‘I have a lot of clients in Pacific Palisades who come to me in Brentwood,’ said Peter Norman, the eponymous owner of the jewelry store on San Vicente Boulevard. So it makes sense that Norman has opened a companion store here, at 15248 Sunset Blvd. Formerly the Sara Jo boutique, Peter Norman & Co. Jewelers enjoyed a soft opening last week at its heart-of-the-village location. Featuring a bright interior with custom-made display cases, the store has a broad front window that offers a great view up into the mountains. ‘It’s a beautiful store’I didn’t hold back,’ Norman said. ‘I wanted it to seem like you’re walking into your house”not a store with ‘attitude.’ We know our clients. I want to keep it really, really friendly.’ All of the jewelry is designed by Norman himself, who fashions a variety of diamond wedding bands, diamond rings, cultured pearl necklaces, chandelier earrings and more. Redoing engagement rings for women is also popular, he said. Norman prides himself on the art of surprise”throwing in the unexpected, such as using a different-colored stone to freshen up an otherwise predictable format. He designs gold pieces only by request, forging most of his jewelry from platinum. Another dash of the unexpected: in 2005, he introduced Peter Norman Eau de Parfum. According to Norman, he spent two years chasing this elusive fragrance, which he described to a reporter as ‘fresh, clean, with just a touch of spice, but not sweet.’ In 1982, Norman moved from the tumultuous South Africa of his youth to America with a background in marketing and sales. He worked briefly for Neiman Marcus in Texas before moving to California, where he eventually owned and operated eight Benetton stores. In 1997, he started Peter Norman Jewelers after taking over a small Brentwood jeweler named Norman & Company. Coincidentally, Norman is his father’s name. With a staff of four, Norman will operate the Palisades store five days a week (Tuesday through Saturday) and cater to locals floating head-above-water in these difficult economic times. ‘The impact from the economic downturn has been marginal,’ Norman said Tuesday. ‘Because I am located in wealthier neighborhoods, we have been very fortunate to still have good business. Also, a lot of business is derived from across the country. ‘Fortunately, we do well all through the year,’ he continued. ‘It’s all about service and quality in this business.’   Norman said he has ‘a big celebrity clientele’ that includes Julie Andrews, and he noted that his jewelry is worn at all of the big awards shows. In addition, Norman has designed rings for some prominent Palisadians, including his landlord, Dave Licht (owner of Kay ‘n Dave’s Cantina, two doors away). ‘I did Dave’s wedding ring,’ Norman said. ‘I knew his wife Jintana before they met. I eat at their place all the time.’   Describing his store’s inventory, Norman observed that ‘it’s Cartier quality, but I don’t price it that way. I’m expensive, but I don’t want to gouge people.’   He continued, ‘I’m really excited about opening a store here. The construction was tough. It takes longer than you expect. My ex-wife, Linda Zale, helped with it; she’s great. She does huge homes. But we have simple tastes here.’ Visit: www.peternorman.com.

Starting next spring, Pacific Palisades residents will have a new place to while away their free time lounging by the pool or playing tennis. Construction of the Annenberg Community Beach House, located on Santa Monica State Beach, is nearly complete, and the club will be open to the public in April. ‘We’re trying to create a real beach-club experience with a variety of activities from contemplative to active recreation,’ said Catherine ‘Callie’ Hurd, manager of the City of Santa Monica’s Open Space Division. The club’s many amenities include a garden, playground, pool, splash pad (with ground nozzles that shoot water upward for young children to play in), visitor center, event center and volleyball and tennis courts. The beach club, located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, was originally the site of a 110-room mansion belonging to actress Marion Davies, who is remembered for her relationship with newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. The estate was sold in 1945 and converted into a luxury hotel. The mansion was then demolished and the property became the home of the Sand & Sea Club, a private beach club. After the club closed in 1989, the city of Santa Monica used the facility for seasonal public use until it was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The city wanted to replace the beach club with a new public facility, and in 2005, the Annenberg Foundation stepped forward with a $27.5-million grant to fund the project. Construction began in September 2007. As part of designing the beach club, ‘we wanted to preserve the history of the site,’ Hurd said. The city is restoring Davies’ pool, which was originally designed by Julia Morgan, the architect of Hearst Castle in San Simeon. The rectangular-shaped 20-ft.- by-110-ft. pool will be available for open swim and drop-in fitness classes. The city is still deciding whether to stripe the pool for lap swimming because there would be only four lanes, Hurd said. Occupying the footprint of the original mansion will be a locker room complex with a 1,800-sq-ft. community room. One of Davies’ three guesthouses (the North House) is being converted into a visitor center and will be near the terrace garden. The Back on the Beach Caf’, located west of the club, is being remodeled and will reopen as part of the facility. Beach club patrons can also bring their own food. There will be an event house with a 700-sq.-ft. room for youth programs and a 2,000-sq.-ft. room and a 700-sq.