Too Many Chiefs?

HHPNC cooks up a plate of problems- may be de-certified

by Tom Topping

The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council (HHPNC), after about 6 years of comparative peace and tranquility, (as neighborhood councils go that is) has descended into a quagmire of bickering, back biting and inaction, as meeting after meeting has gone by barely scratching the surface of agendas overloaded with action items backed up from previous meetings. It has descended low enough that the Council is in danger of being de-certified.
At the latest of these meetings, (March 19) during the last five minutes of the meeting, discussion on an important agenda item that should have been easily concluded never even came to a vote, as arguing about practically nothing used up the last five minutes that could have been used to discuss the item and vote on it. It was the closest they came that night to accomplishing anything.
I was asked to attend, and the person who called assured me that "fireworks" would be the order of the day. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, the fireworks never materialized. It was, however, clear that something was going on, as in the previous weeks, a flurry of forwarded e-mails showed up in my in-box, the back and forth of which was at least annoying and on closer examination simply depressing. Most notable was HHPNC President Dr. Richard Dyke getting really defensive, calling four of his fellow council members "Generals" and describing them as ruling cabal of conspirators. But, as it takes two to tango, he was not alone.
Chris Smith had also taken the bait and accused Dr. Dyke of "exploiting the death of two children for political gain," which of course spurred a counter attack. It was more reminiscent of something you'd expect to see among third graders than people who are old enough to be adults twice over.
During the March 19th meeting, I knew something was up, but the board members were minding their manners very nicely. It wasn't a surprise, as myself, the DONE (Department of Neighborhood Empowerment) coordinator and another local journalist were in attendance.
After the meeting was adjourned, I asked Dr. Dyke if he would have a phone call with me to tell his side of the conflict. I then asked around for someone (well, I wanted part of the cabal, really) to tell the opposing side, but did not find any takers ready to speak their mind.
As my deadline neared, I finally called Dr. Dyke to hear his side. He was very open, indeed. There was no doubt in my mind that he believes he is doing what is in the best interest of the council and the community. He unhesitatingly put everything on the table as we talked. "We've had a divided board since January 2008," he said. He explained that the board is divided, and the new group does not want to abide by the long established policies and practices of the HHPNC. It was clear he was defensive about the latest proposed revisions to the bylaws (something that the city has insisted needs to be done ASAP) and thinks Brown Act (open meeting law) violations have occurred by the way certain votes have gone. (It is against California law for a member of a government body to even discuss an issue with another board member outside a publicly noticed meeting- but many government officials regularly break that law.) He said he thought that Nicole Gatto had tried to cut corners, as she pushed for funding for her pet project, the community garden. He also thought that newer councilmembers were making bylaws changes in order to make it easier to remove him.
"Are you a person who puts the ends before the means, or vice versa?" I asked. He knew what I meant and I knew his answer before he said it. Dr. Dyke clearly, as a Professor of American political history and political science, working as a contract analyst, is all about staying true to the process, laws and rules limiting government bodies. To him, the process must be followed regardless of the benefits achieved by the end result. Of course, that doesn't mean that that is the best way to chair a Neighborhood Council meeting.
