George Wolfberg Park Provides Easy Trails and Nice Views

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

At the start of the George Wolfberg Park, one walking can chose from two paths on either side of the center of  Potrero canyon.

Despite dire warnings about the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon not ready to be opened, it’s already turned into busy walking trail.

Circling the News has been on the path, with her doggies, almost daily since the park opened on December 10.

In just over a week, this editor went from being the lone person in the park, to passing and seeing numerous residents and having lovely conversations.

The three gates to the park are: on Frontera, off the baseball diamonds at the Rec Center, and on Friends Street. The park is open from dawn to dusk. No one should be in the park overnight and if residents see someone, they should call the police

The trails are even and even those with mobility issues should be able to navigate the wide lanes, while walking the pathways towards the ocean.

Almost from the beginning of the trail, one can spot the Pacific Ocean beckoning at the mouth of the park.

The restrooms, off Frontera, are unique. One pushes a button, and a door slides open to reveal a nice-sized restroom that has room for two dogs, a stroller or a wheelchair.

These bathrooms alleviate a big problem at the Rec Center, which does not have ADA accessible facilities. If a mom has a kid sleeping in a stroller, and a toddler who is recently potty trained and has to “go right now,” you can’t bring the stroller into the restroom, which means you have to wake the kid up to take the other one potty. Forget access if someone is in a wheelchair or a walker, there’s no way they can navigate the small-cramped space of the 1950s restrooms.

But, the Potrero bathrooms . . .stainless steel and state-of the art. Press a button to open the door, go in, press a button to shut the door. Music starts playing. Press a button to receive some toilet paper. On the way out, one is reminded the toilet will automatically flush after washing one’s hands or when the occupant leaves the restroom. Walk outside and the door automatically closes.  What does a restroom like this cost and how could Palisadians get one by the playground?

Bathrooms in the new park are large enough to hold a stroller or a wheelchair.

The grassy area just below the ball diamonds is already being misused by dog owners, who are allowing their dogs to run off-leash. Two residents stopped this editor on the street, to report that dogs were being allowed to run up the side of the hills, where native landscaping is trying to get a hold. They said that there were two big piles of dog poop that had not been picked up.

Perhaps there needs to be a live cam installed in that area. One could call it a wildlife cam, and people could turn in periodically and see what animals are returning to Potrero. Or conversely, see the residents who are acting like wildlife and letting dogs run and defecate  everywhere.

A child and a nanny walked on the grassy area below the baseball diamonds.

CTN was told that the City is working on Caltrans to share its right-of-way between Potrero and Temescal, so a path can be installed to connect this park to Temescal Canyon Road. Congressman Ted Lieu, on July 5, had a $1.15 million grant approved to fund the construction of a 12-foot-wide decomposed trail. A protective fence would be installed that would run along Pacific Coast Highway.

Still in the works is a pedestrian bridge, proposed for the base of Potrero that has been funded by the state for $11 million. The L.A. City Bureau of Engineering is supposed to be working on the design. Once that is in place people from the Palisades could walk down the Wolfberg Park to Will Rogers Beach and back.

In the meantime, make plans to go and stroll in this park that was decades in the making. The city park was initially conceived and built in order to prevent the entire rim from caving in, taking house after house down into the abyss.

The cost from grading to filling to landscaping to fencing will probably come in somewhere under $100 million, if the pedestrian bridge is ever completed. It is a beautiful park, and one can hardly wait until the landscaping grows in.

The trail from Friends Street provides a nice view of the Pacific Ocean.

Posted in Parks | 5 Comments

Obituary: Dr. Lawrence J. Kondra, Husband and Friend

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

 

Lawrence J. “Larry” Kondra, 71, husband, father, physician, and friend to many passed away peacefully at home in Pacific Palisades on December 11.

Larry was born February 24, 1951, to Doris and Lawrence J. Kondra, DDS, in Englewood, New Jersey. He grew up in Clifton, NJ, and spent summers at the family home in Manasquan, NJ. While a student at Clifton High School, he earned All American High School Basketball Player status.

