WWW.BEVERLYPRESS.COM INSIDE • Pride comes to WeHo. pg. 3 Partly cloudy, • Pot dispensaries with temps close. pg. 4 around 71º Volume 20 No. 23 Serving the West Hollywood, Hancock Park and Wilshire Communities June 10, 2010 School Attains Academic Excellence Caped Crusaders n Center Named Distinguished School Corralled After Four Years n LAPD Cracks Down on Costumed Characters BY AMY LYONS BY IAN LOVETT area in front of the Chinese Theatre almost entirely character-free on fter only four years serv- n Tuesday morning, Tuesday, except for a lone ing children from the Hollywood Boulevard Spiderman, perched atop a set of Agreater Hollywood area Obuzzed with camera flash- newspaper racks. in pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade, es, as tourists snapped photographs Increasingly, as the number of Hollywood Primary Center was of stars on the Walk of Fame, characters on Hollywood named a 2010 California Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, or a Boulevard has grown, local organi- Distinguished School, an award new wax sculpture of Judy Garland zations, including law enforcement, that recognizes improved perfor- that had just been unveiled outside have come to see the characters as a mance. of Madame Tussauds. public safety hazard, impediment to The school won the award Notably absent from the scene, business, and a nuisance for after raising its 2009 Academic however, were any of the masked tourists. Performance Index (API) by 45 performers, dressed up as movie Capt. Beatrice Girmala, of the points to 868, surpassing the characters, that have become a hall- LAPD’s Hollywood Division, said state’s goal of 800. The API is a mark of the boulevard. a number of characters have been scale that ranges from 200 to Last Friday and Saturday, offi- involved in violent confrontations. 1,000, and is calculated from the cers from the Los Angeles Police “We’ve seen an escalation in school’s performance in the Department’s Hollywood Division aggressive and violent confronta- Standardized Testing and arrested many of the characters on tions,” Girmala said. “We see it Reporting (STAR) Program. the boulevard, and warned others to with tourists who don’t pay the sug- With 100 percent of its stu- leave. The crackdown has left the See Crackdown page 20 dents qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program, Hollywood Primary Center has designed after-school groups in which four students work with photo by Amy Lyons one teacher to review and Students at the Hollywood Primary Center celebrated the award improve various skills. Principal Tuesday at an end-of-school year party. Megan Guerrero credits the school’s instruction and inter- “We are a small school that has names and creating real communi- vention programs, and the always set out to do something ty,” Guerrero said. school’s culture of safety and different in terms of including “Be safe, be respectful, be responsibility, for its success. families and knowing students’ See Center page 20 Grad Reaches the Top Despite Rough Start n Senior is Looking ing. four-year colleges at once. Next photo by Amy Lyons Except, he can’t attend, because year, he’ll enroll at Los Angeles Christopher Loomis was the only costumed character on Hollywood Forward to College he’s not a United States citizen. Community College. And in two Boulevard on Tuesday after police made arrests over the weekend. Though his family emigrated legal- years, after his sister graduates, Cho BY IAN LOVETT ly from South Korea and remains hopes to transfer to a UC school. n June 22, Hayoun Cho will on the path toward citizenship, he “I’m trying to transfer in a year graduate from Hollywood cannot apply for any government and a half,” Cho said. “At first, I OHigh School with a 4.1 financial aid. His parents, who run a thought it wasn’t fair that my sister Voters Choose Candidates GPA — better than an A average. small restaurant downtown, are got to go and I didn’t. But when the He’s been accepted to the currently paying for his sister to fall semester starts, I just have to University of California, San Diego attend UCSD, and simply cannot focus on my classes.” to Face Off in November — the school he dreamed of attend- afford to send both their children to It is a testament to Cho’s focus, work ethic, and talent that he can n LAUSD Funding Measure Defeated even talk about going to college. When he enrolled at Pico Middle BY AMY LYONS Former e-Bay CEO, Meg School in 2004, he didn’t speak a Whitman, received 64 percent of word of English. n Tuesday, California vot- the votes on the Republican side, Cho had grown up in Seoul, ers chose a Democratic beating the second highest vote- South Korea, and moved with his Oformer governor and a getter on the Republican slate, parents to