ACORN 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW


NEWS OF THE DAY—Among the year’s biggest stories: more legal wrangling in the case of Rebecca Grossman, accused of racing through a Westlake Village crosswalk in 2020 and killing two young brothers. Above left, construction begins on improvements to the crosswalk. At right, parents protest the governor’s mandatory vaccines for young students. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

NEWS OF THE DAY—Among the year’s biggest stories: more legal wrangling in the case of Rebecca Grossman, accused of racing through a Westlake Village crosswalk in 2020 and killing two young brothers. Above left, construction begins on improvements to the crosswalk. At right, parents protest the governor’s mandatory vaccines for young students. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

JANUARY

The COVID surge hit home quickly as Vic Lepisto, longtime Agoura Hills resident, UCLA football legend and revered figure in the local sports community, died from coronavirus complications in December 2020. A virtual memorial service in his honor was held in January.

After an almost yearlong search, the City of Calabasas announced Jan. 7 the hiring of a new city manager. Kindon Meik, city manager at Corcoran, California, took over the reins of government in March.

Toward the end of the month, The Acorn learned there was a second driver involved in the tragic crosswalk accident that took the lives of two Westlake Village boys. Former L.A. Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson was said to be driving recklessly with socialite Rebecca Grossman when her car fatally struck the two boys in a crosswalk.

The end of the month brought a ray of hope in the fight against the pandemic as both Los Angeles and Ventura County health officials announced a return to outdoor dining following the restrictive, December 2020 stayat home order.

RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

FEBRUARY

Hopes for a less fractious community were quickly dashed when Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit against Cronies Sports Grill for violating the late 2020 public health order that shut down all dining. In a sign of hope, February brought the first wave of COVID-19 shots for health workers and the elderly.

On Feb. 19, a final report was released by the National Transportation Safety Board on the 2020 helicopter crash that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others in the hills above western Calabasas. Pilot error was said to be the cause.

A Westlake Village attorney was sentenced to four years behind bars for an alcohol-fueled crash in 2019 that left his passenger dead. Shane Loomis, 48, pleaded no contest in the gross vehicular manslaughter death of Amanda Gannon, 38.

On Feb. 20, the popular Agoura Hills restaurant Mejico Grill was hit with a major fire and was forced to close just one week after reopening to customers during the pandemic.

UNUSUAL VISITOR—In a scene revisited in Agoura Hills, a small private aircraft is forced to make an emergency landing on the 101 Freeway. This Cessna was hauled up the Reyes Adobe access ramp to safety. In 2018 another small plane landed on the freeway a few miles south of Agoura Hills. Neither incident had injuries. Courtesy of Robert Fisher

UNUSUAL VISITOR—In a scene revisited in Agoura Hills, a small private aircraft is forced to make an emergency landing on the 101 Freeway. This Cessna was hauled up the Reyes Adobe access ramp to safety. In 2018 another small plane landed on the freeway a few miles south of Agoura Hills. Neither incident had injuries. Courtesy of Robert Fisher

MARCH

The beginning of the month saw a return to class for students up to grade six in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Las Virgenes became the first public school district in Los Angeles County to resume in-class learning under a public health waiver system. Middle and high school students returned to class March 22.

Additional signs of rule relaxation came in the middle of the month—on the one-year anniversary of COVID-19—as both L.A. and Ventura counties moved into the less restrictive red tier as part of the state’s color-coded plan for a wider reopening of the economy. Customers returned indoors to gyms, dance studios, fitness centers and movie theaters. Indoor dining was allowed at 25% capacity.

The lucky streak continued for a local convenience store, Village Spirits Shoppe in Westlake Village, as it sold a $10-million winning lottery ticket in the California Scratchers game. The store sold a previous multi-million dollar winning ticket in 2017.

 

 

APRIL

The City of Calabasas reached a settlement with former parks and recreation director Jeff Rubin in a lawsuit complaining Rubin was the subject of a hostile work environment when Gary Lysik was hired as the new city manager in 2018. Lysik later resigned from the city’s head post amid allegations of ethical and financial impropriety.

On April 5, Calabasas celebrated its 30th anniversary of incorporation. It is the 88th and last city to be incorporated into Los Angeles County, but the roots of Calabasas date back much further, some 250 years ago when it served as a resting spot for Spanish missionaries traveling the coast.

The Rebecca Grossman case remained in the news as word came on April 16 that police would not be releasing her booking photo taken on the night she allegedly ran over two young boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk.

