Mother Nature helping firefighters battle Cal fire

VIDEO: Tehachapi homes still threatened by wildfires

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

Palm Springs quake related to Easter shaking in Baja

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

The moderate earthquake that rattled through Southern California with only minor damage and no injuries came as no surprise to seismologists, who said it was triggered by a much larger April temblor near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 5.4-magnitude earthquake rattled buildings in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, toppled wine bottles at desert resorts and briefly halted rides at Disneyland.

It was centered 28 miles south of Palm Springs and was related to the powerful Easter Day quake, but was not an aftershock, researchers said.

California Institute of Technology Seismologist Kate Hutton said the 7.2-magnitude quake in April transferred stress to fault zones farther north, triggering the quake that was felt from San Diego to Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon.

Preliminary information indicates the quake was on the San Jacinto fault, the most seismically active fault in California and one of two that exhibited signs of increased pressure following the Mexico quake, according to a recent airborne analysis by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The upshot is that the Easter quake appeared to have decreased the stress on the southernmost San Andreas Fault – slightly lowering the chance of a quake on the mother of California faults.

“You can’t predict earthquakes, but our statistics said there would be an increased chance of this happening,” said California Instituted of Technology seismic analyst Anthony Guarino.

The moderate earthquake rattled buildings 130 miles away in downtown Los Angeles, toppled wine bottles at desert resorts and send people scurrying under desks and tables across the Coachella Valley.

There were no reports of injuries or major damage.

The quake struck at about 4:53 p.m. and was followed by dozens of aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Laura Anderson, a manager at The Palms at Indian Head Hotel, said she ran outside when the shaking started and was surprised to learn the temblor’s magnitude wasn’t higher.

“It was enough to knock over some wine bottles and some pictures fell off the wall,” Anderson said.

Police Lt. John Booth said there were no reports of serious damage or injuries in Palm Springs, a desert city of about 43,000, but the phone rang off the hook and many residents were shaken up by the largest quake they could remember.

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Blacks, Latinos pray together at traditionally African American Pentecostal church in changing LA neighborhood

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – The black choir clapped and swayed, propelled by the organ’s groove and drums’ beat as gospel music filled the tiny New Life in Christ Church on Compton Avenue.

The rhythm came naturally, but when it was time to sing, the choir had to turn to sheet music to keep from stumbling over the Spanish lyrics.

Two years after this African-American Pentecostal congregation of about 100 people welcomed their Latino neighbors, the two groups are still trying to stay in tune in a part of the city that has not always lived in harmony.

For Pastor Elwood Carson, reaching out to his Spanish-speaking neighbors and steering his small African-American congregation towards bilingualism is a Christian duty and a matter of survival as his small flock scatters to the suburbs and Mexican immigrants move in. For the Church of God in Christ, it’s a return to the birth of Pentecostalism.

Carson moves seamlessly between two languages in his Sunday sermons as Gary Nava, the church’s unofficial assistant pastor, translates beside his mentor, echoing the preacher’s cadence and mirroring his body language.

“I was looking for a church where they speak English, because I was running away from everyone expecting me to speak Spanish all the time,” said Nava, a tattooed ex-gang thug who was one of Carson’s first converts.

Nava, 32, had just finished a prison sentence for a gun charge and was trying to stay straight. He said he was a member of Los Angeles’ largest gang, Florencia 13, which vies for turf with the East Coast Crips, an African-American gang.

With his shaved head and neck tattoo, Nava still looks like a neighborhood tough, but his translation skills and his redemption story have earned him a leadership role and opened the door for Latinos.

The flock of new parishioners has fulfilled a lifelong dream for Carson, who taught Spanish at a public elementary school, spent vacations at language school in Costa Rica and took classes in Spanish while earning his master’s degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Carson, 63, said most of the church’s longtime African-American parishioners support his focus on Hispanic outreach because it’s part of the church’s evangelical mission. But some complained and left.

“They told me they have to deal with this at their jobs and they don’t want to deal with it at church,” Carson said. “Some people don’t realize how prejudiced they are. So when they’re confronted with people from other cultures, they’re uncomfortable.”

Mabel Gutierrez, an African-American church member who has attended the church for more than 20 years, said she misses friends who left, “but maybe God was just making room for those of us who want to do his work.”

