A small-town theater campaign's larger projections

OAKHURST, Calif. — Once in a while, Hollywood comes through this gateway to Yosemite National Park. People still talk about the time Ron Howard accidentally left one of his children (briefly) in a doughnut shop.

But Oakhurst's main connection to the movies has been the local Met Cinema, scene of countless first dates and family outings. When the Met closed abruptly in November — "Skyfall Coming Soon" still up on the marquee — it meant that those living in this mountain town and neighboring communities would have to drive at least 70 miles to Fresno to see James Bond on the big screen.

Now for the plot twist:

Three childhood friends believe they've developed a subscription plan that could save not only the Met but also struggling small-town theaters across the country.

The deadline to find out if they can make it work here is Dec. 31. If enough people enroll, the trio will be able to sign a lease and reopen the movie house. If not, the landlord plans to look for other tenants.

James Nelson, 30, a life coach who defines his specialty as "figuring out how to make the impossible possible," was driving back from a wealth-training seminar when his wife told him about the theater going under.

Nelson promptly turned to Matt Sconce, 31, a local church youth leader and filmmaker who got his start by winning an "American Idol" music video contest in 2004. (Sconce also works as a magician, selling DVDs of trick instruction to help supplement the family income.)

The pair then called Keith Walker, 32, a San Francisco software engineer for Klout, which ranks people according to their social media influence. Walker got in his car and started driving.

Soon the three were clustered around a computer — just like when they were kids and built a robot that was so amazing none of the adults believed it was their work.

"It felt exactly like the old days," Walker said. "Except we're taller."

They ran models of Nelson's subscription-based theater idea, showing that to break even they would need 3,000 people, or 15% of the mountain communities, to sign up. For $19.95 per month, a member would be able to see each movie one time and buy individual tickets for friends. Non-members could buy a $16 day pass.

While researching the theater business, Nelson learned that studios are transitioning to digital distribution. Thousands of independent theaters that couldn't afford equipment upgrades have closed over the last 10 years, according to industry experts. Hundreds of others — which, like the Met, still show print films — remain on the brink. The subscription business model could pay for the new equipment.

"We realized this could be our big idea, the one we've been waiting for," Nelson said. "Saving small-town movies."

Walker asked for a leave of absence to work on the project. When it was turned down, he quit his job.

Sconce began marketing the Be a Met Hero program, including dressing his two children as superheroes and having them hold signs along the highway.

"We like to be a little corny," Nelson said.

"We don't 'like to be.' We just are," Sconce corrected.

"Yes," Walker agreed. "We have no choice."

The tricky part of the membership-model calculation is that box-office totals are based on ticket sales, and distribution deals for a movie include a percentage of each ticket sold. But Met members would scan magnetic cards to record attendance totals for each film.

In the end, the success of the venture may come down to whether major studios are willing to negotiate contracts without traditional tickets being sold. But first, success depends on signing up members.

Sconce, Nelson and Walker have spoken to the local rotary clubs. They performed Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus while pitching their idea at the Yosemite High Winter Concert at Bass Lake. And Walker was a hit at the Sierra Springs Village Mobile Home Park's Christmas party.

"He was adorable. So gung-ho," said Cindy Karr, 65. "Everybody was in favor and signed up. It's important to get out and see new releases."

In the first two days of the campaign, 500 people joined, many of them affixing "I'm a Met Hero" stickers to their car bumpers. At last count, 2,633 had committed. No one will be charged unless the plan is a go.

Before the Met went dark last month, moviegoers tended to come early to chat with neighbors, hush up during the show and hang out in the popcorn-scented lobby afterward to critique what they'd seen.

That's what makes movie night in small towns something to be saved, Walker said.

"There's something magical about experiencing a movie with a bunch of other people," he said. "Your couch and a movie theater are not the same thing."

diana.marcum@latimes.com

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Who will back down in Silver Lake building dispute?

It seems that somebody may have to do some tear-down work on Robinson Street in Silver Lake.

But will the demolition require a bulldozer, or merely a sledgehammer?

Homeowner Richard Kaye wants a three-story house being built within inches of his own 90-year-old home knocked down and rebuilt farther away.

Developer Chong Lee counters that a corner of a garage and a balcony that wraps around Kaye's house should be removed because they extend as much as five feet beyond the property line.

According to Kaye, Los Angeles building officials improperly ignored the proximity of his house to Lee's when they issued a building permit and allowed construction to begin seven weeks ago.

He alleged that Lee used white-out correction fluid to conceal the outline of Kaye's balcony and garage on the plot plan submitted for approval by the Department of Building and Safety. Kaye points out that the city building code states that "any misrepresentation in any writing submitted to the department" is punishable as a misdemeanor.

"My attorney came out here and talked with Mr. Lee and he said, 'Yeah, I whited it out. An inspector told me to do it,'" Kaye said.

His lawyer, Kevin McDonnell, said the developer admitted doing the deed during a conversation he had with Lee on the street in front of the construction site.

"He showed me his plans. They showed the projections shown initially on the approved plans had been whited out. You could see it. He said it was suggested that they do it and the city supervisor knew there was white-out on the plans," McDonnell said.

Lee did not dispute that account but noted that the city is well aware that his new house is within arm's reach of a corner of Kaye's balcony.

"His house is shown in many other places. I think they didn't want it shown, but it's shown on many copies of the plans," Lee said. He stressed that his project meets all city setback requirements and speculated that Kaye's balcony was built without a permit.

"It doesn't look like it was engineered correctly. The balcony is really dangerous. It's old. Code enforcement will evaluate it," Lee said. "I feel bad for him.... I wanted to work it out with him."

Although houses built in the 1920s such as Kaye's could be built right up to the property line, homes such as Lee's must be at least 7 feet, 3 inches from the lot boundary.

The dispute involves two pie-shaped parcels on a curving hillside street between the 101 Freeway and Sunset Boulevard. Many of the homes in the area were built in the '20s, with some of the steeper lots left undeveloped for decades.

When completed, Lee's house will feature a modern look and will zigzag down the hill from Robinson.

Kaye has asked officials to void Lee's building permit on grounds that his plans were approved "without a complete disclosure of the dimensions of my house and its proximity to the house" being constructed.

"My house was built in 1923 and I bought it in 2002. There are city plot plans going back more than 50 years, establishing the property lines," he said, adding that everything on his property has been built with permits. "My lot as reflected in the plot plan from the files is actually significantly larger" than Lee's plot plan indicates that it is.

After Kaye, owner of the Koda sushi restaurant and sake bar on Sunset, complained to Silver Lake-area City Councilman Eric Garcetti's office that Lee's house is too close, aides asked building and safety officials to investigate the permit approval and the alleged white-out incident.

"If what the homeowner says is true, it's an unacceptable and outrageous defrauding of the city," said Yusef Robb, Garcetti's deputy chief of staff. "We've contacted the Department of Building and Safety and asked for a full investigation."

Luke Zamperini, chief inspector with the department's inspections bureau, said officials are unaware of anyone from the department suggesting that the plot plan be altered and will investigate if further information is provided.

"We don't normally ask to see the buildings next door," Zamperini said of building permits. "So far, we haven't been able to find permits for the balcony or garage."

If Kaye can't prove that they were built with a permit or that they were constructed before the parcel containing his house and Lee's was split into two lots, at least part of the balcony and garage will probably have to be torn down, he said.

If anyone has evidence that the balcony and garage had permits or were built before a lot split occurred, tell the city, Zamperini said.

"We'd welcome that," he said. "It could change the direction of the way things are going."

bob.pool@latimes.com

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Police seek witnesses to officer's fatal shooting of cuffed man

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

December 31, 2012

Moreno Valley police are looking for witnesses in their investigation into an officer's fatal shooting of a man who was lying on the ground handcuffed.

Lamon Khiry Haslip, 18, of Ontario was shot Friday night when officers noticed he had a gun, police said.

At the time, Haslip was lying on the ground and handcuffed, but officers said he had rolled on his side, and one "officer backed away from the subject and announced that the subject had a gun," according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which is assisting with the investigation.

There also was a second officer there, and it was not immediately clear which officer opened fire. Haslip died at the scene.

Officers had been dispatched to Fir Avenue in Moreno Valley on a call about a gang-related "man with a gun" that came in at 8:38 p.m. Friday. The caller said "several males" were in front of a residence "creating a disturbance and brandishing guns," the Sheriff's Department said.

The first officer arrived within two minutes and was told that the people involved had fled in a vehicle. Minutes later, a car with Haslip in it drove by, and the person who had called the police identified the car as one involved in the earlier incident.

When the officer tried to stop the car, Haslip allegedly attempted to flee on foot. The officer caught Haslip and placed him in handcuffs on the ground, police said.

A second officer arrived just before the shooting. The officers reported finding a gun in Haslip's possession.

The officer who shot Haslip was placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, which is the department's policy. No officers were injured.

Authorities are asking witnesses or anyone else with relevant information to call the sheriff's central homicide unit at (951) 955-2777 or the Police Department at (951) 486-6700.

howard.blume@latimes.com

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New Year's resolutions for Sacramento politicos

SACRAMENTO — From my skimpy research on New Year's resolutions, I've learned that 40% of us make them, and about 90% end in failure.

A dismal record of weak will.

Yet, New Year's resolutions should be encouraged because they're vital to self-improvement. They reflect at least a brief recognition of personal flaws and the need for betterment.

Therefore I'm proposing a few, mainly for Sacramento politicians. Never mind that I've tried this in previous years and mostly been ignored. So some resolutions are repeats.

The first is for Gov. Jerry Brown, and it calls for some background:

•Be more considerate of people, and not just those he regards as intellectual peers or is hitting up for political favors.

