Anita Susan Brenner

Around Town: A club that's come a long way

2012-01-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

Around Town: A club that's come a long way
January 11, 2012

Almost 100 years ago, in October of 1912, a group of local women led by Elizabeth Knight founded the La Cañada Thursday Club.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a proud past president of the Thursday Club and am enjoying with the other members the celebration of this centennial year.

The club has evolved into a social, cultural and philanthropic organization that has had a great impact on the local community. Over the years, the club has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to local high school students, provided care packages to members of the military service, and given financial support to numerous local charities.

There will be some special events and outreach to the community this year. In commemoration of the club’s 100th anniversary, a Centennial Garden will be dedicated in October.

The club also has a website (www.lacanadathursdayclub.org) and many of the ladies now use iPhones.

There’s a Facebook page, but I don’t remember if the club is on Twitter.

It’s all part of the run up to the Centennial year, which officially begins in October.

In that spirit, the Thursday Club’s Community Relations Committee has announced on the club website the following invitation to the entire community: Please come to tea, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 2. The clubhouse is at 4440 Woodleigh Lane.

The tea will feature Hermine Hilton, also known as America’s Memory Motivator. Hilton is the author of “The Executive Memory Guide,” and advises people on how to improve their memory.

Hilton is one of a long line of memory motivators, beginning with Cicero, an early expert on memorization techniques. Long before the printing press, the ancient Greek and Roman orators recited long speeches, verbatim and without notes. They developed memory methods, including a technique where a person links a subject to a specific place or “loci.” Specific words, or portions of an oratory, were mentally linked to a room in a house or an item of furniture. When one house was mentally used up, the orator linked portions of the speech to a second house. Thus the phrases, “in the first place” and “in the second place.”

The tea will also feature the locally famous Thursday Club brew, and tea sandwiches made by club members. I hope they have egg salad.

Club founder Elizabeth Knight would be proud. In her autobiography, she wrote, “We moved to La Cañada in 1887 and found nothing much but sage brush.... Digging out grease roots for fuel seemed to be the main industry for a livelihood at that time.”

We’ve come a long way from digging out the grease roots.

For more information, contact the La Cañada Thursday Club at P.O. Box 282, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012; (818) 790-1166.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.

Around Town: A club that's come a long way
Around Town: A club that's come a long way

Around Town: The women's club that could

2012-01-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

As a past president of the Thursday Club, I am privy to bits of its history. The club, according to our records, began like this: “Upon invitation sent by Mrs. Jesse Knight, interested women of our valley met at her home in October 1912 and formed this club with a membership limited to twenty-five. Monthly meetings were held at the homes of members.”

One problem with the Thursday Club records is that the women always used their husband’s names. Mrs. Charles Pate. Mrs. N.A. Maynard. Mrs. S.J. Evans. Those are the names of some of the early presidents. It would be nice to know more about these ladies.

The founder, Mrs. Jesse Knight, was the club’s third president. She was born Elizabeth Lily Knight in 1845, the daughter of John Pleasant Lilly and Amanda Hardin in Gentryville, Mo. She was the second of 10 children. Elizabeth was 16 years old when the Civil War started. As a result, she had little formal education, but became a school teacher after the war.

While teaching at a country school, she met future husband, Jesse Knight, another country teacher, at a spelling bee. It was love at first sight.

The Knights moved around the Midwest, eventually to a farm in Alanthus Grove, Mo. The family consisted of their four surviving and one adopted child.

Seeking new vistas, in 1886 the Knights traveled by covered wagon to Pasadena. At that time, Pasadena was not yet a city. It was not yet a town. Pasadena had dirt roads. Pasadena had no sidewalks. There was one dry-goods store and only two grocery stores.

A few months later, the real estate market crashed and there was high unemployment. All hope of business opportunities in Pasadena vanished.

Jesse Knight had a solution. It was his idea to move to the wilds of La Cañada. Elizabeth initially objected, but soon relented. The Knights bought a 100-acre tract, formerly known as the Haskell Ranch. The year was 1887.

One nearby rancher was Will D. Gould, a Vermont-born lawyer and a Michigan grad who had moved to Los Angeles to practice law.

One day, streets would be named after the Knights, the Goulds and the Haskells, but in 1887, the valley had a one-room school house, which unfortunately caught on fire in 1893. A 14-year-old named Lem Veilex would be tried as an adult for burning down the school. Although the jury was unable to reach a verdict and the case was dismissed, no one has ever named any streets after the Veilex family.

More people began to move west.

The late local historian June Dougherty wrote that the decade between 1910 and 1920 was a period of growth in the La Cañada valley. The town of Montrose, connected by a streetcar line to downtown Los Angeles, was founded in 1913. At that point, La Cañada began to evolve from a ranching community into a rural town.

It was in this environment that Elizabeth Knight, who died in 1937, founded the La Cañada Thursday Club “for the purpose of mutual improvement in the subjects of literature, art, social culture, as well as discussion of all vital and important questions of the day, and the imparting to others of the knowledge and benefits thus acquired.”

In 1917, the club began its support of the military during World War I. Two locals joined the Army. One was Pvt Willard Griswold Barnum, the son of Cortez and Alice Barnum, who was reported to have died at Fort Oglethorne, Ga. in 1918, apparently from the great influenza epidemic. The second, Sgt. Howard O. McMullin, also was reported to have died at camp.

After the war, the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, finally was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on Aug. 19, 1920. In 1920, the Thursday Club began its support of local charities. By 1923, the Thursday Club had paid for the installation of street lights on Foothill Boulevard. A scholarship fund was created in 1927.

Elizabeth Knight’s great idea for a club took hold. Today, as set forth at www.lacanadathursdayclub.org, the Thursday Club is a dynamic community organization whose membership includes nearly 250 women in La Cañada and its surrounding areas. Program teas and luncheons are held monthly, scholarships are awarded annually. The organization offers many other activities and philanthropic and service-oriented opportunities for its membership.

And this is its centennial year.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.

Around Town: The women's club that could

Around Town: Suburbia and the power grid

2012-01-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

When we moved to La Cañada in the mid-1970s, we expected our power to go out with every storm. We knew we were moving to the tules — too far east of Westwood to order La Barbera’s pizza and too far west of Manhattan to order anything.

La Cañada was not yet an incorporated city. Michael Cunningham (LCHS ‘70) was not yet a famous author (“The Hours”). We bought our books in Pasadena at Vroman's, not in La Cañada. People rode horses down Foothill Boulevard, past La Cañada Feed and Seed. We had rattlesnakes. Despite the civilizing influence of the Thursday Club, the various guilds and the entire neighborhood of Flintridge, there was a kind of Wild West feel to La Cañada.

When my husband and I moved here, La Cañada was considered semi-rural. Our parents sort of freaked out. You'd think we'd moved to Chula Vista or something.

During the 1980s, the change began. Some La Cañadans began to cash in. They filed for lot splits. Folks would legally split their property in two, build a big spec house on the new lot, and sell the new house for a lot of money.

The town gradually changed from “semi rural” to “suburban.”

So it was a surprise to have the power go out during the recent windstorms. One expected outages out in the hinterlands. One does not expect a power outage in a suburb.

Back in the day, our power would go out with every rainstorm and with every windstorm. Here in town, folks debated about whether to underground the electrical lines. As we became suburban, lines were upgraded and largely placed underground. The outages became rare.

But not all the lines went underground.

Now the stakes are higher. There are four seasons in California. They are earthquake, fire, mudslide and windstorm. In the last two years, our city and our city planners have faced three out of four. Not fun.

The issue is today isn’t just about undergrounding. It’s about the entire grid. Contributing Valley Sun writer Sara Cardine last week pointed out that after the recent windstorm outage, “[a] number of residents questioned whether the city’s current energy infrastructure is sufficient to support the increased number — and size — of homes built in recent decades.” (“Storm spotlights city’s power problems,” Dec. 15.)

And now, the PUC, along with our local officials, will begin to investigate. Solutions will follow.

In the meantime, may your lights stay on, may your Christmas be merry and bright and may your Menorah (the low-tech, non-electrical kind) continue to shine for freedom and hope.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.

Valley Sun Around Town: Suburbia and the power grid

Around Town: At what cost toughness?

2012-01-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

In a recent column, Joe Puglia asks, “Are we too sensitive?” (“Thoughts from Dr. Joe: Sensitivity and Gabrielle Leko,” Nov. 24) He argues that “Brother Cyprian, my freshman English teacher, was a cross between Genghis Khan and Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

During our Starbucks meet-ups, Dr. Joe has described ethnic slurs, not only by Brother Cyprian, but by USMC drill instructors. Despite all that, Dr. Joe turned out OK. He got his education, earned a doctorate and started a family.

So I thought of Dr. Joe the other day when I learned this surprising fact. Dr. Joe’s commander in Vietnam compulsively hid his Jewish ethnicity.

The commander was General Victor “Brute” Krulak, USMC. He was Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Krulak was my husband’s commander as well.

Krulak was famous within the Marine Corps. At five-feet, four inches in height, he was motivated and tough. The troops adored him. He had served as a China Marine, and then saw combat in World War II and Korea. In World War II, he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Bronze Star. He was smart and tactical, and was a visionary who is credited with saving the Marine Corps from dissolution after World War II.

Yet this brave man was afraid. Here was a man who looked death in the eye, but he was afraid of one thing.

For all of his adult life, Krulak claimed to be an Episcopalian with longstanding American roots. He said his grandfathers fought for the Confederate Army in the Civil War. All were lies.

The truth was that all four of Krulak’s grandparents were Orthodox Jews who emigrated to the U.S. from the town of Breslov (now Bratislava), about 100 miles from my grandparents’ town of Zvenigorodka, Ukraine. By hiding his background in a time of extreme prejudice, Krulak landed an appointment to the Naval Academy in 1930.

During his military career, Krulak continued to keep the secret. He distanced himself from his cousins. His wife was not Jewish. Two of his sons became Episcopalian ministers. The third, Charles Krulak, became the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Krulak’s biographer, Robert Coram, explains why Krulak hid his background. “It was enormously difficult to be Jewish in the Marine Corps at that time. It was an intensely traditional, biased environment. Jews in the Marines got no further than captain and were usually just driven out.”

The Marine Corps became “his new tribe.”

Krulak kept his secret to the end.

General Brute Krulak died four years ago today, on Dec. 29, 2008. He was 95 years old.

My question for Dr. Joe: the Brother Cyprians of the world may make us tougher, but at what cost?

Around Town: At what cost toughness?

Around Town: Around Town: 'Twas the Night Before — well, you know

2011-12-24T01:58:00.000-08:00

’Twas the month before Christmas, when all through the town

Dr. Joe was kvetching* about Scrooge, wearing a frown.

Edison had re-strung its lines with care,

In hopes that the power soon would be there.

The school board was nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of lawsuits danced in their heads.

And Miss Hepburn* in her kerchief, and I with her sock,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s walk*.

When over by Gould, there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the curb to see what was the matter.

Away to the commotion, we flew like a flash,

It was Redfern and Randolph in a mad dash.

Redfern was quoting chapter and verse

Randolph quoted her back to rebut and converse

Redfern denied it, but Randolph had proof.

It was right on the website*, what a God-awful goof.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen December

Gave the luster of midday to each school board member.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a mountain lion and a huge local bear.

With an old-time reporter, so lively and brazen,

I knew in a moment it must be Don Mazen*.

More rapid than eagles Don Mazen, he came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called us by name!

“Now Puglia! now, Brenner! now, Cormaci and O’Neil!

Get back in the saddle. Investigate with zeal

To the top of your skill set! With hyphens galore!

Now dash away! Dash away! Give them “what for!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the school board, we writers we flew,

With notebooks and pencils, and Don Mazen too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney the 1st Amendment came with a bound.

It was dressed all in gossamer, from its head to its foot,

And its provisions were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of flags it had flung on its back,

And it looked like a soldier, just opening his pack.

Its eyes-how they twinkled! Its provisions how merry!

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

We spoke not a word, but went straight to our work,

To cover the union and Leko and all of their quirks.

And laying our fingers aside of our noses,

Democracy in action is no bed of roses.

The 1st Amendment sprang to the front, to us gave a whistle,

And away it flew, like the down of a thistle.

And we heard it exclaim, ‘ere it fled out of sight,

“Happy celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable

traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, tonight!”

Footnotes:

Kvetching: French word for complaining (Jewish people sometimes refer to Yiddish as French, and Aramaic as Klingon).

Miss Audrey Hepburn: Our black Lab. She has her own stationery and is very well-mannered.

Walk: Walk down Foothill Boulevard in the middle of the night.

Website: the La Cañada Teacher’ Assn. website does actually say, “I will not participate in any conversations with management that criticize, or negatively speculate about any union colleague.” And, “If any union colleague is being criticized in my presence, I will confront the criticism and ask that it stop.” See the “about us” page on www.lcteachers.net.

Don Mazen: Was a writer and editor for the Valley Sun for years. He left no stone unturned.

“Happy celebration … etc.”: There are many versions of this greeting on the Internet.

Valley Sun Around Town: 'Twas the Night Before — well, you know

Chicago Tribune Online Around Town: 'Twas the Night Before — well, you know

Around Town: A quick resolution, or a debacle?

2011-12-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we attended the U.S. Marine Corps 236th Birthday Ball at the Marine Memorial Club in San Francisco. The guest of honor was the former Commandant, General James T. Conway, who gave a rousing and inspirational address.

We were surrounded by men and women of courage.

We had the traditional cake ceremony. The cake is wheeled in after the color guard. A piece is given to the eldest Marine veteran. He shares it with the youngest Marine.

The eldest Marine present that night was born in 1921. The youngest was born in 1991.

Conway told us that it is not about the cake, it is about a tradition where the old teach the young so that the young can step into their shoes.

These are the men and women who risk their lives so that we can live in freedom. One of those freedoms is the 1st Amendment.

We went to San Francisco for a taste of courage. And then we returned home to read, not about courage, but about fear (“Culture of silence grips La Cañada Unified,” Sunday Valley Sun, Nov. 13). We learned that there are parents of LCHS students who are afraid to speak out, that they are afraid to complain about teachers due to fear of reprisal against their children. We learned that even a PTA president was afraid to complain about a teacher.

Not everyone is afraid. Last week I spoke with a courageous woman. Her name is Debra Archuleta. Archuleta and her daughter read about the Gabrielle Leko issue, outlined both in this column and in the Sunday Valley Sun’s story, in the L.A. Times. They realized that they had made similar complaints about Leko prior to Cindy Wilcox’ June 15th administrative complaint. Archuleta came forward.

And then, there’s Amy Bernhard. She asks, in the Sunday Valley Sun’s story, “Why bother teaching ’To Kill a Mockingbird’ in our ninth-grade English classes if our adults are so unlike the principled Atticus Finch [a central character in the novel]?”

It is heartwarming to discover men and women of courage in our community.

Almost predictably, the school board says that the Leko issue is a private personnel matter governed by the collective bargaining agreement. And then it asks for our silence.

Hypothetically, if I am a 9th-grade boy and the clerk at McDonald’s makes fun of my stammer, or makes an ethnic slur, or tells me to stop playing with my genitals, how many months should it take to resolve my complaint? Would it take four months? Five? Six?

And would I be afraid to complain?

These delays are unconscionable. If Leko is unjustly accused, she deserves a quick resolution, not a five-month debacle.

The insinuation that the press should honor the silence and that the complainers need to leave town is equally unconscionable. Last time I checked, we still lived in the United States of America.

Around Town: A quick resolution, or a debacle?

Around Town: The end of an era

2011-12-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

Carlos Moorhead's death last week marked the end of an era.

Amiable and gracious, as a congressman, Moorhead always was concerned with the welfare of his constituents. He was the epitome of across-the-aisle mediation and reconciliation. He looked for solutions, not recriminations.

He was a gentleman and a devoted public servant.

In the mid-1980s, we had the great good fortune to open our law offices on the same floor as Moorhead’s Pasadena field office. At the time, I was not much interested in meeting a Republican congressman or his staff. This all changed during two weeks of vitriolic protests targeting our building and ultimately, our floor.

I shared the protesters’ concerns, which dealt with Col. Oliver North and the Iran-Contra affair, but their tactics cost them my sympathy. One day, nearly 300 activists sneaked into our building. They headed to the sixth floor, where they sat, filling all the hallways, essentially shutting down business for everyone, not just the tiny field office. They began singing, “We are peaceful, angry people.” And then they roughed up one of the congressman’s staffers, a middle-aged lady who decided, after being detained inside the field office, that she had to use the restroom.

If they were mad at Moorhead, why take it out on a secretary?

Later that week, I introduced myself to the congressman and his staff. I said, “I’m a Democrat, but I don’t like what those people did. If you ever need help, please call our office. We are down the hall.”

That’s how I met Congressman Moorhead, who turned out to be one of the nicest, most amiable people I have ever met.

Before he entered public office, Carlos directed the Glendale Bar Association’s legal aid office for 16 years. He believed in helping people. As an elected representative, he set up two field offices, one in Pasadena and one in Glendale. He instructed his staff to take care of everyone. Everyone who asked for help got help.

Generally, if you ask a congressional staffer for help, they ask where you live. If you live in the district, they might help. If you live in another congressional district, you must go to your elected representative. Carlos Moorhead marched to the beat of a different drum. His staff took care of anyone who walked through the door. His field offices became de facto legal aid offices, with staffers handling full caseloads of immigration, Social Security and Medicare issues.

When he came home, at least twice a month, the congressman flew a commercial flight. Once home, he made a point of attending every type of local function. Scouting events. Rotary. Lunch at the University Club in Pasadena. And, always, Memorial Day services.

My fondest memories are of the congressman’s conversations with our late son, Andrew. They began when Andrew was around 6 years old. Moorhead talked to him about Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. As Andrew grew older, the conversation expanded to the broader subject of American history, politics and World War II.

After 24 years in Congress, Moorhead retired in 1997, the year before Andrew graduated from high school. Another congressman, James Rogan, would make the coveted Annapolis nomination, but a few weeks before Andrew left for plebe summer, we all lunched at the University Club. The conversation predictably shifted to the subject of who was the greatest American president since World War II. Moorhead’s choice was Ronald Reagan. Andrew’s was Bill Clinton. It was a memorable conversation.

And the discussion continues.

We’ll miss you, Carlos Moorhead. Say hi to my kid.

Around Town: The end of an era

Around Town: Who will be in, who will be out?

2011-12-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

The election is over, but the campaign has just begun. La Cañada Unified School District Governing Board members Susan Boyd, Scott Tracy and Joel Peterson face the following assignment: What will they do with newly-elected members Ellen Multari and Andrew Blumenfeld? Will we see a 3-2 split in votes? Can Scott Tracy hold a coalition together?

The first test was on Tuesday night, when the board scheduled a closed session to consider disciplinary action against Gabrielle Leko. Due to employment privacy rights, employee discipline is confidential.

The second test will be how the new board handles the fallout from the Leko issue. Whether or not the allegations were true, they deserved a swift resolution, not a six-month debacle. Will the new board recognize the community’s concerns with the accountability process? Time will tell.

The third test is more difficult. The subject is prejudice. How will the new board address this emotional subject?

School boosters drop the ball when they complain of “political correctness.” There’s no better way to damage La Cañada’s reputation than to dismiss the alleged victims as “overly sensitive.”

Women and men of courage learn to respect other people’s sensitivities.

Case in point: the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marines were the last service branch to accept African-American troops. Their integration began with a segregated unit. Today, instead of dodging the issue of prejudice, the USMC has openly addressed it. Last fall, the commandant issued a video message about the Montford Point Marines, an early segregated unit. By openly discussing the elephant in the room, the Marines have moved forward. This applies to other areas, as well. Today, while other branches of the military struggle with the abolition of “Don't ask, don't tell,” the Marine Corps recruiters have consistently led the way.

Case in point: the United States Naval Academy. In 1976, the first women were admitted. It was rough going. Today, the USNA openly displays the documentary history of the difficult gender issues of the late 1970s and early 1980s. And, as part of their leadership training, plebes tour the National Holocaust Museum. Respect and open discussion have moved everyone forward.

Institutions that openly confront the issue of prejudice will achieve greater success.

The final test will be multiple choice. Whereas the incumbent board was perceived as pro status quo, Multari and Blumenfeld each ran on reformist platforms.

On her website, Multari stated, “As a member of the LCUSD Governing Board, I will employ the breadth and depth of my experience to maintain our legacy of academic excellence as well as to improve upon the challenges that face our schools.”

On his website, Blumenfeld said that he “supports education policies that serve the primary goal of promoting student achievement. Student interests must always come first.” His primary goals are “improving teacher quality,” and “greater accountability,” with better use of data sources and better “board accessibility,” and with “more avenues for communication with the community.”

The dilemma will be how to provide greater accountability, given the district's convoluted complaint process, declining local enrollment and a strong union. Couple that with the state's regulations, and it's a fine pickle.

Will we see the development of new board alliances? Will Multari emerge as the leader? Will there be a 3-2 split of old versus new? Or, to paraphrase pop cult icon Heidi Klum, who will be in and who will be out?

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Who will be in, who will be out?

Around Town: La Canada and wine-making

2011-11-30T06:02:00.000-08:00

The holiday of Thanksgiving perpetuates the myth that all of our founders were serious Puritans who worked hard and obeyed all laws, both secular and holy.

That’s what they taught us in school. So it must be true that the Puritan ethic was directly transported from Plymouth Rock to La Cañada Flintridge, at least until 1893, when a drunk arsonist attacked La Cañada’s one-room schoolhouse.

Another myth: Between 1919 and 1933, the great vineyards of La Cañada went dormant because alcohol was prohibited in the United States.

Local historian Yana Ungermann-Marshall (“La Cañada,” Arcadia Pub. 2006), discusses the local wineries of La Cañada. Between 1900 and 1930, our founding families grew grapes and made wine. The Kirsts made wine. The Pizzos made wine. According to Ungermann-Marshall, wine-making in La Cañada took place before and after, but not during, Prohibition.

No wine-making during Prohibition? How then can we reconcile the observations of apiculturist Constance Root Boyden, a regular reporter to the journal, “Gleanings of Bee Culture”? Boyden’s travels around the country ultimately took her to the La Cañada valley, where she observed the local harvests.

Two comments by Boyden are noteworthy. First, La Cañadans liked peaches.

Boyden wrote, “A California peach, unless peeled and sliced into a place and eaten with a fork, should be enjoyed in private, for it is the largest, juiciest and finest-flavored article of the name I have ever eaten.” (Oct. 1922)

Second, La Cañadans liked wine.

She wrote, “In the place of barren brown vines, pruned back to little more than stumps, vineyards are all luxuriant, green leaves with bunches of green grapes showing among them....” (Sept. 1922)

Luxuriant vineyards? In 1922? Wasn’t the year 1922 during Prohibition?

It is true that the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited alcohol, was ratified in 1919 and repealed in 1933, but the enabling legislation (the Volstead Act) contained exceptions for medical and religious uses.

Obviously, the luxuriant vineyards of the La Cañada valley were planted for grape harvest, or planted for wine, for the sole purpose of producing wine for sacramental purposes.

My friends Dee and Mark Martinez alerted me to this issue last summer. Mark told me that La Cañada was famous for the Alicante Bouschet grape, an easily-cultivated red grape that is good for three or four wine pressings. It was widely used during Prohibition and grown all over the La Cañada valley.

The Alicante Bouschet is still grown locally in La Crescenta by Stuart and Marie Byles for the Stone Barn Conservancy. Or, as this newspaper had it, “Alicante Bouschet grapes are grown at the city-owned vineyard at Deukmejian Wilderness Park and these are made into wine and bottled under the Stone Barn Dunsmore Creek label.” (Wining allowed at Deukmejian, Sunday Valley Sun, Nov. 13).

Some people prefer chardonnay, but sacramental wine goes well with turkey and pumpkin pie. Take some to your next board meeting.

Happy Holidays!
Around Town: La Ca�ada and wine-making

Around Town: A quick resolution, or a debacle?

2011-11-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Around Town: It's time for the board to step up

2011-11-16T16:28:00.001-08:00

Now that the election is over, it’s time to resolve the Leko issue.

On June 15, outgoing school board member Cindy Wilcox filed a complaint against La Cañada High School math teacher Gabrielle Leko for an alleged ethnic slur in front of an entire class. As of this writing, the complaint is unresolved.

The school board, administrators and teacher’s union have indirectly responded to my last column on this subject (“Around Town: Why the four-month delay?” Oct. 19). They argue that the collective bargaining agreement and other bureaucratic procedures mandate a process that now has taken nearly five months.

This reliance on the collective bargaining agreement, as if it were engraved in stone, is wrong. It is wrong because the collective bargaining agreement contains maximum, not minimum, time limits; wrong because the collective bargaining agreement expressly calls for complaints to be resolved “as quickly as possible;” and wrong because a collective bargaining agreement is nothing more than a contract between the district and the union.

No more delays. If Leko is innocent, she deserves a quick exoneration. And if, in fact, Leko did call a 9th-grade kid “Jew boy,” then shame on the school board for this lackadaisical approach to a serious community issue.

Either way, Leko is not the problem. The school board is the problem.

The school board is a problem because its inaction speaks volumes. The school board sets the tone. Board members are the co-captains of the ship.

Their delays teach the LCHS students that the accusation is not serious.

The school board is the problem because last week, two new witnesses came forward. Both are moms. Both are well-educated. Both are respected members of the community. Debra Archuleta reported to the La Cañada Patch that she complained earlier in the year about Leko calling a student “Jew boy.” Hillary Werhane reported that she complained in 2009 when Leko called students an expletive by spelling out the letters.

Both said that school administrators did not respond to their complaints.

Meanwhile, the school board and union continue to defer to a broken process.

Clearly, it is time for the school board to renegotiate the complaint provisions of the taxpayers' contract with the teacher’s union.

The election is over, but the problems remain. It is time for the school board to take a leadership role and to solve this problem.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Selling naming rights to La Canada High

2011-11-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

Around Town: Frank Flint would be proud

According to Valley Sun reporter Megan O’Neil (“School district to sell naming rights” Oct. 27), the issue could come before the school board this month. “UCLA has its Pauley Pavilion, and USC boasts the Keck School of Medicine. Now, La Cañada Unified buildings and athletic venues may also bear the names of their most generous patrons as school officials get creative with fundraising,” O’Neil’s story goes on to tell us.

Keck School of Medicine is way more impressive a name than La Cañada High.

But changing the name to “San Marino High School” could stimulate local real estate values. A lot of people want their kids to go to San Marino High School.

Also “Beverly Hills High School.” If Beverly Hills High School sells its naming rights, LCUSD could swoop in and take their name.

Since this is an election year, let’s offer naming rights to the candidates. Other school districts name their schools after dead presidents. Let’s name our schools after prospective presidents.

There will be naysayers who will tell us that high schools need to raise money the old fashioned way — good results, community awareness, enforcement of professional standards for teachers and doughnut sales.

Such short-sighted vision is why we need to change the name of LCHS to “No. 1.”

Sure, we’re not No. 1. Board members say LCHS ranked second in the state. The Mayo Clinic says that “studies show that personality traits like optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being.” In the spirit of “if we build it, they will come,” an optimistic new name will encourage the students to do better and force the voters to approve another parcel tax.

Under some national ranking schemes, LCHS isn’t No. 2. U.S. News & World Reports ranks 79 high schools ahead of LCHS nationally, including several other California schools.

Whitney High School in Cerritos, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation, is unsatisfied with its ranking. Whitney raised $4.6 million in donations, without renaming its school, after announcing “we strive to be the best public college prep school in the world.”

That’s the spirit!

A new name for LCHS will restore parental and voter confidence in a district that has cut classroom days, installed new lockers instead of maintaining the athletic fields, and agreed to a cumbersome and confusing Uniform Teacher Complaint system under a one-sided collective bargaining agreement.

O’Neil reports that under the proposed plan, “individuals who have already given more than $250,000 to La Cañada Unified are automatically eligible to have their name on a facility. Those who have given between $100,000 and $250,000 are asked to contribute at least $25,000 more in exchange for naming rights, while those who want to see their names on an auditorium chair or computer lab station are expected to make new contributions in the full amount.”

Let’s support our school board. Social media sites like Facebook, eBay, Craigslist and the Starbucks bulletin board would being in cash. A nice Coca-Cola or Budweiser sign could spice up the football field.

Some donors will want to be anonymous. We could monetize that strange impulse. With technology, Anonymous, the loose-knit, global Internet presence, can anonymously transfer electronic funds in support of our “Anonymous High School.” We could sell the name more than once. The second time to Sony Pictures for “Anonymous,” the movie. And again, to the longtime donors who wish to remain anonymous. No one would know.

Frank Putnam Flint, the developer of Flintridge, would be proud.

Valley Sun

Around Town: Hanging out with Chesty

2011-11-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

On our last day at the Marines’ Memorial Club in San Francisco, I glanced at the posted “Today’s Events” sheet inside of the elevator and was shocked to see a reference to a reception for the “Flintridge Assistance League.”

“Is there another town named ‘Flintridge’ in Northern California?” I said, to no one in particular.

Days later, I finally understood the reference. There is only one Flintridge in California. There is only one Assistance League of Flintridge, right here in La Cañada Flintridge. Our Assistance League of Flintridge is a nonprofit service organization of volunteers, formed in 1951 as a chapter of National Assistance League. Our local chapter runs seven philanthropies in La Cañada Flintridge, ranging from summer school to the Bargain Box thrift shop.

But what was our own “ALF” doing in San Francisco, at my favorite venue, the Marines’ Memorial Club at 609 Sutter, close to Union Square?