Many travel from suburbs more than 60 miles away to attend the church where they grew up. As families prospered, many left the historically black neighborhood, leaving room for new immigrants, most of whom were raised Roman Catholic.

Despite the history of racial violence between neighborhood gangs, Latinos are curious about how their black neighbors worship, and young people are attracted to the gospel and rhythm and blues music that has influenced popular culture, Nava said.

While Latino converts to Pentecostalism and churches reaching out to Hispanics are nothing new, experts say truly bilingual services are rare. Almost every word of the service is translated to Spanish or English.

The transformation of Carson’s church is bringing the Church of God in Christ full circle to the diversity of its founding, said University of Pennsylvania religious studies professor Anthea Butler. The denomination, also known as COGIC, is based in Memphis, Tenn.

Soon after Charles Harrison Mason founded the denomination in 1897, he traveled to Los Angeles and was heavily influenced by the Azusa Street Revival, where different races worshipped side-by-side.

“There was a huge Latino presence there, and throughout L.A.’s Pentecostal history. All these people were together back then and they’re together again now,” she said.

When the faithful take turns praying out loud, Nava translates their petitions. Some Latino members are restrained, but others jump and holler “Amen” or “Hallelujah.”

While black congregants wear their Sunday best — women in skirts and hats, men in suits — in keeping with Church of God in Christ traditions, Latino families are likely to show up in casual attire. Women wear tight tops and men dress in button-down shirts and jeans.

After services on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, they gathered under tents in the parking lot to eat fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread separated only by their native tongues. Smiles help bridge the language barrier.

Like many new members, Alondra Miramontes, 27, a mother of two who lives in the neighborhood, found the church after her husband lost his construction job and money was tight. She got a box of groceries through the church’s charity food program and the pastor invited her to a service.

“While he’s here, I’ll come every Sunday,” she said in Spanish. “The people here are incredible. You feel like you’re being welcomed into their home.”

Miramontes said she prefers the intimacy of a close-knit community church over larger Catholic parishes, where Spanish-speaking priests are in short supply.

At the same time, she’ll never completely abandon her background, because she grew up in that tradition and her extended family is Catholic. Her husband still lights candles and prays to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Pentecostalism rejects saints and teaches knowing God through the bible, but Nava and Carson don’t want to force their flock to choose between family celebrations and practicing their newfound faith. Explaining their conversion is hard enough.

“Saints and stuff? It makes me feel uneasy. The bottom line is, ‘Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?’” Nava said.

A more pressing problem for Carson and Nava is the lack of Latinos in the choir.

Miramontes said she’s too shy to sing in front of the entire congregation, but Spanish-speaking singers will come with time.

“My kids, when they’re grown, they’ll know how to sing,” she said.

Sushi chef charged with serving illegal whale

March 10, 2010

7 charged in LA with smuggling endangered fish

May 11, 2010

Sushi chef charged with serving illegal whale

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press

Federal prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a sushi chef and a Santa Monica restaurant on allegations that they served illegal and endangered whale meat.

Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant, and sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, were charged with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanor.

According to a search warrant, marine mammal activists were served whale during three separate visits to the restaurant. Federal labs confirmed the meat came from a Sei whale, an endangered species protected by international treaties, documents said.

Agents also seized some suspected whale meat during a search of the restaurant Friday but are awaiting test results to confirm it was Sei whale, U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozak said.

In October, two activists posing as customers went to The Hump and ordered “omakase,” which means they let the chef choose the choicest fresh fish. They also requested whale and pocketed a sample.

The young women worked with Louie Psihoyos, director of the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove,” to record the meal with a hidden camera and microphone.

“These are endangered animals being cut up for dinner,” Psihoyos said. “It’s an abuse of science.”

Psihoyos took their findings to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which started an investigation.

Activists claim the whale meat came from Japan’s scientific whaling program and was illegally exported, but the U.S. attorney’s office is still investigating the source of the meat.

Japan kills hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters each year under its research whaling program, which has triggered violent protests by conservationists and caused strong objections by diplomats in recent years.

An attorney for Typhoon, Gary Lincenberg, said the restaurant accepts responsibility for serving whale and will agree to pay a fine. If convicted, the company could be fined up to $200,000.

