Los Angeles on HuffingtonPost.comwebmaster@huffingtonpost.comCopyright 2007, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.Los Angeles on HuffingtonPost.comGood old fashioned elbow grease.PHOTOS: Raphael Soriano's 'Gogol House' For $1.2 Milliontag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8711182011-06-06T17:33:41Z2011-06-06T17:35:44ZLauded architect Raphael Soriano's 1939 'Gogol House,' located in the Franklin Hills area of Los Feliz, is on the market. The three bedroom, three bath...The Huffington Posthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliza-fisher/
<p>Lauded architect Raphael Soriano's 1939 'Gogol House,' located in the Franklin Hills area of Los Feliz, is on the market. The three bedroom, three bath home is one of only twelve standing and intact structures built by Soriano, making it a precious piece of Los Angeles architectural history. Soriano helped to define the mid-century modern style while building dozens of homes in LA during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, according to the <a href="http://www.sahscc.org/site/index.php?function=architect_details&id=2" target="_hplink">Society of Architectural Historians</a>. While wildfires, earthquakes, demolitions, and unfortunate renovations have either destroyed or marred many of the architect's works, his legacy remains. Soriano studied under famous architects Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, and eventually taught at USC. In 1961 he became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He was an early advocate of the use of modular prefabricated steel and aluminum structures in residential design, and capitalized on Southern California's booming postwar steel and aerospace industries, reports <a href="http://www.thearchitecturalestates.com/architect/29/alison-designs" target="_hplink">The Architectural Estates</a>. </p>
<p>The Gogol House, built for surgeon Louis J. Gogol and his wife, has been termed "the purest example of Soriano's early work," according to <a href="http://www.deasypenner.com/property/2555/2190-Talmadge-Street.html" target="_hplink">Deasy/Penner & Partners</a>, who is listing the property. The 2,779 square-foot house features a 2,000 square-foot rooftop deck. This sleek example of mid-century LA architecture is priced at $1,195,000.</p>
<p>Photos by <a href="http://www.brianthomasjones.com/" target="_hplink">Brian Thomas Jones</a>, courtesy of the official listing with <a href="http://www.deasypenner.com/property/2555/2190-Talmadge-Street.html" target="_hplink">Crystal Heatherly and Barry Gray of Deasy/Penner & Partners</a>.</p>
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Beverly Hills High Fights The Westside Subway Extension tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8718462011-06-06T17:09:24Z2011-06-06T17:09:59ZThe long-awaited Westside subway extension appears to be getting closer to reality, but the Beverly Hills Unified School District contends that tunneling for the project...latimes.comhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>The long-awaited Westside subway extension appears to be getting closer to reality, but the Beverly Hills Unified School District contends that tunneling for the project could squelch its plans to expand and update the city's aging 22-acre high school campus.</p>
<p>One of two routes that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering would burrow directly beneath the school, on the way from Koreatown to Century City and on to the Veterans Affairs campus between Westwood and Brentwood.</p>
Despite Federal Laws, Gay Couples Apply For Green Cardstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8718182011-06-06T16:42:33Z2011-06-06T16:43:02ZCATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Faced with losing the life they've built together in the dusty California desert town of Cathedral City, Doug Gentry and Alex...APhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Faced with losing the life they've built together in the dusty California desert town of Cathedral City, Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol are making a last-ditch effort to stave off the looming threat of deportation.</p>
<p>To a large degree, the couple is stuck. While the American information technology consultant and Venezuelan pet groomer wed at a romantic Connecticut ceremony last year, the federal government won't recognize the marriage between the two men – and as a result, won't approve their application for a green card.</p>
<p>But the couple, and others facing a similar predicament, are still trying. The men don't expect to actually obtain a green card any time soon and have already been shot down once but hope filing an application might convince an immigration judge to at least refrain from deporting Benshimol while the fiery legal debate over the country's same-sex marriage laws simmers.</p>
<p>"There have been so many ups and downs on this roller coaster. I really don't know what to expect," said Gentry, 53. "It can't hurt (to refile). All they can do is deny it again."</p>
<p>For years, immigration attorneys warned gay couples not to bother seeking a green card for their foreign spouses since there was no chance they'd get one. Now, in select cases, they're starting to rethink that advice.</p>
<p>In the wake of the federal government's announcement that it will no longer defend a law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and a court ruling raising questions about the law, some immigrant advocates have suggested that gay couples fighting deportation apply for a green card in a final effort to stay in the country.</p>
<p>Most couples, advocates say, should refrain from doing so to avoid drawing attention to their predicament if the foreign spouse is here illegally, and to avoid forking over cash for a benefit they won't get anytime soon if here on a legal visa.</p>
<p>But the small group of couples already facing deportation has little to lose by applying, and might see some gain.</p>
<p>In March, an immigration judge in New York halted deportation proceedings involving a lesbian couple until December. Last month, an immigration judge in New Jersey did the same for a Venezuelan salsa dancer married to an American graduate student after Attorney General Eric Holder asked an immigration appeals court to review another case involving a same-sex couple.</p>
<p>In a memo posted to its web site in March, the American Immigration Lawyers Association suggested that couples facing deportation consider filing for a green card in the hopes that it might win sympathy from an immigration judge willing to put the case on hold or bolster the immigrant spouse's case for an asylum petition.</p>
<p>"We are advising more people to do it – at least in the context of if the foreign partner, the foreign spouse is in deportation proceedings," said Victoria Neilson, legal director of Immigration Equality, an immigrant rights group focused on the gay and lesbian community. "At this point there is more of a feeling that the tide is turning on marriage in this country and it could be something that could be helpful."</p>
<p>U.S. immigration authorities are denying green cards for same-sex couples because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act specifies that marriage is between a man and a woman, said Chris Bentley, spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. As of March, the agency had 10 or 20 such petitions pending, he said.</p>
