzz couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be more excited. Not because the Buzz is a big fan of any particular team or even any good at fantasy football, but because of Monday Night Football specials. Yes, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;tis the season to be jolly when bars offer drink discounts to pigskin and drink fans alike. At 410 Boyd in the Arts District, draft beer is $2 and well drinks are $5, while appetizers go for $5 from 3-8 p.m. At Suede Bar & Lounge in the Westin Bonavenure Hotel, Happy Hour runs all day Monday with $4 well drinks and appetizers. So bring on the football, because with Monday night specials like these, Restaurant Buzz will be running back for more like Adrian Peterson heading to the end zone. 410 Boyd is at 410 Boyd St., (213) 6172491. Suede Bar & Lounge is at 404 S. Figueroa St., (213) 489-3590 or suedebarla.com. n Just Keep Dining: For all those who were planning on eating a little less after the holidays, forget it. Instead, go buy yourself a nice pair of stretchy sweats, because the next set of dates has been announced for DineLA Restaurant Week. Recently L.A. Inc., the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convention and visitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bureau, which spearheads the promotional campaign, announced that the popular program of prix-fixe dinners and lunches will be Jan. 24-29 and Jan. 31-Feb. 5, 2010. Although a list of participating restaurants has yet to be released, expect Downtown eateries to be well represented, since more than 40 Central City establishments participated during the last event in October. At dinela.com.

photo courtesy of Wilshire Grand

Cardini Ristorante in the Wilshire Grand hotel is offering an $18 lunch special through Dec. 21. It includes a plate of pasta, soup or salad, garlic bread and a soft drink, as well as tax and tip.

n Check Please: Going to lunch with a group of colleagues can be a nice distraction, but trying to figure out who owes what at the end of a meal can be a pain, especially when everyone orders something different. Cardini Ristorante, the Italian eatery in the Wilshire Grand hotel, can help alleviate that problem, thanks to a lunch special aimed at the office crowd. From Monday-Friday between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., the restaurant is offering an $18 per person lunch that includes pasta choices such as fettuccine alfredo with chicken, spaghetti with Bolognese or meatballs and angel hair with grilled vegetables. The meal includes a choice of soup or salad, garlic bread and a soft drink, as well as tax and tip. So no matter how many different orders there are in your party, everyone will have to fork over exactly $18. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re eating solo, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry â&#x20AC;&#x201D; parties of one are welcomed. The special runs through Dec. 22.

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20 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

Twitter/DowntownNews

CALENDAR Authors Continued from page 1 CEO. It ended up being more permanent, as Dennison has now worked in a Downtown officer tower for 10 years. But in the early morning hours, Dennison, 51, writes installments of the Vicky Hill Mystery Series, about a young newspaper reporter outside London (Dennison used to write obituaries for a small English paper) who dreams of being an investigative reporter. “It’s basically a cross between Bridget Jones and Agatha Christie with a splash of Nancy Drew; it’s in a small town, and murders take place,” said Dennison, whose Dec. 10 reading begins at 7 p.m. and coincides with the Downtown Art Walk. The stories also explore eccentric English traditions like hedgelaying (competitions for farmers trimming hedges), or in Exposé, snail racing. “Oddly enough it seems to appeal more to American readers who are Anglophiles,” Dennison said. “They find English tea and English traditions sort of nice. England seems to want the stabbing and incest and hardcore stuff. My stuff is more like cozy mystery. It’s supposed to make you feel good; you curl up at the fire with a box of chocolates and a cat.” Dana Johnson: Los Angeles native Johnson has lived all over the county, and in Downtown for about four years. She remembers strolling up Main Street three years ago and seeing paper in the windows of the future Metropolis space, wondering what new retailer was investing in the area. Today, the paper is long down and the window instead features her collection of short stories, Break Any Woman Down. The first-person accounts won the prestigious Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction. “I was experimenting with voice at the time so there’s all different kinds of people,” said Johnson, who lives in the Pacific Electric Building. “One story, for example, is a white punk Irish musician guy, one character is a black female stripper, and one’s an older black woman in the south.” Johnson, 42, who is a professor of English and creative writing at USC, has also cowritten two “chick lit” works under a pseudonym. Metropolis stocks those books, Eye To Eye and Flyover State. Though her work isn’t necessarily set Downtown, Johnson said she takes plenty of inspiration from living in the area. “For any artist of any kind, Downtown is a fascinating place to be living and working because there’s just always something to see and something to hear and something to smell,” she said. “There’s something about Downtown that’s really confrontational, in a good way.” Richard McDowell: McDowell and his circle of Downtown poets didn’t need a publisher to get their work out. They formed Brass Tacks Press, hooked up with a Santa Monica printing company, and published their prose themselves. McDowell is behind a series of “chapbooks,” or self-published, pocket-sized books, containing poetry by himself and other L.A. writers. McDowell’s self-illustrated 30 Days on Spring is his stylized reflections on life along the Historic Core street before gentrification. “On any given day on a walk from Fifth down Spring, you can buy next to anything, cigarettes at bootleg prices two-fifty a pack, Marlboro, Marlboro Lights, Newports, pickup a lighter, pack of chewing gum, mango’s [sic] bus tokens, corn-on-the-cob, plastic