Court records say agents interviewed Yamamoto, a Culver City resident and a chef at The Hump for the past seven years, and he admitted serving whale to two young women.

Yamamoto’s attorney, Mark Byrne, declined to comment on the charges, saying he hadn’t had time to review them. If convicted, Yamamoto could face a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

During the October restaurant visit, animal rights activist Crystal Galbraith, 27, and a friend who spoke fluent Japanese racked up a bill of $600, feasting on increasingly exotic dishes to gain the confidence of the waiters and chef.

“It was heartbreaking to eat an endangered animal, but I knew that I was doing it to save” the whales, said Galbraith, a vegan. “We were there eating for four hours. I felt so full and sick.”

The waitress brought out a dish of whale sushi, identifying the whale in English and Japanese, court documents said. The dish was listed as whale on the check and cost $85.

The team sent samples to Scott Baker, a professor and cetacean specialist at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, for genetic testing. The results showed the meat was from a Sei whale, court records said.

The Sei whale is a baleen whale found throughout the world’s oceans, and known for its graceful and quick swimming and its long, low vocalizations, Baker said. Fully grown, the mammal is longer than a bus.

Eating Sei whale meat is common in Japan, Korea and Norway and among native peoples in Alaska and Canada, but it is illegal to export the meat because of the Sei whale’s endangered status.

In late February, when Psihoyos and the rest of his team were in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards, Galbraith and another friend returned to The Hump twice more.

This time, agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sat at the bar and watched Yamamoto at work, court records said. During the third visit, another agent watched the chef go to his car and retrieve a package wrapped in clear plastic.

7 charged in LA with smuggling endangered fish

LOS ANGELES — The endangered arowana fish is considered auspicious in China and southeast Asia, but the fish brought bad luck to seven people who were indicted Tuesday with smuggling 12 juvenile fish into the United States.A federal grand jury indicted an Indonesian exporter and six people across the country with illegally importing the prized dragon fish and selling an endangered species.

The indictments stem from a 2005 undercover sting operation in which a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent pretended to be a middleman working for an exporter in Bogor, Indonesia.

The alleged smuggler, Andree Gunawan, was charged with two felony counts of smuggling endangered wildlife and four misdemeanor counts of offering an endangered species for sale. He faces a maximum sentence of 44 years in prison and $800,000 in fines if convicted.

Gunawan operates a website called Fantasy Aquatics where he sells beta fish and rare aquarium species.

Many Asian cultures believe arowana fish bring luck and protect their owners from evil spirits. The predatory fish live in jungle rivers and streams, where they jump out of the water to eat insects and amphibians that linger above the surface.

The fish is considered lucky because it resembles a Chinese dragon, with pectoral fins that resemble wings, two small whiskers sticking out of its lower lip like a dragon’s forked tongue, and a colorful tail.

The juveniles sell for about $1,000, and the more colorful adults, which can grow more than 2 feet long, go for up to $20,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns said.

Johns said the case is unique because Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Ed Newcomer was able to insert himself into the distribution chain and take down six of the alleged smuggler’s customers.

Newcomer said Gunawan posted on a website for aquarium hobbyists looking for help smuggling dragon fish. The agent then claimed he had a contact who could make sure the fish cleared customs and began an undercover operation as the intermediary between Gunawan and people in the United States who wanted to sell the rare fish or keep them for themselves, he said.

“It was the perfect place to be in because I got all the incriminating information and met all the people involved,” he said.

Gunawan used e-mail to introduce Newcomer to the buyers, who were located in Southern California, San Jose, Texas and Louisville, Ky., he said.

“The majority were contemplating reselling for a profit. Some said they weren’t but I didn’t believe them,” Newcomer said. “People think wildlife smugglers are hobbyists gone bad, but most of them are in it for the money.”

He said he personally delivered the first shipment of two fish to Samuel Hai-Hung Lam, 38, of San Diego, and Tien Q. Le, of Louisville, Ky. The suspects paid from $1,000 to $2,500 per fish.

Federal agents detained Everette Villota, 34, of Carson, and Jim Nguyen, 23, of Garden Grove, in the parking lot of a Target minutes after they picked up five arowana fish, he said.

The other defendants are Thy Tran, 30, of San Jose, and Fu-Hua Ku, 32, of Richardson, Texas.

