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By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist For the first time a civilian will be joining the top echelons of the Oakland Police Department to help decide how internal affairs cases should be handled. The hiring of Winkle “Hobie” Hong, a Chicago attorney with experience in civilian police oversight, is the logical next step in adopting best practices and keeping Oakland on the leading edge of 21st century police work, according to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Starting in mid-October he will be a dir...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 526-West Los Angeles meets on the first Thursday of each month at the American Legion Hall, 5309 Sepulveda Boulevard, Culver City, 7:30 p.m. For more information contact John Hamilton, President at (310) 429-4512 or Post Office Box 1442, Culver City, California 90232-1442. I just bet our fire chief doesn’t want any of his engineers to hear about the three openings next year in Cobb County, Georgia. Please don’t tell the...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist What’s happening with the Common Core math and English exams in the New York City district? Can you believe 90 percent of the students in 82 low-performing schools fell below standards on the tests most recently given at the Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts on West 114th Street? Not one of the students taking the test passed. In 2014 the passing scores at Wadleigh were English 5.4, and 3.6 percent in math. Citywide the pass r...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Can anyone come up with America’s best small town? If you said Apex, North Carolina you are the winner of 100 gallons of gasoline, redeemable only at your Mohawk gas station. Apex is a town of 42,150 with a median home price of $243,125, with the property tax averaging $2,448 and the unemployment rate 3.9%. You might be wondering about California cities, so at number 43 in the nation is La Palma and at 49 is Walnut. If I were younger I’d pack up and mov...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Did you feel the big hand of those in Sacramento reaching out to “swipe” our money by trying to pass SBX-1 in this special session of the state legislature? The author, Senator Jim Beall, a Democrat from San Jose, would impose another tax on a gallon of gasoline, and this time it’s 12 cents. Perhaps you remember Sacramento raised that tax in February 2015 by 18 cents to 36 cents and our federal government wants an additional .15 to .25 cents per gallo...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The Armed Forces History Museum in Largo, Florida is well worth a visit when you are in the Tampa Bay area. See www.armedforcesmuseum.com. The Justice Department collected $24 billion in criminal and civil penalties from banks and financial companies in the budget year ending in September 2014. Culver City has a ban on plastic bags, so why not have a ban on plastic food containers? The Chinese government confirmed 358 billionaires in China as of last...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist One recipient of the Southern California Motion Picture Council’s 79th Annual Founders Day Golden Halo Award was Culver City Car Show’s “Mr. Good Guy” George Barris of Batmobile fame. Oh, my . . . My favorite steak house (when I was eating meat), the Buggy Whip on La Tijera Blvd in Westchester, has closed and the site will probably be apartments soon. One plan calls for 94 units and the most recent proposal calls for 39 studios, 45 one-bedroom, and 10 two-...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Save the date because you don’t want to miss this year’s Taste of Soul Festival on Crenshaw Blvd. between Martin Luther King Blvd. and Rodeo Road with food booths, live entertainment, children’s area, shopping and more. October 17 is the big day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. I’m not a beer drinker, but perhaps you are. Cousin Neil “accidentally” walked into a warehouse where I just bet over 1,100 different brews are on the shelf from all over the world. Driv...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist President Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid more than $93,000 in federal income tax last year on an adjusted gross income of more than $477,000, according to tax returns released on April 10 by the White House. Metropolitan Washington D. C. police arrested Arthur Baldwin earlier this year on a felony charge of first degree attempted burglary and destruction of property. Baldwin. a uniformed officer in the Secret Service Foreign Missions Branch, is accused...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The 54th Assembly District Democratic Club Annual Award Luncheon at the Proud Bird Restaurant was held on June 7. Those in attendance were in a very festive mood as Reverend Bilson Davis II gave a very eloquent invocation. Mayor James Butts of Inglewood was the first of three to be saluted with the Distinguished Democrat Award. The mayor served for 19 years in the Inglewood Police Department, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief, with 15 years as Chief of...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist It is so very hard to believe that my friend, your friend, our friend passed away on July 21, 2004. Yes, it has been 11 years since Richard “Alex” Alexander was with us. Alex spent the last 32 years of his life in public service to our community. He served 16 years on the City Council including three one-year terms as mayor. I remember our friend dressing like Santa during the holidays and running around town handing presents to the children with a che...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Doctor Oz said, “Taking 162 milligrams of aspirin a day (that’s two baby aspirins or half a regular aspirin, taken with a half glass of warm water before and after) can decrease the risk of getting colon cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancer by 40 percent.” Aspirin has side effects, so talk to your internist. Maria, AKA “the Wild Gypsy Lady,” and I were sitting in our favorite German beer garden, you know the one. It’s...