<p>There are roughly 26,000 bi-national same-sex couples in the United States where one partner is a U.S. citizen. There's no estimate on how many have legally married, said Gary Gates, a UCLA professor and co-author of the Gay and Lesbian Atlas.</p>
<p>It's impossible to know how many couples filed green card petitions before last year, immigration authorities said.</p>
<p>Lavi Soloway, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles, said he started encouraging some clients to apply last year after a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled the 1996 Act is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state's right to define marriage. Soloway saw further encouragement this year when Holder said the executive branch would no longer defend the Act as constitutional and the immigration agency temporarily held off making a decision on same sex couples' cases.</p>
<p>"The forum in which we're testing the issue is immigration court," said Soloway, who represents a dozen couples including Gentry and Benshimol. "It is the best possible place for this discussion to be taking place because it involves parties that have broad discretion to address just the kinds of concerns we're talking about."</p>
<p>Immigration and Customs Enforcement – which is responsible for carrying out deportations – said the agency will continue to enforce the law unless it is repealed by Congress or shot down by the courts.</p>
<p>The issue has enflamed passions on both sides of the debate over gay marriage.</p>
<p>It has also raised questions for those seeking stricter limits on immigration. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said judges can exercise discretion on individual cases but shouldn't use that power to enact sweeping policy changes.</p>
<p>"They are in effect legislating and it's not their job. It's Congress' job," Krikorian said.</p>
<p>Benshimol came to the country 12 years ago and overstayed his tourist visa _an immigration violation that straight couples can remedy once married. Now, he says he can't safely return to Venezuela as an openly gay man and also can't stand the thought of being separated from his husband, or of forcing Gentry to leave behind his adult son and daughter who live in California.</p>
<p>Even so, Gentry and Benshimol say they are hopeful, simply because they have no other choice.</p>
<p>"You just never know. The analytical side of my head says, you know, DOMA exists and it's the law and they're going to deny it," Gentry said. "But then the hopeful side of your brain says, you know, there's a chance."</p>
Small Quake Rumbles Near Downtown LAtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8718232011-06-06T16:40:25Z2011-06-06T17:24:23ZLOS ANGELES -- Officials say a small earthquake was felt around Los Angeles early Monday but there were no reports of any injuries or damage....APhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/billy-silverman/
<p>LOS ANGELES -- Officials say a small earthquake was felt around Los Angeles early Monday but there were no reports of any injuries or damage.</p>
<p>The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck shortly after midnight and was centered about 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and about 15 miles in depth.</p>
<p>"I felt it. It was a little jerk," said Sgt. Matthew King of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Compton station, near the epicenter.</p>
<p>But he said the office had no calls from the public or any reports of injury or damage.</p>
<p>A USGS website that records responses from people feeling quakes logged hundreds of hits from the Los Angeles metropolitan area.</p>
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: A Plate From the USDA With a Tastier Way to See More Nutritious Eatingtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8717082011-06-06T16:00:30Z2011-06-06T16:00:24ZThe U.S. Department of Agriculture last week officially and finally scrapped its food pyramid -- an explanation for nutrition that could be as elusive to decipher as the riddle of the Sphinx.Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-d-braunstein-md/
<p>With First Lady Michelle Obama headlining a media event, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week officially and finally scrapped its food pyramid -- an explanation for nutrition that could be as elusive to decipher as the riddle of the Sphinx. Uncle Sam, instead, replaced the old good eating diagram with a sight that's familiar at every meal: <a href="http://www.choosemyplate.gov/" target="_hplink">a plate</a>.</p>
<p>The new image is organized in the same fashion as the actual plates recommended by a host of successful dieters and nutrition experts: half of it is heaped with vegetables and fruit and the rest of the area is divided for grains and protein.</p>
<p>More specifically, the USDA version gives the largest share of the plate to vegetables, with similar space occupied by grains. Fruit and protein round it out in equal portions. Off to the side is dairy, represented by a circle that might be a cup of milk or yogurt. Gone is any reference to fats, alcohol, oils or sweets.</p>
<p>So say 'so long' to a graphic that had gotten so obtuse that scholars wrote about it in journals on visual communication and welcome a new picture so simple and elegant that even children who haven't yet mastered reading can understand it easily. Because this imagery primarily provides a public health teaching tool, scrapping the confusing and oft-debated food pyramid was a smart move. The first version of the pyramid put too much emphasis on grains as the basis of the diet. The redesigned version -- with a man running up the side of it and bands of color -- didn't seem to emphasize much of anything and was just as hard to interpret and understand.</p>
<p>So daunting had the old model become that a nonprofit physicians' organization sued the USDA in January, arguing that the pyramid benefited agribusiness but did not serve its purpose of helping the public to understand nutrition, thus reducing obesity and illness.</p>
<p>While the current model already has started to attract its share of criticism -- for example, that it illustrates the illogic of the U.S. government subsidizing certain less-healthy foods even as it promotes consumption of better alternatives -- dieticians long have used the mental picture of a plate to help teach patients about meal planning. The easy visual -- fill up half the plate with vegetables and fruit, and balance the rest between grains and protein -- can be used for virtually any meal whether eaten at home, in a cafeteria or at a restaurant. </p>
<p>The USDA also offers its plate with a few common-sense bites of wisdom. Under balancing calories, it instructs the public to enjoy food, but also to eat less and avoid oversized portions. Under the heading "foods to increase," it repeats the recommendation to make half of the plate fruits and vegetables. In addition, the agency serves up the very sensible advice of choosing whole grains for a sizable portion of your intake. (For an explanation of whole grains, see my <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-d-braunstein-md/the-name-game-its-time-to_b_510181.html" target="_hplink">previous post</a>. Hint: if the first ingredient is "enriched," it's not whole grain.) The expert advice is to switch to fat-free or low-fat milk.</p>
