.

Fish and Game president Dan Richards with his Idaho kill.

 Yes Bob, It's All About the Mountain Lions

By Diana L. Chapman

   "Here is the Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question, is this about the hunting of mountain lions? or the fact that Mr. Richards doesn't give a s_it what you think?"

    That's what conservative blogger Bob Bishop wrote after reading my column  about  California Fish and Game president Dan Richards needing to step down.

   So let me answer your question Bob. I am not confident that this leader will protect our pumas, since we banned hunting them since 1972. And yes, Bob, it's all about the cougars. We don't care what Richards thinks. He already stated he doesn't care what we think, refuses to step down and he's supposed to be one of our leaders. Now, that is scary.

   Many City Watch readers agreed in an informal survey that Richard's must go.

   Here's how the origins of the the hunt went down.

   The commission president came under intense scrutiny in January for accepting a $6,800 guided hunt at an Idaho ranch where he appears happily in photos that went viral on the internet holding the dead, 3-year-old puma he shot. While legal in Idaho, it's not here. The very people Richard's works for prohibited these hunts.

   After the uproar, Richards paid the amount back -- later than the allowed 30 days -- and received a stern warning from the Fair Political Practices Commission, basically with a rebuke not to do so again.

   But many of us here are not happy about him getting off with no punishments because his ethics obviously don't match that of our state.

   Reader Lori Hamilton wrote: "What an idiot! This idiot needs to resign or get booted out of his position. You can't protect endangered wildlife in one state and run off killing wildlife while visiting another."

   Removing him seems to be favored by City Watch readers despite that our gutless state leaders -- who at once bumbled around demanding Richard's departure --  backed off trembling when gun and hunting lobbyists rallied their support for the hunter.

  The City Watch survey where 85 voters participated reflects that 58 voted for the commission president to depart and 27 did not agree. Or roughly 68 percent are against Richards staying and nearly 33 percent believed he should not leave because what he did was legal.

   However, as I've said before, this is not an issue about legality -- although that comes into play because one wonders if Richards would ever have paid that money back if all the commotion hadn't started.  This is about his ethics. And not having the wolf guarding the gates of the lambs.

   Wrote reader John  Coghlan, "How do we get him out? Start a web petition and latch into animal rights groups? Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy -- so many. We need to demonstrate that "mindless male machos are not wanted in this society.

   "I am going to call Brown's office and complain at least."

   Please do John!

   Wrote another Dan Carstens: "Thank you for the great story in City Watch on the shameful boasting about the shooting of a mountain lion. Lots of people see recent legislation, including SB 1221 to ban hounding of bears (and bob cats) as a response to the commission president's anachronistic attitude."

   The way Carstens explains it, the Fish and Game commission earlier wanted to explore the expanded use of hounds to hunt bruins and the smaller cats. We must not let that happen.

   State Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), calling the practice "cruel" which it is, wants a law that prohibits the use of this callous canine activity -- which not only leads to the deaths of the animals they are chasing -- but to the dogs.

   That's why the Humane Society of the United States is in full support of the bill.

   "Hounding is an inhumane and unsporting practice where trophy hunters use packs of radio-collared dogs to chase down bears and bobcats before the hunter shoots the terrified animals off a tree branch," the society said on its website. "It also leads to dog welfare problems and a drain on animal sheltering resources."

   On April 24, the bill passed the state's Natural Resources Committee on a 3-5 vote and today the California Senate Appropriations Committee approved it.
    California let's pass this bill.

   And let's not, for a moment, forget what Richards has done.

San Pedro High Students Tell Their Stories Through Writing

Dear Readers:

   I will be running a few pieces here and there that San Pedro High students wrote in an English class when I gave a Seven Golden Secrets to Writing (c) workshop.  Many thanks to English Teacher Al Alvarez- Estrada who allowed me to work with his students.

   Some of these articles detail their sufferings, others wrote humorous or witty works.

   I would say this: I found a lot of potential writers in this class, -- Diana

Walk Down the Street With My Brother

By Jackie Gayton

   Walk down the street with my brother at my side. We talk on our way about everything going on. It's been awhile since we've talked like this. Brother is almost never around. He's either with the homies or sleeping at home from being out too late at night.

