Clockwise from left: Keith McDaniel, Tommy Aguilar, Manuel Tavarez, Greg Morataya, Jim Reynolds, Angel Rosas, Luis Hernandez and Jonathan Merwitzer. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Since 1978 production manager Jim Reynolds has had the responsibility of making sure all the printing jobs and the newspaper get out on time. Reynolds has a collection of NASCAR toys parked in his den and on weekends you?ll find him rooting for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. A 13-year veteran of the Post, Manuel Tavarez operates the Heidelberg one-color press. He is a native of Zapotlanejo, a little town just outside Guadalajara, which is in the heart of Mexico?s Tequila plants. Tavarez is a spirited supporter of Mexico?s soccer team. He has four children: his youngest is four and his oldest daughter is a freshman at UC Irvine. Keith McDaniel joined the Post almost seven years ago as a press operator. He lives in Pico Rivera with his wife Carol, who works for Bank of the West, and daughters Kayla and Katie. Both girls play softball and when Keith isn?t watching them, he?s biking or running. He also plays acoustic guitar. Tommy Aguilar, pressroom assistant, celebrated his fifth year at the Post in September. He lives in Venice with his wife and has four children: Vito, Alyssa, Jessica and Joel. Aguilar comes from a musical family. He started guitar at seven and is known in the musical community for playing blues, jazz, rock and heavy metal, with equal ease. He builds amplifiers, as well as restores vintage ones. Pressman Luis Hernandez has been at the Post for three years. A native of Los Angeles, he attended L.A. High School where he was a varsity freestyle swimmer. When he?s not rooting for the Dodgers or Lakers, Luis tries to make time to visit his twin brother and one-year-old nephew in San Bernardino. Palisadian Jonathan Merwitzer is the Circulation Assistant. He enjoys martial arts and is a fan of both the Dodgers and Lakers. Gregory Morataya has been working at the Post for one year. He was raised in Silverlake and attended John Marshall High School. Before coming to the Post, Greg spent two years in Florida working in construction and painting. When not at work, he plays the drums and hangs out with friends. The newest addition to the production team is Pressman Angel Rosas. Born in Mexico City, Angel moved to Los Angeles 34 years ago. He has been married for 30 years and has two grown children. He spends most Saturdays golfing and Sundays are reserved for church, family and an occasional movie.
From left: Tom Hofer, Ed Lowe and Manfred Hofer Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Working at the Post since 1984, Palisadian Ed Lowe is the graphics department manager. He is an avid muscle-car enthusiast and a Certified Advanced Nordic Walking Instructor. Ed enjoys sportfishing in La Paz and hiking in Temescal Canyon.’He has volunteered his time throughout the years for the Chamber of Commerce and is really excited about the digital telcom industry. Manfred Hofer marked 25 years as a graphic artist at the Post this past July. His interests include stage acting, playing guitar, black-and-white photography and reading. Tom Hofer has worked in the Graphics Department for 18 years. His time away from the Post is spent making collages, writing music, developing his photographic skills, and frequenting tiki bars.
From left: Kendy Veazie, Jeff Ridgway and Grace Hiney. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
An English major in college, Grace Hiney first applied to the Post in 1971. When asked if she could write a restaurant review, she replied, ‘I guess so.’ She has been the Post’s restaurant editor and account executive ever since. An avid home cook and 42-year resident of the Palisades, she has two children and five grandchildren. Long-time Palisades resident Jeff Ridgway has been at the Post for four years and enjoys starting every morning with a cup of espresso. He grew up in Sacramento and attended UC Davis, where he majored in English. His latest obsession is Sudoku on the New York Times Web site. A native of Tennessee, Kendy Veazie lives in the Palisades and has worked for the Post for four years. She volunteers weekly for Stand-up for Kids, a charity dedicated to helping homeless teens, and recently went hang-gliding in Malibu.