Kindon Meik

Kindon Meik

In business news, Kmart, which has all but abandoned the American retail scene, sold its 10- acre property on Hampshire Road in Thousand Oaks to a residential developer for $37 million.

The month ended with Jeff Davis being named as the new superintendent of the Oak Park Unified School District.

MAY

In May came word that the convicted child rapist Kenneth Rasmussen received a life sentence for the killing of two Southern California boys in the 1980s, including Agoura Hills 6-year-old Miguel Antero.

Los Angeles County continued to claw its way out the pandemic with a move to the more relaxed yellow tier in the state’s reopening blueprint.

The City of Agoura Hills finished construction on the $12-million Palo Comado bridge overpass. The former two-lanebridge was widened to 76 feet.

The city made other big news in May. The wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon received a $25-million grant from the Wallis Annenberg Foundation, opening the door for construction to begin in 2022 on the 210-foot bridge that will cross 10 lanes of roadway in Agoura Hills and give big mammals such as mountain lions a larger habitat.

Courtesy National Park Service

Courtesy National Park Service

The City of Calabasas voted to deny the 180-home, mixed residential and commercial development on Las Virgenes Road known as West Village. Both the developer, New Home Company, and the Building Industry Association of Southern California subsequently sued the city.

JUNE

For the second time in three years, The Acorn reported on a small airplane making an emergency landing on the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills. A Cessna single-engine craft was forced to put down on the southbound highway near Reyes Adobe Road due to an apparent malfunction. Unlike a similar 2018 incident on the same freeway, there was no fire or damage. The passengers were uninjured.

June was high school graduation month, and the Las Virgenes and Oak Park seniors were able to enjoy commencement exercises live and in person as the pandemic continued to wane.

In other school news, 26-year Lindero Canyon Middle School music teacher Greg Fried announced his retirement. Fried was lauded as a teacher of the whole child.

“I’m not here to create musicians— I’m here to create human beings,” said the 64-year-old teacher.

Longtime Agoura High teacher and coach Dennis Ritterbush also retired in June. He spent 40 years with the Las Virgenes school district.

JULY

The City of Westlake Village and the Yarrow Family YMCA inked a land use deal in which the Y agreed to pay the city $1.5 million for continued use of two of the 31 acres at a hilltop park venue above Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

Agoura Hills followed the state’s push to cut back reliance on natural gas for home use when it announced all new construction in the city must use electric, not gas appliances. The decree passed on a split 3-2 vote by the City Council.

A July Acorn special report examined the controversy over critical race theory instruction inside public school classrooms. Local school officials said the much-debated and widely misunderstood theory about race in America would not become part of their curriculum. Las Virgenes school officials said it had already adopted a policy of inclusivity and diversity awareness and that CRT did not play a role in their educational mission. Parents protested nevertheless.

The dispute between the City of Agoura Hills and Cronies Sports Grill went to court as the city filed suit against the restaurant’s refusal to abide by public health orders. The eatery’s defiance divided the community and a few small scuffles broke out.

AUGUST

Anger over public health orders apparently wasn’t enough for some residents.

One coach assaulted another over the outcome of an Agoura Youth Basketball game and a sheriff’s arrest was made. The victim, coach Jack Pollon of Agoura Hills, was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital.

Signs of a robust, local biotech economy grew as Sean Harper and Beth Seidenberg from the Westlake Village venture capital group BioPartners celebrated the grand opening of a 15,000-square foot Capsida Biotherapeutics manufacturing facility in the T.O. tech corridor along Rancho Conejo Boulevard. Also opening last summer: a $126-million expansion at the nearby Takeda pharmaceutical plant.

The California Department of Justice announced Aug. 16 there would be no criminal charges filed against So Cal Edison after some of its faulty equipment was found to have started the 2018 Woolsey fire. Edison, however, was hit with substantial civil litigation for the role it played in the fire.

Oaks Christian graduate Amanda Longan enjoyed the August spotlight in Tokyo after competing on the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic water polo team.

SEPTEMBER

An inspiring, if momentary display of American patriotic fervor saw 22-year-old Agoura resident Bryce Viole put up 13 Old Glory flags atop the Chesebro Road pedestrian bridge across the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, only to have Caltrans take them down immediately due to safety concerns. The flags represented the 13 American service members who died during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

Residents of Old Agoura were caught off guard the morning of Sept. 5 when a “First Amendment auditor” crew came to the community and begin recording activity near the Agoura Bible Fellowship church without permission. Angry words were exchanged and the sheriff was called.

