Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 237
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter Senior Night was fittingly special for the Culver City High girls basketball team as it captured the Ocean League championship while cruising in the second half over Hawthorne High, 61-41. It was the Centaurs' third straight league title and the girls have won 29 straight league games. They play their last league game of the season this Thursday, February 13, at Beverly Hills High, the last team to beat them in league. The Centaur girls took a 23-12 first quarte...
Editors Note: this story is updated from last weeks story entitled SMOKING GUN on Culver City Observer's website By Stephen Hadland Observer Publisher Prior to the closing of the Culver City Ice Arena last Sunday Culver City officials had informed the Karagozian family, who are the property owners, and Planet Granite, the new lessee, that the property is zoned strictly for ice skating and no other commercial purposes. Any rezoning will require City Council approval and may take many months to...
Planet Granite may be facing an uphill battle in its efforts to bring indoor rock climbing to Culver City. Wednesday night, Culver City officials informed the Karagozian family, who are the property owners where the Culver City Ice Arena is located, and Planet Granite, the new lessee that the property is zoned strictly for ice skating and no other commercial purposes. Any rezoning will require City Council approval and may take many months to accomplish. Changes in zoning will also be reviewed...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Although not much has been heard about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in recent years three new medications have been developed to keep the disease in check: Atripla, Complera and Stribild. From the "Good News" file, Soval, a possible cure for Hepatitis C which affects 150 million people worldwide and kills more Americans each year than HIV, was recently approved by the FDA. I am extremely pleased to report new advances could, in the future, reduce the...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter T minus one and counting. With one week and one win remaining to capture the 2013 Ocean League Championship, Culver City High is ready to blast off into the CIF Football Playoffs after thoroughly discarding Morningside High 48-0 at Coleman Field in the self-proclaimed "City of Champions", Inglewood. The Centaurs scored seven touchdowns and appeared at times to match the constant stream of passenger jets signaling above in the nighttime air while cruising a few...
By Stephen Hadland Publisher It has become painfully obvious that David James Ward showed up at the Culver City Police Department headquarters early Saturday morning two weeks ago to end his life. No note was found and Sheriff Department investigators have yet to uncover any reason except that the City of Los Angeles was forcing him out of his makeshift home in his van where he had lived for decades just outside Culver City. Culver City Police Chief Don Pedersen remarked, "It is our belief, base...
By Stephen Hadland Observer Publisher The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office has identified the man shot by police officers when he entered the secure parking area of the Culver City Police Headquarters on Duquesne Avenue. He was David James Ward, 66, who police describe as a homeless man who lived in his car on the streets of Culver City. On Saturday morning, September 21 at approximately 7:40 am, Ward entered the secure parking lot at the Culver City Police Department. He followed a Culver C...
By Stephen Hadland Observer Publisher On Saturday at approximately 7:40 am a suspect entered the secure parking lot at the Culver City Police Department Headquarters on Duquesne Avenue. He apparently followed a Culver City Police vehicle that was entering the facility. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Culver City police officers asked the suspect if he needed help. The suspect then produced a handgun. The officers ordered him to drop the gun. The suspect refused and p...
There’s something for everyone this week with a mixed bag of movies opening at the box office and some of them concurrently airing on VOD. Offering up everything from pee-in-your-pants laughter to reflective contemplation, let’s take a look at some of your movie choices this week. JEWTOPIA Many of you may have heard of and/or experienced the phenomena called JEWTOPIA. What began as a small stage production in Los Angeles ten years ago morphed into a smash Broadway hit and spawned an hil...
Gun-Free Campus Comes To WLA College Alarmed by the level of lethal violence on college campuses across the country and determined to follow through on its pledge to reassess its security procedures in the wake of the shootings at Santa Monica College in June, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a resolution banning firearms on its nine campuses “to the maximum extent allowable by law.” This includes West Los Angeles College. “It is our responsibility,” said Board of Trustees vice-pr...
MOVIE REVIEW: DISNEY’S PLANES It was only a matter of time before Disney • Pixar’s “World of Cars” courtesy of “Cars” and “Cars 2" went up and up and away into the wild blue yonder and with DISNEY’S PLANES and the artisans of Disneytoon Studios, that realization is achieved. A high-flying fun-filled adventure directed by Klay Hall, executive produced by John Lasseter and written by Jeffrey M. Howard, while immensely likable and entertaining and filled with engaging characters complimented by s...
City Manager's Update August 2, 2013 City Manager’s Office · Culver City’s Boulevard Music Summer Festival – On Thursday, August 8, Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca brought their Afro-Cuban/Salsa performance to the Summer Festival. Thursday, August 15 will feature the premier Led Zeppelin tribute band Led Zepagain acoustic set with string quartet. The concerts take place in the City Hall Courtyard from 7 pm to 9. These two shows are the final Summer Festival concerts for 2013. Community Development Department · Temple Akiba – Plans have been subm...
Man Attacked on Culver Bike Path Bill Fournell, a member of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees, was attacked by three Hispanic males who violently attempted to rob him on the Ballona Creek bike path in Culver City. According to reports in the Easy Reader, a South Bay Newspaper, Fournell, suffered a broken collarbone, broken ribs and punctured lungs from the assault. On Thursday, July 19, Fournell was commuting from Farmer’s Insurance office in Mid-Wilshire along the b...
