BofA throws Countrywide $2-billion

The Pine Cone is not sure why BofA decided to put somemoney in Countrywide's coffers but we can bet they're getting a nice return on it...if the lender survives:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-fi-mortgage23aug23,1,2935598.story?page=2&coll=la-editions-valley

The Calabasas-based lender is back on firm footing, but others caught in the sub-prime crash shed 4,000 jobs.
By E. Scott Reckard, Elizabeth Douglass and Tom Petruno, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers August 23, 2007
Bank of America Corp. threw home-loan colossus Countrywide Financial Corp. a $2-billion lifeline Wednesday in a vote of confidence that could stabilize the reeling mortgage company.The deal came as cash-starved sub-prime mortgage lenders across Southern California announced more than 4,000 layoffs nationwide.

Bank of America, which has the largest retail banking operation in the country, for some time has wanted to expand its mortgage business and has been seen as interested in acquiring all of Calabasas-based Countrywide. Wednesday's deal puts BofA, based in Charlotte, N.C., in a strong position to accomplish both goals.The transaction, which was announced after the stock market closed, also gives BofA a chunk of the country's largest mortgage lender at what some might consider a bargain price.For its $2 billion, Bank of America received preferred stock that pays a 7.5% annual dividend and can be converted into Countrywide common stock at $18 a share. If the stock is converted, BofA would own 16% of the mortgage company.Countrywide's stock soared 21% on the news to $26.30 a share in after-hours trading after finishing the regular market session at $21.82, up 3 cents for the day. The shares ended 2006 at $41.93.BofA, the sixth-largest U.S. home lender in 2006, recognizes that "once the dust settles the survivors [in the mortgage industry] will have much less competition and will thrive," said John Buckingham, head of Al Frank Asset Management in Laguna Beach and a Countrywide shareholder. "It looks like BofA got a very nice deal."Angelo R. Mozilo, chairman and chief executive of Countrywide, said in a statement that the deal positioned the company for "future growth and success" with help from BofA.His counterpart at Bank of America, Kenneth D. Lewis, said the deal recognized Countrywide's importance in financing home purchases."We hope this investment will be a step toward a return to a more normal liquidity in the mortgage markets," he said.Countrywide has been badly squeezed by the credit crunch ravaging the mortgage industry, as Wall Street lenders have cut off funding and investors around the world who once eagerly gobbled up mortgage-backed bonds have turned up their noses at anything but securities issued by government-sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Countrywide had been reeling since reporting Aug. 9 that credit-market disruptions could hurt its financial condition.Last week a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst warned that the company could face insolvency if the credit crunch worsened. That helped trigger a violent sell-off in the stock market overall, drove Countrywide shares down 23% for the week and caused some savers with deposits at Countrywide's bank to pull their funds.With Bank of America's investment, Wall Street is likely to put aside fears that the company could fail, analysts said."Countrywide is no longer on the endangered company list," Punk Ziegel & Co. analyst Richard X. Bove said in a note to investors."Clearly Mozilo does not want to sell yet," Bove wrote in an e-mail to The Times. "But when he does it looks like [BofA] will win the prize -- and it is a prize despite what has been said recently."The preferred shares that BofA acquired are nonvoting. If BofA converts them to common shares, it can't sell them for 18 months.BofA's shares rose to $52.60 after hours. They had closed at $51.65, up 35 cents, in regular trading.The deal could mean big losses today for traders who have "shorted" Countrywide shares -- betting that their price would continue to slide. The number of shorted Countrywide shares surged to a record 83.6 million on Aug. 10 from 51.4 million a month earlier, according to New York Stock Exchange data. The short sellers of Countrywide stock may rush today to close out their wrong-way bets, adding fuel to any rally in the shares.The widening credit crunch has stemmed from a wave of defaults on sub-prime mortgages -- loans made to people with poor credit. And there was little good news Wednesday in the sub-prime business, where the layoff tide became a tsunami:

* San Diego's Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., whose planned sale to a Texas buyout firm collapsed last week, said it would accept no more new loan applications and would close 60 retail offices and half of its 10 wholesale divisions. Afterward, the company would have about 1,000 employees, down from 2,600 at the end of June.

* Wall Street powerhouse Lehman Bros. Holdings said it was closing BNC Mortgage, its Irvine-based sub-prime unit, eliminating 1,200 jobs in 23 U.S. offices.

* Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. of Irvine announced the layoff of 350 employees nationwide, the latest in a series of job cuts.* Sub-prime specialist Delta Financial Corp. of Woodbury, N.J., said it cut 300 jobs, 20% of its workforce, closing offices in California, Texas and Florida.

* London-based HSBC Holdings closed an Indiana sub-prime mortgage office that had employed 600 people.

* Agoura Hills-based Quality Home Loans filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, along with three affiliates that also specialized in sub-prime loans.

Since the start of the year, more than 40,000 workers have lost their jobs at mortgage lending institutions, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.In a piece of good news for the industry, Pasadena thrift IndyMac Bancorp Inc. said Wednesday it would resume making "jumbo" loans to home buyers with solid credit and 15% to 25% down payments -- but would keep the loans on its books. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are barred from buying such loans because they exceed the $417,000 limit set by the government. Lenders have found it difficult of late to sell jumbo loans to private investors.