“Total troublemaker, lying in wait for an altercation,” said one resident. The auditors like to post their videos on YouTube hoping for money and validation.

On the heels of the pandemic, Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo Las Virgenes became the area’s first public service organization in 18 months to host a large scale, live fundraiser. The group raised $450,000 at the Sept. 12 gala for before and after school programs.

On Sept. 29, the community solemnly remembered the oneyear anniversary of the Mark and Jacob Iskander tragedy in Westlake Village. The siblings were struck and killed by a car racing through Triunfo Canyon Road crosswalk. Following numerous court delays, accused driver Rebecca Grossman remained free on bail while an anxious community awaits. Later in the year Westlake Village began construction on a safer, improved crosswalk

The month ended on a high note as Doogie, a 10-year-old border collie from Hidden Hills, won the agility competition at the nation’s prestigious Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

OCTOBER

In a further sign of declining pandemic fear, Agoura Hills brought back its Reyes Adobe Days celebration Oct. 2, but the normally weekend-long event was limited to just one day.

Las Virgenes school district came under fire for hiking the fees paid by groups, even students themselves, for use of the performing arts education centers at Agoura and Calabasas high schools. Officials said the increase was needed to pay for a nearly $1 million operating shortfall at the theaters.

The county-wide rash of retail store smash-and-grab robberies found its way to Calabasas where the Ulta and Sephora beauty stores were hit multiple times by organized crews. Lost Hills Sheriff’s deputies struck back and arrested two suspects for possessing stolen property from Ulta. The store on Calabasas Road was hit half a dozen times in 2021. At the end of the month a third suspect was nabbed.

A complaint by animal rescue groups accused the Agoura Animal Care Center of an abnormally high kill rate at the shelter on Agoura Road. Shelter officials disputed the lawsuit and cited the shelter’s admirable record in the processing and treatment of unwanted animals.

Las Virgenes Unified School District chief Dan Stepenosky was named L.A. County Superintendent of the Year on Oct. 6. His was the first school district in the county to reopen classes following the pandemic.

In other education news, Oak Park High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School for 2021.

In October, the City of Westlake Village celebrated its 40th anniversary of incorporation.

Agoura Hills planners came under fire for identifying Kanan Road’s shopping center row as a possible site for a multifamily housing development. The city is required by the state to allow for new housing construction. There are no current plans to build homes on the shopping center property.

NOVEMBER

The Agoura High community mourned the loss of former tennis player and popular coach Stuart Limbert. The 53-year-old died of brain cancer, and construction of a campus memorial in his honor was announced.

Following a years-long hiatus, the farmers market returned to Agoura Hills. Shoppers came to Whizin Market Square Nov. 6 and welcomed the city’s first market in more than five years.

The Acorn learned in November that four students in the region— one from Agoura High and one from Westlake High—scored a perfect 5 on the challenging college level Advanced Placement exam.

Calabasas wasn’t the only city to get sued in 2021 over denial of a mixed-use commercial and residential development (see May). Agoura Hills was hit with a lawsuit over its veto of plans to build homes and shops on the 18- acre lot at the southeast corner of Kanan and Agoura roads known as The Ave (Agoura Village East).

DECEMBER

A longtime favorite among local parents, the Born Learners School for Early Childhood Education on Agoura Road, announced a Dec. 17 closing of the 43-year-old private school for kindergarten and pre-K kids.

Three of the area’s longest serving city council members and mayors in 2021—James Bozajian of Calabasas, Denis Weber of Agoura Hills and Sue McSweeney of Westlake Village—passed the gavel to a new set of mayors during city reorganization events held in December.

A judge ruled that a man jailed in the 2018 shooting death of a camper at Malibu Creek State Park is competent to stand trial. Following months of delays, lawyers for the 45-year-old suspect, Anthony Rauda, will plead their case on Jan. 24.

In the year’s biggest crime story, the lawyer for Rebecca Grossman announced he was leaving the case. A replacement defense attorney wasn’t named.

It isn’t known yet whether crime was at play when three members of the same family where were found dead in their Oak Park home Dec. 16. An autopsy is being conducted.

And confirming what most pundits predicted, Sen. Henry Stern, (D-Calabasas) announced his desire to leave his post as state senator in the local 27th District next year and run for Sheila Kuehl’s soon-to-be vacant spot on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The Acorn’s 2021 Year in Review was written by John Loesing.