One of the recently seated members, David Baird did not mince words. "We have a leader who doesn't lead," he said. Baird claims Dr. Dyke alters agenda items and intentionally delays agenda items from being addressed. Mr. Baird admits, though, he is more concerned with the end result than the means to get there. He denies that he is working to remove Dr. Dyke.
Board member Maggie Godoy said there are a lot of problems, and members are not getting along. "If you ask a question or don't agree they take it personally," she said. " I think we should let the president run the meeting with less interruptions- and if people don't like the way he runs it, don't vote for him next time."
Much of the tension can be written off to personality conflicts. A handful of folks are very independent types and used to being the one who is leading- not one who is following.
Nicole Gatto, one of the recently seated members, has a long history of leading. Smart and capable she is, but very evasive as I asked her about the recent problems on the HHPNC. She tried to convince me that I should not even be covering the latest problems on the HHPNC.
She resisted all of my questions and attempted repeatedly to question me. When I finally told her that in America, it is the responsibility of the media to question government officials, and not the place of government officials to question the media, I finally got to my questions.
How did she feel about the bylaws, the Brown Act and Robert's rules of order? Nicole answered with practically a dictionary definition of each of these things. "I'm not asking you to explain them, I already know what they are," I said. Finally, after a few minutes talking around the subject, she said, "We should respect and follow them."
Would she like it if Dr. Dyke was replaced as Chair? I had to ask three times before I got something other than a long and winding response that did not answer my question. Finally, she said of Dr. Dyke, "He has misconstrued a lot of things," which I figured was probably about the closest thing to an answer I would get, and sounded more like a yes than a no.
She really dug in at one point and insisted I tell her the direction my story would be taking. Well, one thing I did not hear anyone say about Nicole was that she wanted to control everything. If I had, my experience talking to her would have surely confirmed it.
Lastly she added, "I think there's a lot of really good, stand up people on the board, they have principles and stay true to them. The highlight of this has been to get to know them and serve with them."
Well, at least she did talk to me, as opposed to when I called councilmember Gemma Marquez, who snarled at me, "Who gave you my cell number?!" It was on the HHPNC website. Then, she exclaimed, "I'm not going to comment!" and hung up on me.
Ms. Marquez was pointed out by three people as the ringleader of the HHPNC's problems. They all seemed scared to death of her, though, giving credence to other's claims of intimidation.
Newly seated board member Christina Amezquita said that she felt very intimidated after bringing her first agenda item to the board earlier this year. "I got 30 minutes of badgering," she said.
She didn't like things being held up in process, like Nicole's community garden project, and thought that Dr. Dyke was uneven in his chairing of the meetings. She thought there was a movement to remove him, and added she felt disenchanted with the entire neighborhood council process.
On Thursday, April 2, another long list of agenda items will be before the HHPNC, not the least of which are bylaws changes that, while being required by the city, have the council split. Are they written to make it easier to get rid of Dr. Dyke? Some think so. Could Dr. Dyke do a better job as President and Chair? There's always room for improvement. Can some council members with strong personalities like Nicole and Gemma let go of their obsession for control, and let the elected president run the meetings that way he sees fit? I doubt it, but it is entirely up to them.

