Local News

A Citywalk for N.H.?

Your support is needed for a major redevelopment project at Valley Plaza in No Hollywood. Valley Plaza is located in the Laurel Canyon Earthquake Disaster Assistance Project on Laurel Canyon at Victory. This exciting new community project will revitalize the Plaza with more than 1,000 new jobs and contribute a $1.4 million increase in sales tax revenues. Nearby commercial and residential values will rise, and private investment will be attracted to the area.

Prospective developer, J. H. Snyder Co. has been working with The Jerde Partnership, one of the premier commercial architectural firms in the world (CityWalk; Horton Plaza, San Diego; Bellagio Resort, Las Vegas; Canal City Hakata, Japan) to design a fabulous new multi-usage entertain-ment/retail plaza. Sears and Wells Fargo Tower are staying. Proposed are a new cinema complex (4,000 seats), office buildings, 800,000 sq.ft of new development for a total development 1 million sq ft., landscaping, and 5,600 parking spaces.

The award of An Exclusive Right To Negotiate to has been approved by the CRA Board of Commissioners and now needs to be approved by the City Council. It is urgent that you write letters of your support to City Council President John Ferraro, City Hall East, 200 N. Main St. Rm. 514, Los Angeles, Ca 90012; and to Councilman Joel Wachs City Hall East, 200 N. Main St. rm 402, Los Angeles, CA 90012; fax your letters to 213-847-0636. Please be sure to send your letter as soon a possible. Call 818-734-9790 for info.

Campo Update
Greenwood & Associates have just concluded their archeological report on the Campo de Cahuenga to MTA regarding its historic importance, the archeological findings there and the importance of the building and site. The Board of Directors of Campo de Cahuenga are currently working with The Parks and Recreations Dept. and Universal Studios towards obtaining a Getty Grant of $75,000, which could lead to a grant of $250,000 for its development. The MTA has promised to put a new wall around the Campo before the subway opening June 24, and the Parks Dept. is scheduled to add a 20 foot alley and parking lot. For info on Friends of the Campo, call 818-762-3998.

Talent Act
The Conference of Personal Managers (COPM) recently honored No Hollywood resident Michael Cushman for serving as their president for the past 4 years. He has been a personal manager for 14 years. As President of the COPM, Cushman along with Pat McQueeny (Harrison Ford's Manager) lobbied for the Talent Mangers Act which allows managers to submit actors for casting in conjunction with talent agencies. Cushman's advice to talent is "not to listen to everybody. Be yourself. Don't emulate other performers...the fear of reaching what you've desired can get in your way.”

Art Contest Winners Go to Sacramento
Assemblymember Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) has encouraged high school students to participate in his First Annual Arts Festival. A contest for the festival was recently presented by the San Fernando Valley High School Advisory Commission, a group of high school students who meet to review and propose legislation and hold community events. The contest consists of three categories: black and white media, color media and 3-dimensional/sculpture. The winning artist in each category wins a trip to Sacramento to see their artwork displayed at the State Capitol building.

Teachers from high schools in the San Fernando Valley have been selected as judges for the contest. Selected entries will be featured at the Studio City Farmer's Market. For info call Eddie Shiomi at 818-904-3840. In an unprecedented bipartisan vote, Assemblymember Robert M. Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) was elected as the next speaker of the California State Assembly. Speaker-elect Hertzberg will be sworn in formally on April 13.

GRANTS
Grants for youth arts services applications available in April: arts organizations, non-arts organizations and individual artists working with organizations on youth arts programs that are collaborative and strengthen community interaction; Cultural Affairs Department Grants Office 213-620-8635. Regional Arts GRANTS WORKSHOP designed to help in preparing strong and competitive applications; Apr 15, 10am-12pm; Echo Park Library, 1410 W. Temple St., Down-town; 213-620-8635; Apr 18, 6pm-8pm; Congressional District Office of Congressman Xavier Becerra, 1910 Sunset Bl. #560 (Glendale Federal Bank Bldg.), L.A. 213-620-8635.

Festival & Subway open on same day
NoHo International Theatre & Arts Festival, June 24-25 will offer a visual and performing arts showcase featuring multicultural music and dance with four outdoor stages, live theatre with over a dozen indoor stages, photography & studio art exhibitions with three open-air art galleries. Also, demonstrations of cooking at the International Taste of NoHo, a cutting edge fashion show, and interactive entertainment for kids along with 200 booths devoted to crafts and cuisine. The festival is designed to showcase NoHo artists of all ages and disciplines. 5,600 free indoor theatre tickets will be provided to the public for the festival.

Also opening that day is the Metro Red Line No. Hollywood station. The extension is currently on budget and 6 months ahead of the Dec. 31, ‘00 deadline. The opening of the new 6.3-mile extension of the Metro Red Line subway from Hollywood to Universal City and No Hollywood will be the capstone of a rail rapid transit system crisscrossing Los Angeles County.

The new Metro Rail extension will feature three new stations at Hollywood/Highland, Universal City and Lankershim/Chandler in No Hollywood. At the same time the subway extension opens to No Hollywood in June, MTA will also debut its new Metro Rapid buses on Ventura Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley and along Wilshire Blvd. to expedite bus connections to the subway station.

In addition, the span of late night Metro Rail service will be increased, which will include late night service to No Hollywood.

I CAN READ
Tutoring sessions which aim to teach literacy to limited English-speaking students were initiated by the Rotary Club of No Hollywood in Feb. with the help of No Hollywood High School. Students from N. H. High's ABLE Academy of "Future Teachers" program have spent every Saturday morning since then tutoring 2nd through 4th graders at Fair Ave. Elementary School and First Presbyterian Church of No Hollywood. All the tutors are bi-lingual and 15 different languages are represented. There are 30 tutors who teach 4 children each using LAUSD selected readings and spelling books, word games and computer programs.

The No Hollywood Rotary Club donated funds to pay these dedicated future teachers (all female) for their valuable time. They donated the computers the children work with at each site as just one part of the program. They also come to each and every session to ensure that there is adult supervision of the entire session. Last month a small ceremony was held for each school celebrating the completion of the first set of 10 week sessions. A second set of "I CAN READ" sessions began again on March 25.

NoHo’s Angel
Lillian Burkenheim-Silver of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Los Angeles was honored last month at El Portal's opening of Rollin' on the T.O.B.A. for her dedication to the arts in the NoHo community, which is fast becoming a Mecca for theatre, art galleries, dance studios, recording studios, dining and retail. Ms. Burkenheim-Silver spearheaded the restoration effort of the area now known internationally as the Noho Arts District of No Hollywood.

Ms. Burkenheim-Silver has been instrumental in the effort to attract development and businesses to the community. The Pit Fire Pizza Co., Ralph's Shopping Center, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Hewlett Packard Building, the Academy Apartments for Seniors, the Lankershim Arts Center, The Theatre of Hope, and the El Portal Center for the Arts are some of the recent tenants contributing to the bright new landscape. The CRA has also completed over 900 housing units in and around the NoHo Arts District, as well as numerous public improvement projects.

Ms. Burkenheim-Silver is from Glendale, where the L.A. River, the train tracks and and the "horsies" meet. A Hoover High graduate, Ms. Burkenheim-Silver went to UC Santa Barbara and CSUN for her degree in Public Administration, and has worked for the CRA for over 20 years. Before the CRA, Burkenheim-Silver worked fort he Camp Fire Girls and the United Way. She is also working on redevelopment projects at Valley Plaza in No Hollywood and the North East Valley.