Inconsiderateness long has been a Brown flaw, regardless of such qualities as political brilliance and an ability to charm if he chooses. This defect isn't just limited to eating off other people's plates, an annoying habit.

Here's the kind of thing I'm referring to:

Early each year, California's governor traditionally has spoken to the Sacramento Press Club. The sold-out luncheon is a big fundraiser for the club's scholarship program that benefits college journalism students. Govs. Schwarzenegger, Davis, Wilson, Deukmejian — they all came, promoting their agendas, answering reporters' questions and helping students.

Brown has stiffed the club for two years running and is heading into a third. He basically ignores the invite. Just keeps the club dangling.

This is an old Brown trait.

The first time he was governor, in 1975, the state Chamber of Commerce invited him to speak — as governors always had — to a huge annual breakfast of California business leaders, industrialists and growers.

"We couldn't get a response from him," recalls Sacramento attorney John Diepenbrock, one of the event's organizers. "He wouldn't say yes, wouldn't say no. We were getting to the point of desperation."

So Diepenbrock, a Republican VIP with strong ties to the White House, invited the president of the United States. President Ford flew out, subbed for the governor, and the rest is history.

Ford walked across the street into Capitol Park en route to paying Brown a courtesy visit when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme pulled a Colt .45 on him in an assassination attempt.

Fromme, from the old Charles Manson gang, served 34 years in federal prison. Ford, 17 days later, returned to California and another crazed, armed woman tried to kill him in San Francisco. The next year, Brown began accepting the chamber's invitations.

We'll keep the rest short.

Here are two resolutions for both the governor and the Democratic-dominated Legislature:

•Find some financial angels for your bullet train obsession before it breaks the state.

Yes, high-speed rail is cool. No, it isn't a freebie. It's very costly — $68 billion at last estimate. Only $13 billion has been lined up. But construction is about to start.

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Jane Goodall to promote conservation as Rose Parade grand marshal

The Rose Parade is Pasadena's premier event, but its 2013 grand marshal admits she learned about it only after receiving her title.

"When you grow up in England and spend all your time in Tanzania ... I hadn't heard of the Rose Parade," Jane Goodall said. "It was only gradually that I realized what a big honor it is."

Goodall is perhaps best known for setting up shop in 1960 in what is now Tanzania to conduct what would become groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees. Now 78, she remains focused on issues involving conservation, crisscrossing the globe to visit schools and give lectures.

Tuesday's Rose Parade will be a "wonderful way" to share her mission, Goodall said, given the tens of thousands of people who watch the annual event along the streets of Pasadena and on television.

"It's an opportunity to send a message to many people who might not hear it otherwise," Goodall said. "I think they'll be quite a few people who might have heard of me but might not think about the message I have."

That message, Goodall explained, is simple.

"It's up to us to save some of these amazing places that our children today can go to for the future," she said. "Millions and millions of people making the right choices for the future is going to lead to the kind of change we need."

Goodall's global nonprofit, the Jane Goodall Institute, and its youth-focused Roots & Shoots program are promoting individual projects in conjunction with the parade, asking viewers to do things such as donate old clothing, take steps to reduce household waste and spend time outside. Goodall will also use the parade to spotlight animals in need, and she will be accompanied by a "lovely, beautiful dog" available for adoption.

Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby called Goodall's background "a testament to the sense of adventure and openness to possibility" represented by the parade's theme, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

"The theme can be interpreted as a celebration of accomplishment, discovery and travel, of course, but equally valid is its implicit call to action," Bixby said in a statement. "Dr. Goodall is now an international icon, but it is her passion for discovery and how she has used her celebrity for the betterment of the world that has drawn us to her."

Past grand marshals include celebrities (Shirley Temple Black, Bill Cosby, John Wayne), former presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Dwight Eisenhower) and frogs (Kermit). Iraq war veteran and "Dancing With the Stars" winner J.R. Martinez led the 2012 Rose Parade; Southern cooking queen Paula Deen was grand marshal the year before.

"It's an honor and a fascinating list," Goodall said.

Goodall has turned to another former grand marshal for advice, consulting former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (2006) about the coin flip that will start the Rose Bowl game.

Goodall said she was nervous about the toss — and apparently O'Connor could relate.

"She said, 'Oh, I was terrified,' " Goodall said.

Coin tosses aside, Goodall said she is looking forward to her time in Southern California. Her family will be in town for the festivities, and she's scheduled to give a lecture Friday in San Pedro with Betty White and Tippi Hedren, fellow animal activists.

"It's a bit chaotic," Goodall said of her schedule. "This Rose Parade is quite something, isn't it?"

kate.mather@latimes.com

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Pasadena-area leaders hold peace and unity rally against violence

Pasadena-area community leaders staged a peace and unity rally Sunday afternoon to denounce recent violence that claimed the life of longtime youth sports leader and community activist Victor McClinton, among others.

About 250 people gathered on the steps of All Saints Episcopal Church near City Hall to hear city leaders, clergy members and law enforcement officials discuss ways to stem the violence.

"It was a call for peace and for the community to come together in light of some of the recent gang violence and shootings that have occurred," said William Boyer, a Pasadena public information officer.

Speakers included the Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints, Pastor Jean Burch of Community Bible Church, Pastor Kerwin Manning of Pasadena Church, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and a representative from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"The message was we need to do something about all the gun violence that seems to be happening across the country," Boyer said. "It can't just be the city alone. It has to be the public, the clergy, parents and young people. It has to be a collaborative effort. We have to take back the city, say no to gangs and say no to guns. We have to turn it into a message of hope for young people."

About 400 people gathered Thursday evening at Pasadena City Hall to mourn McClinton, who was killed by stray gunfire on Christmas morning.

McClinton, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department technician, died outside his home in the 1900 block of Newport Avenue, near Wyoming Street. A second man, who may have been the target of the drive-by shooting, was wounded, according to police.

McClinton, 49, founded the Brotherhood Community Youth Sports League nearly two decades ago and served as its volunteer director, the Pasadena Sun reported.

Two others were killed Christmas day when a driver being pursued by police crashed into a minivan. Tracey Ong Tan, 26, of Glendale and an 11-year-boy from Daly City, Calif., were pronounced dead at the scene. Three other occupants of the minivan were seriously injured.

On Friday, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office filed murder charges, with an enhancement for gang activity, against Darrell Lee Williams, 22, of Pasadena and Brittany Michelle Washington, 21, of Los Angeles. Williams was allegedly driving the Dodge Durango that struck the minivan. Washington was a passenger in the Durango. Two other passengers were not charged. All four occupants sustained moderate injuries.

Pasadena police said Williams was a parolee with ties to gangs and that there was a warrant out for his arrest at the time of the collision.

Williams is being held at Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $1.095-million bail. Washington is being held in lieu of $1-million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

howard.blume@latimes.com

carlos.lozano@latimes.com

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This Rose Parade marks a major step for a young float designer

Charles Meier pulled his first all nighter when he was 11 years old. His mother found him asleep in a flower box.

It was the night before final judging for the 1990 Rose Parade. Meier, a volunteer, had been running around for hours helping float decorators fill vials of water, scrape seeds and glue last-minute details. Exhausted, he finally crawled into a box that still smelled of orchids.

His parents snapped a picture, not knowing that their son would go on to win South Pasadena's float design contest just two years later, making him the youngest designer in Rose Parade history.

Nor did they imagine he would one day break through a tight-knit institution and start his own float company. When the 124th Rose Parade rolls out Tuesday, Meier's company will be the event's first new professional builder in almost two decades.

"I basically traded in stuffed animals for Rose Parade floats," said Meier, 34. "Other kids were at home reading comic books, and I'm here organizing my float pictures into photo albums. It was what captured my imagination."

::

Meier still remembers the moment he fell in love.

He was 9 years old, sitting in grandstand seats his parents had won in a raffle. It was sensory overload: Booming marching bands. Floats adorned with tractors and dancers on a giant piano. And color. So much color.

He started drawing floats that day. He studied flowers, memorized parade brochures and, accompanied by his parents, joined float decorating committees. He couldn't stop talking about his ideas.

"I don't want to hear you describe another float," his mother, Carol, told him. "Just draw one and send it in and see if they will build it."

Every year, he submitted designs to his hometown float committee. On his 13th birthday, South Pasadena selected his drawing. Instead of letting the experts take over, he insisted on working with the graphic designer on his vision of two aliens playing tug-of-war with a spaceship.

"It was really kind of funny. He was so young. I mean, he was 13, just a kid," said Dex Regatz, 82, the graphic designer who took Meier under his wing.

"Before they knew it, I had insisted I do the complete floral plan," Meier said. "And they actually took most of those ideas and ran with them."

He quickly became a live encyclopedia of flowers and colors.

He once exercised his mental floral database by designing a Valentine-themed float with 94 types of roses, an unmatched feat in Rose Parade annals. He juggled hot pink Hot Ladys, bicolored Panamas and King Kongs with hints of green.

He experiences his life through the prism of floats. Walking across moss inspired the furry texture for an animal. Coconut flakes, so white he thought they sparkled, looked perfect for celestial stars and eyeballs.

::

To pay his bills, Meier worked as a senior caretaker and freelance floral designer.

But on the side, he continued to volunteer for South Pasadena and Sierra Madre. He won fans with his enthusiasm, many said, and he treated each float as an intricate work of art.

"I'm always so impressed with his floats. You can stand anywhere, from any angle, and it looks good," said Gwen Robertson, a longtime Sierra Madre volunteer.

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Police search for man who stabbed 2 teens at mall

A teenage boy and girl stabbed inside the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach remain in stable condition after surgery, police said Sunday.