Huizar Celebrates $198 Million in Stimulus Funds for Filipino Veterans

Councilmember José Huizar joined WWII Filipino veterans, their families and supporters Saturday in Eagle Rock to celebrate Congress' decision to provide restitution payments to the veterans, benefits the servicemen have been pursuing for 63 years. The $15,000 one-time payments to Filipino veterans who are U.S. citizens and $9,000 for non-U.S. citizens, amounts to $198 million set aside by Congress and signed into law recently by President Barack Obama as part of the federal stimulus bill.
"With the same tenacity and courage they displayed on the battlefield, Filipino veterans never gave up in their battle for restitution, asking only to be treated like every other U.S. veteran," said Councilmember José Huizar. "While this outcome isn't perfect, it goes a long way in telling the whole world that our country recognizes and values our Filipino veterans and we are forever indebted to them for their exemplary service."
After being called into service during WWII by Executive Order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, more than 260,000 Filipinos joined the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines, which was then a U.S. territory. In 1946, Congress passed the Rescission Act, stripping Filipino veterans of the same benefits available to other U.S. Veterans.
There are an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 Filipino WWII veterans still living in the U.S. and abroad who are eligible to receive the payments.

Departures: Eagle Rock

by Tom Topping

An interesting project sponsored by KCET and collaborated with Occidental College was "launched" last month on the internet. "Departures," a web based documentary/ web site project that has spotlighted Watts and Boyle Heights in the past now has Eagle Rock Boulevard as its latest subject.
The launch party held at March 19 in Occidental College's Weingart Art Gallery brought out students who worked on the project, the people spotlighted in the documentary as well as other interested community and college members.
The project located at http://kcet.org/local/departures/ eagle_rock/ is accessible directly or from the KCET or Occidental College web site. The new web-based documentary on Eagle Rock Boulevard is the fruit of an innovative collaboration between KCET-TV and Occidental students enrolled in a documentary film course.
The interactive "Departures: Eagle Rock" website uses a series of interviews with local residents to tell the story of Eagle Rock Boulevard, the "main street" of the Northeast Los Angeles college community known for its mixture of vintage small businesses and hipster hot spots.
Last fall, students in Katie Mills' documentary theory class studied the ethics and aesthetics of filmmaking by leaving the classroom and going to nearby Eagle Rock Boulevard. There, each student selected locals – more than 50 people altogether – to tell stories about the past and present of the boulevard. This complex portrait of a neighborhood in transition features the people found in the area's small businesses and coffee shops, on the bus and in the bowling alley, in the Philippine Village and the Presbyterian Church, doing laundry and serving lunch.
Eagle Rock Boulevard joins the Boyle Heights and Watts documentaries created for the Departures series on Los Angeles neighborhoods under the direction of KCET's Juan Devis. Mills, an adjunct professor of film and media studies at Occidental, and Devis planned the project for several months before students were enlisted to conduct hours of interviews.
A reception for the community, participants, and campus for the Departures exhibition featured computer access to the documentary, images of some of the Eagle Rock participants, and a map where gallery visitors can add their own name and location.
The documentary crew includes Rachel Andersen '10; Dino Dinko '08; Adam Elkus '10; Debbie Kim '10; Bena Li '10; Katherine Lonsdorf '09; and Andrew Valdes '09. Occidental's Community Based Learning Center helped make the project possible by providing funding support for Gerry Maravilla '09, who organized all the hours of digital documentation.
It was slightly uncomfortable yet somehow exhilarating to view a subject that we are so familiar with, but also foreign when viewed through the eyes of Oxy students and professional documentarians. But on this night, everyone was positive and fascinated with not just the technology, but the innovative concepts used.
You should see it for yourself, but the video portraits were, well, quite unique, with the subject standing completely still while the rest of the world keeps rolling right on by. The audio was thought inspiring in, shall we say, an artistic way. (Can you hear someone say; I may not know art, but I know what I like!) The photos are intertwined in a patchwork collage that manages to pull the eye in a flow and direction, that is interesting and surprising, yet satisfying.
Every person out there who feels he is an Eagle Rocker owes it to himself to check it out.
http://kcet.org/local/departures/eagle_rock/

The Oxford Gargoyles,

an Acapella singing group of students from Oxford University, England performed at Occidental College last month. They offered to sing at Colombo's restaurant for their meal. (Photo) Manager Vic Parrino was so impressed with their performance and personality, he invited them back, and fed them dinner as well. They were excited to be going to a performance of professional Acapella singers in Oceanside, the next day. The group has been active for 12 years, and of course, rotates singers in and out as they go from freshman to graduation at Oxford. The singers are: Rhiannon Drake, Alice Gimblett, Hannah Fulford, Hannah Padmore, Freya Ward-Smith, Genevieve Dawson, George Chambers, Andy Bartlett, Callum Au, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Bloch, Francis Newson. You can hear samples of their music at their myspace page at:
http://www.myspace.com/theoxfordgargoyles.