Back row: Bill Bruns and Steve Galluzzo. Front row: Libby Motika, Melissa Beal, Sue Pascoe and Rich Schmitt. Photo: Tom Hofer
Managing editor Bill Bruns worked for Life magazine and TV Guide before joining the Post in 1993. He and his wife, Pam, have been Palisades residents for 35 years, and both of their children, Alan and Allison, graduated from Palisades High. Bruns is especially proud of his staff’s comprehensive coverage of a wide range of stories. Heading the Post’s award-winning Lifestyle section is senior editor Libby Motika. She grew up in Brentwood and worked for several publications before coming to the Post in 1994. Her enthusiasms run from poetry to art and architecture, with time reserved for her early- morning bicycle rides.”Motika enjoys spending time with her two children who live on different coasts. When he’s not scrambling around town covering games, sports editor Steve Galluzzo is playing them. He enjoys tennis, soccer and running. Originally from Bayville, New York, Steve has lived most of his life in Southern California, graduating from Cal State Northridge with a degree in journalism. Steve is a passionate member of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Sue Pascoe enjoys writing about all aspects of the community from sports to news to healthy living. Growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, she moved to New York City as a young adult and worked in theater. She moved to the Palisades with her husband 14 years ago. They have three children, who attend local schools. Rich Schmitt is from Long Island and received a graduate degree from NYU. Rich has been the staff photographer for the Post for nearly six years. His photos have won National Newspaper Association and CNPA awards. When he’s not photographing in the Palisades, he’s on freelance assignments for such clients as UCLA, AFP wire service, Doctor of Dentistry magazine and RV Executive Today. Staff Writer Max Taves began working at the Post last year and covers a broad range of issues that affect the Palisades, including education, the environment and local politics. He graduated from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. where he studied international economics. Nancy Ganiard Smith joined the paper in March 2001 and covers the cultural beat for the paper’s Lifestyle section. A transplanted Midwesterner and former programming director at the Art Institute of Chicago, she moved to the Palisades with her husband and daughter nine years ago. Melissa Beal began working at the Post last March. A native of Southern Illinois, she graduated from American University in Washington D.C. in 2006 with a degree in print journalism and history. She is passionate about nuclear non-proliferation and enjoys the beach, politics, television reruns and diet soda.
Standing from left: Sharon Reynolds, Ned Small, Carol Slick and Laura Sarkin. Sitting from left: Jolene Knight, Roberta Donohue and Cheryel Kanan. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Publisher Roberta Donohue was born and raised in Pacific Palisades, where her father owned the Mobil station. She started as a receptionist at the Post in 1972 and worked in virtually every department of the paper before becoming publisher in 1987. Married for 34 years, Roberta and her husband Rich have one daughter, Jenny, a senior at PaliHi whose volleyball team won the city championships this year. Roberta has been active in the Chamber of Commerce for more than 20 years and has served as Chamber president in the past. Business manager Cheryel Kanan has been with the post since 1984. A 44-year resident of the Palisades, she has five children and seven grandchildren. She is a past president and active member of the Chamber of Commerce and has served as the president of the Palisades Americanism Parade Association (PAPA). In 2006 Cheryel was awarded the Mort Farberow Business Award. Post subscriptions fall into the able hands of Office Manager Sharon Reynolds, who has been in charge of circulation since 1989. Reynolds moved to California from Missouri when she was a high school junior and met her husband, Jim, who is the production manager. They’ve been married for 44 years and have two daughters, a son, five grandchildren and a dog. Office assistant Jolene Knight began working at the Post 10 years ago, one day a week. Her ability to work on several fronts was recognized and she now works four days a week in four different departments. A native of West L.A., she attended University High, Santa Monica City College and UCLA. Jolene has one son and a grandson and in her spare time enjoys baking and entertaining. Laura Sarkin’s smiling face greets visitors at the Post’s reception desk. A Michigan native with a degree in special education, Laura has lived all over the world, including India, where she was drawn because of her interest in meditation. She has one daughter who works for Disney and lives in London. An administrative assistant for the printing department, Carol Slick is a native Californian, growing up in the San Francisco area. She has a degree in liberal arts from Mount St. Mary’s College in Brentwood. Carol has two sons and a new granddaughter, Chiara, who will be one in January. Ned Small is a Management Trainee of Small Newspaper Group, assigned to the Post since April 2007. He is the son of SNG President Rob Small and nephew of Post President Tom Small. A graduate of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA, he is the fourth generation in his family to go into the newspaper business.