Koreatown. He could Republican billionaire business- Steve Poizner, a former Insurance have attended a school with a large woman to duke it out in the race Commissioner of California. Korean population, but, because his for governor in November. In the United States Senate parents wanted him to learn California Attorney General Jerry race, voters elected Democrat English, they sent him to Pico Brown easily took the Barbara Boxer, who got 80 per- Middle School, where 90 percent of Democratic nomination in the cent of the votes for her party, and the students were Latino. primary election, garnering 84 Republican Carly Fiorina, who “When I heard students speak percent of the votes in his party took 56 percent of the votes. Spanish, I thought it was English,” against six other candidates who In other major statewide races, photo by Ian Lovett Cho said. “I couldn’t distinguish received between one percent and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Hollywood High School senior Hayoun Cho will graduate with a grade See Graduate page 22 four percent of the total votes. See Voters page 22 point average that is better than 4.0, and hopes to attend a university. %$# %$ # "! $$$ 2 June 10, 2010 Park Labrea News/Beverly Press 11 Contemporary honor California Lutheran University Cal end ar president, Chris Kimball, at mass ser- Crafts Market vices. The church will also honor ore than 250 artists will display Jeffrey Seymour for helping Hope Mjewelry, glassware, ceramics, with parking issues. A reception hand-painted textiles and more at the Contemporary Art catered by Mozza will follow the ser- Contemporary Crafts Market, which vices. 6720 Melrose Ave.; (323)938- will be held Friday, June 11- Sunday, Conversations 9135. June 13 at Santa Monica Civic awrence Asher Gallery will host Auditorium. The event has been a L“Contemporary Art showcase for burgeoning and estab- Conversations #5” on Saturday, June 14 The Songs of lished artists since its inception. 12, from 3:00pm – 5:00pm. The event Our Lives is the fifth in a series of panel discus- Visitors will have the chance to meet n Monday, June 14, a benefit sions on issues and exhibitions in the the artists behind some of the nation’s concert for the Fulfillment Fund, Southern California art world. O finest crafts. Hours are 10:00am - “Songs of Our Lives”, will take place Participating speakers include 6:00pm, both days. Admission is $8 at the Wadsworth Theatre. The con- art historian, critic and curator Betty for adults, free for children under 12. cert will feature a multi-award win- Ann Brown, critic Peter Frank and Call (310)285-3655. Santa Monica ning artist lineup including Stephen more. 5820 Wilshire Blvd.; (323)935- Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St. Bishop, L. Russell Brown, Mac Davis 9100. and more. Paul Reiser will host and perform with British singer song- The Spirit of 13 Open Studios writer Julia Fordham. The show Rhythm and Jazz begins at 7:30pm. Tickets are $150 at Redcat and VIP packages are available. Call he Ebell of Los Angeles will pre- n Sunday, June 13 and Monday (310)201-5033 or email sen a concert, “The Spirit of T June 14, Roy and Edna [email protected]. Rhythm and Jazz”, on Friday, June 11, O Disney/CalArts Theater at 7:30pm. Starring vocalist Nicolas (Redcat) will present “Studio: Beard and his quartet, the event fea- Summer 2010”, an ongoing series for 15 Insights Into tures free hors d'oeuvres with the new works and works-in-progress that price of admission. Tickets are $25 for Cancer offers audiences the opportunity to members; $30 for non-members. 4400 edical professionals from photo courtesy of Theatricum Botanicum experience original performances by Wilshire Blvd.; (323)931-1277. UCLA will host an informa- an interdisciplinary mix of experi- M All for One! tional workshop for cancer patients mental artists in Los Angeles. This Clockwise from left, Jim LeFavre, Kelly C. Henton, Melora Marshall and and survivors on Tuesday, June 15 at edition of Studio features six original 12 Summer Jackson McCord Thompson star in the Will Geer Theatricum 7:00pm at the Ronald Reagan Medical works. The show begins at 8:30pm Botanicumʼs new adaptation of “The Three Musketeers”, opening Center Auditorium, UCLA. Doctors Guitar Grooves both evenings. Tickets are $12. 631 wo-time Emmy-winning gui- Saturday, June 12 at 8:00pm. When a young dreamer named dʼArtagnan will discuss what to expect when W Second St.; (213)237-2800. Ttarist, Laurence Juber, will give a leaves home for Paris to become a member of the famed royal guard, treatment ends and survivorship concert at Boulevard Music in Culver The Musketeers, he encounters a trio of comrades who embody the begins. Topics discussed include City on Saturday, June 12 at 8:00pm.