PLOTKE Plumbing

400 block of North Sycamore Avenue at 5:30 a.m.

The side window of a white Ford Expedition was smashed, the interior ransacked and the rear license plate stolen on the 100 block of North Orange Drive between 5 p.m. on April 3 and 5:30 a.m. on April 4.

Another catalytic converter was stolen from a red Toyota Prius that was parked in a home’s driveway on the 600 block of South Highland Avenue between 7:30 p.m. on April 3 and 7:30 a.m. on April 4.

THEFT: Shoes were taken off the porch of a home on the 400 block of South Sycamore Avenue on April 1 at

6:30 a.m. The white female suspect came back a second time and was caught by the owner.

GRAND THEFT AUTO:

A grey Kia was taken from the street on the 800 block of North Las Palmas Avenue between 7 p.m. on April 3 and 9 a.m. on April 4.

OLYMPIC DIVISION

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT:

A suspect was walking down the 800 block of South Wilton Place when he kicked a victim and then brandished a sharp metal object. The victim fled in fear on April 18 at 11:50 p.m. The suspect was arrested.

Communication was key in an intruder’s arrest on Lucerne

By Nona Sue Friedman

The communication chain of Lucerne Arden United (LAU), located in the Larchmont Village Neighborhood north of Beverly Boulevard, worked wonders at a recent attempted home break-in on April 16.

It all started when a neighbor noticed people going in and out of a newly built home on North Lucerne Boulevard, just south of Melrose Avenue, and contacted the homeowner. The homeowner, who had recently moved out but still owned the home, called 911 and simultaneously messaged LAU asking for help.

The LAU group went into action. Many called 911 while others arrived at the home to record and to witness anyone coming to or leaving the premises. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sent a helicopter and half a dozen black-and-whites arrived at the scene.

LAPD cautiously entered the home, apprehended one intruder and arrested him for trespassing. The suspect cannot afford bail and will stay in jail until his preliminary trial.

INTRUDER gets comfortable after breaking into a vacant home near Lucerne Boulevard and Clinton Street.

The alleged others had run away.

The next day, another man entered the same empty home through the same window. This time, the alarm went off. The police were dispatched and neighbors, through LAU, went to the home. The intruder had fled the premises upon hearing the alarm. Luckily, LAPD found and arrested the man. He had a credit card on him belonging to the homeowner and was arrested for burglary.

The owner of the home is eternally grateful to all of the parties involved.

An expedition into the apostrophe, apocalypse and

One swift upward flick, four syllables and countless hours saved by turning twoword phrases into tidy little contractions. The apostrophe (’) is where this month’s etymological expedition begins — and ends.

The apostrophe is the faithful understudy of the letter “o” in “isn’t” and “u” in “let’s,” and it’s the go-to glyph for indicating the possessive case. The background of the word “apostrophe” is a matter of a bit more speculation — it traces its roots to the Greek apo meaning “off” or “away from” and strebh meaning “to turn.” Some scholars have theorized that this origin may be due to its function in “averting a hiatus” (like the break between the words “will” and “not” reconciled by the word “won’t”), though the apostrophe symbol’s curved, contrapposto shape could also be the culprit. It’s worth noting that the root strebh also supplies us with the term “strobe” — a light that

LBA meeting

(Continued from page 21) ments which are mostly in the Hollywood area. His office can only encourage individuals to take housing offers.

Pelayo chimed in, with an air of frustration, saying that this homeless individual is just one block away from two schools, implying something really bad could happen. He continued to say, “We can’t do much without [help from] CD13.”

Resident Pat Kelly stated that Marroquin’s answer to Hyman’s plea for help “was not acceptable from an elected official who is supposed to be looking out for the safety of their residents. It’s far too bland and generic of a response. It’s disheartening.”

Keith Johnson, of Larchmont Village, brought up a homelessness meeting that he had organized with Councilman Soto-Martinez’s office. The Councilman’s office cancelled the meeting at the last minute [but it was resched-

“turns” on and off repeatedly, producing a flashing effect.

The apo in “apostrophe” appears again in “apocalypse,” a word that once described prophetic revelation, but since 1858 has been more synonymous with cataclysmic disaster — not that these two definitions are necessarily antithetical to one another, of course. Apo is paired here with “calypse” from the Proto-Indo-European root kel, meaning “to cover, conceal or protect.” Thus roughly translating to “away from concealment (or protection),” it’s tempting to ponder what precipitated the transition of this meaning from the disclosure of divine knowledge to the literal end of the world. As French writer André Maurois reflected, “There are certain persons for whom pure Truth is a poison.”

The root kel forms a bridge between “apocalypse” and its unlikely relative, “eucalyptus.” Today a ubiquitous flora throughout Los Angeles, the

Word

Café

by Mara Fisher

tree known for its imposing height, papery bark and fragrant, sickle-shaped leaves was a newcomer when it arrived in California from its native Australia during the Gold Rush. Eucalyptus trees were introduced as a fast-growing resource for energy and building, but eventually proved terrible for woodworking and highly susceptible to fire. The tree’s distinctive anatomy is defined in part by petals that fuse to form a cap called an “operculum,” a common underfoot sighting at our city parks and sidewalks. The name “eucalyptus” refers to this cap, pairing the Greek root eu, meaning “good” or “well,” and kalyptos from the root kel, meaning “covered.”

If you’ve attended a funeral in your lifetime, you’ve undoubtedly heard a eulogy — a commendatory oration or writing typically reserved for memorializing the deceased. Sharing genetic material with “eucalyptus,” “eulogy” pairs the root eu with the Greek logos, meaning “speech.” Eulogies are just that — “good speech” — and are considered appropriate even when the subject of praise is alive and present.

From kudos to a love poem to a glowing review, reflections on one’s good character needn’t fall only on deaf (or dead) ears.

We round a corner as we come to a different type of speech: the apology. Another sense-shifter, the word “apology” was originally more about self-justification than a true mea culpa. From the Greek roots apo and logos, rough- ly translating to “away from speech,” the apology was a rhetorical tool used to deflect and defend. Socrates defined “apology” as “a well-reasoned reply; a ‘thought-out response’ to the accusations made,” while Samuel Johnson’s 1755 “A Dictionary of the English Language” wrote that “apology . . . generally signifies rather excuse than vindication.” uled and took place — Ed.].

Later, Benjamin Franklin cast his vote for the value of admitting fault when he advised, “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.” Coincidence or not, it was in Ben’s day that the main sense of the word “apology” metamorphosed to the expression of error and regret we (hopefully) know it as today.

Waving farewell to the word “apology,” its root apo carries us back to familiar ground. The apostrophe, whose rounded contour once seemed to turn away, now greets us warmly after a long journey.

The meeting closed with comments from LBA president John Winther and Warner. They said that there is work to be done to improve the safety of the neighborhood and the meeting was a good start.