   We stop talking to the sound of tires screeching. Suddenly, I'm on the floor with Brother on top of me holding me down. People are screaming. I peep from under Brother and watch as people are running.

   "It's Okay. Stay down. It's okay," I hear Brother repeat to me over and over again.

   I hear sirens in the distance coming closer and closer. I feel Brother's weight on me and I can no longer hear shots being fired. I try to tell him that he can get up now, but he can't hear me anymore.

   My eyes water and I tell myself that everything's going to be fine, that's there's nothing to worry about. I feel Brother being lifted up from on top of me. I'm being lifted up and I feel someone holding me, but I'm not seeing or hearing anything.

   There's only one thing in sight: Brother. What will mother think and father? They always loved Brother more than me.  They only could see the good in him, never the bad.

    I can see why they love Brother. Brother was a good, loveable person. And now he's gone, his smile is gone, the way his eyes gleamed when he laughed. Gone. The only thing left is his memory.

   I can't go back home. Brother was my protector. He saved me from so much. He was my family. I break from the hold on me -- and run.

   I run and when I get tired, I keep running. It's getting darker and I stop on the street   I've never been on.

   "Hey where are you?" I hear a voice from the distance. I look for the owner but it's too dark to see, but I can vaguely see a silhouette of a young man. He looks familiar. I try to find his face, but can't.  He comes closer and I can now see who it is.

-----------------

San Pedro High French Teacher Shows the "Democratic" Way of Eating By Making Crepes  And Students Building a Wave at the School From Plastic  Bottles Invites the Public to Help on Saturday

French Teacher Diane Hartunian shows San Pedro High students how to make crepes.

By Diana L. Chapman

   French teacher Diane Hartunian readily jumped on the bandwagon to teach crepe making  to San Pedro High students after school. Why?

   Because she wants people to not be so afraid of it.

Elizabeth Solorio, 18, prepares the mix.

 "French cooking is very simple and it's not what people think," Hartunian explains during the club where students came to whip up, in this case, the sweet treats."I really like to make French cooking and culture more accessible to people. French culture is democratic. It's not just the elite that eats like this.

   "In every home they eat crepes.  French kids eat everything.  It's for everybody; Everybody eats the same cheeses, the same butters. Their success is their simplicity."

   Several students taking the class enjoyed  it immensely especially after they tasted the crepes with strawberries, Nutella and whip cream.

   The Coastal Neighborhood Council supported the program giving $1,000 for supplies. The CNC has been a longtime supporter of local schools.

Two students show off the desert they will be soon eating.

---------------------------------------

    The Wave of Awareness

   San Pedro High students and an artist -- creating a 90 foot long wave out of plastic bottles -- invited  the public this Saturday to witness and perhaps help build the giant sculpture.

   Visitors are asked to bring plastic water bottles of any size and are welcome to give a hand to build the creation.

   'It is a chance for the public to see and help work on the wave," said artist Beth Elliott, who designed the project. "It would be great if (visitors) have bottles to bring, but they don't have to."

   The event will be held from 8: 15 a.m. to noon. The Wave is located in the Senior Court at the campus, 1001 W. 15th Street. Enter on 14th between Meyler and Alma streets.

Crepe Recipe

 

You can view the complete recipe online at but it's in print below: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Crepes-Fines-Sucrees-100838?mbid=ipapp

Crepes Fines Sucrees
3/4 cup cold milk
3/4 cup cold water
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoon orange liqueur, rum, or brandy
1 cup flour (scooped and leveled)
5 tablespoon melted butter
An electric blender
A rubber scraper

An iron skillet or a crêpe pan with a 6 1/2- to 7-inch bottom diameter
2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil and a pastry brush
A ladle or measure to hold 3 to 4 tablespoon or 1/4 cup

Place the ingredients in the blender jar in the order in which they are listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute. If bits of flour adhere to sides of jar, dislodge with a rubber scraper and blend 3 seconds more. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hour or overnight. Brush the skillet lightly with oil. Set over moderately high heat until the pan is just beginning to smoke

Immediately remove from heat and, holding handle of pan in your right hand, pour with your left hand a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan. Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to run the batter all over the bottom of the pan in a thin film. (Pour any batter that does not adhere back into your bowl; judge the amount of your next crêpe accordingly.) This whole operation takes but 2 or 3 seconds.

