Pride of Pacoima
The roar emanating from the northeast San Fernando Valley last week was the collective glee of a community responding to the induction of favorite son Ritchie Valens into the Rock and Hall of Fame.
Family and friends of Valens, who was just 17 when he died in the 1959 plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and the “Big Bopper” J.R. Richardson, have waged an emotional campaign to have him recognized by the hall, suffering several previous snubs.
In celebration, The Ritchie Valens Fan Club and the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation organized a musical celebration for Sunday, March 25, at Ritchie Valens Park in Pacoima.
“We feel we’ve accomplished a long-sought-after goal,” said Robin Pearson, Valens Park senior recreation director. “It’s been a bit like the journey taken by Don Quixote.”
Will the Real Jill Barad
Business-savvy voters in L.A.’s Fifth Council District may do a double-take when they step into the polling booth April 10 and see the name Jill Barad on the ballot. They might conclude that the ousted chairman and chief executive of Mattel Inc. has decided to try a new career.
But it’s actually another Jill Barad who is running for the seat. She’s a political consultant and university instructor who lives in Sherman Oaks. At a debate last week among the 11 council candidates, candidate Barad went to great pains to differentiate herself from her more famous and wealthier namesake, who received a $40 million severance package from Mattel.
“I’m not that other Jill Barad,” candidate Barad said in her opening remarks. “But boy, I could sure use that $40 million!”
Endless Inflation
Is it Alan Greenspan’s worst nightmare?
Famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who made a rare public appearance in L.A. last week, was explaining his theories of time and the expanding universe to a rapt audience at USC. He recounted recent observations that seemed to confirm the so-called “inflation theory” that the universe is expanding, and doing so at an increasing rate.
Then he had some words of warning spoken in jest for gullible citizens willing to trust politicians: “Any politician who tells you that inflation will go to zero, don’t believe him,” Hawking said. “Inflation will go on without end.”
Just Go Away, Baby
Not satisfied with the Los Angeles Xtreme? Take heart.
During the Business Journal’s Real Estate Awards function last week, John Semcken, a top lieutenant of Ed Roski Jr. at Majestic Realty Co., accepted an honor for his boss and then indicated that Majestic is still in the chase to bring an NFL team to the city.
For the time being, however, Roski and his team are keeping a low profile.
“The NFL has asked us not to say anything while the Raider trial is going on,” Semcken told the assembled crowd.
He was referring, of course, to the legal battle being waged by Oakland Raider owner Al Davis in a downtown courtroom for rights to the Los Angeles marketplace.
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