The answer was simple: The Hilton was full.

There are 26,000 volunteer members of the Assistance League and their National Conference had convened at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, right around the block from the Marines’ Club.

Despite the circumstances, the Marines’ Memorial Club should never play second fiddle. The Club was created as a living memorial to the U.S. Marines who served in the Pacific during World War II. Since 1946, the Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel, a classic 1920s Beaux-Arts hotel, has been open to service members, veterans and their guests, as well as the general public, when available.

The staff is awesome. The (free) happy hour includes light hors d’oeuvres. The view of the city is stunning. There’s a swell library upstairs and a gym downstairs. The historic theater was recently renovated. The Leatherneck Steakhouse offers the best meals in San Francisco, and there's a statue of Chesty, the bulldog mascot, in the lobby.

The Club offers sophisticated elegance steps away from the theater district and Union Square.

On our trip to the Marines’ Memorial Club, I took all of my loot from Missoni for Target, but I was careful not to wear all the pieces at once, due to a Stylecaster.com piece entitled, “How not to wear your Missoni for Target.” (“When mixing Missoni for Target patterns with other patterns, do not use the same design throughout your entire outfit ....”)

As I strutted down Sutter, I noticed the jealous gazes of tourists and locals alike as they recognized my tasteful yet understated use of my Missoni for Target garb.

That, or my slip was showing.

It was all good.

Not that I’m biased or anything, but I hope the Assistance League of Flintridge ladies had a great time visiting my favorite club.

_________________________________________________________________________

Letter to the editor (10/5/2011)
Letter

I often read Anita Brenner’s Around Town column in the Valley Sun on Thursdays and was surprised at the coincidence this morning that she was talking about the wonderful Marines’ Memorial Club in San Francisco where I had just been. Sorry we ALFies shocked her, but we had arranged a group dinner in the Leatherneck Steakhouse as a special outing for the 23 of us who represented our Flintridge chapter at the national Assistance League conference last week.

Far from playing second fiddle, the Marines’ Memorial Club was a much-anticipated highlight of our trip. The displays in the lobby about famous Marines and campaigns as well as exhibits in the upstairs library (which they kept open late especially for us) were fascinating. The staff was friendly, the views were gorgeous, and the food was outstanding.

Just to set the record straight, as you might imagine, the efficient members of the Assistance League made their reservations well in advance and stayed at the Hilton. By the way, as a special project this year, the 960 conference attendees contributed more than 1,200 books to the San Francisco Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, gratefully received by the director of their facility in the Tenderloin district, just a few blocks away.

Gale Musker

President

Assistance League of Flintridge

Around Town: Why the four-month delay?

2011-11-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

LCUSD school board member Cindy Wilcox has called for the firing of La Cañada High School teacher Gabrielle Leko for allegedly calling a ninth-grade student “Jew boy.”

Wilcox, in her individual capacity, filed a formal complaint with the school district on June 15, more than four months ago.

Last week, Wilcox publicly called for action on the complaint.

Reporter Megan O’Neil wrote a story about this that appeared on the Valley Sun website, on Oct. 13 and in the Sunday Valley Sun three days later.

There has been no public response by the teacher. There is, however, a response from Mandy Redfern, president of the La Cañada Teachers Assn., that questioned Wilcox’s decision. “The association believes that such allegations should be made using the clear and fair procedures outlined in the collective bargaining agreement rather than through media outlets,” Redfern said in a prepared statement.

Redfern's response is troublesome. If the allegations are true, why is this process taking so long? Conversely, if Leko is innocent, why is this process taking so long?

The collective bargaining agreement provides for swift resolution of complaints such as this: “It is the intent of this article to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible at both the informal and formal levels.”

Nothing in the collective bargaining agreement requires that such serious complaints against a teacher take more than four months to resolve.

This long delay is unfair to the accused teacher and unfair to the students.

The collective bargaining agreement invoked by Redfern takes a “maximum” of 48 “working days.”

Wilcox says that the complaint process is on hiatus during the summer, even though the superintendent works year round.

If that is the intent of the collective bargaining agreement, then the LCUSD school board needs to renegotiate those terms.

Wilcox, who filed the complaint as a member of the public and not in her role as a school board member, says that Leko made an anti-Semitic remark to a ninth-grade student, anti-Armenian remarks to Armenian students, and inappropriate remarks to female students.

Maybe the allegations are true. Maybe they are false. Either way, a four-month delay is a shameful.

Given the seriousness of these allegations, why wasn't this matter addressed over the summer, in keeping with the express language of the collective bargaining agreement to speedily resolve such complaints?

If the allegations are untrue, Ms. Leko may publicly deny them, right here in the Valley Sun. If she is innocent, let's clear her name.

But if the allegations are true, if Leko called a ninth-grader a “Jew boy,” then she should be removed from the classroom.

Around Town: Joaquin, Rosita and history

2011-11-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

This story is true. Or not.

At right about the time of the California Gold Rush, around 1849, a young man named Joaquin Murieta and his pretty wife Rosita traveled north from Mexico, to the California mining camps to mine for gold.

The threads of Murieta’s true history have unraveled over time. In 1854, John R. Ridge published a book describing how the other miners were so prejudiced against Joaquin Murieta that they assaulted and killed Rosita, which caused Murieta to swear revenge. Murieta entered a successful life of banditry.

Years later, historians would dispute Ridge’s book, calling it a dime novel. They argued that Murieta was bad man, a mere criminal, and that Gold Rush miners were not prejudiced.

Some writers dispute Rosita’s existence. They claim she was a figment of the romantic imaginations of Victorian-era Americans.

What is undisputed is this: Joaquin Murieta was a pirate, a marauder, a Robin Hood, a freedom fighter, a criminal, fictional, real, and the prototype for Zorro, who stole from the rich and did or did not give to the poor.

The story of Joaquin Murieta became so ubiquitous that every Halloween, when bad children refused to sleep, their mothers would get them into bed by saying, “Hush, or Joaquin Murieta will steal your chocolate.”

This was before psychotherapy, individual tutoring for second-graders, and other modern child-rearing techniques such as teacher collaboration and professional development days. Back then, no one knew that mothers were wrong.

Some say Murieta was killed by lawmen, with his head displayed as a trophy in the mining camps. Others say he continued to rob for the next 50 years. Still others say the bandit who robbed for the next 50 years was not Murieta but was his nephew, Procopio, aka “Red Handed Dick.” Still others say the bandit was Tiburcio Vasquez, the marauder of what is now Foothill Boulevard.

For example, here’s a bit from a story published in the Los Angeles Times, dated April 14, 1874:

“On the 14th of April, 1874, Charles H. Miles, superintendent of the Los Angeles Water Works, accompanied by a friend named Osborne, after a visit of inspection to the reservoir, was returning to Los Angeles in a two-horse Democrat wagon.

“Right where the road curved down through the oaks, Tiburcio Vasquez appeared and said: ‘Hand me your watch and your money, quick!’

“Miles said, ‘That’s pretty well done. I hope your gun isn’t loaded?’

“’Yes it’s loaded and I am in earnest. Yonder comes the sheriff after me and my party now — don’t you see them?’”

And so forth.

The stories differ because memories fade. Many of us old timers can't remember what we did on Oct. 31, 1849.

What is undisputed is this: On Halloween, when the wind rustles through the deodars and sixth-graders run through Alta Canyada, bulging pillowcases in hand, the ghost of Joaquin Murieta wakes from its not-quite-eternal rest. Murieta sneaks backs into La Cañada on his horse. He joins up with Red Handed Dick and Tiburcio. All three hide in the shadows of Foothill Boulevard, near the old Pony Express trail, hoping to rob small children. If the children are already in bed, Murieta picks up stray bits of candy and other loot. He sneaks into a nice dental office on Foothill Boulevard across from the 2 Freeway to X-ray the candy. Despite her untimely death, Rosita still likes a good chocolate bar now and then.

Fox59 Indiana

Around Town: Frank Flint would be proud

2011-11-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

According to Valley Sun reporter Megan O’Neil (“School district to sell naming rights” Oct. 27), the issue could come before the school board this month. “UCLA has its Pauley Pavilion, and USC boasts the Keck School of Medicine. Now, La Cañada Unified buildings and athletic venues may also bear the names of their most generous patrons as school officials get creative with fundraising,” O’Neil’s story goes on to tell us.

Keck School of Medicine is way more impressive a name than La Cañada High.

But changing the name to “San Marino High School” could stimulate local real estate values. A lot of people want their kids to go to San Marino High School.

Also “Beverly Hills High School.” If Beverly Hills High School sells its naming rights, LCUSD could swoop in and take their name.

Since this is an election year, let’s offer naming rights to the candidates. Other school districts name their schools after dead presidents. Let’s name our schools after prospective presidents.

There will be naysayers who will tell us that high schools need to raise money the old fashioned way — good results, community awareness, enforcement of professional standards for teachers and doughnut sales.

Such short-sighted vision is why we need to change the name of LCHS to “No. 1.”

Sure, we’re not No. 1. Board members say LCHS ranked second in the state. The Mayo Clinic says that “studies show that personality traits like optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being.” In the spirit of “if we build it, they will come,” an optimistic new name will encourage the students to do better and force the voters to approve another parcel tax.

Under some national ranking schemes, LCHS isn’t No. 2. U.S. News & World Reports ranks 79 high schools ahead of LCHS nationally, including several other California schools.

Whitney High School in Cerritos, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation, is unsatisfied with its ranking. Whitney raised $4.6 million in donations, without renaming its school, after announcing “we strive to be the best public college prep school in the world.”

That’s the spirit!

A new name for LCHS will restore parental and voter confidence in a district that has cut classroom days, installed new lockers instead of maintaining the athletic fields, and agreed to a cumbersome and confusing Uniform Teacher Complaint system under a one-sided collective bargaining agreement.

O’Neil reports that under the proposed plan, “individuals who have already given more than $250,000 to La Cañada Unified are automatically eligible to have their name on a facility. Those who have given between $100,000 and $250,000 are asked to contribute at least $25,000 more in exchange for naming rights, while those who want to see their names on an auditorium chair or computer lab station are expected to make new contributions in the full amount.”

Let’s support our school board. Social media sites like Facebook, eBay, Craigslist and the Starbucks bulletin board would being in cash. A nice Coca-Cola or Budweiser sign could spice up the football field.

Some donors will want to be anonymous. We could monetize that strange impulse. With technology, Anonymous, the loose-knit, global Internet presence, can anonymously transfer electronic funds in support of our “Anonymous High School.” We could sell the name more than once. The second time to Sony Pictures for “Anonymous,” the movie. And again, to the longtime donors who wish to remain anonymous. No one would know.

Frank Putnam Flint, the developer of Flintridge, would be proud.

Chicago Tribune.Com

Claims of Ethnic Slurs by Teacher in California High School Unresolved After Four Months (Updated)

2011-10-19T14:24:00.001-07:00

LCUSD school board member Cindy Wilcox has called for the firing of La Cañada High School teacher Gabrielle Leko for allegedly calling a ninth-grade student “Jew boy.” Wilcox, in her individual capacity, filed a formal complaint with the school district on June 15, more than four months ago.

Last week, Wilcox publicly called for action on the complaint

Mandy Redfern, president of the La Cañada Teachers Assn. questioned Wilcox’s decision to make the complaint public. “The association believes that such allegations should be made using the clear and fair procedures outlined in the collective bargaining agreement rather than through media outlets,” Redfern said in a prepared statement....

However, the collective bargaining agreement provides for swift resolution of complaints such as this: “It is the intent of this article to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible at both the informal and formal levels.” Nothing in the collective bargaining agreement requires that such serious complaints against a teacher take more than four months to resolve.

School board member Cindy Wilcox said she filed a formal complaint — as a member of the public — against teacher Gabrielle Leko in June, saying she heard from numerous families of students at the school who were unhappy with Leko but weren't willing to go on record with a complaint.

"When I talked to the families and said 'Would you please file a complaint?' their response is, 'She teaches all the high-level classes. … We are going to see her again, and furthermore the siblings are likely to see her again. This is a teacher you just don’t want to make upset,' " Wilcox told the La Cañada Sun.

The ADL has written a letter to the school, offering to assist with the resolution of this issue.

Some locals are critical of Wilcox's decision to report her complaint to the local media. Others are concerned that the issue has gone unresolved for over four months.

Anita Brenner's column in the La Canada Valley Sun: CLICK HERE FOR FULL COLUMN

Megan O'Neil's article in the Los Angeles Times: Teacher accused of calling student 'Jew boy' may be fired - latimes.com

Donna Evans reports in the La Canada Patch ADL Contacts LCUSD Over Alleged Ethnic Slur - La Canada Flintridge, CA Patch

Carol Cormaci, editor of the Valley Sun accepts letters to the editor at carol.cormaci@latimes.com.

Around Town: Another year, another dinner - LA Canada

2011-10-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

After Yom Kippur services at Adat Ari El, a group of us from La Cañada decided to break our fasts at Far Niente restaurant in Glendale.

Adat Ari El is about 12 minutes from La Cañada and Far Niente is about four minutes away, so it all made sense.

Yom Kippur services are an all-day event. Earlier that afternoon, we attended a class on some 12th century texts written by Maimonides, the great medieval Jewish scholar, on the religious requirements of health and fitness. Our bodies are a gift and we are required to nurture them. It was interesting to read, in Hebrew with an English translation, the 900-year-old argument that we can accomplish this by avoiding sweets, eating healthy foods and exercising. These are subjects that resonate 20 hours into an annual fast.

By the end of the day, there is an air of goodwill. The shofar, a musical instrument comprised of a ram’s horn, is blown. Candles are lit. People hug and leave to celebrate.

When we arrived at Far Niente, the owner, Antonio, greeted us with his usual warmth. We asked for water and the servers graciously and frequently filled and refilled our water glasses while we pondered the menu.

In the spirit of the day, I ordered the baked salmon, with the sauce on the side, on a bed of spinach, plus a Caesar salad.

“Wine?”

“No thank you.”

I was being so good! My friend’s martini came with its own little stainless cocktail shaker. There were two olives on a pick.

Note to self: Next time, order the martini.

While we waited for our orders, we scarfed down plates full of the hot-from-the-oven, paper-thin pizza bread, possibly setting a record for the most plates consumed in the history of the restaurant.

As for its history, Far Niente has become a Glendale fixture in the 24 years since its creation, all due to Antonio’s attention to detail, hospitality and fantastic menu. There are daily fish specials and Far Niente, according to my friends, has a way with steaks and chops.

More importantly, the tablecloths are white and crisp. The servers are swift and unobtrusive. The wine list includes a half-dozen types of Brunello di Montalcino, which I plan to try as soon as my horse comes in. In the meantime, there are a variety of California wines, including Silver Oak, Cakebread and Beaulieu’s Georges De Latour.

The server brought our soups and salad. My Caesar salad was perfection itself. The lettuce was crisp and fresh-picked. The dressing was exquisite.

As for the main course, there’s something wonderful about salmon baked in an extremely hot pizza oven, on a bed of spinach, with a small scoop of mashed potatoes.

We ate a while and then we talked. We talked about American politics, the La Cañada school board election, American foreign policy, and the newly-discovered Israeli oil and gas fields. One of our group, a 16-year-old whom I adore, will spend second semester abroad — in Israel. She invited us all to come visit her.

Another year. Another wonderful dinner. And then, we all drove home, back to La Cañada Flintridge.

School board member wants teacher ousted

2011-10-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

School board member wants teacher ousted A member of the La Cañada Flintridge school board is calling for the ouster of a La Cañada High School math teacher who allegedly addressed a ninth-grade geometry student as "Jew boy" and otherwise angered parents.

Around Town: Honorably for another year - LA Canada

2011-10-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Around Town: Honorably for another year - LA Canada

At sundown, on Friday, Oct. 7, observant Jews will flock to their temples and synagogues to hear the sorrowful chant of the “Kol Nidre.” The services will invoke the traditions of the ancient rabbinical courts. The Kol Nidre begins with a legal formulation, in Aramaic, which serves as the “All rise, the court is now in session....”

“In the tribunal of Heaven and the tribunal of earth, by the permission of God — praised be God — and by the permission of this holy congregation, we hold it lawful to pray with transgressors.”

What follows is a period of fasting and self-reflection within the communal setting of the congregation.

In that spirit, I finally got up the courage to read Jon Krakauer’s book on the death of Pat Tillman (“Where Men Win Glory”), which describes his death by friendly fire, followed by a massive coverup, Congressional hearings and a tie-in to the case of Jessica Lynch, the Army PFC who was injured, then captured by Iraqi forces and finally rescued in a Special Forces operation. In an effort to enhance public relations and to possibly silence the Tillman family, Pat Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star based on false information.

Lynch was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery even though she never once discharged her weapon. The basis of the award was fake. Both Tillman and Lynch were transformed into poster children for the war. Lynch has openly spoken about the facts. The Tillman family has taken the issue as far as they can.

It’s a tough book to read.

Shortly after finishing “Where Men Win Glory,” I learned of the recent recommendation of an Army captain for the Medal of Honor. The recommendation was made not by the Army, but by a Marine general.

Capt. Will Swenson was in the same battle as Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer. Meyer received the Medal of Honor last month for bravery during a Sept. 8, 2009 battle in the Afghanistan village of Ganjgal. Capt. Swenson was equally brave, equally heroic in the same battle. The Marine Corps put Dakota Meyer up for the nomination. The Army did not recommend Will Swenson. Some feel that Swenson was overlooked by the Army due to his criticism of the Army’s failure to provide air support during the battle.

And now Swenson has been recommended for the Medal of Honor by Marine Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan. “It was the right thing to do despite a lapse of two years,” said Gen. Allen.

My Yom Kippur thoughts are these: What sort of senior leadership covers up the Tillman death with an undeserved Silver Star, cynically awards Lynch an undeserved Bronze Star while promoting falsehoods, and then fails to recommend Capt. Will Swenson for a much-deserved award? Maybe they are too old to remember what it is like to be young, brave and in battle. Maybe they missed Vietnam. Maybe they have always been in rear-area assignments. Maybe they felt the need to cover up to protect themselves and their careers.

More importantly, since these are Yom Kippur thoughts, how do we address these wrongs?

We can join Dakota Meyer in his challenge to raise $1 million for Marine veteran’s scholarships. We can tell our leaders that they need to do better. We can thank the Tillman family for their pursuit of justice.

And we can act honorably. For another year.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Missoni for Target

2011-10-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Around Town: Scoring Missoni and showing it off

A week ago Tuesday, the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m.

“Where are you going?” asked my husband.

“To Pasadena, for the Missoni for Target launch.”

“What’s Missoni?” he replied.

I explained that Target has a long history of successful collaborations with high-end designers, and now, Missoni, the luxury Italian knitwear designer, had collaborated with Target to market a limited-edition line of clothing and housewares.

“What’s a Missoni?” he asked again.

By 7:45 a.m., I stood at the parking lot entrance of the Pasadena Target. There were 20 people ahead of me. There were 60 people behind me.

It was an eclectic group. I had expected to see ladies from the 91011 (and 91012), but there were also two artistic-looking young boy-men dressed in tight jeans and black T-shirts, with slightly-spiked hair. There were young mothers from San Marino and South Pasadena with babies in tow. An older lady from New Jersey wanted a Missoni umbrella. The blond lady in front of me, dressed in a sleeveless designer shift and tan patent flat sandals with little bows, had a written list.

“This is exciting,” I said.

“The Target website crashed this morning,” she informed me.

Pretty soon, everyone was talking. The website was down. The Chicago stores sold out in 10 minutes. Items were showing up on Ebay.

An elegant African American lady behind me noted the diversity of the crowd. We were a cross-section. Every age and ethnicity was represented. We were all united in our common goal: to acquire fabled Missoni products at Target prices.

A few Target employees milled around with stunned expressions. Soon, four security guards arrived.

“No running!” they said.

Promptly at 8 a.m., the doors opened. I followed the blond lady to the clothing section, with 200 of my new best friends right behind me.

By 8:04 a.m., the racks were bare. In my arms were several coveted items, including the Missoni multicolored, earth-toned, thigh-length open cardigan for $49.99.

After completing my purchase, I headed to work.

I arrived at the office before 8:30 a.m., just in time to show off my loot. I took off my jacket and put on the cardigan. It looked stunning. It was just perfect against my black Michael Kors dress and black Arche ballet flats.

A short time later, I was headed down Colorado Boulevard, ostensibly to purchase coffee. The real reason was the need to show off my Missoni for Target garb.

I sat near the window at Intelligentsia, sipping drip brew from Finca Ojo de Agua, enjoying the soothing sound of traffic from a safe distance.

It was a clear, sunny morning. Blue skies. There’s nothing like Old Town Pasadena on a good day.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: So what about a 9.10.12 event?

2011-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday’s “once-in-a-century” citywide 9.10.11 event was awesome. Why don’t we do it again next year?

On Saturday, Sept.10, the city’s ZIP code matched the date. To celebrate, there were open houses, with free admission at Descanso Gardens, the Crescenta-Cañada Family YMCA, Lanterman House and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The La Cañada Thursday Club, of course, hosted a tea. There were also volunteer opportunities throughout our town.

The 9.10.11 event was so much fun, let’s schedule a repeat on 9.10.12.

The ZIP code for the La Cañada Post Office is “91012.” That’s a great excuse for another party.

The only hitch is the United States Postal Service, which recently announced that it is on the verge of a default. Already projected to lose more than $7 billion this year, the USPS, according to Politico, “is maxed out on its $12 billion line of credit with the Treasury Department and could default on a $5.5 billion payment it must make to a retiree health benefits fund by month’s end.”

If the United States Postal Service is still in business next year, we could have a 9.l0.12 celebration. If the USPS defaults next month, we will be out of luck.

There are a lot of retirement funds to cover because there are more than 574,000 USPS employees. The postal service is the second largest employer in the U.S.

How could this happen? How did the postal service get into hock? Don’t they get royalties from “Men in Black II,” “The Postman Rings Twice” and “Seinfeld”? Don’t they make money selling stamps?

Plus the junk mail, the ultimate money maker. According to Ad Age, “Junk mail may be the last hope for saving the USPS.” That’s why La Cañada Flintridge, a direct-mail marketing paradise, is single-handedly saving the postal service.

I can’t walk down to the mailbox empty handed. I need a trash bag for the junk mail. Except for the Restoration Hardware catalog and the Dish coupons, the junk mail is a total waste. Maybe JPL should invent a way to use junk mail as biofuel, which would be simpler than soaking it in the bath tub to make junk mail fireplace logs.

Unlike street delivery, which is always addressed to the 91011, the post office boxes, which use the 91012 ZIP code, do not have this junk mail problem. The postal service workers will stuff the P.O. boxes with junk, but the direct marketers dislike post box addresses. For the exceptional flier that slips through, there’s a trash can a few feet from the entrance, which is easier than standing on the street, next to the rural mailbox, sorting out the junk mail.

Hope is on the way. The White House wants to include the USPS in the deficit-reduction package that it will submit to Congress. This will help the post office survive until at least Sept. 10, 2012.

We can celebrate again, next year. On 9.10.12.

Around Town: Someday there will be a cure

2011-09-15T23:10:00.001-07:00

Hope is on the way.

In 2008, a group of women, including Rusty Robertson, Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Laura Ziskin, Noreen Fraser, Sue Schwartz and Ellen Ziffren, launched a new project called Stand Up To Cancer.

These women were leaders in the media and entertainment industry, women whose lives had been touched by cancer.

They brought a new determination to the table. They brought their skills, their knowledge and their common sense.

They knew that too many had suffered. They knew that something needed to change.

In three short years, Stand Up to Cancer has raised more than $300 million for cancer research. More importantly, the organization has set new standards for effective transparency in the fundraising and cancer research grant processes.

Check out the organization’s website at www.standup2cancer.org.

The organization has had a pair of telethons on major broadcast networks — one on Sept. 5, 2008 and another on Sept. 10, 2010. Each telethon raised more than $100 million. They’ve had fundraisers at ball parks through Major League Baseball.

The group’s funding model makes sense. About 10% is kept for an endowment. All other funds immediately go to research. Why sit on the funds when there’s work to do?

You’ve got to love a nonprofit when its website allows you to click through to a section called, “Where the money goes.”

Most of the funds go to research “dream teams.” The dream team grants are awarded under the guidance of the American Association for Cancer Research. The dream teams are required to collaborate. Each team has a patient or patient advocate who asks the researchers to speed it up. The goal is to accelerate the research. The goal is to find cures today, not in 20 years.

There are also innovative research grants that are given to young investigators who might not otherwise gain funding.

And now the results are coming in fast and furious. It’s all on their website.

What makes Stand Up to Cancer unique is that the organizers have applied their professional skills to this task.

They say that “the power of collaboration and cooperation are at the heart of [Stand Up to Cancer].”

Outside Washington D.C.’s beltway and outside academia, here in the real world, we all know that collaboration works. We all know the value of transparency. We know the need for cures.

Last June, one of the founders of Stand Up To Cancer, film producer Laura Ziskin, died. Her cancer, diagnosed back in 2004, was diagnosed too late. Ziskin’s professional credits include “Pretty Woman” (sole producer), “Courage Under Fire,” “Spider-Man” (1, 2 & 3), and “As Good As It Gets.” But her real credits include her cancer activism. Ziskin inspired her friends to start Stand Up To Cancer. She inspires them still and some day there will be a cure.

Around Town: Looking for a few good books

2011-09-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Our house has always been awash in books. A couple of years ago, we donated more than 2,500 books to the La Cañada Flintridge branch of the county library system. I had mixed feelings about the donation — most of the books had belonged to our late son, Andrew, who loved his books. I think he’d be happy that his books are back in circulation.

I don’t know whether La Cañada library sold the books, or put them on the shelves, but somewhere, someone is reading Andrew’s books, which is very cool because books want to be held. Books like to have their pages turned.

That’s why I’m going through the house again, looking to cull our books. Some will go to the La Cañada library. Others will go to Libros Schmibros.

Libros Schmibros, a free lending library and used bookstore in Boyle Heights, is looking for a few good books.

Unlike the La Cañada library, which has few restrictions for its annual sale, Libros Schmibros has specific needs:

Books in Spanish for any age, on any topic.

Literary fiction, both classic and modern, including classics for high school students.

Books by Charles Bukowski and Hunter S. Thompson.

Interesting, quality literature and nonfiction.

The plea for more Bukowski is difficult. I can live without Hunter S. Thompson, but I could never part with my tattered copy of “The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses,” although I ration my forays inside. The bright beat of Bukowski’s rhythm (and profanity) will thump in my head for days.

Meanwhile, David Kipen, who used his own collection of 7,000 books to establish Libros Schmibros in July 2010, continues to collect books for distribution in the community. You can catch Kipen this month at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, when its Public Engagement program will showcase an artist project by Kipen from Aug. 27 to Oct. 9. Libros Schmibros will be set up in the Hammer Museum’s lobby gallery.

The opening, on Aug. 27, will combine with a book donation drive. The museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90024.

Onward to literacy!

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Looking for a few good books - LA Canada

Around Town: Back-to-school lessons -

2011-09-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Wondering where your tax dollars go?

Answer: The federal government has a huge Back to School information .

The website is chock full of advice, such as “Plan healthful lunches” and “Shopping for school supplies.”

And your homework is: Compare and contrast the www.usa.gov site with www.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia is the free, user-created, online encyclopedia. Cost to taxpayers: nothing. Usa.gov is the taxpayer funded, online, official Web portal of the United States of America. Cost to taxpayers: unknown.

Answer: See this site for incomprehensible FY2012 budget.

Speaking of taxes, the www.usa.gov website tells us that some states “offer a sales tax holiday,” which means that certain products won't be taxed during a set period of time. This is a great opportunity to save money on back-to-school items including clothes, shoes, and supplies.... Check to see if your state participates....“

Save your time. California does not participate.

Wikipedia tells us that “A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. Programs may be referred to as tax abatements, tax subsidies, tax holidays, or tax reduction programs. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax holidays have been granted by governments at national, sub-national, and local levels, and have included income, property, sales, VAT, and other taxes. Some tax holidays are extrastatutory concessions, where governing bodies grant reduction in tax not necessarily authorized within the law.”

Select the correct answer: (1) Shop in Arizona. (2) Shop in Arkansas (3) Shop in Mexico (4) Don't shop.

Lunches are important. The www.usa.gov website tells us, “As you prepare to send your children back to school, remember that nutrition is an important factor in academic performance. Studies have shown that children who eat healthful, balanced breakfasts and lunches are more alert throughout the school day and earn higher grades than those who have an unhealthy diet....”

Answer: (1) Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. (2) Do they think we are stupid?

Wikipedia tells us that “the current nutrition standards being used by the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast program were established in 1995.... Barring future developments, the cheapest way to satisfy the nutritional standards is with something breaded and fried. For example, a corn dog plus a fruit cup and milk would meet the current meal plan requirements.”

Answer: Corn dogs make you smart.

Congratulations! You passed the test, so let’s monetize your results. We may want information to be free, but it’s expensive to develop a website. The best jobs are inside the beltway. Your third grader needs to go to
www.usajobs.com to apply for work as an information technology specialist, starting at $72,907 in Minnesota and at $89,033, in Washington, D.C. Full benefits, plus chocolate milk and corn dogs.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Back-to-school lessons - LA Canada

Around Town: An old person's guide to the 101 - LA Canada

2011-09-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

My friend (and former physician), the late George Hjelte, regularly drove from Pasadena to Palo Alto, up Highway 101. He made the trip to see his daughter. He did this well into his 80s, loading up the car with his favorite pooch, making stops along the way.