Commentary Stormwater Runoff-Taxes-Muni Bankruptcy By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist One can easily see why the federal government is prodding cities to clean up their storm water run-off. The most recent data available shows that in dry weather the mouth of Ballona Creek rates an "A" and in rainy weather it is an "F." Then there is Culver Blvd. at the ocean -- an "A+" and "B+." Just when you thought taxes were high and couldn't rise again, the county figures it needs $1.5 billion to $1.8...
A jury has awarded $8.8 million to the family of Lejoy Grissom, who was fatally shot by a Culver City police officer on April 25, 2010 after robbing a nearby Radio Shack store on Sepulveda Blvd. The unanimous verdict was reached after jurors deliberated several hours. Grissom, 27, was shot after he was pulled over on Venice Blvd. A Culver City police officer spotted the car with a female driver and the male suspect driving erratically. The Culver City officer noted at the time the male passenger matched the description of the suspected robber....
Culver’s New Mayor: Jeff Cooper Sahli-Wells Becomes Vice Mayor Culver City’s new Mayor is Jeffrey Cooper; the Vice Mayor is Meghan Sahli-Wells. The new leaders of the City Council were chosen at Monday night’s Council meeting. The Mike Balkman Council chamber was filled to capacity with people who wanted to see the changeover. Some of them also wanted to voice their opinions to the Council. Public comment saw no less than 17 speakers, sounding off on issues ranging from plastic bag dispo...
MOVIE REVIEW SPECIAL: Something to Warm You on a Cold Winter Night as You Get Ready for the Oscars! WARM BODIES A post-apocalyptic zombie story told from a zombie’s point of view? And a love story at that? With a living human? For producer Todd Lieberman, that’s exactly what spurred him onward with the production of WARM BODIES. “I remember vividly reading the first three pages and keying in a tone that I had never seen before, and an idea that I had never seen before - a zombie movie told...
MOVIE REVIEW: THE LAST STAND We got a taste with Expendables and then he left us salivating for more with Expendables 2, but now, with THE LAST STAND, it’s official - Arnold is back with a vengeance, proving that he is not at all expendable when it comes to movies and the action genre. Older, perhaps a bit wiser, and definitely a bit slower and more stunt cautious, Arnold Schwarzenegger slips into the character of Sheriff Ray Owens with the ease of a well-oiled trigger. In many ways, Ray O...
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas has requested the creation of a taskforce made up of law enforcement, public health, mental health officials and the countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CCJCC) to develop a comprehensive plan on curbing firearm-related violence in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner, 75 percent of all deaths in Los Angeles County in 2009 were caused by use of a firearm, a trend that is mirrored nationally. In addition, a 2010 report by the Department of...
HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON DEADFALL THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ With the holiday season in full swing, and Awards season officially started, there are a plethora of last minute rushes of movies into theatres in order to qualify for Oscar consideration. And while there are plenty of hotly anticipated titles, the real delights are some indie gems that glisten and sparkle like starlight on freshly fallen snow. Filled with intensity, subtlety, nuance, allegory, poignancy and superb...
MOVIE REVIEW: 3, 2, 1...FRANKIE GO BOOM It’s been a long time since an honest-to-goodness, madcap screwball comedy hit the big screen, but thanks to writer/director Jordan Roberts the void is now filled. Demonstrating great flair for comedic panache with his zany, crazy and oh-so-fun, 3, 2, 1...FRANKIE GO BOOM (can we get an “amen”?), at its core a love story of eclectic proportions, FRANKIE GO BOOM is rooted in honesty, sincerity and heart, but spreads its wings with a sometimes raunchy charm...
In a race for the National League second wild card spot at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers and Cardinals split a four-game regular season series which was last weekend. That left the Dodgers still one game behind the Cardinals in their hopes of making the playoffs. When these two teams play, it’s always a heated battle, and the heat was on full blast, literally and figuratively, as the thermometer reached 91 and 95 degrees during the first two night games of the series. But that didn’t stop the fan...
for September 4 through 10 Car Burglary: On September 4 at 1:50 pm a victim came to the police department to report his 2000 Chevy Tahoe was burglarized. The victim said he parked and locked his vehicle in the 2900 block of Sentney Avenue on September 3 at 10 pm. When he returned the next day at 10 am he discovered his property missing. Street Robbery: On September 5 at 12:30 am a victim came to the police department to report he was a victim of a robbery. The victim said he was walking in the 10700 block of Galvin Avenue to his vehicle. The vi...
On Monday the Fountain Valley Police Department responded to a call of a woman reportedly attempting suicide by inhaling fumes from a hose connected to her SUV on Brookhurst Street in Fountain Valley. The woman was later identified as 65 year old Debra Penkoff. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle but she entered the northbound 405 freeway. Huntington Beach Police Department Air Bureau. HB1 (HBPD Helicopter) joined the pursuit as well as the California Highway Patrol. The SUV exited in Culver City, hitting two cars, a fence and a power pole...
Two weeks ago a Culver City Middle School student brought an unloaded handgun to school to show off and intimidate his fellow students. Though no one was hurt, and Culver City police and District personnel cooperated to arrest the student, the episode underscores the importance of the District's on-going anti-bullying efforts. "Having a gun on campus is a very serious matter that we will not tolerate," said Superintendent Patricia Jaffe. "Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the student involved was arrested as soon as we discovered what...