The 13-year-old victims, who have not been identified, talked briefly with police about Saturday night's attack by a stranger outside the movie theaters at the mall, said Sgt. Shawn Freeman of the Redondo Beach Police Department.

The man stabbed them in the chest, though other details of their wounds were not released. The two victims are in intensive care.

The attacker is described as African American, between 40 and 50 years old, tall with a medium build, police said. He may have been wearing prescription glasses and had both a beard and mustache, possibly graying.

He was dressed in a camouflage jacket, perhaps green and brown; a black T-shirt; jeans; and a dark beanie, police said. Police said he used a kitchen knife with a black handle as a weapon.

The stabbing occurred in the public area of the mall's third level, which contains a food court and the theaters. By late Sunday, no witness had come forward, Freeman said, though bystanders did see the children collapsing and yelling for medical help.

The victims, who are friends, had arrived at the mall with friends and family, but they were alone without adult supervision when the stabbing occurred, Freeman said. The attack "was completely unprovoked," he said.

A mall security officer discovered the injured pair and alerted officers who already were in the shopping center area. Before the boy fainted, he provided an initial description of the attacker, police Sgt. David Christian said.

Many stores were in the process of closing as the investigation began, and officers did not order a lockdown, but they did stop vehicles leaving the building.

"We did not have a lot to go on," Christian said. "We basically blocked all the exits for the parking area. We just stopped every car that went by and looked inside with a flashlight and talked to the people inside. It was a lot of cars."

Police are reviewing surveillance video from every store at the mall to see "if, maybe, the suspect was at another place on another level a minute before," Freeman said. "We're doing our best to come up with a complete picture."

When Redondo Beach officers first responded to the attack, police from Torrance, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach came to help them.

A manager at the movie complex told The Times that the mall administration had directed her to close the theaters.

"We don't know anything about it," said the woman, who did not give her name. "I don't know what happened. The mall said, 'You need to close down.'"

Christian said he was not aware of any order from police to close the cinemas, but he said he thought that after the attack, the theaters were allowing no further admissions.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Redondo Beach police tip line at (310) 937-6685 or send a text message to (310) 339-2362.

anh.do@latimes.com

howard.blume@latimes.com

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Buddhist temple doesn't always inspire peaceful reactions

The sound of chanting echoed through the makeshift temple, to the slow steady pulse of a drum.

Forty-nine days had passed since Jonathan Van's uncle had died in Vietnam, and he and his family gathered at Tinh Xa Giac Ly in Westminster, chanting so that his spirit might find its path. The puffs of incense dancing in the air would serve as the vehicle to carry his spirit to the next life, according to Buddhist tradition.

The relatives knelt on the floor of the two-car garage, high heels and sandals scattered outside on the driveway, as other loved ones spilled out to the patio, reciting from yellow songbooks.

The sound, for Van, calmed his own spirit.

"For me the chanting is very soothing," Van said. "Relieves stress."

Less so for some of the neighbors, however.

The temple sits among the suburban tract homes at Titus Street and Hazard Avenue, just steps from Little Saigon, converted about 26 years ago from a typical family home to a house of worship.

The sound of the chanting and the unfamiliar smells and rituals are an unwelcome intrusion to some in the neighborhood in the heart of Orange County, the traffic an inconvenience.

Officials said misunderstandings between the start-up temples and residents who find their neighborhoods transformed are an ongoing issue in the Asian communities that sprawl across Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

Rita Leon and her brother Rudy Lastra live across the street from Tinh Xa Giac Ly and say their conflicts with the temple's worshipers have almost turned physical.

And traffic generated by visitors, they said, has turned their residential street into a bustling thoroughfare.

"It's like the 405 Freeway on a Monday at rush hour," Lastra said.

Temple organizers also clashed with the city, which after receiving numerous complaints from residents cited them for code violations involving outdoor cooking equipment as well as gas, electrical and plumbing lines, said Art Bashmakian, Westminster's planning manager.

The temple's leader, the Most Venerable Thich Giác Si, said he is mindful of his neighbors' concerns and reminds visitors to park outside the neighborhood to reduce the number of cars streaming along the residential streets.

"Whatever they like to say or express to us, we like to listen," he said.

Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, said budding religious groups often set up shop in suburban areas, and such clashes can be expected.

"In many religious communities you will see this tradition of starting a congregation in your home before you're able to buy or build," Kennedy said.

Even though the face of central Orange County began changing decades ago with the arrival of Vietnamese immigrants, the tiny neighborhood temples sometimes seem foreign to residents when they spring up.

"There's no question where you're confronted with something you don't understand or are unfamiliar with, you're uncomfortable," Kennedy said.

Often stereotypes about a culture or its images — such as the Buddhist swastika or Sikh turbans — can "color our thinking" about a neighbor, Kennedy said. But the conflicts, he said, sometimes sort themselves out.

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Lawmakers try to curb anonymous political donations in California

SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers are moving to curb anonymous political donations in California after a national election in which nonprofit groups secretly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns.

Legislators have proposed greater disclosure by donors, higher fines for violations and new powers for officials to investigate suspicious contributions to certain groups. Other measures would boost disclosure requirements for political advertising and campaign websites.

The moves were prompted largely by an Arizona group's $11-million donation this year to a California campaign committee, which used the money to oppose Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-hike measure and support another ballot initiative that was intended to curb unions' political fundraising.

State election officials sued the Arizona group to determine the identities of the contributors — only to discover that the money had come from two other nonprofits, which under federal law are not required to reveal their donors. State law requires groups to identify only donors who gave money specifically for political purposes.

Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, said new legislation is necessary to update the Political Reform Act, the Watergate-era law that governs campaign finance in the state.

Amendments to the 1974 law require a two-thirds vote. It is unclear whether California Democrats, who now wield historic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, will use their newfound powers to make the proposed changes.

State Sens. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) have introduced legislation, SB 3, to close the state loophole for nonprofits. Their bill would require nonprofits that give at least $100,000 to a political campaign over the course of a year to release the names of the donors behind the contribution.

"Laundering money through nonprofits in an attempt to avoid transparency is fundamentally undemocratic," Yee said. "Our democracy should not be bought and sold in shady backroom deals."

The rise of so-called dark money is a byproduct of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which lifted the ban on direct political expenditures by corporations. That triggered a surge of election activity by groups incorporated under the tax code's section 501(c)4 as social welfare organizations, which are allowed to engage in issue advocacy.

Advocates for more campaign finance reporting said they have been pushing lawmakers for years to tighten California's disclosure rules, which are already among the strongest in the nation.

"It took $11 million to get their attention," said Phillip Ung, a policy advocate at Common Cause, which filed the original complaint about the Arizona donation. "Campaign strategists are constantly adapting their strategies to sneak as much money into campaigns from secret donors as possible, and the law needs to keep up with those strategists."

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) has legislation, AB 45, to prevent what he called last-minute "money bombs" in elections. It would require nonprofits participating in a political campaign to identify any donors giving at least $50,000 six months before an election.

"This is the kind of information voters and the public need to have before they cast their votes," Dickinson said.

The bill would also empower the state's political watchdog to seek injunctions against nonprofits to compel disclosure.

Other proposals target political advertising.

State Sens. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) have introduced SB 52, which would require the top three funders of political ads to be identified in the spots and on the campaign's website.

Another bill, SB 26 by state Sen. Louis Correa (D-Santa Ana), would increase the size of the disclosure notice on slate mailers, which are paid advertisements for candidates and ballot measures, telling voters who prepared and promoted the fliers.

michael.mishak@latimes.com

Times staff writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

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A lifeline for parents concerned about a child's mental health

Lynn Goodloe saw her son's grades begin to fall as he developed a knack for getting into mischief at a private Westside high school. Was it a phase, drugs or something more troubling?

Harold Turner didn't know what to make of his daughter's disorganized thinking and erratic behavior at Loyola Marymount University. Was her high level of stress typical of the college experience, or was something wrong?

"Being a teenager is by definition a crazy time," said Turner, so it can be hard for parents to know whether to be patient or persistent.

The eventual diagnosis for Goodloe's son and Turner's daughter was severe mental illness, and both are now in treatment. And for the past several years, Goodloe and Turner have devoted themselves to helping others identify mental health problems and begin the daunting task of figuring out how to get help.

I checked in with Goodloe and Turner because readers asked me to write about the lessons of the elementary school massacre in Connecticut. It's unclear what emotional or psychiatric issues the killer might have been dealing with, but as readers point out, mental illness has played a role in a number of unfathomable mass killings.

Of course, it's important to remember that the vast majority of people with a mental illness do not commit crimes. And the way I see it, the greatest insanity in this country is our irrational love of guns, their easy accessibility and the cowardly refusal of elected officials to address the issue.

You want crazy? Consider the NRA CEO's cowboy call for a national posse, with armed volunteers in every school. If the NRA had its way, Big Bird would patrol Sesame Street with an assault rifle.

But none of that means we should ignore mental illness. So let me get back to some practical advice from Goodloe and Turner, as well as from Dr. Mark DeAntonio, a UCLA psychiatrist for children and adolescents.

DeAntonio said parents should take note if a child suddenly becomes less communicative or more isolated.

"When you have a 16-year-old … who's enthusiastic about school, and then in the sophomore or junior year doesn't want to do anything but sit in his room and play games on the Internet, that's a concern," said DeAntonio. "You want to see them" engaging with friends, thinking beyond high school and developing "plans, schemes, ideas."

So how does a parent know the difference between a computer addiction, a bad week and a mental or emotional disorder? Try to keep communicating, said DeAntonio, and take to heart the observations of adults you trust who come into contact with your child. Not that those observations are as easy to come by as they once were, he added, because schools have dealt with budget woes by getting rid of nurses, librarians, music instructors, counselors and coaches.