Watching “High School Musical’ at the Kodak Theatre on opening night, my first thought was, ‘Okay, so it’s no ‘Chorus Line.” The second thought was no matter how the musical is reviewed, it will not deter nor encourage people to see the show because children and teens will clamor to go because of the popular Disney film by the same name. The television film chronicles two opposites, a brainiac and a jock, who support each other in trying out for the school musical. The film line wasn’t overly complicated and worked because the two leads were charismatic and had nice chemistry. The message was simple: don’t get pigeonholed in a clique; follow your heart. Many parents were pleased that there was finally a film that didn’t glorify ‘bad’ kids, and that girls actually were dressed like teenagers, rather than sluts. The musical follows the same plot line with a character addition, a school announcer who moves the story along and two new additional songs. The announcer is annoying and the two additional songs are as forgettable as the rest of the score. If you don’t have children, there’s no reason to see this show. If you do have children and they’re under 10, don’t bring them to an evening performance’and I don’t want to hear how mature, intelligent and gifted your children are and how they belong in a seat. The two-year old sitting in front of me was up and down, and in and out of laps so often that it was beyond distracting. Luckily, the production is routinely loud and we couldn’t hear what she was complaining about. With only a few exceptions, it was nonstop cast on the stage most of the time, belting songs. More than once I looked over to the sound engineer, who is situated on the orchestra level seating, and watched the green and yellow lights on his board, wondering if he could do some sort of volume control, just to contrast the different songs. ‘There is much more participation from the student body in all the scenes, more integration of the full company in the telling of the story,’ said composer Bryan Louiselle in a press statement. The extra participation resulted in every scene starting to look and sound the same. Unfortunately, with the exception of the basketball number, even the choreography looked the same. On an artistic level, there’s not a lot of story, the songs are nondescript and the chemistry is missing from the leads. The set is clever: using moving lockers, the stage is instantly transformed into classrooms, locker rooms, the cafeteria, a gym and an auditorium. There are a few laughs. The student playing an earthworm was funny, and Bobby List as Ryan Evans, the hen-picked twin of Sharpay Evans, the scheming drama student, was excellent. There are films that have been turned into critically acclaimed musicals, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Fame’ come to mind, but in the first case, the musical was transformed into a visually artistic piece that made the live performance into classic theater. In the case of ‘Fame,’ a more compelling story line lets us feel for individual characters; they weren’t cardboard characters who had the feel of video game characters like those in ‘High School Musical.’ This show will do well, not because of its own merits, but because of the popularity of the film and the merchandizing. Part of going to the theater is the magic of the environment. The Kodak Theatre is modern, with soaring and graceful curves and architecture. It is a lovely place to watch a show, but common sense should dictate that if you purchase tickets to take children to an evening show, please dress them appropriately. T-shirts and baseball caps are what are worn to sporting events. Remind them they are not at home–close the bathroom doors when they’re in public places. I can only imagine what the attendants in Broadway or London theaters would say about the appalling lack of civility at this venue. When your darlings are in a public place, remind them that reasonable behavior is expected, that shoving in front of people at the concessions and taking sugar cubes and packets from the coffee area are not acceptable. Finally, if you are extremely obese and spill over into the next seat, buy an additional ticket to seat yourself. It is bad manners to encroach into another person’s back and armrest, forcing him or her to sit forward for the entire production. ‘High School Musical’ is playing at the Kodak Theatre through December 23. Tickets are available at the Kodak Theatre box office at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard or by calling (213) 480-3232.
