Page 3: Longhorns, LBI & LACMA

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Hand it to Beverly Hills all day long as a high-end draw – but give Texas credit for loyalty to longshots, at least based on reports from Gregg Davis, who let on that the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel was crawling with visitors from the Lone Star State before their Longhorns took on USC at the Coliseum. The University of Texas footballers nearly rewarded their fellow travelers, beating expectations by a mile even as they lost a squeaker to the heavily favored Trojans. Davis was on break from his Houston-based D3 Energy, but it also was a homecoming for the USC grad, who worked various jobs on the floor of the Beverly Hills Hotel back when his father, the late mogul Marvin Davis, owned the place. … Gregg Davis and his wife, Elena, have nothing but praise for their new hometown, but you might expect to see them around here on a regular basis going forward. The I Am Waters Foundation that Elena founded in Houston has plans to expand its mission – making sure homeless folks have access to safe drinking water – to Los Angeles. The foundation has already provided nearly 4 million bottles of water to homeless shelters in six states. Visit IAmWaters.com for more about the nonprofit and its founder’s compelling personal story. … Kudos to Lenard Liberman and his Burbank-based LBI Media, which showed it can raise funds for folks in need even faster than it has grown its Estrella TV as an upstart network with an independent spirit that puts it on a competitive footing with corporate biggies Telemundo and Univision. Estrella and LBI’s radio operations ramped up a relief fund in response to recent earthquakes in Mexico, taking in $65,000 in donations within 48 hours. The initial goal was $100,000, but LBI soon decided to raise the bar, crediting viewers and listeners “who have been beyond generous.” The company has chipped in with chunks of valuable air time to promote the campaign during its seven daily newscasts and through its radio properties across the United States. Visit YouCaring.com/TodosConMexico to donate. … Anyone else notice the recent rough patch for Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walters, who just watched his ball club struggle through an 11-game losing streak and now is taking it on the chin in the financial press, with a drumbeat of reports of regulatory scrutiny, turmoil within the investment house and a feud with chief investment officer Scott Minerd? … Nice timing for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who had slated his “Furthering Economic Opportunity in LA County’s Second District” event for Sept. 21 at Cal State Dominguez Hills before he seized the opportunity to join with business advocate LAEDC in bringing together various interested parties to discuss countywide unity on a bid for Amazon.com’s second headquarters. … Anyone else notice that LACMA CEO Michael Govani is a headline speaker for the WSJ.Magazine’s upcoming D.Luxe conference, billed as a meeting of “tech’s most ambitious minds” and “creativity’s leading lights”? … Sullivan Says: Gary “The Wagman” Wagner goes beyond buzzwords to connect with community in a timeless fashion as a host on KJAZZ-FM (88.1) out of Cal State Long Beach.