Culver City Observer -

Recently I had some spare time so I looked through my filing cabinet containing some issues of the Culver City News as well as the Culver City Observer from 2006. From March 2, 2006, Scott Malsin was running for City Council with the election on April 11, 2006. Also, on Page 1 Jeff Cooper and his supporters were marching to keep the city from uprooting 13.000 square feet of grass for the skateboard park that was scheduled to be built later that year. Furthermore, on Page 1 City Parks Commissioner Charles Deen wrote a letter to the editor saying Jeff Cooper was doing a cheap political stunt with the grass situation.

It looks like big changes will be coming soon to Interstate 405 as it goes through Orange County. The 16 miles between Long Beach and Costa Mesa will start in 2018 and is estimated to cost less than $2 billion. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) plans express lanes in both directions. Also added will be north and southbound general purpose lanes. Toll scenarios include a 50 percent discount and free travel in the express lanes for vehicles with three or more passengers. Prices would also vary based on the time of day.

Federal government sharpshooters will target hundreds of white-tailed deer at two Civil War battlefields in Maryland this December, launching a program to curb damage to forest and plants. The plan is to kill 243 deer at Antietam National Battlefield and 278 at Monocracy from December 2016 through March 2017 under a program approved in 2014.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 33 years since the United States invaded Grenada to remove government “friendly to Russia.”

From the Los Angeles Daily News there’s an article that just might turn your stomach. The Justice Department and the FBI have formally acknowledged nearly every examiner in the FBI laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over a 20-year period. The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death, and of those 14 have been executed or died in prison.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney will staff a conviction review unit that will investigate claims by inmates who say they are innocent. People can send claims of innocence to District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit, Attn: Ken Lynch, 320 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

It’s been 51 years since President Johnson sent troops to Vietnam, and 1965 was the year elements of the 1st Infantry Division led the way.

Dionne Warwick owes the I.R.S. over $6 million in back taxes. In 2013 she filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy claiming assets of $25,500 and $10,727,429 in liabilities.

It wasn’t that long ago when Federal Judge Stephen Wilson ordered Gardena to release the video of police fatally shooting an unarmed man. The judge said the public should be able to see what led the City of Gardena to pay $4.7 million to settle a lawsuit with the family. Although prosecutors had film from three police cars and a $4.7 cancelled check, they declined to charge the four officers involved.

The Wall Street Journal just published the latest World University Rankings, released annually by Times Higher Education:

1. University of Oxford

2. California Institute of Technology

3. Stanford University

4. University of Cambridge

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

6. Harvard University

7. Princeton University

8. Imperial College London

9. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

10. University of California, Berkeley

11. University of Chicago

Campus police at two Orange County universities are using electronic devices to arrest thieves who steal bicycles. Officers at UC Irvine and Chapman University are deploying “bait bikes” to catch crooks who steal student wheels. Some law enforcement agencies use concealed GPS devices that allow the bad guys to be caught.

Gee whiz, it’s been 53 years since the dam in Baldwin Hills collapsed. I bet our former Congresswoman Diane Watson remembers.

Astra Zeneca has won approval by the United States for a potential lung cancer treatment. If you have lung cancer, have your doctors look at Tagrisso. It just could be a major breakthrough.

Starting January 1, 2017 homeless high school students will no longer have to pay a fee to take a proficiency or equivalency test.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in the website’s search box.