NEW CRISIS ON VALLEY REAL ESTATE FRONT: San Fernando Valley foreclosures spike in July

This story from the L.A. Daily News is very nearly all bad but key to understanding the future of the Los Angeles real estate market:

http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_6744880

Foreclosures soared an annual 246.8 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley during July as trouble with adjustable rate loans continues to mount, a university research center said Tuesday.
"This is an ominous sign," said Daniel Blake, director of the Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge. "There are a lot of possible (loan) resets out there, and we don't know the extent of them."
The foreclosure spike is happening to a great degree because many homeowners with spotty credit took out adjustable rate loans with low initial payments and they are not able to afford higher payments with their interest rate increases.
And credit-worthy buyers who extended their finances with adjustable rate loans so they could buy better homes are also encountering trouble, said Blake.
In all, 263 homeowners lost their properties last month. In July 2006 just 47 homeowners from Glendale to Calabasas lost their homes. At the current rate, foreclosures alone could account for 4,700 homes on the market next year.
"That could bring enough housing on the market to upset the price stability we've seen here," Blake said of the market from Glendale to Calabasas.

Jim Link executive vice president of the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors, said that it may even bring a buying opportunity because prices have yet to fall by a large amount.
"Roughly 20 percent of the market (sales) being REOS (foreclosures) I think ... would definitely have an impact on prices," he said.
So far only sales continue to suffer, though.
Combined with the deepening credit crunch, home sales continued to spiral in July, hitting their lowest level for that month in at least 22 years, the association said Tuesday.
Last month sales in Valley, excluding Burbank and the Glendale area, fell an annual 22 percent to 617 transactions. Sales also fell 10.6 percent from June, said the association.
The next lowest July sales total is 670 transactions in 1992. And that year ended up being the weakest since 1985.
Nevertheless, the median price inched up 3.8 percent, or an annual gain of $23,000, to $630,000, because more sales are at the high end of the market now than the low end.
So far foreclosures are not depressing prices to a great degree and providing attractive deals to potential buyers. And the tighter credit standards are, in effect, killing sales before they can happen.
Link said that the lower priced end of the market is the toughest to buy into.
"The people getting squeezed the hardest are the first-time homebuyers or people with really good credit but too little income or nothing for a down payment," Link said. "Because so few lenders are offering 100 percent loans at an affordable rate, this segment of the market is paralyzed.
The smaller condominium market showed a similar trend last month. Sales fell an annual 13 percent to 276 transactions and the median price increased 1.9 percent to $407,500.
Combining both markets, 833 properties changed owners in July, an annual decrease of 26 percent. The median price inched up 1.4 percent to $565,000.
At month's end there were 7,195 properties for sale in the Valley, an 8.6 month supply at the current sales pace and 2.6 months more than what's considered a balanced market.
Malaise continued in other markets, too, including the Santa Clarita Valley. Sales of previously owned single family homes fell 18 percent to 194 transactions. And the median price declined 5.8 percent to $570,000.
Condo sales fell an annual 32 percent to 83 properties and the median price slipped 4 percent to $359,000.
Realtors sold 277 homes - single-family and condos combined - even with the previous month, but down a total of 22.8 percent from July 2006.
These reports are similar in tone to one Monday that showed single family home sales falling 22.7 percent statewide. The median home price increased an annual 3.2 percent to $586,030.
The California Association of Realtors report showed that:
In Los Angeles County, sales fell 12.4 percent from a year ago and the median price increased 1.9 percent to $592,300.
In Ventura County, sales fell an annual 17.8 percent and the median price dipped 3.2 percent to $682,920.
In the High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley, sales plunged an annual 50 percent and the median price fell 11 percent to $296,220. But it is one of the state's most affordable regions.

MOSQUITO BANDITO - Valley washes cleared to curb mosquitoes that could carry West Nile virus

Hoping to battle West Nile virus carrying mosquitos in the San Fernando Valley, county crews today began removing vegetation from the Bell Creek debris basin in West Hills.
Unclogging Bell Creek, a tributary of the Los Angeles River, is just the latest effort to eliminate mosquito-friendly places across the San Fernando Valley.
On Monday, crews finished digging a channel in the Limekiln debris basin in Chatsworth, and other crews started clearing the "Woodley Drain" in Van Nuys last week.
In Panorama City, crews were filling parts of the bed of the Pacoima Wash to level it and improve water flow. An operation to clear excessive growth wrapped up Aug. 18.
The Pacoima Wash, which runs out of Limekiln Canyon, was the source of 17 of 19 West Nile samples collected this month, county public health officials said.
Four human cases of the virus have been confirmed in Los Angeles County this year. The virus is spread to humans from infected mosquitoes. The blood- sipping parasites get infected by feeding on diseased birds. So far, no evidence has shown that the virus can spread by person-to-person contact.

CENSUS BUREAU STATS TELL L.A.'s STORY: FIFTEEN PERCENT IN COUNTRY AND NINETEEN PERCENT IN CITY STILL LIVING BELOW POVERTY LINE

Median household incomes are on the rise, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday.
Income rose in the county rose 6.3 percent from 2005 - to $51,315 - and the percentage of residents living in poverty dropped from 16.3 percent to 15.4 percent last year. But many still live in poverty and you have to wonder what sort of statistical fiddling was done in order to goose these numbers out. Anyone living in or near Los Angeles can see poverty is a greater threat and homelessness is a greater issue than it was even two to five years ago. Still, the county improvements in at least these numbers, mirroring similar gains in the city and statewide, also are expected to be reflected in the San Fernando Valley when Census Bureau figures for the region are released.