With aspirations of becoming a physician, he attended Brown University as a biology major, where he also played basketball. He graduated in 1973. He went on to the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey Medical School graduating in 1978.

During that time, he met and fell in love with his wife, Jeanne Smith, of Montclair, NJ, whom he married in 1980. Larry completed the ophthalmology residency program at University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey Medical School in 1982.

He and Jeanne then relocated to Los Angeles for Larry to complete a fellowship in Retina-Vitreous Disease and Surgery in Ophthalmology at the USC Department of Ophthalmology Doheny Eye Institute.

Upon completion of his fellowship in 1984, Larry co-founded Vitreo-Retinal Associates with Boban Joseph, MD, and enjoyed many years of a successful practice in Pasadena and Pomona.

The couple moved to Pacific Palisades in 1988 and raised their children here.

Over the years Larry was acknowledged with many awards including Top Doctor, Best Physician, and Best Ophthalmologist and Vitreo- Retinal Surgeon. After a long and successful career, he retired in 2020.

Larry was an exceptional athlete and spent many hours watching and participating in the sports that he loved. He was a die-hard fan of the NY Giants, LA Lakers, LA Rams, and the Dodgers. He especially enjoyed his “second favorite place to be,” the Bel-Air Country Club, where he spent many happy hours on the golf course with family and dear friends.

He loved the adventures of the outdoors, whether it be in the winter snow skiing, or in the summer on the water fishing and boating off the Malibu coast. Additionally, Larry had his private pilot’s license.

He had a love of life and adventure and was first and foremost a family man who loved being at home in the Palisades and at the family’s second home in La Quinta, CA.

As a cherished friend and mentor, he was always willing to help when asked and was passionate about providing quality patient care, often providing free care to those in need. Those who knew him well will tell you that he had a welcoming heart and an engaging smile, all of which will be missed.

Survivors include his wife Jeanne; daughter Katelyn Smith Kondra, MD (and future son-in law, Zach Salinger) and son Lawrence James Kondra; sister Laura Sisto and her husband Dominick Sisto, MD; niece Nikki, nephews Michael and Marco Sisto, and innumerable friends, neighbors and colleagues.

A funeral mass will be held at Corpus Christi Church, 880 Toyopa Drive, Pacific Palisades, on Thursday, December 22, at 2 p.m.

A celebration of life will be held in February of 2023.

Posted in Obituaries | 2 Comments

Palisades Residents Generous in Giving for Red Kettle Day

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

Longtime Optimist member Naidu Permaul had assistance from Atlas, 3.

 

As two Pacific Palisades Optimists rang the bell for the Salvation Army in front of the Post Office on December 16, four young boys walked by.

One asked, “Do you have to donate?”

The Optimist told him, “You don’t have to do anything, but the donation goes to a good cause.”

The youth took off his backpack and found $1.25 and put it in the Red Kettle, and then his three friends did similarly.

The Optimist quipped, “We know our social security will be okay with kids like that.”

Earlier, Atlas, 3, helped his mom put money in the kettle.

One Optimist urged everyone to give a dollar, only a dollar, and noticed most did. After that easy contribution, most walked away smiling.

“People were anxious to contribute,” said Optimist David Dealey who has organized the event for many years. “It was well received.”

For more than 40 years, the local Optimists have participated in Kettle Day, a major fundraiser for the Salvation Army, by ringing a bell in front of local establishments. The Salvation Army helps low-income people pay their utility, shelters families who have lost their homes, and feeds the hungry.

Covid shut down all operations and this was the first time Optimists were back on the street in three years. About $1,440 was raised.

In 2018, Chris Wikle, a lieutenant with the Salvation Army, attended one of the Optimist breakfast meetings at the Presbyterian Church.

“We’re grateful for the support of the Optimist Club,” Wikle said. “The funds raised in this area, stay here.”

