4 Culver High Students Earn Arts Scholarships

Ari L. NoonanNews

Four art students from Culver City High School have been selected by USC’s Ryman Arts to participate in their fall semester art classes. The students, Enrique Serrano, Kenny Muhamedagic, Zoe Ahearn and Noel Ekker, are members of the school’s prestigious Academy of Visual and Performing Arts These intensive beginning, intermediate and advanced classes in both painting and drawing are held on Saturdays in the USC Roski School of Fine Arts studios. The classes are designed specifically for high school students exhibiting talent in the visual arts. Last spring, Mr. Ekker, Ms. Ahearn, Mr. Muhamedagic and Mr. Serrano were recommended by a teacher and/or a professional artist. They applied to the Ryman program with a portfolio and an essay about their goals as artists. The students only recently found out they had been accepted.

Susan Evans Is Leaving — She Forged a Dynamic and Whirlwind Run at City Hall

Ari L. NoonanNews

Susan Evans, a powerful force for spectacular redevelopment in Culver City since arriving from Burbank almost three years ago, is departing as Community Development Director. To say it succinctly, supporters of Ms. Evans contend that she has done more to improve, to change, the face of Culver City — via redevelopment — than any single person since founder Harry Culver almost a century ago. Better than a dreamer, professional friends say, she is a visionary supremely confident in her ability to effect broad and lasting changes. Ms. Evans has criss-crossed Culver City with bold, sweeping strokes. Supporters say the city is far better off today than when she arrived because Ms. Evans, in contrast to conservative predecessors, thought and acted like a CEO. This is highly unusual, they say, in a government structure where bureaucracy dominates while independence is discouraged. Soft of voice, medium of height with tall blonde hair, she moved with the unrelenting speed and purposefulness of a sprinter on fire. Culver City was not sure for a long time what to make of Ms. Evans. It still may not be clear how it feels about the woman who, privately, loves to celebrate the half-dozen far-reaching projects under way at all times during her tenure. Her public image was an intriguing mix of darting dynamics. Her personality portfolio included a retiring persona, laconic ways and a resolute strength of character that forbade her to show even a hint of emotion when critics employed strong terms or questioned her motives. The permanently unruffleable Ms. Evans never had to shop for critics in the classifieds. At least figuratively, they were lined up outside her door on the third floor of City Hall. Ms. Evans departs at the height of her influence, days before workmen begin carving the deepest imprint she will make on Culver City — the massive reshaping of the commercial middle of the community, the heart of Downtown. The Culver Studios is scheduled soon to begin building a futuristic structure — ground-floor retail businesses and offices in the upper stories — across the street from the Culver Hotel, on the site of the Trader Joe’s parking lot. Washington Boulevard, which has wended in front of the hotel since the 1990s, will be closed off. Traffic will be permanently rerouted while a large, showplace, European-style plaza is built. Friends said Ms. Evans is retiring to Northern California with her husband,,,

The Myth of Muslim Silence

Ari L. NoonanNews

At the heart of the recent United American Committee (UAC) hullabaloo regarding the King Fahad Mosque is the myth that Muslims have been silent about terrorism and Osama bin Laden, or have not issued any fatwas. But this is false.

In July, 2005, the Fiqh Council of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a fatwa against terrorism. You can read it at http://cair.com/FatwaJuly2005.pdf. Note that the King Fahad Mosque is listed among entities endorsing the fatwa.

Internationally, the Islamic Commission of Spain issued in March, 2005 the first fatwa against Osama bin Laden himself: http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/spanish_fatwa_against_terrorism/

On its website, the Muslim Public Affairs Council wrote in response to one of bin Laden’s messages: “The Muslim Public Affairs Council today expressed its outrage at the latest message by Osama bin Laden declaring war against the whole world, including Muslims who disagree with his narrow and destructive ideology… bin Laden’s distortions of core Islamic concepts — such as jihad and defense of the Prophet Muhammad — are merely a religious cloak for his nefarious and selfish political motives — global Muslim leaders should reject bin Laden’s false claims of leadership.” (http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=157)

Culver City Exclusive: ‘the Worst Abuse of Power in Law Enforcement’