"These people can offer a different viewpoint because they're seeing different parts of kids," said DeAntonio. "When you get down to the bare minimum for efficiency, a lot gets lost in the social fabric of a school and it's easier to fall through the cracks, absolutely."

Nearly eight years ago, when I befriended a man who'd been diagnosed decades earlier with schizophrenia, I didn't know what I was getting myself into or where to turn for help. The same was true for Goodloe and Turner, who eventually found their way to the nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness, an education and advocacy group that helps families navigate the system to find help for their loved ones.

"It was NAMI that saved us. It wasn't a psychiatrist or a psychologist," said Goodloe, a medical doctor who was flummoxed by the byzantine and fragmented mental health system, even with help from her daughter, a lawyer. "We decided that if this was happening to us, it must be happening to thousands of others, so we started our own chapter."

Goodloe and the late author Bebe Moore Campbell were among the founders of Urban NAMI Los Angeles. Ten years later, Goodloe is the board president and Turner is programs director, and they're expanding their reach through connections at churches and community centers.

A vast array of new mental health services was made possible in California by a 2004, voter-approved tax on millionaires. But Goodloe says mental health "continues to be the stepchild" of the American healthcare system, and her chapter is flooded with pleas for help from people whose loved ones are on waiting lists for treatment. Many of the callers are among the working poor, she said, and they either have no health insurance or their policies don't cover mental health services.

Urban NAMI offers counseling and referrals to clinics, psychologists and psychiatrists. Its signature program is a free, 12-week family-to-family course that offers indispensable training and support from group leaders who have already been through "the whole shebang," as Goodloe puts it.

That's important, Goodloe said, because in the United States, mental illness is often criminalized, with jails and prisons filled with people whose underlying and often untreated issue is a mental illness.

Turner came to understand that intimately after his schizophrenic daughter stabbed her sister, and prosecutors were far more interested in obtaining a criminal conviction than in trying to understand the young woman's well-documented, 10-year struggle with mental illness.

What are the lessons of Connecticut?

Too many guns, not enough mental health support. NAMI's national director wrote to President Obama after the shooting, advocating for improved early identification and intervention for those with a mental illness, more school-based mental health services and true mental health parity in healthcare plans.

If you have concerns about a loved one, contact your physician or your county mental health department. If you don't get immediate help, call (800) 950-NAMI (6264) or go to http://www.nami.org, a great resource for information on symptoms and treatments of all mental disorders, as well as a link to the NAMI chapter nearest you.

One thing you'll learn, Turner said, is that although "you're in it for the long haul," with proper help, many mental disorders can be managed and lives can be improved.

"There's hope," he said. "You can't do this if you think it's hopeless."

steve.lopez@latimes.com

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Going to the Rose Parade? Here's how to do it

Days before a procession of colorful floats begins rolling through downtown Pasadena, Rose Parade officials have issued some advice for the thousands of spectators expected to crowd the 5.5-mile route Tuesday.

For starters, don't bring tents, sofas or boxes that can be used as seats or stools, all of which are banned. And don't bring fireworks or start a bonfire. Also, officials warned against flinging any projectiles onto the parade route, mentioning tortillas, marshmallows or flowers as examples.

They offered some other guidelines: Overnight camping is permitted Monday night only, before the parade; the only way to hold onto that prime spot is to stand vigil, which you can begin doing at noon Monday; and no public areas — sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets — can be cordoned off; and children younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult on the route between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Those camping overnight, especially children and seniors, should dress in thick layers to guard against the cold. Pets, officials said, are not advised to be included if they are frightened by sudden, loud noises.

And spectators who bring a small grill must make sure it is at least a foot off the ground and kept 25 feet away from buildings and other combustibles. Be sure to have a fire extinguisher and water on hand.

In case of emergency, officials said to call (626) 744-4241 from a cellphone or 911 from a land line and be prepared to give a location.

The 124th Rose Parade — this year's theme: "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" — will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard, continue for two hours at a 2.5-mph pace onto Colorado Boulevard for the longest stretch, and end at Sierra Madre Boulevard and Villa Street.

The weather is expected to be partly cloudy and chilly, with a low of 43 degrees the night before the parade, according to a National Weather Service forecast. That's expected to give way to sunny skies and a high of 60 Tuesday.

rick.rojas@latimes.com

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Rocket launchers turned in during L.A. gun buyback not functional

Two rocket launchers turned in to the Los Angeles Police Department as part of the city's gun buyback event appear to be antitank weapons from the military, experts said.

Police said the people turning them in at the buyback told officers they had family members who were at one time in the military and "they no longer wanted the launchers in their homes."

Several military experts said one of the weapons was probably a version of the AT4, an unguided antitank weapon. It's a single-shot weapon that a soldier fires and then the tubing is discarded.

The two launchers — long metal tubes that were once capable of propelling rocket grenades — were turned in along with 2,037 weapons at a gun buyback Wednesday, and exchanged for supermarket gift cards.

Det. Gus Villanueva said the launchers were "stripped-down shells" without the technical parts needed to discharge a projectile. "They don't have capability to discharge anything anymore," he said.

Los Angeles police gun experts will be checking the origins of these weapons with the U.S. military to see if they were ever stolen, he said.

Villanueva said officers could not provide details on the models.

Among the 2,037 firearms were 75 assault weapons, officials said. The total was nearly 400 more weapons than were collected in a similar buyback earlier this year.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said he's used to military-style weapons being turned in at such events. He noted that neither of the launchers had rockets in them, and they did not pose a danger.

Still, he said assault weapons have no place on the streets of L.A.

"Those are weapons of war, weapons of death," Beck said. "These are not hunting guns. These are not target guns. These are made to put high-velocity, extremely deadly, long-range rounds down-range as quickly as possible, and they have no place in our great city."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the collection at two locations was so successful that the city ran out of money for supermarket gift cards and got a private donation through the city controller to replenish the pot.

The gun buyback was moved up from its usual Mother's Day date in response to the massacre Dec. 14 that claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"As you can see to my right and left, these weren't just guns that weren't functioning anymore," Villaraigosa said at a news conference Thursday morning. "These were serious guns — semiautomatic weapons, guns that have no place on the streets of Los Angeles or any other city."

richard.winton@latimes.com

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Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed leaves a mixed legacy

As chancellor of California State University, Charles B. Reed became a symbol of the problems and the promise of the massive public higher education system.

He has received national recognition for his efforts to increase the number of underserved students — low income, minorities, veterans — and for steering the country's largest four-year university system through a period of crippling budget cuts at a time of large enrollment growth.

He has been mocked in effigy by students critical of rapidly increasing tuition and slammed by lawmakers for granting executive pay hikes as others in the system were forced to tighten belts.

Reed, 71, who retires at the end of the year, offers no apologies for a leadership style that is seen as often blunt and bullheaded. He is an admitted workaholic, his only extensive time off a week in Italy for his daughter's wedding 11 years ago.

He's not much for sentimentality. Weeks before his departure, he cleaned out his office, inviting staff members to take his honorary degrees and awards. There will be no trophy room in the Florida home where he's retiring.

He arrived at Cal State in 1998 at a time of burgeoning state budgets, almost immediately butting heads with academic leaders while vowing to increase enrollment by more than 100,000 students.

But it is likely that the Reed legacy will hinge on the latter part of his tenure and on his management of nearly $1 billion in state funding cuts since 2008. Enrollment in the 23-campus system peaked at about 440,000 students in 2008, falling to its current 425,000 as many campuses turn away eligible students and reduce services.

"I may have done some of the best work in my 40 years as an educator these last five years figuring out how to continue to provide access and fund the system, keep the doors open," Reed said. "It's been a real struggle, and what I've seen is a lack of political will and a lack of political leadership in California."

And despite the passage of Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's November tax measure that prevents even steeper cuts to higher education, Reed is not bullish on future financial support.

His supporters said that despite the challenges, he has maintained a perhaps underappreciated commitment to students.

Some of those efforts include increased recruitment of African American, Latino, Asian and Native American students and the development of an early assessment program for high school students to test their readiness for college-level English and math. (The percentages of African American and Asian students have declined in recent years mainly because of population shifts, officials said.)

His tenure saw the opening of Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo and the first Cal State doctoral degree programs in educational leadership, nursing practice and physical therapy.

"You always know where he stands, and I find it interesting that a lot of people talk about wanting leaders to be honest with everybody and I think he's one of those leaders," said Cal State Fresno President John D. Welty. "He's consistently clear and honest even though not everyone likes what he says."

Reed developed a tough skin as a high school quarterback growing up in the coal-mining town of Waynesburg, Pa., the eldest of eight children. That won't-back-down attitude has placed him in frequent conflict with faculty and student activists.

In the last 10 years, student fees have increased 167%. Protests exploded on campuses and at meetings of the board of trustees. Demonstrators were pepper sprayed outside one meeting in November 2011, and people picketed outside Reed's Long Beach home.

An impasse over salary and class sizes led hundreds of members of the faculty union to stage a first-ever strike at two campuses last year. And the system's leaders received widespread condemnation after trustees approved a $400,000 compensation package for the new San Diego State president — $100,000 more than his predecessor — at the same meeting at which tuition was increased by 12%.

(Reed's successor, UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy White, requested a 10% cut from Reed's $421,500 salary and will receive $380,000 plus a $30,000 supplement from the Cal State foundation.)

"We felt like he [Reed] came in leading with his chin, ready for some kind of slug fest," said Lillian Taiz, a history professor at Cal State L.A. who is president of the California Faculty Assn. "The fundamental problem is, we don't share the same vision for the system and that has moved from a model that more resembled a privatized [corporate] university."

Reed has few kind words about union leaders.

