A Look Back At 2010

By Neil Rubenstein

Observer Columnist

Recently a friend spoke to me while I was shopping in Aisle 8 and suggested I review a previous issue of the Observer.

Casually reaching into the file cabinet drawer containing newspapers going back over a decade, remembering it’s the one on the very bottom on the far left, my fingers latched onto the issue of August 26 – September 1, 2010.

The headline was “O’Leary Files $1 Million Civil Lawsuit.” It seems a customer, Mr. Singerman, slugged the councilman just outside his bar on Washington Blvd. at closing time on August 9, 2009 when the pub staff refused to sell Mr. Singerman another drink.

The punch in the face dropped O’Leary who, hitting his head, was rushed to the ICU at UCLA and spent nine days in the hospital. The court’s sentence: $100 in damages, two years summary probation, and stay at least 100 yards away from Mr. O’Leary and the pub.

In the second of three articles on the first page, Leonard Green and Partners LP agreed to buy the company that owns Brotman and four other hospitals for about $363 million.

Maurice Enriquez was caught in downtown Los Angeles. Allegedly he held up the Wells Fargo Bank on Washington Blvd. on August 12, 2010 and the Chase Bank on Sepulveda on August 13, both branches in Culver City.

Continuing on Page 2 with the Council and Redevelopment Agency meeting, as noted by Observer reporter, Lynn Bronstein, “At the last City Council meeting on August 23, it was the first one with new City Manager John Nachbar.”

Jozelle Smith, the former mayor and columnist, mentioned City Historian Julie Lugo Cerra, Ken Smith and Steve Rose all had birthdays.

Planning Commissioner and California Army National Guardsman Marcus Tiggs was recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In this position he has overall responsibility for Training and Security at Camp Roberts, California.

In the Fiesta program Mayor Christopher Armenta welcomed everyone to the 60th Fiesta La Ballona, chaired by Susan and Charles Deen.

Well, well, well . . . the West Los Angeles Community College advertisement listed $26 per unit to attend.

Some of the other Fiesta committee members were Martha Gunther, Ronnie Jayne and Tom Camarella, Marcus Tiggs, Mike Cohen, Barbara Silverstein and, from the city, Pam Robinson.

Just briefly – Albert Vera recently passed and there was a full page of the store and his picture. The mall donated up to $2,500 to the Education Foundation, several city hall business cards (Carol Schwab, City Attorney and John Ricco, IT Director, to name two) were printed as well as almost every great local community organization and many businesses, including Post 617 Jewish War Veterans, Jerry King, Commander.

From the file labeled “Take two aspirin and . . .” The University of Pennsylvania conducted a study with 25,000 women and found 3-dimensional mammograms (approved by the FDA in 2011) found 22% more breast cancers and had fewer false positives. 3-D images give the radiologists a clearer view to spot masses in dense tissue. Get yours real soon.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.CulverCityObserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website's search box.