<p>Lastly, this model recommends which foods to reduce, advising Americans to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-d-braunstein-md/sodium-solution-shaking-t_b_636141.html" target="_hplink">choose lower sodium foods</a> and water over sugary drinks. Cutting out the 150 or so calories found in a typical can of soda can add up to pounds of weight loss over time; that really matters, of course, for children and teens.</p>
<p><strong>Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?</strong></p>
<p>A few things to keep in mind when using this plate model: The USDA fits into its fruit group 100 percent fruit juice, whole fruit and canned fruit. But you must dig deeper into the website to read the fine print that urges that canned fruits be packed in juice -- not syrup. Likewise, the agency buries the advice that whole fruit offers a better choice over juice. Commercial -- and even some homemade -- juices don't include all of the fiber that comes from the skins and pulp of the juice. A 2008 study found that in women, increasing intake of whole fruits and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of diabetes, while increasing fruit juice intake was associated with a slightly higher risk. And consumers certainly should never confuse fruit juice with a "fruit drink," which dresses itself up as juice but is mostly sugar water.</p>
<p><strong>Drawing the Lines</strong></p>
<p>For experts who examine the new model there can be another quibble -- that some of the divisions built into the plate model may be unnecessary.</p>
<p>Protein has its own group. Consider, though, that protein can be derived not just from meat and fish but also from whole grains, beans and vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and potatoes. Further, when choosing meat as a protein source, consumers should be critical. Lean chicken and fish are lower in fat and calories than beef; salmon has the added benefit of omega-3 fatty acids. </p>
<p>Similarly, dairy gets its own break out in the plate plan -- but if it's calcium you're after, you don't have to rely on milk, cheese or yogurt. Spinach, kale, collard greens and turnip greens provide good doses of calcium, as does tofu. Give credit, however, to the USDA for pointing out that fat-free and low-fat choices are a good idea and noting that foods, such as butter and cream cheese, that are made from milk but contain little or no calcium are excluded from the dairy group. To create a guide based on specific nutrients, however, could fast get as complicated as the old pyramid. </p>
<p>For nutrition's sake, there's another key element to consider: the size of your plate. Scale matters. If you're using a massive platter and eating it clean, dividing up the portions properly will only offer so much help for your health. To reduce the size of your waist, reduce the size of your plate, shunning the foot-wide gourmand specials that have become commonplace.</p>
<p><strong>Get Moving</strong></p>
<p>As the presence of Mrs. Obama at the unveiling of the nutrition guidelines also should remind, for young folks -- for all of us, actually -- intake is only part of a whole picture about healthy diets. Don't forget the word that physicians always use and that follows diet - exercise. The First Lady's program to combat childhood obesity gets it right for kids, but also for adults, too: keep moving and stay active.</p>
<p>If you're flummoxed at any time, though, about healthy eating, the new plate tool should be much more helpful and user-friendly for dieticians and consumers alike. Should this new counsel from the USDA's new nutritional diagram inspire you to reconsider your own plate, take it one step at a time. Make small, incremental changes.</p>
<p>Loading up half of an appropriately sized plate with vegetables and fruits -- which are plentiful and delicious in the summer months -- is an easy and delicious place to start. Better still, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-d-braunstein-md/the-family-meal-a-prescri_b_792407.html" target="_hplink">consume that plate of food while gathered with the whole family</a>, a practice that has its own medical benefits.<br />
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Larry Strauss: Students, How About You Appreciate Your Free Education Before You Lose It?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8717582011-06-06T15:39:39Z2011-06-06T15:58:48ZI was recently contacted, from prison, by a former student, a brilliant young man according to the state standardized tests we were giving a decade ago on which he scored in the 99th percentile in math and not far below that in English.Larry Strausshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-strauss/
<p>I was recently contacted, from prison, by a former student, a brilliant young man according to the state standardized tests we were giving a decade ago on which he scored in the 99th percentile in math and not far below that in English. Michael (not his real name) expected to do well in school with little effort. He'd done that for most of his life -- and didn't seem interested in being challenged. He and I had some battles. I made him earn his grade by demanding more than he believed anyone had a right to demand of him. Like many students I've encountered in two decades of inner-city public school teaching, he didn't value the free education he was receiving (free to him, at least).</p>
<p>Now, ten years after he graduated, Michael thanks me when I send him an article to read and we exchange ideas about it. I send him books and he reads them in his prison cell and appreciates the time and money I spend and the education he's now getting with my assistance (budget cuts have for now eliminated post secondary educational opportunities for inmates where he is currently housed and the library has also been shut down).</p>
<p>Fortunately Michael isn't the only student of mine who appreciates his education. But mostly the children I teach take these opportunities for granted -- as Michael did when he was in high school. Take school for granted and even believe themselves oppressed by it.</p>
<p>To be fair, public schools can be oppressive. Too much prison architecture -- though Michael might now challenge that assertion -- and overcrowding and bells and regimentation, rules enforced with the precision of a cluster bomb; too much attention to mischief and mayhem and not enough attention to quiet excellence; too much institutional indifference and alienation.</p>
<p>Still, I am always a little disheartened whenever students in my class read about children denied an education -- like the African American children Grant teaches in Ernest Gaines'<em> A Lesson Before Dying</em>, for example, or an account of child widows in India -- and fail to be moved by such accounts to cherish the learning they are being afforded.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is just something in the restlessness of youth that makes such appreciation hard to experience. And perhaps the children of this generation -- or at least many among it -- have been hardened by the general oppressiveness and hostility toward young people in our society (that I sometimes think is at least in part an expression of adult envy and resentment, in a culture that worships and even fetishizes youth).</p>
<p>I suppose also that the various campaigns against public schools and teachers haven't exactly inspired appreciation on the part of our students. But I'm not interested in excuses. I think we -- educators and parents -- could do better; and I think that if our children appreciated their education they would do more with it. They shouldn't have to be locked up in a real prison to appreciate school.</p>