As part of its mission to create a forum for civic engagement through the arts, 18th Street Arts Center presents ‘The Future of Nations,’ its 2008 season of exhibitions dedicated to examining the issues related to the 2008 presidential campaign. The series aims to address many issues that will determine the future of the country. Using the broad themes of the Constitution, demographics, environment and war, artists and curators will create a forum for the issues of our time while examining this country’s highly politicized demeanor. ‘The artists involved come from diverse political, religious, cultural and artistic backgrounds. This is not a monolithic group espousing a narrow political art agenda,’ says 18th Street Artistic Director Clayton Campbell. ‘Rather it is a group of humanists who care about the quality of life around us and feel their contributions are part of mainstream cultural and social conversations. ‘Everywhere I have been over the past three years, artists and curators have obsessively talked about the Bush administration, the Iraq war, immigration, abortion, all of the hot-button issues that directly affect our lives,’ says Campbell, who is a Palisades resident. ‘Yet not one arts organization or arts gallery was taking this on in a significant and sustained manner. There is a tremendous amount of caution and fear in the air. In response, 18th Street will provide an outlet for the unseen energy that artists have generated relative to the 2008 presidential election, and all it stands for.’ ‘Patriots Acts’ and ‘The Habeas Lounge,’ curated by Linda Pollack, the first in the series, is on display through March 21. The 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th Street, is an alternative contemporary art and artist residency center, supporting emerging to mid-career artists and arts organizations dedicated to issues of community, diversity, and social justice in contemporary.
Betsy and Ray Braun are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Jessie, to Michael Rycroft of London, England. Jessie and her triplet brothers were born and raised in Pacific Palisades. Jessie attended University Elementary School, Palms Middle School, Santa Monica High School and Pomona College. She lives in London and works as a buying manager for Gap Europe. Michael Rycroft, son of Ivy and Jeff Rycroft, grew up in England and is a consultant for Ernst and Young in regulatory and risk assurance. The couple will have a home garden wedding next August.
Cindy Simon greets challenges with gusto. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
When the Palisades Community Council honored Cindy Simon with the Community Service Award last Thursday, they couldn’t have known that the very words ‘community’ and ‘service’ would align so neatly with Cindy’s focus on building community among individuals, within the neighborhood and school, and finally, in the town. From the moment she and her husband Bill moved from New Jersey to the Huntington Palisades in 1990, Cindy recognized a comfortable familiarity, having grown up in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. ‘I liked the feeling of the place, sidewalks and walking distance from the Village,’ she says. The simple pleasure of having neighbors promotes friendships and a bond that builds community, Cindy says. The first year the Simons moved to their home on Toyopa and saw that the Fourth of July 5-10K race passed on their street toward the Recreation Center, they extended an invitation to the community for post-race breakfast that has become an annual tradition. It wasn’t too many years before that suburban life had been quite an adjustment for Cindy. Before she married Bill, she had been living the quintessential urban life’a convertible bond trader on Wall Street, an apartment on the Upper East Side and a robust social life. She met Bill through his brother Peter, who worked in the same office at Kidder Peabody. Their courtship led to marriage in 1986, followed by their first child, Willie, two years later. As the family expanded and Bill joined in an investment business with his brother Peter, and his father William E. Simon, former treasury secretary for presidents Nixon and Ford, the Simons moved to Morristown, New Jersey. ‘It was such a change–suburbs, marriage and a baby,’ Cindy says. So when the opportunity came up to open an office in Los Angeles, she ‘jumped at the chance. It took me the five minutes getting off the airplane to adjust to L. A.’ As the Simons’ three children’Willie, Lulu and Griffith’entered school, Cindy found an opportunity that kindled an unexpected passion for identifying a need at the school and digging in to fill it. ‘I found my niche at Canyon School,’ she says. ‘I enjoyed the principal, Carol Henderson, and her enthusiastic support. She let me do my thing there.’ Cindy initiated, coordinated and participated in a major beautification project that included working on renovating the grounds and the historic school house. ‘Back then when the public schools were struggling with multimillion-dollar debts, Cindy would just do it!’ says her friend Denise Melas, who got to know Cindy while the two were literally pulling weeds together. Melas, whom Cindy credits as her mentor, adds, ‘Cindy is a hardworking woman in her heart and soul. I wish she’d run for president.’ While she has no ambitions for political office, Cindy confesses that she enjoyed stumping for Bill when he was running for governor in 2002. ‘I considered it a great privilege to travel all over the state and visit with people in parts of the state I didn’t know a lot about. I also did a lot of public speaking and enjoyed that.’ She adds, however, that after Bill won the Republican nomination, she took a deep breath and wondered ‘What if he wins this thing?’ He lost an unexpectedly close race to Gray Davis. Cindy’s skill in marshalling successful volunteer efforts is natural to a large degree, but she has always been interested in group dynamics, having studied the topic as a sociology major at Indiana University. For a paper in college on group behavior, she wrote on the social dynamics in her sorority’Kappa Kappa Gamma–which elicited a disdainful comment from the professor. ‘He made a snide remark, which I thought was unjustified, so I went to speak to him about it,’ Cindy recalls. ‘Later, he wrote me a letter in which he apologized for his comments and told me that he agreed that the sorority made an interesting study. Twenty years later, when I went back to the university to give a scholarship to a graduate student in sociology, the same professor attended the event specifically to greet me.’ These lessons revealed Cindy’s graceful tenacity and, more importantly, proved useful in her volunteer work. ‘I think the key is to have fun with the people you’re working with. I always tried to see what people wanted to do and give them the leeway to just run with it. I was organized, had an agenda and kept meetings short. I got a lot of joy out of all these projects, working with people who weren’t necessarily in the neighborhood and from all walks of life.’ Children grow up and move on. Willie is now a senior at Riverview, a school for autistic children on Cape Cod; Lulu, 18 is in her final year at Oaks Christian, and Griffith is a ninth grader at Harvard Westlake. Cindy began to search for something after Canyon. ‘I served on few boards such as L.A.’s Best, but I didn’t feel like I was really contributing,’ Cindy says. ‘I like hands-on and I like to stay local.’ Through their family foundation, the Simons pinpointed community beautification and youth in need, funding physical fitness equipment at Los Angeles public high schools and supporting the Palisades-Malibu YMCA by hosting donor receptions at their home. This association with the Y led ultimately to Cindy’s new venture. ‘I knew Carol Pfannkuche [the Y’s executive director] from Calvary, and we’d run across each other from time to time,’ Cindy says. ‘I remember watching her and found her to be enjoyable and bright. I wanted to work with her.’ When the YMCA took legal possession of the triangular property at the corner of Temescal Canyon and Sunset in November, the Simons pledged $250,000 to help the Y purchase the property and to begin landscaping what is now known as the Simon Meadow. ‘I see it as a place for families to come and enjoy activities throughout the year,’ says Cindy, whose first suggestion was the scarecrow-decorating contest that accompanied the kick-off of this year’s Halloween pumpkin sale. She has also begun to study ideas for beautifying the corner and expanding activities that will bring in more kids for an outdoor experience. ‘I like to get in at the development stage of a project,’ Cindy says. ‘My passion is coming back!’