Shirley Ann Leutjen
1940 – 2009

Shirley Ann Leutjen passed away peacefully in Eagle Rock this past Tuesday March 24, 2009. Shirley was exactly 68 years and 3 months old when she said her goodbye to her loving friends and family after a life full of love, happiness and commitment to her family.
She was born in a small town, Excelsior Springs , Missouri on December 24, 1940, the only child of Homer and Kathleen Hunt. She married Robert Allen Leutjen, in May 1960, and they moved to Long Beach , California where Robert was stationed in the Navy. Her daughter, Cheryl Leutjen , was born in Long Beach .
They moved from California to Kansas City , Missouri in 1964, where Cheryl's only sister, Lisa, was born. Shirley always dreamed of moving back to California one day -- especially during the long, freezing Missouri winters.
And, eventually, she did come back, in 2002 to be near her daughter Cheryl Leutjen and her husband David who put down their own roots to raise a family in Eagle Rock. Cheryl and David are the parents of Cameron, age 9, and Chloë, age 8, and they attend Eagle Rock Elementary School .
Shirley was a devoted mother, and a champion grandmother who was a staple figure at her grandchildren's dance recitals, swim lessons, school field trips, parent-teacher conferences and school performances.
She was also a tireless friend and companion, who would give of herself in any way possible to help others. She and her mother, Kathleen Hunt, became members of the Women's Twentieth Century Club of Eagle Rock immediately after moving to our area. Many in Eagle Rock knew Shirley from Cheryl's boutique, The Blissful Soul on Eagle Rock Boulevard where she spent countless hours helping Cheryl grow the business, and assisting customers who quickly became friends who would often stop by just to see Shirley. She was also a member of the Crescenta Scarlet Slippers of the Red Hat Society and the Unity of the Valley church.
Shirley loved spending time with her friends and family in Eagle Rock. She appreciated Eagle Rock's small town feel and vibrant community spirit…everything except the parking tickets.
Shirley was known for her humor, her smile, her spontaneous, free spirit, her candor, and her absolute determination to live life her own way. She survived breast cancer in 1992, and she was convinced to the very end that, with a strong positive outlook, she would be healed again. Unfortunately, even her indomitable will could not overcome the illness. She leaves behind her daughters Cheryl Leutjen and Lisa Leutjen of Austin , Texas , and her grandchildren Cameron and Chloë Meyer, whose lives have all been inspired by hers.
Since she was never one to mourn in sadness, a celebration was held on Saturday, March 28 at the Twentieth Century Women's Club in Eagle Rock, to honor the life and legacy of Shirley Leutjen. Shirley will also be honored at a service at her church, Unity of the Valley, 2817 Montrose Ave , La Crescenta, CA 91214, on Saturday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m. All are invited to attend the service.

Cruising with Mary

Happy Spring, Eagle Rock! As I start to write this month, it's with very mixed feelings about what direction to take with my update on the Eagle Rockin' Rodders Car Club and Oinkster. By now, many of you may have heard that after 16 years of holding monthly cruise-ins at this location, we have been told we are no longer welcome here. Now I could go really low-key with this and basically say Thank you and Goodbye. This is not really my style… or I could go all kamikaze angry about what has been done to the car club and how extremely upset I am about it. But I don't really want to do that either… So here I am, at odds with myself and how I feel I should approach this. Maybe I should try to make some sense of the "facts" and go from there. Then again, "facts" are always open to interpretation, depending on who is doling them out and who is reading them.
Club president Amy Peters spoke to Mr. Andre Guerrero, the owner of Oinkster by phone on Mar. 2, at which time he told her the club is welcome to continue our once monthly cruise-ins at his fast food venue. Three days before cruise-in night, Amy got a phone call from the female manager there stating we are no longer welcome and not to come back. Ever. Reasons cited in previous conversations were monetary: the manager claims that we do not spend any money during the 3 hours we clog up the parking lot with our hot rods, and that her statistics show that cruise in night is the lowest grossing Saturday night of the month. I strongly disagree, because when you bring 30-50 extra people in, which we do, and most of them spend money, how can it be your lowest night? Several other reasons have been stated in past conversations, such as the limited parking, and that guests park there in order to eat and spend money at Coffee Table across the street. Oh yes, and that there had been several accidents in the parking lot recently. The accidents did not happen on cruise night, and have nothing to do with us! As for the parking, open your eyes and take a look around Eagle Rock- this is a community which when originally built catered to walk-in businesses and parking was not at a premium. So basically, we are getting blamed for everything. And no one seems to be on the same page.
Appar- ently, tradition is not valued by the folks at Oinkster. The 16-year long tradition of the agreement (yes, we had one) to meet 11 times per year, the tradition of raffles which are sponsored by local merchants, the tradition of food and friends, the tradition of hot rods and rock n' roll -- and most importantly the tradition of "giving back to the community." These things matter to me, to us, but apparently not to them.
Common courtesy would dictate that we be given proper notice to find another location for our cruise-in. Apparently the tradition of common courtesy no longer exists either. So with a few days to find a location, we decided on an empty parking lot one block east of the previous location. The calls and emails went out -- and we had one of our best cruise-ins ever. At least 50 cars came through or parked that evening, resulting in a great raffle. Our friends in other car clubs came through with flying colors, as did our sponsors, some of whom stopped by as well. And that very evening we received at least one offer from a local gas station to hold next month's cruise-in there. I'll keep you posted on that information. As Arnold said, "I'll be back." Til next month, keep on cruising….

