Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 199
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter A Culver City High School student has filed a lawsuit against the Culver City Unified School District in regard to sexual abuse that she allegedly suffered from members of the high school football team in December, 2013. In the suit, filed on January 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, the girl, known in the suit as "A.S." charges that in December 2013, when she was a 14-year old freshman, she was abused on the high school campus "multiple times between the...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Once again, the City Council has approved a contract with Boulevard Music to produce the popular summer concert series. The amount to be spent is not to exceed $39,662. The summer concerts, featuring a variety of folk, blues, jazz, country, and rock entertainers, have run for 20 years and have for the most part, been produced by Gary Mandell, proprietor of Boulevard Music. The producer of the concerts is responsible for contracting and overseeing the musical...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter January The Culver City Expo Line station was closed for almost two hours on January 7 due to a security threat involving what police called "a suspicious package" on the station platform. The Culver City Police were alerted and dogs from the County's K-9 division sniffed out the package, which was wrapped in duct tape and appeared to be merely a cushion. On January 17 Culver City police shot and wounded a man outside a 7-11 store at Washington Boulevard and...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Culver City's City Council meetings aren't exactly the place you'd expect to hear a recital of poetry. But during the public comment time, when Dr, Janet Hoult is announced, those in attendance are in for a special treat. She comes to the podium supported by a cane that might have been invented by and for the Marx Brothers (it has a horn that can be honked to alert passers-by), pulls out a sheet of paper, and reads a poem dealing with a civic observance or a...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The issues of rent control and affordable housing might be seen as six of one and half a dozen of the other. Affordable housing was, however, the preferred issue for the Culver City Council, who on Monday night agreed to agendize a discussion of that topic while dismissing rent control as a topic. The Council came to this conclusion after hearing from more than 50 public speakers, plus written comments. Four council members weighed in, as Mehaul O' Leary...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Following the recent delay of transfer of funds to the Culver City Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency per action by the state Department of Finance (DOF), the City Council on Monday, November 24 approved a loan agreement that will loan up to $341,500 to the Successor Agency to handle short-term cash flow needs. The Successor Agency is currently responsible for making payments of "enforceable obligations" of the former Culver City Redevelopment...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Culver City has some financial issues to work out after being hit with a difficult appeal decision by the California Department of Finance (DOF) on October 31. The Superior Court had ordered the Los Angeles County auditor-controller’s office to make a payment of $10,473,745 to the city on October 27. But the DOF’s filed appeal stayed the execution of that payment, resulting in the Successor Agency being $1.7 million short of being able to pay into the cit...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter June Lehrman and Stephen Murray brought up a new concern at the City Council meeting Monday night that of airport noise affecting Culver City. Airport-related problems are nothing new in urban affairs but as far as Culver City goes, the problem of overflight noise is on the increase, according to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Community Noise Roundtable, on which Lehrman and Murray are representative and co-representative, respectively. As...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter A former county courthouse across the street from Veteran’s Memorial Park in Culver City may be converted into a cultural center, if County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas can turn his vision for the building into something concrete. Ridley-Thomas is in talks with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), as well as Sony, to convert the 30,000 square foot courthouse into a gallery that might be an auxiliary venue for LACMA. At this point, nothing has b...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The City Council took up the issue of mobile home park relocation at its meeting Monday night, with consideration of a draft RIR (Relocation Impact Report) for the Palms Mobile Home Lodge on Grand View Boulevard in Culver City. Ultimately, the Council adopted the RIR with a unanimous 4-0 vote (council member Jim Clarke was absent). The draft RIR was per a January 2012 ordinance amending the city’s municipal code to protect, and to further define, adequate r...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter In a seemingly sudden move, Dylan Farris has resigned as principal of Culver City High, effective as of October 24. Farris announced last week he had been appointed to the position of Executive Director of Human Resources for the El Segundo Unified School District, a post which he will assume on October 27. According to a letter he sent to the district, assistant principal Lisa Cooper will succeed Farris as interim principal. In the resignation letter Farris...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Smoking-of any substance that creates smoke-is no longer legal within the walls of multiple unit residences (condos and apartments) in Culver City. The Council on October 13 acted as anticipated and passed an ordinance that, by forbidding smoking in shared residences, would help to dissipate the threat of health hazards from second hand smoke. The Council’s vote was 4-1 in favor of the smoking ban. The sole dissent came from Jeff Cooper who thought the o...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter Culver CityBus has announced that service changes are being considered for lines 1, 7, and 4. The changes would include discontinuing two stops on Line 1 (at Pacific and 25th Avenue and Pacific and 28th Avenue, both in Venice), and extending service to the Hayden Tract on Line 7. The extension to the Hayden Tract business district would connect the area with the Expo Light Rail Culver City Station, Robertson Transit Hub, Downtown Culver City, Veterans...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The critical lack of funds for new low-cost housing surfaced as a topic of discussion at the City Council meeting Monday night but action was delayed as the Council sought “more information” on proposed solutions. Since the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agencies of California’s cities in 2012, funds for housing have been limited and Culver City’s housing fund is due to run out by mid-2015. The Housing Division was historically funded primarily with tax inc...