animals or planets, and if your [sic] so inclined a man or woman to fulfill you sexual desires,” he writes in the book. McDowell wrote 30 Days on Spring while living, under the radar, in an abandoned Historic Core building. The 44-year-old now resides in a Wall Street loft in the Toy District and is looking to compile work from Downtown poets to publish as a collection. Diana Leszczynski: Leszczynski, an 8-year resident of Downtown, is a former film industry worker who later found her voice as a professional writer. Her Fern Verdant & the Silver Rose is an ecological adventure for children. Its young protagonist shares a secret ability with her mother to communicate with plants. The book bounces from Oregon to France to Sri Lanka, a fact that Leszczynski admits is somewhat ironic, since she wrote it while living in the San Fernando Building in the Historic Core. The closest she comes to an ecological adventure is having an indoor garden, she said. Leszczynski, 44, did not have long-seeded dreams to write fiction for children. “It’s one of those things where something just comes to you, where your brain is ricocheting around in a million different places and this seemed like the most logical way to tell this story,” she said. “And also one of my favorite books when I was growing up was Alice In Wonderland, essentially the story of a girl going into a different world, which is what [Fern Verdant] is.” Fern Verdant & the Silver Rose, which was named a Smithsonian Notable Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 and was a Green Earth Book honoree this year, encourages young readers to protect the environment, but it’s not “heavy messaged,” she said. Local sales have been strong too. “I have a wide circle of friends down here, and people knew me when I was going through the anguish and torture of writing my first draft, so I think people were genuinely supportive having seen that and then seeing me have the good fortune to get published,” Leszczynski said. Daniel Olivas: For almost 20 years, Daniel Olivas has spent his weekdays working for the state Attorney General in the Ronald Reagan State Building at Third and Spring streets. The neighborhood was already familiar to him from childhood bus trips with his grandmother to Grand Central Market. The 50-year-old deputy attorney general, a second generation Angeleno, was an English major in college and has published five works of fiction, including the short story collection Anywhere But L.A. He’ll sign copies of and read from the collection next April. “It’s a collection of short stories where essentially the characters are either trying to escape L.A. or they have completely left L.A.,” Olivas said. “I found that over the years I started accumulating stories that seemed to want to pull out of the city.” Still, Olivas’ characters maintain a close connection to the City of Angels, and often Downtown, he said. “I get distressed with outsider views of Los Angeles,” Olivas said. “There are so many stereotypes out there, including that the classic L.A. novel has to be about Malibu and movie stars, forgetting about the people who have no connection to Hollywood or the movie industry, people who go to work every single day. Those people, I try to address.” Metropolis Books is at 440 S. Main St., (213) 612-0174 or metropolisbooksla.com. Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

photo by Gary Leonard

Diana Leszczynski’s Fern Verdant & the Silver Rose is an ecological adventure for children. The closest she comes to ecological adventures is having a small indoor garden in the Old Bank District.

photo by Gary Leonard

Daniel Olivas, who spends his days working as a deputy attorney general in the Ronald Reagan State Building, has published five works of fiction.

photo by Gary Leonard

Hannah Dennison has published three installments of her Vicky Hill Mystery Series. She reads from her newest book, Exposé, at Metropolis on Thursday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m.

photo by Gary Leonard

Dana Johnson’s short story collection Break Any Woman Down won the Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction. She lives in the Historic Core.

Toy District-based Richard McDowell selfpublishes his and other poets’ work through their own Brass Tacks Press.

Mouse in the House Among other published Downtown authors is Rod Riggs. A former journalist and current Bunker Hill resident, Riggs has published two children’s books about a mouse who lives in Walt Disney Concert Hall (he has also contributed stories to Downtown News). Riggs clocked 23 years at the San Diego Union Tribune. After retiring, he and his wife moved to the Bunker Hill Towers in Downtown Los Angeles. In 2005, inspired by the shimmering, swirling concert hall across the street, he published Symphony Phil, the tale of a rodent who lives in the Frank Gehrydesigned building and learns about music. A sequel, Symphony Phil and the Shiny Horns, came out two years later. For both books, Riggs teamed up with illustrator Wendy Summerville. Two other sequels are in the works, and earlier this year, Symphony Phil was featured before a Philharmonic youth concert. —Jon Regardie

December 7, 2009

Downtown News 21

DowntownNews.com

Building a Better Barber New Production of Rossini Classic Is Fast, Fun and Visually Thrilling by Marc Porter Zasada contributing writer

he last time Los Angeles opera-goers saw the buffa Barber of Seville was way back in 2003. That turgid production buried Gioachino Rossini in heavy period costumes and polite stage business. What a difference six years makes. An exuberant new production designed by Emilio Sagi and imported from the Teatro Real in Madrid opened recently at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Downtown Los Angeles, where it continues through Dec. 19. It is fast and fun, and would be frivolous if it were not so visually exciting and musically adept. From the opening moments, when a crowd of fussy concertmasters rushes onstage to construct the set, to the completely over-the-top finish (with both kites and hot air balloons), this production sings as joyously as the principal players. An all-star cast is led by Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, making his L.A. Opera début as Count Almaviva, the dashing royal who is chasing after Rosina, the lovely young ward of the absurd Doctor Bartolo. Flórez is a songbird, with a somewhat small but perfectly formed lyric voice ideally suited to the current production, which presents Almaviva as a bit of a fop, carried about in a litter by his servants. (A second cast sings the principal roles on Dec. 12 and at the Dec. 19 matinee.) As Figaro, the mischievous Barber who aids Almaviva, baritone Nathan Gunn actually cuts the more dashing figure — and it’s hard to understand why Rosina doesn’t fall for him instead. Gunn is athletic, both physically and vocally. But the musical highlight of the show is mezzo Joyce DiDonato, who has been attacking the part of Rosina with happy gusto in opera houses around the globe (so energetically, in fact, that she fractured a fibula onstage at Covent Garden this summer). DiDonato has a big but exceptionally agile voice, confident and clean throughout the range. Her

