Woodland Hills Neighborhood War Brews Over Trailer Sign
A reader of the blog and Woodland Hills resident writes:
Dear Hills of Woodland Guy,
This is Woodlandhillswatcher. I dig your posts. Now, I have an investigative reporting assignment for you, if you are interested: there is an a**hole, apparently well known by Valley cops and traffic cops, who parks these trailer signs all over the place advertising household security services for 19.99 a month. I think it is Lonestar Security. Currently he has a sign on the East side of TC at Dumetz. It is totally destroyed and has been for months, but he keeps getting towed, and then returning the sign. he’ll move it up or down one block each month, it gets destroyed by people who hate it, he wipes off the graffittii and just keeps going. Traffic cops say that they tow him all the time but he’ll just pay it, bring it back out, park it and leave it. He seems intent on just being a total asshole as the signs are barely legible due to spray painting by neighborhood heroes (i’m not one of them). I can’t imagine they serve any advertising function at all; i really think he just puts them there to goad neighbors and cops. Ubelieveable. We need Hills of Woodland to bust this case wide open!
woodlandhillswatcher
I went out this morning and got pictures of the sign at the root of this escalating neighborhood skirmish, as you can see above. I have also seen this same sign frequently parked near Shoup & Ventura Blvd. While trying to do a little research on the matter of trailer signs and parking, I discovered that there is a war that has been running since at least 2004 between and amongst the City of Los Angeles, Councilman Dennis Zine, and Lone Star Security’s boisterous front man Brucer Boyer.
This recent Daily News article sums it all up:
And, so the saga between Councilman Dennis Zine and Lone Star Security continues.
When last we heard of this, Lone Star regional manager Bruce Boyer was challenging Zine to a debate and promising to go to public events to try to force a confrontation.
That hasn’t really happened, but Zine is angry enough that last week he sent Boyer a letter escalating their feud, refusing any debate and including copies of complaints filed against Lone Star, including one from the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services where it was alleged Boyer pulled a rifle on a woman.
Zine has been on a campaign for the past year to try to ban the mobile advertising trailers Boyer and Lone Star have around the Valley.
“I do not wish to debate and/or otherwise meet with you,” Zine wrote. “I believe you are contemptuous of the law, and the debate, if any, should take place in a court of law.
“As a law abiding citizen, and a member of law enforcement for 41 years, I will continue to work on drafting laws to remove nuisance trailers.”
Boyer said he was not surprised by Zine’s refusal and that the allegations from 2003 were dismissed against him.
I am a big proponent of free speech. And, I think the community needs to realize that they may not like the signs, but as long as the guy moves them every three days, he should be left alone. Defacing the signs only makes them more of an eyesore for the community. Perhaps the neighborhood heroes should put their idle hands to better use and disable red light cameras. Wait, did I say that aloud? I’d never advocate that!
See the links below to two other archived articles about the history of Dennis Zine vs. Lone Star Security. Seems like a highly personal waste of taxpayyer dollars in what is probably more of a machismo ‘pissing contest’ than legitimate and important city business. Post your thoughts in the comments.
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CHIME Charter Elementary School Holding “Walk-N-Roll-A-Thon” Friday Jan 29
A concerned parent and reader of the blog wrote in to let me know that CHIME Charter Elementary School in Woodland Hills needs our help to save their music program.
She writes:
CHIME Charter Elementary School Walk-N-Roll-A-Thon to save Music Fri, Jan 29th. The proceeds go 100% toward supporting our beloved music program. The kids each need to collect sponsors, either at a set donation or a per lap rate. Checks can be made to Chime Charter Elementary and must be in by race day. You can also call in a pledge to 818 346 5100 and select option 3, to pay by credit card. We appreciate your support. Thank you!’
On Friday, Jan. 29, more than 320 kindergarten through fifth grade students are going to run, walk and roll their wheelchairs around the school track in an effort to save their music teacher’s job. They are asking their friends and family members to support their efforts by pledging a flat amount or an amount per lap.
“The amazing thing about this event is the community support and care for music instruction. The commitment of these families and their children to ensuring that we have a music program is literally demonstrated with the rubber hitting the road,” said Julie Fabrocini, the elementary school’s principal and executive director of the institute’s schools program.
The Walk-N-Roll-A-Thon is scheduled to take place from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. at the school located at 19722 Collier St. in Woodland Hills. The kindergartners will begin their quest at 1:15 p.m., followed by the first through fifth graders at 2 p.m.
Braving rain and mud last year, the elementary school students ran, walked and rolled their wheelchairs around the school track and raised more than $48,000 in pledges and donations. They were able to save their music program through June 2010.
But the state budget’s situation in many ways has gotten worse, and the music program’s future in the 2010-2011 school year, and beyond, is threatened again.