Return the pan to heat for 60 to 80 seconds. Then jerk and toss the pan sharply back and forth and up and down to loosen the crêpe. Lift its edges with a spatula and if the underside is a nice light brown, the crêpe is ready for turning.
Turn the crêpe by using 2 spatulas; or grasp the edges nearest you in your fingers and sweep it up toward you and over again into the pan in a reverse circle; or toss it over by a flip of the pan.

Brown lightly for about 1/2 minute on the other side. This second side is rarely more than a spotty brown, and is always kept as the underneath or nonpublic aspect of the crêpe. As they are done, slide the crêpes onto a rack and let cool several minutes before stacking on a plate. Grease the skillet again, heat to just smoking, and proceed with the rest of the crêpes. Crêpea may be kept warm by covering them with a dish and setting them over simmering water or in a slow oven. Or they may be made several hours in advance and reheated when needed. Crêpea freeze perfectly.)

As soon as you are used to the procedure, you can keep 2 pans going at once, and make 24 crêpea in less than half an hour.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One
October 2001, Julia Child

Fsh and GAme president should quit

California Fish and Game President showing off his mountain lion kill.

California Fish & Game President,  Please Step Down

By Diana L. Chapman

California Fish and Game president Dan Richards pressed more than many of our buttons here when he appeared to boast of hunting and killing a magnificent mountain lion in Idaho, verified in a photograph that spread faster than fire across the internet.

He proudly kneeled in his January hunt next to the 3-year-old, now dead puma, big smile on his face -- in sort of a screw-you-California stance. You are idiots here in the Golden State. But Idaho is much smarter;  hunting the big cats there remains legal. So that's what he did while representing us.

He shot the puma and later ate its meat.

As huge stories washed across the nation, the Trayvon Martin killing, the secret service gone wild and the government's general services frivolously spending our money to make whacky videos, Richard's hunting escapade took a back seat. We slowly began to let what he did fade.

We should not let this issues escape us for a moment, because what we have now  I consider akin to having a wolf guard the hen house or an aquarium director dropping a shark in the same tank with endangered fish. That fails to detail his absolutely preposterous arrogance and refusal to leave the post.

"While I respect our Fish and Game rules and regulations (are you sure?), my 100 percent legal activity outside of California, or anyone else's for that matter, is none of your business," Richards wrote to our politicians.

 Really?

He must be joking. Doesn't he realize that when our then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him (and we all know how well that muscle-less leader did for our state) that Richards is not in a private position, but in an ever-so-public one.

So yes, it is our business and it should continue to be our business until he quits the post. Richards needs to vacate, because he's been given a precious task as the guardian managing our wildlife and fish resources. That involves not only our future, but the future of generations to come.

And yet it's so apparent that there's a great chasm between Richard's philosophy and that of California's - a state that banned cougar hunting starting when Governor Ronald Reagan made it illegal to hunt pumas in 1972. It received several extensions until voters here extended it permanently  in 1990.

More alarming is that our politicians -- who scrambled and clamored at first calling for Richard's resignation -- immediately backed away when hunters and gun enthusiasts built a ground swell of support for the Fish and Game president.

 Come on political guys and gals. Have some guts.

What Richard's did is not about hunting. It's not about what's legal. It's not even an issue about guns.

It's truly a story of Richard's moral compass and about his ethics. That's the crux of the matter. He represents our state whether he likes it or not. And he was in violation for taking a $6,800  freebie -- not paying it back until critics vehemently opposed his actions.

Richards, for instance, violated California's laws that clearly states public officials cannot accept gift more than the $420 limit. Later, after the media maelstrom-- the president repaid the fee to the Idaho Flying B Ranch where he was given the initially free guided hunt to catch the cat.

Since he did pay -- albeit later than the 30 days allotted and likely only prompted by the ire it raised in the media -- the Fair Political Practices Commission just sent him a stern warning that he was in violation.

But Californians, we must ask ourselves: is this the man we want guarding our resources if his ideals don't align with ours?  Despite our efforts, we are losing the big cats still.

