SCE Warns Customers of Scams

By City News Service

Southern California Edison warned its customers Thursday to be aware of a telephone-based scam in which the caller asks for immediate payment for supposedly past-due bills.
Impostors have been calling SCE customers and telling them they must pay past due bills immediately or have their electric service disconnected, according to the utility.

The callers demand payment via a prepaid cash card to cover their tracks.
Other forms of fraud involve customers being asked to buy prepaid debit cards. Callers ask for the debit card number and collect the value deposited on the card.

SCE customers have reported about 800 instances of phone scams this year. About 150 residential, and commercial customers have been victimized by some form of bill scam, with the incidents costing them an average of $800 to $1,000.
"We ask our customers to be alert to these calls that demand immediate payment and threaten service disconnection," said Marlyn Denter, SCE's manager of consumer affairs.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said her office and SCE have a common interest in protecting residents from financial crimes.
SCE, which provides electricity for 4.9 million Southern Californians not served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, advises customers who suspect they are being targeted to ask for the caller's name, department and business phone number. If the caller refuses to give the information, customers should end the call and report what happened to police or SCE by calling (800) 655-4555.
SCE suggested the following tips for avoiding scams:
--  Never reveal credit card, ATM or calling card numbers (or PIN numbers) to anyone.
-- If someone calls and asks you to leave your home at a specific time for a utility-related cause, call the police. This could be a burglary attempt set up by the caller.
-- Be suspicious of anyone who arrives at your house without an appointment, asking to check an appliance, wiring or suggesting that there may be some other electrical problem inside or outside your residence.

Ballona Creek Bike Incident Downs Manhattan Beach Man

Manhattan Beach school board member Bill Fournell is home from the hospital recovering from wounds suffered when three men attempted to steal his bike in Culver City on the Ballona Creek Bike Path on July 19.
The incident left Fournell with a broken collarbone, broken ribs and punctured lungs and required five days in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Fournell's assailants, one of whom started the incident by throwing a bike into his front wheel, causing him to crash, have not been caught, according to Culver City Police. When Fournell crashed, one of the three assailants, described as juvenile male Hispanics, tried to steal his Litespeed road bike, he said. They engaged in a tug of war and the assailant relented.
Fournell told Patch he was grateful for the help of passersby who called 911 and stayed with him "as I could not talk and was barely able to breath due to the broken ribs and punctured lung," he wrote in an email.
Fournell rides his bike to and from his Farmer’s Insurance office in Mid-Wilshire two times a week, he said.
Though the incident has taken him off his feet, Fournell is looking at the brighter side. "I am pretty active and especially as a cyclist so being off my feet has kept me off the bike and missing time at the beach," he wrote. "Not sure when I'll be able to ride again. But all in all I am lucky as things could have been much much worse."
In his note, Fournell thanks the "friends, co-workers, and the community" who have been "so kind and generous to us during this time. Really makes you feel so grateful to live in a community like Manhattan Beach."
Fournell said he intends to return to work when his doctors clear him to do so, perhaps as soon as next week.

Venice’s Café Gratitude Gets Some FunnyOrDie Attitude

FunnyOrDie’s parody on the life-affirming café looks at what happens when you accidentally head for a meal at Café Attitude.

Cafe Gratitude, which has several restaurants across L.A., including one in Venice, boasts proudly on its website that it “does business through a practice we call “Sacred Commerce.” We view our restaurants as environments to not only serve healthy food, but also training grounds to practice seeing our lives from a perspective of gratitude.”

Now, FunnyOrDie.com  has created a spoof on the café, with its offering of Café Attitude.
Check out the video, and watch for an appearance by Chef Ludo Lefebvre, whom the Huffington Post points out, pokes fun at Red Medicine, another controversial restaurant in Los Angeles.

Bonin Helps Paint Facility for Veterans Organization

Westside City Councilman Mike Bonin visits New Directions in West L.A. to help promote the organization's mission in aiding homeless veterans.

City Councilman Mike Bonin visited veterans service organization New Directions in West Los Angeles Sunday morning to help paint the main gathering room at the organization’s facility.

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our nation’s veterans,” said Bonin, adding that we may never be able to fully repay that debt, but he wants to help.

Bonin, who spoke frequently on his campaign about efforts to “move Los Angeles forward, do good and get things done,” sent an email to supporters last week, requesting they join him to volunteer on Sunday.

“This is the part where we do good,” Bonin wrote.  “I hope you can join me to support New Directions in its mission to help homeless military veterans.”