"They don't represent the rank and file of our really good faculty out there every day working hard, doing really good things with our students," he said. "With the union, we have a group that want to fight, that want to demonize me for whatever reasons."

Reed made unpopular decisions by necessity, said incoming state Sen. Marty Block (D-San Diego), former chairman of the Assembly's higher education committee. Block said he largely agreed with the decision to offer high pay to get well-qualified campus leadership.

However, he said, "the timing was terrible. Making public the decision with salaries at the same meeting with student fees being raised was not the best public relations, and if Charlie has a fault, it is that he was more concerned with doing the right thing than getting the public relations right."

Despite a gruff exterior, Reed was fiercely loyal to his staff, board Chairman A. Robert Linscheid said.

"When we lost a staff member who died suddenly, Charlie did a lot of comforting for the family and a lot of comforting for the staff," he said. "Some consider him to be pretty headstrong, but I just look at him to be matter of fact."

Reed won a football scholarship to George Washington University and eventually earned a doctorate in education. He worked as the chief of staff for Florida Gov. Bob Graham and was chancellor of the Florida State University system for 13 years before heading west.

In retirement, Reed is likely to remain a national authority on higher education: He has committed to several speaking engagements each month through April.

"I feel I've had a good 15-year run at Cal State and it's hard work every day," he said, "but I don't know anything else I'd rather be doing."

carla.rivera@latimes.com

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Officials warn holiday revelers against firing weapons

By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times

December 29, 2012, 8:59 p.m.

Los Angeles officials are warning that anyone discharging a firearm into the air to celebrate the new year not only risks killing someone but could also face a lengthy prison sentence.

"Firing into the air weapons in celebration puts innocent lives at risk," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said last week. "Nothing ruins the holiday season like an errant bullet coming down and killing an innocent."

Villaraigosa said the misuse of firearms is on everyone's mind in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that left six adults and 20 children dead. The mayor vowed that authorities will pursue criminal charges for anyone caught in possession of a weapon in public.

For more than a decade, city and county leaders have tried to quell celebratory gunfire.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said a bullet discharged into the air falls at a rate of 300 to 700 mph, depending on the weapon — "easily enough to crack the human skull."

"Please celebrate New Year's with your family, not in [Sheriff] Lee Baca's jail or my jail," Beck said, pledging to capture anyone firing a weapon. "Firing a gun in the air isn't only dangerous and a crime but socially unacceptable."

L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said that anyone caught firing a weapon — even if they don't hit someone — will face a felony charge and a fine of up to $10,000 and a possible three-year sentence. A conviction would be considered a strike offense and the suspect would lose the right to own a firearm.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said that in some county areas, special equipment has been deployed to spot shots within seconds and track their locations.

"The madness of gun violence has to stop," he said. "This is a matter of physics. What goes up must come down."

richard.winton@latimes.com

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An unlikely player in L.A. County assessor scandal

Scott Schenter sat in a small cubicle and dreamed big.

In his late 40s, he was a property appraiser at the assessor's office who ached to be known as an international entrepreneur.

"My current job is working for Los Angeles County, I don't like to admit it," he wrote in a 2009 email to The Times. "I would rather be known for my expertise in my marketing and finance ventures."

But he needed money, and investigators say he knew where to find it.

Schenter was the first and lowest-level county employee arrested in a wide-ranging corruption scandal at the assessor's office. His odd business dreams appear to have inspired a scheme to sell property tax breaks for cash that spread to the agency's highest level.

The investigation has also resulted in the arrests of county Assessor John Noguez, his deputy Mark McNeil and private tax consultant Ramin Salari, all of whom have pleaded not guilty and deny any wrongdoing.

Together, they shaved hundreds of millions from the county tax rolls by manipulating assessed property values, investigators and county officials say, saving millions of dollars for Salari's clients. Schenter took at least $275,000 in bribes for his efforts, according to court records.

Schenter, who has pleaded not guilty to 60 felony counts including fraud, has spent hours with The Times and investigators from the L.A. County district attorney's office this year discussing details of the alleged conspiracy and is expected to be the prosecution's star witness.

In an odd but related twist, he is also at the center of an NCAA investigation into USC's athletic program that could result in yet another post-season ban for the school.

Former co-workers in the assessor's office are still scratching their heads over how Schenter could have been at the center of such conspiracies.

"He was like a scatterbrained Walter Mitty," said a colleague who asked not to be identified because assessor's office policy prohibits employees from speaking with the media. "He was not a slick guy at all."

Acquaintances described him as an office "goofball" who arrived at work in a gold Mazda Miata, incongruously equipped with customized gull-wing doors.

He chattered constantly about his entrepreneurial aspirations. One colleague described how Schenter taught him to pump and dump penny stocks.

Schenter didn't do much to hide his dual life as an appraiser and an international man of business.

Colleagues in the Culver City office remember him having two or three private cellphones ringing in his cubicle at any given time.

Mostly, he searched for the big break that never seemed to come. "He always had another iron in the fire, he was always talking about the next big thing," said one co-worker.

Schenter's county emails from 2004 to 2011, released to The Times after a public records request, contained relatively few messages pertaining to his duties as an $85,000-per-year property appraiser. The vast majority concerned his fledgling start-ups.

He fired off dozens of messages tweaking designs, preparing presentations and negotiating small orders with manufacturers in China for solar-powered signs.

He had little in common with his alleged co-conspirators.

Salari was one of the most successful property tax agents in Los Angeles. He had a $9-million Calabasas home and drove a Ferrari to the county Hall of Administration downtown. McNeil was a graduate of Princeton University and had a law degree. And Noguez was a rising star in the local Democratic Party, seen by some as a future state legislator or congressman.

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Medical board appeals to public to combat prescription overdoses

In an appeal for the public's help in stemming the epidemic of prescription drug deaths, the Medical Board of California is asking people whose relatives died of overdoses to contact the board if they believe excessive prescribing or other physician misconduct contributed to the deaths.

Linda K. Whitney, the board's executive director, urged those with information about improper treatment to contact the board without delay. By law, the agency has seven years from the time of the alleged misconduct to take disciplinary action against a physician.

"The sooner we get the information, the sooner we can move forward," she said in an interview.

Whitney also said board investigators would review autopsies and other records on specific overdose deaths described in recent articles in the Los Angeles Times.

She said the board, which licenses and oversees California physicians, was acting in response to reports in The Times that documented the connection between doctors' prescribing practices and fatal overdoses involving OxyContin, Vicodin and other narcotic painkillers.

Whitney said members of the public can report concerns about excessive prescribing by calling 1-800-633-2322 or filling out and mailing a complaint form, which can be downloaded from the agency's website, http://www.mbc.ca.gov.

A revolution in treatment of chronic pain has caused a huge increase in prescriptions for pain and anxiety medications. There has been an accompanying sharp rise in prescription drug deaths over the last decade.

In response, authorities have focused on how addicts and drug dealers obtain such drugs illegally, such as by stealing from pharmacies or relatives' medicine cabinets. The Times articles reported that many fatal overdoses stem from drugs prescribed for the deceased by a doctor.

In nearly half of the prescription drug deaths in four Southern California counties from 2006 through 2011, medications prescribed by doctors caused or contributed to the death, according to an analysis of coroners' records.

Seventy-one doctors, a tiny fraction of all practicing physicians in the four counties, were associated with a disproportionate number of deaths, The Times found.

Sixteen patients of a Huntington Beach pain specialist died of overdoses from 2006 through 2011 after taking medications he prescribed. A San Diego County doctor lost 15 patients to overdoses, a Westminster physician 14, coroners' records show.

All three doctors have clean records with the medical board, and there is no evidence that board officials knew about the deaths.

That medical regulators could be unaware of clusters of fatal overdoses underscores gaps in the state's system of physician oversight.

Drugs fatalities are documented in great detail in county coroners' files, which in many cases list medications found at the scene of death, along with the name of the prescribing doctor. But medical board investigators do not review those files to look for patterns of reckless prescribing or other inappropriate treatment.

Whitney said the board would like to receive reports from county coroners on all prescription overdose deaths. State Sen. Curren Price, (D-Los Angeles), responding to the Times coverage, has promised to introduce a bill that would require such reports.

A fatal overdose does not necessarily mean a doctor did anything wrong, Whitney said. Board investigators must review patient records to determine whether physician misconduct contributed to a death, she said.

Public participation will aid such investigations, she said, because investigators can gain access to a physician's patient files more readily if a family member has granted consent.

In addition, family members may be able to contribute information about overdose deaths that is not in coroners' files. Tips from relatives could also be valuable in calling attention to previously overlooked cases, Whitney said.

Julianne D'Angelo Fellmeth, a public interest lawyer who has monitored the medical board for the state Legislature, called Whitney's announcement a "good first step," adding: "They need this information."

But Fellmeth said the board may be hindered in its investigative efforts by the effects of years of budget cuts.

The agency has fewer investigators than it did in 2001 and investigates about 40% fewer misconduct cases per year, according to board data. Over the same period, the number of licensed physicians in California has risen to more than 102,000.

"They should be actively seeking to restore the number of investigators' positions that they had before and increase those to keep up with the increase in the physician population," Fellmeth said. "It's not acceptable to have the ranks of medical investigators decrease in the face of this kind of misconduct and abuse."

From the time the board receives a complaint, it takes nearly a year on average for an investigation to be completed. In some cases, doctors under investigation for excessive prescribing have lost several patients to drug overdoses by the time the board took disciplinary action.

scott.glover@latimes.com

lisa.girion@latimes.com

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Rose Parade float represents military dog monument

In a cavernous warehouse on a recent weekday, Rose Parade volunteers were busy painting and clipping flowers as they rushed to complete their float in time for New Year's Day festivities. But all activity paused when the star of the decorated stage arrived.