-ft. room, with hardwood floors and fireplaces, for private events such as weddings and corporate parties. Hurd is making presentations at community meetings about how the city proposes to operate the beach club and is speaking on November 18 at the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association at Rustic Canyon Recreation Center. She is seeking feedback from the community about the planned hours of operation and user fees. According to the city’s preliminary proposal, the beach club will be open from 8 a.m. until dark and until 10 p.m. on the weekdays and 11 p.m. on the weekends for special events. The pool will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily in the summer and on weekends in May and September. In the winter, the pool will be open approximately 40 days from noon to 5 p.m., dependent on the weather. The event house can be rented for private events on the weekdays in the spring and summer and anytime from October to April. The event house is not available on the weekends in the spring and summer because those peak hours are reserved for the public, Hurd said. The city plans to charge $10 for adults to use the pool and $4 for children ages 4 to 17. Children under three years old will be admitted free. The city has not decided whether to include the splash pad in the pool fee or to provide that service for free. The six volleyball and tennis courts, playground, visitor center and garden will be free. Patrons will be able to make reservations for a court, swimming pool pass or parking space three days in advance by telephone or online. The registration fee will be $5, and a person can reserve a maximum of one parking space, eight pool passes and one court. The city has received approval to install a traffic signal off PCH. The parking lot has 277 spaces and beach-club goers will be required to pay $6 to $10. Short-term parking of one to two hours will be $3 to $4. The city intends to have bike racks that can accommodate 100 bikes and is considering offering a bike valet service, Hurd said. ‘All of this is preliminary,’ she reiterated. ‘We are open to suggestions.’ Community members can share their opinion about the hours of operation and fees by e-mail: beachhouse@smgov.net. Information: www.smgov.net/beach_house/

Nearby resident Deborah Seay surveys the damage done to the railing and post that had recently been installed after a prior accident. The Seays feel that a sturdier rail construction needs to be done due to the frequency of accidents on Entrada Drive’s long downhill curve.
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Nearby resident Deborah Seay surveys the damage done to the railing and post that had recently been installed after a prior accident. The Seays feel that a sturdier rail construction needs to be done due to the frequency of accidents on Entrada Drive’s long downhill curve.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

When Guy and Deborah Seay moved into their home at the corner of Entrada Drive and Kingman Avenue three years ago, they knew their property was close to the long curve that winds downhill into Santa Monica Canyon, but they didn’t realize the danger. In the past six months, three serious car accidents have occurred at that site.
In late March, a driver under the influence, failed to negotiate the turn and struck the guardrailing, tearing out that railing while knocking out three posts and destroying several bushes next to the Seay home. The Bureau of Street Services (BSS) replaced the railing and posts, but on September 14, a 74-year-old female driver lost control of her car on the downhill curve, smashed through the guardrail and crashed into the Seay’s backyard cement-block wall.
Guy Seay wrote an e-mail to Nazario Sauceda, assistant director with the Bureau of Street Service, complaining that “the failure in this event seems worse than the previous accident.
“The new guard rail split, literally slicing it vertically, and allowed the car to run over one of the sycamore trees, and damaging the wall bordering my back yard. I’m not sure if it was due to a faulty part because the guardrail was replaced with several pieces, or that the guardrails were only secured by one bolt, when there were sections for four bolts on each post. None of the posts were secured in place by concrete.”
Deborah Seay noted that in “the first accident, the barrier actually worked. This time the guardrail completely failed.”
In response to the Seays, Sauceda said that the guardrail performed as expected.
When asked why it appeared the wall was responsible for stopping the driver and not the guardrail, Sauceda said the guardrail was effective because the driver lived. “A guardrail can be replaced, a life cannot,” said Sauceda, who manages a meager $150,000 guardrail budget for the entire city.
He was also asked why there were not four bolts securing the railings to the poles. Sauceda said he would have to investigate.
He explained that specifications for guardrails vary. “This time we’re going to take the worst-case scenario according to the construction specifications,” he said. “I don’t want to come back in three months and replace it again.”
Sauceda emphasized that even if the City used the strongest railings possible, “it doesn’t stop a vehicle that comes around a corner at 70 m.p.h.
“Please understand that while the accidents seem to be endless at this location, our funding is not; and like this intersection, there are numerous other locations in Los Angeles [we are responsible for] so we are working very hard in trying to resolve your concerns within the constraints of our fiscal abilities,” Sauceda said.
About a month ago, the railing was once again replaced, but this time slathered with numerous large-orange reflectors. According to Deborah Seay, one of the poles that the railing is attached to was secured in cement.