“I’m not in a hurry,” he told me.

For people in a hurry, there’s the Interstate 5 to the Pacheco Pass, right through Old Gilroy (the garlic capital of the world), to connect with Highway 101.

People in a hurry drive (or fly) straight through to their destination. Life becomes an endless jumble of TSA checkpoints, weak cocktails and texting.

On the next-to-last weekend of the summer, the weekend before Labor Day weekend, we decided to not be in a hurry. Our first stop was to drop off Miss Audrey Hepburn (our black Lab) with her uncles in West Hollywood at 9:53 a.m. And then we were on the road by 10:15 a.m.

The timing is quite unlike the glory trips of our children’s childhood, rising in the dark, loading the car with sunflower seeds, juice and pillows, always on the road at first light to arrive in Idaho by nightfall. We were young then. We were in a hurry. Last weekend, we hit the 101 at a more civilized hour.

Our first stop, of course, was in Buellton. This was not the Buellton of our children’s childhood, with a stop at Andersen’s Pea Soup. We were adults now, so we stopped for lunch at Mother Hubbard’s, where the locals eat.

My “health nut sandwich” was the best I’ve ever had. The sandwich comes with Swiss cheese, sliced tomato, avocado, alfalfa sprouts on whole-wheat bread with a little mayo. The bread was homemade and fresh-baked. Len had the chicken. A group of local ladies was seated at a nearby table. They reminded me of Thursday Clubbers.

After lunch, we explored the street. There were a lot of vintage cars parked nearby. Next door was a western-wear shop. It smelled deliciously of leather. At the end of the block was a Mexican market, where we bought gum.

The only problem with having lunch at Mother Hubbard’s is that you can’t eat lunch two hours later at the Wild Horse Cafe in King City. We stopped for tea and root beer. Len says the root beer at the Wild Horse reminds him of his childhood. We did not have wild burger, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, fresh avocado slices, two strips of bacon and mozzarella cheese over a grilled hamburger patty, served on a grilled hamburger bun. Nor did we order the 8-ounce rib eye steak and eggs.

But we did go to the Wild Horse Country Store to buy homemade plum/apricot jam and local wines. Jack, the owner, helped us select a 2004 Dancing Bull Chardonnay and a 2004 Line Shack Cabernet Sauvignon.

We shared the wines with those we love. Like the folks at Dancing Bull always say, “Skip the swirling and sniffing (and spitting), and just enjoy our wines.”

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: An old person's guide to the 101 - LCF Valley Sun

Around Town: Summer garden

2011-08-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

We started the garden on a whim. We dug up the grass, bought chicken wire to keep out the gophers, erected a small fence to keep out the wild rabbits, then bought fertilizer, water and seeds.

The plants came up willy-nilly, in no particular order. First, the radishes erupted, followed by two straight rows of zucchini (thanks to seed tape), interspersed with crooked rows of five kinds of peppers — Habanero, Jalapeño, Serrano, New Mexico and bell. Here and there a stalk of corn emerged to shade a head of lettuce at its base. Clumps of cilantro crowd the basil, the basil pushes against the thyme, and the tomatoes are everywhere. There are three kinds of tomatoes, including tomatillo.

For a few years we subscribed to the Tierra Miguel CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), but growing our own garden is a lot more fun. We planted exactly what we wanted.

There’s no bok choy, but we have all the ingredients for guacamole, except for avocados.

For a few months, I played Farmville on Facebook, but no more. (For the unitiated, Farmville is a farming social network game that focuses on farm management, including plowing, planting, waiting for stuff to grow and harvesting crops. Unlike real life, Farmville has unlimited chickens. Here in La Cañada Flintridge, there are laws regulating chickens. Call your local city councilperson if you have any questions.)

Chicken- and avocado-free, our house is now awash with zucchini. This is not a bad thing. So far, there are no city ordinances regulating zucchini, and for good reason. The zucchini — or courgette — is a member of the squash family and is a cousin of the pumpkin. Pumpkins like to be free and this has rubbed off on the zucchini. Plus, the zucchini is high in Vitamin A and low in calories.

As for our recipes, Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” has a recipe for corn, zucchini, tomato and basil soup. Paula Deen has a zucchini bread recipe. Julia Child had a grated zucchini shallot butter sauté. Meanwhile, on the Food Channel, Jaime Oliver makes courgette salads and fried stuffed zucchini flowers.

I think we’ll try them all.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Summer garden - LA Canada

Around Town: In 500 words or less -

2011-08-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

The title caught my eye. The La Cañada Thursday Club Community Relations Committee will show a film, open to everyone in the community, on Sunday, July 31, from 3 to 5:30 p.m., at the clubhouse at 4440 Woodleigh Lane. The film is entitled: “In 500 Words or Less.”

The film follows four students and their families “as they begin today’s highly competitive college application process,” according to the invitation. “A ‘must see’ program for high school students and the people who love, support, and guide them.”

Thursday Club Past President Suzanne Tutt alerted me to the program. Its title grabbed my attention because my mission each week is to write about topics of local interest “in 500 words or less,” a task less stressful for me than for a high school kid (or their families). Their futures hang in the balance, while I describe past experiences, including trips down Foothill Boulevard with our dog, a black Lab rescue dog named Miss Audrey Hepburn.

Parenthetically, some of my classmates from Palm Springs High School post in a private Facebook group. We have shared memories of Smoke Tree Stables, a girl who died, a field trip to Amboy Crater, the Vietnam War, classmates who died in the Vietnam War, and the annual Junior-Senior Egg Fight.

Luckily they don’t do egg fights in the 91011. We used to put eggs on the roof in September. By Halloween, the eggs were ready. When we moved to La Cañada Flintridge, the first time a kid put a firecracker in our mailbox, Len got mad, but I didn’t. How can you get mad at stuff when you grew up in Palm Springs?

But times are different now. Youngsters are under a lot of pressure to succeed. As for the Thursday Club, the film showing is in keeping with the club’s mission, including its scholarship program. Each year, the club gives between $7,000 and $10,000 in scholarships to local high school students.

The program speakers on July 31 will include: Sally Spangler, La Cañada High School college counselor, and a student panel of recent high school graduates.

Admission is $8 per person ($20 for three people) and will be collected at the door. Sue Tutt says they are serving pizza and salad. Reservations are required. To make yours, please call Thursday Club member Jacquie Townsend at (626) 284-5140.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: In 500 words or less - LA Canada

Around Town: Happy 89th birthday to Hy -

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hy Vego turned 89 this week and one of the week’s highlights was a party in his honor

La Cañadans Paul and Reva Dietz held the party. Hy is Reva's dad.

The invitations announced “no gifts, please” and informed invitees that our friendship was enough. Despite this, there were a few balloons, bottles, cards and signs as 70 of us gathered at the Dietz home. The event was multigenerational. A few kids jumped into the pool while the rest of us socialized.

Since he moved to La Cañada, Hy Vego has become a regular at the annual Memorial Day services in Memorial Park.

Hy is a World War II vet from the East Coast. After Pearl Harbor, Hy, along with his twin brother Irv, enlisted in the Army. The brothers were sent to Camp Santa Anita in early 1942.

One day, Hy and Irv spotted a sign advertising a USO dance. The dance was open to all service members, irrespective of their religion, but it was to be held at the local synagogue.

Hy and Irv went to the dance, where Hy met and instantly fell in love with a young woman named Marion. Whenever he got leave, Hy, along with Irv, would visit Marion and her family.

Marion had two younger sisters, who were twins. The twins had their eyes on the tall, handsome Vego twins, but Hy only had eyes for Marion.

After the war, Hy, Irv, and their little sister, Edie, settled down in the Pasadena area. Hy and Irv opened a business together.

Hy and the other World War II vets revitalized Jewish life in the San Gabriel Valley. Jews had lived in the Pasadena area since the late 1890s, but it was not until 1949 that the Pasadena temple was able to maintain a fulltime rabbi. His name was Max Vorspan and he left to become the dean of the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University).

There were still a lot of restrictions in those days, but veterans like Hy Vego wanted to create an environment where they could educate their children, gather together as a community and live a glorious and dynamic California life.

As the years passed, the extended Vego family had a great impact on the local Jewish community. I’m not sure there’s ever been a synagogue in La Cañada. Perhaps one exception is Dennis Prager’s excellent and very local High Holiday services. Hy and his family have supported temples in Glendale and Pasadena, and still raise scholarship funds for rabbinical students.

Hy has always been the most energetic of volunteers. Old timers describe watching him push a gigantic, four-wheeled kosher hotdog grill up Altadena Drive. The route took him uphill from his house to the temple. With the help of his wife, Marion, and his sister, Hy could feed several hundred people at the drop of a hat, then wheel the apparatus back down to his home.

As far as I know, Hy was never in the food industry. He’s just a man of many talents. Also, a man with many friends.

What I love about Hy is not just the fact that he reads this column, but also that he has a warm and generous spirit. The father of four daughters, he is sincerely friendly and supportive to both genders, a rare quality both in his generation and in mine.

Hy, if you are reading this, you are the sweetest guy I know. Except for my husband.

Happy Birthday, Hy. And many, many more.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Happy 89th birthday to Hy - LA Canada

Around Town: Nurturing a fragile system -

2011-08-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

We live in an age of unprecedented freedom. Freedom of speech, for example.

The United States Supreme Court has spoken. Loud and clear. The Westboro Church has a First Amendment right, subject to reasonable local ordinances, to picket military funerals and to make vile remarks.

Like the Westboro Church, we all have the same wonderful freedom to speak our minds.

But at what cost?

Last May, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck had a First Amendment right to call a press conference to announce the arrest of Giovanni Ramirez.

A few years ago, a Chicago resident named Kim exercised his First Amendment right to post Internet comments questioning South Korean rock star Daniel Lee’s (Stanford ‘02) college credentials.

Except for this — Giovanni Ramirez was innocent, and Daniel Lee really did graduate from Stanford in 2002, despite the Internet postings. In each case, the public comments turned out to be untrue.

And then, there’s Nancy Grace. Ms. Grace, a crime victim turned prosecutor, has a First Amendment right to further the cause of victims’ rights, to comment on criminal investigations and to criticize juries when she disagrees with their verdicts.

But is doing so really a good idea? Has she furthered the cause of justice in America?

We are all free to speak. You. Me. Even this newspaper. We are free to speak, even when we risk that most precious American institution — the American jury.

Our American system of criminal justice is the best in the world.

Our criminal justice system is the hope of the downtrodden, the unjustly accused and those “in disgrace in fortune and in men’s eyes,” thanks to the presumption of innocence and the American jury.

It is not a perfect system. Since 1989, there have been 272 post-conviction DNA exonerations, with 17 exonerated from Death Row. The system is not foolproof. It is not perfect. But its goals are lofty. Unlike other systems, our criminal justice system was never designed to convict all of the guilty. It is designed to never convict an innocent person.

That’s the goal.¿

At the heart of our criminal justice system is the idea that an accused has the right to a jury of his or her peers, and that the prosecution must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The right to trial by jury is a fundamental, yet fragile, right.

Would you want to live in a society where all of the guilty are convicted, along with some of the innocent? Imagine if every single guilty person was convicted, but also your innocent kid, your innocent neighbor and your innocent parent.

I don’t think so.

So, how do media comments condemning a jury help nurture our fragile jury system? When Giovanni Ramirez was arrested for the Dodger Stadium beating and then crucified in the media, how did that help guarantee a fair trial? When the talking heads blasted the Casey Anthony verdict, jury and her lawyers, how did that nurture our fragile jury system?

Closer to home, you may agree or disagree with the jury in trucker Marcos Costa’s murder trial. Many of us witnessed the aftermath of that tragedy in April of 2009 at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Angeles Crest Highway. There has been substantial local coverage and we each have our own opinions.

Whichever way it goes, let’s thank the jury. They are the judges of the facts. Let's honor their service as citizen jurors.

We have the freedom to try all these cases in the media, ala Nancy Grace. But do we really want these cases tried in the media? Or do we want them tried in the courts? Do we want to undermine the fragile system or strengthen it?

The choice is ours.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com
Around Town: Nurturing a fragile system - LA Canada

Anita brenner La Canada - LA Canada

2011-07-07T01:04:00.000-07:00

Here in the civilian world, we like our victims to be victims. We like to wring our hands.

But in 2003, a group of Marine wives responded when the wounded began coming home from the Iraq war. They founded the Semper Fi Fund to offer assistance to the wounded and their families.

Case in point: A Marine was paralyzed from the waist down. He eventually was released home to his wife and kids in a wheelchair. Each day, his petite wife took him to his rehab appointment. She struggled to lift him from his wheelchair into their car. One day, she slipped and they both fell. She got up and tried again.

The Semper Fi Fund bought them an adapted van. After that, the Marine drove himself to his medical appointments and drove his kids to school.

In 2003, Marine spouses Karen Guenther, Annette Conway, Sondria Saylor, Helen Toolan and Karen Kelly arranged travel for family members who couldn’t afford airfare, they raised money to purchase a specialized van for the quadriplegic Marine, and they distributed care packages with toiletries to the wounded and their families.

The organization grew. It is now a 501c charity. The overhead is less than 5% and all of their financial statements are online at www.semperfifund.org.

“Semper Fi” means “Always Faithful.” The fund now offers cash grants because “by reducing the burden of financial worries for our service members and their families, we allow them to instead place their much-needed attention toward the recovery process.” The fund provides adaptive housing and specialized vans.

Currently, the Semper Fi Fund has 172 open cases:

Quadriplegic: 2

Blind: 2

Missing 4 limbs: 3 (2 Marines, 1 Army)

Missing 3 limbs: 19

Missing 2 limbs: 65

Missing 1 limb: 81

Total amputees: 168

Total catastrophic cases in the hospital or out-patient: 172

I thought of the other numbers:

$18 billion in aid to Pakistan since 2002, $1 billion spent on the war in Libya, $6.7 billion per month in Afghanistan.

Federal funds spent on adaptive vans for amputee service members? With limited VA funds available, most of that money comes from the private sector.

Federal funds spent on adaptive housing for quadriplegic service members? Dream on.

With all the billions being spent, why must our wounded depend on private donations to resume productive lives? Where are the public funds for the best wheelchair, the best van and a house where they can do the daily activities of life?

Who pays for their families to be at their bedsides? Who watches the kids while the spouse rushes to Walter Reed or Bethesda? Who pays for the hotels and air fare?

The funds come from the private sector, from nonprofits like the Semper Fi Fund.

Why?

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Anita brenner La Canada - LA Canada

Around Town: Why must Semper Fi do it?

2011-07-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

Around Town: Why must Semper Fi do it?

South Florida Post
With all the billions being spent, why must our wounded depend on private donations to resume productive lives? Where are the public funds for the best wheelchair, the best van and a house where they can do the daily activities of life?

Around Town: They're out of Vogue - LA Canada

2011-06-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

It was a typical summer night in the 91011. I strolled down Foothill Boulevard with our dog, a rescue black Lab named Miss Audrey Hepburn.

“Miss Hepburn,” I said.

Audrey looked up expectantly and lifted her ears, as if chocolate might be involved.

“No. No chocolate. This is serious.”

(Miss Hepburn recently visited the emergency pet clinic because she ate some chocolate bars from the golf tournament. The vet bill was $252. Last summer, she ate an entire chocolate cake and the bill was $265. Chocolate is very bad for dogs.)

“Miss Hepburn,” I said, “You will never be in Vogue.”

Miss Hepburn did not care. She hasn’t cared much about Vogue since the March 2011issue of the magazine, which featured a disgusting puff piece on Asma al-Assad, the Louboutin-shod first lady of Syria and the wife of dictator Bashar al-Assad. It gushed:

“Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic — the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment. She’s a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement. Paris Match calls her ‘the element of light in a country full of shadow zones.’ She is the first lady of Syria.”

Miss Hepburn curled her nose in disgust.

“The first impression of Asma al-Assad is movement — a determined swath cut through space with a flash of red soles. Dark-brown eyes, wavy, chin-length brown hair, long neck, an energetic grace. No watch, no jewelry apart from Chanel agates around her neck, not even a wedding ring, but fingernails lacquered a dark blue-green. She’s breezy, conspiratorial, and fun. Her accent is English but not plummy. Despite what must be a killer IQ, she sometimes uses urban shorthand: “I was, like. . .”

As for her husband, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Vogue wrote that he was elected president in 2000 with “a startling 97 percent of the vote.” He is a “tall, long-necked, blue-eyed” man who “takes photographs and talks lovingly about his first computer.”

The article came out in late February and the atrocities in Syria began to pile up. The torture-murder of the 13-year-old boy. The 300 dead and thousands of jailed demonstrators. The 10,000 refugees huddled at the Turkish border.

Despite those events, Vogue Senior Editor Chris Knutsen staunchly defended the piece. The Atlantic quoted him as saying, “The piece was not meant in any way to be a referendum on the al-Assad regime. It was a profile of the first lady.”

But then, in case you missed it, Vogue took the piece off the Internet.

As Wall Street Journal writers Bari Weiss and David Feith quipped, “Apparently Vogue missed the trend: Dictators are out this season.”

That’s why my dog, the ever-stylish Miss Audrey Hepburn, does not subscribe to Vogue.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

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Around Town: Let them eat ice cream!

2011-06-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Summer’s here and it’s time to address my obsession with Bulgarini’s blood orange sorbet.

Or not.

1. Paradis, Montrose

Last Saturday, hoping to dispel my obsession with Bulgarini’s, some friends took us to sample Danish ice cream at Paradis in nearby Montrose.

Paradis is a fresh ice cream franchise. There are 29 Paradis stores throughout Denmark. Montrose was the first Paradis store in the U.S. The second store is in Los Feliz. All of the ice cream and sorbets are made in Montrose.

The Montrose Paradis, run by Danes, uses fresh ingredients. They buy some of the fruit from the weekly Montrose farmers market. Freshness is the key. Fresh ice cream is softer. The texture is smooth, rich and creamy. I sampled several flavors — chocolate, mint with chocolate, Ferrero Rocher and caramel. They also make fruit and berry sorbets and a marshmallow ice cream.

I finally selected the cappuccino ice cream.

My friends tell me that ice cream is a big winter treat in Denmark. It’s actually the best ice cream I’ve ever had. It’s worth the trek to Montrose.

Paradis, 2323 Honolulu Ave Montrose, CA 91020 (818) www.paradis-icecream.com

2. Froyo Life, Montrose

If it’s toppings you want, Froyo Life is the place. Froyo Life carries a dozen or so frozen yogurt flavors and 35 self-serve toppings, including fruit, Oreos, nuts, chocolates etc.

The base is a frozen yogurt. Not ice cream. Not sorbet. But the voluminous toppings make it a fun place to take the kids.

Froyo Life, 2301 Honolulu Ave, Montrose, CA 91020 (818) 248-7775 www.froyolife.com

3. Pinkberry, La Cañada Flintridge

For that addictive tangy taste, Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt is the place, plus it’s endorsed by fashionista Rachel Zoe. This well-branded franchise uses active yogurt cultures and fresh fruit to create their trademark “swirled” product. The base yogurt is only 100 calories, sans toppings and swirls.

The Pinkberry concept was developed by co-founders Shelly Hwang, a restaurateur, and Young Lee, a Parsons-trained designer. They are based here in Los Angeles. The La Cañada store is bright, futuristic and fun.

Pinkberry, 712 Foothill Blvd, La Cañada, CA 91011 (818)952-0128 www.pinkberry.com

4. Penguin’s, La Canada Flintridge

It’s hard to resist this old standby. Staffed by local teens. Easy parking. It’s in town. There’s lots of toppings and it’s near the local sushi places.

Penguin’s, 711 Foothill Blvd, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011 (818) 790-0298 www.penguinsyogurt.com

5. Buglarini, Altadena
Still my fav! Strawberry sorbetto is now in season. They show movies in the courtyard.

Bulgarini Gelato, 749 E. Altadena Dr., Altadena, CA 91001 (626) 791-6174 www.bulgarinigelato.com

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Chicago Tribune.Com

Around Town: Let them eat ice cream! - centralkynews.com
KSPR.COm

Time passes, but some things remain

2011-06-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

St. Petersburg Times columnist Jan Glidewell once said, “You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.”

On my nightstand sits a self-help book on improving one’s memory. Left to my own devices, I am awash in memories, so why do I need a book to help me remember your last name or where I put my keys?

The answer is this: It is all about living in the world.

Such are my thoughts as we approach La Cañada High School’s eighth annual scholarship awards ceremony for 1st Lt. Todd Bryant.

Todd, a 1998 LCHS grad, was killed in Fallujah on Oct. 31, 2003. Each June, a scholarship is awarded to a LCHS senior in Todd’s memory.

The first year, lots of people showed up to sit with the Bryants, and the audience gave a heartfelt and spontaneous standing ovation. The people in the room — students, parents and teachers — actually knew and remembered Todd.

As the years pass, less of us attend and the “audience” does not share in our grief. It’s only natural. Time passes.

This year, on the night before the awards ceremony, I jot down the following words:

Dear Todd,

On Monday, June 6, we will go to LCHS for the awards ceremony. We will watch as the eighth (Can it be that many years?) recipient receives a scholarship in your memory.

Dear Todd, the years are beginning to pass more quickly.

I love your smile. I miss your laughter.

We will never forget you.
The years pass, but those who loved Todd are awash in memories. Todd has a way of sticking around. Todd walks with us, sits with us and jokes with us. When we talk about Todd, there is always laughter. His death hasn’t changed anything.

Todd may be a memory to some, but to me, he is Todd. Does this mean that I’m clutching onto the past so tightly that my arms are “too full to embrace the present?”

They say that all the cells in our bodies die and are replaced every seven years. Does this mean that the cells in my body have never laughed at Todd's jokes?

It’s only natural.

It’s only natural to love the world.

And the memory.

And to live fully.

Just like Todd.

June 8, 2011

Time passes, but some things remain - Fayetteville KFSM

Time passes, but some things remain - La Canada Valley Sun

Time passes, but some things remain - LA Canada

Guarding the streets of heaven

2011-06-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Not everyone has angels. Those who do have paid the price.

They pay the price of loss. They pay the price of pain.

They pay the price of bereavement.

I write this on May 1, 2011. Tonight, Osama bin Laden is dead.
The celebration can be somber, or not. There are jokes about Donald Trump. (“He won’t believe Osama bin Laden is dead until he sees the death certificate.”) There are jokes about President Obama. There are jokes about bin Laden.

There are phone calls and tweets, posts and emails. Crowds have spontaneously gathered outside the White House and in New York’s Times Square.

President Obama has spoken. He wants continued relations with Pakistan and this is in our nation’s interest, even though Osama bin Laden was holed up there, even though U.S. aid to Pakistan is in the billions.

The celebrations continue, despite the possibility of retribution.

The celebrations continue because 9/11 cut us to the core.

If you live with angels — and not everyone does — they like to remind you about life before Sept. 11, 2001.

Before Sept. 11, Todd Bryant was alive, J.P. Blecksmith was alive, cancer had not yet struck our son, and our son's company mate, Cnossen, still had both his legs.

A young Army wife named Cassidhe was not yet a widow. Chris Petersen's future brother-in-law, James Boelke, was still alive.

These words may sound harsh, but shattered dreams are the price of war, the price of living with angels, along with the need to reflect on those happy days before Sept. 11.

The day before, on Sept. 10, 2001, we were at the Naval Academy. The skies were clear blue. I had never seen such blue skies. We were tourists in the imaginary land of peace.

The illusion of peace is sweeter than honey, softer than rain and brighter than rainbows, like a dream you forget the next morning.

Mornings are not so good, even though Osama bin Laden is dead, and despite the presence of angels.

Not everyone has angels. But despite the price, it’s not so bad living with an angel or two. They pave the way. They give you strength.

The road is steep. There’s no turning back.

May God bless our troops, those who have served and those who still suffer from their wounds.

God bless those who guard the streets of heaven, waiting for us.

Guarding the streets of heaven - LA Canada

Around Town: On gratitude and the search for a cure

2011-06-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

One in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. It is the job of our generation to win the war on cancer.

Last week, our family and friends held the sixth golf tournament, banquet and auction in memory of our son, Andrew Torres. More than 200 of you attended, another 500 donated and we thank you.

Our last five golf tournaments raised more than $300,000 for cancer research. The results of the first research project, done by scientists at Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI), were published as the lead article in a peer-reviewed journal called Disease Markers.

The funds from this year’s golf tournament will support research by Faye Eggerding, M.D., Ph.D., the director of HMRI’s Molecular Oncology and Cancer Genetics Lab. She is board certified in molecular genetics and clinical cytogenetics and has 20 years of experience in molecular diagnostics, molecular biology and pathology. She is the author of numerous articles and two textbooks. Her proposed research is into the role of non-coding RNA in cancer.

A highlight from this year’s fundraiser: People new to the event commented that it was like a family gathering. Our committee is a mix of the classmates of our children and their parents. There was, as Andrew would say, “Good Chi.”

When we started in 2004, the youngest were 20-year-olds and the oldest had not yet signed up for Medicare. Today, we are all seven years older.

Here are some statistics.

Since 2004, we’ve have six golf tournaments, two cocktail parties and 107 committee meetings.

Number of golf tournaments rescheduled due to rain: One.

Research projects completed: One.

Projects we’d like to start: 100.

And, 3400 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with cancer today.

2004 is the year Andrew died.

23 was his age when he died.

31 is the average age of his classmates today.

Since 2004, 47 of Andrew's friends have gotten married.

One high school coach died of cancer. (T.Fry)

Twenty-four babies have arrived, including one named “Andrew.” (Andrew Fredland)

The number of days until our next tournament: approximately 365.

The number of people in the U.S. who died of cancer today: 1500.

The number will become zero once we finish our work. To find a cure is the task of our generation.

On behalf of our committee, blessings, love and gratitude.

Around Town: On gratitude and the search for a cure - LA Canada

Around Town: Conrad's gone. where to eat?

2011-06-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Now that Conrad’s is closed, folks are wondering. Where to eat? Where will we eat at midnight?

Where will the Presbyterians eat after church?

Where will Paco go for lunch?

(Paco’s Barbershop is awesome. Confidential to Vons: We can survive without Hallmark and Conrad's, but please don't mess with Paco's!)

Now that the local Conrad’s is closed (although the Pasadena Conrad’s is still open), the dilemma continues. For breakfast, there’s always Dish, with homemade veggie patties, signature tofu white egg scrambles and home-grown pumpkins during pumpkin season. Plus, the prices are reasonable.

There are some other world-class options close to home. For coffee in the morning (coming this summer) and dessert at night, there’s Leo Bulgarini’s world-class at gelateria in a run-down neighborhood across from the Altadena Sheriff’s station. The neighborhood may be iffy but the food is spiffy. Go the back way past JPL, take Woodbury to the east and then jig north to 749 E. Altadena Drive Altadena, CA 91001.

For lunch, do what the Queen of England does when she’s in town. Try the broiled swordfish, grilled halibut, macaroni, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw, sour dough rolls, tartar sauce, sushi, cioppino, grilled salmon salad and Diet Coke at Fish King’s Gallery Deli in North Glendale. Fish King is where the Queen’s royal ship chef re-stocked during the 1983 royal visit. Take the 2 to the 134 to the Glendale off ramp. Head north to 722 N. Glendale Ave., Glendale, CA 91206. Take the 2 back to LCF at Mountain. Alas, Fish King closes at 7 p.m. (5 p.m. on Sundays).

What will we do for dinner, now that Conrad’s is closed?

The solution is a stunning surprise. As one person commented, “this restaurant is way too cool for Montrose.”

The restaurant is Bashan.

Bashan is not just way too cool, it is a labor of love. Chef Nadav Bashan and his wife, Romy, have created a jewel with an exquisite menu and intimate venue. The sound-absorbing wall and ceiling treatments result in a peaceful atmosphere.

I can’t wait to go back.

Romy seated us. She was very sweet. Our server was Dustin, who turned out to be a coffee expert. Romy and Nadav describe Bashan Restaurant as “a casual fine dining neighborhood restaurant. Constantly searching for the best ingredients, our menus are farmer’s market driven and change seasonally. We incorporate classic French technique in all of our preparations infusing California, Mediterranean and Asian practices…”

I began with an exquisite vegetarian (not vegan) corn soup with some caramelized onions, a small floating corn fritter, chives and olive oil. Len had a different starter, but I didn’t care. I was in love with the soup, which had a depth and breadth of texture and flavor.

Then the chef sent shot glasses filled with cold beet broth to cleanse our palates.

This was followed with the wild Alaskan halibut with roasted macadamia nuts, cauliflower, fava beans, (I asked them to hold the Manila clams), a Meyer lemon puree and roasted baby tomato.

Len had the braised short ribs, but I didn’t care. I was in love with the halibut.

Our memories of Conrad’s began to fade as we tucked into a wonderful meal, followed by various shared desserts.

Dustin brought some French press coffee.

Conrad's may be closed, but life is good. Right here in Montrose, I mean La Cañada.

You’ll need reservations at Bashan Restaurant, located at 3459 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA 91208 (818) 541-1532. It’s down the street from La Cabanita, where Elizabeth Taylor used to eat.

Around Town: Conrad¿s gone ¿ where to eat? - Hartford Courant.com

Around Town: Conrad¿s gone ¿ where to eat? - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Conrad¿s gone ¿ where to eat? - LA Canada

Guarding the streets of heaven - Osama bin Laden

2011-05-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

Around Town: Conservation doesn't solve the problem

2011-05-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

The drought is officially over.