He explained how the Salvation Army works with housing Veterans, youth who have just come out of foster care, affordable housing for seniors, and drug and alcohol rehab.

“Some of our work is preventive,” Wikle said, “and some funds are spent to collect toys for kids in families that can’t afford them.”

The Red Kettle dates back to 1891, when Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee wanted to find a way to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute. In his sailor days in Liverpool, he remembered a large iron kettle called “Simpson’s Pot” into which passersby tossed in a coin to help the poor.

So, the next day, McFee placed a similar pot at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco and placed a sign, “Keep the Pot Boiling.” He soon had money to feed the needy at Christmas. The idea spread across the nation and today the Salvation Army assists more than 4.5 million people between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Salvation Army also helps pay utilities, shelters families who have lost their homes and feeds the hungry. To participate in an online kettle, visit: onlineredkettle.com.

Posted in Holidays | 1 Comment

Theatre Palisades Presents “Miracle on 34th Street”

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

Theatre Palisades Actors’ Troupe performed “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Theatre Palisades Actors’ Troupe presented a radio show of Miracle on 34th Street on December 14, which included ads from Lux soap.

The almost full house, of all ages, laughed as the actress held up the box of soap and then explained how to make snow to put on the Christmas tree, using soap flakes. This live play was adapted from a 1947 Lux Radio Broadcast by Lance Arthur Smith, and performers wore costumes from that period.

This tale is about an old man who calls himself Kris Kringle and is hired as Macy’s department store Santa. Playing Kris was long-time resident Manfred Hofer, whose voice is wonderful, deep and perfect for the role.

When Kris claims to be the real Santa, it turns into a court case – and a child’s belief makes the difference.

The actors and actresses were excellent, and many voiced several roles. Running the foley sound effects with almost perfect timing were Maria O’Connor and Martha Hunter.

Prior to the show, there were cookies, cider and mulled wine, and everyone entering the theater received a raffle ticket.

Before the hour radio play, theater goers enjoyed cookies.

After the one-hour presentation, Mrs. Santa came down from the North Pole to Pacific Palisades to aid with the drawing. . ..and there were some exceptional prizes, including two sets of subscriptions to Theatre Palisades for the 2023 season.

Café Luxe donated two gift cards and Gelson’s supermarket also donated a grocery card.

There were Santa hot chocolate mugs, two boxes of candy and a bottle of wine. One lucky winner took home a Dan Dan the Sausage Man Variety Pack, which looked exceptionally yummy (if you’re not a vegetarian).

One of the most interesting items was donated by Madame Pamita’s Parlour of Wonders (parlourofwonders.com), which included a basket with old-time Christmas Angels double deck playing cards, two beeswax Angel candles, two beeswax Sister Star candles and a box of Golden Wings Matches.

In the play, Miracle on 34th Street, Attorney Fred Gailey, who represents Kris Kringle tells the little girl’s mother: “Look Doris, someday you’re going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn’t work. And when you do, don’t overlook those lovely intangibles. You’ll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile.”

The radio show has become an annual event in the theater. The show alternates between A Christmas Carol and Miracle. The production and evening were truly magical—put it on your calendar for next year.

Members of the foley crew are (left) Maria O’Conner and Martha Hunter. Actor Phil Bartolf played the store owner.

Posted in Arts, Holidays | 1 Comment

Skirball Exhibition: Quilts Tell the Story of America

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

The author’s great-great grandmother’s crazy quilt, early
20th century, Willmar, Minnesota.

Story and Photos:  LIBBY MOTIKA

Circling the News Contributor

My great-grandmother Dora Burdick’s crazy quilt commands a wall in my house like a stained-glass window, its luminous satin patches jigsawing around a central 5-point star.

On closer inspection, clues emerge that tell the story of the time when it was fabricated, over 100 years ago. One patch features an American Flag and a tribute to the soldiers who went off to war in 1918 that reads: “In Honor of Willmar Volunteers Co. ‘D.’ 5th Reg’m’t.”