Eagle Rock Racers

Eagle Rock native Mark Eckart drives his modified Jeep, “CityFiedToo” at the sandrags. It is powered by a 468 Chevrolet, and runs the 100 yard sand strip in about 4 seconds.

Skid Row Racing

by Fletcher Figueroa

This month we revive an old feature called "Eagle Rock Racers." I can't remember when the last installment was, but in years past we have highlighted the auto racing exploits of Eagle Rock natives Max Norris, Clark Thomas, Joe Burns and of course Boulevard Sentinel editor Tom Topping, to name just a few. This month we profile Eagle Rock Racer Mark Eckart who has been competing a modified Jeep in the sand drags for four years now.
"Once it's in your blood, you can never get it out," said Mr. Mark Eckart. He was saying that once you get a passion for internal combustion engine fired competition, it never goes away. As he washed his bright yellow altered wheelbase Jeep CJ5, preparing for the next event, you could see it was a labor of love. He went over every inch of body, frame, wheels and tires until there was not a spot of dirt left anywhere.
As I looked it over, I noticed the bright though oddly familiar yellow paint, complete with "City of L.A." decals. The single bucket seat was mounted closer to the back tailgate than the dashboard, all protected by a shiny black cocoon of a roll cage. The tires, about 20" wide had paddles sticking out that would seem more at home on a water wheel than a vehicle.
The front tires jutted out far ahead of the grill, looking like they came off a farmer's tractor. On both front fenders, the insignia, "Skid Row Racing," was alive in decals.
Mark has been racing this machine in the Sand Drags, an event where competitors pair off two at a time, like in regular drag racing, except the track is made of soft and loose sand, and they only race for 100 yards.
He maintains and builds his own engines, chassis and rear ends, but leaves the transmission work to sponsor ReMac Transmission in San Dimas. Mark is starting the 2009 season only 4 years and two engines since he first raced his jeep, named "Cityfiedtoo #128" which he jokingly says refers to himself after becoming a L.A. City employee some years ago. "After you've been there a while you become cityfied!" he exclaims.
He has had some success, winning his class at the 2008 Spring Nationals, held at Stateline, Nevada. In the two day event he finished 3rd on Friday and 1st in Saturday's eliminations, earing him $1400 in purse money. Of course, winning money is not what this sport is about, as the 468 cubic inch Chevrolet engine he runs costs five to ten times that amount, if nothing goes wrong, that is.
"After I built the engine I was tearing up camshafts and I couldn't figure out why," he said. Finally, after consulting with every racing engine builder in the city he discovered the problem had to do with his break-in procedure, but instead chose to go with a roller cam (no break-in required) anyway, which fixed the problem. "It's a lot more responsive now," he added.
The tire bill is nothing to sneer at either. The rear tires, oddly looking like paddle wheels, cost $536 each, but will last for years if taken care of. They run with 6 to 8 lbs of pressure, depending on the track. "It's finally got now where it's perfect, I mean, I go to the race, back it off the trailer, I run it all weekend long, I beat the hell out of it, and drive it back on the trailer, bring it home, park it, and a month later go to another race."
This is how Mark likes to unwind and spend time with his family after working his department of street services job at the City of L.A. The moniker of his race team, "Skid Row Racing" is only a playful reference to what he does every day, which is to clean up after the homeless people who live on skid row in downtown L.A.
The jeep's color, looking so much like street maintenance yellow, was actually mixed and matched by Earl Scheib auto painting in Glendale. "It's not an exact match, but it's really close," Mark added. Of course, there is no way his Jeep could be mistaken for an official city vehicle, but it get a lot of thumbs up from other city workers he sees at the races.
Racing and hot rodding runs in the family, as Marks step-dad, Ron Kowalski has participated with the local car clubs for years, and even the granddaughter, Chelsea Eckart, tried her hand at racing. In Mark's first Jeep, the original Cityfied, she tried her hand at sand dragging after her dad built the more sophisticated Cityfiedtoo. However she rolled it several times in the first practice session, scaring the hell out of dad, who decided her racing days were over.