opening “Una voce poco fa” was brilliant, committed and rapturously received. Best of all, this Barber is actually funny. In fact, it borders on the slapstick, though it is creative enough not to completely cross the line. Flórez, Gunn and DiDonato all have good comic instincts, and Bruno Praticó is wonderful as the rotund Bartolo, with a singing patter as fast as a gattling gun. Bass Andrea Silvestrelli makes for a truly exceptional Don Basilio, the easily corrupted and easily distracted music teacher. His paean to slander would be hilarious even without some wonderful stage business engineered by the production team. L.A. Opera-goers will be familiar with production designer Sagi from works in previous seasons, including a rather static and confused Carmen in 2004. But as one audience member remarked at intermission: “Clearly the man was meant for comedy.” Along with director Javier Ulacia, Sagi keep delivering new ideas, often played out by servants or soldiers in the background, and often they were allowed to upstage the principals. There was a slight drag in the middle of the second act, but when Sagi and Ulacia take the production over the top, they take it all the way over — sometimes the visual ideas alone spark laughter. Conductor Michele Mariotti, just 30 years old and imported from Italy for this production, has an appropriately light touch, and refrains from the romantic drama that modern conductors are so often tempted to bring to the Bel Canto style. Scenery designer Llorenç Corbella and costume designer Renata Schussheim probably deserve the real credit on the visuals — it is difficult to come up with concepts to surprise and thrill an opera crowd which may have witnessed innumerable Barbers. Secondary players, including especially Kerri Marcinko as a slovenly maid, contribute perfectly to the overall nonsense. Barber of Seville continues through Dec. 19 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-8001 or laopera.com.

photo by Robert Millard

A visually alive Barber of Seville features Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez and Joyce DiDonato. The production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion runs through Dec. 19.

photo by Robert Millard

Bass Andrea Silvestrelli is Don Basilio and Bruno Pratico plays the absurd Doctor Bartolo in the L.A. Opera work.

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DECEMBER 12 & 13, 2009 11AM-6PM

Enjoy FREE Winter Holiday Festival Activities:

Snow Zone for Sledding and Romping Live Puppet Shows (3 Shows per day) • Make & Take Children’s Crafts Community Youth Performances • Photo Mementos • Live Concerts December 12 - three puppet shows daily tBa • December 13 - three puppet shows daily tBa December 13 - flattop tom 2:00 to 4:00pm

Continue Your Holiday Celebration at Pershing Square’s “Downtown On Ice” Outdoor Skating Rink - Open 10am to 10pm *Fee Applies for Ice Skating PeRSHIng SquARe 532 SOutH OlIve StReet, lOS AngeleS, CA 90013 visit: www.laparks.org (enter “Pershing Square” in search box) Call 213-847-4970 or e-mail Pershing.Square@lacity.org

22 Downtown News

LISTINGS

SponSored LiSting

Tuesday, dec. 8 ALOUD at the Central Library 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7025 or aloudla.org. 7 p.m.: Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout gives a musical lecture on his new biography, “Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong.” Drawing on a cache of new sources unavailable to previous biographers,Teachout paints a portrait of Louis Armstrong’s world and his music. Town Hall Los Angeles Omni Hotel, 251 S. Olive St., (213) 628-8141 or townhall-la.org. Noon: The lecture series hosts Joe Plumeri, chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, one of the world’s leading insurance brokers. Plumeri will discuss the business and his company, which in 2004 became the first and only insurance broker to abolish the controversial practice of accepting contingent commissions from insurers and establish a Client Bill of Rights.

photo by Ken Howard

by AnnA Scott, StAff writer

he “people’s diva” sounds like it could be a nickname for Whitney Houston or Roseanne Barr, but in fact the moniker refers to opera singer Renée Fleming. The soprano is known for her vocal artistry and accessible style. Fleming will perform a one-night-only concert on Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. The performance will be her first with Los Angeles Opera since her 2006 appearance in La Traviata. The program will include songs by Richard Strauss and Oliver Messiaen, among others. At 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-8001 or laopera.com.

two

alling all jazz fans: On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Wall Street Journal drama critic, Commentary magazine chief culture critic and former professional jazz musician Terry Teachout will deliver a “musical lecture” at the Central Library. Teachout visits the Financial District institution at 7 p.m. to discuss the life and music of horn legend Louis Armstrong. The event is organized by the Aloud lecture forum and coincides with the release of Teachout’s Armstrong biography Pops, which the New York Times recently called “eloquent and important.” At 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7025 or aloudla.org.

Thursday, dec. 10 Downtown Art Walk Info and map at downtownartwalk.com. Noon-10 p.m.: The Downtown Art Walk is a self-guided tour that showcases the many art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles — commercial art galleries, museums and nonprofit art venues.

photo by Steve Cohn

Friday, dec. 11 Farmlab Public Salons 1745 N. Spring St., Unit #4, (323) 226-1158 or farmlab.org. Noon: Radical ecologist, designer, urban forager, grower and teacher Nance Klehm leads a salon on the transformation of what is perceived as waste into soil, or enhancing/healing existing soil.

The mighty Walt Disney Concert Hall pipe organ, which debuted in 2004, is almost — almost — as impressive as the venue itself. The instrument, like the concert hall, was designed by Frank Gehry and was made for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Hear the power of the organ’s 6,134 pipes on Wednesday, Dec. 9, during an evening of seasonal holiday music by concert organist David Higgs. The performance, which begins at 8 p.m., might even include a singalong or two, so be sure to warm up your own pipes beforehand. BTW: Some think the organ resembles a giant box of French fries. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (323) 850-2000 or laphil.com.

that houses ly the historic stretch lar cu rti pa , ay dw oa nversation in he future of Br been a big topic of co s ha es, lac pa ie ov m r, a new phoseveral aging . This week, howeve ars ye o tw st pa e th es by David Downtown during it is today. The imag as eet str e th ts gh hli d teaches photography exhibit hig e Los Angeles Times an th for ed rk wo s ha o retail shops and Blumenkrantz, wh , capture the cluttered ge rid th or N ate St l ay. The exhibit tojournalism at Ca e modern-day Broadw lat pu po at th rs pe op onard’s Take diverse crowd of sh photographer Gary Le ws Ne n tow wn Do es the monthly opens at Los Angel . 10 (to coincide with ec D , ay sd ur Th on S. Broadway, My Picture gallery ugh Jan. 10. At 860 ro th ns ru d an ), alk Downtown Art W emypicture.com. (213) 622-2256 or tak