<p>Insanely, I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't replace one grade level -- somewhere between fourth and eigth -- with a year of hard labor in factory or field. I do think that a year of such sweat and toil might help cultivate a stronger appreciation for the luxury of being able to think and write and calculate and create (along with the memorization and recitation some educators still believe in). </p>
<p>But I don't think we're ever going to write such an exemption into our child labor laws -- and that is probably a good thing. Our world already has enough toiling misery and our courts have enough law-suits.</p>
<p>But then what?</p>
<p>Explaining to children how fortunate they are never seems to go very far, does it? But what else do we have besides our own love of learning, our infectious passion for knowledge and understanding? Enlightenment is one of the great gifts of being human and we ought never feel embarrassed to remind children of that truth. Or to believe in the power of ideas or the transformative opportunity of each generation -- however polluted their minds may seem with all the noise of the popular and street cultures.</p>
<p>If knowledge is power, if the search for meaning and the practice of reasoning are human needs, let's make sure that it isn't us -- teachers, administrators, parents -- who have failed to appreciate those values.</p>
<p>I don't know where Michael's reading and our discussions will take him (he's got quite a few more years to go before he'll be eligible for parole) but I know where it is taking me -- to a deeper grasp of how important we are to our students whether they ever show it or not.</p>
Cafeteria Workers Take On California's Capitol tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8716132011-06-06T14:10:00Z2011-06-06T14:10:47ZBarbara Torres says she was a "troubled child" growing up in the Los Angeles public school system. But, at age 14, an administrator gave her...Joy Resmovitshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/joy-resmovits/
<p>Barbara Torres says she was a "troubled child" growing up in the Los Angeles public school system.</p>
<p>But, at age 14, an administrator gave her a chance, setting her up with work as a student aide. Torres has remained an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 16 years. She works as a special education assistant, helping children with autism adapt to mainstream classrooms.</p>
<p>With the financial stresses on education, though, she worries that the next troubled child to come through LAUSD's public schools may not be quite so lucky.</p>
<p>"Kids have issues but we can work through them, they can graduate. You just have to have that push," Torres told The Huffington Post. "We're overworked, morale is low, there are furloughs and there are pay cuts. We all have to do extra. It's hard on us but it's even harder on the kids. What if those kids don't have that somebody like I did?"</p>
<p>Torres says that's why she plans to join about 100 other education service workers, from cafeteria servers to bus drivers to custodians, of SEIU Local 99 at midnight. They'll hop on a bus in Los Angeles, planning to reach Sacramento by 7:30 Tuesday morning. There, they'll give <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-economy-california-idUSTRE7510I120110602" target="_hplink">legislators</a> a piece of their minds about Governor Jerry Brown's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/10/jerry-brown-budget-govern_n_806850.html" target="_hplink">budget</a>.</p>
<p>They'll meet with their state representatives, urging them to greenlight Brown's proposal to extend temporary tax increases and to repay schools owed money under <a href="http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/articles/article.asp?title=Proposition%2098" target="_hplink">Proposition 98</a>, a 1988 law that requires that a certain percentage of California's budget be spent on education. According to SEIU Local 99, Brown's May budget proposal would spend almost half of the $6.6 billion in increased state revenue on education. If legislators instead chose to cut taxes, the union says, they would cause about $5 billion in education funding cuts.</p>
<p>Though the midnight ride is but one instance of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/11/teachers-protest-budget-cuts_n_860832.html" target="_hplink">rallying</a> for education spending around the country. Over the weekend, protestors in Wisconsin kicked off a slew of actions by erecting a tent city called <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/05/wisconsin-protesters-walkerville-tent-capitol-scott-walker-budget_n_871523.html" target="_hplink">Walkerville</a> in honor of the governor, his budget and his plan to scrap collective bargaining for public workers. The rallies kicked off Sunday and featured speeches from education professionals. </p>
<p>On Saturday, hundreds <a href="http://www.wisn.com/education/28132982/detail.html" target="_hplink">marched on Milwaukee</a> to protest education cuts. Also on Saturday, North Carolina Democrats staged a <a href="http://www.wect.com/story/14840252/funeral-march-protests-state-budget" target="_hplink">funeral march</a> to protest what they called the "death of public education."</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/02/3672986/midnight-ride-to-sacramento.html" target="_hplink">midnight ride</a> comes after the California Teachers Association organized a <a href="http://castateofemergency.com/" target="_hplink">State of Emergency Week</a> of protests in Sacramento in May.</p>
<p>SEIU Local 99, a union for school service workers, is clear that its constituency is different. </p>
<p>"Our students need better schools and funding," said Blanca Gallegos, a spokesperson for the union. "We're on the same message as the teachers, but we're trying to highlight the role that the classified employees play as part of the education team. You need to fund the entire team."</p>
<p>Larry Sand, who runs the <a href="http://www.ctenhome.org/" target="_hplink">California Teachers Empowerment Network</a>, says he is skeptical of actions like the midnight ride. </p>
<p>"They [the CTA] had the whole State of Emergency week," he said. "If that didn't do it, I don't know what a bunch of SEIU people taking a midnight ride to Sacramento is going to do." There are Republican holdouts to SEIU's policy agenda, Sand said, that are unlikely to be flipped by the visit.</p>
<p>Still, Gallegos believes the trip can make a difference. "It gets legislators to listen one-on-one," she said. "These are not just numbers, but they're real people, real faces, real families."</p>
<p>The school system is already stressed, she said. "Some of the largest cuts were to the custodial staff. We've seen bathrooms that are not cleaned as often," she said. </p>
<p>Gamaliel Andrade, a Los Angeles cafeteria worker, has noticed as well. </p>
<p>"This trip is important to me because some people are trying to blame the education deficit on cafeteria workers' health insurance," he said. "They're trying to put blame on a working-class guy like me, but I'm just trying to make a difference in people's lives."</p>
<p>He said he opposes next school year's <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/education/la-me-union-vote-20110605,0,1202696.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Feducation+%28L.A.+Times+-+Education%29" target="_hplink">proposed furlough days</a>, but is still giving up his wages on Tuesday to protest. "My goal is awareness," he said. "We want people to know it all matters."</p>