VOICE IN THE EAGLE ROCK WILDERNESS
by Christopher Nyerges

[Nyerges is a manager at the Tuesday Highland Park farmers market who regularly teaches self-reliance classes. His schedule can be seen at www.ChristopherNyerges.com. His latest book, "Off the Grid: A Little or a Lot," will be released this summer.]
STAYING COOL USING NATURAL PRINCIPLES
Sometimes the pressure of economics is the only way to get people to do the right thing. Yes, there are folks who grew their own food because it was better and they liked doing it, but even more are doing so because it's also a way to save money.
Part of our energy problem here in the U.S. is that home builders just assumed that we'd forever have a cheap source of power and that it would never run out. That led to building homes that were not planned around natural principles of heating and cooling. Fortunately, more and more builders and home-owners are waking up, and insisting on well-insulated homes, and alternate energy sources.
One of our best educational sources is right here in Northeast Los Angeles – The Audubon Center at Debs Park.
Among the many other things you can learn from the Audubon Center at Debs Park, they cool the center with solar thermal cooling.
SOLAR THERMAL COOLING
This is also known as absorption refrigeration. There are multiple alternatives to compressor-based chillers that can reduce energy consumption by 80%, with less noise and vibration. Solar thermal energy can be used to efficiently cool in the summer, and also heat domestic hot water, and the building in the winter. The Audubon Center at Debs Park is one example among many.
Patty Sun of the Center gave me a tour of this system, and was most impressed.
Here is how their web site describes the system. Yes, it sounds more complicated than it probably is, and this description is about as simple as you can get:
"Scant months after the Great Blackout of 2003, the Audubon Society at Debs Park unveiled in Los Angeles a demonstration site of a prime solution to the problems of the shaky electric grid and the relentless demand for electric power: solar-absorption air conditioning, a technology that runs completely on the free energy of the sun.
"The Audubon Society has chosen Los Angeles's Ernest Debs Regional Park, northeast of downtown L.A. as the site of the organization's first urban nature center.
"The use of a fully solar-powered air conditioning system in a new urban nature center meets several goals of today's broadbased environmental movement, including the encouragement of clean energy technologies and a greater big-city presence that brings nature to people who cannot easily leave the cities to travel to nature. The Audubon Center at Debs Park, according to the solar AC system's designer, James Bergquam of Bergquam Energy of Sacramento, will be the first completely solar-cooled building in southern California and one of only a handful in the world, the others being in Sacramento (where Bergquam has built two demonstration systems), Germany, Japan and China.
"The $90-thousand, 10-ton Los Angeles system utilizes an 800-square-foot array of 408 Chinese Sunda vacuum tube solar collectors, six-and-a-half-foot (2,000 mm)-long and nearly four-inch (100 mm)-diameter glass tubes, each enclosing a copper heat pipe and an aluminum nitride absorber plate (with a selective coating) that absorb the solar radiation. The Sunda tubes operate on a heatpipe principle: low-pressure water always present inside the tubes is heated to a vapor that flows up to the copper condenser section of the tube, (see next--->) a sleeve that protrudes from the condensor section of the internal heat pipe. This heats water flowing through the manifold that connects all of the tubes, transferring thermal energy from the collectors to the 1,200-gallon insulated high-temperature hot water storage tank. When the stored water reaches a minimum of 180 degrees F. (it can reach 192 degrees F.), hot water from the tank is pumped through the generator in a Yazaki 10-ton single-effect absorption chiller. A lithium bromide salt solution in the chiller boils and produces water vapor as a refrigerant that subsequently is condensed; its evaporation at low pressure produces the cooling effect in the chiller. This is transferred to the interior of the Audubon Center at Debs Park by chilled water that is pumped through the evaporator in the chiller and then through fan coil units in the building. The internal air in the building is blown across the coils that contain the chilled water, providing the interior cooling.