The 12 juvenile fish survived the air freight trip from Indonesia and will be given to aquariums.

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) _ Residents evacuated from foothill communities deluged by weekend mudslides north of Los Angeles were allowed to return home Sunday as crews moved debris and cleared catch basins in anticipation of more rain later in the week.

VIDEO: L.A. Suburbs Dig Out Following Mudslides

The final evacuation order was lifted for about 70 homes in the Paradise Valley area of La Canada Flintridge, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Guillermina Saldana. Only residents with valid identification were allowed back into the neighborhood that was choked with a thick layer of mud and debris during a pummeling rain early Saturday.

Forty-three homes in the La Canada Flintridge area were damaged and 500 more evacuated Saturday after mud and water overflowed basins and surged into streets, taking furniture, cars and concrete barriers with it. Nine houses were declared unsafe to enter. About 25 vehicles were damaged.

“In my 20 years of fire service, this is the first time I’ve seen this much devastation caused by a weather system,” Los Angeles County Fire Battalion Chief Mike Brown said while walking past suburban homes with thigh-deep mud in their yards.

Los Angeles County public works crews used bulldozers and other heavy machinery to move boulders, scoop out catch basins and clear roads.

“That series of storms two weeks ago, we took about 300,000 cubic yards of material out of our debris basins,” L.A. County Department of Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer said. “This is going to be about the same.”

The mayor of La Canada Flintridge, Laura Olhasso, said Sunday the U.S. Forest Service should pay to help remove the mud and debris that came down the mountains from federal land denuded by wildfires.

“The federal government is not taking responsibility for the flow of mud that came from its property,” Olhassa said. “They say there’s nothing they can do to keep it from flowing, then they need to help clean it up. They need to be responsible property owners.”

Olhasso said the city has received “no assurances” of help from federal authorities.

“This is potentially a threat for the next three to five years, which is how long they say it could be before the vegetation grows back,” she said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the area Sunday, stopping to talk to reporters in front of a house where flowing mud left a mark on the wall at least 5 feet above the ground.

Schwarzenegger hugged a tearful resident whose voice broke as she told him her entire first floor was inundated with at least 2 feet of mud. Karineh Mangassarian told the governor she wanted crews to start digging her house out immediately.

“I want to save my house, but by the time the city gets here it will be too late,” Mangassarian said outside her home, where mud reached up to the mailbox. One small rose bush poked out with a couple of pink blooms that withstood the rain.

Schwarzenegger said the three county sites set aside for mud disposal might not be enough.

“They need to clean up this area as quickly as possible from the mud. They need permits for a fourth dumping site, disposal site, which have to come from the federal government and the state,” the governor said. “We all have to work together to help the people whose homes were damaged.”

The sun was shining Sunday on barren mountaintops scarred by last summer’s fires, but forecasters say more rain could arrive by Tuesday.

Some residents complained they were not told to get out until the brunt of the damage was done — unlike during heavy rains in January when officials repeatedly warned foothill communities to be on alert.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said by the time officials saw how serious the storm was, it was too late to order evacuations for some and it was determined that it would be safer for them to take shelter in their homes.

“We are operating just like everyone else, based on weather predictions,” Freeman said.

About 800 homes across Los Angeles County were evacuated, but most were allowed to return home late Saturday as another round of expected rains proved tame and moved on quickly.

A crew of about 100 yellow-vested church volunteers brought shovels Sunday to help residents clear out the muck from yards and garages and living rooms.

Katherine Markgraf walked through a house belonging to her mother, Pat Andersen, pointing out where they might be able to retrieve valuables and mementos from underneath at least three feet of mud. A violent mud flow dragged Anderson’s car through the garage wall into her neighbor’s yard.

“It’s just stuff,” she reminded herself, gently crying as she carried a mud-streaked antique chair out onto the patio.

VIDEO: City chickens in the shadow of downtown LA

Urban farmers fight nationwide to sow green biz

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Tara Kolla fancied herself a green thumb-turned-green businesswoman when she planted an organic flower plot in her yard and sold poppies, sweet peas and zinnias at the local farmers market. For her neighbors, it was an eyesore.

Where Kolla saw her efforts as creating a lush sanctuary, her neighbors witnessed dusty pots, steaming compost, flies and a funky aroma on their tiny cul-de-sac in Los Angeles. They complained to zoning officials — and prevailed.