COUNTRYWIDE CONTINUES TO REASSURE INVESTORS...OF WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

According to SmartMoney.com, Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), the U.S.'s largest mortgage lender, sought to reassure customers Monday that the liquidity problems dogging its mortgage operations weren't affecting its banking unit. The assurance came amid a report that Countrywide has started laying off an undisclosed number of employees as it tries to ride out the credit crunch that has rocked the home loan industry. The job cuts occurred in Countrywide's Full Spectrum Lending unit, which handles mortgages given to customers with minor credit problems or who can't provide full income documentation required for traditional prime loans, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an internal email sent Friday to employees of that division. Countrywide Financial spokesman Daniel Weidman didn't immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment. The Calabasas, Calif.-based company ran full-page ads on Monday in U.S. newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Detroit Free Press, in which it asserted "the future is bright" at Countrywide Bank FSB.
The ads noted the bank has more than $100 billion in assets, investment-grade ratings from three major credit agencies, and that the credit woes rocking its mortgage lending business don't affect federally insured deposits at its 105 financial centers around the nation. It's a message Countrywide has tried to get across since last week, when a Wall Street analyst suggested the company could end up in bankruptcy if the liquidity crunch sparked by rising mortgage defaults worsens. Countrywide said last Thursday it had borrowed $11.5 billion so it could keep making home loans. The developments left many Countrywide Bank customers frazzled over the security of their deposits. Many have converged on bank branches in search of answers.
The lobby of a branch in West Los Angeles was packed Monday with nervous people waiting to speak with bank officers to make sure their assets were safe. Some customers came away feeling confident about leaving their money at Countrywide Bank. "Everything I've got is federally insured," said Jim Maurer, 59. "I don't think there's going to be any problem with Countrywide." Countrywide employs a total of about 61,000 people. Its shares fell $1.50, about 7%, to $19.93 in afternoon trading Monday after rising 13% on Friday. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $15 to $45.26. Countrywide is the largest mortgage lender by volume, accounting for more than 13% of the loan servicing market as of June 30, according to the mortgage industry publication Inside Mortgage Finance. The mortgage lending industry has been grappling with a spike in mortgage defaults and foreclosures as the housing market has cooled. Many homebuyers have been forced into default or foreclosure because they haven't been able to sell their homes or end up owing more than their home is worth. Like other lenders, Countrywide has also tightened its credit guidelines and stopped selling some types of adjustable rate loans.

ANOTHER DISPATCH FROM THE HOUSING VOID: CALABASAS' COUNTRYWIDE MORTGAGE CONTINUES ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL

In a move that should surprise no one, the Daily News reported today Calabasas-based Countrywide has started laying off mortgage origination staff. These layoffs will impact Countrywide employees in the company's Full Spectrum Lending unit, which handles many mortgages in a category known as Alt-A. What's "Alt-A" you ask? Well, Alt-A borrowers are often the self-employed or others who fall between prime and sub-prime and are frequently those who don't document their income and, as a result, typically don't qualify for a conforming mortgage of the type that can then be sold to government-sponsored mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While it's unclear how many of the company's reported work force of 61,000 are affected by the layoffs those in "Full Spectrum" accounted for some 6,800 sales agents out of a total Countrywide mortgage origination staff of 18,000, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, as of June 30.

A GOOD REASON TO SCRAP IT - SCRAPBOOK SAFARI's REOPENING BASH

Just the facts:

20% off
EVERYTHING IN THE STORE

GREAT SAVINGS! PRIZES! MUNCHIES!

SPECIAL STORE HOURS FOR THE SALE!

SATURDAY AUGUST 18TH 10:OOAM-8:00PM
SUNDAY AUGUST 19TH 10:00AM-6:00PM
The new location...20660 Ventura BlvdWoodland Hills, California 91364

MORE NEWS FROM THE GREAT MORTGAGE DEBACLE OF 2007

After years of showing that "Danger" was indeed the middle name of the mortgage industry by making spotty loans to already strapped borrowers, there's a bit of a fallout. To wit, Countrywide Financial Corp.'s financial trouble deepened Thursday, forcing the nation's biggest mortgage lender to tap an $11.5 billion credit line to fund operations. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, company officials issued reassurances that they were dealing with the credit crunch, and that homeowners with Countrywide mortgages would not be affected. Paul J. Miller, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., said in a research report that Countrywide's survival depends on how long the mortgage crisis lasts. Interestingly enough, with all the bad press happening these days, consumers with good to excellent credit and payment histories should be even more in demand as standards tighten and the ability to close mortgages becomes even more difficult for lenders. Is this so? The Pine Cone will be listening to the experts and reporting back soon.

A FLYING MONKEY OR TWO IN WARNER CENTER PARK on AUGUST 18 or THE WIZARD OF OZ COMES TO MOVIES IN THE PARK

A special, interactive showing of The Wizard of Oz. The audience will be invited to watch and sing the favorite tunes along this journey down the Yellow Brick Road on August 18.

DREAMGIRL ORIGINAL

One of the original Dreamgirls, and one third of the most popular girl groups of all time, the Supremes, Mary Wilson will perform at Warner Center park on August 26. The lovely Ms. Wilson can be heard on "Stop In The Name Of Love," "Where Did Our Love Go," "Come See About Me," and many songs that defined the Motown sound.

RABID BAT HANDLERS FACE VACCINATIONS IN CALABASAS

The fact that there are people foolish enough to handle rabid bats in Calabasas is a great reason *not* to move there. For some reason several teens felt compelled to put their paws on rabid, angry wild bats and - guess what - one of the bats disagreed with the plan. I believe rabies vaccinations are still administered directly into the stomach with a horrible needle. The downside is that there are apparently rabid bats all over SoCal. Take a look at the map that accompanies this post. The red dots are rabid bat hang outs. You can see the map enlarged here: http://www.lapublichealth.org/vet/rabid_batmap.htm

MIGHT AS WELL BE WALKING ON THE SUN or THERE REALLY IS NO PEACE FOR THE WICKED IN TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES

Yesterday the outside temperature gauge in my car registered a hellish 107 around mid-day. For weeks we'd been wondering if it would ever get up to the triples here in WoHi and Warner Center. Sadly, it seems the answer is yes and that we'll be paying for all the gorgeous and unseasonably temperate weather of this summer. All I can say is, hang on. It's going to be a bumpy and HOT ride straight into the heart of the beast.