Just last Friday, a head-on collision occurred at that intersection. A driver in a 1997 Honda going uphill crossed the double line and hit a westbound 2008 Audi head on. The Honda then went backwards, hit a brick retaining wall on the south side of the street across from the Seays and knocked it over, before careening into a parked 1997 Jetta.
According to West Traffic Division Detective Bowens, the driver of the Honda, a 57-year-old female, and the 53-year-old female Audi driver were both taken to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital with minor complaints. The Honda was totaled and the Audi and Jetta suffered moderate damage.
Sauceda has asked local officials to meet in order to brainstorm about ways to prevent future accidents on that stretch of Entrada. “We need to organize a meeting to discuss this important matter,” he said. “I think enforcing agencies as well as traffic engineering agencies along with the BSS must look for a proactive solution.”
George Wolfberg, president of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA) and a nearby resident, responded in an e-mail to Sauceda: “The SMCCA has long advocated that the City act to improve traffic safety in our canyon, especially on Entrada Drive. We had the speed trailer stationed near Canyon Elementary School and speeds exceeding 50 mph in the 30-mph zone were common.”
In March, Wolfberg sent a letter (below) to LAPD West Area Traffic Captain Nancy Lauer urging for stepped-up enforcement of speeding near the school and on the curve. “No visible enforcement has resulted,” Wolfberg said this week.

Social studies instructor Steve Burr teaches four advanced placement world history courses at Palisades Charter High School, and he finds that the students who take his classes “do not reflect the diversity that we have on this campus.”
Very few of the school’s nearly 600 African American students take advanced placement classes, said Burr, an African American teacher who has taught at PaliHi for 12 years.
In addition, these students have historically posted lower scores than the white and Asian students on the Academic Performance Index (API) and this last year had the lowest score of all ethnic groups at PaliHi. API is based on statewide assessment results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program and the California High School Exit Examination. African American students scored 684, which is two points lower than their score in 2007, while Asian students scored 865, whites, 856 and Latinos, 734.
To encourage African American students to improve academically, Burr and other PaliHi staff members are starting a chapter of the Village Nation, a program that educators Fluke Fluker, Andre Chevalier and Bill Paden started at LAUSD’s Cleveland High School in 2003.
“We were frustrated, aggravated, even angry with the low test scores of African American students, not only at our school, but throughout the country,” Fluker told the Palisadian-Post. “We knew from our conversations with these students that the scores were not a true reflection of their intelligence.”
To participate in the program, PaliHi’s African American students will be invited to assemblies to discuss issues such as the “N” word and the disparity in API scores. The students will be paired with a teacher, staff member or parent who will serve as their mentor. They will be encouraged to participate in the Black Student Union and to take part in community service projects. On Thanksgiving Day, the students will be invited to serve the homeless dinner at the Fred Jordan Mission in downtown L.A.
“This is a great program for closing the achievement gap for African American students,” said PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held. The board of directors has approved $30,000 to fund Village Nation.
At Cleveland High School in Reseda, African American students improved their API score by more than 130 points between 2003 and 2007.
“The students started to make better choices and their grades went through the roof,” said Fluker, a teacher at the school. “This program allows them to redefine who they are and what they are about so that they are reaching their full potential.”
After the program’s first year, Cleveland’s African American students increased their API score by 58 points.
“Many chalked the improvement in scores to be a fluke, which happens to also be my name, so I did take credit for it,” Fluker said, chuckling.
But the higher test scores were not happenchance. “We went from being a school almost on probation to a California Distinguished School,” Fluker said, adding they also received national attention for their success on the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Many administrators, teachers and students started asking to replicate the program at their school, Fluker said. Village Nation is now in eight schools in Los Angeles County and San Bernadino County and one school in Flint, Michigan.
This summer, Fluker and other leaders of Village Nation offered a teacher training workshop at UCLA, and about 35 teachers and parents attended, including Burr, social studies teacher Tami Christopher, Director of Student Services Monica Iannessa and PaliHi parent Patrice Fisher. During the three-day workshop, attendees were encouraged to think of ways to improve their school.
“We reflected on ourselves and our school,” Christopher said. “What are the real issues at our school? How do we address them?”
Christopher, an African American teacher who has worked at PaliHi for five years, said the group plans to conduct teacher and student surveys this fall in order to further understand the school’s climate.
“We do not supply a band-aid,” Fluker said. “We train teachers how to implement this program at their school. Palisades has a great teaching staff with an open mind to embrace this out-of-the box concept.”
Burr and Christopher are hopeful they will start to see changes in their students.
“We want to create a community for these students, so they are pushing each other to achieve,” Burr said. “My hope is that by the time these students leave high school, they will have taken some AP or honors class.”