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a ‘double whammy’ before,” said Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, as she took to the “well” in the Mike Balkman City Council Chambers on September 8, to swear in both the new police and fire chiefs of Culver City. Lines of police officers and fire fighters stood in the back and on the sides of the auditorium as a full house lauded the new Police Chief, Scott Bixby and the new Fire Chief David Lawrence White. Sahli-Wells, before administering the oaths of office, describ...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter It took all summer but on August 25 the City Council, after what seemed like one postponement after another, finally approved an implementation agreement for developing the "Triangle" site at Venice, Washington, and Exposition Boulevards, at the Expo Line station. The joint agreement of the City, the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency, and the developer, Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group, will allow development of a multi-use complex in the...
Culver City has a new chief of police, Scott Bixby, and a new fire chief, Dave White. The double appointments of Bixby and White, both of whom had been serving as interim heads of their departments, was announced at last week's City Council meeting and drew enthusiastic applause. New Police Chief Scott Bixby was born in Culver City, attending El Rincon Elementary School, Culver Junior (middle) School and Culver High School. His first involvement with the Culver City Police Department was as an...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter If you’re old enough you may remember the commercial from the days when cigarette ads were allowed on TV—“just a silly millimeter longer.” On August 11, the City Council moved a not-at-all-silly millimeter closer to a ban on smoking in apartment complexes and condos, giving direction to the City for drafting an ordinance that would ban smoking in any complex of two or more units. The issue might seem to be a no-brainer but the Council has moved cautiously due...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The hard times and belt-tightening Culver City has experienced for the last few years looks to be over, as the city has negotiated a new contract with general service workers that will give them a two per cent cost of living increase. “The City’s fiscal condition has improved from the difficulties experienced during the most recent severe recession,” said City Manager John Nachbar. “The proposed salary increases comport with assumptions made in the City’s mos...
After a lengthy session featuring more than a dozen speakers and a detailed historical presentation, the City Council on July 28 made supporters of the Culver City Ice Arena happy by designating it as a "cultural resource" at a "significant" level. The Council's vote was 5-0 in favor of the designation. Jennifer Troteux, an associate with the firm, Architectural Resources Group, presented a report on the group's exhaustive research into the Culver Ice Arena and ice "palaces" in Los Angeles over...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter A Culver City woman, who was hiking in Mount San Jacinto State Park on Saturday and met with an injury, was rescued by the collaborative efforts of the California Highway Patrol and the State Parks rescue team. Todd Friedman, a State Parks ranger and spokesman for the park, said that at about 4 p.m., a call was received about an injured hiker at Wellman's Divide. A State Parks rescue team was assembled, consisting of one ranger and four State Park Aides. One...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter After considering whether to have blind passengers pay a fare equivalent to disabled fare on Culver City busses, the City Council on July 14 decided to retain free bus rides for blind passengers while still charging 35 cents for disabled, Medicare, and senior bus fares. The issue was raised after a disabled rider protested the policy of free rides for blind bus riders while people with other disabilities had to pay. The protester suggested to the city that...
Culver City has announced the anticipated sale of city-owned and Successor Agency-owned real property at the Culver City Expo Line station to Lowe Enterprises. The properties, which bear addresses on Venice Boulevard, National Boulevard, and Exposition Boulevard, and are described as "blighted," are currently being used for parking for the Expo Line station. The properties have been designated for development as a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project since January 2011, when the former...
By Lynne Bronstein Observer Reporter The hazards involved in examining the finances of Culver City were avoided on June 23 when the City Council, without much ado, approved the 2014-2015 budget. However, the Council took some time to discuss the potential hazards posed by the planned Fourth of July fireworks display at West Los Angeles College. The fireworks issue was raised during public comment by a speaker who was concerned that the fireworks were set to be detonated close to gas and...
Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) has a new school, known as CCUSD iAcademy, that offers a solution to the educational dilemma that “one size doesn’t fit all.” The CCUSD iAcademy is an online school, with a different structure, learning philosophy, and academic emphasis for different student needs while honoring the unique needs of the community. Its goal is to serve students in grades K-12, offering both a full-time program and supplemental instruction. Principal Veronica Monte...