ROCK THE CASBAH WITH A 4.6 EARTHQUAKE

Last week - on August 10 - the earth moved beneath our feet once again here in the greater L.A. area. It was a magnitude 4.6 temblor - the first quake with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater in Los Angeles County in about five years. The shake, rattle and roll struck just before 1 a.m. and was centered roughly four miles northwest of Chatsworth, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

I've got to admit when a quake happens after about midnight and I'm already in bed I wait to see how strong it feels before leaping out from underneath the covers. This one was quite a little shaker and sent me and my husband into a huddle in the nearest doorway.

When it was over quickly, we shrugged and went back to watching Conan. So goes the life of an Angeleno. The San Fernando Valley was last traumatized more than 13 years ago by the Northridge quake, which had a magnitude of 6.7. It hit early on Jan. 17, 1994, and killed 61 people and caused more than $40 billion in damage.

I believe this 4.6-er only made the bookcases sway.

Let's all hope we only have these little 4-ish quakes from now on. Having the ground remind you of its powers is much better than having it display them full force.

HAL FISHMAN'S LOFTY AND DESPERATELY NEEDED BELIEFS IN JOURNALISM

This broadcast contains some of Hal Fishman's speeches about the importance of journalism in our culture. It just made me miss him even more.

ARCLIGHT THEATRES TO PUT SHERMAN OAKS IN ITS MOVIE GOING TRACTOR BEAM

On Monday Pacific Theaters Galleria 16 at the Sherman Oaks Galleria went for a three-month hiatus while workers rebuild the complex into an ArcLight, the second one in California. Construction costs are expected to exceed $10 million in a sparkly, new treat-filled experience for patrons. When the theater reopens in December, it will have a lovely bar, cafe, complimentary four-hour parking and...fresh caramel corn. I'm unclear why fresh caramel corn is considered a part of an upscale experience but the bar, cafe and four-hour parking definitely speak to me. Also of important note - the theatre seats will be wider, and the 16 screens will have improved sound and picture quality. I only hope that they will train their employees at this location as well as they've trained them for the Hollywood digs. Nothing sets me off like a person who has to text during a movie...because it's RUDE. They seem to have eliminated that type of moviegoer from their Hollywood location. Let's hope they can bring that civility to the Valley locale.

SCRAPBOOK SAFARI CUTS YOUR PAPER LIKE A KNIFE...BUT IT FEELS SO RIGHT

Scrapbook Safari recently moved its store out of the mall and down the road (20660 Ventura Blvd. Woodland Hills, Ca 91364). The new digs are spacious and their selection of materials seems more extensive than when they were located just around the corner from the AMC movie theatre. It's a worthwhile trip to see what they've got. Be sure to take note - they're located upstairs at this new location which is easy to miss if you're only looking at the street level stores as you drive by.

Google Maps Has Been Around The Block...Your Block, That Is

The L.A. Times today raised the issue that photographs included at Google Maps with its use of carefully gathered neighborhood photographs might become a kind of invasion of privacy. Their shots of Woodland Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods are impressive and extensive, I have to admit. And - in the future - I could see myself using these pics in other neighborhoods to help locate services. I'm sure some people will use them for more nefarious purposes. But on the tip of privacy invasion my thought is this - TOO LATE. We're already being photographed and filmed as we enter nearly every store where we shop by security cameras. There are frequently cameras behind mirrors in dressing rooms to make sure people aren't shoplifting the clothing they try on. Google Maps is not the trend. It's part of the trend. As technology provides us more information, it also chips away at privacy.

We're already being monitored in one way or another every time we use a credit card. The amount of demographic/purchasing data generated by how we use our plastic is astonishing. Don't think for a minute that someone somewhere is not using that information to market products and services to you or that their ability to accurately predict what you'll buy/want/need/covet is anything less than right on. Human beings in so many ways - ways we not dare admit - are clusters of predictable behaviors. That's why those interactions between Tom Cruise's character and those interactive boards in The Gap in MINORITY REPORT are so haunting. It's not that they're the future. That information is already out there about each and every one of us. It's just a little time before we're consciously greeted with our purchasing history as we move in and out of the mall.

Hal Fishman - Dean of L.A. Broadcast News - Dies Today

It is with a heavy heart that the Pine Cone bids farewell to Hal Fishman. Mr. Fishman died today after being diagnosed with colon cancer recently. He was 75 years old. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992 and in 2000 — his 40th anniversary in television news broadcasting — KTLA named its newsroom "The Hal Fishman Newsroom" in recognition to his service to the station and the community. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

APARMENTS, CONDOS AND THE FUTURE OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I lived in a five story apartment building in the Miracle Mile district near Hauser and Wilshire. While I'm a fan of the big city and urban living it was definitely an adjustment when I came here in early 1996 from Tucson. After I made the adjustment to the tight spaces in the city I started to look around to find something close enough to the city but a little more spacious. And that, my friends, is exactly the kind of reasoning that sends so many like myself into the San Fernando Valley.

The idea is that you're paying less for more and you're still close enough to catch a baseball game at Dodger Stadium or a concert at Staples. Now, not long ago I mused about the completion of The Montecito in Warner Center. This new ultra luxurious development will add to the literally thousands of new condos, apartments and townhomes being made available in the area. The number - according to an article published today in the L.A. Times - is far greater than I originally thought and not exactly limited to The Valley:

"But over the last six years, Los Angeles has approved more than 14,000 condos and apartments for construction in the San Fernando Valley, according to city records, nearly three times the number of single-family residences.