Kolla and other urban farmers are fighting back by challenging city halls across the country to rewrite ordinances that govern residential gardens. They believe feeding their fellow urbanites homegrown tomatoes, fresh eggs and sweet corn will change the world one backyard at a time.

Seattle has loosened its rules for backyard goats, New York City’s health department is taking steps to legalize beekeeping and Detroit is looking into regulating compost and greenhouses.

In Detroit, where zoning laws ban growing crops and raising livestock for profit, city planner Kathryn Lynch Underwood is part of a work group rewriting the regulations and defining what kinds of urban farms might need more oversight.

“The city has not been treating it as an illegal use or a nuisance because it has been a good thing,” Underwood said.

She is hopeful that urban agriculture and the city’s nearly 1,000 community gardens will create good jobs in a city that desperately needs them and put vacant lots to use in blighted neighborhoods.

Kolla, meanwhile, found a loophole allowing her to grow vegetables while lobbying for the right to set up a city farm at her home just four miles from the urban jungle of downtown Los Angeles.

The challenge for cities is to balance the potential to grow green businesses with the concerns of neighbors who don’t want a thriving, for-profit enterprise next door, never mind the noise and smells that come from compost and small livestock.

Urban agriculture crosses jurisdictional lines, said Alfonso Morales, a professor of planning at the University of Wisconsin. He advises cities to set up a one-stop-shop for urban farms, like they have for small business development, so that city farmers can deal with zoning, home business regulations and nuisance laws all in one place.

“There’s such enthusiasm that people push the laws and upset their neighbors,” he said. “The fact is you can’t do anything you want on your property.”

While most urban farms operate under the radar of city officials and many neighborhoods welcome productive plots and even backyard chickens, other city growers run into trouble with neighbors who won’t be placated with gifts of salad greens or fresh eggs.

In middle class areas, concerns about property values and aesthetic differences lead to conflicts.

Kolla alienated neighbors on her quiet cul-de-sac of Spanish bungalows and neat green lawns in the city’s Silver Lake section when she began peddling organic bouquets at farmers markets that she grew on her 21,000 square-foot lot.

“They’re trying to grow it into something bigger than what should be in a small neighborhood,” said Frank San Juan, who lives across the street from Kolla. “When she started having these gardening workshops without telling anybody, there was no parking. You couldn’t enjoy your weekends.”

Just a half century ago, Los Angeles was transforming itself from the most lucrative farm county in the nation into a major metropolis. A zoning ordinance written in 1946 as developers were cutting down the San Fernando Valley’s citrus orchards to build suburbia allowed small farms to grow vegetables to truck to market, but banned growing fruit, nuts or flowers for sale on residential plots.

Kolla could get a conditional use permit, but she has a stubborn streak and it costs $15,000 just to apply. She and others are trying to reverse the zoning laws with a proposal called “The Food and Flowers Freedom Act.”

Growers from across Los Angeles formed the Urban Farming Advocates to rally around Kolla, defend her right to grow and lobby the city.

“Most people would pay to have a view of her backyard,” said founding member Erik Knutzen, who keeps chickens and grows food in his yard. “I can understand someone not wanting 50 roosters or an autobody shop next door, but our proposal is about bringing common sense back to our lives.”

In July, City Council President Eric Garcetti introduced a motion to clarify city policies on urban farms and allow cultivation and sale of flowers, fruits, nuts or vegetables.

While the city farmers wait patiently for the proposal to work its way through the planning commission, Kolla started a weekly vegetable box subscription service so as not to miss too many of Southern California’s long growing seasons.

She feels the distinction between vegetables and fruit is arbitrary and unscientific.

“Broccoli is a flower, and a tomato is a fruit. And some of my flowers are edible,” Kolla said. “It’s more legal for people to grow marijuana in L.A. than flowers.”

The sports side of AP’s Online Video has kept me busy since Pete Carroll announced his departure.

I shot the presser, using my sharpest elbows to earn a spot next to the veteran cameramen. They have better gear, years of experience and 50+ lbs. on me – yet they still couldn’t cut me a break. Then I dashed back to the bureau to send b-roll and bites to NY, where a producer edited and voiced the piece.