Since 1992, New Directions for Veterans has provided comprehensive services to thousands of veterans in Los Angeles County.

More than 600 men and women seek assistance from the agency each year, and as many as 220 veterans receive round-the-clock care at the organization’s five different residential treatment centers, including the West L.A. center.

For more information on New Directions, visit its website.

Second 405 Ramp Closure to Impact Westside Drivers

Eastbound Wilshire Boulevard closure onto the northbound 405 Freeway closes for 90 days in late August.

A second summer ramp closure will impact motorists trying to get on the northbound 405 Freeway near UCLA, with Metro officials warning that people will have to find a detour for about 90 days while trying to access the freeway from Brentwood.

The ramp from eastbound Wilshire Boulevard onto the 405 north will be torn down starting Aug. 22 to make way for a new ramp, which will fly over exiting traffic. That will put a permanent end to the "Westwood Weave'' maneuver, which has been a feature of the cloverleaf-style interchange since it opened more than 50 years ago.

The new on-ramp will also have room for 180 percent more vehicles to wait for a meter light to get onto the often-jammed 405.

The Wilshire closure will start Aug. 11 and last for 90 days, Metro officials said.

That will be overlapped by the closure of the northbound 405 exit to Sunset Boulevard, which will be closed for four months beginning Aug. 3.

Both closures are part of the three-year, $1 billion widening and reconstruction of 10 miles of the 405.

Fire Ignites Yankee Doodles Kitchen

Written by City News Service A fire damaged a Yankee Doodles restaurant and pool parlor in Santa Monica Monday morning, but no one was hurt, authorities said. Firefighters sent to 1410 Third Street Promenade at 5:03 a.m. found flames in the kitchen and extinguished the main part of the fire in about 15 minutes, said Santa Monica fire Battalion Chief Carl Bjerke However, the flames also spread into the ducting system, fueled in part by grease, and firefighters worked on fully extinguishing the fire until shortly after 7 a.m., when a knockdown was declared, Bjerke said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. A damage estimate was not immediately available. Inspectors will have to determine when the restaurant can reopen for business, but the pre-1933-era building appeared to be structurally sound, Bjerke said.

Toddler Found Wandering Woodland Hills Neighborhood

By City News Service
Police were investigating the incident and have contacted child welfare workers.

A toddler was found walking unattended in a Woodland Hills neighborhood Monday, and police took the boy into protective custody and contacted his mother, who was apparently unaware her son had wandered off.
  
The boy, believed to be 2 years old, was found early this morning in the
23800 block of Friar Street, according to Los Angeles police Officer Gregory
Baek.
  
An investigation was being conducted, and child welfare workers were
notified.

Time Warner Pulls the Plug, Then Restores, CBS in L.A., N.Y. and Dallas

If there is a blackout, CBS programming can be seen online at cbs.com and over the air with an antenna.

The war between Time Warner Cable and CBS over retransmission  fees flaired late Monday evening as the cable company began pulling the plug on CBS programming at 9 p.m. Then somebody blinked. Programming was restored and tense negotiations resumed.

About 3 million Time Warner customers in Greater Los Angeles, New York City, and Dallas stand to lose Showtime, TMC, Flix, and Smithsonian, if the blackout resumes, according to the Verge media website.

We're at war with Time Warner Cable," CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves told the Los Angeles Times after seeing Time Warner Cable's statement during a party the network was throwing at the Beverly Hilton to promote its fall television season.

CBS said earlier in the evening: "In spite of all our efforts to hammer out a fair agreement, Time Warner Cable has dropped CBS and Showtime from its channel lineup effective midnight EDT.

"Meanwhile, they continue to engage in a public campaign of disinformation and voodoo mathematics (featuring wildly inflated percentages) while doggedly restating their positions. Time Warner Cable seems incapable of accepting the concept that the value of a company's programming should be in line with its popularity."

The battle has been over how much Time Warner is willing to pay for the right to retransmit CBS programs including KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles.

Time Warner has said it is fighting a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country.
"As of midnight ET, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles will no longer receive their local CBS broadcast stations," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said in a statement to the CNET website. CNET is a subsidiary of CBS Corp.
"In addition, we have been forced to remove Showtime, TMC, Flix and Smithsonian from our lineups across the country. We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS' demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming," she said.
To view CBS programs on online, go to CBS.com. Showtime subscribers can go to sho.com.

Thou Shalt Not Pass...Without a TAP Card

New turnstiles at NoHo's Red Line Station now require a pre-paid ticket for entry, eliminating illegal free rides under the former honor system.