Ari L. NoonanNews

Sweeping complaints of “bizarre behavior” relating to the King Fahad Mosque, an officer overseeing inside information on the mosque, and a former police chief apparently led to the disbanding of the special Narcotics Unit of the Culver City Police Dept. three years ago. The seething charges were leveled by a member of the decertified team in a 12-paragraph letter of grievance obtained by thefrontpageonline.com. In addition to allegations against since-retired Lt. Bruce Unuora and still-active Sgt. Larry Moroso, the letter raises numerous questions about the Police Dept.’s tightly guarded, highly mysterious relationship with the King Fahad Mosque. “The official reason the drug team was dropped,” the letter-writer told this newspaper, “was budget cutbacks. How convenient for (retired Police Chief Ted) Cooke. By ending the unit and reassigning us, this allowed Cooke to save face and not have to initiate an investigation into our allegations. These were serious charges. Unuora should have been placed on paid administrative leave and sent home immediately. An investigation should have been opened as soon as we met with (now Asst. Police Chief Hank) Davies. Eunora was doing goofy things that were not right. But nothing happened to him. I don’t know why. The serious allegations we brought should have prompted a ranking officer in the department to start an investigation if Davies would not do it. In any other department, somebody would have taken action. There were so many irregularities. Real shenanigans. They weren’t a secret, either. I can’t count them. There is plenty of blame. And don’t get me started about gun permits. I cannot see any police chief in any department in the country giving gun permits to members of the most radical mosque west of the Mississippi after 9/11 (King Fahad). Cooke did. Now whether, or how much, any of this had to do with the private deal that Cooke’s security company had with the mosque, I don’t know. Lots of funny business there.” As a result of the kill-off of the Police Dept. drug team, Culver City’s 125-member department is believed to be the only law enforcement agency of its size in the region without a special narc unit. “This surely is not because the drug problem in Culver City has gone away,” said an officer with a sense of irony. Until 2003, Culver City had an active Narc Unit for at least 30 years, even though it shrank to one officer for a 4-month period late in 1996. “This is just a preview, just a hint, of the spectacular problems created and caused by Cooke,” said an insider. The retired but still visible chief was alternately feared, admired and dreaded, some persons say, “almost equally,” at City Hall and throughout the department for his assertedly punitive style of management. Sources said officers’ attitudes toward the chief “depended on whether they were in or out of his favor at the moment.” Mr. Cooke fashioned a life-sized heroic legend of himself during 27 years as Police Chief before retiring 3 years ago. He was widely regarded as the most powerful figure in the community, “beyond the reach of the rules,” one veteran said. “Nobody could, or would, touch him.”

The Newest Couple on Campus — They Are ‘Suave’ and ‘West’

Ari L. NoonanNews

The most obvious change wrought by a new Presidential administration is that “suave” and “West Los Angeles College” are appearing in the same sentence for the first time since West was founded in 1969. Dr. Mark Rocha’s mere appearance projects portrait-perfect imagery, which, in these early days, seems to be matched by sweeping flourishes of well-grounded rhetorical vision. The gentleman exudes a sense of class that is no more welcome than a medium-rare porterhouse steak to a man at the end of a 200-day fast. Could he be the long and desperately needed tonic for West Los Angeles College, which was born reputationally poor and then lost ground? Ivy League-resplendent in his navy blazer, gray trousers, blue shirt and striped necktie, his movie star-handsome presentation is rounded out by a butterscotch complexion and tightly cropped, waved salt-and-pepper hair. An English teacher by training, he communicates the old-fashioned way. When he speaks, you listen. With effortless flourishes undetected in his predecessors, who had different agendas, he sketches a vision for the community college that he describes as a complete reversal of direction. Within his first 100 days, Dr. Rocha — New York-born, Philadelphia bred, Southern California-shaped — has decided the West campus is where he wants to spend the rest of his professional life. “The chemistry is right — you can tell,” he says, with the cool confidence of a captain solidly in command of his new ship. Defining the most crucial distinction between his fresh newness and those who have gone before, Dr. Rocha said, “Their direction was internal. Mine is external.” What was instructive, perhaps revealing and definitely different about Dr. Rocha from his immediate predecessor was his cucumber-ness, his coolness. As his nimble, excited mind navigated a labyrinth of separate and interlocking visions for his new home, his verbal temperature never wavered one degree. He may, indeed, be excitable, but there were no outward traces. More pertinently, he has organized, categorized and catalogued a wide-roaming volume of improvements, deletions, tradeoffs and innovations in an academically calculating fashion. Much of what lies before Dr. Rocha is gravely serious. Face-creasing smiles, or grins, were well spaced.

The Way Nunez Plays, Villaraigosa Needs 4 Eyes

Ari L. NoonanNews

Not every leader is lucky enough to have a Dick Cheney-type as his lieutenant, a competent fellow who not only is content living in the background, but prefers his second banana role. The conventional wisdom says that Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles will win the governor’s race in ’10. He will then use Sacramento as the pad of preference from which to launch his White House bid in ’12. Mr. Villaraigosa’s current, but only current, Man Friday, Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), the Boy Wonder as the Speaker of the Assembly, would follow his big brother into the Governor’s Mansion, and later become the second Hispanic President in the 250-year history of America. At 39 years old, there is almost no drawing board large enough to contain the future plans of the vastly ambitious Mr. Nunez. Before term limits issues a death sentence, he has two more years as Speaker. This is a highly visible position that he has brilliantly utilized as a bully pulpit to promote the career of his favorite promising politician, Fabian Nunez. In his secondary role to his big brother, he has the delicious advantage of influencing and controlling the plusses while skillfully avoiding practically all of the minuses.