Wednesday, dec. 9 Pictures With Santa 7+Fig, 735 S. Figueroa St., (213) 955-7150 or 7fig.com. Noon-2 p.m.: During the month of December, 7+Fig Shopping Center hosts a variety of live music events (see rock listings at DowntownNews.com), and kids get free pictures with Santa every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Pets welcome.

saTurday, dec. 12 Margot Street Green Block Party Margot Street, Between Pico Blvd. and 14th St., (310) 363-0258 or lagreenblockparty.com. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: As the L.A. Conservation Corps plants trees along this block in South Park, there will be food, drink and live music. It’s like one big group tree hug. Poketo Holiday Warehouse Sale 510 S. Hewitt St., #506, or poketo.com. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Poketo, the Downtown-based designer of limited edition art products, accessories, apparel and decor, opens its doors for a holiday sale with discounts and live music. Culinary Historians of Southern California Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., 10:30 a.m.: Romaine Ahlstrom and Dan Strehl will explore cookbooks as they were published in the new nation, and how these cookbooks developed a new “American” cuisine. A reception with themed refreshments will follow the talk at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The Holiday Season Is Underway With Opera, Jazz and Ice Skating

5 photo by Gary Leonard

Monday, dec. 7 Third and Spring Holiday Gift Exchange Douglas Building, 257 S. Spring St., (310) 929-0656 or 3rdandspring.com. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., through Dec. 22: This temporary market and gift exchange will feature a variety of hand-made holiday gifts by local artists including fine arts and crafts, paintings, gift baskets, photography, jewelry, clothing, ornaments, soaps, candles and holiday foods. Vendors will rotate.

photo by Andrew Eccles

Senior Minister’s Christmas Reception First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. 11 a.m.: First Congregational Church Senior Minister Dr. R. Scott Colglazier gives a sermon called “The Art of Christmas.” The talk is part of the church’s Advent sermon series. Afterward, at noon, there will be a reception with holiday music and hors d’oeuvres.

THE ‘DON’T MISS’ LIST

photo by David Blumenkrantz

EVENTS

December 7, 2009

DowntownNews.com

four

ershing Square’s Downtown On Ice skating rink is full of family-friendly entertainment during the two-day Winter Holiday Festival. The festivities will take place Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12-13, and include free sledding on artificial snow, three live puppet shows each day, children’s arts and crafts and live music. An intricate, miniature train village will also be on display around the rink throughout the weekend. The fun starts at 11 a.m. both days and continues until 6 p.m. Regular skate time, available for $6 per one-hour session, will also be offered during the festival. At 532 S. Olive St., (213) 624-4289 or laparks.org/pershingsquare/.

December 7, 2009

Downtown News 23

DowntownNews.com

But Wait, There’s More!

Additional Event Information on the Web

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM/CALENDAR : EVENTS | ROCK, POP & JAZZ | CLASSICAL MUSIC | THEATER, OPERA & DANCE ART SPACES | FILM | BARS & CLUBS | MUSEUMS | FARMERS MARKETS | TOURS Winter Holiday Festival Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., (213) 847-4970 or laparks.org/pershingsquare. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.: Pershing Square hosts a two day, snowy, family oriented winter festival at its ice rink. In addition to skating, the event, which continues through Dec. 13, features puppet shows, arts and crafts workshops, a miniature train village display and live music.

ROCK, POP & JAZZ 2nd Street Jazz 366 E. Second St., (213) 680-0047, 2ndstjazz.com or myspace.com/2ndstreetlivejazz. Tuesdays: Jazz jam session. Music usually starts at 9 or 10 p.m. 626 Reserve 626 S. Spring St., (213) 627-9800 or 626reserve.com. Tuesdays, 6 p.m.: Live music with Goh Kurosawa. Thursdays, 6 p.m.: More live sounds, this time with Jessie Torrez. Blue Velvet 750 S. Garland Ave., (213) 239-0061. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 p.m.: Live music and DJs. Café Metropol 923 E. Third St., (213) 613-1537 or cafemetropol.com. Dec. 10, 8-10 p.m.: Grammy nominated vocalist Kate McGarry. Dec. 11, 8-10 p.m.: Kai Kurosawa, master of the Beartrax, a custom guitar and bass in one played by tapping the strings instead of plucking them, appears with his trio. Dec. 12, 8-10 p.m.: The Yohei Nakamura band plays jazzy, funky rock.

Chop Suey Café 347 E. First St., (213) 617-9990 or chopsueycafe.com. Thursdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m.: Live jazz on the patio of the restored landmark. Cicada Cicada Restaurant, 617 S. Olive St., (213) 488-9488 or cicadarestaurant.com. Thursdays, 8-11 p.m.: The velvet-voiced Max Vontaine recreates the sounds and styles of rat packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. His smoking jackets and tunes are vintage; his bawdy repartee is less so. Keep a close eye on the unlit cigarette. Sundays, 6-11 p.m.: The restaurant is transformed into a vintage, old Hollywood-style dance club every Sunday. Come out to appreciate the big band, swank costumes, dinner and cocktails. Visit cicadaclub.com. Club Nokia Corner of Olympic Blvd. and Figueroa St., clubnokia.com. Dec. 8, 8 p.m.: The great, braided one: Willie Nelson. Dec. 10, 8:30 p.m.: Skinny Puppy appears with Vverevvolf Grehv and Baseck. Dec. 11, 8 p.m.: Tower of Power shares the stage with the Average White Band. Conga Room L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic, (213) 749-0445 or congaroom.com. Dec. 8, 8 p.m.: Record release party for Alejandro Fernandez. Dec. 10, 8 p.m.: Ritmo Caliente. Dec. 12, 8 p.m.: Opa Opa. J Restaurant and Lounge 1119 S. Olive St., (213) 746-7746 or jloungela.com. Tuesdays: Live acoustic performances in the lounge.