Former USC Assistant Coach Sues NCAAtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8716412011-06-06T12:29:46Z2011-06-06T12:30:31ZLOS ANGELES -- Former USC assistant coach Todd McNair filed suit against the NCAA on Friday, alleging that the collegiate athletics governing body wrongfully caused...ESPN Los Angeleshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-klopman/
<p>LOS ANGELES -- Former USC assistant coach Todd McNair filed suit against the NCAA on Friday, alleging that the collegiate athletics governing body wrongfully caused him to lose his job with the Trojans because of punishment handed down last June in the Reggie Bush case.</p>
PHOTOS: Who Was Best-Dressed At The MTV Movie Awards?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8715792011-06-06T01:39:06Z2011-06-06T11:21:38ZKids these days and a few faces we actually recognized turned up to Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California. Elle Fanning led...The Huffington Posthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-moss/
<p>Kids these days and a few faces we actually recognized turned up to Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California.</p>
<p>Elle Fanning led the way in printed romper, Kristen Stewart paired her safety-pinned and studded, strapless number with a smile (for once!) and Emma Stone stunned in a sheer and fringed frock topped off with her new red 'do.</p>
<p>And who missed the red carpet style mark? We won't point fingers, but let's just say we could have gone a lifetime without ever typing the words "paisley jumpsuit."</p>
<p>Take a look at who wore what and tell us what you think.</p>
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Jay Weston: Superior Donuts at the Geffen Playhouse Bring New Meaning to "Play With Your Food"tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8715132011-06-05T20:30:54Z2011-06-05T20:31:11ZI paid my two dollars fifty cents and sucked up a delicious, finger-lickin' sugar-coated vanilla-glazed cinnamon donut, served to me by some of the cast of "Superior Donuts."Jay Westonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-weston/
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12807090@N08/5797692427/" title="superior donut truck by jayweston@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/5797692427_b8dd5e63bf.jpg" width="500" height="355" alt="superior donut truck"></a><em><br />
Actors Edi Gathegi and Gary Cole serve me a donut! Photo courtesy of Geffen.</em></p>
<p>Friday was <em>National Donut Day</em>, so I went to <strong>The Geffen Playhouse</strong> to eat a donut. From the Buttermilk food truck parked in front of the Westwood theatre. My readers know that I have a prejudice against most food trucks. I don't like eating standing up or leaning against a wall, and I also believe that the plethora of food trucks in the city is harmful to the restaurant business here. The vehicles often park in front of brick-and-mortar restaurants and take away business from them. And rarely is the food worth the effort. But this occasion was special case, so I paid my two dollars fifty cents and sucked up a delicious, finger-lickin' sugar-coated vanilla-glazed cinnamon donut, especially since it was served to me by some of the cast of the play, <em>SUPERIOR DONUTS</em>, which is opening this week at the Geffen. <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12807090@N08/5782841709/" title="Superior Donuts truck-Geffen Playhouse by jayweston@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/5782841709_469c8557bc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Superior Donuts truck-Geffen Playhouse"></a><em><br />
Buttermilk Donut Truck becomes Superior Donuts for the opening week.</em></p>
<p>Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Tracey Lett's new play, directed by the Geffen Playhouse's Artistic Director Randall Arney, is a humorous tale of an unlikely friendship set in a sweet shop in one of Chicago's most diverse neighborhoods. According to the program notes, Arthur Przbyszewski's Superior Donuts has been a community hub for decades, and both the neglected storefront and its rundown owner are evidence to that. But when Franco a young fast-talking dreamer bounds into the ship, the writing is on the wall that that things are going to change -maybe even for the better. So, stay tuned for my comments, and I hope they are as sweet as the sugar-coated concoction.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12807090@N08/5783401604/" title="menu of donut truck by jayweston@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5783401604_22fa45fda3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="menu of donut truck"></a><em><br />
Menu of the donut truck.</em></p>
<p><em><br />
To subscribe to Jay Weston's Restaurant Newsletter ($70 for twelve monthly issues), email him at jayweston@sbcglobal.net.</em><br />
</p>
Foiled Burglary Uncovers $1 Million In Marijuanatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8714822011-06-05T16:29:11Z2011-06-06T13:47:16ZWhen Los Angeles deputies responded to a burglary-in-progress call in El Monte, they had no idea they'd be stumbling across one of the biggest marijuana...Anna Almendralahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>When Los Angeles deputies responded to a burglary-in-progress call in El Monte, they had no idea they'd be stumbling across one of the biggest marijuana grow houses in the city's history. </p>
<p>On Saturday morning, four men and a teen boy were caught trying to break in to what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse on Continental Avenue. Instead of guns or other weapons, the thieves were armed with gloves and clippers, reports <a href="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/El-Monte-Drug-Bust-Nets--123164198.html" target="_hplink">NBC LA</a>. Their getaway car? A U-Haul. </p>
<p>Eventually, one of the suspects tipped authorities off about their intended target: over 3,000 marijuana plants valued at around $1 million. After obtaining a search warrant, El Monte police entered the warehouse to carry out what is being touted as "the biggest drug bust in El Monte history."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-el-monte-biggest-pot-bust,0,5955038.story" target="_hplink">KTLA's look inside</a> the El Monte warehouse plantation reveals a secret 3-foot high crawl space where a guard was stationed to watch the door through an air-conditioning vent. Inside, a sophisticated system of lighting and irrigation nurtured thousands of marijuana plants that were just three weeks away from harvest. Finally, the growers evaded detection by sourcing their electricity directly from underground wires, which authorities believe enabled them to steal $10,000 of electricity per month.</p>
<p>One of the robbery suspects alleges that the grow house belongs to his family, who was cutting him out of the profits. He had wrangled four friends to help him claim his share. From the <a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18210585?nclick_check=1" target="_hplink">Daily News Wire Service</a>: <blockquote>Benjamin Kwok, 37, of San Gabriel, Xing Xi He, 24, of Baldwin Park, Louie Frank Fraijo, 28, also of Baldwin Park, Raymond Guan, 29, of Rosemead and a 17-year-old boy from San Gabriel were all arrested and booked for commercial burglary...</blockquote></p>