At least 11 mountain lions and possibly up to 20 have been shot and killed illegally up in Tejon Ranch, a vast swath of private land that rests to the east of Interstate-5.

And while Fish and Game charged the corporation-- which owns 270,000 acres of the California's wild lands-- about $137,000 for killing those pumas, I am awfully uncomfortable having Richards in charge -- obviously a man who believes in shooting them for sport.

The Tejon ranchers believed the pumas were killing big game, such as deer and elk, which competed with the corporation's high-paying private trophy hunts at the ranch.

State officials need to encourage Richards to leave and then appoint someone who doesn't believe in cougar hunts and has a willingness to care for the animals and fish in this state.

Richards then -- can go live and work in Idaho -- and hunt pumas until his heart is content.

LAPD officer Ria Garcenila faces off with San Pedro High Police Academy's cadet Karen Tovalin.in a friendly basketball rivalry.

San Pedro High Police Cadets Win Fun Basketball Game Against the LAPD

By Diana L. Chapman

   

  About 300 San Pedro high school students crammed the old gym at San Pedro High School this week -- cheering on their classmates as they struggled to reign in a  basketball game with five Los Angeles police officers. In the end, the cadets won by one point.

   During a raucous crowd of cheering students  -- and with eagerness to slip up the LAPD after a horrendous loss last year by 54 points -- students from the high school's police academy gained more momentum in the second half and won 52 to 51.

   A student-coach for the cadets pointed out that the five officers -- who had no substitutes to pick up the slack -- began to wear down by half-time and that's when he knew his 16  players would beat them.

   "They did great," said 15-year-old Coach Manuel Ortega of his team. "At the beginning of the game, I didn't think we had a chance to beat them. But I saw the officers were getting tired.

   "I was hoping they'd (his players) come back and they did."

   It was looking sticky early on for the cadets as the police officers repeatedly made basket after basket in the beginning of the game. Early on, there was a  20 point gap -- and it appeared the cadets would lose.

   This was something the LAPD officer, Cynthia Deinsten, who runs the school's police academy, didn't want to see happen again.  Her cadets this year practiced several days beforehand and had a coach after suffering a severe defeat last year.

  But the game isn't really what the competition is about. It's a way to amplify to the cadets how human police officers are -- and for the students to see them in a different light. In addition, Deinstein wants to build a bridge between the LAPD and her 113 cadets -- many of whom want to become police officers.

  "The best part that came out of this is it brought all the cadets together from all levels -- all grade levels, said Deinstein, who added that many of her cadets come from other areas in Los Angeles. "They don't often get to work together. I asked the kids: 'Why are we doing this?' They said it's about community.  They realize the community is (not just neighbors) but the schools and the police department."

   LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon, a big advocate of youths, agreed to the basketball game and has done so in the past because he wants to connect teens with his officers.

   "Anytime we can bring officers and teenagers together to play basketball or any other type of activity," Gannon said, "it establishes the foundation for a great relationship. Building these relationships fosters trust in the police and helps young people see officers in a different light also."

   His concept seems to have worked among officers and students alike.

  "It's wonderful to see kids under these circumstances and to make ourselves present and active in the community," said officer Ria Garcenila, an eight year veteran of the department who played against the cadets.  "It was a lot of fun."

   Said Harbor Division officer Jon Rosenblum: "It's worth it. It was good to see how competitive they are and definitely I'll recognize their faces in the community."

   Cadets said they were appreciative of the LAPD officers taking time to come and play a friendly game of basketball. Each time an officer knocked down a student while playing, they helped them back up, checked to see if the cadet was alright and smiled.

   Karen Tovalin, 18, a senior, said she definitely saw officers differently now.

   "It was really a good experience," said Tovalin who wants to become a police officer. "We got to see how the LAPD contributes to our program. We really appreciate them coming."

   Sophomore Hugo Gomez, 16, of South Gate, said: "I am just really thankful they took the time to come out and play with us."

   The police academy falls under the management of the school's magnet program and all the magnet students were invited to attend, said Sandy Martin-Alvarenga, the coordinator.

   "It's a dynamo experience to interact with real police officers in a fun and competitive atmosphere," she said. "The kids love this."