“After nearly three years under a state of water emergency, heavy snowfall and rebounding reservoir levels prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare late last month that California’s drought is officially over.” (“Following the flow back to the source,” by Joe Piasecki, Valley Sun 4-13-11).

Despite the official announcement that the drought is over, water costs in La Cañada Flintridge will remain high, much higher than in the surrounding communities of Pasadena and Glendale. One way or another, La Cañadans will be forced to conserve.

Conservation and other forms of self-denial may seem good for the soul, but do they solve the problem?

The drought is now over, not because of efforts to conserve water usage, but because of elevated rainfall levels.

Sociobiologist Rebecca Costa, in her book, “The Watchman’s Rattle,” proposes that the “drought” is not the problem and therefore “conservation” as a remedy for the “drought” is merely a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Costa argues that “conservation buys us time, but does not address the root cause of our water shortage: California’s growing population has greater needs than rainfall can supply. “The trends are undeniable and the solution clear: We need to manufacture more water,” Costa says.

Costa’s book concerns failed and fallen civilizations that relied on non-cognitive solutions to complex problems. A non-cognitive solution is one based on superstition, without a basis in fact.

Costa notes that the failed societies instinctively reacted to problems by fixing the symptoms, rather than addressing permanent solutions. The Mayans, for example, reverted to human sacrifice. And we revert to conservation.

In plain English, if you are faced with a water shortage (like the Mayans), human sacrifice will not get you more water.

Desalination plants, more wells and diversion of fresh-water sources, meanwhile, are permanent solutions to California's water shortage.

Costa says that conservation may make us feel better, but it is not the solution, and that as a result, California agriculture is in danger.

Can you imagine a California without agriculture?

Costa says, “I have been attending water board meetings in my area (Monterey) for half a decade. During this time, we have not generated a single drop of new water. We have the need. We have the technology…ideas that can solve the problem…die in committee.”

Purists will not like the following solution to those $500 water bills, but summer is coming and our lawn looks nice. The solution is this. There's a gym in Pasadena. The towels are fluffy, there's free Kiehl's and there’s no septic tank.

It's a sacrifice, but I'm doing my part even though the drought is “officially” over.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Conservation doesn't solve the problem

Reader's response: The importance of water conservation

"We all must be part of the solution and be more deeply reflective about our own behavior rather than simply trying to support pathological behavior through technological fixes. The water problem is so serious that columnists owe it to the community to engage in serious analysis rather than superficial polemic. Ms Brenner's solutions [“Conservation doesn’t solve problem,” Forum, April 28], and particularly her concluding paragraph, are deeply resonant with Marie Antoinette's apocryphal solution to the bread shortage among peasants: “Let them eat cake.”"

Around Town: Like manna in the desert

2011-05-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

By the time this column is printed, we will be in the middle of Passover.

Getting ready for Passover is a wild and unruly combination of religious observance and spring cleaning.

We ended up at Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale in Altadena last Saturday night because there was nothing left to eat at our house.

It was hot. We were tired. And a nice gelato seemed like manna in the desert. It was our first visit to Bulgarini’s.

Question: Why is the Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale different from all other gelaterias?

Answer: Try the salted chocolate with coconut.

I had heard about Bulgarini’s, but I had never taken the time to find it, even though the 91011 is a stone’s throw from the best artisan gelato factory outside of Italy.

Leo Bulgarini is a culinary artist. His flavors change because he uses seasonal fresh fruits. He also he brings products, including pistachios, back from Italy.

Right now, Bulgarini’s spring menu includes the following gelato flavors:

Pistachio, Hazelnut, Almond, Yogurt with Salt and Olive Oil, Zabaglione with Marsala Wine, Goat's Milk with Cocoa Nibs, Vanilla, Lime with Organic Milk, Florentine Chocolate Salt, Dark Chocolate, and Eggnog.

The sorbetti are Pineapple and Pear. The granita are Tangerine, Grapefruit, Pomegranate and Blood Orange.

Gelato is the great-grandfather of ice cream, but with a lower fat content. It is made from milk or cream, sugars and fruit or nut purees. Sorbetti are made from sweetened fruit juice or puree-flavored water and liqueur or wine. As it freezes, the sorbet is stirred. Granita is crunchier because it is not stirred as it freezes.

Leo Bulgarini’s recipes are top secret. His little factory supplies the finest restaurants in the region.

Rumor has it that Bulgarini projects outdoor movies in the patio next to his little shop. The location is not fancy and that’s part of its charm. You can sample all the flavors before your purchase.

Freshness is essential because gelato will only hold its flavor for a few days. Everything tastes better at the source.

And the source is right down the road from La Cañada Flintridge.

To arrive at Bulgarini’s from La Cañada Flintridge, you can take the back way via Woodbury Road and turn north on Lake Avenue, then left on Altadena Drive. Or take the 210 Freeway, go north on Lake and turn left at Altadena. Look for the shopping center on the right. Bulgarini’s is located at 749 E. Altadena Drive.

Happy holidays!

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Like manna in the desert

The Dodgers' McCourts are courting trouble

2011-05-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

There are two Los Angeles institutions that must be treasured at all costs.

One is the Pantry restaurant, located at 877 S. Figueroa in Downtown Los Angeles.

The other is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At the Pantry, the sign says “Always Open,” and the ads say “Since 1924 Never Closed.”

Neither statement is actually true, because of a tiny flub by the current owner. The Pantry is owned by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. On Nov. 26, 1997, the Pantry flunked a health inspection. The staff worked all night to correct the problem, and the mayor pulled strings to get an expedited inspection. The Pantry reopened the next day, to the credit of Mayor Riordan, who used all of his influence to correct the problem because he loves Los Angeles and understands the honor and tradition of the Pantry.

Back in the day, the Pantry’s waiters were mostly ex-cons who worked on the outside in between prison stints. They were singularly rude yet wickedly delightful, with their skinny black suits and thin neckties. They always gave us bowls of radishes with the menus.

Today, the real rats are not at the Pantry, but at Dodger Stadium.

Last season, it was fun to joke about filing a complaint-in-intervention (on behalf of the fans) in the McCourts' divorce action, but those days are long gone.

The days of joking about the McCourts are over.

Those days are over, not because they traded Russell Martin and Orlando Hudson — how do they expect loyalty from the fans whey they get rid of the players we like? — or because they doubled the price of parking, which deluged the surrounding neighborhood with drunk people.

The days of joking about the McCourts are over because the McCourts have no love for Los Angeles and no respect for our institutions.

When God blesses you with the ownership of either the Pantry or the Dodgers, the only proper response is total gratitude and respect, but the McCourts show neither.

Not content with milking the franchise while depriving it of decent pitchers, the McCourts beefed up sales of alcohol at the stadium and fired the director of security.

That’s why the Opening Day attack on paramedic and Giants fan Bryan Stow should not be a surprise. Prior to the beating, which left Stow in a coma, he texted a friend that he was scared.

There was inadequate security. There were drunks harassing Giants fans. The tragedy was not a surprise.

The reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailants is now at $150,000. The Dodgers have put $25,000 into the pot. Radio host Tom Leykis has put up another $50,000.

And now, while the Giants organization has offered to pay for Stow’s medical care, instead of writing a large check, the Dodgers have asked the fans to donate. They plan a “drive-through fundraiser” co-hosted by Stow’s employer.

McCourt calls the incident “fan violence.”

Talk about cheap.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

The Dodgers' McCourts are courting trouble

Around Town: Making room for the Roomba

2011-04-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

It all started with the gym. Len and I joined Equinox and had started training with this awesome guy named Padgett when our weekly housekeeper retired.

“Let’s do it ourselves!” I suggested.

Some of our friends were skeptical. Our house would get too dirty, they said.

Our work schedules are too busy. Our dog (Miss Audrey Hepburn) and a cat (The Cat) distribute a fair amount of hair and dander. There are worthy people who need the work.

Relying on others to clean our house was a long-standing habit. Years ago, as a full-time working mom, the lactation consultant advised me to hire a housekeeper in order to prioritize my commitments.

“Are you sure you don’t want to quit work?” she asked. It was 1980.

I was insecure about the possibility of equality so I said, “No!”

“You can’t do it all,” she explained, “With a housekeeper, you can spend less time folding laundry and more time with your children.”

Back in the day, you could tell the working moms apart from those who weren’t employed outside of the house. We were the ones who made cookies from scratch for the bake sale. But we had housekeepers.

Whatever.

Now that it’s just the four of us—two humans, one canine and one feline—there’s no axe to grind, nothing to prove. No cookies to bake. No mess of Nintendo wires. We truly live in an empty nest.

Despite our history, it made sense, when the weekly housekeeper retired, to do it ourselves.

“Why pay someone to exercise for us?” I told my spouse.

Trainers do not consider housework to be “exercise,” which mooted my argument, but my husband was nonetheless convinced.

We were on a mission. We would be self-sufficient. We would take care of ourselves.

But all that was before we got the Roomba™.

The iRobot Roomba Vacuuming Robot, or simply Roomba, is a circle-shaped, semi-autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner with a large contact-sensing bumper mounted on the front half of the unit and an infrared sensor at its top front center. There are many imitations but only one original.

I think of it as another pet, a pet without vet bills, and although Miss Hepburn and The Cat would disagree, the Roomba’s round shape is cute.

I set it off in the morning. It buzzes around, gathering dust and pet hair. When it is done, it returns to its charging station. All of us, even a robot vacuum cleaner, need to recharge our batteries once in a while.

Now that we have the Roomba, there’s less housework and no excuse to stay home from the gym or city council meetings.

I see a glorious old age before me. There’ll be new models. New abilities. I want a robot to make the bed in the morning and dinner at night. Maybe the iRobot Corporation will redesign the iRobot 710 Warrior (“the next-generation force multiplier, the iRobot 710 Warrior is a big and powerful robot that carries heavy payloads”) into a point of production political organizer, designed to stop the 710 freeway expansion.

Stuff like that is the stuff of dreams. Right here in La Cañada Flintridge.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: New Marines step up to the Crucible

2011-04-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Driving down to San Diego and listening to the war news on the radio, it’s easy to focus on the decrepit state of our interstate highways. Just past Disneyland, the I-5 starts falling apart. Who will fix it? Does anyone know?

The news drones on. Syria. Iraq. Libya. The CIA is on the ground, says one station. The CIA is not on the ground, says another.

Meanwhile, fish from Asia is being tested for radiation. Hamas is shooting rockets at Israel, and the budget is out of balance.

Soon, we arrive at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, affectionately known as MCRD and less affectionately known as something worse.

It is a sunlit morning. The Crucible is almost over. We hear chants in the distance.

The Crucible is the final test for a Marine recruit. It is a 54-hour challenge of endurance, teamwork and skills. It is designed to push recruits to their limits, but through courage, perseverance and commitment, the platoon will together earn the title of “Marine.”

Retired news journalist Dan Rather never graduated from Marine boot camp;he was medically discharged before completion. Despite this, Rather often referred to himself as a Marine, which earned him a place in B.G. Burkitt's opus on the painful subject of fake military credentials. The book is called “Stolen Valor.”

But there's no “phony vets” today at MCRD. The sound of chanting grows louder, and we hear the cheers of parents and friends as another group of recruit platoons reaches Marines status.

Moms and dads mill around. Some are on the parade grounds, looking for a glimpse of their kids. Others wander through the food court.

We have no one graduating today. We came on board for a meeting. I make a quick stop at the exchange to buy a USMC stuffed bear for the Torres golf auction and then I split.

The sun is shining. The air is soft against my skin. The ocean is near and my hair is starting to curl. I hear the sound of jets in the distance.

The families continue to gather. Their sons have been at boot camp for nearly two months. Civilians, dressed in jeans, weird shirts and bad haircuts wander the base. There are Marines everywhere, even drill instructors, sporting their high and tight haircuts.

They say Marines are “the first to go and last to know,” but with three wars, most of us are in the dark.

Meanwhile, the drill instructors continue to train the next generation. Forty-seven percent of our Marines today are under 21.

Their shoes are polished. Their slacks are pressed. They exhibit precision in all things. They take care of each other.

It's called “Semper Fi.”

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: State tax credit for TV/film industry a good idea

2011-04-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Local Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) did a good thing last week. On Friday, he chaired an informational hearing at the Pasadena City Hall concerning tax credits for the film industry.

Until the late 1990s, California’s entertainment industry stimulated our regional economy with local film shoots and local production. Incentive programs in other states and in Canada have lured away a lot of that business. A recent report in “Variety” notes that due to tax breaks, “the recent box office hit ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ was shot almost entirely in Louisiana, because rebuilding the Santa Monica pier was more affordable than filming on-location.”

Assemblyman Portantino wants to extend an existing California tax credit for the entertainment industry; the credit is currently due to expire in two years. Portantino wants to encourage local film locations in order to stimulate our economy.

The tax credit extension is not just a good idea, it’s a great idea.

The relationship between the film industry and the state of California can be summed up by an old saying: “Familiarity breeds contempt.”

The industry has traditionally been so local, so entrenched, that we took it for granted.

It’s a sad day when California film producers decide to leave the state because of red tape.

It’s even sadder when they leave due to the high expense of local production.

Consider the stateswe’re competing against: The New Mexico Film Office offers “the most straightforward, uncomplicated tax rebate program in the country with full assistance by the State Film Office and Taxation & Revenue throughout the entire process.” There’s a 25% rebate, no sales tax and free listings for proposed locations. It’s all online. It’s easy. There’s no red tape. See www.nmfilm.com/filming/incentives/tax-rebate.php

“Battle: Los Angeles” was a coup for Louisiana, which bills itself as the “global leader” in film locations. Its website offers a similar one-step plan with incentives. There’s even an online list of the dozens of shows currently filmed in that state, including “Battle: Los Angeles.” See louisianaentertainment.gov/film.

One blog (“Making the Movie”) lists all the tax credits state-by-state and gives California a thumbs down. “California is where ‘runaway’ productions are running away from. To fight back, the state offers 20% to 25% in credits, but they are capped at $100M, which gets used up quickly.” See makingthemovie.info/2006/07/tax-credits-for-filmmakers-state-by-state.html.

We need to do more.

It is wonderful that Anthony Portantino held the recent hearing. His proposal to extend California’s tax credit for film production beyond its 2013-2014 sunset clause is a worthy goal.

Nevertheless, we need to do more. California’s tax credit should be extended and expanded.

Perhaps the city of La Cañada Flintridge should consider a two-year waiver of all fees for film shoots within the city on the condition that production staff members buy their meals on Foothill Boulevard.

Let’s do more.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: It pays, and costs, to be earthquake ready these days

2011-03-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, we always prepared for earthquakes. We were prepared because we had little kids.

We had a trash container full of kids’ jackets, food and blankets. We had bleach bottles, washed 100 times, and filled with water. We had a first aid kit and a wrench to turn off the gas main.

We had flashlights all over the place.

We felt prepared.

A few years later, I checked out the earthquake kit. The jackets were five sizes too small. The flashlight batteries were kaput, and the first aid kit looked a little dated.

For the next few years, we assumed that our large stock of personal Girl Scout and Boy Scout camping gear would suffice.

The other day, my husband, Len, noticed that the camping gear was gone.

“Didn’t we have a tent?” he asked.

“We lent it to someone,” I replied.

The garage seems strangely empty. It's all gone. The canteens. The little aluminum water cups that hook onto your belt. The iodine tablets.

Even the bleach.

“Next time you go to Costco, we need more bleach,” I said hopefully.

Perhaps it is time to revisit the dreaded Earthquake Kit.

My first stop was the Sport Chalet camping department, which normally stocks several types of fully equipped earthquake kits. Alas! The shelves were bare!

“They’ve been going like hotcakes” said salesman Chuck. “If you come into the store and prepay, we’ll ship one to you free of charge.”

I went home and turned on the computer.

Costco carries a 72-Hour Family Emergency Kit, First Aid & Essential Supplies for 4 People for only $74.99. There was a small notation on the screen — “the estimated delivery time will be approximately 7-10 business days from the time of order.”

Just like Sport Chalet?

Even more intriguing was this item: “Emergency Preparedness 7-Day Gourmet Instant Meal Kit Enough Nutrients For One Adult for 7 Days, Freeze Dried.” For only $94.99, “These foods are all natural and retain over 98% of the nutritional content, 100% of the fiber and have an extendable shelf life.”

Maybe I’m in the wrong business, I said to the dog, Miss Audrey Hepburn.

I aimed the browser at Amazon. There were dozens of emergency kits, all in stock and expensive.

For example, the “deluxe” two-person “Earthquake, Hurricane, Fire, Evacuations, Auto, Home and Family” kit for $99.95!

The Quakehold! Grab-n-Go Emergency Kit, 2-Person 3-Day Back Pack for $45.06!

And the emergency whistle for $5.59.

Miss Hepburn will like the whistle.

Parenthetically, one of the auction items at this year’s 6th Annual Torres Memorial Golf Classic is a fully stocked auto emergency and first aid kit, courtesy of FIA Insurance. See www.andrewtorres.org. A few seats at the dinner are still available for non-golfers. Call me at (626) 792-3175 for more information.

Around Town: Thursday Club founder describes 'wilds of La Cañada'

2011-03-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

La Cañada Thursday Club member Joani Bartoli Porto mentioned that she is researching the Club’s origins. She said that her friend, John Knight, had given her the “book.”

What book? I asked.

Joani showed me a copy of Mrs. Knight’s 1927 autobiography titled “Meanderings of 83 Years.”

The autobiography, published in 1927, was written 15 years after Mrs. Knight founded the La Cañada Thursday Club.

Elizabeth Knight’s voice is fresh and compelling. The book is dedicated to her grandchildren and in it, sheexplains how she and her husband, Jesse Knight, left Missouri to head west in a covered wagon with their children.

The Knights initially settled in Pasadena. In 1886, she writes, Los Angeles was just a town and Pasadena a mere village with no paved streets or cement walks, only one dry goods store and two grocery stores.

Times were tough. “There was great excitement in real estate activity at that time, though it didn’t last long till it came to an awful crash. Everything was so flat that there was nothing selling and many were out of work.”

The Knights sold some of their land. “We felt the pressure of hard times as we had never before,” she explains.

Her husband’s solution? Ranching in the wilds of La Cañada!

Elizabeth initially refused. She told her husband, “No, Mr. Knight, I was brought up in a backward country and I don’t want to bring up my boys in any undeveloped country place.”

"But," she wrote, “He prevailed on getting me out on a ranch in La Cañada, which was then almost a wilderness.”

The Knights purchased a 100-acre tract, part of what known then as the Haskell ranch.

“We moved to La Cañada in 1887 and found nothing much but sage brush…Digging out grease roots for fuel seemed to be the main industry for a livelihood at that time.”

The Knights began growing oranges and lemons, and they eventuallyorganized the California Fruit Growers Association. The years passed and the Lanterman Corporation sunk wells. With water, the valley (and the economy) began to blossom.

There were other benefits, she writes. “We were surrounded with the great outdoors with all its beauties of nature.”

By the mid 1920s, La Cañada began to change. Frank Putnam Flint “bought a tract of land back upon the hills of South La Cañada, which we thought was hardly fit for stock pasture, but now since the automobile has come into use it is all dotted over with beautiful residences.”

Mrs. Knight recalled, “It hasn’t been so long…since we had to trudge along those dusty roads with horse drawn vehicles until we would be so covered with dust that when we got to our place of destination we would hardly know ourselves.”

In commemoration of the Thursday Club’s 100th anniversary in 2012, a Centennial Garden Committee was formed to define and create a lasting remembrance of this milestone. In October, the ladies of the La Cañada Thursday Club will dedicate a Centennial Garden to mark the beginning of the club’s centennial year.

Descendants of Elizabeth Knight will attend.

As she once noted, “This world is beautiful, the Lord made it almost a paradise for us, and if we live up to the standard of our privileges we may live very happily.”

For more information, contact the La Cañada Thursday Club at P.O. Box 282, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012; (818) 790-1166.

Around Town: Who says learning can't be fun?

2011-03-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

In the midst of La Cañada’s up-and-down summer school programs (See Valley Sun, 1/12/2011, “Summer-school class hour measure tabled” and 1/27/2011, “Foundation continues with summer school program”), there’s another option. It’s a few thousand miles away. But it’s free.

The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis puts on several summer programs geared toward the sciences.

In addition to the Summer Seminar (See Valley Sun, 2/16/-2011, “Around Town: 'What? You want to go WHERE?'), the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program is geared toward younger students. USNA STEM website

STEM is a week-long summer program focusing on math and science. There will be three sessions: June 6-11 for rising 8th-9th graders, June 13-18 for rising 10th graders and June 20-25 for rising 11th graders.

“Rising” means that the student will enter that grade in the fall.

Only 375 students will be accepted from all over the country. While there is no charge for the program, the students must pay for their own travel expenses.

The folks at the Naval Academy say that engineering is “all about creating, building and making things better…. If you like math and science, you are off to a great start. If you enjoy discovering new things, solving problems, and learning how things work — even better. Creativity, persistence and the desire to make the world a better place are also important qualities.”

A typical week at STEM is as follows:

Monday: Travel and check-in.

Tuesday: Air and Space Museum/Washington, D.C. tour.

Wednesday: So What Really Happened to the Titanic? Challenger? the Ford Pinto? Students will break steel and investigate crash mechanics, examine material fingerprints to characterize technical crimes, visit the Hydro and Fluids labs to study hull designs and structures, and the Aero labs to investigate the forces of nature.

Thursday: Cryptography, Computers and Code, Forensics and Fingerprints. Students will learn how “mathematics, computer science and engineering have been used throughout history to keep messages hidden and cryptic.”

Friday: Biometrics, Electronics, Robotics. “Learn how technological advances in engineering assist in catching criminals, spies and other bad guys. Build and program your robot to master the maze. Wire and solder your own electronic device for voice modulation. A tour of the Biometrics Lab will find you performing iris scans and facial-recognition techniques.”

Saturday: Open House and demonstrations (parents welcome).

Who says learning can’t be fun?

Applications are now being accepted, with a deadline of March 31.

For more information about the Summer STEM Program, see http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/stem.html or call the Naval Academy admissions office at (410) 293-4361.

Around Town: The adventures of Elizabeth Frances Knight

2011-03-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

The spirit of Elizabeth Frances Knight inspires the La Canada Thursday Club.

Her portrait hangs on the wall. She is distinguished, in a dark dress with white ruffles at the neck. Her hair is white. There is a book in her hand. From her vantage point she watches over parties, teas and lunches, the drinkers and the dancers, the rummage sales and the speeches.

The lady in the portrait is mature, sedate and distinguished.

The portrait sets a certain tone.

And yet, there is a twinkle in her eye as she watches over us.

It is a club that she founded.

In a club house that she dedicated.

At lunch, we say her favorite prayer.

Suzanne Tutt, a past president, says, “The Thursday Club was one of the nicest gifts my mother, Kelly Juett, ever gave me. The words of the club blessing say it all: ‘We thank Thee, Lord, that gathered here we find good companionship of mind with mind; and that this food we share is doubly blessed because warm friendship is our constant guest.’”

I knew the blessing. I knew Sue's mother, Kelly, who lived to be a lively 100-year-old. We all miss her.

But I never knew that Elizabeth Knight came to California in a covered wagon.

Thursday Club member Joani Bartoli-Porto was the one who clued me into Elizabeth Knight's adventurous spirit.

“Our founder was born on March 5, 1845 in a log cabin on a barren prairie in Missouri as the second of 10 children. She grew up on a farm,” said Joani. “Not having many school advantages while young, she acquired her education, which was limited, mostly after she was grown. She was 16 years old when the Civil War started, and that changed her plans and progress in life.”

Joani told me that Elizabeth began teaching in a country school. She met a teacher from another district named Jesse Knight at a spelling bee. They soon married and lived on a farm, where their six children were born.

“Mr. Knight got the California fever and sold the farm and livestock. They crossed the country in a covered wagon and arrived in Los Angeles on Christmas Day in 1886,” Joani said. “They lived in the village of Pasadena, with no paved streets and only one grocery and dry goods store, for one year before moving to the wilderness of La Cañada. They bought a 40-acre ranch — which was nothing more than sagebrush — and planted grapes, lemons and oranges.”

Joani told me that the Knights dug wells and began to prosper.

And then, in October 1912, Elizabeth invited interested women in the community to gather at her home for what would be the first meeting of the La Cañada Thursday Club.

Of course, I knew about the founding of the La Cañada Thursday Club. And that the Club Flower is the Camelia. But how did Joani find out the other stuff?

Joani explained that it's all in the book. Her friend, John Knight, had given her a copy.

What book? I asked.

The book is Elizabeth Knight’s autobiography, published in 1927, titled “Meanderings of 83 Years.”

John Knight and other descendents will be at the La Cañada Thursday Club next October for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, when members dedicate a Centennial Garden to mark the beginning of the club’s centennial year.

There’s more. A lot more. It turns out that Mrs. Knight was pretty cool.

To be continued

By Anita Brenner

11:48 AM PST, March 2, 2011 lacanadaonline.com/news/opinion/tn-vsl-0303-brenner,0,5832804.story

Around Town: 'What? You want to go WHERE?' - LA Canada

2011-03-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

Attention, high-school juniors: The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., is now accepting applications for its annual Summer Seminar.

Summer Seminar is an action-packed six-day program that exposes high-school students to life at the Naval Academy.

I had never heard of Summer Seminar until the spring of 2001. One day an envelope arrived, addressed to our son. Being a La Cañada mom, I was curious. When Andrew came home, he opened the envelope and showed it to me.

The letter was from the Department of the Navy. The letter said:

“Congratulations. You have been accepted to Engineering Summer Seminar at the United States Naval Academy.”

“WHAT?” I exclaimed.

“I sent in an application,” he replied.

I was stunned. Thoughts swirled through my brain. Andrew was going to go to college, not into the service. Hadn’t I given him violin lessons? Piano lessons? And the Gollatz cotillion at the Thursday Club? Wasn’t football just a passing phase? Plus, no son of mine….

“Don’t worry, Mom,” he said. “I don’t want to go to the Naval Academy.”

“That’s a relief,” I whispered.

“I want to go to West Point.”

“WHAT?”

Suddenly, I remembered. In third grade, Andrew and his friend Todd Bryant plotted their escape to West Point.

But the years had passed. Unwittingly, I believed that Andrew had outgrown those childish desires.

So what if his proposed seventh-grade science project (rejected by the science teacher) concerned the comparative effectiveness of bullet-proof vest materials. (“I wrote to the manufacturer for some Kevlar samples….”)

So what if Andrew pestered the uncle who fought at Iwo Jima. (“And, then what happened, Uncle Tony?”)

So what if his coach laughed when I worried that football was dangerous for a 5-foot, 6-inch-tall player. (Coach Fry: “Andrew is less likely to get hurt than to hurt their defense.”)

I had been living in a dream world.

That spring we were invited to several West Point events, which I did not particularly enjoy. But when school let out in late May, Andrew took off for Naval Academy Summer Seminar.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” he said. “I’m applying to West Point.”

By the time he returned, Andrew had decided to apply to Annapolis.

“I’m not applying to other schools,” he said. “If I don’t get in, I’ll enlist in the Marine Corps.”

Life around our house was, well, interesting.

It wasn’t just the constant physical activity at Summer Seminar that convinced Andrew. It was the academics. One of the “academic” classes was taught by a Marine captain. The course title: “An Analysis of Homer’s War Poems.”

Andrew, the bookworm, could not stop talking about that class.

Later, I learned that a typical day at Summer Seminar consists of the following:

0545-0630 Physical Training — Introduction to PEP (Physical training)

0700-0720 Breakfast

0730-1215 Morning Academic Workshops

1225-1300 Lunch

1345-1600 Afternoon Academic Workshops

1600-1800 Sporting Events or military-drill introduction

1830-1900 Evening Meal

2000-2245 Special Events, including the U.S. Marine Corps Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C., career-opportunity presentations by Navy and Marine Corps officers, Sea Trials, and the most popular — a mock plebe indoctrination session.

2300 Taps

Each year, only 750 students are accepted into Summer Seminar. There are three sessions, beginning in early June.

Applications to Summer Seminar must be submitted by April 1. Applications may be submitted online at http://www.usna.edu/admissions/nass.htm.

Good luck and happy sailing!

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.
Around Town: 'What? You want to go WHERE?' - LA Canada

Around Town: Disengaging from technology

2011-02-18T06:18:00.000-08:00

I was walking down Foothill Boulevard shortly after dawn with our dog, Miss Audrey Hepburn.

As I walked, I wrestled with an important decision.

My laptop is decrepit. I need a new laptop. What should I buy?

My friends say the PC is dead. One says to buy a Mac. The other says to buy an iPad.

I can’t decide.

I walk Foothill Boulevard, ignoring my dog, checking my friends' texted messages on my phone.

I feel guilty. This is supposed to be my quality time with my dog. I wonder if she notices that I’m not paying attention.

As I walked, I remembered a book by Sherry Turkle.

Sherry Turkle is an MIT professor. She specializes in the social studies of science and technology. She is also a licensed clinical psychologist.

Turkle has analyzed the impact of digital technology in her new book, “Alone Together.” She reflects on presentations in which members of the audience sit glued to their laptops and phones, texting and surfing the Web. Occasionally, they pay attention to the speaker.

She describes the ride to the airport after the conference, a ride during which global colleagues once forged relationships but now sit silently checking their e-mail. She recalls a young woman who Skypes her grandmother for hours at a time. Unbeknownst to her grandmother, the granddaughter checks e-mail during the conversation. The granddaughter feels guilty.

Just like me.

“Technology,” says Turkle, “makes it easy to communicate when we wish and to disengage at will.”