<p>El Monte is no stranger to jackpot marijuana busts. In 2008, a home in a small gated community was busted for housing a <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6089008" target="_hplink">$1 million marijuana plantation</a>. In 2010, police busted two more home plantations with estimated values of <a href="http://la.guestofaguest.com/wacky-tacky/cops-discover-nearly-1000-weed-plants-in-grow-house-bust/" target="_hplink">$250,000</a> and <a href="http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-el-monte-pot-bust,0,6090490.story" target="_hplink">$1 million</a>. </p>
<p>Â <embed type='application/x-shockwave-flash' salign='l' flashvars='&titleAvailable=true&playerAvailable=true&searchAvailable=false&shareFlag=N&singleURL=http://ktla.vidcms.trb.com/alfresco/service/edge/content/e5d25518-01d3-4733-8d44-f3a83982851f&propName=ktla.com&hostURL=http://www.ktla.com&swfPath=http://ktla.vid.trb.com/player/&omAccount=tribglobal&omnitureServer=ktla.com' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' menu='true' name='PaperVideoTest' bgcolor='#ffffff' devicefont='false' wmode='transparent' scale='showall' loop='true' play='true' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' quality='high' src='http://ktla.vid.trb.com/player/PaperVideoTest.swf' align='middle' height='675' width='450'></embed></p>
LA Teachers Vote To Cut Pay, Save Jobstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8714622011-06-05T15:12:16Z2011-06-05T15:13:02ZMembers of the Los Angeles teachers union voted overwhelmingly to approve a temporary salary reduction in exchange for sparing thousands of jobs, the union announced...latimes.comhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>Members of the Los Angeles teachers union voted overwhelmingly to approve a temporary salary reduction in exchange for sparing thousands of jobs, the union announced Saturday.</p>
Is Central Valley High-Speed Rail A 'Bridge To Nowhere'?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8714582011-06-05T15:05:40Z2011-06-05T17:17:02ZThis story comes courtesy of California Watch. By David Siders FRESNO - The plan for high-speed rail in California is to start on the Fresno...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>This story comes courtesy of <a href="http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/bumpy-start-high-speed-rail-california-10577" target="_hplink">California Watch</a>.</p>
<p><strong>By David Siders</strong></p>
<p>FRESNO - The plan for high-speed rail in California is to start on the Fresno side of the San Joaquin River, between Bakersfield and Chowchilla, and go until the money runs out.</p>
<p>The Central Valley is for many reasons a practical place to begin: The land is broad and flat and relatively inexpensive, and the federal government, which is contributing billions of dollars, requires it.</p>
<p>The first section will one day form the spine of a system connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, officials say. But there is no money guaranteed to build the rest, and the initial tracks, through towns like Wasco and Madera, are conspicuously far from where most people live.</p>
<p>For the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the location has become a political and public relations challenge.<br />
"It's a 'Bridge to Nowhere,'" said Adriana Gianturco, who was California's transportation director three decades ago, when the state first considered high-speed rail.</p>
<p>A "Bridge to Nowhere," she said, "does not gain political support."</p>
<p>Farmers on the line are calling lawyers and organizing opposition, and criticism is intensifying at the Capitol.</p>
<p>Last month, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said the rail authority's financial assumptions are optimistic and its management inadequate. It cited "significant risk" the project will never be finished, and it suggested starting in Los Angeles or the Bay Area in case nothing else is built.</p>
<p>Rail officials are undeterred. They plan to release a new business plan in October, including updated financial and ridership projections.</p>
<p>"If that plan is not acceptable," said Sen. Alan Lowenthal, the Long Beach Democrat who chairs the Senate select committee on high speed rail, "then all the money stops."</p>
<p>The project, costing $43 billion or more, is one of the most ambitious in North America. Even on a map it is imposing: Plowing through the Valley, the railroad rises over roads and rivers and tunnels underground, rearranging whole intersections and pushing part of Highway 99 aside. It rubs out motels and fast food restaurants as it runs into towns, and strips of farmland outside them.</p>
<p>Yet nowhere in California is the landscape more open.</p>
<p>"It's the middle that there's nothing there," former rail authority director Mehdi Morshed said. "It's the middle that is now still an opportunity to build something."</p>
<p>The only reason construction hasn't started yet, he said, is politics.</p>
<p>"It's the mayor of such and such a city who wants a station in such a place," Morshed said. "It's Assemblyman or <br />
Senator X, Y, Z who thinks they have a better idea where to build it."</p>
<p>California has contemplated high-speed rail at least since the early 1980s. But it wasn't until 2008, when voters approved $9 billion in project bonds, that anyone paid much attention. The Obama administration awarded the project about $3.5 billion, and the rail authority, influenced by federal transportation authorities, decided in December where to start.</p>
<p>Its first choice, a 65-mile stretch from Borden, outside Madera, to Corcoran, in Kings County, would have started construction in an area represented in Congress by Jim Costa, the conservative Democrat and former state senator who pushed hard for the project and for funding for the Central Valley.</p>
<p>A banner went up on a cotton trailer off Highway 99: "Looks like a high speed train. Smells like pork."<br />
Costa and Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, said the selection was not political.</p>
<p>But Cardoza, fearing the line would bypass Merced, had what he would later describe as a "conniption." In a letter to federal transportation officials, he said it was logical to start building in the Valley, but "it defies logic and common sense to have the train start and stop in remote areas that have no hope of attaining the ridership needed to justify the cost of the project."</p>
<p>Cardoza's mood improved in May, when the project found enough federal money to extend the line north to near Chowchilla. The extension convinced Cardoza the railroad eventually will reach Merced, where a connection to existing Amtrak trains would benefit Valley residents years before the high-speed system's planned extension to Sacramento and San Diego.</p>
<p>Many Central Valley cities are hours from major airports, and passenger rail service is relatively slow. Nowhere else in California could the state lay so much track for so little money, Costa said.</p>
<p>Still, it could be many years before high-speed trains run through the Valley, even if the tracks are built. The planned segment is not long enough and does not connect sufficient populations for high-speed trains to operate on that route alone. Only if the line is extended could service begin. In a worst-case scenario in which nothing more is built, authority officials say, Amtrak could use the line.<br />
<br />
Even critics acknowledge the potential benefits of high-speed rail: Improved transportation for a growing population, reduced oil consumption and work for thousands of people during a period of high unemployment.</p>