I also shot OVN’s previous story on Pete Carroll:

Pete Carroll Leaves USC for the Seahawks

I shot and edited the video, then I woke up ungodly early on New Year’s morning to cover the parade and write the story below.

‘Real hero’ Sullenberger leads 2010 Rose Parade

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

PASADENA, Calif. – After a run of celebrity grand marshals, a real American hero led the Rose Parade on Friday.

Onlookers stood and cheered as Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III rode down Colorado Boulevard in a vintage 1928 Pierce Arrow with his wife, Lorrie, and two daughters as part of the annual armada of flower-draped floats, marching bands and prancing horses.

Sullenberger said he did not hesitate when asked to serve as grand marshal because his family has watched the parade when he was growing up in Texas.

“It’s really an American institution, a celebration of American values,” he said after the parade. “I think people see those in me, and I’m glad.”

Parade-goer Hilda Roy held a hand-painted, fluorescent sign that read, “We (heart) you Sully!” She waved and screamed the name of the man who landed a stricken jetliner on New York’s Hudson River and was thrilled when Sullenberger waved back.

“We come every year, but when we found out he was grand marshal, we were really excited,” Roy, 48, said. “He’s a real hero, not just a celebrity, and a real person, too.”

The 121st Rose Parade had something for everyone.

Under signature sunny Southern California skies, onlookers gasped when the cannons of Honda’s three-masted, sailing ship float boomed and shot sparklers and smoke rings toward the bleachers.

A float celebrating Mexico’s bicentennial featured Mexico City’s landmark Angel of Independence and an intricate flower Aztec calendar, as well as dancers costumed in traditional regional dress.

A swarm of children wearing butterfly wings while cruising on inline skates also got a round of applause as they twirled in front of a float depicting the city of Shanghai.

The Kansai Honor Band from Japan rallied the crowd with “Thriller” dance moves and a color guard sporting teased hair and kimonos.

The parade came 20 hours after hundreds of thousands of people began staking out sidewalk space along the route for the annual New Year’s Eve celebration. They lugged sleeping bags, lawn chairs and party favors, then spent the night under the light of a rare blue moon — the second full moon in a month.

The new year dawned chilly, but brilliant sunshine brought the temperature into the 60s by the time the parade got under way.

It was peaceful overnight along the route, except for some minor skirmishes. Police spokeswoman Janet Pope-Givens said 37 people had been arrested, mostly for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

Jessica Mota, 19, of Pasadena claimed prime parade-watching real estate for about 30 of her friends and relatives. She said she’s been coming to see the parade since she was 10.

“My little cousins were bouncing around all night, and now they’re passed out,” she said, pointing to some huddled bodies beneath a sleeping bag.

Among the army of volunteers who help stage the parade, students from Pasadena City CollegeHigh School in Pasadena had possibly the dirtiest job. and Marantha

Armed with shovels, overalls and rolling plastic trash cans, they cleaned up after horses in the procession.

Annie Sommers, a 16-year-old softball player, declared her white coveralls “hopelessly ugly” but accessorized with a plastic flower in her hair, rose earrings and a scarf.

Despite the work, Sommers said she was happy to participate in the world-famous parade.

“I’ll try out for rose queen next year,” she joked.

The selection of Sullenberger as grand marshal was a change from the crowd-pleasing show biz types who’ve led the parade in recent years. Last year, “Dancing With the Stars” favorite and 1970s sitcom star Cloris Leachman was grand marshal. The year before, it was celebu-chef Emerile Lagasse.

Sullenberger was chosen to embody the theme of the 2010 parade, “A Cut Above the Rest.”

No one could disagree that he fit the bill perfectly, parade-goer Jessica Osterman said.

“It’s good that they’re going back to the roots and picking an average person,” said Osterman, 28. “Especially these days, with the recent terrorism attempt, we need a little patriotism. He’s someone we can all agree on.”

Over the decades, the grand marshal honor has gone to singers, astronauts, athletes, military men and politicians.

In the early years, parade organizers looked to the film industry in nearby Hollywood for big names to lead the procession. Silent film star and studio founder Mary Pickford lead the parade in 1933. Since then, only 10 women have held the title.

Chief Justice Earl Warren, entertainer Bob Hope and Richard Nixon (before he became president) each led the parade twice, while Shirley Temple did it three times in 1939, 1989 and 1999.