Later that morning, I thought about Turkle’s book. I was sitting in court. There was a sign that told us not to use our cell phones. Before the judge came out, the court attendant announced that when court was in session, we were not allowed to use our phones or other devices to check our e-mails.

There was a collective sigh from all four of us.

Four of us. There were nine cases on calendar, but only four attorneys in the courtroom. A dozen lawyers were about to phone in through Court Call.

Court Call telephonic appearances have been around since 1995. They are designed to reduce litigation costs by allowing attorneys “to seamlessly simulate an in-person court appearance.”

The reality is that litigation is more expensive now than in 1995. The other reality is that the Court Call technology is still in the baby stages. It’s just a conference call on a speaker phone. The voices on the phone can be too faint, too loud and sometimes annoying. Without nonverbal clues, people tend to interrupt the judge. There’s probably a technology fix — perhaps video conferencing — but the unintended consequence of Court Call is that opposing counsel can go for months without meeting in person.

On the other hand, why fly to San Francisco or drive to Norwalk when a phone call will do?

Which brings me back to my most pressing decision: iPad versus laptop?

And how do I know when to turn them off?

Valley Sun Archives

La Canada Valley Sun

Folks, it's a non-partisan election

2011-02-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

Unfazed by the Pasadena Tea Party snafu, the La Cañada Flintridge Republican Committee has now chimed in with its endorsements for our non-partisan City Council election, set for March 8.

Seven candidates are running for City Council: Don Voss, incumbent; Laura Olhasso, incumbent; Mike Davitt, a planning commissioner; James K. Hill, a former planning commissioner; Jacqueline Harris, R.N., a private citizen; Robert Richter, a private citizen; and Charles Kamar, longtime schools booster and the owner of the Union service station at Alta Canyada and Foothill.

The two dozen members of the La Cañada Flintridge Republican Committee have come out with their endorsements. The two dozen committee members interviewed Voss, Davitt, Hill, Richter and Harris. Local businessman Charlie Kamar and council incumbent Laura Olhasso did not attend. The two dozen committee members voted to endorse Voss, Davitt and Hill.

The La Cañada Flintridge Republican Committee is not only local, but it clearly outnumbers the Pasadena Tea Party, an out-of- town organization that had the audacity to endorse three candidates (Voss, Davitt and Olhasso) without interviewing any of them. Olhasso rejected the endorsement.

We are all waiting with bated breath for Voss, Davitt and Hill to come out against these partisan endorsements, particularly from out-of-town organizations.

Several other groups have thus far refrained from issuing endorsements. The Republican Club of the Foothills has not yet issued endorsements in this non-partisan city-council election. Nor has the local Democratic Party. Nor the Libertarians. None of the churches on Foothill Boulevard have issued endorsements.

Do they know something that the other clubs have forgotten? That this is a non-partisan election? That there should be no foreign policy questions on this pop quiz? Abortion is not on the ballot. Gun control is not on the ballot. The death penalty is not on the ballot.

Meanwhile, if you are interested in a non-partisan, non-denominational forum, Flintridge Prep’s headmaster, Peter Bachmann, will moderate a candidate forum next Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at Flintridge Preparatory School, 4543 Crown Ave., La Cañada. The seven candidates will present their election platforms and answer questions during this forum.

The event is co-sponsored by the LCF Coordinating Council and both of the La Cañada Kiwanis clubs. All three are local, non-partisan groups.

Prep is an awesome venue for this. Easy parking. Wonderful auditorium. Comfortable seats. Great sound system. Most likely, cookies and punch.

Bravo to Flintridge Prep for hosting this event.

Folks, it's a non-partisan election - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: She's OK with the mud run

2011-02-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

Around Town: She's OK with the mud run - LA Canada: "Some of my friends don't understand why I signed up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. My husband did not sign up. Our daughter did not sign up. Some days, I have trouble remembering why I signed up.

The Marines describe the 'world-famous' mud run as 'a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit.'

Penelope Glifort, from the Pasadena Equinox gym, was the first to tell me about the Camp Pendleton races. She explained that there are many imitations, but the Camp Pendleton event is the real deal.

Penelope is newest member of the organizing committee for the 2nd Lt. Andrew Torres Memorial Golf Tournament, to be held on May 16 at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club. She has run the race several times. Penelope keeps me focused.

People ask, 'Why?' I explain that I'm competitive, I like a challenge, that it's a work-out goal to keep me in shape.

But the real reason I signed up is because of our late son, Andrew.

Andrew came down with cancer in 2002. He fought the disease.

And then, there was a window in the summer of 2003. He had finished a clinical trial and his strength was beginning to return. The doctors were cautiously optimistic.

Andrew was stationed in Annapolis as a young second lieutenant. The Marines assigned him to go back to Camp Pendleton, along with two jovial majors and a couple of hundred midshipmen from the Naval Academy. The majors cheerfully dumped most of the logistics onto Andrew. They laughed and said it was good for him. Every morning at dawn the entire group would gather to do physical training. The majors later recounted Andrew's joy to be at Camp Pendleton with his strength returning. They said that Andrew was strong and quick. Every morning he was at the front of the pack, leading the group on a run through the hills. No one could keep up with him. Andrew ran with a grin on his face.

Last fall I tried out my running legs at the less famous Camp Pendleton Buffalo Alley 5K. Andrew ran with me, every step.

Andrew is the real reason why I signed up for the mud run. The run will start with the 'Star-Spangled Banner.' There will be Marines everywhere.

Not too many people my age, but I figure, Andrew will show up. He'll say, 'Mom? Mom? Why are you doing this? OK. OK. let's go.'

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada resident. She practices law in Pasadena with her husband, Len Torres. For more on Andrew and the 2nd Lt. Andrew Torres Memorial Golf Tournament, to be held on May 16 at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club see http://www.andrewtorres.org.

Around Town: Seven candidates, seven questions

2011-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

Valley Sun

Unfortunately, Sarah Palin did not respond to my letter (La Cañada Valley Sun, "Around Town: An open letter to Sarah Palin," Dec. 29), and the Pasadena chapter of the Tea Party has now decided to move-on-dot-org to our local elections.

My open letter was a whimsical response to the Pasadena TeaPac's endorsement of candidates for the nonpartisan city council election scheduled for March 8th in sunny La Cañada Flintridge.

Seven candidates are running for city council: Don Voss, incumbent; Laura Olhasso, incumbent; Mike Davitt, a planning commissioner; James K. Hill, a former planning commissioner; Jacqueline Harris, R.N., a private citizen; Robert Richter, a private citizen; and Charles Kamar, a private citizen.

Three candidates are city hall insiders — the two incumbents (Voss and Olhasso) and the planning commissioner (Davitt). One is a former planning commissioner (Hill).

When the Pasadena Tea Party endorsed candidates, and did so without interviewing any of them, folks got riled up. Guess who they endorsed? The city-hall insiders. One endorsee (Olhasso) publically came out against the endorsement, which was made without any interviews.

The Pasadena Tea Party has gone strangely silent. I guess they have bigger fish to fry. Since they forgot to interview the candidates, here are the questions the Tea Party forgot to ask:

1. What is your position on the 710 freeway extension? If you are an incumbent, what is your voting record? What is the record of the other city council members?

2. Why was the city sued by the families of those killed in the Angeles Crest/Foothill Boulevard truck crash? Should the city have done more when warned of the signage issues by a local Girl Scout?

3. Could the Station fire have been handled differently? What was the proper role of the city when faced with competing Federal and city philosophies? What steps should be taken in the future?

4. What is your position on building-code enforcement in our city? Why?

5. What can the city do to encourage film shoots in the city? Should the city do more? What are the pros and cons?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

6. Last year, NASA announced the cleanup of carcinogenic substances at its JPL site ( http://jplwater.nasa.gov/NMOWeb/files/docs/Mediaroom/Site_Backgrounder.pdf). What, if anything, should the city do to foster health-care screening of those who may have been exposed in the past 25 years?

7. Do you think that City Hall is user-friendly? Why? Why not?

Around Town: We need a cure for cancer, now!

2011-01-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

I met Hunter Shelden in the early 1980s. I was defending a criminal case. The case had causation issues and Dr. Shelden, a world-known neurosurgeon, agreed to review the case as an expert.

I knew that Dr. Shelden began his career as a Navy doctor. During World War II, he chaired the neurosurgical service at the United States Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. At Bethesda, he began a lifelong collaboration with Dr. Robert Pudenz.

Eventually, Drs. Shelden and Pudenz both left the Navy and moved their families to Pasadena. They each enjoyed their private neurosurgical practices. Dr. Shelden served as head of the Neurosurgical Service at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

They found clinical work fulfilling, but both doctors wanted more. They began to do research in their spare time. They dragged wrecked cars into a back lot and became pioneers in auto safety. They invented the hydrocephalus shunt. Their mission was "to make the medicine of tomorrow better than the best we have today."

Their laboratories eventually evolved into Pasadena's Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI).

When I met Dr. Shelden, he was in his mid-80s. He gave me a tour of some of his projects at HMRI. It was impressive.

When our son was diagnosed with cancer, I went back to HMRI. One of the researchers, Faye Eggerding, M.D., Ph.D, met with Andrew and took an interest in him and in his case.

Dr. Eggerding is a medical geneticist. She is board-certified in molecular genetics and cytogenetics. Her career has focused on molecular diagnostics, molecular biology and pathology. Dr. Eggerding has had faculty positions at universities and also did research at Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems, where she developed techniques for mutation screening in inherited disorders and acquired cancers. And now Dr. Eggerding has an interesting new RNA research project.

Last week, the organizing committee for the sixth 2nd LT. Andrew Torres Memorial Golf Tournament held a kick-off meeting to prepare for the May 16 tournament at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.

This year, the Torres tournament will fund Dr. Eggerding's new project.

We imagine a world without cancer, a world where people like Andrew, Flintridge Prep Coach Tom Fry and countless others run, laugh, play and live. What we have today is not good enough. We need cures.

Dr. Eggerding shares this dream.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. For more information on the Torres Memorial Golf Tournament, call (626) 792 3175 or see http://www.andrewtorres.org.
Valley Sun Trib

Around Town: Dreaming of a world without cancer

2011-01-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

In 2004, our son, 2nd. Lt. Andrew Torres, USMC, died of cancer. He was 23 years old. Andrew was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (Class of 2002), a Marine and a fine person. In the hours before his death, he asked us, his family and friends, to support cancer research.

We initially supported treatment-oriented research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.

A few of Andrew's friends wanted to do more. The first Torres Memorial Golf Classic was held in April 2005. The Sixth Torres Memorial Golf Classic will be held on Monday, May 16, at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.

So far, prior events have netted more than $270,000 for cancer research at Huntington Medical Research Institutes ("HMRI"), a non-profit independent research facility.

The first five tournaments supported research directed toward finding a simple blood test to predict liver cancer. We picked a research project that had no other funding. We were amazed at what a small amount money could accomplish. Last fall, a peer-reviewed journal called Disease Markers published the results of the research.

In the journal's article, the HMRI scientists described how something called alpha fetoprotein enhancer binding protein (AFPebp) becomes elevated with hepatitis, but falls when liver cancer begins. AFPebp is known to suppress cancer, and its falling levels may be part of what allows cancer to appear. More work is needed to identify a sensitive and reliable early biomarker for liver cancer, but this research is an important step forward.

The research project focused on hepatitis patients. Andrew did not have hepatitis, but we have never been wedded to the idea of limiting our support to his exact situation.

Nor do we limit our efforts to any particular type of solid-tumor cancer. Rusty Robertson, a founder of Stand Up To Cancer, has famously noted the need to end the "Balkanization of body parts." Her point was this: Don't limit your donations to the type of cancer that struck down your friend. The solution may not be in a popular cancer. The solution may be in a rare cancer, like pancreatic cancer.

It is a new year and we have redoubled our efforts. The Torres Memorial Golf Classic will return. We have a new research project in mind.

We dream of a world without cancer.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. For more information about the Torres Golf Classic, call (626) 792-3175 or see http://www.andrewtorres.org.
Valley Sun others

Around Town: An open letter to Sarah Palin

2011-01-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Sarah: I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name, but I feel as if I actually know you, plus I once shot an M-16.

I'm writing to ask you to please tell the Pasadena branch of the Tea Party to stay out of our local city council election.

Isn't the whole point of the Tea Party to restore local control? The website says that its mission is to "reaffirm the traditions and principles upon which the nation was founded, including a free market approach to economic vitality and prosperity, self determination and self reliance, personal responsibility and accountability and a prudent approach to governance and the common good."

That's why I am shocked that the Tea Party in Pasadena has decided to endorse our candidates, and to do so without even interviewing them. (Maybe they don't know where La Cañada Flintridge is? Maybe they only endorse incumbents? Playing it safe?)

Right now, we La Cañada Flintridgians have enough on our plate, what with the ad horrendum, post-deluge news coverage, hours after the "all-clear" signal, which totally freaked out my friends and relatives from around the globe, and people telling us when and where to evacuate. Now we have to deal with outsiders horning in on our local city-council election, scheduled for March 8.

We have seven candidates for the three seats open on our City Council. They are:

Don Voss, incumbent

Laura Olhasso, incumbent

Mike Davitt (current planning commissioner)

James K. Hill (former planning commissioner)

Jacqueline Harris, R.N. (private citizen)

Robert Richter (private citizen)

Charles Kamar (private citizen)

The City Council is ostensibly non-partisan. Also, our town, La Cañada Flintridge, is not Pasadena. Despite this, last week, the Pasadena chapter of the Tea Party (TEAPAC), endorsed three candidates in our election.

And guess who they endorsed? Did they endorse Charlie Kamar (private citizen), a local resident and business owner of the Union 76 station, who believes in customer service in government? No!

Did they endorse Robert Richter (private citizen), a dedicated anti-sewer activist who says that City Hall should be more responsive? No!

Did they endorse any of the private citizens running in this local election on platforms about making local government more responsive?

Not a chance!

As reported in the Valley Sun (12-22-10 "Tea Party backs three in council race"), the Pasadena tea party endorsed the two incumbent City Council members and the one current commissioner. Valley Sun staff writer Joe Piasecki reported that "conservative activists with the Pasadena-based TEAPAC, an umbrella political action committee for Tea Party organizations statewide, have wasted no time in throwing early support behind three local candidates — even before any of them had met with the group or asked for its backing."

The Valley Sun reported that one of the endorsees (incumbent Olhasso) was opposed to the endorsement.

Tell us, Sarah, do we really need Pasadenoids telling us La Cañada Flintridgians how to vote? Some of those outsiders still put the hyphen in our town's name! Some of them still think JPL is in Pasadena!

Please, Sarah, please save us from the Pasadenoids!

Very Sincerely,

Anita and Miss Audrey Hepburn.

PS. The weather in the 91011 isn't as bad as they say.

PPS. Miss Hepburn is my dog.

La Canada Valley Sun "Around Town: An open letter to Sarah Palin

ChicagoTribune.Com "Around Town: An open letter to Sarah Palin

Fox 4 "Around Town: An open letter to Sarah Palin

Around Town: Thoughts on interfaith principles - LA Canada

2010-12-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day in 1934, John P. Washington, the son of Irish immigrants, was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Father John was appointed as a U.S. Army chaplain.

He attended chaplaincy school at Harvard with three other chaplains — Rabbi Alexander D. Goode (Jewish), The Reverend George L. Fox (Methodist) and The Reverend Clark V. Poling (Reformed Church in America, Protestant).

The four chaplains were soon deployed together.

Before he left, Rabbi Goode wrote a quick letter to his wife, Teresa, whom he had known since childhood. "Darling, Just a hurried line as I rush my packing. I'll be on my way in an hour or two. Don't worry — I'll be coming back much sooner than you think. Take care of yourself and the baby — a kiss for each of you. I'll keep thinking of you. Remember, I love you very much. Alex."

The Rev. George Fox's wife, Isadora, understood her husband's motivation. Known as "the Little Minister," the Rev. Fox was barely 5 feet 7 inches. During World War I, Fox lied about his age in order to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was awarded a Silver Star, was discharged and entered civilian life. He was ordained as a Methodist minister. After Pearl Harbor, he told his wife, "I've got to go. I know from experience what those boys are about to face. They need me."

The Rev. Clark Poling was the son of an army chaplain. He enlisted soon after World War II started, with the support of his family, and embraced the interfaith principles of military chaplaincy.

The four chaplains were deployed as lieutenants in the U.S. Army aboard the troop ship Dorchester. On Feb. 3, 1943 in the North Atlantic, a German submarine torpedoed the Dorchester 100 miles off the coast of Greenland. The ship rolled to its starboard side and began to sink. Somehow, there were not enough life jackets for the 904 soldiers aboard. There were not enough life boats. Without hesitation, the four chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to others. Then they assisted the soldiers onto the life boats. As the ship went down, they sang hymns and comforted the soldiers remaining on board.

Those who survived, just 230 men, recalled the four chaplains, standing on the hull, holding hands and praying together. Private William B. Bednar wrote, "I could hear men crying, pleading, praying. I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going."

In the military, a chaplain from the serviceman or woman's own faith may not be available. Military chaplains render pastoral care to service members from many different faith backgrounds. Every chaplain will pray with people of different faiths.

How is this possible? As Army Chaplain Abdul Rasheed-Mohammed (Muslim) notes, "My personal belief has always been, with faith in God, all things are possible."

Around Town: Thoughts on interfaith principles - LA Canada

Around Town: Thoughts on interfaith principles - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear

2010-12-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

The White House reaction to public criticism of the new TSA crotch pat-downs, enhanced searches and back-scatter X-ray scanning equipment, as implemented by our unprofessional and poorly trained TSA staff at airports, reminded me of Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during World War II.

Churchill remained in London during the Blitz. He was in a position to move to safer areas. He was in a position to pull rank. He refused. Every night during the bombings Churchill remained in London. As soon as the all clear sounded, he hit the streets in a very public fashion. He visited areas in London bombed out by the German Luftwaffe.He stayed in London in unpleasant and dangerous conditions. Londoners viewed Churchill as one of their own. They were inspired by him because he did not lead from the rear.

The United States Marine Corps also has a long history of leadership. Marine Corps officers are taught to put their enlisted troops first. They are instructed to refrain from using their position for safety or comfort at the expense of the troops. "Follow me!" requires the leader to charge into danger (and inconvenience) ahead of the troops.

Ever since 9/11, frequent fliers have put up with the TSA shenanigans because we want to cooperate with our government in the battle against terrorism. Sadly, airline passengers bear witness to TSA's bumbling and inconsistent application of what appear to be nonsensical airport security rules.

Worse still, the front line TSA employees are poorly trained and poorly supervised.

The "frat boy" atmosphere where male TSA agents hounded a Texas college student, publicly exposing her breasts and joking about it, was unprofessional and criminal.

We all saw the story of the TSA agent who tormented the Michigan bladder cancer patient, who ignored his explanation about his condition, and who then left the man crying and covered in urine after the assaultive pat-down ruptured the seal on the passenger's urostomy bag.

There are numerous reports from breast cancer survivors who were forced to remove their prosthetics. Horrible.

Then the report of an injured passenger, who cried in pain as the TSA agent insisted on pushing the bandages. Honestly, who does that? A sadist?

And don't get me started on the dirty plastic gloves that are not changed between searches. One female news reporter described the crotch search inside her underpants, from back to front and again from front to back. That is just plain stupid.

Common sense tells us that TSA could do better.

The day before Thanksgiving, faced with media criticism, congressional inquiries and the highly publicized airline passenger opt out movement, TSA did do better. Reportedly, many of the backscatter machines were deactivated, and the front line TSA staff cheerfully and politely greeted travellers. Thanks to the public reaction and media attention, instead of creating confrontation and misery, TSA avoided it by supervising their staff and acting appropriately.

TSA should always conduct itself appropriately because the best defense on a flight is the brave and empowered American passenger. When TSA beats down morale, it destroys the last line of defense in the war against terror.

If Winston Churchill were alive today, and if he thought this TSA stuff was that important, he'd be the first in line, along with his family, to publicly undergo the enhanced pat down and the back-scatter X-ray. He would do it to empower us, to show us that he is one of the people and to keep TSA honest. He would undergo both the back-scatter X-ray and the enhanced pat down each and every time he boarded his taxpayer-funded, private jet.

I call upon President Barack Obama his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, their daughters, and Vice President Joe Biden and his family, and all our elected officials to follow Winston Churchill's example.

Lead from the front. Do the same screening as the rest of us. Do it each time you board a flight. That's what America is all about.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Leading from the rear - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Leading from the rear - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - baltimoresun.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - latimes.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - dailypress.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - mcall.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - KDVR

Around Town: Leading from the rear - ky3.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - WHNT

Around Town: Leading from the rear - Health Key

Around Town: Leading from the rear - Alaska ktuu.com

Around Town: Leading from the rear - Hartford Courant.com

Around Town: DUI busts and the small print

2010-12-14T12:37:00.001-08:00

The holidays approach. There are no sleigh bells ringing, yet our thoughts turn to DUI checkpoints.

When a person 21 years of age or older is arrested for driving under the influence, the police generally will confiscate the subject's driver's license. The defendant is given a sheet of paper entitled, "Administrative Per Se Suspension/Revocation Order and Temporary Driver License."

This document is a suspension order that takes effect 30 days after issuance. It is a two-sided form full of admonitions that are printed in very small type. Some of the print is in bold. Some is in italics.

The "Administrative Per Se Suspension/Revocation Order and Temporary Driver License" imposes a 10-day deadline for the driver involved to request a DMV hearing. Given the design of the page, most people miss the 10-day deadline.

If a defendant does not request the hearing within the 10 days, he or she loses the right to coordinate the DMV proceedings with the criminal proceedings. This is important because when a person is arrested for DUI, he/she faces both types of proceedings — DMV and criminal. If the person is released on bail or on own recognizance, or "promise to appear," the person's first criminal appearance could be weeks after the suspension takes effect. The person could suffer the loss of the license for a period of time, even if he or she prevails in the criminal case.

Even if the defendant seeks a negotiated plea bargain, his or her attorney will want to coordinate the DMV suspension with the criminal case so that the client can obtain a restricted license with the minimum suspension period. The attorneys can't do this unless the request for a DMV hearing was made within 10 days.

The "Administrative Per Se Suspension/Revocation Order and Temporary Driver License" contains other information, as well. The range of punishments for first, second and third offenses is listed on the back. The punishments for refusal of the chemical test are listed. The charges for administrative reissue fees are listed. The first-offender restricted-license program is described.

The "Administrative Per Se Suspension/Revocation Order and Temporary Driver License" also doubles as a temporary driver license, good for 30 days.

There are other nuances as well, but the important point is this: Don't drink and drive. If you do, and if you are arrested, make sure you request your DMV hearing within the 10 days.

Your lawyer will thank you.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. (626) 792-3175

Around Town: DUI busts and the small print - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: DUI busts and the small print - Hartford Courant

Around Town: DUI busts and the small print - Baltimore Sun

Around Town: DUI busts and the small print - Newport News Daily Press

Around Town: Yossi Klein Halevi comes to town

2010-12-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last week, New Republic contributing editor, Yossi Klein Halevi, came to town. I was surprised to see other La Cañadans in the crowd when Halevi spoke at Valley Beth Shalom synagogue in Encino, but on further reflection, my reaction was misplaced. La Cañada Flintridgians are a well-read and inquisitive group. Plus, the event was free.

I went to the event with a friend from Pasadena.

To get to Encino, we took the 210 to the 118 to the 405and avoided the traffic on the 2 to the 134 to the 101, as depicted on my Sprint Centro real time Google Map.

When we arrived, the parking lots were full, the auditorium was full, but we found seats in the back.

There are times when a world class speaker comes to town and the audience just says, "Wow." Yossi Klein Halevi is that kind of guy.

Halevi is an American-born and educated journalist who moved to Israel in 1982. He is the author of several books on Israeli culture and politics. He has been a contributor to both the New York and our mother ship, the Los Angeles Times. He currently is a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jerusalem-based research center.

Halevi has street cred due to his activities in Arab-Jewish reconciliation efforts in the Middle East, and related educational projects. His efforts to "to pray and meditate with my Christian and Muslim fellow believers," are reflected in his book, At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land.

Because he is active in reconciliation efforts, Halevi actually listens to others, a habit not often seen in U.S. media. His comments on the recent "Ground Zero" or "Park Avenue" Mosque dispute were clearly critical without personal attacks, and left room for further dialogue.

If there is reconciliation in the Middle East in our lifetimes, it will be due to the involvement of people like Halevi.

Halevi gave an anecdote of his interactions with a Jordanian official who said that the Jews do not need a nation, that just as there are Arab Christians and Arab Muslims, there have always been Arab Jews, and the Jews are merely a religion and not a nation. Halevi told us that this is a common view in the Arab world.

In response, Halevi countered that there are Jewish atheists, Jewish agnostics, and Jews with a variety of religious perspectives, therefore there is Israel is a Jewish nation and that the Jewish narrative is equally deserving of recognition as other narratives. He made the point that at the core of the Middle East struggle is the refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

In his remarks to us, Halevi made the distinction between "peace" and "reconciliation." He said that Yasser Arafat, the late chairman of the PLO, had a vision for peace in the Middle East. Once Israel was destroyed, there would be "peace."

For Halevi, "peace" is not the only goal. The goal is reconciliation.

There was a lot to think about as we drove home. We took Ventura Boulevard to Coldwater Canyon, to the 101, to the 134. On the satellite radio, cable news shows featured talking heads interrupting one another. Charlie Rangel. TSA enhanced searches. The move to defunding NPR. Charlie Rangel. Bristol Palin. The White House. Not much news about the Middle East. No news at all about Yossi Klein Halevi.

We turned off the radio and continued to talk.

Tower of Tuna count, as of Tuesday: 58. Readers are invited to add one or more cans of tuna to the tower being built in the Valley Sun lobby. The food will be donated to a pantry in North Hollywood that serves people in need. To drop-off your donation, stop by our office, 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Yossi Klein Halevi comes to town - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Yossi Klein Halevi comes to town - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Remembering Laura Canales

2010-11-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a sad week in La Cañada. Memorial services were held Monday at Wee Kirk o' the Heather at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale for La Cañada Thursday Club past president, Laura Diane Canales. Mrs. Canales died on Nov. 5 of cancer. She was 71 years old.

During her tenure as president (1986-1988), Laura Canales made a point of reaching out to a younger and diverse club membership. IShe actively recruited younger women, including me. She went out of her way to welcome our family at a time when there were very few Hispanic families in town. She was particularly kind to my husband, Len Torres, and to our children. She taught me how to put on a tea. She taught my daughter how to bake pâte à choux.

Mrs. Canales, the former Laura Dukelas, was born and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated from St. Agnes High School. She married Ricardo Canales in 1957 and moved to La Cañada Flintridge in 1974, where their three children attended local schools, and she resumed her college education. She received her B.A. in business from California State University, Los Angeles in 1984.

In 1977, Mrs. Canales joined the La Cañada Thursday Club. She continued to serve on the board and, until recently, in other capacities. In 1986, she was installed as the 60th president of the Club. She excelled at public speaking. She was an excellent chef with a large repertoire of recipes that ranged from traditional Greek and Mexican cuisine to complicated French cooking techniques. She loved arts and crafts and had a passion for international travel. She volunteered in many civic activities, including manning local polling locations.

Elaine La Marr, a local photo journalist, told me, "Laura Canales made a point of greeting new members to the Club. When I first joined the Thursday Club 12 years ago, Laura was one of the first people to come up to welcome me. She always made sure that new members felt that they were part of the Club. She was very kind that way."

Cecelia Bloomquist, who moved to La Cañada in 1988, was also sponsored for membership by Laura Canales: "Laura was the most inclusive, loving and caring member of the Thursday Club. She welcomed me into her family and to La Cañada."

During her tenure as president, Mrs. Canales took the Club back to its historic roots of community service. She conducted fundraisers at the Club for local scholarships, the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, and the Fiesta Days Parade Committee. She preserved the history of the Club, both in the annual yearbook, in public presentations, and ultimately in the installation of a portrait of the Club's founder, Elizabeth Frances Knight. The portrait still hangs in the Club auditorium.

Laura is survived by her beloved husband of 53 years, Ricardo; her children Anthony (Sheila) Canales, Kim Canales, Michael (Suzanna) Canales, her grandsons Hunter and Gregory Canales, and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews throughout California, the US and in Mexico.

We will all miss her.

Donations may be made to the Thursday Club's Centennial Garden in her honor. Donations may be mailed to the La Cañada Thursday Club (P.O. Box 282, La Cañada, Flintridge CA 91012-0282). Please note "Centennial Garden donation in memory of Laura Canales."

Tower of Tuna count, as of Tuesday: 47. The Tower of Tuna, constructed of cans of the fish that will be donated to people in need during the holiday season, continues to grow in the Valley Sun lobby, 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Also, The Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge is collecting non-perishable food items in conjunction with its annual Thanksgiving Day Run and Food Drive. A collection bin for this drive is also set up in the Valley Sun office. Readers are invited to contribute to either of these charitable efforts.

Around Town: Remembering Laura Canales - LA Canada
Around Town: Remembering Laura Canales - Fox17 WHNT
Around Town: Remembering Laura Canales - latimes.com

2010-11-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was marching down Foothill Boulevard, fuming. My only companion was our black Lab rescue dog, Miss Audrey Hepburn.

I was fuming because Salon's editor, Laura Miller, had blasted a well-established, international creative writing project known as NaNoWriMo, or National Write a Novel in a Month.