"The system also will provide space heating in the winter on any days cool enough to require that, and hot water throughout the year. The 10-ton absorption cooling system costs approximately $90,000 or $9,000 per ton. The third main component in the system is a Marley cooling tower. For the chiller, the nominal generator temperature is 190 degrees F., the cooling water inlet temperature is 85 degrees F., and the chilled water outlet temperature is 48 degrees F.
"A small amount of electricity is required to run the pumps that move the chilled water and hot water, and run the fans -- and this too is completely solar-powered, with some of the electricity from the new center's 25-kilowatt (kW) solar-photovoltaic system (more than 200 crystalline-PV panels) and battery bank that also powers the building's lights and electrical equipment."
The most significant aspect of fully solar-powered air conditioning is its capability of providing the service most in demand on the very hot days that most tax the electricity grid without using the grid: interior cooling. The same high solar insolation and hot weather that makes air conditioning the greatest contributor to peak electricity demand (and the occasional subsequent brownouts and blackouts) provides the greatest amount of energy to the solar AC technology.
"The matter of peak-load power demand should be a top priority of every politician following the wake-up call of the big blackout of 2003," suggested Ken Bergquam, a member of the Bergquam Energy team, as he looked down from the nature center's roof as he and two colleagues neared the completion of the Audubon installation."
Though this seems hardly the stuff of backyard do-it-yourself self-reliance, there are companies that sell systems based on this principle for residential use. For starters, check out www.solarpanelsplus.com.
Christina Amezquita
On behalf of my cat, Frida K, I would like to thank each of you for helping her and me. Frida kept her leg and I kept most of my sanity. The doctor says only good nutrition and time will possibly allow her leg to regain sensation. Everything else is fine. Hair grows back.
The total cost of veterinarian bills was $2,096.17. The North Figueroa Animal Hospital for X-rays and tranquilizer was $150. TLC Pet Medical Centers provided painkillers and stabilized Frida K for $210.86. CM Surgical group charged $216.71 for an orthopedic consultation and a small splint for the left paw. I finally took her to Dr. Hohne of the East Valley Vet Clinic, who is not a specialist, but the total cost was $1,500, and they let me pay in payments (i.e.. as donations came in).
The total was paid with part of my rent money, borrowed funds, a donation from Actors and Others, and numerous other contributions. The "other" donations came from my neighbors, my friends, people who read the Boulevard Sentinel, emails that had been forwarded, and those who saw my story printed on the internet via various sites. The majority of people who donated have never met Frida K. or me.
The police can't do anything because I don't know who did it. The detective also said that I was the only one in my area who had reported animal abuse. Although I had heard many stories of animal abuse from neighbors, no one has reported it. Please report it from now on. This means YOU need to do something. The phone number to the Animal Cruelty Task Force is 213.847.1417.
Consider the words of Mahatma Gandhi. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." I love my cat, but if we are hurting each other, then what can we expect for our animals?
I am interested in starting a neighborhood watch near the area of Avenue 53 near Monte Vista. I have contacted the Senior Lead Officer Ochoa to begin this process. There are many ways you can volunteer or do something to improve our community. Please feel free to contact me: c_b_amezquita@yahoo.com or 323.348.7762.