Another fragment displays a ribbon celebrating the service club: “U.P.S.C.E. Willmar Minn. June 21-23, 1895.”

Not only do I marvel at the perfection of the decorative stitching connecting these luxurious fabrics, but I can also imagine what life was like for my relatives in Willmar, Minnesota over a century ago.

Quilts illustrate the story of America, chronicling family events, community pride, historical movements and the value of communal artistry.

The Skirball Cultural Center is highlighting five centuries of quilts, including some 50 textiles in the current exhibition, “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” on view through March 12, 2023.

While there are countless numbers of quilts still warming our sleep, decorating walls, or carefully stored away, this exhibition displays the artistry and vision of a diverse and often unrecognized group of creators. They include urban and rural makers and members of Black, Latinx, indigenous, Jewish, Asian American and LGBTQIA communities.

Organized in thematic sections, the show begins with six quilts that explore the question of what it means to be American. “Ellis Island,” created by the Hamish Amish quilters, depicts bewildered immigrants, their welcome portraits and meager possessions as they are processed to enter their new land.

Participating in American democracy also encouraged women seeking the vote to join the suffragist movement, a grass-root effort in state government houses to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.

Hoosier Suffrage Quilt, before 1920, unidentified maker, active in Indiana.

“Hoosier Suffrage Quilt” bears the embroidered names of nearly 300 members of farming and working-class families from northwestern Indiana who contributed small donations to support the making of the quilt to be sold at auction. At the top of the quilt you can see the name of Susan B. Anthony, a tribute to the tireless suffrage leader.

“Conflict Without Resolution” features seven pieces that explore the Civil War and its aftermath and legacy—from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Lives Matter protests.

In one startlingly beautiful quilt, Carolyn L. Mazloomi’s “Strange Fruit II,” depicts the nightmarish time in our nation’s history when black people were subjected to harassment by the Ku Klux Klan. Images of the Klan appear because they were at the center of cross burnings, intimidations and heinous crimes against Black people and the communities where they lived.

Mazloomi offers a visual encore to “Strange Fruit,” Billie Holiday’s signature song, which closed each of her performances for the last 20 years of her life.

“Strange Fruit II,” 2020, Carolyn L Mazloomi, American, active in
Ohio in 1948.

In the first half of the 20th century, quilting became accessible to a wider range of makers. Quilt guilds formed, patterns were published in newspapers and quilt making became a national pastime and cottage industry.

The “Double Wedding Ring” is one of the most enduring quilt patterns. Local stores and mail-order businesses made patterns and kits with precut pieces available to quilters across the country. The patterns were usually composed of pastel rings on a beige background.

But in this quilt (about 1940), the unidentified African American maker employed brightly colored rings and a purple background. The African American woman who sold the quilt at an antiques fair in Jefferson City, Missouri, said that it was made by her mother, but nothing more is known about her.


“Double Wedding Ring,” about 1940. Unidentified African
American maker, active in Missouri, 20th Century.

The collective impact of individuals responding to a worldwide pandemic is vividly assembled in two pieces in the exhibition. An interactive display of the AIDS quilt, which is now 54 tons and nearly 50,000 panels, allows visitors to search for names of afflicted friends and loved ones.

Reflecting the current Covid-19 pandemic, artist Caron Tabb has created the large-scale quilt “Fabric of Humanity—Repairing My World,” composed of materials that she collected from individuals around the world and assembled into a cohesive piece, underscoring the power of individuals connecting to create something meaningful. The back of the quilt features statements from contributors to the work that describe the meaning and intention behind the pieces and elements they provided.

The Skirball exhibition emphasizes the strength and beauty of coming together across differences, which is all the more relevant in today’s world.

“Our hope is that these exhibitions serve as springboards for visitors to connect with one another as well as with the incredible works on view,” said Museum Director Sheri Bernstein.