It's a trend that is mirrored throughout the region, and it is expected to intensify as Southern California stretches to accommodate a crush of 6.3 million new residents over the next 30 years.

So many new apartments will be built that by 2035, the number of multi-family dwellings under construction will outstrip the number of single-family residences two to one, according to projections by the Southern California Assn. of Governments."

- from "Southern California is becoming a tight fit" by Sharon Bernstein

So it's a SoCal trend and not just a West Valley issue. And as someone who enjoys the Warner Center vibe on all months not falling in the summer, I've got to say I get why they're stacking them on top of each other at least in this area. The truth is that most first time buyers (like myself) simply can't get together the bread for a $850k single family. Your best bet is to buy in a solid area (good schools, nice area, shopping and stores nearby) and Warner Center is absolutely that. The idea is to hang on long enough that you build some equity so that when you sell you can perhaps use the appreciation for a down payment on another property - a single family home - down the road.

But this L.A. Times article makes that sound like that plan may become a dim - if not completely - hopeless prospect in the relatively short run. Friends who still live in the Miracle Mile area have told me that huge condo projects are going up right next to the gorgeous - and pricey - single family homes in that area. Another point made in the article:

"The shift is starkly obvious in Los Angeles County, where 60% of residences built in 1993 were single-family. Last year in the county, 38% of residential construction was single-family and 62% was apartments and condos.

The increase in apartment and condominium dwellings will dramatically reshape the way people live in Southern California, heralding an era of increasing urbanization for residents used to suburbia."

I suppose - in the backs of our minds - many of us who've been here ten years or more knew this day was coming. This provokes so many questions. How will the under-funded and over-crowded public schools accomodate the increase in populations in their areas? How will roads accomodate the increase in traffic? Can public transit even hope to keep up with this great of an increase in population? And how will it change the face of the city if families, couples and singles who want single family homes keep pushing West to Calabasas and beyond? Most importantly, as single family dwellings become more and more rare when does the gap between their median price and the media price of a condo become too much of a jump for a middle class person to ever hope to jump?

"I, CALIFORNIA" - A New Book About Growing Up In Sherman Oaks

Though I was draw to this big city and its big lights later in life, I'm always fascinated by the tales of those who were born here in the shadow of Hollywood. "I, California" is a new book by Stacey Grenrock Woods of THE DAILY SHOW fame about her childhood here in the San Fernando Valley.

The title appears to reference the classic 1970s Robert Graves book "I, Claudius," which later became a television show. An interesting note is that in Graves' book Claudius (a real historical figure) is despised and tormented for being a weakling and dismissed as an idiot beause of his stuttering. Yet, Claudius manages to escape the intrigues and poisonings that marked the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the mad Caligula, to become emperor of Rome in A.D. 41.

Depite possibly taking on such hefty comparisons in her choice of title, Stacy Grenrock Woods didn't exactly get the nicest notice in the L.A. Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-bk-lewis5aug05,1,2764222.story?coll=la-editions-valley). If the book turns out to be as clever as her segments on THE DAILY SHOW, I could be persuaded to spend the money when it comes out in paperback. I'll get back to you after I read the book flap.

Wishing Hal Fishman A Speedy Recovery

The Pine Cone was saddened to learn iconic SoCal new anchor Hal Fishman has been diagnosed with colon cancer that has spread to his liver. Our best goes out to Mr. Fishman as well as his family and friends. Fishman's editorials have always been a mainstay of local television journalism here. We wish him a quick and full recovery.

IT SLICES...IT DICES...AND NOW A BANKRUPTCY COURT WILL DO THE REST

Ronco Corp., makers of the legendary Veg O-Matic and Pocket Fisherman, has announced it will sell its assets to a private equity firm, according to an article running today in the Los Angeles Times. The sale was approved yesterday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills. The Simi Valley-based Ronco is now in the hands of Marlin Equity Partners. We can only hope the company will return the maker of innovative and usual kitchen and other products to its former glory days.

TIME MARCHES ON

It's hard to imagine now but there used to be working ranch in the part of the Woodland Hills that's called Warner Center. This article tells the tale of the latest Hollywood/Star property to be put up on the auction block:


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-me-oakie2aug02,1,409499.story
From the Los Angeles Times