Muslim Terrorists Intimidate Everybody Except thefrontpageonline.com

Ari L. NoonanNews

Gotcha. That is the game’s name. From Culver City’s King Fahad Mosque to Somalia, Muslims, from “moderates” to jihadis, are snickering up their deceptive sleeves over how they have outslicked the Gentiles of the world one more time. Muslim savages on a half-dozen continents butcher Christians, fellow Muslims and Jews. Then, on cue, the same way your dog raises his paw on command, righteous Christians and Jews run to a Culver City street corner. With straight faces, they bellow out, “We defend our Muslim brothers.” Mind you, there is not one shred of evidence that “our Muslim brothers” merit a defense. Let the ubiquitous lawyer Mark Geragos defend them. Unless someone can correct me, this is the greatest scam in the history of the civilized world. I kill your landsmen. Then you round up a few of your drinking pals, pool your money for bullhorns at the 99-Cent store, shlep out to a nearby street corner and announce in your loudest voice, “I defend my Muslims brothers.” Sir, you are an unredeemable idiot. For the first time in 40 years, the Catholics elect a Pope who says something worth repeating. Five days later, after phony Muslim conductors orchestrate one more tiresome round of phony, entirely insincere “outrage,” Pope Benedict XVI not only apologizes but compounds his inane behavior by telling a fat lie. Remember the famous television picture from three years ago when a rope was looped around the statue of Saddam in Baghdad and was pulled down? That is exactly what the phony Muslim riot conductors did to Pope Benedict over the weekend. As of today, the Pope has less credibility than my second ex-wife. In view of this latest patch of insufferable Muslim buffoonery, I trust the members of the Greater Culver City Interfaith Council had trouble swallowing their own Eggs Benedict at breakfast this morning.

City Worker Returns to Work — with a Caveat

Ari L. NoonanNews

Juan Vasquez, a sanitation truck driver for the city who was placed on administrative leave last week after being involved in an accident, has returned to work, according to the Public Works Dept. Not, however, at his old job — pending the outcome of of a police-conducted investigation. Instead of driving a sanitation truck, Charles Herbertson, the Public Works Director, indicated this morning that Mr. Vasquez temporarily will ride in the passenger’s seat, filling a position known as the trash collector. Normally, collectors draw lower pay than drivers. Mr. Herbertson told thefrontpageonline.com that Mr. Vasquez, as of the present, will not have his pay docked. A final determination is days away. “It probably will be another week before the investigation is complete,” Mr. Herbertson said. At that time, a decision will be made about Mr. Vasquez.   A veteran city employee, he was driving a 17-ton city sanitation truck south on Duquesne Avenue last Monday morning, shortly before 7 o’clock, in the middle of his shift while city police were busy commemorating the anniversary of 9/11. Mr. Vasquez was negotiating a left turn onto wide and busy Jefferson Boulevard. As he was attempting to complete his turn, the truck, carrying a partial load of 8 tons, tilted too far. The truck, powered by liquified natural gas, landed with a thud on its side. Mr. Vasquez’ partner, Jose Meza, the collector, evidently absorbed the brunt of the force from the accident. Mr. Meza was given the rest of the week off while Mr. Vasquez was placed on the aforementioned administrative leave.

Junking the Standards for Naming a High School

Ari L. NoonanNews


What kind of statement will it make for education this afternoon when the Los Angeles Unified School District names a new downtown high school for a dead labor leader? Not a good one. My instinctive response to honoring Miguel Contreras, the late executive secretary- treasurer of the heavyhanded County Federation of Labor — that means he was the juice — is resistance. What is the justification? Mr. Contreras, who died of a heart attack in the spring of last year, would have marked his 54th birthday on Sunday. He thought with his fists. Since he was not a prizefighter, this is a dubious distinction. Unless you want your children to aspire to be farm workers or union activists, why name an inner city school for this anti-scholar? Mr. Contreras lived by a brute mentality. This ain’t drawing room stuff. Since when do we canonize crudity? One biography says, boastfully, that Mr. Contreras was arrested 18 times for violating anti-picketing injunctions. This hardly qualifies him as a role model. Look at his career path. Mr. Contreras grew up with four brothers in a family of farm workers in the Central Valley. When he was 17, his parents became involved with Cesar Chavez’ United Farm Workers, and that changed everything for the young man. By 21, he was a picket captain during the notorious early ‘70s strike against California grape growers.