“Fabric of Humanity—Repairing My World,” 2020, Caron Tabb

 

Posted in Arts | 2 Comments

Mike Hartman: The Real-Life Oscar Madison

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

 

By BOB VICKREY

Lorraine  and Mike Hartman with the couple’s three daughters.

At a recent informal memorial service for former Palisadian Mike Hartman, which was held on the grounds of the Palisades Recreation Center, one young man described Mike’s wardrobe when they first met.

“Mr. Hartman was wearing an ill-fitting dark suit with pants sagging well below his waistline. His white shirt was tucked into one side of his pants, but not the other.”

Pete Brotzen, a former law colleague, added that Mike showed up one day at the office wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe.

Neil Simon must have surely envisioned someone like Mike when he wrote the 1968 screenplay for “The Odd Couple,” with Walter Matthau cast as the unforgettably disheveled Oscar Madison. Simon will never know how close he came to describing our loveable, rumpled friend Mike Hartman.

Mike Hartman

Mike was a big man in stature who stood out in a crowd, and with his outsized personality, you always knew when he entered the room. He never took himself too seriously and possessed an endearing self-deprecating sense of humor.

The stories from those attending the November 26 gathering painted a picture of a kind-hearted man who had been a devoted and loving father to his three girls. Each of his daughters, Celeste, Joanna and Laura, entertained the crowd with comical and touching stories about their beloved dad.

William Michael Hartman passed away in Woodland Hills on April 14 after a battle with cancer. He was born April 1, 1943, in Waterbury, CT, and raised in Indianapolis. He graduated from Indiana University with a master’s degree in economics. He spent three years in Turkey in the Peace Corps before obtaining his law degree from the University of Southern California.

Mike and his former wife Lorraine raised their girls in Pacific Palisades where he was active in many local organizations, including the Optimist Club, in which he once served as president. The members performed in the annual Palisades Fourth of July Parade, while famously marching in their underwear.

He always participated in the yearly fundraising drive for The Salvation Army, while dressed in his Santa Claus outfit—and on these occasions, he wore matching black shoes.

He loved classic movies and old radio shows, especially the Jack Benny Show, and would often sit in his car in the family driveway at night listening to old episodes while smoking his favorite “Swisher Sweets.”

Mike was well known as a multi-tasker who didn’t sit still for very long. He loved his poker nights and his golf game and would have surely enjoyed them simultaneously if he could have figured out a way to do so.

He loved sports of all kinds and always took pleasure in filling out his NCAA March Madness bracket each year and making small wagers in various pools.

Mike coached his daughters.

He coached his girls in basketball and softball, and often took them to Pauley Pavilion to see the UCLA women’s basketball team play.

Eldest daughter Laura later told him how much it meant to her that he took them to see women’s games. She said, “I’m really glad you showed us the importance of women’s sports and that we could do anything we set our minds to.”

Mike replied, “Oh, that’s not why we went. Do you know how much cheaper the women’s games are than the men’s?”

When the girls were little, Mike often took them on weekend outings to Travel Town, the pony rides and miniature golfing. They also made their annual trip to Disneyland.

They attended Cubs-Dodgers games at least once a year, where Mike would loudly sing “Root, root, root for the Cubbies” during the seventh inning stretch. Even though his daughters were initially embarrassed about his disloyalty to the hometown Dodgers, they eventually gave in and sang along with him.

He always tucked the girls in each night at bedtime and read a story before singing a song to them. One of his favorites was “Goodnight My Someone” from “The Music Man.” When they couldn’t sleep, he often sang “Summertime” until they nodded off.

Mike was part of our Monday Night Football group that began back in the mid-1980s. In fact, several of our MNF get-togethers were held in the Hartman home, and one of those occasions was particularly memorable when Mike was babysitting the girls while Lorraine was out of town.

As we were watching the game in the den while devouring our pepperoni pizza, the family cat suddenly came crashing through the back screen door and raced into the kitchen. We asked what that was all about, and Mike answered casually, “It looks like I forgot to feed the cat.”