A relic of Hollywood's golden era gives up the ghost

USC plans to sell comic Jack Oakie's estate to a developer, erasing one of the last traces of the San Fernando Valley as a getaway for the stars.By Bob PoolTimes Staff WriterAugust 2, 2007TIME stands still at Oakridge.The stone house on the Northridge hilltop is locked. Through its darkened windows can be glimpsed empty rooms that for nearly a half-century echoed with the laughter of comic actor Jack Oakie and a nonstop flow of Hollywood buddies.Its curving driveway, circling an ancient oak, is cracked. The back lawn, where Oakie and his celebrity friends lazed away summer days by the pool, is overgrown and brown.Oakridge is a monument to a long-vanished lifestyle in the San Fernando Valley, perhaps the last of the multi-acre ranches that stars from Hollywood's golden era bought in what then was the outskirts of town.Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had one down the street from Oakridge. Zeppo Marx, the brother of Groucho, Harpo and Chico, owned one in Northridge. So did actor William Holden and actress Janet Gaynor. Studio mogul Harry Warner had a working ranch in Woodland Hills that is now Warner Center.As development spread across the Valley floor, the Hollywood ranchos disappeared one by one.Oakie and his family were determined that Oakridge would not meet the same fate.Until he died in 1978 at the age of 74, the radio and movie comedian battled to preserve low-density agricultural zoning around the home.His wife, Victoria, continued his fight, persuading Los Angeles officials to designate Oakridge a historic-cultural monument in 1990. Two years before her death in 2003 at the age of 91, she bequeathed the estate to the USC School of Cinematic Arts. "I feel it is too beautiful to be torn down when I'm gone," she told city officials.But time is ticking at Oakridge.USC has decided to sell the house and land, and use the money for its film school.A developer is weeks away from buying the nine-acre estate near Devonshire Street and Reseda Boulevard for a 28-home subdivision. City officials, meantime, are scrambling to preserve Oakie's English manor-style house. They would like to buy it and turn it into a cultural center that would salute pioneering Hollywood figures who had their own ranchettes in the Valley."The Oakie house is one of the last vestiges of the San Fernando Valley's personal connection to the movie industry," said City Councilman Greig Smith, who represents the Chatsworth and Northridge areas. "James Cagney's ranch is gone. Lucy and Desi's is gone. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' is gone."THE 6,400-square-foot home was designed by architect Paul R. Williams and built in 1937 for actress Barbara Stanwyck. She sold it to Oakie in 1940 when she married another Northridge resident, actor Robert Taylor.In his biography, "Jack Oakies' Double Takes," the actor recounted the idyllic early days in Northridge:"When we bought our little ranch, very few people lived out our way. The mailman, who whiled away his time at our house, told me that of the 40 or so names and addresses that comprised the town, there were days when not even one of them had a letter for him to deliver."In those days, groceries had to be brought in from Hollywood and Beverly Hills, he recalled in Victoria Oakie's 1980 memoir, "Jack Oakie's Oakridge.""For an ice cream, we used to have to bicycle five miles down to Topanga Canyon and Devonshire Street to the old two-story brick complex called the Chrysler Building. It had the only drugstore and ice cream fountain in all of the far northwest Valley. On those bicycle trips we could take off our sweaters and hang them on a branch of a grapefruit tree in an orchard along Devonshire Street andtwo or three hours later come by and pick them up on the way home."Oakie planted orange, lemon, apricot, plum, peach, lime and fig trees. Friends such as boxing champion Jack Dempsey helped water them when they dropped in to visit. And there was a steady stream of friends of the former vaudeville performer turned radio and TV personality.Former Los Angeles TV weatherman George Fischbeck visited Oakridge to "play cards and drink whiskey" with Oakie and his friends."It's not a Hollywood-type mansion. It was a good house. And that's the way he was, a good man," said Fischbeck, of Woodland Hills. "We played around a table that wasn't that fancy. Vickie would bring in sandwiches. She took good care of Jack — she put up his pictures on the wall of his den, a side room off the kitchen."In another of her books, "Life With Jack Oakie," Victoria Oakie explained why she and her husband never moved from the Valley to Palm Springs, like other Hollywood figures did in the 1960s."My husband was very proud of the eight bathrooms that we had at Oakridge. Jack always believed that we had the best and that it was best to hold on to it," she wrote.For a time, the couple felt secure that zoning restrictions would protect them. Not so.In 1962, Jack Oakie organized Northridge neighbors to protest the use of a home near him as a Delta Upsilon fraternity house for students at San Fernando Valley State College, (now Cal State Northridge). The students made noise until 3 and 4 a.m. and jammed narrow streets in the area, Oakie complained.OAKIE chafed at the widening of Devonshire Street, which took away Oakridge's original stone gateway. He watched unhappily as shopping centers were built nearby at Reseda and Devonshire and the hill next to his house was flattened to make room for a Chevrolet dealership.The meadow just south of the pool and the Oakridge estate was the site of Northridge Farms, a thoroughbred ranch. Its last 98 acres were sold for development in 1961 over the Oakies' objections. In 1966, the City Council voted to allow 7,500-square-foot lots on the Northridge Farms site instead of estate-sized 15,000-square-foot lots."The vultures began to descend," Victoria Oakie recalled later.After Oakie died in 1978, Victoria Oakie devoted her life to keeping his name alive.She gave 47 boxes of Oakie's papers and memorabilia to the University of Wyoming, which promised to build a replica of Oakie's den in which to display them.In 1989, she asked the city's Cultural Affairs Commission to declare Oakridge a historic-cultural monument.The city designation provides a layer of protection from removal or remodeling, said Ken Bernstein, manager of the city planning department's office of historic resources."Monument status means that if one was to propose demolition, which they are not, the Cultural Heritage Commission could file a 180-day objection with an additional 180-day extension," Bernstein said.At USC, where Oakie had been friends with a succession of university presidents since the 1930s when he filmed collegiate-themed comedies there, Victoria Oakie endowed a Jack Oakie Chair faculty position and a Jack Oakie Comedy Scholarship program for students. Last year it awarded a $12,000 scholarship for excellence in writing or directing comedy as well as $4,000 awards for screenwriting, animation, directing and cinema excellence.But now the university is poised to sell Oakie's beloved home. University officials said the school cannot find a proper use for the property, which needs to be occupied and maintained if it is to survive. Under the provisions of Victoria Oakie's bequest, proceeds from any sale of the property go to the USC cinema school.Smith said the city negotiated a complex deal last year involving a developer with plans to acquire Oakridge from USC.Under the deal, the city would drop its landmark status for the open land behind the Oakie house, allowing Greystone/Lennar Homes to build 28 homes on the south and west sides of the property. In exchange, the developer would sell the Oakie home to the city for $1 million.But that developer's plans fell through.A new builder, Westlake Village-based Trimark Pacific Homes, expects to complete its acquisition of the Oakie property by the end of the summer — but the fate of the historic home remains uncertain.ACCORDING to Smith, Trimark was unaware of the previous agreement to sell the Oakie residence to the city. The firm now plans to have a professional appraisal done before announcing the structure's selling price.Trimark executive Steve Kessler agreed that renovating the 70-year-old structure would be costly."Whoever buys it has to have a passionate desire and spend a lot of money," Kessler said.Kristina E. Raspe, USC's senior vice president for real estate and asset management, said escrow is expected to close in September. She said the university supports the city's effort to preserve the Oakie home.Commercial real estate agent Mark Perry, who represents USC in the pending sale, said unexpected visitors show up each time he unlocks the Devonshire Street gate leading to Oakridge's driveway. As if on cue, up walked Brett Garman."What a beautiful place! Wow!" exclaimed Garman, a nurseryman who lives in Granada Hills. "I've driven by this place a billion times and always wondered what's back here."Garman, who was raised in Chatsworth, said he remembers some of the other celebrities who had ranches in the northwest Valley."Lucille Ball's place was at Oso and Devonshire. Chatsworth used to be all orange groves," he said.Perry gave him permission to walk around the outside of the house and Garman was impressed when he returned.Jack Oakie wasn't joking about the place being special, he said, agreeing with the actor that Oakridge deserves to be preserved.
bob.pool@latimes.com