<p>Yet for decades, as other countries pushed ahead with high-speed rail projects, plans in California stalled.</p>
<p>"It's amazing to me that it's taken as long as it has, and there's so much controversy," Gianturco said. "I don't understand why California, why the entire United States, is so much behind the curve."</p>
<p>It was long ago settled that the path from Los Angeles to San Francisco would go through the Central Valley, and more recently that the route would generally follow Highway 99. The Valley is where trains can reach speeds of 220 miles per hour, and engineering and environmental concerns are less pronounced than on the coast.</p>
<p>Andrew Goetz, a professor at the Intermodal Transportation Institute at University of Denver, said the Central Valley offers a "nice, linear corridor," and Anthony Perl, a transportation researcher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, said it's "not cluttered with people, businesses and other things that will feel threatened by change."</p>
<p>The nation's interstate highway system started in the Midwest, which is roughly in the middle, too.</p>
<p>But Goetz said visibility is important.</p>
<p>"If the first segment is not successful just because it's not serving a real market, then I don't know if you're doing yourself any favors," he said.</p>
<p>The federal government required spending in the Central Valley after concluding construction there was more likely than other areas to meet a 2017 deadline for spending federal stimulus money. Officials believed there was little opposition locally to slow the project down.</p>
<p>But farmers in the Central Valley noticed when surveyors started visiting their land. East of Hanford, the proposed line runs through an almond orchard that has been in Helen Sullivan's family since the late 1800s.</p>
<p>Sullivan voted for the rail bond in 2008, but she said it is foolish to permanently disrupt productive farmland for a line that may never be finished. If officials were expecting "yahoo farmers" to roll over, she said, they miscalculated.</p>
<p>"They can't throw enough money at me to take my land away," she said.</p>
<p>Yet the promise of massive spending in the region - the first section alone is expected to cost $6.3 billion - is attractive to many people in the recession-battered Valley. Cities clamored for stations and are competing for a maintenance yard.</p>
<p>Scott Crawford, chairman of the board of The Greater Merced Chamber of Commerce, said a station will bring Yosemite-bound tourists through Merced, and people working as far away as San Francisco could live there.</p>
<p>"It's going to change the whole complexion of our downtown," Merced Mayor Bill Spriggs said.</p>
<p>The response has been less enthusiastic in cities where the train won't stop.</p>
<p>"The cities that are getting a station, they're falling all over themselves to get this thing going," Madera Mayor Robert Poythress said. "I just don't see the ridership numbers. ... It's, 'Let's put down the track and we'll work out the details later.'"</p>
<p>The timing of the legislative analyst's report, issued just days before lawmakers began considering the rail authority's budget for next year, could hardly have been worse for the project's supporters.</p>
<p>The analyst called the project a "big gamble," predicting it could cost $67 billion while relying on billions of dollars in uncertain private investment and additional federal funds.</p>
<p>Roelof van Ark, the rail authority's chief executive officer, acknowledged there is no long-term commitment from the federal government. But mega-projects rarely, if ever, start with all the money they need.</p>
<p>"If you were to wait until you had every dollar set aside and reserved for these kind of infrastructure projects, you'd never build anything," Costa said.</p>
<p>As state lawmakers last month discussed the project's merits, Daniel Krause, executive director of the advocacy group Californians for High Speed Rail, said their "futzing around" risks delay and losing federal aid.</p>
<p>"We're getting this initial chunk of money," Krause said. "We want to build as much track as we can."</p>
<p>Krause and other supporters of high-speed rail responded sharply to the legislative analyst's report. Former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, a former rail authority board member, said it read "almost as if it was written by Lowenthal and (Joe) Simitian," two senators critical of the authority.</p>
<p>"That was the most disgraceful report I ever saw come from that office," he said.</p>
<p>But even before the report's release, Kopp acknowledged the project had developed an image problem.</p>
<p>In a March memorandum urging van Ark to cancel the rail authority's multimillion-dollar contract with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Kopp said the firm's failure was evident in "the worsening legislative, media, academic, and popular comments in the public domain about our project."</p>
<p>The rail authority's outreach challenges came up in a budget hearing recently. Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, said support already has eroded.</p>
<p>"We're losing it," she said. "In my area, we're just losing it like crazy."</p>
<p>The rail authority is pushing forward, staffing up and meeting with people living on the line. Engineers plan to start construction next year, preparing to lift a bridge over the San Joaquin River while pushing south through Fresno.<br />
Tom Tracy, the engineer managing the section from Fresno to Bakersfield, was standing on the Fresno side of the river when a Union Pacific train rumbled overhead.</p>
<p>High-speed rail will look a lot like that, he said. Except, he said, "we'll go by a lot quicker."</p>
<p><strong>David Siders is a reporter with the Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau. He can be reached at 916-321-1215.<br />
</strong></p>
<p><em>This article was produced as part of a joint initiative to cover high-speed rail involving The Bakersfield Californian, California Watch, The Fresno Bee, The Orange County Register, The Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle.</em></p>
14-Yr Old Robber Faces Murder Charges After Shopkeeper Diestag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8714082011-06-05T00:56:55Z2011-06-05T14:27:48ZOAKLAND, Calif. -- A 14-year-old California boy has been charged with murder after prosecutors say a robbery attempt led a market owner to have a...APhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>OAKLAND, Calif. -- A 14-year-old California boy has been charged with murder after prosecutors say a robbery attempt led a market owner to have a fatal heart attack.</p>
<p>Dong Suk Kang died Tuesday after the boy tried to steal two bottles of vodka from the store in Oakland and a struggle ensued.</p>
<p>When the teen fled, Kang jumped in his car to give chase and lost consciousness a few blocks away. He died at a hospital.</p>
<p>Autopsy results are pending, but prosecutors say it appears the 57-year-old had a heart attack.</p>
<p>The Oakland Tribune reports that authorities filed murder and robbery charges Friday.</p>
<p>Alameda County prosecutor Allison Danzig says if someone dies during a violent crime, the offender is responsible for the death.</p>
<p>The teen's name hasn't been released.</p>
Remembering RFK On The Anniversary Of His Deathtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/thenewswire//2.8714072011-06-05T00:33:22Z2011-06-05T00:36:08ZLOS ANGELES — Paul Schrade easily recites the details of the last day of his life before he was shot in the head alongside his...APhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-almendrala/