I asked how long Lorraine had been gone, and Mike replied, “Oh, about a week.”

After the girls were grown, Mike moved to the San Fernando Valley where his law practice was located. He once brought a case before the California Supreme Court, and many of us wondered if his usual nonchalant approach regarding important matters might have hindered his performance that day.

But we all assumed he had hastily scribbled a few notes on an airline napkin during the short flight from L.A. to Sacramento, then presented his case to the judges, and subsequently walked out of the courtroom confidently declaring: “Nailed it!”

The last time our Monday Night Football group gathered, Mike wasn’t feeling well enough to attend. As we made small talk and ate our pizza, it didn’t take long for us to realize there was a marked difference in the overall atmosphere in the room that night. The big personality who had always been the life of the party was noticeably missing. The mood was far less festive and more somber without Mike there.

And for perhaps the first time ever, we were recognizing—in real time—what the time-honored phrase “He will be missed” truly meant.

The Hartman girls at the Memorial Service on November 26 at the Rec Center.

 

 

 

Bob Vickrey is a writer whose columns have appeared in several Southwestern newspapers including the Houston Chronicle. He is a member of the Board of Contributors for the Waco Tribune-Herald, and was cited by the California Newspaper Publishing Association for column writing awards in 2016 and 2017.  He lives in Pacific Palisades.

 

Posted in Vickrey | 2 Comments

Local Students Participate in the Forestry Challenge

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

Palisades High School student Autumn Lee uses an angle gauge to determine the basal area of a plot, one of the many skills learned at the San Bernardino Forestry Challenge near Green Valley Lake.

Thirteen students from Palisades Charter High School participated in the 2022 San Bernardino Forestry Challenge in November.

The event was held at Hume SoCal in Green Valley Lake, and 93 students from 10 schools helped prepare a Forest Management Plan.

“The kids got to interact with working professionals and struggled with figuring out practical solutions for forest management challenges,” said AP PaliHi environmental teacher Steve Engelmann. “So often we fall into simple responses such as ‘save the trees,’ or ‘save/create jobs.’

“The real world is much more nuanced with no true right or wrong answers,” Englemann said. “The students got a peek at that world.”

Working onsite, students defined management objectives, assessed the forest, prioritized threats, and evaluated potential treatments to meet the management objectives.

During the Challenge, teams of students also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills.

“It’s a great experience for students to be exposed to the practical nature of what we study in class,” Engelmann said.

PaliHi seniors Sofia Farhangnia and Ella Taghibagi said, “Learning from professionals in the natural resources field and conceptualizing our own Forestry Management plans was a unique opportunity. We were thrilled to have that experience.”

The Forestry Challenge is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health.

The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture and recycling (visit: http://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/).

Funding for this project was provided by The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Business and Workforce Development Grants and a grant from the US Forest Service.

PaliHi students who assisted with a development of a Forest Management Plan were (front row, left to right) Steve Engelmann (advisor), Autumn Lee, Amrita Sekhon and Shawna Ashley, (middle row, left to right)Sofia Farhangnia, Ella Taghibagi, Addy Rasgon, Claire Kim and Jessica Rosen and (back row, left to right) Cleo Waxman-Lee, Maren Carrere, James Lewis, Connor Rice and Edward Kim.

Posted in Education, Environmental, Schools | Leave a comment

Tennis Pro Frances Tiafoe Chats with Seven Arrow Students

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

Frances Tiafoe visited Seven Arrows School. He was interviewed by sports journalist Rachel Nichols.

There were videos of tennis pro Francis Tiafoe defeating No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal at the 2022 U.S. Open in the quarter finals. On December 12, Seven Arrow students watched in awe as this athlete made play after play – and then he was in the room with them on the La Cruz campus.

Sports journalist Rachel Nichols, who is also a parent at the TK-sixth grade school in Pacific Palisades, led the interview.