Warner Center Housing Crush - More Units Open Up

Those on their way to Home Depot on Variel may have seen the construction site for The Montecito (www.the-mont.com), billed as a luxury condominium complex located at 6203 Variel. Initially I remember signs hanging outside the building saying they were going to list their 2 and 3 bedroom units starting in the high 600k region. Later prices seemed lower at the website. Now no prices are listed on the web. There's just a contact form. The builder may have realized with plenty of units right off Warner Center Park available in some older complexes for nearly $100k less it's a hard sell for units overlooking the loading docks at Home Depot and the surrounding office space.

With all the condo development nearby (more than 4000 units will open in the next two years) the crush to get into this area continues. The question remains if surrounding resources (roads, parking, etc.) can handle this influx of population.

HOT FUZZ

The L.A. Daily News ran this story today. Leaders are asking for accounting of how many police cover the Valley considering increasing issues with gang violence:

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6521799
How many cops work the Valley?
Leaders demand accounting as response time increases
BY RACHEL URANGA ,Staff WriterLA Daily News
Article Last Updated:08/01/2007 11:06:03 PM PDT
Some of the San Fernando Valley's top political leaders are demanding that the LAPD give a full accounting of officer deployment in the region as gang crime escalates and response times lag.
Five of the six Los Angeles City Council members who represent the Valley are pushing the department to provide specific data on how many officers are patrolling the Valley daily, with some saying they are frustrated by the LAPD's "creative staffing methods."
They accuse the department of pulling patrol officers from the streets and placing them in special details or other parts of the city, putting Valley residents' safety at risk.
"They are playing games with this stuff," Councilman Greig Smith said, noting that the Los Angeles Police Department has more officers than it has ever had, yet "we are having trouble with patrol."
LAPD officials defend the strategy, saying they're shifting resources to where they need them the most, a hallmark of Chief William Bratton's approach to tackling crime.
Recently, though, city officials have said Bratton's push to create special task forces and bolster the anti-terrorism unit have compromised patrol.
In June, it took Valley police officers an average of 7.8 minutes to respond to an emergency call. That's 1 minute more than the citywide average of 6.7 minutes.
And in the Devonshire Division, which covers Northridge, Granada Hills, Porter Ranch, Winnetka, West Hills and Canoga Park, it took officers an average of 9.8 minutes to respond to emergency calls in June.
The division is also home to the Canoga Park Alabamas, a gang Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared in February one of the city's most dangerous.
"It takes 10 minutes for an officer to get to an emergency call. That is absolutely absurd," said Councilman Dennis Zine, an ex-cop who, with Smith, co-introduced a motion for the department to come up with the deployment figures in one month.
"By the time they come, the rapist, the murderer, the robber commits the crime," said Zine, who believes the slow response is a direct result of too few patrol officers.
More officers added
The Valley's top cop, Deputy Chief Michel Moore, said four patrol officers - or two cars - were added in the Devonshire Division to reduce the 9.8-minute response time. Two officers had been assigned to a special anti-prostitution team and another two were put on foot patrol in the Northridge Fashion Center, where more theft calls come in than anywhere else in the Valley.
"Whenever we assign personnel, if we move them from one area to another area, we are not doing so because we are moving them from an area of excess," Moore said. "We are constantly adjusting the input, the output and moving people around because the nature of the problem changes."
The real problem is a force stretched too thin, Moore added. A surge in hiring has pushed LAPD officer levels to an all-time high of 9,500. With 1,800 of those officers, the Valley has more cops than any other LAPD bureaus.
The department's patrol plan, which is based on more than 20 factors, including crime, the number of radio calls and an area's size, calls for 127 patrol cars on Valley streets daily. But only about 110 patrol cars are actually deployed on any given day. Some of those patrol officers, including 12 traffic police, were pulled away for a 50-person violent-crime task force created in February by Bratton and Villaraigosa to battle the gang violence in the Valley, which skyrocketed 44 percent last year. Since January, gang crime in the Valley has grown 15 percent.
Drop in violent crime
As far as deployment, it's unclear how the Valley Bureau measures up to other parts of the city because the LAPD did not provide figures.
But Moore said despite last year's rise in gang crime, it's important to look at the larger picture, including a 20 percent drop in violent crime over the past four years in the Valley.
Smith contends that basic patrol service should not be dictated by crime statistics, but rather by a commitment to every resident.
During a ride-along in June, he said, he witnessed one Valley division struggle with only two patrol cars while the downtown division had 22.
"They had so many cars, they were falling over each other," he said.
Councilman Tony C rdenas, who heads the council's ad hoc committee on gang violence and youth development, was among the five who signed the motion.
"We need to make sure the Valley is being taken care of and getting its fair share," he said in a statement.
"With the surge in gang crimes in our area, we have a responsibility to make sure we are being efficient in our deployment of law enforcement and thorough in our oversight of public safety."
rachel.uranga@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3741