This year, more than 175,000 writers have committed to compose a complete novel, of at least 50,000 words, between Nov. 1 and midnight on Nov. 30.The project began in San Francisco in 1999 with 21 participants. Only six of them finished.

This year, NaNoWriMo is armed with a grant from Amazon.

Laura Miller's beef with NaNoWriMo is in her OpEd piece entitled, "Better yet, DON'T write that novel: Why National Novel Writing Month is a waste of time and energy."

Miller opines: "I am not the first person to point out that 'writing a lot of crap' doesn't sound like a particularly fruitful way to spend an entire month, even if it is November. And from rumblings in the Twitterverse, it's clear that NaNoWriMo winners frequently ignore official advice about the importance of revision; editors and agents are already flinching in anticipation of the slapdash manuscripts they'll shortly receive."

Snarky? Absolutely. Hogwash? Yes!

The following published novels have been drafted during NaNoWriMo:

• Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, "Persistence of Memory" (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2008).

• Gayle Brandeis, "Self Storage" (Ballantine Books, 2007).

• Jessica Burkhart, "Take the Reins" (Simon & Schuster, 2007).

• Sarah Dooley, "Livvie Owen Lived Here" (Feiwel and Friends, 2010).

• Ann Gonzalez, "Running for My Life" (WestSide Books, 2008)

• T. Greenwood, "The Hungry Season" (Kensington, 2010).

• Sara Gruen, "Flying Changes" (HarperCollins, 2005), "Water for Elephants" (Algonquin, 2007) and "Ape House" (Spiegel & Grau, 2010).

• Denise Jaden, "Losing Faith" (Simon Pulse, 2010).

• Lani Diane Rich, "Time Off for Good Behavior" (Warner Books, 2004), "Maybe Baby" (Warner Books, 2005) and "Wish You Were Here" (Warner Books, 2008).

• Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, "The Compound" (Feiwel and Friends, 2008).

More importantly, Miller forgets that NaNoWriMo is a writing exercise. The month is devoted to pure writing, with editing to follow. So what if a few novices mail their manuscripts to publishers? Gee whiz, Laura Miller. Way to rain on the parade.

My friend, Ian Randall Wilson, a published poet and fiction writer who teaches at the UCLA extension, embraces NaNoWriMo because it allows his students to abandon their internal editor. Wilson's point is that each of us has the shrill "inner voice of Laura Miller," telling us that every word is crap, a voice that murders the creative process. One of my teachers, poet Diane Di Prima, cherishes the raw, unedited results of creative exercises.

Laura Miller's position is further disproved by the WriteGirl experience. WriteGirl, the local non-profit which pairs at-risk and low-income teenaged girls with female writing mentors, emphasizes creative writing exercises, similar to that of NaNoWriMo, but of shorter duration. The result? WriteGirl proves that tapping into the creative process benefits the girls on every level. Not all will become writers, but 100% of WriteGirl's graduating seniors have entered college, many on full or partial scholarships.

Allison Deegan, WriteGirl's associate director, recently completed a doctoral study focused on alumnae participants of the program. Study participants reported that the confidence they developed in their creative writing skills translated as confidence in other areas of their lives, such as academic performance and the formation of educational goals.

Dr. Deegan said, "The WriteGirl approach, which provides a unique formula of creative freedom and significant support resources, empowers girls to believe in themselves and then to translate that belief into powerful writing and bold achievements."

Writers unite! Don't listen to the Laura Millers of the world. NaNoWriMo is a fun, month-long, writing exercise. Write on!

Tower of Tuna count, as of Tuesday: 35.
ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. She welcomes email from other NaNoWriMo participants.

Around Town: It's time to write your novel - baltimoresun.com
Around Town: It's time to write your novel - latimes.com
Around Town: It's time to write your novel - La Canada Valley Sun
Around Town: It's time to write your novel - Chicago Tribune Online

Around Town: Think long

2010-11-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

Our mother ship, the Los Angeles Times, broke the story first. The Huffington Post picked it up. "An eccentric, globetrotting multibillionaire who doesn't own a home in California — or anywhere, for that matter; he says he has little use for owning things — is about to breathe life into efforts to shake up Sacramento. Nicolas Berggruen will give at least $20 million to a group of Californians who long to restructure state government so it is more responsive to voters, more responsible with public funds and ready to reposition the state to meet the challenges of today's economy."

Given the utter nastiness of this year's mid-term elections, one wonders why the Huffington Post characterized Nicolas Berggruen as "eccentric."

Look at it this way. If you were a 49-year-old, highly-intelligent bachelor, with a degree in finance and international business from New York University, with no children or spouse, would you need to purchase real estate? If you earned your billions by founding your own private investment company, would you need to purchase lots of cars instead of founding your own private think tank?

Berggruen is quoted as saying, "Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we're only here for a short period of time. It's…our actions that will last forever."

Berggruen has given up most material possessions, with the exception of an art collection and a private jet. He lives out of hotels.

Berggruen's philosophy is reminiscent of Dave Bruno's "100 Thing Challenge."The 100 Thing Challenge proposes that people limit their material possessions "in order to free up physical and mental and spiritual space." The idea is to downsize your possession to 100 things.

Bruno is not a billionaire. Not yet. Unlike Berggruen, Bruno has a wife and kids. It would be easier to own a private jet and live in hotels than to totally downsize to 100 items when you have little kids. Could I live with one mascara instead of ten? Of course. Four St. John's knits and one little black dress? Probably.

But what about the kids? From the moment our Andrew was born, our friends were so ecstatic that he immediately acquired 30 stuffed animals, a football and a toy truck. They all had names, like "Owly," "Football" and "Dave the Truck." It's hard to downsize when your stuff has a name.

Did our friends' largesse set the wrong tone for our family? If a baby took the 100 Thing Challenge, the baby would say, dump the diapers, but let me keep my toys, but since we adults are in charge, our homes soon fill with plastic bottles, car seats, strollers and silver-plated cereal bowls.

When I was a kid, growing up in an apartment, we had four non-matching bath towels. Were my children less well-adjusted because our linens matched?

Perhaps Berggruen is not as "eccentric" as the Huff Post proclaims. The dream team Berggruen selected to save California ("The Think Long Committee") is highly skilled and diverse. Rumor has it that the committee will include former governor Gray Davis, former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, California Fund CEO Antonia Hernandez and philanthropist Eli Broad.

The mission is idealistic. "Unlike any other reform efforts, this fund will not support a single candidacy or a single issue but only those structural and constitutional changes that will break the present gridlock, make government more responsive and efficient while at the same time putting in place the incentives and Institutions vital for California's long-term" future.

I hope it works.

The Tower of Tuna at the Valley Sun office continues to grow. So far, 32 cans of tuna and four cans of soup have been donated by readers. The effort will continue until December, when the collected goods will be donated to a food pantry that serves people in need. Please drop off donations to The La Cañada Valley Sun, 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Think long - La Canada

Chicago Tribune Online

L.A. Times online

2010-11-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Around Town: Training, deployments and wars. Oh my.

2010-11-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

Chris Petersen is a 1998 graduate of LCHS and a former Palm Crest Panther.

I met Chris when he was in elementary school and I was an elementary school mom. He was a lanky, good-natured kid who grew up here in La Cañada Flintridge. His parents, Martha and Paul, are pretty cool, as well.

Ten years ago, Chris enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was promptly deployed to Iraq. His folks and the rest of us held our breaths and Chris came home unscathed. He finished college and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Chris recently mentioned that he only attended four Marine Corps Birthday Balls in his ten years of service, so I guess a few deployments got in the way. The annual Birthday Ball is an awesome event, not to be missed, if only for the cake. Everyone stands at attention, they sing the Marines Hymn while the cake is escorted into the room. The oldest and youngest Marines follow. No other branch of service has such a long-standing and honorable tradition.

Once Chris was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps, he was deployed again. Frankly, I've lost track of his deployments in the past ten years.

His current assignment is special and unique. Capt. Petersen and his beautiful wife live in Hawaii, where he is assigned to lead a team for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command ("JPAC").

Chris explains that the team is a "joint billet" that includes Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force personnel. JPAC's mission is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of the nation's previous conflicts. JPAC personnel recover and identify remains of Americans missing from the Persian Gulf War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Korean War and World War II.

Chris Petersen is one of 400 active duty military personnel and Department of Navy Civilians assigned to JPAC. The JPAC laboratory, known as the "Central Identification Laboratory," is the largest forensic anthropology laboratory in the world.

Capt. Petersen spends much of his time on the road. The JPAC teams deploy to countries throughout Asia, the Pacific, Europe, as well as to sites in the United States, where they canvas, interview witnesses, investigate sites and recover remains.

Capt. Petersen says that, "The honor of serving with this command has been one of the highlights of my time in the Marine Corps."

Just this year, JPAC teams searched areas in Vietnam (Quang Binh and Quang Nam provinces), South Korea (Kyonggi province), Papua New Guinea and Kiribati (Battle of Tarawa). In 2009, JPAC identified 98 individuals. There were 26 from the Korean War, 19 from the Vietnam War and 53 from World War II.

When remains are recovered, there are formal arrival ceremonies at JPAC headquarters at Hickham Air Base with a joint service honor guard and senior officers from each service.

Capt. Chris Petersen, USMC, says, " I am privileged to be a part of our nation's mission to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans."

**********

Tower of Tuna: The current count of tuna cans is 22. Brenner invites you to bring one can of tuna to the Valley Sun offices located at 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. Office hours are 8:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The tuna will be donated to a food pantry.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Training, deployments and wars. Oh my. - La Canada Flintridge

Around Town: Training, deployments and wars. Oh my. - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: One city. One school district

2010-10-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, I wrote about the need to support our young families in their quest to lower class sizes in the La Cañada public elementary schools, and the need to encourage all parents to participate in the decision-making process.

Because of my focus on the plight of the Sagebrush families, I unintentionally mixed apples and oranges when I discussed permit students. I pointed out that the permit kids, including many from the Sagebrush area (which is in our city but falls within the Glendale Unified School District), live under a double-tier system and do not feel free to complain at school board meetings.

The following is not legal advice, and if you have an issue with respect to permits, please consult an attorney.

From time to time during the last 30 years, parents in the Sagebrush area have sought to be included in the La Cañada Unified School District (LCUSD). The Sagebrush is a residential area west of Palm Crest Elementary School, inside the city limits of La Cañada Flintridge, but part of the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD).

Ironically, the Sagebrush parents have less rights under the Education Code than parents who apply for transfer based on their work in the city of La Cañada Flintridge. Under Education Code sections 46609 and 46601, Sagebrush parents may request an interdistrict transfer/reciprocal agreement. The agreement must be approved by both GUSD and LCUSD. The maximum term of the agreement is for five consecutive years. Each agreement may contain conditions, including conditions for revocation. If a request for an interdistrict transfer/reciprocal agreement is denied, the student's parents or guardians may file an appeal to the county office of education, within strict time limits. Consult with an attorney regarding those time limits and the legal provisions.

Transfers based on employment are treated differently. California Education Code section 48204(b), also known as the "Parent Employment" or "Allen Bill," permits a school district to deem a pupil to have complied with the residency requirements for school attendance in the district if at least one parent or guardian of the pupil is physically employed within the boundaries of that district. Under the Allen Bill, LCUSD is not required to admit a child. However, LCUSD may not discriminate based on "race, ethnicity, sex, parental income, scholastic achievement, or any other arbitrary consideration."

Whereas a Sagebrush permit may be for one year or up to five years, at the discretion of LCUSD, the work permit under the Allen bill is essentially permanent for that child. Once admitted to residency, the pupil's transfer may be revoked only if the parent ceases to be employed within the boundaries of the district. As a resident, the student admitted under the Allen Bill due to parent employment does not have to re-apply for the transfer to be valid.

Where does this leave us? Naturally, the families who are in the LCUSD by permit want the best for their children. Each child brings their equivalent state funds based on average daily attendance to the new school. The argument can be made that the classroom numbers need adjustment due to declining enrollment in LCUSD and that permits help adjust the classroom size.

On the other hand, once the work permit students are admitted, they will most likely continue through the high school level, and other districts, faced with similar budget deficits, have considered shifting the class size increases to the high school level, while maintaining the lower class size levels at the elementary school.

Lowering elementary school class sizes is a worthy goal and all options need to be on the table.

Our young families need our support.

The two-tier system does not further those goals. If a family comes in on a work permit, the LCUSD should accept other children in that family. Further, the LCUSD school board should set a five-year goal of a Sagebrush-LCUSD merger. The board should actively negotiate with GUSD to accomplish this. In the short term, the LCUSD board should set a policy that favors granting maximum term permits to all Sagebrush families who ask for a permit.

One city, one school district.

***

2010 Tower of Tuna count, as of Tuesday: 19. Don't forget to deliver cans of tuna to the Valley Sun office, 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. As the holidays arrive, the cans will be taken to the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry to be distributed to families in need.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with the Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusanbrenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: One city. One school district - Chicago Tribune

Around Town: One city. One school district - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: About class size

2010-10-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

When I think of the La Cañada Unified School District, I think of state Sen. Carol Liu, who began her career as a PTA president and then went on to other elective offices.

When I think about our school district I also think of the hundreds of dedicated parents who are now raising the next generation.

It's tough to get your bearings when you are in the middle of raising a family. We live in a multicultural society which places pressures on young families. Frankly, the Los Angeles basin is barely sustainable for many young families. The price of homes, despite the foreclosures, is way too high in comparison to their salaries. The public school systems, outside of La Cañada, are often abysmal. Private school tuition has skyrocketed. The life style, particularly in the city of Los Angeles, which is prone to water main eruptions, home burglaries and traffic jams, is not exactly pleasant.

People move to our town, to La Cañada Flintridge, primarily for safety. We have low crime statistics except for periodic bank robberies. People also move here for the schools. These are mothers and fathers who care about their children.

Now, whatever the economics of the situation for the La Cañada Unified School District, we need to embrace, understand and nurture our young families. They believe that smaller class sizes are better for their children. Most studies support their view.

Some of the young families complain about permit transfers into our district. The issue is not just that the permit kids, including many from the Sagebrush area (which is in our city but falls within the Glendale Unified School District), increase the class size. The real issue is that we have a double-tier system.

The families who have the guts to take time from their busy schedule, go to school meetings and speak their piece are not permit families. Permit families run scared. They donate to the foundation. They go along with the program. They don't have the freedom to rock the boat because they want the permit renewed for the next year. The school board needs to offer permits to all families in the Sagebrush area. The Sagebrush families live within our city limits. We need to tell them that each permit is for all of their children, and that each permit will last until each child graduates from high school.

This will create community.

Community also happens at meetings of the school board. To the moms and dads who speak up at the board meetings, good for you! The district may not have the funds to do everything you want, but it is important that you show up, speak up and lobby for your kids' education. Reduced class size is a worthy goal.

More importantly, your actions this year set an example for your children, which can be even more educational than school. Your actions empower your kids and model the skill of engaging in the democratic process.

I hope a few dozen of you decide to run for office.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com

Around Town: About class size (10-14-10) La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Mea culpa, the weather is my fault - chicagotribune.com

2010-10-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry, Mel Gibson. I did it. The rain was my fault.

Scholars note that prayers for rain are among the earliest liturgical texts and that the Bible regards the withholding of rain as a punishment from God (cf. Deut. 11:11–17; I Kings 17:1).

Just as there are four seasons in Southern California (earthquake, wind, mudslides, fire), there are four seasons in Jewish folk tradition. Unlike the secular seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer), all four Jewish seasons are compressed into one month.

The month is called Tishrei. The Jewish calendar is moon-based and complicated, but the month of Tishrei dates between late August through early October on the secular calendar.

The four Jewish seasons are clouds, heat, cold and rain. They begin on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. In La Cañada, families travel long distances to reconnect, socialize and eat during Rosh Hashanah. To make the commute more interesting, it usually drizzles. The clouds do this so that no one can go swimming and also to give us false hope that the weather will stay cool for Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and intensive prayer, includes a 25-hour fast. The services are long, the fast is difficult and time moves slowly. Sometimes the air conditioning breaks down. Cool weather on Yom Kippur makes for an easy fast, but in my experience, the thermometer invariably rises into the triple digits. This gives us the false hope that the weather will stay hot for Sukkot.

Sukkot is an eight-day festival which begins four days after Yom Kippur. If it is hot on Yom Kippur, maybe it will be hot for Sukkot. On Sukkot, traditional Jews build flimsy structures out of cloth, covered with palm fronds. This reminds us of the fragility of life. Tradition says that the moon must be visible through the palm fronds.

The weather? Right. Each year, the hot sun of Yom Kippur sets and the cold winds of Sukkot enter. Just as it rarely rains on the Rose Parade, it always rains during Sukkot, preferably the first night, when families gather. This year, however, we had rain at the beginning and the heat wave at the end.

The heat wave ended suddenly last Friday, with the weird thunderstorms. Mea culpa. The day before, we said a special prayer. We say it once a year. It's tradition.

A prayer for rain.

***

2010 Tower of Tuna count, as of Tuesday: 5. Don't forget to deliver cans of tuna to the Valley Sun office, 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. As the holidays arrive, the cans will be taken to the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry to be distributed to families in need.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Mea culpa, the weather is my fault - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Mea culpa, the weather is my fault - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Return of the Great Tower of Tuna -

2010-10-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Frank McCourt testified that he and Jamie withdrew $100 million dollars from the Dodger organization to fund their various personal activities, like buying extra houses and yelling at each other.

"YAM" was the entry on Jamie McCourt's diary. When asked what this meant, Jamie McCourt testified, "YAM means 'yelling at me.' Frank was yelling at me."

What a waste of $100 million! Not one dollar was spent on The Great Tower of Tuna.

That's right. Tuna.

The last Great Tower of Tuna was built in La Cañada in 2008. In November of that year, we asked each reader bring one can of tuna to the Valley Sun offices. In December of 2008, Miss Audrey Hepburn and I drove my Ford F-150 pick-up truck to the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry to deliver 487 cans of tuna.

As for the McCourts, it is disheartening to learn that despite (surely) being regular readers of this column, they failed to bring cans of tuna to the Valley Sun offices in 2008. If they had donated a mere 10% of that $100 million for the Tower of Tuna, they would have had a wonderful tax deduction and the Dodgers would have won the 2009 World Series.

Back here in La Cañada, the tuna can collection resonated on many levels. My editor, Carol Cormaci, honestly did not know that 487 people read my column. Dear readers, your donations cemented my precarious relationship with the La Cañada Valley Sun. My second career was salvaged and I am profoundly grateful for your support!

Two years have passed and once again, it is time to create the Great Tower of Tuna at the La Cañada Valley Sun offices.

Sounds fishy? This is no joke.

Q. What did the tuna call the submarine?

A. A can of people.

Do not rely on Frank McCourt. He will fail you.

Do not rely on Jamie McCourt. She does not know the answer.

Q. How do fish start a business?

A. They start on a small scale!

We must rely on our own resources, not theirs. This year, the plan is to start early and donate often. The tower will begin in October.

Please stop by the Valley Sun offices to drop off two cans of tuna.

After Thanksgiving, I'll come by in my pick-up truck. I'll gaze upon a tower built from 974 cans of tuna. I will treasure each can. Then, Miss Hepburn and I will put them in the bed of the truck.

We will drive over to the to the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry where the tuna will be distributed to the elderly and the poor.

Thank you.

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE TOWER OF TUNA: Deliver cans of tuna (other canned foods gratefully accepted as well) to the La Cañada Valley Sun 727 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information call (818) 495-4440.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Return of the Great Tower of Tuna - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Return of the Great Tower of Tuna - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Does one right trump another?

2010-09-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

On Oct. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in the case of Snyder v. Phelps. This involves the issue of the Westboro Baptist Church's picketing military funerals. The church used signs that expressed their pleasure (and, supposedly, God's) with the deaths of the fallen.

Westboro Baptist Church. Totally lame. Unsavory.

One issue in Snyder v. Phelps is the interplay between the First Amendment's free-speech clause and the rights of freedom of religion and peaceful assembly.

Another issue is whether free speech trumps emotional distress.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have a right to free expression in their protests, but their expression caused emotional distress to the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder.

The surviving family members of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder asserted that they were a "captive audience" at his funeral, entitled to state protection from unwanted communication from the Westboro Baptist Church. The family was faced with the choice of leaving the funeral or listening to the hurtful remarks from the Westboro people.

One of the amicus, or "friend of the court," briefs in Snyder v. Phelps addresses the special nature of a military funeral. The brief was filed by the John Marshall Law School Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. It asserts that a military death is unique and that failure to protect the family at the funeral can disrupt the grieving process.

This argument also has implications for the Park51/ground zero mosque debate. The military funeral is a sacred space. It is hallowed ground. Ground zero also is a sacred space. Sacred space trumps the right of the Westboro picketers to free expression and should inform the mosque debate as well.

How do we, as a society, resolve these competing interests of freedom of religion and freedom of expression?

In 2002, a California appellate court held that the First Amendment does not permit a person to disrupt church services. In Church of Christ in Hollywood v. Superior Court, the disrupting party, a woman named Lady Barile, was a congregant of the church. The appellate court held that she did not have a right to disrupt the services. The church's right to conduct services trumped her right to free expression.

Last Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a man at ground zero burned a few pages of a Quran. He said, "If they can burn the American flag, I can burn the Quran."

He was correct about one thing. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right to burn or otherwise desecrate the American flag in Texas v. Johnson. The act of burning the flag by protesters from the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade at the 1984 Republican National Convention was treated as symbolic speech under the First Amendment.

We are left with this dilemma: The Imam has a right to build the mosque near ground zero. The protesters have a right to burn the flag. Other protesters have the right to burn the Quran.

They have the right, but should they? And should there be limits in time, manner and location?

Despite the right of free expression, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and its amendments, one can only hope that cooler heads will prevail.

Many of the bereaved families of the victims of 9/11 have not found closure. Nor should they be expected to "get over it." It is too soon.

One can only hope that the U.S. Supreme Court, when it decides Snyder v. Phelps, will also address these issues of bereavement, funerals and public space.

I bet the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) never envisioned this.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Does one right trump another? - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Does one right trump another? - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Background checks not worth $6 million

2010-09-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

On Oct. 5, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in National Aeronautics and Space Administration v. Nelson, the JPL background check "informational privacy" case.

The case concerns the scope of background checks for contractors who do not need classified security clearances and who do not work on sensitive projects. One issue is whether JPL can ask employees whether they have received counseling or treatment for drug use.

The lead plaintiff in the case is Robert M. Nelson, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at JPL. His motivation is genuine.
"We are very inspired and deeply grateful for the outstanding support we have received from such a diverse constituency," he said. "This case is not about 28 JPL employees; it is about the fundamental values of a civilized society. A free society cannot permit the government to have unfettered access to every intimate detail of one's personal life."

According to the plaintiffs, JPL has budgeted $6 million to conduct these background checks, which are the product of some Homeland Security requirements.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation ("EFF"), which filed an amicus brief, summed the facts up as follows:

"This case arises from NASA's decision in 2007 to institute background checks of contractor employees pursuant to the National Agency Check with Inquiries ('NACI') guidelines. Respondents are longtime employees of the California Institute of Technology ('Caltech') who work at the Jet Propulsion Lab ('JPL') housing NASA's robotic spacecraft laboratory. By NASA's own admission, respondents are 'low-risk' employees and do not work on classified projects."

The scientists argue that JPL/NASA's background checks violate a constitutional right to informational privacy. The checks require a signed waiver, which remains in effect for two years after an employee leaves JPL, which permits the investigators to question all former neighbors, ex-spouses, co-workers about absolutely everything about the employee.

There are no guidelines for maintenance of the information obtained by the investigators. Maybe everyone should just join Facebook and blog every ten minutes. That might be simpler.

And it would cost less than the $6 million budgeted by JPL.

If we put our brains together, we might come up with some alternative uses for the $6 million. Cancer research? Superfund clean up?

The case progressed and the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the scientists. JPL was defended by former Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Kagan petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari. Kagan is now the newest justice on the U.S. Supreme Court and has recused herself from ruling on the case.

And now, half of La Cañada Flintridge awaits the oral argument, and the ruling.

Shades of Big Brother? Free T-shirts in support of the JPL contractors are available at http://www.hspd12jpl.org.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.
Around Town: Background checks not worth $6 million - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: McCourts don't deserve Dodgers

2010-09-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

The testimony in the what has become known as the "Dodger Divorce Trial" is stunning. Last week, it was revealed that Frank McCourt "had taken at least $100 million out of the Dodgers' assets for Jamie's use."

However thoughtful it was for Frank to blame this cash withdrawal on his estranged wife, the failure of the Dodger organization to invest in its bullpen is outrageous and inexcusable.

The sum of $100 million would have allowed the Dodgers to keep Orlando Hudson, Juan Pierre and even Manny Ramirez.

The sum of $100 million would have allowed the Dodgers to boost the bullpen — to hire better pitchers.

Orlando Hudson is a popular second baseman who hit for the cycle on Opening Day, April 13, 2009, his first home game as a Dodger. A baseball player hits for the cycle when he hits a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same game, but not necessarily in that order. Hudson singled in the first inning, hit a home run in the third inning, doubled in the fourth inning and tripled in the sixth inning. Hudson was the first Dodger to hit for the cycle at Dodger Stadium. He was also extremely popular and a four-time Golden Glove awardee. He had an even temper and the fans loved him.

The Dodgers failed to re-sign Orlando Hudson and lost him to the Minnesota Twins on a one-year, $5 million contract.

Juan Pierre is an outstanding outfielder. When forced to play behind Manny Ramirez and deprived of playing time, Juan Pierre still gave it his all. When Manny was suspended for 50 games, Juan Pierre gave an outstanding performance. He is a great fielder — plus, the man can steal. He holds the record for the most stolen bases of any active major-league player. All he needs to do is hit a ground ball and get on first. If Juan Pierre gets on first base, within five minutes, nine times out of 10, he'll steal to second and then third. Juan Pierre was a team player, a sweet guy and the fans loved him.

The Dodgers traded Juan Pierre to the Chicago White Sox for two minor-league pitchers. If the McCourts had refrained from using the Dodgers as their piggy bank, the Dodgers could have put up money for more pitchers and kept Juan Pierre.

On Aug. 5, Juan Pierre, as a White Sox player, stole his 500th career stolen base against the Detroit Tigers.

On Aug. 30, the Dodgers put Manny Ramirez on waivers. Under league rules, a team may decide to "waive" any player under contract, at any time. Other MLB teams can then claim the waived player. Manny Ramirez was claimed by — guess who? The Chicago White Sox, which will pay the $3.8 million remaining on his contract.

The McCourts have decimated the Dodgers. They raised prices for tickets, parking and food. A bottle of water at Dodger stadium costs $5. Parking fees are outrageous. A simple T-shirt costs $30.

The McCourts do not deserve to be the owners of the most-loved team in history of baseball.

They expect the fans to be loyal to a franchise which has no loyalty to its players.

Too bad the fans can't put the McCourts on waivers.

Too bad the fans can't trade the McCourts back to Boston.

Around Town: McCourts don't deserve Dodgers - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: McCourts don't deserve Dodgers - LA Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: McCourts don't deserve Dodgers - Baltimore Sun

Around Town: Miss Hepburn rides again

2010-09-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

It began as an average evening. We came home from work and noticed the shredded cardboard.

What had happened? Suddenly, we realized, Miss Audrey Hepburn had ingested half of a chocolate cake.

Not just any cake. This was a dark chocolate birthday cake with fudge icing, secured, so we thought, in the cupboard.

Not just any dog. Miss Audrey Hepburn has a history. She came to live with us in March 2004. Our son Andrew was home on medical leave from the Marine Corps. He felt that a dog was an important addition to the family. If the chemotherapy worked, he would return to Annapolis with a dog. If it did not, then his parents would have someone to take care of. Within the month, we inherited Miss Hepburn, a black Lab mix, a traumatized, submissive rescue dog.

Particularly submissive to The Cat.

Flashback to April 2009 - Miss Hepburn had emergency surgery for gastric dilatation and volvulus, also known as "bloat." Her stomach had twisted, a condition that killed Marley of the book and film, "Marley and Me." It is the No. 2 killer of all dogs. The most obvious signs of bloat are abdominal distention (swollen belly) and nonproductive vomiting or retching. Audrey exhibited none of these symptoms when we left the house for the vet hospital. We were forced to go to the vet when The Cat, normally heartless, continued to express concern about Miss Hepburn's condition.

This time was different. The Cat was unconcerned, which we took as a good sign. The Cat continued to give Miss Hepburn dismissive looks as if to say, "Boy, that was dumb."

Miss Hepburn responded by throwing up. We decided to go the vet despite The Cat's lack of concern.

By the time we got to the vet, Miss Hepburn again looked chipper. Maybe a little too chipper. Chocolate is like speed for dogs. It makes their hearts race, it can cause arrhythmias and heart attacks.

Chocolate contains a substance called theobromine. Theobromine is a xanthine compound in the same family of caffeine and it is toxic to dogs. Dogs metabolize theobromine more slowly than humans and are at greater risk than cats because cats cannot taste sweet food.

Dogs, on the other hand, do enjoy a good piece of cake now and again.

The vet felt that Miss Hepburn had sufficiently vomited at home, so she gave Miss Hepburn some charcoal to soak up the remaining chocolate, followed by the doggie equivalent of Pepto Bismol.

The vet described the event as a "dietary indiscretion."

Luckily for us, Miss Hepburn's heart was fine. Everyone was happy to see her at the vet's and their bill wasn't that bad.

We'll be walking down Foothill Boulevard momentarily.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Miss Hepburn rides again - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Miss Hepburn rides again - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Sensitivity over legality

2010-08-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

The debate continues over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. Those in favor call it the Park51 Islamic Community Center. Those opposed call it the Ground Zero Mosque.