Tiafoe, 24, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, said he picked up the sport because his father worked in maintenance at the Junior Tennis Championship Center in College Park, Maryland.

His father, Constant Tiafoe, started working at the Center in College Park in 1999, and eventually moved into one of its vacant storage rooms while working around the clock.

His twin boys (Franklin and Frances) would sometimes stay with him, sleeping on a massage table, while their mother worked night shifts as a nurse.

While at the Center, Tiafoe asked for lessons and instructors told him he was too little, but “I watched the kids and picked up anything I could.

“It is important to take an opportunity and seize it and try to take it to the max,” Tiafoe told students. “Everyone has his own path, but you have to stay true to your own goals, your own dreams.”

He said that when he was about 14, he knew he wanted to be a professional. “My parents wanted me to have an education and get a degree,” Tiafoe said, and added, “and they’d still like me to go to college.”

He had received a full scholarship to a university, which made the decision to go pro even more difficult.

In April 2015, when he was 17, he turned professional. At the time he was ranked 520 by Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). “You have a moment. . .I put all my eggs in one basket and doubled down on it,” he said. Two years later he was in the top 100, now he is ranked 19 by ATP.

He told the students he practices at least 20 hours a week and said reaching the top tier of players “was very tough, but I played so much tennis at a young age, that my road was easier.”

Frances Tiafoe posed with students, parents and teachers.

Tiafoe said in high school he missed a lot of parties and never went to prom. “But when you want to do something, you have make sacrifices.”

He also acknowledged the wisdom in choosing friends. “Your circle makes or breaks you,” Tiafoe said. “If you’re not in the best environment, life can go wrong fast.”

He was asked about the match against Nadal. “He’s one of the Mr. Rushmore guys,” Tiafoe said, but “after I won the first set, I believed I could win.”

Afterwards, he said “It was a crazy feeling. It felt like the world stopped.”

On the ride back to the New York City hotel with his family, “We were all screaming and shouting.”

Tiafoe, 24, who the first American male to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since John Isner at Wimbledon in 2018, and the first American in Queens since 2006, said, “It felt like the whole country was with me.”

He lost to Spain’s Carlos Alcarez in five sets that lasted four hours.

He was asked what other sports he liked. “I wished I had played more sports as a kid,” Tiafoe said. “I love basketball. It’s a great sport, but I’m a little small.” His ATP bio lists him as 6’2” and 190 pounds.

Tiafoe, who lives in the DC area, came to Los Angeles to visit girlfriend, Ayan Broomfield, a Canadian tennis player, who lives on the Westside. Broomfield, with a UCLA teammate, won the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship.

Frances Tiafoe and Ayan Broomfield at Seven Arrows.

Broomfield was also the body double for Venus Williams matches on the 2021 film King Richard.

The two met when they were 14 and started dating two years later. “I love his personality,” Broomfield said. “He made me laugh a lot and still makes me laugh every day.”

Both have started foundations, whose mission is to help inner city kids have access to tennis (Ayan Broomfield Foundation and Bigfoe Foundation).

“Chasing perfection is not a real thing, you can always be better—the work never stops,” Tiafoe told students. “The journey matters so much more.”

Before signing tennis balls and posing for photos with parents, teachers and students, Tiafoe said, “Dreams should be so big that people think you’re crazy.”

While in Pacific Palisades, Frances Tiafoe visited several classrooms and spoke with students.

Posted in Sports | Leave a comment

BLM Files New Motion Against Jackie Lacey in 2020 Case

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

Jackie Lacey had been targeted by Black Lives Matter activists.

(Editor’s note: reprinted with permission in conjunction with Westside Current. The story first appeared on that news site December 15.)

Between 30 and 40 Black Lives Matter members, including co-founder Melina Abdullah, went to Jackie and David Lacey’s private resident in Granada Hills, at 5:40 a.m. in March 2020.