“The state’s budget crisis has impacted our ability to pay for high-quality classroom teachers,” Fabrocini said. “As always when we have to weigh the state’s requirements against children’s needs, the arts end up on the chopping block. What is most difficult about this is that we have no choice in the matter. Without these kids and their parents, we would continue to have no choices.”
Here’s a video where you can learn more about CHIME Charter Elementary School:
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Rotary Club Of Woodland Hills Sponsoring Ferne Saltzman Photo Art Show Jan 30th
L'Arc du Provence, Ferne Salzman (Photo used with permission)
The Rotary Club of Woodland Hills will sponsor a photo art show and sale featuring the works of artist Ferne Saltzman from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat., Jan. 30 at Clyde Porter’s Playhouse, 7242 Owensmouth Ave., Canoga Park.
The show will feature Saltzman’s works in a variety of sizes, both framed and unframed. Refreshments will be served. The show is open to the public with no admission charge.
All proceeds from the sale of the art will benefit Rotary International’s PolioPlus campaign to immunize children around the world from polio.
Saltzman studied at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. She was the official photographer of the Kodak Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta for 11 years. Her work is featured in several California galleries and regularly at fine art shows in Southern California and Arizona.
For more information, call Lois Koch at (818) 857-7566 or e-mail lois@ourbungalow.com.
Thanks to Ferne for providing me with the above image and permission to use it. Hopefully some of my readers can drop by on Saturday January 30th, and I hope to check it out myself.
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Escaping Rainy Gloom With A Chocolate Shake At The Habit
The Habit Chocolate Shake
This rainy and gloomy week has really been throwing me for a loop. Yesterday, around 5pm after work I decided to drop in on The Habit (22651 Ventura Blvd) for a little sweet spirit boosting joy – their Chocolate Shake. I had actually never had it before, but it was definitely very good. Very chocolaty, made with real ice cream, and topped with whipped cream. It really boosted my spirits up before I had to head back out in the pouring rain!
One of the major pluses about these rainy days is that places are not as crowded! Stay dry everyone!
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“ATM Skimmers” In Woodland Hills? Watch Out, Folks!
ATM Skimmer from CitiBank In Woodland Hills
I came across this interesting blog during a google search the other day, and it’s a little bit frightening! Apparently they make devices that slip over the card slot of ATM card readers to grab your card numbers and even use digtal cameras to get you entering your pin code.
Pictured below is what’s known as a skimmer, or a device made to be affixed to the mouth of an ATM and secretly swipe credit and debit card information when bank customers slip their cards into the machines to pull out money. Skimmers have been around for years, of course, but thieves are constantly improving them, and the device pictured below is a perfect example of that evolution.
This particular skimmer was found Dec. 6, 2009, attached to the front of a Citibank ATM in Woodland Hills, Calif. Would you have been able to spot this?
See the full article for more details and more pictures.
Seems like this story was picked up by about 1,000 security blogs and spam sites, but this quote seems to give a little more news oriented background. Just a little.
On December 6, 2009, a customer was using the Citibank ATM located at 22000 Ventura Bl, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. He discovered a skimmer on the machine that he was using. He also observed a second skimmer on the machine next to him. The customer called the police and the skimmers were recovered. It should be noted that the skimmer was designed to fit over the existing card slot and contained the card reader and the camera in one device.
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Tree Falls On Man In Woodland Hills
WOODLAND HILLS – A tree apparently fell on a man in Woodland Hills this afternoon as the first in a series of powerful storms pounded the Southland.
The accident in the 22000 block of a Buenaventura Street was reported about 2 p.m., said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
He had no information on the man’s condition.
No other details seem readily available, so if you know anything please leave a comment.
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Supercar Sunday Has Good Turnout At New Location, Westfield Topanga Promenade
I was going to check out the new venue for “Supercar Sundays” today at the Westfield Topanga Promenade but the only thing I ended up looking at this morning was the inside of my eyelids. Thankfully, I was able to get a report from one of my readers.
Jay Leno was there today with a million dollar Veyron! Guess he was trying to gain back popularity or viewer approval for this show.
There are some good pictures here. Autoblog.com has an entry about the event here.
There you have it, I’m sure one week soon I’ll make it out there to take a look. I’m kind of bummed out that I missed Jay Leno, even though I am definitely not a fan. I pray every night that they make a Late Shift 2.
Also, I spoke briefly to LAPD’s Senior LEAD Officer Rygh today, who was also in attendance at the event. He told me that there was quite a big turnout, and expressed his opinion that it’s a great thing for the mall, and for the car owners as well. Also, I asked Officer Rygh if there would be a January newsletter for Topanga Station, and he informed me that due to the frenetic pace of the holidays and an illness of the woman at the station who compiles the newsletter, they had to skip the January issue. However, there will be one in February.
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