Listings for additional concerts, exhibits and more in Downtown Los Angeles can be found on our website. Go to downtownnews.com/calendar for full information, including time and location, for all the happenings in Downtown.

Wednesdays: Salsa in the City features complimentary salsa lessons at 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., a batch of live musicians takes over for a jam session. Redwood Bar & Grill 316 W. Second St., (213) 680-2600 or theredwoodbar.com. Dec. 9, 10 p.m.: The Eye presents Brownbird Rudy Relic, Almighty Do Me A Favor and Chango Ray. Dec. 10, 10 p.m.: Honky tonksters Rose’s Pawn Shop, with 50 Cent Haircut. Dec. 11, 10 p.m.: Two Tears, Brownbird Rudy Relic, Lamps and Sunday Times. Dec. 12, 10 p.m.: Mike Watt and His Missingmen, with Ladyheat. Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., sevengrand.us. Dec. 7, 10 p.m.: Richard Sears. Dec. 8, 10 p.m.: House band The Makers. Dec. 9, 10 p.m.: ChuChu and the Lovely Band.

Concert Hall organ make for a perfect combination. Spirited master organist David Higgs returns with his sacred and holiday music.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

4 wEb: www.DowntownNews.com 4 EMAIL: Calendar@DowntownNews.com

Wednesday, dec. 9 Los Angeles Philharmonic Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., musiccenter.org. 8 p.m.: Holidays and the mighty Walt Disney

Thursday dec. 10 Los Angeles Philharmonic Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., musiccenter.org. 8 p.m.: Zubin Mehta conducts pianist Yefim Bronfman and the philharmonic in a program that features Beethoven’s epic Symphony No. 3, the “Eroica.” Also Dec. 11-12, 8 p.m. and Dec. 13, 2

EASy wAyS tO SUbMIt yOUR

EvEnt InfO

Email: Send a brief description, street address and public phone number. Submissions must be received 10 days prior to publication date to be considered for print.

Now Showing at Take My Picture David

blumenkrantz’s

BROADWAY December 10 thru January 10

The six-block stretch of Broadway between 3rd and 9th streets in downtown Los Angeles is home to a collection of monumental theaters that during the first decades of the twentieth-century defined a glorious era in the city’s history. Today only a few of these theaters are operational: in recent decades Broadway has become a rundown stretch of partially or completely abandoned office spaces and sweatshops overlooking a retail, wholesale and informal-sector marketplace. With current gentrification efforts, the area is in flux, though still predominantly characterized by a multicultural underclass unique to Los Angeles. The photographs in this collection are documents of the people and architecture; environmental portraits that constitute an incomplete and subjectively drawn composite sketch of the way Broadway is, for now.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard 860 S. Broadway (@ 9th) | TakeMyPicture.com | 213.622.2256 Monday–Friday 10am to 2pm | Saturday Noon to 6pm | Sunday Noon to 3pm

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December 7, 2009

Downtown News 25

DowntownNews.com

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE

26 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

Twitters/DowntownNews

Continued from previous page

EMPLOYMENT

Drivers ANDRUS TRANSPORTATION Seeking Team Drivers for fast turning freight lanes! Also Hiring Solo OTR drivers - West states exp/hazmat end, great miles/ hometime. Stable Family owned 35 yrs+ 1-800-888-5838, 1-866806-5119 x1402. (Cal-SCAN)

Retail/Sales OVER 18? AVAILABLE to Travel? Earn Above Average $$$ with Fun Successful Business Group! No Experience Necessary. 2wks Paid Training. Lodging, Transportation Provided. 1-877-646-5050. (CalSCAN)

NW REGIONAL FLATBED. New Positions Now Available! Competitive Pay, Home Most Weekends, Great Benefits, Must be Canada admissible. System Transport. 1-800-762-3776. (Cal-SCAN)

Customer Service $15-$25 hr. Customer Service. 100 year old company. Established customers. Flexible hours. PT/FT. Retirees welcome. No starter fee. Fuller Brush 1-800655-5435. email defroshaug@ aol.com. (Cal-SCAN)

Computers/IT ATTN: COMPUTER WORK. Work from anywhere 24/7. Up to $1,500 Part Time to $7,500/ mo. Full Time. Training provided. www.KTPGlobal.com or call 1-800-330-8446. (Cal-SCAN)

DowntownNews.com

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Business Opportunities ALL CASH VENDING! Be Your Own Boss! Your Own Local Vending Route. Includes 25 Machines and Candy for $9,995. MultiVend LLC, 1-888-625-2405. (Cal-SCAN) MAKE $$MONEY$$ Every Day Cleaning Foreclosed Homes. Banks Need You. Foreclosures are at Historic High. Act today before midnight & Get Free Report at: www. ForeclosureCleanUp4Cash. com. (Cal-SCAN)

SERVICES Music Lessons Children’s Performing Group! Singing, dancing, performing and fun! For boys & girls ages 3 and up! See SunshineGenerationLA. com or call 909-861-4433.