With a Marine corporal in tow, Lucca, a German shepherd-Malinois mix, hopped curiously toward a group of excited children. Her head dipped from the weight of her body, no longer supported by her amputated left leg.

It's been nine months since Lucca lost her paw to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. A veteran of three combat deployments, she is one of thousands of U.S. military working dogs trained to sniff out booby traps, deliver messages and track enemies. She has led more than 200 missions, with no Marine ever injured under her patrol.

When the 124th Rose Parade kicks off the new year on Tuesday, Lucca and her handlers will be riding a float celebrating the decades of service by her kind. The float, titled "Canines with Courage" and sponsored by Natural Balance Pet Foods, was inspired by the Military Working Dog Teams National Monument that will be dedicated later next year in San Antonio.

Four handlers and their dogs, representing the Air Force, Army and Marines, will also escort the float, built by Fiesta Parade Floats.

"She's loving the attention; Lucca deserves it," said Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, 23, laughing as he lifted the dog onto the float. Rodriguez says he owes his life to her, recalling when she sniffed out a booby trap and set off the bomb that took her leg. He later escorted her to her first handler, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Willingham, 33, whom Lucca now lives with in spoiled retirement.

A decade ago Lucca would have probably been euthanized after her service. Once considered simply "government equipment" and too dangerous to return to domestic life, U.S. military working dogs have only recently been recognized by the general public for their role in every war since World War II.

Trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where a $15-million veterinary hospital is devoted to treating dogs working for the military and law enforcement, thousands of canines have been sent overseas since 1942. Over the years, many have been left behind as excess equipment.

Then in 2000, President Clinton signed a law allowing retired soldiers and civilians to adopt the dogs after their deployments.

"We've come a long way. It was a lot of hard work, but it's important they all get recognized," said John Burnam, president of the foundation that established the national monument, which is scheduled to be completed by October.

Burnam, who will also be riding on the float, served in the Vietnam War and wrote a first-person account of working with Clipper, a front-line scout dog. Clipper never came back to the U.S.

Burnam's story inspired Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), who introduced legislation for a national monument. In 2008, President George W. Bush signed the bill into law, and President Obama later authorized Burnam's foundation to build and maintain the monument.

The monument, regal bronze statues of a Doberman pinscher, German shepherd, Labrador retriever and Belgian Malinois leading a dog handler on patrol, cost about $1.2 million. It was funded solely by grants and donations led by sponsors Natural Balance, Petco and Maddie's Fund.

Natural Balance President Joey Herrick, whose company is known for Rose Parade floats boasting the firm's mascot Tillman the bulldog — who has surfed, skateboarded and snowboarded on various floats — was inspired to take on a more serious design this year.

"I'm so proud of this float," Herrick said. "This is not trying to set a Guinness record; this is honoring our soldiers. We have handlers and dogs who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan."

On a recent morning, 86-year-old retired Marine Robert Harr sits quietly on the float. Harr trained the most decorated war dog in the Pacific theater during WWII. After the war, he said, he smuggled his companion, Oki, back home. Word got out and when his German shepherd died in 1958, he was buried with full military services in Newport Beach, where Harr still visits every year on Oki's birthday.

When Harr met Lucca for the first time, she raised her left ear quizzically. Moments later, she lunged onto him, swatting him with her one paw.

Harr wipes away tears. He's excited to be on the float, he says.

"My family, I'll be with them."

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

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Avalanche deaths rise dramatically in U.S. over long term

A Lake Tahoe-area resort ski patrol member for nearly 30 years, Bill Foster would have understood the dangers of avalanches better than most. But even knowing the exact date and time of a planned avalanche didn't save the 53-year-old's life.

Moments after another member of the ski team set off an avalanche with explosives late Monday morning as part of an effort to reduce the risk of an unpredictable avalanche, Foster was buried in Alpine Meadows. He had taken cover in an area that history had suggested would be safe from the rolling snow.

Instead, the tsunami-like wave of snow crested higher and wider than expected, overwhelming Foster. He was uncovered within minutes, and ski patrol members performed CPR on him, but they weren't able to save him. His death came on the same day that the body of a 49-year-old snowboarder, Steven Mark Anderson of Truckee, was found by a sheriff's search dog at the Donner Ski Ranch in Nevada County after an avalanche.

California has a far less fearsome reputation for avalanches than states like Colorado, Montana, Utah, Idaho and Alaska. But the two deaths — the first of the U.S.' winter season — were a stark reminder that danger lurks.

In the last 60 years, avalanche deaths have risen dramatically, largely, some experts say, because of the growing popularity of backcountry skiing and hiking, snowboarding and other activities in places that are prone to avalanches. Last winter 34 fatalities were recorded in the U.S., and the top eight years for avalanche deaths have all been recorded since 1995, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

Most of the deaths since 1950 have involved people from ages 16 to 45, presumably the fittest and most likely to partake in physical activities like skiing and backcountry hiking. California recorded two avalanche fatalities last year, compared with seven for Colorado, six for Alaska, six for Montana, five for Utah and four each for Washington and Wyoming.

In the 2009-10 season, when the U.S. tallied 36 avalanche deaths, none happened in California, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. But four people died in California in the 2007-08 season, when 36 people in the U.S. perished in avalanches.

John Snook, a forecaster for the information center, said California's maritime climate makes for large snowstorms and deep, dense snow packs that are more stable than shallower and more stratified snowpacks in states like Colorado.

"Typically in California you'll get a large snowstorm and the avalanche danger is really elevated for a couple of days and then the danger tends to go back down," he said.

Snook said the increase in avalanche deaths isn't explained by more dangerous conditions in mountains. Rather, there has been an increased popularity of activities like backcountry skiing and snowboarding over the years, along with the advance in equipment that makes it easier for more people of varying physical skills to trek to higher elevations, which has put more people in the path of potential avalanches.

"If you look really carefully at the number of fatalities versus the number of people going out into the backcountry," Snook said, "it's probably holding stable or even going down."

Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, said that while the West has been "extremely dry" for the better part of eight months, the Northern Sierra has gotten a lot of snow of late. But the weather has been far from extreme, he said.

"Avalanches have been happening forever," Patzert said. "Snow plus mountains equals avalanches. That's not new. What has changed is the higher density of skiers that have pushed the envelope farther and farther up the slopes."

The avalanche risk was not at its highest when Foster died. According to the Sierra Avalanche Center's "danger scale," the risk was considerable, meaning conditions were dangerous, but not very dangerous or extreme, with "natural avalanches likely" instead of possible.

Pete Mann, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Truckee, said warm storms brought heavy, warm snow mixed with shallower, weak base layers from a previous cold front. It can all add up to marble layers of different consistency that don't always hold up together well. The alternating weather from cold to warm probably added to the instability of the snow, he said.

Jenny Hatch, a program director for the Sierra Avalanche Center, said that though fatalities are relatively rare, the threat of avalanches isn't unusual in the Sierra.

"Every year we have incidents. Every year we get a lot of slides," she said. "The take-home message for people is to be aware of conditions and use safe travel when on the mountains."

Ski resorts try to manage the avalanche danger by triggering some to reduce the chance of unforeseen disaster. That's what Foster and his ski team were trying to do when he died.

"Bill…was one of Alpine Meadows' very best and most experienced professional ski patrollers," Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows resorts said in a statement. He had "28 years of experience on Alpine Meadows' professional ski patrol and he routinely performed snow safety in this area."

hector.becerra@latimes.com

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Small-scale solar's big potential goes untapped

NIPTON, Calif. — Gerald Freeman unlocks the gate to the small power plant and goes inside. Three rows of solar collectors, elevated on troughs that track the sun's arc like sunflowers, afford a glimpse of California's possible energy future.

This facility and a smaller version across the road produce some 70 kilowatts of electricity, about 80% of the power required by Nipton's 60 residents, its general store and motel.

Freeman, a Caltech-trained geologist and one-time gold mine owner, understood when he bought this former ghost town near the Nevada border that being off the grid didn't have to mean going without power.

He contracted with a Bay Area company to install solar arrays on two plots of land. The town has a 20-year agreement to buy its power at a below-market rate.

Projects like these make do with scant financing opportunities and little support from the federal government.

The Obama administration's solar-power initiative has fast-tracked large-scale plants, fueled by low-interest, government-guaranteed loans that cover up to 80% of construction costs. In all, the federal government has paid out more than $16 billion for renewable-energy projects.

Those large-scale projects are financially efficient for developers, but their size creates transmission inefficiencies and higher costs for ratepayers.

Smaller alternatives, from rooftop solar to small- and medium-sized plants, can do the opposite.

Collectively, modest-sized projects could provide an enormous electricity boost — and do so for less cost to consumers and less environmental damage to the desert areas where most are located, say advocates of small-scale solar power.

Recent studies project that California could derive a substantial percentage of its energy needs from rooftop solar installations, whether on suburban homes or city roofs or atop big-box stores.

::

Janine Blaeloch, director of the nonprofit Western Lands Project, said smaller plants were never on the table when the federal solar policy was conceived early in President Obama's first term.

Utilities and solar developers wanted big plants, so that's what's sprouting in Western deserts, she said.

"There was a pivot point when they could have gone to the less-damaging alternative," Blaeloch said, referring to both federal officials and environmental groups that have supported large-scale solar projects.

"There's no question that it was a matter of choice, and it was the wrong choice."

Built in far-flung locations where there is plenty of open land, large-scale plants require utilities to put up extensive transmission lines to connect to the grid.

Utilities charge ratepayers for every dollar spent building transmission lines, for which the state of California guarantees utilities an annual return of 11% for 40 years.

By comparison, small-scale plants can be built near population centers and provide power directly to consumers, reducing the demand for electricity from the grid.