The parade has also had its share of war heroes. In 1952, seven Medal of Honor awardees shared the honor. World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker led the parade in 1957.

More recently, Regis Philbin, William Shatner and Kermit the Frog rode in the lead car and tossed the coin before the Rose Bowl game.

For Terri Rubio, 58, the selection of Sullenberger was an inspiration.

“He’s not out to sell himself as a celebrity,” she said. “He’s a common person who’s sticking to his values. He’s cool under fire and saved so many lives.”

Tournament of Roses President Jeff Throop said he wasn’t worried about finding another hero to be grand marshal next year.

“I think that’s what American life is about,” he said. “Those people rise to the top. They step up and do things.”

Puerto Rico’s Calle 13 wins 5 Latin Grammys in Las Vegas

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 won all five awards it was nominated for Thursday at the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas, including two of the top awards of the night and honors in both urban and alternative categories.

The awards show ran late because Mexico’s “Divo of Juarez,” Juan Gabriel, sang for 40 minutes straight while mariachis stomped on stage and the audience clapped and sang along.

Calle 13 won album of the year for its innovative collaborations and politically charged reggaeton. Left with little time to accept the golden gramophone for the top honor, lead singer Rene Perez, who raps as “Residente,” dedicated the award to Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa, who died in October at age 74.

“May she rest in peace. An applause for Mercedes Sosa, please,” he said in Spanish.

Later in the pressroom, Residente explained his admiration for the woman who helped found the “Nueva Cancion” movement, which merged folk traditions and leftist politics in the 1960s. “She is a voice who should never die, and young people should listen to her,” he said. “In an era of dictatorship and difficult times, she wasn’t afraid. That’s why I dedicated it to her.”

Residente and his half brother Eduardo Cabra, who goes by “Visitante,” also won recording of the year for “No Hay Nadie Como Tu,” their collaboration with Mexican rockers Cafe Tacuba, aka Cafe Tacvba. Their album “Los de Atras Vienen Conmigo” also won best album in the urban category, competing against other reggaeton acts.

During the ceremony, Calle 13 performed “La Perla,” an ode to a seaside slum in San Juan, with salsa legend Ruben Blades, while dancers from Cirque du Soleil’s “Mystere” leaped across the stage. “La Perla” won the award for best short-form video.

The Latin Recording Academy also paid homage to Sosa with a brief video set to the gentle anthem “Gracias a la Vida.”

“Mercedes Sosa represents courage and strength for those of us who continue to support her efforts” for social justice in Latin America, Blades said in his introduction.

Italian singer Laura Pausini, who won best female pop vocal album, performed “En Cambio No,” to open the show, which was hosted by Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez and Mexican singer and actress Lucero.

Showgirls added Sin City flavor to a hip-shaking salsa jam by Venezuelan Oscar D’Leon and Puerto Rican Gilberto Santa Rosa. They also lent their moves to Los Tucanes de Tijuana’s “Se Fue Mi Amor,” which won for best regional Mexican song.

Performance highlights also included Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz and Alicia Keys singing her “Looking for Paradise,” Spanish folk rocker Natalia Jimenez of La Quinta Estacion belting out “Me Dueles,” and Juan Gabriel’s medley of hits with a mariachi band and folkloric dancers in colorful skirts.

The “Divo of Juarez” was honored with the Latin Recording Academy’s person of the year award the night before.

“For Mexico!” he said as he showed off his statuette.

He was scheduled to perform three of his hits, but when the band tried to wrap up his performance, Gabriel kept singing. He paraded through the theater while crowd members kissed and hugged him.

The audience laughed when he swung his wine glass in the air to the rhythm of “No Me Hagas Llorar,” spilling its contents across the stage and all over his lace-covered jacket and pink vest.

Most of the 49 awards were handed out during a pre-show ceremony. The variety of categories befitted the diverse musical traditions of the Americas, including best albums in Christian, grupero and Brazilian sertaneja music.

Members of the Latin Recording Academy voted for the winners of the 10th annual awards.

September 12, 2009

one of the stolen paintings

Court: Holocaust survivor can sue for painting

September 12, 2009

In Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Los Angeles police said Friday the collection of 10 silk screen paintings of famous athletes of the 1970s was taken from the home of businessman Richard Weisman sometime between Sept. 2 and 3.