Pastor Jon T. Karn (Light on the Corner Church in Montrose) says, "In the interests of healing this lingering American wound, I would hope that thoughtful and kind-hearted Muslim Americans would reject this planned building.: (Valley Sun, In Theory, 7-21-10)

Rabbi Joshua Levine-Grater (Pasadena Jewish Temple) says, "…how can an Islamic Center run by one of the most active interfaith Muslim leaders in America…someone who works with rabbis, priests and many others to promote healing and reconciliation between faiths, be anything but good for that tragic location? (Huffington Post, 8-20-10)

Greg Gutfeld (Red Eye) plans to open a gay bar that caters to Islamic and non-Islamic gay men, to be situated next to the mosque at Park51, because "The Muslim faith doesn't look kindly upon homosexuality, which is why I'm building this bar. It is an effort to break down barriers and reduce deadly homophobia in the Islamic world." (Fox News, 8-9-10)

At issue is not the legality of the project. The project is legal. The Muslim community has a First Amendment right to practice Islam. The developers of the project have a legal right to build the mosque on their land. They have complied with the local political process and have obtained initial city approvals.

The issue is not about legality but about sensitivity.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says, "The builders of the Ground Zero mosque squandered a unique opportunity to portray Islam in a favorable light…its builders [should] consult the families of the Ground Zero dead, who are the people whose opinion matters most…proceed with the greatest sensitivity and understanding."

When we remodeled our house in 1980, the first thing we did was to talk to the neighbors.

We talked to the neighbors before we pulled our permits. We talked to them before we finalized our plans. We got their input. We were not legally obligated to do so, but we felt that it was the right thing to do.

When the Archbishop of Cracow decided to build a Carmelite convent on the periphery of Auschwitz, the debate (and mediation meetings) raged for a nearly a decade until Pope John Paul II spoke out in favor of moving the convent in the interests of normalizing Jewish-Catholic relations. Of the 1.1 million murdered at Auschwitz, more than 1 million were Jews.

With respect to the Park51/Ground Zero Mosque, New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has volunteered to act as a mediator in the dispute, citing the compromise reached in the Auschwitz convent dispute.

It is easy for the mosque proponents to accuse the opponents of prejudice. It equally easy for Greg Gutfeld to criticize the death penalty for homosexuals under Muslim law, in effect in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

It is not so easy for the bereaved families of the victims of 9-11. They are not "over it." They have not "found closure." Nor should they.

It is much too soon.

If the developers of the mosque truly wish to promote interfaith peace, they will accept Cardinal Dolan's offer to mediate and reconsider the location.

As the Rev. Bryan Griem (Montrose Community Church) notes, "Nobody is denying a congregation its American privilege of having a worship center in New York or anywhere else. What nobody finds particularly palatable is having such a sensitive situation served with such insensitivity by a religious group that claims it's as patriotic to America as everyone else. Fine, then do your patriotic duty and back off." (Valley Sun, In Theory, 7-21-10)

-

Around Town: Sensitivity over legality - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Sensitivity over legality - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Sensitivity over legality - LA Canada

Around Town: How LCF can save Bell and the Dodgers

2010-08-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Ever since the July public health report revealed that La Cañada Flintridge has the longest life expectancy in the region, I’ve been worried.

I worry because a long life means more taxes.
I worry because more taxes will raise the price of Dodger tickets.
I worry because the Dodgers will always break your heart.

My longevity-enhanced mind races through the possible scenarios to rescue the city of Bell and the Dodgers. Perhaps a complaint-in-intervention in the McCourt divorce, by season ticket holders, to urge a quick sale to Mark Cuban or Eli Broad? Not likely. Complaints-in-intervention are disfavored in family law cases. It has something to do with standing.

Perhaps a class-action lawsuit against the city of Bell and the Dodgers for not playing ball? There would be challenges to the definition of the class of plaintiffs. Ticket holders? Seniors?

Living in La Cañada may be a class act, but it’s not a class action. No, this is a job for City Hall.

Perhaps an eminent domain action by the city of La Cañada Flintridge to seize both Dodger Stadium and the entire 2.5-square-mile city of Bell? Too risky. Even if we got past the judges, what would the jury do?

Suddenly, the solution appears! As Gene Maddeus recently noted in the L.A. Weekly (Dodger Dog, 8-5-10), “the McCourts paid no income taxes, thanks to a quirk in the tax code affecting owners of sports franchises…” What does the Bell City Council have in common with the McCourts? They never spend their own money.

No taxes? No down payment? That’s why our LCF City Hall should seriously consider the following three-step plan to save the Dodgers and the city of Bell:

Step one: LCF should annex the city of Bell. Not contiguous? Not a problem. Just look at some of our congressional districts. There must be a national park between us somewhere, or a Caltrans-owned highway. LCF could provide all of Bell’s necessary services (police, fire, city manager) and still make a profit. Empty slots in the local elementary schools? We’ll fill them with kids from Bell. Not enough traffic tickets? Bring back Deputy Smith. Send him to Bell.

Step two: LCF will use the profits from managing the city of Bell as collateral on metered parking lots in both cities. No free parking.

What? Parking is free in LCF? As Maddeus notes, “Under the McCourts, the price of the average Dodger ticket has gone from $18 to $30. The parking fee has gone from $8 to $15, high enough that neighbors have complained about fans parking on local streets and walking into the stadium.”

If it’s good enough for Frank McCourt, it’s good enough for La Cañada Flintridge. No more free parking.

Step three: Leverage the parking lots. Get a loan. The city of LCF will buy the Dodgers with the loan. We won’t spend any of our money and we’ll get a tax break. Imagine all those sales property taxes flowing directly back into our coffers under “the tax code affecting owners of sports franchises…”

I know what you are thinking. LCF can save the city of Bell, but can it save the Dodgers? The Dodgers may be doomed. There’s talk of trading Matt Kemp, no one has seen Manny for weeks, and Russell Martin is on the disabled list.

Here's how LCF can save the Dodgers:1. Fire Ned Colletti because of the mean things he said to Matt Kemp.

2. Rehire Orlando Hudson and Juan Pierre and put them on the cover of the free magazine they give you when you pay the exorbitant parking fee.

3. Retain Jeff’s Gourmet Kosher Sausage to open one tiny stall on the Loge level to sell kosher Dodger Dogs. World peace may be an unintended consequence.

4. Make shirts that say “Los Doyers” instead of “Los Dodgers.” (“Los Dodgers” is really lame.)

5. Keep Joe Torre, but change his name to Torres on the shirt.

Oh, yeah. Pitchers. We need more pitchers.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. She points out that this column is parody and does not constitute legal advice. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: How LCF can save Bell and the Dodgers - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Yippee Skippy

2010-08-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

It was a warm Wednesday morning in the foothills, the sprinklers were on, a few hours after sunrise. I walked along Foothill Boulevard with Miss Audrey Hepburn, our black Lab mix rescue dog from the Pasadena Humane Society.

Suddenly, Miss Hepburn began to growl. I looked up. Before us stood a thin-faced, young man, dressed in a red Stanford sweatshirt, sporting a baseball cap with the words "La Cañada Flintridge." He talked into an imaginary cell phone.

Not again! It was that process server from West Los Angeles, still hiding out in the local storm drains, looking for witnesses.

The process server stopped talking and looked up.

"Good news," he said, "I'm going to interview Skippy McChrystal."

"Huh?" I asked.

Miss Hepburn continued to growl.

The process server continued, "This is my chance. My chance to get into the mix. I'm gonna serve him."

"McChrystal?" I said. Suddenly, it dawned on me. Skippy McChrystal was Gen. Stanley McChrystal's wicked twin cousin.

Miss Hepburn continued to growl. The sun continued to rise. The sprinklers continued to sprinkle. The process server disappeared down Foothill Boulevard, trailing doughnut crumbs and scraps of toilet tissue.

A few days later, I went to the post office. The new issue of Rolling Stone had arrived. Inside was a piece on Skippy McChrystal, the evil twin of Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It went something like this:

Skippy McChrystal stands and looks around the Econoline van that his traveling staff of one has converted into a full-scale operations center. The floor is crowded with empty Starbucks grande-size coffee cups, and pizza boxes crisscross the van's thick carpet.

Dressed in off-the-rack Army Surplus casual — camo flak jacket, camo sweats and a blue tie, McChrystal is way out of his league. La Cañada Flintridge, as one of his advisers says, is the "most anti-process-server city you can imagine."

Skippy hates fancy restaurants, rejecting any place with candles on the tables as too Westside. He prefers Bud Light Lime (his favorite beer) to Bordeaux, "Ronin" (his favorite movie) to "High Noon." Besides, the public eye has never been a place where McChrystal felt comfortable: Before President Obama put him in charge of Canada, he spent five years running Sacramento's most secretive black ops.

"What's the update on the City Council meeting?" McChrystal asks the process server. The city has been rocked by two massive City Council meetings in the past week alone, calling into question the process server's assurances that he can wrest it from the city's duly elected representatives.

"We have two more meetings next week, but that hasn't been confirmed," the process server says.

"I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go to this City Council meeting," McChrystal says.

He pauses a beat.

"Unfortunately," he adds, "no one in this town except for Otis Hutchins and the Thursday Club could do it."

With that, he's out the door.

"I didn't know he had a donkey," said Miss Hepburn.

"It was probably a tuba," I said.

To be continued…

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Yippee Skippy - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Bell scandal hits home - LA Canada

2010-08-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

On July 15, the Los Angeles Times published the first reports of the inflated salaries of the city of Bell employees.

On Aug. 4, Valley Sun reporter Megan O'Neil followed up on the bloated pensions for recently retired city of Bell employees. ("There may be some possibility that La Cañada Flintridge could be responsible for some small, tiny portion of former Bell employees' pension benefits, but it is so uncertain right now," said Daniel Jordan, our city's director of finance.)

The numbers are stunning. The Bell chief of police, Randy Adams, was paid $457,000, twice as much as President Obama. The Bell city manager, Frank Rizzo, was paid $737,637, more than four times the salary of La Cañada Flintridge City Manager Mark Alexander.

Last week, The Times reported new numbers. The city of Bell paid $422,707 to the director of administrative services, $421,402 to the director of general services, $273,542 to the director of community services and $295,627 to the business development coordinator.

A business development coordinator?

Bell is a blue-collar town that covers 2.5 square miles and has a population of 38,000 with a mean household income of $40,556. It is one-quarter the size of La Cañada Flintridge, has twice as many residents, with one-third of our income.

There are a lot of ways to report on this debacle. I could write a column about walking my dog (Miss Hepburn) down Foothill Boulevard with the ousted city manager rappelling from a helicopter. I could include news clippings (yellowed with age) from the 1920s, showing the relative costs of reptiles sold at "Snake Joe" Houtenbrink's snake farm. I could ask, "What the heck is a "business development coordinator" ($295,627)?

The scandal in Bell merits a more serious approach.

Unlike La Cañada Flintridge, which has trees and hiking trails and whose residents have the longest life expectancy in the region, the city of Bell does not provide a quality of life to its residents.

James Corcoran, a retired Bell police sergeant, filed a lawsuit against the city of Bell. He alleges that Bell police officers delivered absentee ballots to voters and instructed the voters on how to vote.

In 2005, only 400 people voted in the city council election in Bell. The part-time council members reportedly earned $100,000 per year.

I could write a column bemoaning the possible financial risk to La Cañada due to the bloated pensions under CalPERS and other retirement risk pools. I could put my dog, Miss Audrey Hepburn, in the column. I could make my argument with humor and sarcasm. If one month of pension salaries was paid in quarters, the coins would stretch the entire length of Gage, which is Bell's equivalent to Foothill Boulevard, but with more smog, more crime, less music and no parades. (1 mile = 63,360 inches.)

Last week, Bell's interim city manager, Pedro Carrillo, announced that the Bell city attorney would immediately launch a salary study to guarantee that salaries for city of Bell administrators are commensurate with experience and the area.

A salary study? I wonder how much the study will cost?

The Bell scandal poses a risk, but the risk is not financial.

Imagine you lived in Bell. Would you have the courage to stand up for the truth? To run for office? To file a lawsuit? To talk to the press?

Perhaps your son is 14. Your daughter is 12. You think to yourself, "What if my kinds break the rules? How will the police treat my children if I don't vote the way he tells me?"

When I imagine a country where the police tell us how to vote, I do not imagine the United States of America. I imagine a police state, like Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Russia under Stalin.

The real risk of the scandal in Bell is not financial. The real risk is to the fabric of our democracy.

Around Town: Bell scandal hits home - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Bell scandal hits home - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Training for mud with some buffalo

2010-08-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am old. I am out of shape. That's why I've signed up for the 5K portion of the Buffalo Alley Run at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

But first, a disclaimer. They call it the Buffalo Alley 5K Run. I call it the Buffalo Alley 5K Walk.

If I train hard enough, it might be the Buffalo Alley 5K Run/Walk.

Nowadays, the Buffalo Alley Run honors the fallen and wounded. The 5K is a spinoff of the 10K, which was formerly known as the "Horno Ridge Run." According to organizers, the new 10K offers the "ultimate" in Hard Corps Competition in a cross-country 10K.

The course begins at Camp Horno, home of 1st Marines, and winds up, up, up, into the hills of Camp Pendleton. The 10K is a loop out-and-back course that takes you past scenic vistas along gently rolling terrain. Please note that there is a two-hour time limit on the completion of the 10K Run course. The 5K Run will run similar cross-country roads around Camp Horno — both on road and off road.

There is also a "Kids 1 mile Fun Run" for those "14 & under who want to be a part of the fun!"

The Buffalo Alley 5K is not my ultimate goal. It is merely a step along the way, a link in the chain.

My ultimate goal is the World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run, held in June, which is a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Along the course there will be six water points with personnel staged at each.

Or, as the Marine Corps says, this is the most fun you can have running a 10K!

The World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run is one of the few bargains left in our troublesome economy. You can spend a lot of money at a spa for mud treatment. If you're old, the Marines help you over the walls, and it's a great excuse for near-sighted people to buy prescription goggles.

My friends and family have been totally supportive.

Penelope Glifort at Pasadena Equinox says, "It's the best 6 miles you'll ever run in your life!"

Ed Vaisbort offered to introduce me to a Mud Run veteran. "My friend Eva has done it," said Ed. "Shall I have her call you to talk you out of it?"

And when I asked my husband, a USMC Force Recon veteran, if he cared to join me, his reply was immediate and heartfelt.

"Not a chance," said Len.

"Will you be there to cheer me on?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied.

"With Miss Hepburn?"

"Natch!" said Len.

I am grateful for their support.

For more on the Camp Pendleton races, see CampPendletonRaces.com

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

Around Town: Training for mud with some buffalo - La Canada Valley Sun

Around Town: Tribute to Abe Sarna

2010-08-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

No more Shakshuka.

There are mysteries in life. They never rebuilt the Cafe Eilat after the fire in the fish tank.

My friend, Abe Sarna, introduced me to the Cafe Eilat after the early-morning service at Adat Ari El Synagogue. Cafe Eilat had just opened, with freshly painted wall murals, giant fish tanks, incredible baked goods and a big-screen TV tuned to the Israeli version of CNN.

I didn't grow up eating Israeli food. Abe didn't grow up eating Israeli food, either. I'd order exotic fare like Shakshuka (the breakfast of champions) and hummus. Abe would order a lox omelet. Not exactly the kind of food served in La Cañada Flintridge, but it works for me.

When I first met Abe, he had just lost his wife. We had lost our son, so Abe and I began to share the ebbs and flows of the weekday liturgy. As time went on, he began to call me "Doll" and to tell me jokes.

Sometimes, I'd tell the jokes to Abe, but his were better. Mine were only in one language, English. Abe's jokes pulled in the best of several. Abe was born in Drobin, a small town in Poland near Warsaw, in 1925. He was the youngest of a family of nine children.

Miraculously, six of the brothers, including Abe, survived Birkenau and Auschwitz, but his parents and sisters did not survive.

The brothers reunited in Brooklyn, where they opened and operated little candy stores. A lot of survivors on the East Coast opened candy stores. In California, a lot of survivors opened liquor stores. When Abe came to California, he opened a liquor store in Eagle Rock. He was robbed at gunpoint several times, but was sanguine. "What are they going to do? Send me to Auschwitz?"

Some survivors, like Abe, are very independent. He would respond to the occasional moments of institutionalization with a carefully honed skill. A few years ago, he was admitted to a hospital. When I went to visit, the room was full of young nurses, a scene straight from a "get well" card. One nurse would ask, "Would you like some soup?" The other would ask, "Is it hot enough?" Abe knew how to keep his independence and his dignity.

Abe liked to introduce people. At the morning service, he introduced me to "George the Judge," "Stephen and Anne the actors" and "Sharon the mother of Mikey." He was very proud of us.

Abe adopted Mikey, taught him every card game known to men and women, and always referred to Mikey as "that little monkey."

Lucky for me, Abe always called me "Doll."

Abe's eyes were terrible, but this didn't stop him from driving. The market. The synagogue. A few blocks here. A few blocks there. He never got a ticket. He was happy to go places, during the day. At night, he'd allow others to give him a ride.

Abe was constantly planning for his future, but "not yet." He did not want to be debilitated. He did not want to be in a "home." He wanted to be independent. He wanted to be with his friends.

He liked Adat Ari El. He loved Mikey's family, and he worried about the Dodgers.

Last Monday, Abe died in his sleep. We will miss him. It was an honor to know him.

--------------------------------------

Click HERE for Stephen (the actor) Tobolowsky's interview of Abe.

Around Town: Tribute to Abe - La Canada Valley Sun and Chicago Tribune Around Town: Tribute to Abe - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: La Cañada guacamole

2010-07-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2010 | 5:09 p.m.

Summer. Lazy days. I was walking down Foothill Boulevard with Miss Audrey Hepburn, our black Lab rescue dog from the Pasadena Humane Society. It was a nice evening and a lot of the regulars were out, walking their dogs.

Suddenly Miss Hepburn stopped. There in front of us was an old, partly shredded copy of Gourmet, the now-defunct, formerly impeccable revista of foodie technique.

Miss Hepburn began to paw and sniff at the soiled magazine. Why was she so interested?

I looked down. There, on the cover of the ancient copy was a photograph of — guacamole.

This got me thinking. What with the spies and Mel Gibson, I've had limited time to cook and shop. I'm very involved in these matters. Take Mel Gibson, for example. Where was Jesse Jackson when Mel hassled the, uh, law enforcement officer of the Hebraic persuasion? Where was the Rainbow Coalition then? By the second tape, however, as George Lopez aptly noted, Mel had finally taken on the Latinos.

Which brings us to the following. You can go to Ralphs and buy a tub of guacamole for $8. You can dine at Los Gringos Locos at 464 Foothill Blvd., ($7.99), or Lupe's Place at 1446 Foothill Blvd. (negotiable) or Doña Maria at 729 Foothill Blvd (varies).

Better still, you can make your own darn guacamole. Right here in La Cañada Flintridge. You can stay in the 91011 and make all the guacamole you want, with or without Mel Gibson, but preferably without. Here's how.

Ingredients: A good guacamole needs the following equipment and ingredients: A bowl. A fork. Jalapeños. Cilantro. Avocados. Garlic. Lemon. Salt. A tomato? Maybe. For the bowl to put it in, I prefer something from the Apple Cart at 1518 Foothill Blvd. For the fork to smoosh it in, I prefer T.J. Maxx at 663 Foothill Blvd.

This brings us to the jalapeños and cilantro. The best in town are at Lotte Market at 2135 Foothill Blvd. They have great garlic too. The Lotte Market is a small, packed-to-the-gills Korean grocery next to Kinko's. Their prices are reasonable and the veggies are fresh.

For avocados, I'd run back to Trader Joe's at 475 Foothill Blvd, near Starbucks. There are lots of avocados in town, but Trader Joe's are high quality, and the manager always, always, always supports local charities. PTA. Sports. Churches. Social groups. Trader Joe's has always come through for this town with merchandise and gift cards.

A little tiny bit of garlic is essential. Lotte Market has minced garlic, and all the markets have fresh, chopped in the jar and powder.

Lemons? Make friends with your neighbor. Next year, plant a tree. In the meantime, try the local farmers markets — Saturday in La Cañada at 1300 Foothill Blvd. or Sunday in Montrose.

You have salt, right? Tomatoes? An onion?

And now for the hard part. Cut up four avocados. Remove the pit. Remove the skin. Mash with a fork. Chop a little onion (optional), chop the cilantro, add lemon juice, salt and a tiny bit of chopped garlic. Dice the jalapeños. Put everything together in your new bowl from the Apple Cart and mash it with your new fork from T.J. Maxx. Chopped tomatoes are optional. Ralphs at 521 Foothill Blvd has kosher tortillas and chips.

There are some things that all of Mel Gibson's money can't buy. Some things are not for sale. Good friends. Good times. And the best is this: the secret recipe for Kosher Foothill Boulevard Guacamole.

And it all happened right here, thanks to Miss Audrey Hepburn, in La Cañada.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. E-mail her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com.

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Around Town: La Cañada guacamole - LA Canada

Spies like us

2010-07-15T06:37:00.001-07:00

They say hindsight is 20-20. How could anyone think that the spies from Montclair, N.J., Richard and Cynthia Murphy, were Irish?

Not that I’m prejudiced or anything. All my life, people have asked me if I’m from New York, even though I’m a California native and have lived here all my life.

It’s all about ethnicity.

But ethnicity is not a defining characteristic in upscale suburbs like Montclair or La Canada Flintridge. Whatever our backgrounds, our present-day lifestyles are very similar. In these family-centered, upwardly-mobile enclaves, we go to work, raise our kids and socialize. Our children play soccer or baseball. We leave work early to watch their games. We tell them to do their homework, hire tutors and watch them succeed.

Whether our grandparents came from New York or Korea, from Ohio or Italy, we La Canadans have more similarities than differences. We love our kids, drive around, work hard, play hard and live the American dream.

It’s more fun to read about the sexual exploits of 28-year-old spy Anna Chapman, than to imagine living next door to Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, who masqueraded as Richard and Cynthia Murphy. Vladimir, with his broad Slavic forehead, and thick neck. Cynthia, with her exotic eyes and well-defined "Russian" cheekbones. Did people really think they were Irish? And why was it so easy for Mr. and Mrs. "Murphy" to fit in socially? For Mrs. "Murphy" to snag a $135,000 per year job? That Mrs. Murphy’s accent was Belgian?

Some have questioned the resources spent to track the 11 Russian spies. I have no criticisms.

Our security agencies have the duty to do exactly what they did. Others have dismissed the spies as ineffective, reminiscent of the Conehead skits on Saturday Night Live ("We’re from France.")

Others have expressed concern for the American-born "Murphy" daughters, ages 5 and 11, who are now headed back to Russia to be with their parents.

They may look like us. They may sort of talk like us. They may drive SUVs, but the fact remains, America doesn’t need Russian spies. We don’t need spies who register to vote.

We don’t need spies slithering their way into our BBQs and suburban enclaves. We don’t need them to take $135,000 per year jobs that give them access to the power elites.

Several of the spies had teaching positions. One was a journalist. Innocent? Not.

After their arrests, the Murphy’s neighbor Jessie Gugig, 15, joked that Mrs. Murphy could not have been a spy. "They couldn’t have been spies," Gugig said jokingly. "Look what she did with the hydrangeas."

Not really. It takes more than hydrangeas to be an American.

Around Town: July 15, 2010

The spies like us - chicagotribune.com

Happy Av (not!): Anat Hoffman arrested at the Kotel

2010-07-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

In Israel, at the Kotel (Wall), women are not allowed to pray the way we normally pray in the States. A group called Women of the Wall has met once a month to pray at the beginning of each Jewish month.

Yesterday, a college professor, Anat Hoffman, was arrested for carrying the Torah scroll. This video shows her arrest.

The Torah has carried our people for generations. It has allowed us to survive the unsurvivable. Anat carries the Torah and the Torah carries all of us.

For the past year, I have avoided writing about this issue, but no more. The right of return requires that all Jews, including women, have the right to pray at the Wall. The Jewish Forward interviewed Anat Hoffman and reports:

Woman Arrested for Carrying Torah Speaks With The Sisterhood – The Sisterhood – Forward.comFollowing the arrest today of Anat Hoffman — chair of Women of the Wall, and former Jerusalem municipal council member — for being a woman holding a Torah at the Western Wall plaza, Hoffman offered me her first-hand account of this morning’s events. She said:We did nothing wrong. We were fully within the guidelines of the Supreme Court ruling which allows us to hold the Torah. We were not reading from the Torah. We were just singing and praying, and on our way to Robinson’s Arch to complete the service, as per the terms of the Supreme Court. There was absolutely no reason for me to be arrested.

Historically, the Kotel was not considered a synagogue and in the past, men and woment have prayed side-by-side. Only in recent years has ultra orthodox control of the Kotel resulted in the current restrictions.

Dana Saverin gives a first-hand report for The Yale Globalist

This morning, a woman was arrested at Judaism’s most holy site, the Western Wall, for carrying a Torah scroll. While I have been doing some work for her organization, Women of the Wall, nothing could have prepared me for the outrage I felt watching several policemen tackle a group of women raising their voices together in prayer, and the admiration I experienced witnessing these women’s bravery. For twenty-two years, Women of the Wall have met at the beginning of every Hebrew month, Rosh Chodesh, to pray together at the Kotel. Women of the Wall is a group of Israeli and Jewish women from around the world who seek the right for Jewish women to conduct prayer services, read from a Torah scroll while wearing prayer shawls, and sing out loud at the Western Wall. Currently, such action is forbidden under Israeli law, which singles out women: “No ceremony shall be held in the Wall’s women’s section. That includes reading from a Torah, blowing the ram’s horn, wearing prayer shawls or phylacteries. Violators shall be imprisoned for seven years.”

The irony is that the Kotel is not a synagogue. Here's a photo of an interfaith, co-ed services. Coed Service at Kotel - In September 1983, U. S. Sixth Fleet Chaplain Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff was allowed to hold an unusual interfaith service at the Wall, in the enclosed area to the left of the exposed Wall, now strictly restricted to men. The ten-minute service was attended by men and women in the U.S. Navy, in addition to some family members, and ended with the Priestly Blessing, recited by Resnicoff, who is a Kohen. A Ministry of Affairs representative was present, responding to press queries that the service was authorized as part of a special welcome for the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

The Reform movement has issued a statement, I hope the Conservative movement will soon follow: Reform Rabbis Issue Statement of Outrage at Israel's Arrest of Woman for Holding Torah at Western Wall

CCAR STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF ANAT HOFFMAN July 12, 2010 The Central Conference of American Rabbis, the world's oldest and largest rabbinic association, looks with shock and revulsion at today's arrest of Anat Hoffman of "Women of the Wall" for the purported "crime" of holding a sefer Torah in the women's section of the Western Wall during a Rosh Hodesh celebration. We view her arrest, interrogation, and subsequent ban from visiting the Western Wall for a month as acts of "hillul hashem," a desecration of God's name, for they bring public shame and ridicule down upon those responsible for her arrest and upon the Judaism they purport to defend.

After 62 years of statehood, Israel stands at a moral crossroads. Will the Jewish state continue to bar women from equal access to Torah in our most sacred places, or will it foster the free and equal expression of Judaism for men and women alike? Will Jewish life in Israel breathe the free air of religious freedom, or will it continue to be stifled in the choking air of an anachronistic and state-empowered rabbinic fundamentalism? Will Israel's greatest strength, that of being a modern democracy, be undercut by an increasingly ubiquitous medieval theocracy? At a time when the eyes of the world are focused on Israel, will the face Israel presents be tolerant and egalitarian, or intolerant and sexist?

In light of these recent events and the ever-creeping hegemony of ultra-Orthodox agendas, we renew our call for the disestablishment of the Chief Rabbinate.

We commend the Women of the Wall for its holy work and pledge our support of its efforts.

We commend Anat Hoffman for her courageous and her tireless efforts on behalf of religious freedom, pluralism, and equal rights in Israel.

We call upon the majority of our Jewish Israeli sisters and brothers who believe in democracy and religious pluralism to stand up and declare "dai kfar" -- we have had enough of haredi coercion in our lives and in the religious life of our nation.

We affirm that the visions of being both a Jewish state and a modern democracy are inexorably intertwined and interdependent.

We once again pledge our finest efforts to supporting Israel as a Jewish and democratic state as it reflects the highest aspirations of Judaism and the Jewish people and, in doing so, brings sanctity and honor to God's great and holy name.

Around Town: Lots going on this summer

2010-06-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

Summer is here. The New York Yankees will meet the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Tony Hayward, the chief executive of British Petroleum, might return from the Isle of Wight yacht race, where his $700,000 yacht placed fourth in its class in the regatta. A new principal, Karen Hurley, takes over the reins at Palm Crest Elementary School.

The beginning of summer is traditionally a time of when many La Cañadans look for exciting things to do. In the spirit of summer energy, the following is my semiannual top 10 list of Southern California's greatest places, in and around the 91011.

1) The Dodgers return this week. The road trip is over. They'll play the New York Yankees in the latest edition in baseball's longest rivalry. The two teams met for the first time in 1941, when the Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Yankees, thus acquiring the moniker "them bums." Don't get me wrong. I'm a loyal fan, even when the pitching is weak. This year, the McCourts are still divorcing, and the bullpen is inconsistent. Worse still, rumor has it that this is the last year for Dodgers Manager Joe Torre, who once led the Yankees (1996-2007). Dodger Stadium, (866) 363-4377, http://dodgers.mlb.com.