Metro's honor system for riding the rails has arrived at its final stop--at least in North Hollywood.

Starting Monday, a pre-paid TAP is required to pass through newly installed turnstiles at NoHo's Red Line Station.

TAP cards were previously available for frequent users. The new system is expected to generate $7 million in revenue for the city.

Metro will roll out more turnstiles at Gold Line and Green Line station by the end of the year and at the Blue Line station by early next year, according to LAist.

What do you think of having these new turnstiles?

Tony Bennett at The Hollywood Bowl

Friday, August 2, 2013, 11:00 PM  Add to calendar

 Hollywood Bowl  See map

 Family

Tony Bennett

Aug 2 - 8PM
Hollywood Bowl

The 17-time Grammy-winner had his first hit in
1951 and his albums continue to top the charts. This is a master whose
interpretations have shaped the Great American Songbook. Don’t miss this chance
to see a true living legend.

Presented
by LA Phil. For tickets and information visit HollywoodBowl.com.

Hollywood Boulevard To Close From August 4 to August 6

The "Planes" premiere will shut down the thoroughfare for a couple of days.

All lanes of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland Avenue and Orange Drivewill be closed from Sunday, August 4 at 9 a.m. until Tuesday, August 6 at 5 p.m. for the premiere of the Disney's Planes, according to NavigateHollywood.com Additionally, the mid-block crosswalk and the south sidewalk directly in front of the El Capitan Theatre will be closed between 2 and 10 p.m. on Monday, August 5.

Whose Sidewalk is This?

Whether the man in this photo is settling in for the night—at 7 p.m. Monday, July 29—or getting ready for the morning is probably nobody's business, but surely the trash scattered all around is a legitimate civic concern.

Nearly a year and a half after a group of squatters vacated the house on 4363 Eagle Rock Blvd. after leaving its front yard in a shambles, there's now a mess on the sidewalk facing the property.

Might be something for the appropriate authorities to take note of, not least because hundreds of people walk up and down here on an average day.

St. Lucy's Student Honored At LA Event

Chelsie Kent (center) and her fellow Thirst Project Club members meet Seth Maxwell, found of the Thirst Project (right). Image from YouTube.com.

A St. Lucy's Priory High School student was honored last month for her efforts to help provide funding to build fresh water wells abroad.

Chelsie Kent was honored with the Power of Youth Award at the 4th Annual Thirst Gala at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, June 25. Kent and her fellow students at St. Lucy's have raised $12,000 for the Thirst Project.

The Thirst Project is a non-profit organization aiming to provide fresh water wells across the world. Started by college students, the organization reaches out to high school and college students to raise awareness about the nearly 1 billion people who have no access to clean water.

The 4th Annual Thirst Gala was a star-studded event, with such notables as Pauley Perrette from NCIS and Andrea Bowen from Desperate Housewives.

Kent and her fellow students met with Thirst Project founder Seth Maxwell on May 21 to hand over the donation check. It was then that Kent was surprised with the announcement of her award.

The Thirst Project Club at St. Lucy's raised the money through fundraisers held all over Glendora with bake sales and at businesses, such as T. Phillips Alehouse and Clubhouse 66, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Two students, including Kent, and the club adviser may get to travel with Maxwell to Swaziland, Africa, in December to help construct the fresh water well their donation funded, the Tribune reported.

Video: Arcadia Students Take to YouTube in Support of Fired Cross-Country Coach

Arcadia High School students have posted a documentary in support of Jim O'Brien online and it has already garnered more than 16,000 views. Arcadia High School students have posted a 15-minute documentary on YouTube that explores the firing of cross-country coach Jim O'Brien. O'Brien, who has led the school's boys cross-country team to two national championships during his tenure, was let go by the school district last month. Students and parents have since clamored for his reinstatement. The reasons for O'Brien's termination are unclear. The board said in June that it wanted to go in a "different direction" when it let O'Brien go and he has said it may have stemmed from an incident where he painted Xs on gym lockers that were inoperable. At one point in the video, the filmmaker asks O'Brien why he was fired. "I'm not sure I've ever gotten a clear and definitive answer to that question," O'Brien says in the video. What do you think the district should do?

Man Suspected of Burglarizing Claremont Family as They Slept; More Victims Feared

Police say there may be more victims of the alleged burglar who broke into a Claremont home this weekend, since the suspect had done construction on their residence.

A man suspected of recently burglarizing a Claremont man and his wife as they slept is now behind bars, police said.