By THERESA HEIM-KILKOWSKI Palisadian-Post Contributor Spurred by the death of an 18-year-old driver last month, the Palisades Highlands Presidents Council and concerned residents met last Wednesday night in search of traffic-safety solutions for Palisades Drive. Officer Chris Smythe of LAPD’s West Traffic Division reported that there have been 12 reported accidents this past year on Highlands roadways, including one resulting in injuries only three weeks after Travis DeZarn died in a head-on collision on Palisades Drive. LAPD attributes five of the 12 accidents to excessive speed. ‘This is the number one safety issue on Palisades Drive,’ Smythe said. ‘LAPD does not have the manpower to patrol the canyon, so it is up to the residents to spread the word to their neighbors to slow down.’ Sgt. David Podesta of LAPD’s West L.A. Division gave two main reasons for the lack of effective traffic enforcement: One, some LAPD officers are not radar-qualified, and two, many residents undermine traffic patrol by warning other motorists of cops on patrol by flashing their headlights. ‘Enforcement will happen only after a tragedy occurs,’ Podesta said. He was in agreement with Smythe, saying that because nearly all of the traffic along Palisades Drive is residential, it’s up to the residents to obey the laws. Engineer Mo Blorfroshan of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) proposed a barrier between north- and south-bound lanes on Palisades Drive. In order to do that, one lane would be closed, reducing the roadway to three lanes. Blorfroshan recommended closing a south-bound lane and keeping the north-bound (uphill) lanes intact. But most council members opposed taking away a lane of traffic. Speed humps were suggested, but Blorfroshan later told the Palisadian-Post that in order to have speed humps, the posted speed limit must be 30 mph or less and the street must be designated local. The posted speed on Palisades Drive is 35 mph at the upper portion and 45 mph on the lower, and the roadway is designated as a secondary highway. Additional reflective ‘curve ahead’ signs were requested, but Blorfroshon said the canyon already has them. Placing more raised road reflectors was suggested. The traffic engineer told the Post that there are some missing reflectors and LADOT will replace those. He said that the lane lines also have white reflectors. The LADOT will add a white edge lane to separate the slow lane from the curb, similar to those on portions of Mulholland Drive. ‘We plan to install them the entire length of the canyon,’ Blorfroshon said. He alerted residents to a national program called Safe Routes to School, which allows for an installed speed feedback sign near schools when the roadway speed is 45 mph or greater. A pole, with a speed limit sign, as well as the electrically operated sign will go up near Calvary Christian School and at Palisades Charter High School. The Calvary sign is in the construction phase and the high school’s sign is in the design phase. Messages like ‘slow down’ and ‘Your speed is . . .’ can be programmed into the installation. One Highlands council member suggested putting lighting along the entire Palisades Drive. Several members disapproved of this idea, arguing it wouldn’t improve visibility at night and could possibly ruin the aesthetics of driving through the scenic canyon. ‘I’m all for lighting, but I’m not a lighting person,’ Blorfroshan responded. ‘You have to talk to the Bureau of Street Lighting about this.’ Blorfroshan was asked if it was possible to make the traffic light at Palisades Circle stay red longer. He explained that the signal is a ‘resting red,’ which means it stays red in all directions until a car approaches. It stays red for three seconds and then changes to green. The purpose for the light is to slow down traffic. In order to have a regular stoplight installed at Palisades Circle, certain criteria need to be met, including volume, sufficient traffic on the side streets and accidents that have occurred at that specific intersection. ‘The bottom line,’ Blorfroshon said, summing up the challenges on Palisades Drive, ‘is not speeding and taking responsibility for your actions.’ LAPD’s Smythe emphasized that residents know that the canyon is rarely patrolled, especially at night, and take advantage of the open road. ‘People speed because they don’t care,’ he said. One council member concluded that the only way to get people to stop speeding is to focus on where it hurts the most. ‘If you come up with a plan that will either hurt their pocketbooks or their cars,’ he said, ‘then maybe they’ll stop.’ On Tuesday this week, Paul Glasgall, president of the Highlands council, said he was ‘very pleased’ about the outcome of the meeting and getting Blorfroshon directly engaged in these issues. Glasgall said he would like to see further solutions near Calvary, including a blinking light near the school, and that ‘there needs to be more police presence’–with radar-enforcement–along Palisades Drive.
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