Offices • Offices • Offices • Offices

DISPLAY ADVERTISING in 140 Cal-SDAN newspapers statewide for $1,550! Reach over 3 million Californians! Free email brochure. Call (916) 288-6019. www.Cal-SDAN.com. (CalSCAN)

safety

“Open in Case of Fire” Smoke & Safety Mask

Minutes Count!

security

www.Fire-Fires.com 800.447.0387

“Do-it-Yourself”

Advertising

Apartment Alarm System

No Monthly Fee, No Wiring

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING in 240 Cal-SCAN newspapers for the best reach, coverage, and price. 25-words $550. Reach 6 million Californians! Free email brochure. Call (916) 288-6019. www.Cal-SCAN.com. (CalSCAN)

www.Alarm-Alarms.com 800.447.0387 Financial Services TAX RELIEF! Do You Owe Over $15,000 in Back Taxes? Need to Settle State, Business, Payroll Tax Problems, Eliminate Penalties, Interest Charges, Wage Garnishments, Tax Liens! Call American Tax Relief 1-800-4969891. Free, Confidential, No obligation, consultation. (CalSCAN)

NEWS RELEASE? Cost-efficient service. The California Press Release Service has 500 current daily, weekly and college newspaper contacts in California. Free email brochure. Call (916) 288-6010. www.CaliforniaPressReleaseService.com. (Cal-SCAN)

GET OUT OF DEBT in Months! Avoid Bankruptcy. Not a high priced consolidation company or a consumer credit counseling program. Free consultation Credit Card Relief 1-866-4755353. (Cal-SCAN)

COMPUTER HEADACHES? FREE In-Home Diagnosis, Virus-Spyware Removal, Computer Setup, Repair, Wireless Networking, Training, Troubleshooting, Software. We are Microsoft Certified. 310-927-9233.

Massage therapy

attorneys

Star Holistic Spa Massage/Acupressure $40 (1 Hour) 2551 W. Beverly Blvd. LA, CA, 90057 (Beverly Rampart)

Tel: 213-383-7676

EZ SHIATSU & MASSAGE 30 min. (Reg. $30) $10 Off with this AD 400 E. 2nd St., #205 LA CA 90012

(Honda Plaza Mall)

213-680-4970

Burbank • Brentwood Century City • Downtown L.A. Woodland Hills Locations Nationwide

Weekly $175 1-2 people Daily $45 1-2 people

Beautiful Offices For As Little As $400 Fully Furnished/Corporate ID Programs Flexible Terms/All New Suites

Stuart Hotel 718 S. Union Ave. (Union & 7th St.)

Services Include: • Reception • Mail • T-1 • State-of-the-Art Voice Mail & Telephone • Westlaw • Fax • Photocopy • More

Santee Court Lofts from $1,250 (213) 623-8101 • www.santeecourt.com

Unfurnished bachelor rooms with shared bath at $550/mo. with private bath $695/mo. Includes utilities, basic cable channels, laundry room on site. Gated building in a good area.

Jenny Ahn (213) 996-8301 jahn@regentBC.com www.regentbc.com

208 W. 14th St. at Hill St. Downtown LA

For English Call Pierre or Terri 213.744.9911 For Spanish Call Susana 213.749.0306

MILANO LOFTS Now Leasing! • Gorgeous Layouts • 10-15’ Ceilings • Fitness Center • Wi-Fi Rooftop Lounge • Amazing Views

Clean furnished single rooms. 24-hour desk clerk service. •Daily, $25.00 •Weekly, $99.00 •Monthly, $295.00 (213) 622-1508 423 East 7th St.

6th+Grand Ave. • milanoloftsla.com • 213.627.1900

(2 blocks west of San Pedro St.)

Construction

$98

s.f.

details 323-960-5792

FRUSTRATED BY COMPUTERS? For services or solutions for home or business, call 213458-6873.

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

• Fully Furnished • 100% Utilities Paid • • Refrigerator, Microwave & TV In Each Room • • Wireless Access Throughout Bldg. • Gym • • Close to USC & Loyola Law School • • Presidential Suite with Kitchen • Parking Available Onsite

$690 1 Person

50 Channels Direct TV

Mayfair Hotel 1256 West 7th Street

Simin (213) 484-9789 Ext. 555 or (213) 632-1111 Downtown since 2002

Don't settle for anyone less experienced! Call us today! Bill Cooper • 213.598.7555 • TheLoftExpertGroup.com

madison hotel

home improvement

GC# 308729 Established 1975

ComputerS/IT

Special STUDENT RATE! the loft expert! group

Law Office of H. Douglas Daniel Esq., (213) 689-1710

Monthly Rents Start at $780 1 & 2 Rooms Available

Low Move in Special

Additional Features: Kitchen Facilities, All Support Services, Great Views, Free Conference Room Hours, Fully Trained Staff, Cost Effective.

Get your GREEN CARD or CITIZENSHIP

Luxury Rooms in Downtown

716 Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

213.413.8100

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

Architectural Plans + Permit Included

Rooms Available ✓ Private Bathroom ✓ Cable TV w/HBO ✓ 24 hr. Front Desk

ABOGADO DE IMMIGRACION!

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

Monthly from $695 utilities paid. (213) 627-1151

Rosslyn Hotel

2 months*

FREE

*Limited time offer: when you sign a one year lease.

Unfurnished rooms starting at $450 a month Laundry on site. All utilities included. 112 W 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 213.503.7449 • www.rosslynstudios.com

Do you have something to sell?

Ad Copy: _________________________________________

Ad Prices

________________________________________________

(Marketplace and Automotive Categories ONLY) • Items under $300 • Items $301 to $500 • Items $501 to $1200 • Items $1201 to $2000 • Items $2001+…

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

FREE! $11.50 $14.00 $16.50 $19.00

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

State Check $

Zip Credit Card $

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 49,000 , our classifieds get results!

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

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 for next issue.

December 7, 2009

Downtown News 27

DowntownNews.com PETS/ANIMALS

崔Roof

adopt a pet

michael choi Roofing

Since 1972 • FRee estimate Reroof, Repairs • Lic. #C-39-588045

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@BarkAvewLA. com or visit www.Bark Avenue Foundation.org.

323-229-3320 (c) 323-722-1646 (B) Cleaning CONCEPTO’S CLEANING Crew. Professional, experienced, cleans apartments, homes, offices and restaurants. Call for a quote. 323-459-3067 or 818-409-9183.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ITEMS FOR SALE

Volunteer opportunities 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.