The "hot prowl" burglary was reported on July 24 at a home in the 2100 block of Mercer Court, near Baseline Road and North Indian Hill Blvd, according to Claremont Police Sgt. David De Metz.

De Metz said the robber, who police suspect is 45-year-old Charles William Eide, broke into the house via an unlocked door while the family slept.

"Once inside the residence, the suspect stole the resident’s wallet, his wife’s purse and fled the location undetected, until the following morning when the resident awoke to find their home had been entered and their property stolen," De Metz said in a press release.

Since the crime was reported, detectives were able to get a possible suspect and suspect vehicle description.  On Monday afternoon, a Claremont officer recognized a man and vehicle matching that description driving through a residential part of town, and tried to stop him, according to De Metz.

"The suspect attempted to evade the officer and was eventually detained," he said.
Police identified that man as Eide, who lives in Upland, but works for a construction business that did work at the victims' home, according to De Metz.
"Detectives following up on the stop and arrest determined that the suspect is employed in the construction industry and had previously done construction work at the victims’ residence," he said.  "Detectives are looking into other locations within the city where the suspect was hired to complete construction projects to determine if there are any additional victims."
As of Monday night, Eide was being held at the Claremont jail on burglary charges in lieu of $50,000 bail, pending his arraignment at Pomona Superior Court, according to the sergeant.

Supervisor Knabe Praises FBI on Sex Trafficking Arrests

The task force, which included Southern California law enforcement agencies, netted 150 arrests nationwide and rescued more than 100 victims.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Diamond Bar, today lauded the arrest of 150 suspects allegedly involved in child sex trafficking.
The FBI today announced the recent arrests, which involved raids in 76 cities nationwide, including some in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties.  More than 100 victims were rescued during the operation.

Knabe called child sex trafficking "a horrific and sickening crime" and said that girls as young as 12 are being forced into prostitution.
"The rescue of 105 child sex trafficking victims last week is eye-opening to the public, many of whom believe this is an issue happening only in foreign countries," Knabe said in a statement.  "In fact, Los Angeles County is recognized as one of the largest hubs for sex trafficking in the nation."
Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, said that in Southern California, two minors, ages 15 and 16, were rescued during the raids. Four suspected pimps were arrested, she said in a news release.
Knabe said in the past 18 months, Los Angeles County has pushed to become a national leader in the effort to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. The county has an active campaign to raise awareness about the issue and the supervisors have supported legislation for tougher penalties for gang members convicted of human sex trafficking.
"I commend the FBI and all the local agencies who were involved in the rescue of these young victims," Knabe said.  "While we have accomplished much, we must continue to focus on their safety and healing.  This massive, nation-wide sweep sends a strong message to the real criminals that our County will do everything we can to protect the lives of these young girls.”
For more information on the County’s efforts, go to http://knabe.com/issues/child-sex-trafficking/

July 29, 2013 In a Minute   Come spend Saturday with us!   August 3rd   This Saturday is the Restoration Workshop at Trinity Church at 676 N. Gibbs starting at 9:00 AM. We have wonderful presentations on home restoration, gardening, and decorating. So bring a neighbor and come learn something new.   We still need items for our Silent Auction which can be dropped off at the Deakynes home at 305 E. Jefferson. If no one is home, leave it on the side porch with a note. Please include an approximate value so that we can set a proper bidding level.   We could still use decorating or building magazines to add to our magazine sale, bring them with you.   Don't miss this informative, fun day. See you there.   Other Events Scheduled for 2013: Restoration Workshop - August 3 Home Tour - November 3 Xmas Progressive Dinner - December 7 We are working on other events for the year such as, Road Trips, House Meetings, Service Projects. If you would like to help with our events or have suggestions please contact us at the email link below!   Contact Information email: President@PomonaHeritage.org Join our mailing list!

Pomona Heritage: In A Minute is a periodic email newsletter for the membership of Pomona Heritage to highlight upcoming events, issues facing preservation in the city of Pomona, and other items of interest to our members. Comments are always appreciated. Let us know what you'd like to see discussed. You can email us at: President@PomonaHeritage.org. Thank you. Deborah Clifford President Pomona Heritage

Just click on image and print

On my walk today

 

Ren's got a new bag, well it's better then what I have now. The one on the left I've had for like 12 years or so, and of course the one on the right is the one I found. It's to bad there wasn't a new camera inside, that would of made my day. But Hey I still got a new ( for me ) camera bag and believe me I needed one.