While Jackie Lacey, who was the LA County District Attorney (2012 to 2020), was calling for help, her husband David opened the door after the plaintiffs rang the bell. Video images show him pointing a gun and saying he would shoot if the visitors did not get off his porch.

David Lacey was charged by the California Attorney General’s Office with three misdemeanor counts of assault with a firearm, but in May 2021 a San Fernando Superior Court Judge David Stuart allowed him to enter an 18-month diversion program to resolve the case, noting that he was a “67-year-old man who has led an otherwise exemplary, productive life.” In May of this year, the misdemeanor charges were dismissed against Lacey.

David died September 5, and now BLM attorneys filed on December 14 to substitute the estate of Lacey’s husband as a defendant. BLM attorneys want a judge to order a second deposition of Lacey and not allow her to withhold information based on the spousal communication privilege.

BLM attorneys say that Jackie and David Lacey were aware that the demonstrators were there to confront Lacey and not her husband.

They say that Jackie Lacey also knew, or should have known, that confronting uninvited guests at her front door with a loaded firearm was unlawful, the BLM lawyers contend in court papers.

Those attorneys, in filings compare the situation facing the Laceys to random home visits by Jehovah Witnesses. (Editor’s note: Jehovah Witnesses have only just restarted their door-to-door ministry after more than two and a half years on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. And Jehovah Witnesses rarely ring the bell before dawn.)

Lacey came under fire from BLM, Melania Abdullah and other activists for declining to prosecute law enforcement officers involved in fatal on-duty shootings during her two terms in office.

For several years, protesters, including members of Black Lives Matter, gathered sometimes in the hundreds outside the Hall of Justice, where Lacey’s office was located, every Wednesday to protest against Lacey, she says, adding they came with signs, noise-amplifiers and drums and chanted slogans such as, “Bye, Jackie” and “Jackie Lacey Must Go.”

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Spelling Bee Provides Excitement and Levity

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Sue Pascoe

The winners of the Palisades High School spelling bee were (left to right) First place winner Zach Chang, Madi Meade took second and third went to Jack Daugherty.

By CHAZ PLAGER

Before Palisades High School started its grueling end of the semester testing, student leadership decided there needed to be a way to release some of the tension.

The solution? A spelling bee.

Leadership held a school-wide spelling bee on Thursday, December 1 in the auditorium. The bee was held between eight volunteering participants, all in competition for a prize pot of $500.

Third place was $50, second was $150, and first prize was a whopping $300, budgeted through the Booster Club. Needless to say, tensions were high among the participants, each hoping they’d get a spot among the top three.

All the participants were juniors: Michael Mallouk, Jack Hesse, Carter Yen, Zach Chang, Jack Daugherty, Madi Meade, Anna Bartle, and Talia Alsman.

Leadership members Shira Berukhim and Rustin Kharrazi commentated and judged the participants during the competition, as the school looked on from the gym bleachers.

Round one began with the “easy” level of words.

Jack Hesse dropped out immediately on “cemetary”, leaving the number of participants at seven.

The next round was also considered “easy” words, and no one dropped out, prompting Berukhim and Kharrazi to move to the “medium” difficulty level.

Round three saw the loss of Carter Yen, Anna Bartle, and Talia Alsman, cutting the participants in half.

Round four saw Michael Mallouk and Jack Daugherty each drop out over “pseudonym,” which prompted a spell-off for third place. The two battled it out for three rounds before Michael’s unfortunate loss on “onomatopoeia.” Jack took third place and $50.

With only Zach Chang and Madi Meade left, the difficulty level increased to “hard.”

It took two rounds of the juniors, going neck and neck before the devilish “Staphylococci” took down Madi, leaving Zach with the grand prize of $300.

“I got close, but it’s not that big a deal,” said fourth place Michael Mallouk. “I work anyways [Walgreens], I’m not missing that $50. I just did my best and had fun.”

First place winner, Zach planned to save his winnings.

Michael Mallouk lost in a spell off for third place.

 

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