MisC. iteMs LOT SALE BY OWNER 7,951 sq.ft. California City, Kern, Asphalted, Water, Electricity $25,000.00 Hdipaling 100 Bunker Hill Rd., Guilford, CT 06437 NEW YORK guitarist GUS FAFALIOS’s new cd “Night Fishing” is available on iTunes and cdBaby at www.cdbaby.com/ gusfafalios. www.Myspace.com/ gusguitar 646-387-5717

LEGAL FiCtitious Business naMe

NORDIC TRACK EXERCISE Excellent Machine. Family fitness $500 best offer 323-7347604.

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. 11/16, 11/23, 11/30, 12/07/09 Fictitious Business name statement File no. 20091707368 The following persons doing business as: (1) LITTLE BARN,(2) THE LITTLE BARN, located at 130 S.Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles CA 90026, are hereby registered by the following registrant: LITTLE BARN, LLC, 1804 Cerro Gordo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026, This business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company in California. Registrants began to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on November 1, 2009. This statement was filed with the Los Angeles County Clerk of Los Angeles on November 12, 2009. 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

Fictitious Business name statement File no. 20091686638 The following person is doing business as: ZIG ZAG DELIVERY, 419 N. Larchmont Blvd. #203, LA CA 90004 , are hereby registered by the following registrant: TINCTURE HEALTH CARE, 419 N. Larchmont Blvd. #203, LA CA 90004, a California Non-Profit Mutual Benefit Corporation. This business is conducted by a corporation. The registrant 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 November 9, 2009. 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

AUTOS & RECREATIONAL autos Wanted 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. (Cal-SCAN) DONATE YOUR VEHICLE! Receive Free Vacation Voucher. United Breast Cancer Foundation. Free Mammograms, Breast Cancer Info www.ubcf. info Free Towing, Tax Deductible, Non-Runners Accepted, 1-888468-5964. (Cal-SCAN)

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. 11/23, 11/30, 12/7, 12/14/09 Fictitious Business name statement File no. 20091736090 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: MS. SOMMELIER, 600 W. Ninth Street, Unit #1102, Los Angeles CA 90015 are hereby registered by the following registrant: STEPHANIE BADEN, 600 W. Ninth Street, Suite #1102, Los Angeles CA 90015. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on November 11, 2009. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on November 17, 2009. 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, 11/30, 12/07, 12/14, 12/21/09 Fictitious Business name statement File no. 20091754156 The following persons doing business as: RUNAWAY CART, 617 E. 9th Street #2, Los Angeles, CA 90015, is hereby regis-

tered by the following registrant: Edward Patrick Ferry, 617 E. 9th Street #2, Los Angeles CA 90015. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrants began to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on November 19, 2009. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on November 19, 2009. 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. 12/7, 12/14, 12/21, 12/28/09

Free Rent! ELEGANT WORLD CLASS RESORT BRAND NEW APARTMENT HOMES

Orsini

IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY! studios from $1,685* • 1 bedroom from $1,818* • 2 bedroom from $2,212* *Availability and prices are subject to change at any time.

• Brunswick Four Lane Virtual Bowling • Full Swing Virtual Golf • 3100 Square Foot Cybex Fitness Facility • Massage Room, Sauna and Steam Room • Rooftop Pools with Dressing Room • Free Abundant Gated and Garage Parking • Business Center, Conference Room • Directors Screening Room

• Lavish Fountains and Sculptures • Free Tanning Rooms • Concierge Service • 24 Hour Doorman • 24/7 On-site Management • Free DSL Computer Use Available • Free Wi-Fi • Magnificent City Views • On-Site Private Resident Park with Sand Volleyball Court, Workout Stations, BBQ’s and Jogging Track

UNITS FEATURE: On Spring St.

Premiere Towers:

Private Washer and Dryer • Fully Equipped Gourmet Kitchens Maple European Style Cabinetry • Granite Counter Tops Natural Stone Marble Counter Baths

2 bdrm/2 bath, $1600/mo. • Rooftop garden terrace/GYM w/city view • 24 hr. doorman • free (1) parking

City Lofts:

900 sqft, 13 ft ceilings, $1500/mo. • Granite marble top • Stainless steel appliances/refrigerator etc. • Pet friendly We are located in a prime area in Downtown LA nice neighborhood w/ salon, market, café etc. Wired for high speed internet & cable, central heat & A/C

Please call 213.627.6913 www.cityloftsquare.com

I c o n I c B e au t y S e e k S S t y l i S h M at e

Orsini

550 NORTH FIGUEROA ST. LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 OPEN DAILY

WWW.THEORSINI.COM

For rent Single Family Home For Sale ❚ 1 Bed. 1 Bath. Lafayette Park Place. Move In ❚ East Pasadena. 3+2 W/Pool. Bank Has Now. $1200 Month Foreclosed. Price Tbd. ❚ Prom. West-2 Bed. 2 Bath PenthouseBunker Hill real estate Co, inC. Sophisticated, Spectacular One Of A Kind Condo. EstablishEd 1984 Top Of The Line Upgrades & Décor. Georgeous leasing-salesM irza a lli loans-refinance Furnishings Adorn This Pride Of Ownership Home. Broker/Realtor (213) 680-1720 Corporate Lease Welcome. Furnished $3500 Per e-mail us: info@bunkerhillrealestate.com Month. Un-Furnished $3200 Per Month. www.Bunkerhillrealestate.com

noW leasing

FroM $1,250’s/Mo. Free parking ROOFTOP GARDEN RETREAT WITH BBQ AND LOUNGE GRAND LOBBY • FITNESS CENTER • SPA MODERN KITCHEN w/CAESAR COUNTERTOPS HIGH SPEED INTERNET DESIGNER LIVING SPACES • PET FRIENDLY • DRAMATIC VIEWS WALKING DISTANCE TO RALPHS SUPERMARKET

756 S. Broadway • Downtown Los Angeles 213-892-9100 • chapmanf lats.com

FOR RENT

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

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

Pricing subject to change without notice.