Poets
Brendan Constantine,
liz gonzález
Lead 2009
Lummis Day
Library Series

Noted Southern California-based poets Brendan Constantine and liz gonzález will be featured in this year's Lummis Day Library program poetry series, scheduled for the first three Saturdays in May at three Northeast Los Angeles branches of the Los Angeles Public Library.
The Lummis Day Library Program will lead into the Lummis Day Festival's gala poetry reading on June 7 at Lummis Home (200 E. Avenue 43, 10:30 am-noon.)
The schedule for the 2009 Lummis Day Library series is:
Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00pm-4:00pm,
Reading by Brendan Constantine with guest poets Mary Fitzpatrick and Jawanza Dumasani.
Cypress Park Branch, 1150 Cypress Avenue, Los Angeles 90065 (323) 224-0039
Saturday, May 9, 2:00 pm-4:00pm,
Reading by liz gonzález with guest poets Rachel Cruz and Cece Peri. Arroyo Seco Branch,6145 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles 90042 (323) 255-0537
Saturday, May 16, 2:00pm-4:00pm,
Writing workshop with Brendan Constantine and liz gonzález. Eagle Rock Branch,5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles 90041 (323) 224-0039
Saturday, May 23, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Open reading and pre-Lummis Day celebration, hosted by Suzanne Lummis. Bring your favorite work! (sign-ups at 1:30 pm) Braun Research Library at the Southwest Museum, 234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles 90065
Red Hen Press has just published Brendan Constantine's first official full-length collection entitled "Letters To Guns." The Poetry Super Highway calls it "the most anticipated first book by a Los Angeles based author since `The Big Sleep'."
Known for his dreamy abstraction and the emotional ferocity of his work both on the page and on the stage, Constantine has helped to shape the poetry scenes of Southern California. "Letters To Guns" follows the publication of six chapbooks by local small presses in both Los Angeles County and Orange County, several of which are still available from the author, or can be found at the Beyond Baroque collection in Venice Beach.
liz gonzález, a fourth generation Southern California native, earned her M.F.A. in English and Creative Writing at Mills College in 1999 and currently lives and writes in Long Beach, California.
liz's poetry, fiction and memoirs will soon appear in or have appeared in journals and periodicals such as BorderSenses, Cooweescoowe, Heliotrope, Luna, Brújula/Compass, Cider Press Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, and New Delta Review, and in anthologies such as Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles, So Luminous the Wildflowers: An Anthology of California Poets, and Grand Passion: The Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond. She is the author of the limited edition chapbook "Beneath Bone," published by Manifest Press.
She is a member of the Macondo Writing Workshop, a master-level workshop founded by Sandra Cisneros, and the assistant editor of the online magazine Speechless the Magazine. She teaches writing at Long Beach City College, literature at local universities, and creative writing at community centers, in private workshops, and through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. liz gonzález was a featured reader at last year's Lummis Day Festival.
The Lummis Day Library Program is partially funded by Poets & Writers Inc through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.
The 4th Annual Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles will be presented by the Autry National Center, the Annenberg Foundation and the neighborhood councils of Northeast Los Angeles on Sunday June 7. Additional support is provided by the Highland Park Heritage Trust and the Mount Washington Association. Program information can be found at www.lummisday.org.
--Eliot Sekuler