<p>LOS ANGELES — Paul Schrade easily recites the details of the last day of his life before he was shot in the head alongside his friend, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. He knows it all by heart, every step he took, every sight and sound as if it was yesterday.</p>
<p>In the 43 years Sunday since that transformative night when Schrade came close to losing his life, he has understood the details. But he is shadowed to this day by nagging questions: What really happened that night and who made it happen?</p>
<p>Schrade, at 86, tall, white haired and projecting the vitality of a much younger man, has given the second half of his life over to preserving Kennedy's legacy and trying to unravel the puzzle of his friend's assassination. He believes there was more than one gunman in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel when he and Kennedy and four others were shot. And he plans to publish his story about what he has learned. For now, he declines to say what that is.</p>
<p>He estimates he has spent a cumulative 10 years chasing clues and he's still at it.</p>
<p>"It's always on my mind," Schrade said. "It has to be. The family is not involved because they can't handle reliving the pain and suffering and they don't want to expose Ethel to it. But I always keep a member of the family informed if we're about to release anything."</p>
<p>But Schrade, who tries to live by the ideals Kennedy espoused, has a lot more to think about than the past.</p>
<p>After sinking into deep depression following the assassination, Schrade found a way to move on by achieving a dream which some thought could never happen, the creation of a complex of public schools dedicated to Kennedy's legacy on the Ambassador Hotel site.</p>
<p>"Talk about the school, not about me," he urged a reporter.</p>
<p>But the two are inevitably intertwined. The recently opened state-of-the-art school library bears a large sign: "Paul Schrade Library," and there is a plaque noting his "23 years of struggle to build the finest living memorial" to Kennedy.</p>
<p>The Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools opened last September. The complex of six schools where a student can go from kindergarten to high school graduation in one location was built at a cost of $578 million, the most expensive school in the nation. The campus includes a theater where the old Cocoanut Grove night club stood with Moroccan decor and the same palm leaf carpet pattern that was emblematic of the room where movie stars and presidents posed for pictures.</p>
<p>It is a reminder of how the hotel looked the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 when triumph turned to tragedy in seconds.</p>
<p>Schrade remembers the cheers of the crowd and the touch of Kennedy's hand as they mounted a platform before thousands of supporters who helped him win the California Democratic presidential primary.</p>
<p>"He gave me new recognition for everything I had done. He thanked me from the podium and he grabbed my hand. I was the only one he shook hands with on the platform ," Schrade said..</p>
<p>Schrade, then western regional director of the United Auto Workers Union, had been the labor chair of Kennedy's campaign and was at his side at many events including a meeting with farmworker leader Cesar Chavez in rural Delano. On the fateful night, he was waiting with Kennedy to see if he would win the pivotal primary.</p>
<p>"`He knew it was life or death politically that night," says Schrade. "And it became a death."</p>
<p>But first, he said, there was joy as the tide of votes turned and Kennedy's victory seemed assured.</p>
<p>"There was a wonderful spirit upstairs on the fifth floor of the Ambassador Hotel," he said. "I sat with Bob and Ethel. There came a point when the decision was made to go downstairs a little after midnight."</p>
<p>After thanking supporters, Kennedy was diverted from his planned exit to move through the hotel pantry. Schrade remembers him shaking hands with two Hispanic employees of the hotel.</p>
<p>"He turned and then I got hit. I got the first shot," Schrade recalled. "I thought I was being electrocuted. I fell right behind Bob. ... I was in and out of consciousness and when I came to and the doctor arrived, I said, `Take care of the senator.'"</p>
<p>He learned later that the mortally wounded Kennedy asked: "Is everyone all right? Is Paul all right?"</p>
<p>He did not know that Kennedy had been killed until the next day when UAW President Walter Reuther came to his bedside and told him.</p>
<p>"I just turned away," he said. "I was so angry. We should have realized it was going to happen again." In light of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy five years earlier, he thought there should have been more security.</p>
<p>Schrade underwent surgery and some fragments of the bullet remain in his skull.</p>
<p>"It took a long time for me to recover from this," he said. "People told me, `You were so angry, so depressed you weren't on the job."</p>
<p>In fact, he lost his job, suffering defeat for re-election to his UAW post.</p>
<p>In 1971 he met and married political attorney Monica Weil, and the Yale educated Schrade, a native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., turned in another direction. He joined the board of American Civil Liberties Union and began working with his wife to investigate the RFK assassination and convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. He would become convinced there was a conspiracy.</p>
<p>"I know there was a second gunman based on the evidence," he said. "Sirhan couldn't have done it and didn't do it alone." He came to believe in a larger plot encompassing the assassination of President Kennedy. But he is not ready to discuss the details until his research is complete.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, he has moved on in his mission to carry on Kennedy's work.</p>
<p>He knew Kennedy was passionately committed to education for children from low income families. In 1987, Schrade proposed a school on the 23-acre Ambassador site that sits in a crowded immigrant neighborhood near downtown. The 3,700 students now enrolled are predominantly Hispanic and Korean. Those involved in athletics wear bright red sweatshirts emblazoned with the initials RFK.</p>
<p>Schrade visits the Los Angeles campus frequently to check up on things. Although the Ambassador buildings are gone, the Paul Schrade library, at the spot where the ballroom stood, retains the vaulted ceiling of the original room. Two enormous murals frame the room – one of Kennedy reaching down into a sea of hands, the other of Kennedy breaking bread with Chavez after his historic fast for farmworkers' rights. Students who were too young to know about Kennedy receive a lecture on orientation day explaining the murals and the school's heritage.</p>
<p>If they are lucky, the students may have the chance to meet Schrade, the living embodiment of a chapter in history.</p>
<p>Schrade points with pride to the "Inspiration Park" on the grounds where students can sit on benches and contemplate engraved words from Kennedy and other civic leaders. Near the entrance is a quote from Kennedy which could apply to Schrade's accomplishments.</p>
<p>"Few will have the greatness to bend history but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation."</p>