Denied By The Baker

My one complaint about The Baker (21600 Ventura Blvd) is the hours they keep. Must you taunt me on a lazy Saturday or Sunday by closing at 3 p.m., just as I'm getting up? And on weekdays it's even worse! You close at 5 p.m.! And I couldn't care less that you open at 7 a.m. It's no apology, no truce. I've tried to make it to your doors half a dozen times before closing and your wait staff is always unfortunately efficient in closing up shop and completely immune to my pleas for one loaf of bread to take home for sandwiches or toast.

Return of The Bloody Mary Shrimp Gazpacho

Our neighbor through the pass - Malibu - holds delights indeed. For a time I enjoyed the sublime offerings of The Bloody Mary Shrimp Gazpacho at Bob Morris' Paradise Cove. Then, suddenly, the soup was delelted from the menu. I'm thrilled to say wisdom has prevailed and the soup is back on the menu. One bowl is an ample meal and you may even have some left over to take home. One word of advise: Do not order the soup to go even if what you intend is to take it home. I did that once and only once and found my soup arrived sans shrimp and in tiny portion. Order it at a table and it will arrive with all the fixins. You can then ask for a couple of to go containers (it won't fit in just one) and be sure it arrives with the shrimp as promised. Sure, you'll have to sport for a tip this way but believe me it's absolutely worth it. Another note to those who dine - the Guacamole there is not nearly as large a serving as it appears. While they serve it in a delightful margarita glass, you should know they line the bottom with a bed of lettuce and then put the guacamole on top. It serves about one and a half people this way, in my opinion. The burgers, I'm happy to report, are as fabulous as ever. You can't beat the view so be sure to get a table outside.

Take It Easy On The Little River Band

While the post at the Valley Cultural Center's website claims The Little River Band is stronger than ever, we'll let you be the judge during their concert in the park on August 5. More info available here: http://www.valleycultural.org/concerts_august07.php

Swiss Chocolate

The Los Angeles Times reported July 26 that financial services giant Credit Suisse Group agreed to buy a 33% stake in Woodland Hills-based Great American Group, a closely held company that liquidates assets of troubled firms. As is typical of scenarios like this one, the terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.The Zurich, Switzerland-based financial services giant said the purchase would help its investment bank expand its leveraged finance operation by "providing total solutions to distressed companies."Credit Suisse said Great American's expertise in valuing assets would also help it reduce the risk of refinancings that the bank arranges for heavily indebted companies. Stay tuned.

Park N' Watch

The Valley Cultural Center continues to expand its entertainment offerings in Warner Center Park with the new "Movies In The Park" Program. Next up is E.T. The Extra Terrestrial on Saturday, August 4. More details can be had here: http://www.valleycultural.org/moviesinthepark.php

uWink? uEat. uLike.

The brainchild of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, uWink is a quirkly take on the combined flavorings of basic Cali cuisine and "interactivity." The glossy interior of the uWink restaurant is fun and light and the food offerings are simple (burgers, salads, sandwiches and the like), making it a good choice before or after seeing a movie just around the corner at the other end of the Westfield Promenade mall where uWink is located. Each table has computer consoles where diners order and customize their food choices as well as play games while waiting. They seem to be still working out the quirks (sometimes when I ordered food from the screen it appeared instantly and other times it took over 20 minutes and I had to pull a waiter aside to remind them to bring my item to me) but overall it's worth the experience. The other issue in need of correction is that you can only play a game on the console with the person sitting next to you. You cannot play with a person across from you and a table of four, for example, can't play one game together. This flaw tends to cut a party in half and discourage communication amongst people at the same table. Of course, if that's what you're after, this is perfect!

BIGGER, LONGER AND OUTDOORS

The biggest news to come to Woodland Hills and the larger shopping community of all of Southern California is the Westfield Group's proposed $750 million shopping center - the Village in the San Fernando Valley. This 3.8 million-square-foot complex would theoretically provide as many as 10,000 temporary and permanent jobs and $6 million in sales tax revenue for our fair neighborhood. It would connect the two neighboring malls on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills with a retail-commercial-residential "bridge" of some sort. It would also draw an additional 10 million visitors each year on top of the combined 24 million annual visitors for the two malls who already drive down Owensmouth and the surrounding streets.

While I'm all about increasing the fabulousness of our city through retail excitement, I've got to say the developers missed one big, glaring complication: the Sun. That's right, I said it. The Sun. In case you dudes haven't noticed, the Sun shines bright deep in the heart of Woodland Hills. In the Summertime, it can even be downright grueling trying to go Al Gore-style eco-friendly and walk to get a cup of coffee rather than drive and bring down the guilt of global warming or some such yaya. Who will walk OUTSIDE in 100 degree weather when there are other malls right there that are entirely enclosed and air conditioned? I'm still trying to picture the meeting where the demographics/marketing people go to painstaking lengths to sell this project as BIGGER than South Coast Plaza and LONGER than South Coast Plaza all the while failing to mention that large parts of the mall will require people to walk OUTSIDE in a part of Los Angeles County that routinely hits triple digits during four months of the year. I can't even imagine the gift basket that made that idea palatable.