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist It is hard for me to believe Sherman Hemsley passed away just about three years ago on July 24, 2012. The actor who played George Jefferson in “All in the Family” and the spin off, “The Jeffersons,” was terrific and had a great sense of timing. There was the theme. “Movin’ on Up,” – what a classic! Personally, I thought his role as Deacon Frye in “Amen” was his bes Every once in a while a person with a cognitive disorder goes missing. Perhaps with the fa...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist I just finished reading the Journal of the American Medical Association’s “Internal Medicine” report published online March 2, 2015. Briefly, Vanderbilt Medical School looked at data of 72,000 Americans and 135,000 Chinese and found those who ate the most peanuts lived longer than those who ate the fewest. The House of Representatives on May 13, 2015 voted overwhelmingly to end the federal government’s bulk collection of telephone records, and then it was...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist So you think you have tax problems and perhaps you do, but it’s nothing like McDonald’s. Gabby Hayes would say, “No Siree, Bob.” I’m sure it was purely an oversight that the hamburger company supposedly shorted the European tax collectors by more than $1.1 billion from 2009 to 2013. Nobody should be misled when they hear the legislators are scraping by on only $97,196 per year. However, when all the benefits are factored in, I just bet it’s more than double...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The Juneteenth Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Emancipation will be presented by the volunteers of Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum (MCLM) on Saturday, June 13 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., featuring quilts by the award-winning African American Quilters of Los Angeles (AAQLA). There will be refreshments, free events and door prizes, as well as stories of quilting by AAQLA members and a hands-on opportunity to “Make and Take” your own quilt blo...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The Federal Communications Commission is about to raise the fees on Internet service. So, what else is new? I do not give the bad guys a chance when it comes to stealing my I.D. and raiding my accounts, but no matter how hard I work to protect us, I see companies like AT&T giving information away. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company has agreed to pay a $25 million fine because 280,000 U.S. customers had their information stolen by people working in...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Like many of us I have very limited time. It seems like the list of “forgetful-nots” done on a daily basis is getting longer and longer. Now I came across a way to take care of the hours spent looking for just the right greeting card. I got a card in the mail the other day from a friend of mine with my picture printed right on it. He sent it from his computer. He is in business with SENDOUTCARDS. You can send cards and gifts, market yourself or your bus...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist I just hate the preparation necessary to get a colonoscopy. The last time the gastroenterology doctor examined me was in January 2015 when he removed seven polyps and said, with a big smile, “I’ll see you in twelve months” Say what:?!? Well, I just read about a test called a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) where the victim sends the lab a stool sample and the techs look for traces of blood and other properties that would indicate a tumor or polyp. I’ve...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist I waited and it took well over 10 years but finally it now appears the government, at least in New York’s State Capitol, is starting to move on a problem I brought to our Assemblymember, Herb Wesson. I suggested he introduce a bill to have an outside company certify the ingredients in herbal supplements. Eric T. Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, found that many herbal products sold by GNC, Target, Wal-Mart and Walgreens did not contain the i...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist China’s navy now has a submarine fleet larger than that of the United States, according to a U.S. Admiral’s statement on February 25. “Their submarine force has grown over a tremendous rate,” Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy told the House Armed Service Committee’s Sea Power and Projection Force Subcommittee. “They now have more diesel and nuclear attack subs than we have. They are producing some fairly amazing subs,” the admiral said. The Chinese have now had...
In a recent Neil Rubenstein column it was indicated that a Legion Of honor presentation to Jerry King of Culver City on the USS Iowa would be open to the public. In reality it will be a private ceremony there. The Observer regrets the error....
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Have you noticed how many good, strong, local female political figures represent us? Karen Bass, Holly Mitchell and Meghan Sahli-Wells are all super, but I enjoy a brawler, one who puts a horseshoe in her boxing gloves before she gets into the ring. Nobody does it better than my good friend, Maxine Waters. Theodorsia and I were in Gardena Saturday, January 24 when organized labor honored her at the monthly breakfast at the Pipe Fitters Union. Are you a...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Did you know these statistics of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall? There are 58,267 names now listed. The names are arranged in order by year and then alphabetized. The first casualty was Richard Fitzgibbon, killed on June 8, 1956. His son was killed on September 7, 1965. There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall. 49,885 were just 22 or younger; 8,283 were just 19; 33,103 were just 18 years old. 997 were killed on their first day in Vietnam; 1,448...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Jerry King, a World War II veteran and member of the Jewish War Veterans (“JWV”) for over 65 years, will be honored by the French government for his heroic wartime exploits and will receive the Legion of Honor award. The presentation ceremony will be held on May 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the U.S.S. Iowa now anchored in San Pedro. All are welcome to attend and admission to the battleship is free. King has held every position in Culver City JWV Post 617 and...
