BEVERLYPRESS.COM INSIDE • Streets plan moves forward. Partly cloudy, pg. 3 with highs in • State prepares the mid 70s for census. pg. 6 Volume 29 No. 17 Serving the Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hancock Park and Wilshire Communities April 25, 2019 BHUSD annual Measure E L.A. River cleanup marks 30 years n More bicyclists, audit shows improvement hikers and other By luke harold state law. visitors have been “I’m quite gratified frankly that of drawn to the area An annual audit report showed that 20 recommendations from last year’s the Beverly Hills Unified School report, eight were resolved and 11 are By cameron kiszla District has made progress on some apparently in progress of being on the persisting issues it has faced resolved,” school board member Mel while managing construction funded Spitz said during an April 23 Board In the not too distant past, any- by Measure E. of Education meeting, attributing the one who wanted to discuss clean- Issues with properly documenting progress in part to new leadership ing up the Los Angeles River payments and showing that contracts overseeing the construction. “I think would have to begin by explaining were competitively bid have repeat- there’s hope that next year’s audit will to many Angelenos that the river edly appeared on the annual indepen- even exists. dent audits, which are required by See Construction page 21 Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, said that was the case sometimes when he first got involved with the Friends of the LA River’s Great LA River CleanUp in 2002, photo by Cameron Kiszla but in the years since, that’s Susan O’Connell of Larchmont Village was one of thousands of changed. Angelenos who have volunteered to clean up the Los Angeles River. “There’s a lot more awareness Saturday, April 27, is the last day to participate. now about the environmental issues and the environmental District, Assemblywoman Wendy years he’s been involved with the goals that we have for the L.A. Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), repre- group, he’s already seen the 51- River and the cleanup,” O’Farrell sentatives from FoLAR and others mile river improve, which is said. gathered to mark the 30th annual encouraging Angelenos to enjoy The growing awareness was on cleanup and get to work on clean- the “incredible natural resource.” full display at Lewis MacAdams ing up the middle section of the “Over time, as [the river] photo courtesy of the Beverly Hills Unified School District Riverfront Park on April 20, when river. improves, you see more bikers, O’Farrell, Los Angeles City M-K O’Connell, who serves on The district conducts an annual independent audit for its construction See River page 21 program funded by bond measures as required by state law. Councilman David Ryu, 4th FoLAR’s board, said in the 13 Los Angeles says ‘no more plastic straws’ Local leaders, community n State, county have remember Armenian Genocide also cracked down on Constantinople became Istanbul polluting plastics By cameron kiszla and the Ottoman Empire became Turkey, but there has been no On April 24, 1915, the govern- recognition of a systematic effort to By edwin folven ment of the Ottoman Empire round- destroy the Armenian people from ed up more than 200 notable the Turkish government, which said Los Angeles became the largest Armenians in Constantinople. Over the mass killings were only part of city in the country to prohibit restau- the next few years, 1.5 million World War I. rants from giving plastic straws to Armenians lost their lives in one of However, when the word geno- customers unless requested when an the first modern genocides. ordinance spearheaded by City In the century since then, See Armenian page 22 Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, went into effect on April 22. O’Farrell joined environmental advocates, city public works offi- cials and a representative from McDonald’s to announce the new photo by Edwin Folven ordinance, which became law on Councilman Mitch O’Farrell (center) joined environmental advocates, Earth Day. The group gathered in city officials and local business owners on Earth Day to celebrate the Bond Park in Atwater Village next city’s plastic straws only by request ordinance taking effect. to the Los Angeles River to empha- size the need to restrict plastic now, they found out, through their out of a comprehensive solution that straws because of their impact on coastal cleanups, that one out of not only reduces single-use plastic the environment. every five items found on the beach pollution from winding up in our “Working with us every step of is a plastic straw. Those plastic environment, but also ensures that the way again is the environmental straws, that end up in our gutters or anyone who needs a straw can still community. A recent report revealed the river either become embedded have access to one,” said Shelley that every day, there are 500 million in the river or they end up in the Luce, president and CEO of Heal photo from the Los Angeles city attorney’s Twitter account plastic straws used in the United ocean … or they are consumed by a the Bay. Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, Councilwoman Monica States,” O’Farrell said. “No one marine mammal, and that often The state of California has adopt- Rodriguez, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and City knows better about that than Heal leads to a slow, agonizing death.” Attorney Mike Feuer joined the Armenian Genocide Remembrance See Straws page 21 the Bay, because for several years “We’re thrilled to support the roll March in Little Armenia. 2 April 25, 2019 CALENDAR Park Labrea News/Beverly Press Tetzlaff Trio Red Hen Press cussion on their new book, “Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into Chamber music aficionados won’t want Join Paul Barnes (pictured) for a perfor- the Heart of America” on Monday, to miss a performance by the Tetzlaff mance of “Red April 29, at 11:30 a.m. The New York Trio on Friday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Hen Press: The Times best-seller about the couple’s the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Figure of Orpheus five-year, cross-country journey is the Wallis Annenberg Center for the in Poetry and basis of an HBO documentary. The Performing Arts. Violinist Christian Performance” on cost is $30 for members; $40 for non- Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff and Sunday, April 28, members. Reservations are required. pianist Lars Vogt come together for a at 2 p.m. in The 743 S. Lucerne Blvd. (323)931-1277, perfectly paired evening of music by Edye at The Broad ext. 131, or email Schumann and Dvorak. Tickets start at Stage. Barnes will [email protected]. $55. 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. the- captivate audience members with the wallis.org. Orphée Suite for Piano, his transcrip- tion of Philip Glass’s symphony Comedy show Pet vaccinations Orphée for Solo Piano. Poetry Society Enjoy a show by comedian Michael of America Director Alice Quinn will Sherman on Tuesday, April 30, at 1:30 Pet owners are invited to a Low-Cost also perform contemporary poems on p.m. at the Plummer Park Senior SPCA-LA Pet Vaccination Clinic on the Orphic theme, and a film clip will Center. Sherman performs imperson- Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 be shown from Marcel Camus’ “Black ations of Hollywood legends. p.m. in West Hollywood’s Plummer Orpheus.” Tickets start at $35. 1310 Admission is free. 7377 Santa Monica Park Community Center. Vaccines for 11th St., Santa Monica. (310)434-3200, Blvd. (323)654-6505. dogs and cats will be offered, and par- thebroadstage.org. ticipants can learn about preventing canine influenza virus. All dogs must be on leash or in a carrier, and all cats must ‘One Day Plays’ be in carriers. 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. IAMA Theatre Company will create (888)SPCALA1, spcala.com. five new plays in a single day at the fifth annual “One Day Plays” festival on Sunday, April 28, at 7 p.m. in the WeHo Arbor Day Greenway Court Theatre. Tickets start Plant a tree for Arbor Day at a celebra- at $40. 544 N. Fairfax Ave. (323)380- tion on Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. 8843, iamatheatre.com. to 10 a.m. at Laurel Park in West Hollywood. The event is the city’s annual observance of the holiday. 1343 Los Angeles photo courtesy of The Wallis N. Laurel Ave. (323)848-3116, weho.org. Red Bridge Arts and Traverse Theatre Company present “Black Beauty,” Doctors Symphony galloping into the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts from The Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Friday, April 26, through Sunday, May 5, in the venue’s Lovelace Studio Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro The Spring Quartet Theater. The production is a re-telling of the story of hope, friendship and Ivan Shulman, presents a piano extrava- courage. It blends storytelling, music and puppetry for a tale of fun and ganza on Sunday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at at Ford Theatres adventure. Showtimes are 7 p.m., Friday; 2 and 5 p.m., Saturday and the New Roads School’s Moss Theater in Ford Theatres presents a performance Santa Monica. Piano prodigy Reina Sunday. Tickets are $25. 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. (310)746-4000, by The Spring Quartet – Jack Hewes and local pianists Sylvie Ollivier, DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza thewallis.org. Deborah How, Rufus Choi and Robert Spalding and Leo Genovese – on Theis will perform works by Poulenc, Saturday, April 27, at 8 p.m.