Boulevard Sentinel, 1 August 2012 — Page 1

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"To comfort the afflicted & afflict the comfortable'

Cynic on p.2 Coco's Discounts....p.2 Frank Harmon. p.3 Looking Back. p.8 Montana Tales. p.10 HHPNC News. p. 12 Calendar. p. 13 Double Dose Voice in the Wilderness.....p. 14 wjom

Colombo's All Stars to Celebrate 10 years p.16

Vispera Guitarist's Local Roots. p. 17

August 2012

Take Back the Boulevard Gives Focus to Parking

by Tom Topping

As the Take Back the Blvd. Committee continues their efforts to improve Colorado Boulevard, last month, the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce took a more active role, organizing a meeting to address the parking needs of boulevard businesses, hoping to incorporate those needs into the Take

Back effort.

The meeting started with Take Back consultant Mott Smith who was largely responsible for creating the Colorado Boulevard Parking credits pilot program some 8 years ago. First was a look at what parking problems there were, which were mainly broken down into three categories, a "paper" problem, a lack of convenient parking

spaces and the spill over problem.

The "paper" problem is when a business can't open because of city parking requirements. Hie parking credit program addressed this somewhat, but only for a short while until all the credits were used up. Caspar Ave. resident Dave Gustafason noted that it was more than just a "paper" problem, because city parking requirements mostly correlat-

ed to what actual parking needs would be.

The lack of convenient parking spaces for the business area is when customers cannot get to a business. Although much is said about "pedestrian" oriented business, folks will hardly ever park Although Vulet parking failed to more than 750 feet away from a business they launch, an Unattended lot like this want to patronize, and usually a lot less than that, one at the York BL Post Office (750 feet is almost as far as the distance from may fe ()ne solution to Eagle (see TAKE BACK PARKING page 4) Rock's commercial parking woes.

INMmIue

parking

RATES

Fletcher Square Neighborhood Sign Unveiled

by Nina Zvaleko The lobby of the Environmental Science and Technology Eligli School, in the historic and refurbished Van de Camp's bakery building on Fletcher Drive at (see FLETCHER SQUARE page 5)

Galco's Soda Tasting II Southwest Museum Fundraiser a Success

At Soda Tasting II, a woman stocks up on specialty sodas. Above right, Galco's owner John Neseposes with a Massachusetts man who came all the way from Massachusetts to participate in the Soda Tasting, photos by ai strange

by Tom Topping July 22, 2012 The Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition, joined by John Nese of Galco's and the Highland Park business community, joined forces to raise awareness and raise money for the continuing effort

to keep L.A.'s oldest museum open and operating as a museum, by holding a Soda Tasting event for the second year in a row. It was the second year, and more successful than the first. The Friends of the Southwest Museum came

together after it became clear that the Autry Nation Center of the American West, (formerly the Gene Autry Museum), which merged with the Southwest Museum in 2003, was not honoring its end of the agreement to keep the (see SODA page 11)

AVE 50 PARK UPDATE by Nina Zvaleko

It was early on Saturday, July 14, the sun

was just beginning to beat down on Highland Park. Folks started to gather at the comer of York Boulevard and Avenue 50 at about 8:30.

A small group of women worked around a sidewalk yard sale to hang two huge murals, collages of "Visions of Our New Park", which were created by combining the art work of local children. Next they set up a table and started hanging signs about the new park, including a proposal for a design for the park. They identified themselves as the Ave 50 Park Pre-Construction Committee and Buchanan

Street School Reading is Fundamental volunteers.

By 9:30 there were about 12 people, talking to passers by, getting drivers to stop and chat. The main event was a petition, a simple but powerful tool in uniting the community, it read "We, the residents, workers, and store owners of Highland Park want our park at Avenue 50 and York!" in Spanish and English. Folks came over intentionally, and pulled over in their cars to talk about the park and sign the petition. One group went out door to door along the boulevard talking with folks and gathering signatures. Nearly two hundred people signed the petition that morning. There is another petition circulating theneighborhood (see PARK UPDATE page 5)

At his first performance at a Downtown L.A. venue, Eagle Rock Junior Daniel Leo (OGDL) does his first live Hip-Hop performance in front of a live crowd. At right, OGDL and Server perform together.

Local Teen Finds his Niche Hiphop Scene Alive and Well in Northeast L.A. by Tom Topping Daniel Leo, a junior at Eagle Rock High School started writing lyrics in a notebook. He enjoyed it, finding it a great outlet to express himself. After posting his rhymes as his Facebook status, he got the attention of a local Hip Hop rapper named "Server" who liked what Daniel was writing, and told him so. "Server" had done a few shows in a variety of local venues. And after Daniel's friend Jack Zakaryim showed him a video called "The Cypher Effect," that Server was largely responsible for, Daniel and his friend Jack were in the park one day when they happened to meet Server (Anthony Parada). That night Daniel showed him some of his lyrics, and Server told him he had "dope" (good) lyrics and a lot of potential. He invited Daniel to get together to collaborate. For a teen ager, finding a place or a group where you belong can be the biggest joy and satisfaction in a young life. This was that moment for Daniel Leo. "I was jolted with joy," he said. They did get together and wrote three songs. Rainbows on the Floor, Visual Hallucinations and Versatile Thoughts. "People started to notice us and like our music," exclaimed Daniel.

After securing a chance to perform their music live, they

rehearsed almost every day for a week.

As the day arrived, Daniel was really excited and anxious, and the show went really well. He told of his big day. "When I was performing, I felt like a rush, like an ecstasy had come over me. After the show I felt as if an extravagant weight had been lifted off my shoulders," he

added.

(see HIP HOP ALIVE page 7)