Living Outrageously For Today!®

DRE #01706351

8 7 7 - 4 L A- LO F TS

Since 2001, LoftLivingLA.com has been helping people live in Downtown’s best condos, lofts & apartments!

Visit us online at www.LoftLivingLA.com

8Visit7us7online - 4atLwww.LoftLivingLA.com A- LO F TS

Guess One of Elicia’s Favorite Cafe Hang-Outs and WIN!

Guess Ted’s Favorite Frozen Yogurt Hang-Out and WIN!

downtownnews.com

Top floor of 11 story (18,000 SF) historic building available now! Perfect for corporate hqtrs. Features separate executive suite(s). Stunning views of LA two blocks away from Staples Center and across the street from the new LA Live complex. We have approximately 7,800 square feet of space open with offices along the exterior. Full kitchen with dishwasher, high exposed ceilings and stained floors. The building also has approx 4,000 sq ft of beautiful contiguous space and some small offices available. These spaces • BUYING • LIVING canRENTING be viewed by appointment.

Since 2001, LoftLivingLA.com has been helping people live in Downtown’s best condos, lofts & apartments!

Information available to qualified prospective tenants.

8 7 7Email - 4 Lrequest A - Lto OFTS Visit us online at www.LoftLivingLA.com

mdavis@shammasgroup.com or Guess where Lance Buys $2 746-6300 Bookscall in (213) Downtown and WIN!

DRE #01706351

Since 2001, LoftLivingLA.com has been helping people live in Downtown’s best condos, lofts & apartments!

Living Outrageously For Today!®

DRE #01706351

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. RENTING • BUYING • LIVING RENTING • BUYING • LIVING

Available Immediately

Living Outrageously For Today!®

RENTING • BUYING • LIVING

Since 2001, LoftLivingLA.com has been helping people live in Downtown’s best condos, lofts & apartments!

8 7 7 - 4 L A- LO F TS Visit us online at www.LoftLivingLA.com

Guess where Candy bought six Red Velvet Cupcakes for $5.

877-267-5911

Children’s Performing Group

Sunshine Generation

Take us home 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@BarkAvewLA.com or visit www.Bark Avenue Foundation.org.

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

SunshineGenerationLA.com 909-861-4433

28 Downtown News

December 7, 2009

Twitter/DowntownNews

We Got Games Lakers Roll, and Two Big Tests For the Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7100 or nba.com/lakers. Dec. 9 and 11, 7:30 p.m.: What’s more unlikely? Jazz in Utah, or lakes in Los Angeles? Ponder that as the Lake show gets a double dose of Deron Williams’ Utah Jazz this week, first at home, and then in the Beehive State on Dec. 12. In between the Utah sandwich is a home game against the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves, coached by former Laker player and assistant coach Kurt Rambis. The Lakers have been unstoppable since big man Paul Gasol returned form injury. Los Angeles Clippers Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St.,

(213) 742-7100 or nba.com/clippers. Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m.: Sparked by the recent return of sophomore guard Eric Gordon, the Clippers went on an impressive run, winning four of five games and giving coach Mike Dunleavy his 500th career win. But, just as the Clips approached a .500 record, Gordon went down again, and the team got thumped by Houston. This week will be tough, as Baron Davis and friends host the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic, then welcome the always strong San Antonio Spurs. Wins against these squads would cement this Clips team as a legitimate playoff contender. On the other hand, the upside of a two-game week is that they can lose no more than two games. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., 1 (888) KINGS-LA or kings.nhl.com. Dec. 7, 10 and 12 7:30 p.m.: The Kings officially have their long lost swagger back. Hard-hitting and tenacious, the team has found itself in fifth place in the Western Conference (as of press time). This week they take on the Calgary Flames, Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars. —Ryan Vaillancourt

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore!

Grand Tower 255 south Grand avenue Leasing Information 213 229 9777

Promenade Towers 123 south Figueroa street Leasing Information 213 617 3777

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

Community Amenities: ~ 24 Hr. Manned Lobby ~ Pool / Saunas ~ Fitness Center ~ Covered Parking

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove, Microwave & Dishwasher (most units) ~ Central Air Conditioning & Heating ~ Balconies (most units)

On-site: ~ Dry Cleaners / Dental Office / Restaurants

Now For Call n Specials Move-I

8 7 7 - 2 65 - 714 6

museum Tower 225 south olive street Leasing Information 213 626 1500

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove & Dishwasher ~ Central Air & Heating ~ Solariums and/or Balconies

On Site: ~ Convenience Store / Coffee House / Yogurt Shop / Beauty Salon

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

Apartment Amenities: ~ Refrigerator, Stove, Microwave & Dish washer (most units) ~ Central Air & Heating ~ Balconies (most units)

It’s our business to make you comfortable... at home, downtown. Corporate and long term residency is accommodated in high style at the Towers Apartments. Contemporary singles, studio, one bedroom and two bedroom apartment homes provide fortunate residents with a courteous full service lobby attendant, heated pool, spa, complete fitness center, sauna and recreation room with kitchen. Beautiful views extend from the Towers’ lofty homes in the sky. Mountain vistas and slender skyscrapers provide an incredible back drop to complement your decor. Far below are a host of businesses ready to support your pampered downtown lifestyle. With spectacular cultural events nearby, even the most demanding tastes are satisfied. Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore. Visit the Towers Apartments today.

TOWERS T H E

A PA RT M E N T S

www.TowersApartmentsLA.com

MAID SERVICE • FURNITURE • HOUSEWARES • CABLE • UTILITIES • PARKING RESIDENCES: SINGLES • STUDIO • ONE BEDROOM • TWO BEDROOM