Rooftop solar goes one step further.

It not only cuts demand from the grid, but also can allow homeowners and businesses to sell back excess power.

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Prominent L.A. lawyer's 2009 slaying still unsolved

Jeffrey and Sheryl Tidus had just arrived home from a charity fundraiser at Sheryl's toy store just a few miles away. They had driven in separate cars.

Once inside, Sheryl called their daughter, Ilana, a sophomore at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She handed the phone to her husband and began laying out food for their five dogs.

After he finished talking to their daughter, Jeffrey Tidus went back outside to retrieve a laptop from his Prius. It was about 8:30 p.m.

Sheryl heard a pop, then the motor of a car slowly driving off. When she walked outside, her husband was on the ground. Sheryl figured he had tripped or had had a heart attack. What else could it be? They lived in Rolling Hills Estates, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, one of the wealthiest communities in Southern California, where one is more likely to encounter a horse than a burglar.

A day later, Dec. 8, 2009, Jeffrey Tidus, 53, — a prominent attorney — was dead of a single gunshot wound.

Three years later, the slaying, the only one anyone can recall in Rolling Hills Estates, remains unsolved.

"It was an execution," said Det. Bob Kenney, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy working on the case.

Family and friends have offered a $90,000 reward, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has kicked in $10,000 more.

"I'm convinced we'll have an answer," Sheryl Tidus said, "because I can't live any other way."

Detectives have pored over Tidus' work and home computers for clues, and looked at his legal cases. Sheryl Tidus is quick to point out that her husband was a civil litigator, not a criminal or family law attorney involved in cases where emotions are pushed to the limit.

He worked with a number of well-known clients, including New Century Financial, Isuzu Motors, California Federal Savings and Tokai Bank. In the last year of his life, Tidus had won a number of large settlements, Sheryl Tidus said.

Neither she nor her husband had been worried about their safety. "Never in a million years," she said.

Kenney said there are "people of interest" in the case. One, the detective said, is former Los Angeles tax attorney Christopher Gruys, from whom a Tidus client won an $11.2-million judgment in 2007. Gruys' name surfaced in connection with the case shortly after Tidus' death.

During a deposition two years earlier, Gruys pulled out a camera and photographed Tidus and made what Tidus interpreted as a threat. The lawyer called Los Angeles police and obtained a restraining order against Gruys.

The State Bar of California placed Gruys on interim suspension in April 2007 after he was convicted of possession of an assault weapon. He gave up his license to practice law in California later that year.

Tidus had told his wife about the threat but told her not to worry.

The family had so little concern about their safety that Sheryl Tidus would leave the laundry room door open so their dogs could come in from the rain. Not any longer.

Gruys' attorney, Tom Brown, said investigators have not interviewed his client. "It's not unusual for someone who was an adversary to be looked at," Brown said.

Tidus had served as president of the young lawyer section of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. and was on the State Bar's Board of Governors, as well as the bar's Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct.

He was one of the biggest donors to the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles, and was known to represent some clients for free. One pro bono client was a Polish woman who had saved the lives of at least 12 Jews during World War II. She alleged that a film producer had manipulated her into giving him the rights to her story. As the jury was about to read its verdict, the two sides reached a confidential settlement, giving Irene Guy Opdyke back the rights to her story.

When he was killed, Tidus, a dedicated runner, was training for the L.A. Marathon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Sheryl Tidus and Tidus' sister, Amy Zeidler, walked the marathon in his place, although they didn't complete it. "We did our best," Sheryl Tidus said. "I felt a need to be there." They raised $50,000, Zeidler said.

Sheryl Tidus, 54, walked part of the course in 2012, wearing a button that said, "I walk for Jeff."

Sheryl Tidus still wears her wedding ring, along with her husband's. Their daughter wears the watch her father received from his grandfather on his bar mitzvah.

Sheryl Tidus is angry that the legal community has not agitated harder to help find her husband's killer. "Someone was gunned down for doing his job," she said. "There has been no help from any legal association or the bar. That's sad and disappointing. He gave so much time to his own profession, yet they're amazingly silent. That's shameful."

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

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California to offer 'legacy license plates'

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is planning to issue nostalgia-stoking replicas of the yellow, blue and black plates that graced the state's bumpers from the 1950s to the 1970s.

But will classic car collectors buy into the impostors?

Starting Tuesday, the DMV will take orders for the so-called legacy license plates. If the department gets at least 7,500 orders, it will print them, said spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez. But if that threshold isn't met by Jan. 1, 2015, officials will refund the $50 application fee.

Though any driver can purchase a legacy plate for any year of car, commercial vehicle, motorcycle or trailer, the program's success depends, at least in part, on classic car enthusiasts. And owners who've spent tens of thousands of dollars to painstakingly restore time-worn Chevys and Fords might not want plates with modern touches, such as the ability to reflect light.

"The people I talk to at swap meets are dead set against it," said David Hindman of Vacaville, southwest of Sacramento, who sells a few hundred vintage plates a year. "They want original plates."

In California, owners can affix classic plates to classic cars, if the DMV authenticates them. Vintage plates are not cheap. On Friday, a pair of 1951 California plates — blue background, yellow letters — was for sale on EBay for $325.

But some vintage plates have been forged or stolen, said Robin Cole, legislative director of the Assn. of California Car Clubs. Others arrive by mail in terrible shape. That's why the group supports the retro-plate program and plans to tout it in classic car publications.

"This just solves a lot of problems," said Cole, who plans to order plates for some of her five classic cars.

California already offers a dozen specialty plates, which are typically used as fundraisers. One with a whale tail and the phrase "Protect Our Coast & Ocean" supports the state Coastal Commission; another with palm trees and a setting sun supports the state Arts Council.

The retro-plate program, the result of a bill by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake), is solely run by the DMV. The start-up cost, should the program move forward, will be $385,000 and covered by application fees, a legislative analysis said. Owners will also have to pay an extra $40 when they renew their registration.

More information is available at the DMV's website, http://www.dmv.ca.gov.

ashley.powers@latimes.com

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Garcetti urges effort to save aviation mechanics school

Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti on Friday called for measures to keep a highly regarded aviation mechanics school at Van Nuys Airport from shutting down or being moved to smaller facilities elsewhere.

Garcetti said he will request at the Jan. 4 council meeting that Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of Van Nuys, and the Los Angeles Unified School District explore ways to ensure the continued operation of the vocational school, which has produced thousands of mechanics during its 40-year history. Because of tight budgets, the district might close or relocate the school.

"The aviation training program at Van Nuys Airport is a critical asset for Los Angeles," Garcetti said. "I am deeply concerned that it could close."

The North Valley Occupational Center-Aviation Center, which opened in 1971, is located off Hayvenhurst Avenue in a hangar filled with more than a dozen aircraft, including helicopters and an old U.S. Air Force jet trainer.

The two-year course at one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world prepares students for certification by the Federal Aviation Administration and potential employment with aircraft maintenance shops, commercial carriers and aerospace firms.

Center officials say, however, that budget problems could force the LAUSD to close the school next year or move it to smaller facilities at another vocational center unless Los Angeles World Airports can lower the rent, which has been about $12,000 a month.

There have been some tentative discussions so far, but nothing formal has been proposed.

David Bowerman, an instructor at the center, called Garcetti's effort to get substantive talks going "a good idea." He said the school now has about 100 students per semester and provides technical training to those who don't want to go to college.

The situation has attracted the attention of the Van Nuys Airport Assn. and major organizations such as the National Business Aviation Assn., the National Air Transportation Assn. and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. All have urged LAUSD Supt. John Deasy to keep the school at the airport.

Garcetti, who cited an article about the aviation center's plight in The Times this week, said that saving the program would help address a growing shortage of entry-level mechanics in the aircraft industry and continue to offer Los Angeles area residents a career path if they are interested in aviation.

"In setting priorities during tough budget times, the school district must focus on education programs that lead directly to industries that are hiring now and in the future," Garcetti said. "A trained aviation workforce in Los Angeles is critical to the competitiveness of our airports, our aerospace industry, our trade sector and our overall economy."

dan.weikel@latimes.com

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Army Corps of Engineers clear-cuts lush habitat in Valley

An area that just a week ago was lush habitat on the Sepulveda Basin's wild side, home to one of the most diverse bird populations in Southern California, has been reduced to dirt and broken limbs — by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Audubon Society members stumbled upon the barren landscape last weekend during their annual Christmas bird count. Now, they are calling for an investigation into the loss of about 43 acres of cottonwood and willow groves, undergrowth and marshes that had maintained a rich inventory of mammals, reptiles and 250 species of birds.

Much of the area's vegetation had been planted in the 1980s, part of an Army Corps project that turned that portion of the Los Angeles River flood plain into a designated wildlife preserve.

Tramping through the mud Friday, botanist Ellen Zunino — who was among hundreds of volunteers who planted willows, coyote brush, mule fat and elderberry trees in the area — was engulfed by anger, sadness and disbelief.

"I'm heartbroken. I was so proud of our work," the 66-year-old said, taking a deep breath. "I don't see any of the usual signs of preparation for a job like this, such as marked trees or colored flags," Zunino added. "It seems haphazard and mean-spirited, almost as though someone was taking revenge on the habitat."

In 2010, the preserve had been reclassified as a "vegetation management area" — with a new five-year mission of replacing trees and shrubs with native grasses to improve access for Army Corps staffers, increase public safety and discourage crime in an area plagued by sex-for-drugs encampments.

The Army Corps declared that an environmental impact report on the effort was not necessary because it would not significantly disturb wildlife and habitat.

By Friday, however, nearly all of the vegetation — native and non-native — had been removed. Decomposed granite trails, signs, stone structures and other improvements bought and installed with public money had been plowed under.