Weisman commissioned the iconic pop artist in 1977 to create the portraits, said Brenda Klippel, the director of Martin Lawrence Galleries in Los Angeles, which has a large collection of Warhols.

A commissioned portrait of Weisman was also stolen, said Detective Mark Sommer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s art theft detail. A $1 million reward was offered for information leading to the return of the paintings.

“This was a very clean crime,” Sommer said. “(The home) wasn’t ransacked.”

Art recovery expert Robert Wittman, a former investigator for the FBI’s national art crime team, says most rewards are offered for about 10 percent of a stolen collection’s value.

“A million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. That’s a hefty reward for a collection,” Wittman said.

The art was on display in Weisman’s dining room and his house was locked up. It wasn’t clear exactly when the paintings were taken or how the thieves got into the home.

The theft was discovered by the family’s longtime nanny who arrived at the home to find the large prints missing from the walls. She immediately went to a neighbor’s to call police, Sommer said.

It wasn’t known exactly how much the prints were worth.

“The theft of Warhol’s ‘Athlete Series’ represents a profoundly personal loss to me and my family,” Weisman said in a statement.

Weisman, who published a book about his art collection called, “From Picasso to Pop,” declined to comment further. The other valuable art in his home was untouched.

A neighbor saw a maroon van in the driveway of Weisman’s home around the time of the robbery, Sommer said.

Warhol became internationally famous in the 1960s for his iconic image of a Campbell’s soup can, his avant-garde films and his parties that mixed celebrities, artists, intellectuals and other beautiful people at his New York studio called “The Factory.”

“Warhol was always a portraitist and fascinated with anyone of fame or fortune, anyone in the public eye,” Klippel said. “If Weisman was in his circle and had the money, he could commission what he wanted.”

Wittman said about 95 percent of stolen art, especially well known pieces, are recovered.

“The real art in an art theft is not the stealing but the selling,” he said. “People know what they are. You can’t sell it to the industry, it’s not going back to the market and you also can’t sell it at auction.”

Court: Holocaust survivor can sue for painting

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — An elderly Holocaust survivor from San Diego can continue his legal battle against a Spanish museum to reclaim a valuable painting he says was taken from his grandmother by the Nazis, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 88-year-old Claude Cassirer’s case against the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid and the Spanish government can go forward.

Cassirer claimed his grandmother was forced to sell the 1897 painting by French impressionist Camille Pissarro for what was then $360 to get a visa to escape from Nazi Germany in 1939. He filed suit in California’s Central District in Los Angeles in 2005, and the defendants appealed in June 2006.

The painting, “Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie,” depicts a Parisian boulevard lined with dark carriages, a few bare trees and a scattering of people braving the weather. Its value is estimated at $20 million.

The painting apparently changed hands several times after World War II, and its whereabouts were a mystery to the Cassirer family until a friend spotted it in the Madrid museum in 2000.

The Spanish government bought the painting as part of the Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza’s collection, which was worth $327 million. It has been on display at the famous government-owned museum since 1993.

Baron Thyssen bought the painting from a New York art dealer in 1976. Cassirer tried to negotiate its return through Spain’s Ministry of Culture, but his request was denied.

Tuesday’s opinion was written by Judge N. Randy Smith with a partial dissent by Judge Sandra Ikuta.

The ruling means the district court will have to determine whether Cassirer has exhausted all other legal options outside U.S. courts, said his attorney, Stuart Dunwoody.

“We’re confident we can do that, but it’s another step which slows things down, and a point upon which they can appeal,” Dunwoody said. “He hopes to see justice in his lifetime. He’s 88 years old, so we need to keep things moving along.”

Thyssen-Bornemisza officials could not immediately be reached for comment. However, the managing director of the Thyssen Foundation has said that the museum possesses documents that prove Baron Thyssen was the legitimate buyer in 1976.

“It is ours until proven otherwise,” Carlos Fernandez de Henestrosa has said.

In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow Los Angeles resident Maria Altmann, 88, to sue the government of Austria to retrieve $150 million worth of Gustav Klimt paintings stolen by the Nazis. The five Klimts were handed over by Austria in January to Altmann and other family members following a seven-year legal battle.

An estimated 600,000 works of art were looted by the Nazis during Adolf Hitler’s rule in Germany.