2) The brainchild of local grads (Prep '98). A Cuban bakery in nearby Monrovia. The potato balls are amazing at Merengue Bakery & Cafe, http://www.merenguebakery.com, (626) 358-5650

3) Nothing says La Cañada like the Apple Cart. There are complimentary chips, dips, and you can buy gifts and other essentials. (818) 952-3342.

4) Head to Montrose for Indian food. Dine in or take out at India's Flavor, 3303 N. Verdugo Road. (818) 957-5500

5) Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. The Foothill Boulevard Starbucks, where Joe Puglia and other columnists hang out, some more nervously than others, on deadline days. Great ambience.

6) Penelope's Cafe, Books & Gallery, is another local coffee hangout, plus oatmeal. http://www.penelopescafe.com (818) 790-4386.

7) Zumba! Try it! Don't buy it!. http://www.zumba.com/us Local gyms and the YMCA have classes. "Bring the party home!"

8 & 9) Music in the Park. All summer. June 27 — Jack Lantz Big Band! July 4th Classic Rock, July 11 Elvis Tribute and movie in the park.

10) Last but not least: Summer Beach Bus! Enjoy the surf, sand and surroundings at Santa Monica Beach.

Around Town: The man who brought faith -

2010-06-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

Around Town: The man who brought faith

I first met Joseph Freeman in 2004. An energetic 91-year-old, Freeman sat by himself at a table in the entryway at the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center.

It was early evening. People came and went. There were classes and meetings. But Freeman sat at his self-assigned post, greeting everyone who entered.

As I walked in, he said, "Hello. I am Joe Freeman."

"I'm Anita," was my reply.

"I am a historian," said Freeman, cheerfully.

"Great," I told him. "I was a history major in college."

And then he showed me one of his books. It was "Job: The Story of a Holocaust Survivor," by Joseph Freeman.

I died, he said. I died and then I lived again.

I learned that Freeman was a survivor. He survived the camps, and he survived the Nazi Death Marches of 1945, when, as the Allied forces closed in, the Nazis marched prisoners such as Freeman miles and miles in the snow, without food, water or shelter. Most died along the way.

Freeman looked up at me.

"My son died," I said.

"How old?" he asked.

"23," I replied

"When?" he asked.

"A few months ago."

Freeman was silent, and then he said he was sorry to hear that.

Looking for an answer, I asked him an important question. It was my most
pressing question at the time, having inherited a religion that commands us to embrace life.

My question to Freeman was this: "How do you live in the world?"

He knew exactly what I meant. He smiled, and then jabbed his forefinger straight down on the table and shouted one word, at the top of his lungs.

The word he shouted was this: "Faith!"

Funny thing, I believed him. I figured he was an expert.

I decided to try Freeman's formula. I began to attend early-morning services at Adat Ari El synagogue. (Pasadena has weekend services.) I threw myself into the liturgy. I prayed for our daughter, my husband, our friends, for Freeman. I prayed for all survivors of all losses. For a cure for cancer. For safety from war.

And I also asked, why?

Each morning, when the services were over, I drove to work. I worked, engaged with people, saw clients and went to court. After work, we saw friends, ran, played golf, went to the gym, to meetings, read books, walked the dog and made dinner.

At night we slept.

All because Freeman, a survivor of the worst evils, answered my question, and because I believed him. I believed Freeman when he said that faith was the answer.

I will always be grateful that he shared his secret formula, with me —
this cure for the dilemma of loss, in a religion that commands us to embrace life.

Last Sunday, Freeman was laid to rest, surrounded by family, including his beautiful wife, Helen, who survived Auschwitz. There were colleagues and friends. He left beautiful, successful and accomplished children and grandchildren.

Thank you, Joseph Freeman, for your gift to me of la vita nuovo.
The man who brought faith - LA Canada

Around Town: The Gaza flotilla hits home - LA Canada

2010-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) massacred nearly 2 million Armenians. There were death marches and extermination camps. For the survivors, there were mass exiles.

To this day, Turkey has refused to acknowledge this event, and only 26 nations have officially recognized the genocide of the Armenian people. The United States has not recognized the Armenian Genocide, but 42 states have passed resolutions to that effect.

Unlike Germany, a nation whose self-reflection has led to a dominant culture of pacifism, Turkey takes the position that these deaths were merely the result of an act of war.

As far as Turkey is concerned, there was no Armenian Genocide.

If a nation wants to be an ally of Turkey, recognition of this historical truth is forbidden. Even within the Jewish community, there has been a reluctance to recognize the Armenian Genocide for fear of worsening relations between Turkey and Israel.

An unintended consequence of the recent Gaza flotilla crisis might be this — honesty.

La Cañada Flintridge resident Edward D. Vaisbort explains "the U.S. should have led the free world many years ago in recognizing the Armenian Genocide, but failed to do so in order to cultivate Turkey as an ally. In light of the resurgence of anti-Western Islamism in Turkey, it's time for the U.S. to do the right thing and recognize the Armenian Genocide and give voice to its victims."

La Cañadan Mark Bernhard agrees, "The U.S. should recognize the Armenian Genocide, and Israel should as well."

His neighbor, Avi Zirler, has a different view. "For the moment Turkey is a NATO ally of the U.S., and such a recognition should be given only if it is in the best interest of the U.S. I am not sure that it is [in the best interest of the U.S.] at this point in time. The U.S. government should leave the recognition to Human Rights NGOs."

With respect to Israel, Zirler says, "Turkey is one of the few Muslim countries that have strong ties to Israel, despite the rhetoric that is coming from the Turkish government. The current government might be voted out, but the Turkish people will still be around. Meanwhile, the recognition can come from NGOs."

Rep. Anthony Weiner, (D-N.Y.) recently opined in the New York Daily News that "when Israel began its blockade of the coast of Gaza, it did so for reasons that were obvious. The Hamas terrorists that have run Gaza since 2007 have been using rockets carried by boats to attack Israeli civilians . . . a fair review of the facts here shows that Turkey deserves much of the blame for this flare-up."

The political correctness of the Gaza blockade (by Egypt and Israel) can be debated another day. At issue this week are the deaths on the Gaza flotilla.

The true cause of the Mavi Marmara flotilla deaths is clear. The peace activists used deadly force on the young Israeli sailors, who then defended themselves.

Al Jazeera reporter Andre Abu Khalil is not exactly a pro-Israel source. He told Reuters that the Turkish men on the Mavi Marmara used force to prevent the Israelis from reaching the wheelhouse. Using "slingshots, metal pipes and wooden rods, they initially succeeded in wounding and overpowering four Israeli soldiers and dragging them below decks."

The "IHH," which organized the convoy, is not exactly pro-Israel. They released photos of the bloodied, stunned and unconscious Israel sailors in the hands of IHH "peace activists." The photos were first published in the Middle East and are now working their way through the Internet and print media in the U.S.

Our sister paper, the Los Angeles Times, interviewed the other peace activists on the Rachel Corrie, the last flotilla ship. The Rachel Corrie activists "criticized the actions of the ship Mavi Marmara activists, who fought off Israeli soldiers for several minutes, throwing one commando off a deck. 'That is not part of the game,' former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday told Al Jazeera on Friday from the Rachel Corrie. 'The Turkish peace [activists] broke the rules.'"

The videos released by the Israeli military clearly show the assaults by the "IHH" men on the Mavi Marmara. (See http://idfspokesperson.com)

Vice President Joe Biden thinks the Israelis acted in self-defense. His former opponent, Sarah Palin, agrees. As for news coverage of the incident, La Cañadans Mark Bernard and Bob Sobraske feel that it was not fair. Bernhard noted, "I think mainstream media reports could have been more impartial."

The flotilla deaths are a sad event, but the "IHH" men on the Turkish ship, armed with metal rods and knives, did not die due to the blockade. They died because they organized and initiated a violent confrontation with Israeli sailors.

The Israeli sailors boarded the ship expecting to find peace activists. Instead, they found armed fighters. The Israelis had a right to self-defense.

Around Town: The Gaza flotilla hits home - LA Canada

Around Town: One dog's advice for the Class of 2010 - LA Canada

2010-06-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny Memorial Day weekend afternoon. I was relaxing with our dog (Miss Audrey Hepburn) and a glass of iced tea.

Suddenly, Miss Hepburn began to dig into the lawn, her long black nose burrowing into the recently watered earth.

Audrey, I said. Stop that!

Miss Hepburn emerged with a small folded piece of paper in her teeth. Her tail wagged as she brought it to me.

Carefully, I unfolded the paper. It was a record of a commencement speech by former President George H.W. Bush.

Thanks, I said to Miss Hepburn.

Arf, said Miss Hepburn.

I began to read the advice given by former President Bush to the Class of 1992: "Study hard, and you might grow up to be president. But let's face it: Even then, you'll never make as much money as your dog."

The source of this advice was not an economist. The source of the advice was President Bush's dog, Millie. In 1992, Millie had earned $889,176 in book royalties. That year, President Bush earned far less.

In that spirit, here is Miss Audrey Hepburn's advice for the La Cañada High, Prep, Flintridge Sacred Heart and St. Francis classes of 2010:

1. Adopt a dog. You will never be unhappy.

2. When you leave for college, leave the dog at home.

3. Before you leave, thank your parents for watching the dog.

4. Never ask yourself, "Why am I going to college?"

5. Never ask your dog, "Why are you a dog?"

6. The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. (Aristotle)

7. A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. (Theodore Roosevelt)

8. As builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser. (Plato)

9. The larger dogs do not lie well without The Cat. (Miss Audrey Hepburn)

10. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (Plato)

11. Life is like a cobweb, not an organization chart. (H. Ross Perot)

Around Town: One dog's advice for the Class of 2010 - LA Canada

Around Town: Public and private memorials

2010-05-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

By Anita Brenner

May 27, 2010

Memorial Day means different things to different people.

For some, it is a chance to proudly watch their Brownie Girl Scout participate in a flag ceremony.

There is nothing wrong with that feeling.

For others, it is a chance to smile as they watch their kids parade, roller blade, stroller-stroll, or ride down Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge's Memorial Day Parade.

There is nothing wrong with that smile.

For others, it is a day out of a busy schedule, to dust off the barbecue, to reconnect with friends or to sit around the swimming pool.

There is nothing wrong with these wonderful moments.

But for others, the center of Memorial Day is the need to remember those who have been killed in wartime. For the veterans who take the stage, this is the one day in La Cañada Flintridge when they can give voice to their memories of fallen comrades.

Elianna Yolkut, a conservative rabbi, recently pointed out that memories and memorials can simultaneously be public and private. The public memorials are the stories we tell, the anecdotes that we are able to put into words, experiences that we are capable of sharing. There are also private memories, the touch of a hand, a particular scent, or what the departed meant to us. Those private memories cannot be put into words and cannot be shared. Memorial services are important because they allow us to experience our unspoken memories in a community setting. This gives us strength.

Rabbi Yolkut's words allowed me to take another look at our Memorial Day services in La Cañada Flintridge's Memorial Park.

When you bring your child to the Memorial Day Service on Monday (and I hope that you will), you will be giving your child the gift of community.

The ceremony itself is a public memorial. When your child hears the names of the fallen, he or she will have the tangible gift, in this transient world, of roots. Your child will have the knowledge that these names are not from some history book or movie. These are the names of many boys and two girls who lived here, in La Canada Flintridge, who walked down Foothill Boulevard, stood near the same park, worked, loved, attended school and enjoyed a good barbecue.

For many of us, the ceremony also evokes private memories. For me, Todd and J.P. are not merely names on a plaque. When our veterans take the stage, your children will witness a public memorial. Our veterans will simultaneously experience their unique private, unspoken memories of their lost friends.

Some people do not attend the Memorial Day service. There are Vietnam vets who spend the day hiking in the local mountains. This is their day to remember. Afterward, they come home down the mountain. They return to their busy and productive La Cañada Flintridge lives.

Thank you to Joe Puglia and his predecessor, Don Hingst, for organizing the Memorial Day service. Thank you to all our veterans for their service to our country.

Thank you for bringing your children to the service.

And, thank you to the fallen:

WORLD WAR I

PVT Willard Griswold Barnum, USA

PVT Howard McMullin,USA

WORLD WAR II

CPT John Edward Doherty, USA

1LT Joseph Connor Doherty, USA

2dLt Richard P. Monroe, USMC

2LT Donald J. Kanoff,USA

SSG Lewis A. Salmon,USA

2LT Daniel R. Shuler,USA

2LT Roscoe E. Woodbury, USA

TEC4 Harold E. Lotze,USA

1LT Anne G. Hemphill,USA, WAC

2LT William H. Curland,USA

CPL Harvey G. Traveller,USA

2LT Robert A. Claussen, USA

1LT George F. Hallihan,USA

LT Earle D. Davis, USN

Capt. Patrick G. Leonard, USMC

KOREA

Maj Francis N. McCollom, USAF

VIETNAM

CAPT James Reginald Bauder, USN

WO Loren Eugene Engstgrom, USA

Sgt Roy Allen Fryman, USMC

LTJG William Pederson,USN

WO Roger Clark Rose,USA

COLD WAR

(USS SCORPION)

LT John Charles Sweet,USN

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

1LT Todd J. Bryant, USA

2dLt James P. Blecksmith, USMC

SPC Carla J. Stewart, USA

CPT Luke Wullenwaber, USA

La Cañada Valley Sun: Around Town: Honoring our heroes

2010-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

The past continues to fascinate. One-hundred years ago, USC broke with tradition. Between 1900 and 1930, at a time when most law schools did not admit women, the USC law school had 115 female graduates.

Sarah Elizabeth Patten graduated at the top of the Class of 1912, took the bar exam and was admitted to practice as a lawyer in the state of California. In 1914, she married Frank P. Doherty, a graduate of the class of 1911. Frank and Sarah Doherty moved to La Cañada and began their family.

They were a bright, happy bunch.

And then, two of their sons became local heroes.

John Edmund Doherty was born in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, 1919, and Joseph Connor Doherty was born on Feb. 2, 1920. Both graduated from Loyola High School and Santa Clara University. When World War II broke out, both joined the United States Army and served in the 41st Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division in Europe. Capt. John Edmund Doherty was killed in Italy, on Dec. 10, 1943. First Lt. Joseph Connor Doherty was killed in France on March 15, 1945.

Ten years ago, our daughter introduced us to surviving members of the Doherty family. Inspired by the veterans in our family, and after attending Memorial Day Services led by Don Hingst, Rachel founded Project Remembrance. Her goal was to install memorial plaques in La Cañada’s Memorial Park, with the names of our local war heroes.

The first two years, Rachel raised all the funds from private donations. As the years passed, the city committed to funding the project.

Every May, as Memorial Day approaches, we again are enticed by the memories. I think again of Rachel, as a 15-year-old, standing before the City Council. I think of the sacrifice of all the generations in all the wars.

I also think of this woman, Sarah Elizabeth Patten Doherty. She was a lawyer when few women became lawyers. She raised a large family of children and raised them well. It is hard to imagine what her sons went through, in the mud and grit of Italy and France. It is easier to imagine the telegrams from the war department. She gave two sons to our country, and therefore she gave them to us.

It’s time to mark our calendars for the morning of May 31, when Joe Puglia, assisted by innumerable Brownies, Cub Scouts and high school band members, will once again lead the Memorial Day service in Memorial Park.

Here are the names of our heroes. The abbreviations follow government protocol and vary between the branches of service.

WORLD WAR I

PVT Willard Griswold Barnum, USA

PVT Howard McMullin,USA

WORLD WAR II

CPT John Edward Doherty, USA

1LT Joseph Connor Doherty, USA

2dLt Richard P. Monroe, USMC

2LT Donald J. Kanoff,USA

SSG Lewis A. Salmon,USA

2LT Daniel R. Shuler,USA

2LT Roscoe E. Woodbury, USA

TEC4 Harold E. Lotze,USA

1LT Anne G. Hemphill,USA, WAC

2LT William H. Curland,USA

CPL Harvey G. Traveller,USA

2LT Robert A. Claussen, USA

1LT George F. Hallihan,USA

LT Earle D. Davis, USN

KOREA

Maj Francis N. McCollom, USAF

VIETNAM

CAPT James Reginald Bauder, USN

WO Loren Eugene Engstgrom, USA

Sgt Roy Allen Fryman, USMC

LTJG William Pederson,USN

WO Roger Clark Rose,USA

COLD WAR

(USS SCORPION)

LT John Charles Sweet,USN

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

1LT Todd J. Bryant, USA

2dLt James P. Blecksmith, USMC

SPC Carla J. Stewart, USA

CPT Luke Wullenwaber, USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Around Town: Honoraing our heroes - La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California

Around Town: Honoring our heroes - chicagotribune.com

Around Town: Left. Right. Left Right.

2010-05-13T06:23:00.001-07:00

By Anita Susan Brenner

A few months ago, some out-of-towners showed up at the La Cañada post office, bearing posters depicting President Obama as Hitler. My criticism was immediate and heartfelt. (Around Town: “Even offensive idiocy is protected,” Feb. 13).

Many of you concurred, which is proof positive that La Cañadans value thoughtful discussion and disapprove of polemicists. It doesn’t matter if the polemicist is on the right or the left. When self-styled activists compare our leaders, whether Democrat or Republican, to the most evil, genocidal mass murderer in human history, it is a bad thing.

In the early days of technology, when flame wars were the lingua franca of the Internet, a lawyer named Mike Godwin coined the famous formula that became known as Godwin’s Law: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”

The point was this: If you have to invoke the Nazis to prove your argument, your argument has failed. Worse still, you have minimized the Holocaust.

In the past two weeks, we’ve heard a lot of arguments, pro and con, concerning the Arizona immigration bill. On one hand, a rancher is killed while cartel violence spreads north. On the other, it’s no fun to be racially profiled and, because this is California, we all know undocumented immigrants who are upstanding, hardworking members of society, including many who work here in La Cañada Flintridge. advertisement

Our fellow La Cañadan, Dennis Prager, has published an op ed in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal condemning the comparison (“When Jews on the Left See Americans on the Right as Nazis,” L.A. Jewish Journal, May 4). Prager says, “But the consequence is that more and more people will come to think of the Night of Broken Glass in 1938 as no worse than a Tea Party rally and deportations of Jews to Auschwitz as no worse than deporting an illegal immigrant back to his home in Mexico.”

And then, Rabbi Joshua Levine-Grater, the spiritual leader of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, gave a sermon that took the opposite position. The sermon has created quite a stir, not just in Pasadena, but here in La Cañada Flintridge. Some people agree with the rabbi, and others disagree. The sermon has been published and republished online and in print media. The analogy is this: Law enforcement will now become border patrol officers; police have the right to pull over anyone who “looks” illegal, which will lead to serious racial profiling; people will be asked to produce their papers, their documents, reminding us Jews what that was like in Germany, and we were citizens of the country.

In the Jewish faith, rabbis are not priests. We are free to dialogue and disagree; in that spirit, I will throw my hat in the ring with Dennis Prager. To do otherwise would be inconsistent with the position I took with respect to the post office polemicists who compared President Obama to Hitler. It would also be disloyal to the memories of my aunts and uncles who were murdered in the Holocaust. It would trivialize their mistreatment.

The Arizona law may be right or it may be wrong, but it is not Nazism. It does not invoke the atrocities of the Third Reich. Deportation, however unfair, is not the same as genocide.

We must not forget.

Published May 13, 2010 - 04:09:55 PDT
Around Town:
Left. Right. Left. Right.La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California

Rabbi Joshua Levine-Grater - a reply

2010-05-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Obama, rabbi doesn’t speak for American Jews JTA · May 6, 2010

To the Editor:

We are current and former congregants of Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater who feel compelled to disagree with his recent comments on Israel (Jews must stay on visionary Obama’s side"). Rabbi Grater claims to speak for the Jewish community when he says that "The Jewish community knows that President Obama is this kind of leader." The rabbi is entitled to his views on American politics, but he is not entitled to speak for American Jewry at a time of fraught U.S.-Israel relations brought on by the White House's ineffective Middle East diplomacy.

When the White House pushed Israel over a zoning issue in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, the Arab side felt compelled to be no less demanding than the White House. The president's position was unpopular with many Americans. Almost immediately, three-quarters of our elected representatives, including 76 senators and more than three-quarters of the House, both Republicans and Democrats, signed bipartisan letters in response demanding that the president reaffirm the U.S.-Israel relationship.

In support of his political position, Rabbi Grater quotes an ancient text, the Pirkei Avot: "While we are not called up to finish the job, we are certainly called upon to never cease from trying." Unfortunately, the nature of "the job" is left undefined. If the task is to ensure the survival of the only Jewish state in the world and the millions who live there, then Jews and other supporters of Israel may demand that President Obama not just say that he is a friend of Israel but act like one.

Edward Vaisbort
Carolyn Kunin
Ahuva Einstein
Pasadena, Calif.

Anita Brenner
La Canada Flintridge, Calif.

Josef Ulloa
Covina, Calif.

The rabbi's column CLICK HERE stated:

American Jews overwhelmingly supported Obama in the 2008 election, and the majority continues to support him because his vision for our country -- a vision of inclusion, strength through diplomacy, peace and providing for the neediest among us -- resonates deeply with Jews. The battle for reform and improvement, especially in the face of fear and misinformation, is a long one that requires perseverance. We would be wise to embrace perseverance when considering whether we should abandon the president after only one year.

Ancient Jewish tradition in Pirke Avot, the Ethics of our Ancestors, teaches that “while we are not called upon to finish the job, we are certainly called upon to never cease from trying.” For Jews, this applies to the task of building a nation that lives up to the ideals of both our Jewish sages and our American founders.

CLICK HERE FOR REST OF COLUMN

Around Town: Getting to the root cause

2010-05-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

If you are under 50, stop reading this column. Honest. It will bore you. It will scare you.

It will make you rush to the mirror to check your roots.

Like many of you, I was shocked to learn that on March 26, Nancy Pelosi celebrated her 70th birthday. Does she look 70 to you? I don’t think so. Not the suits. Not the stride. Not the face.

But the subject that interests inquiring La Cañadans is not Nancy Pelosi’s age. We need to know more about Nancy Pelosi’s hair.

I decided to call in the local experts. First stop was the home of Carrie Ann Maynor. Carrie was a first- and second-grade classmate of our son at La Cañada Elementary School, and, when it reopened, a third- through sixth-grade classmate at Palm Crest Elementary School. Carrie is the real deal. She grew up in La Cañada and settled down in La Crescenta. I caught Carrie just as she was leaving for her job at Salon Finsel in South Pasadena.

“Carrie,” I asked. “Does Nancy Pelosi dye her hair?”

“I’m sure,” said Carrie, looking at the photos. “She definitely dyes her hair.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “President Reagan didn’t dye his.”

I knew this because Michael Deaver wrote in his book, “A Different Drummer”:

His chestnut hair had given up the battle against time and was brushed with a dignified gray. I know for certain that no dye ever touched Reagan’s hair. For years, the Reagan haters had literally sifted through his barber’s trash can, searching for a dyed gray lock that could serve as a tiny metaphor for a phony man and an even more phony presidency. They searched in vain. It was an old actor’s trick — Brylcreem — that gave Reagan’s hair that dark gloss, not Clairol for Men.

Carrie replied, thoughtfully, “You’d see salt and pepper if it’s natural. She has highlights but no salt and pepper.”

“What about the depth?” I asked. “Doesn’t she have extensions?”

“Probably not,” Carrie said.

“At her age?” I asked.

“My grandma has a full head of hair, and she’s 86.”

I had met Carrie’s grandmother. In her retirement, she works for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And, yes, she has a full head of hair, plus a great job.

Unconvinced, I stopped by Starbucks, where I ran into Shari Self, another La Cañadan and co-owner of Salon Finsel. I showed Shari the photos.

“How does Nancy Pelosi do it?” I asked.

“She probably gets a daily wash and blow dry, and a monthly tint and highlight. Personally, I don’t think she gets extensions. She has a lot of hair.”

“Can you give me her haircut?” I asked.

Shari looked perplexed for a moment and then gave her answer. “We’ll fake it.”

Life is so unfair.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California

Around Town: A sacred auction discovery

2010-05-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

By Thursday night, the online bids were coming fast and furious. The purpose? To support the Adat Ari El Sisterhood Tea and raise money for the synagogue’s school.

By then, it was just the three of us: me, my dog Miss Audrey Hepburn and my credit card.

Despite such auspicious beginnings, I was not relaxed.

In fact, I was frustrated. Frustrated at being outbid (online) for a round of golf at the beautiful El Caballero Country Club with the synagogue president.

Frustrated at being outbid (online) by someone with fingernails for the Opi Gift Basket, valued at $550, which featured assorted lotions, 42 OPI lacquers including the complete South Beach, España and the latest Hong Kong collections, Nail Envy, pedicure products, cuticle oil and other stuff. advertisement

Frustrated . . . even though I still bite my nails.

That’s when I decided to browse the entire website. Bidding For Good is an online auction site devoted to nonprofit organizations of every size and type. Anyone can bid, provided they are registered. There are hundreds of auctions on the site, from charities, schools, churches and synagogues all over the country.

I saw trips to New York and Washington, D.C., kosher meals delivered in Seattle, and baseball tickets at every venue in America.

Suddenly, I noticed familiar names. Conrad’s, Dish, Divina Cucina, Los Gringos Locos, Georgee’s Pizza, Dolce Mango, Beckham Place, Bella Serra, Black Cow. They were all there, online, along with Oceanview Bistro and Pinks Hotdogs.

Suddenly, I understood.

Oh my gosh, I said to Miss Hepburn. It’s the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy online auction!

I immediately noticed the differences, both religious and secular, between the auctions for Adat Ari El and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.

The first difference was procedural. The Adat Ari El Synagogue auction closed last Friday morning, with the live event (High Tea with Rabbi Elianna) held last Sunday, but the FSHA auction is still going strong as we speak. Their event (La Joie de Vivre Gala) will be May 3.

There were also subtle substantive differences. For Adat Ari El, I bid on the Johnny Walker Blue Label Scotch, but for Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, it was a 2002 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2001 Altesino ’Montesoli’ Brunello di Montalcino and a 2005 Justin ‘Isosceles!’

I need them all, I said to Miss Hepburn.

Just then, my husband walked by.

Whatcha doing? he asked.

Nothing, I said.

Back at the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy auction, I saw two innovative categories. “Teach-a-Tolog” allows parents to bid on internships for their kids. “Flintridge Festivities” includes parties to which bidders can purchase individual attendance instead of an entire party package.

And at the Adat Ari El auction, bidding had closed on VIP tickets to Dancing with the Stars.

Afterward, I got in touch with Charlotte Saydah, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy special events manager. She explained that this is their fifth year augmenting their gala with the online auction site.

“I’m proud to say we were one of the first in the area,” Saydah told me. “I’ve been involved with it from the beginning, and we’ve grown every year. It’s a great way to reach out to an extended community and publicize an upcoming event at the same time.”

Back online, I continued to click. It’s a game called “auction roulette.” Anyone can play. You never know where you’ll end up or what you’ll get to take home. It’s all good.

La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California

Around Town: Tired of all the McCourt bullpen

2010-05-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

I know that the McCourts’ divorce is really none of my business and it is simply rude to mention it, but the sad fact remains: The Dodgers need the money for the bullpen.

The bullpen, of course, is where the relief pitchers warm up during a baseball game. Meanwhile, Frank and Jamie McCourt continue to litigate whether the Dodgers franchise is community or separate property. It is estimated that Jamie’s lawyers have billed $9 million, and that lawyers for Frank are in the same ballpark. That’s $20 million on divorce lawyers.

The only team not in the ballpark are the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The point is this: The McCourts could spend less money on lawyers and more money on pitchers.

There’s always mediation.

Yeah. Right.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Why did the mediator cross the road? I’m sorry. That’s confidential. I can’t share that information, unless the chicken authorizes me to do so.

I know. I know. It is none of our business whether the McCourts will agree to mediation in order to save the franchise, but last Sunday’s game is proof positive of the Dodgers’ dire straits.

At the end of the eighth inning, the Dodgers were ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1, thanks to Hiroki Kuroda’s outstanding pitching for the first eight innings and two home runs by Andre Ethier.

The ninth inning, however, was a different story. The eight-run spread began to melt away. The resurgence of the Pirates was not due to the skill of the Pittsburgh batters. No, the spread began to shrink due to the Dodgers’ pitching issues.

One after the other, Pirates players got on base. There were walks. There were weak pitches. Finally, the Pirates scored two runs. The Dodgers were a grand slam or so away from a historic loss. The game finally ended with the Dodgers winning, 9-3.

Sportswriters called it a victory for the Dodgers. Right.

The Dodgers won. The ninth inning, however, was perilous. Once again, the Dodgers got in trouble due to a weak bullpen.

For the last few years, Dodger pitching has been erratic. Ethier can hit. Kemp can hit. When Manny gets off the disabled list, he’ll hit. One weak pitcher, however, can erase the hard work of the entire roster.

The solution to this problem is to throw some money at it. The Dodgers need to sign a dynamite pitcher.

Juan Pierre is gone, traded to the Chicago White Sox for two pitching “prospects.”

Orlando Hudson is gone. He plays for the Minnesota Twins.

Two years ago, the New York Yankees signed pitcher A.J. Burnett for a five-year, $82-million contract. The Dodgers just don’t spend that kind of money. Not on pitchers, anyway.

Meanwhile the McCourts keep spending money on lawyers.

Too bad for the Dodgers.

Too bad for us.

Like they say, “This is OUR Town.”

La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California