In an interview, Army Corps Deputy District Cmdr. Alexander Deraney acknowledged that "somehow, we did not clearly communicate" to environmentalists and community groups the revised plan for the area 17 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. He added that the corps would "make the process more transparent in the future."

But Kris Ohlenkamp, conservation chairman of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, asserted that the corps had misrepresented its intent all along.

Walking Friday through what once had been a migratory stop for some of the rarest birds in the state — scissor-tailed flycatchers, yellow-billed cuckoos, least Bell's vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks — Ohlenkamp said: "We knew that the corps had a new vision for this area, but we never thought it would ever come to this."

Frequent catastrophic floods prompted civic leaders in the 1930s to transform the river into a flood-control channel. Nearly the entire 51-mile river bottom was sheathed in concrete, except in a few spots such as the Sepulveda Basin.

Over the decades, awareness of the river's recreational potential grew. And with pressure from environmental groups, Los Angeles County and corps officials in the 1980s made major changes. The waterway and surrounding flood plain were slowly transformed into a greenbelt of parks, trees and bike paths, courtesy of bond measures approved by voters.

Then in 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency deemed the entire river to be navigable and therefore subject to protections under of the Clean Water Act.

A year ago, Army Corps of Engineers District Cmdr. Col. Mark Toy issued a license allowing the Los Angeles Conservation Corps to operate a paddle-boat program in the Sepulveda Basin, along a 1.5-mile stretch of river shaded by trees teeming with herons, egrets and cormorants.

This summer, paying customers will disembark a hundred yards from the corps' recent clear-cuts.

"Environmental stewardship is critical for us," Deraney said. "But assuring public safety and access to infrastructure designed to deal with flooding are paramount."

As he spoke, a Cooper's hawk swooped down and landed on a nearby tree stump.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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L.A. gun buyback program breaks a record

A one-day gun buyback event in Los Angeles on Wednesday gathered 2,037 firearms, including 75 assault weapons and two rocket launchers, officials said. The total was nearly 400 more weapons than were collected in a similar buyback earlier this year.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the collection at two locations was so successful that the city ran out of money for supermarket gift cards and got a private donation through the city controller to bolster the pot.

The gun buyback was moved up from its usual Mother's Day date in response to the massacre Dec. 14 that claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 students, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"As you can see to my right and left, these weren't just guns that weren't functioning anymore," Villaraigosa said at a news conference Thursday morning. "These were serious guns — semiautomatic weapons, guns that have no place on the streets of Los Angeles or any other city."

The mayor described the event as a success, but acknowledged that there were still many guns on the streets.

Hundreds lined up in cars to get Ralphs gift cards in exchange for different types of guns. Villaraigosa said the LAPD collected 901 handguns, 698 rifles, 363 shotguns and 75 assault weapons. The weapons will be melted down.

He said that nearly three-quarters of those turning in the weapons said in an informal survey that they felt safer with the weapons off the street.

"Perhaps the most honest testament to the success of yesterday's program can be seen in the 166 weapons that were surrendered for nothing," Villaraigosa said.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said it was the most successful gun buyback event since the city began the program.

"Those are weapons of war, weapons of death," Beck said, motioning to a selection of military-style weapons on a display table. "These are not hunting guns. These are not target guns. These are made to put high-velocity, extremely deadly, long-range rounds down-range as quickly as possible, and they have no place in our great city."

Beck acknowledged that the weapons would not be checked for connections to crimes before being melted down. He said the sheer number would make that difficult, and he does not want to deter people from turning in firearms.

Villaraigosa again Thursday called for a national assault weapons ban and for strengthening the California assault weapons law to close loopholes.

richard.winton@latimes.com

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Anaheim restaurant owner is a hands-on philanthropist

Bruno Serato strolls down the middle of a narrow street, his signature white chef's coat illuminated by the headlights of a cargo van.

A light rain falls as he yells into the boxy homes that line the road at the Golden Skies Mobile Home Park in Anaheim. He stops each passing person — a man driving home from work, a woman pushing a child in a stroller.

"Turkey," he calls out, the Italian in his voice still thick. "Turkey!"

The van is loaded with 12- and 13-pound turkeys, and the 56-year-old owner of the Anaheim White House restaurant is on another mission to help Orange County's neediest.

"You got your turkey already?" he asks a woman with curly hair. On this evening, he has commissioned several Chapman University students to help him pass out the birds.

His path to philanthropy began about seven years ago when he and his mother — visiting from Italy — toured an Anaheim Boys and Girls Club. When she spotted a child eating potato chips, she implored her son to provide a decent meal.

"That clicked," he said. "She gave me a passion."

He started feeding pasta to all the children at the club, many of whom live at the motels that dot the city's thoroughfares. He expanded his reach as he became more familiar with their struggles.

Now he feeds children seven days a week at two Boys and Girls Clubs in Anaheim and hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for needy families at his pricey restaurant, complete with fake snow. This year, his nonprofit partnered with an organization that helps families get off the streets by providing first and last month's rent.

The philanthropy has made Serato something of an Orange County celebrity as well. He's appeared on the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" and was named a 2011 CNN Hero for his charity work.

Serato emigrated from Italy in 1980 with $200 in his pocket. He worked as a dishwasher and eventually as a waiter at the now-closed La Vie en Rose restaurant in Brea. Eventually, he opened the Anaheim White House.

His grandfather was a shepherd in northern Italy who gave cheese and milk to those who needed a helping hand during the tough times of World War II. His mother, who Skypes her son each morning from her home in San Bonifacio, Italy, had the same charitable instincts. Serato named his nonprofit in his mother's honor — Caterina's Club.

Over the years, he's struggled to keep supplying the free pasta. In 2010, Mike Baker, the director of the Boys and Girls Club, told Serato that demand was soaring and more children were coming to the club. Serato needed to increase the amount of pasta he gave the children.

So Serato refinanced his home to keep the restaurant and charity work going.

Now, with business coming back to life, he has decided to start helping families in a different way. So far, he has paid about 20 families' first and last month's rent in conjunction with the Illumination Foundation so they can move out of a motel and into an apartment or house.

"I realized that some of the families are stuck in these hotel rooms," he said. The deposit, he said, is often the largest hurdle.

Fred and Felisa Zoller lived at the Costa Mesa Motor Inn with two young daughters for four years and didn't know if they would ever leave.

"That's why people stay in the motels," Felisa Zoller said. "You get stuck."

Now, the couple live in a spacious two-bedroom apartment in Anaheim. They have a living room, a full kitchen and a separate bedroom for their children.

Serato helped the family with their security deposit. Without it, Felisa Zoller said, they would have been unable to move out.

Now, Felisa cooks teriyaki chicken in the kitchen and there's a Christmas tree in the living room.

"Our Christmas present," Fred Zoller said, "is this place."

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

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'Peru Village' designation may await stretch of road in Hollywood

When Milagros Lizarraga wants comfort food, she heads to her mainstay restaurant in Hollywood — Los Balcones del Peru on the corner of Vine Street and De Longpre Avenue.

She usually orders lomo saltado, a signature Peruvian dish that is a mixture of sauteed sirloin, onion and tomatoes served over white rice with french fries.

A first-generation Peruvian immigrant, Lizarraga envisions a hub of Peruvian business and culture in the area.

"There is Chinatown, Koreatown, Thai Town, but what about Peru?" said Lizarraga, of Simi Valley. "I know we are all spread out, but our community needs to have a place, a physical reference. We want something that is a recognition of our contributions."

The stretch of Vine between Sunset Boulevard and Melrose Avenue may be designated "Peru Village" if a motion introduced this month by City Councilman Eric Garcetti is approved.

Garcetti said the name change has support from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and more than 500 city residents like Lizarraga who circulated and signed petitions.

"The Peruvian community is one of the great tiles in the mosaic of Los Angeles," Garcetti said. "We want people to come to Hollywood, enjoy the food and learn about the Peruvian culture."

The Peruvian impact on L.A. isn't just culinary — it includes cultural icons such as radio and TV personality Pepe Barreto and singer Yma Sumac.

Nearly 27,000 foreign-born residents in Los Angeles County list Peru as their place of birth, according to five-year Census Bureau estimates from 2007 to 2011.

A review of census tract data shows groupings of Peruvians in Hollywood, but there are similar concentrations in Koreatown, Westlake and the San Fernando Valley.

Like much of the city, the section of Vine Street is a cobbling together of world cultures: an Irish import shop and a Thai massage parlor, along with Mexican, Chinese and Japanese eateries. Within that landscape, there is the Spanish-language newspaper Enlace Peru and at least four Peruvian restaurants, including the well-known Mario's Peruvian Seafood Restaurant.

The Peru Village neighborhood initiative is less about representing a defined demographic cluster, and more about distinguishing cultures in Los Angeles, Garcetti said.

"I don't think people want a city that's a soup where you mix it all together and you can't taste any of them. I think they want distinct flavors and places with character. Angelenos love these places," he said.

Michael Danno can walk half a dozen blocks from his Hollywood apartment and grab a bite of authentic Peruvian food. For lunch recently, he sat down at the El Dorado, a Peruvian restaurant tucked in a strip mall on Vine Street next to a nail salon and a laundromat.

He ordered the lunch special — a generous helping of grilled chicken, rice and soup — all for $8.

"I love it here. They season their food with lemon and cilantro and it really complements the chicken," said Danno, 32. "It's not Americanized, it's indigenous."

A small-business banker, Danno said he would like to see the neighborhood gain a greater sense of identity.

"I would love a Peru Village. I think it will open a lot of doors for small business and give people a taste of their culture," he said.

ben.poston@latimes.com

Times staff data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.

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