On May 19, 1951 there was a holdup of a grocery store on Burbank and Van Nuys Bl.
The robbers were caught, booked and taken up the street to the jail in the Valley Municipal Building.
Two of the three suspects are pictured here, and are quite a handsome bunch: Samuel McGinnis; Charles Gordon; John Maroney.
John Maroney wears a tight white t-shirt tucked into unbelted jeans. Curly haired, brown-eyed, lean bodied, he had engaged in something stupid and could not have known how lucky he was to live in a time when the best selvedge loomed jeans were $3 and made in America. He could have worked as a house painter and bought a nice little ranch house around the corner with $500 down. He also wore his leather bomber jacket ($15?) in another photo.
His buddy (McGinnis?) is also a nice looking red haired guy in a wool camp shirt, finely tailored and elegant for an afternoon of armed robbery in Van Nuys. He looks almost like the son of the cop handcuffing him.
Source Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961 (subcollection), Los Angeles Examiner Photographs Collection, 1920-1961 (collection), University of Southern California (contributing entity)
The following has been reprinted from the LA TIMES, September 11, 2022.
“ELECTION 2022; Vote no on Propositions 26 and 27; California doesn’t need the massive expansion of gambling under either proposition.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states can allow sports betting, legal gambling has exploded across America — leaving some predictable problems in its wake.
Many of the more than 30 states that permit sports betting — including Michigan, Virginia and Connecticut — have seen spikes in demand for services to help people addicted to gambling, often without resources to respond adequately. Online gambling has become prevalent among high school students, even though the age for legal betting ranges from 18 to 21 depending on the state. And the amount of money some Americans now blow on sports bets should raise concerns about their financial health. In just one month last year, sports gamblers wagered $7 billion — a 20-fold increase from three years earlier. That’s money they’re not spending in other parts of the economy, or worse, money they borrowed that they may not be able to pay back.
If the companies that own betting platforms and the tribes that run casinos have their way, California will be the next state to embrace this foolish scheme. Voters should prevent that from happening by rejecting Proposition 26 and Proposition 27 on the Nov. 8 ballot. These two competing measures would allow sports betting in California, though in different ways, and both would usher in a troubling expansion of gambling.
Proposition 26, backed by several Native American tribes that run casinos including Pechanga and Agua Caliente, would allow sports betting in person at four privately owned horse-racing tracks and at tribal casinos that reach agreements with the state. It would also expand the types of games allowed at Indian casinos to include roulette and craps.
Proposition 27, backed by several betting platforms including Draft-Kings and FanDuel, would allow sports betting online on sites run by California tribes or large companies that partner with them. It would also allow wagers on awards shows and other nonathletic competitions.
That would essentially turn every cellphone, tablet and computer into a legal casino where bets could be placed with a few taps on an app.
The pervasiveness of the technology and the familiarity many people feel with sports may make online sports betting more addictive than other types of gambling, experts have found. First there is the ease of pulling a gambling device out of your pocket compared with the hassle of traveling to a casino. Then there’s the fact that people who follow teams tend to believe they have superior knowledge that compels them to bet more than they might at a card table or slot machine. Research comparing people who bet on sports with people who place other types of wagers “found that sports bettors are at greater risk of problem gambling,” according to a study published in the Journal of Gambling Studies.
Proposition 26 avoids the issues with internet-based gambling but presents other problems. A provision that makes it easier for card rooms to be sued amounts to the latest salvo in a long-standing feud between Indian tribes and card room operators over which venue has the rights to offer a certain type of game. Advocates for the humane treatment of animals are concerned that by allowing sports betting at horse racing tracks, Proposition 26 would prop up a cruel industry that has waning public support.
Although Proposition 26 aligns with California voters’ past support for allowing gambling on tribal land, the measure amounts to a toxic brew of industry interests designed not only to enrich the funders but also to push away their competitors. If California ever decides to embrace sports betting, it should be with a framework that is as evenhanded as possible, and not one that so blatantly picks winners and losers.
One argument from supporters of both measures is that sports betting is happening everywhere, whether legal or not, so California would be better off regulating and taxing the practice rather than relegating it to the shadows. Legalization will tamp down the black market, they say, and create a gusher of tax dollars for the state.
This sounds good, but California’s experience legalizing cannabis shows there is reason to be skeptical.
The same arguments were made in 2016, when voters approved recreational marijuana. But in the six years since then, the black market has continued to thrive. About three-quarters of the weed sold in California is illegal, and legal sellers say all the taxes they face make it hard to compete with illicit drug dealers.
Though Proposition 27 aims to reduce illicit betting by making people who use illegal websites pay penalties and creating a new enforcement unit at the state Department of Justice, an expert at the UCLA Gambling Studies Program said he’s not convinced it will meaningfully curb the black market. Other states that have allowed online sports betting still contend with a lot of unregulated online betting, said psychiatry professor Timothy Fong, and he does not think it will go away in California.
Continued activity on the black market could mean the tax dollars generated by sports betting would be more of a trickle than a gusher. Again, we are reminded of the cannabis legalization campaign, which promised that taxing weed would deliver loads of new funding for programs to help youth and prevent substance abuse. In fact, tax revenue has come in lower than expected and the state just lowered tax rates because the legal marketplace is such a mess.
The amount of new tax money that would be generated under Proposition 26 is uncertain, the nonpartisan legislative analyst says, “but could reach tens of millions of dollars annually.” It would be spent on schools, gambling addiction programs, sports betting enforcement and the state’s general fund. Racetracks that offer sports betting would pay the state 10% of the bets made, while tribes would negotiate their tax payments in agreements with the state.
Proposition 27 is likely to yield more tax revenue — potentially up to $500 million a year, according to the legislative analyst — but the figure is also uncertain. Tribes and companies that offer sports betting would pay a 10% tax on bets made. They would also pay licensing fees pegged at $10 million for tribes and $100 million for corporations. The taxes generated would first go toward regulating the sports betting industry. Remaining funds would be used primarily to address homelessness, by, for instance, subsidizing affordable housing, emergency shelters and navigation centers. A sliver of the funding — 15% — would go to tribes that are not involved in online sports betting. Voters are rightfully upset about the huge number of Californians who don’t have a roof over their heads. But don’t be fooled into thinking that Proposition 27 is going to solve homelessness. As the state budget overflowed with surplus dollars the last two years, California lawmakers committed $13.5 billion to provide shelter and services to people who lack homes. Taxes from sports betting would provide an ongoing source of funding, but the amount may not wind up being a game-changer.
What’s worse, it’s possible that legalizing an addictive form of gambling could lead more people into penury and needing government services, which would erode how much the state actually nets. “Online sports betting could make it more difficult for people with gambling addictions to avoid placing bets,” the legislative analyst wrote. “This could increase the number of people who might need government assistance.”
Sports betting has become more socially accepted in recent years, so some might look at Propositions 26 and 27 as indicative of a cultural evolution. Perhaps. But it’s an evolution spurred by greed. The normalization of sports betting has been egged on by betting platforms, athletic leagues and media companies, which see profit in convincing people to gamble away their dollars. That’s why gambling interests are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Propositions 26 and 27 — blasting through past spending records on state ballot measures.
If both measures pass, it’s possible that both could take effect. However, there would likely be a protracted legal fight over whether California can run two different sports betting systems. California doesn’t need more gambling or more lawsuits. Propositions 26 and 27 present more risks than benefits, which makes both of them a bad bet. Vote no.”
See all of our endorsements at latimes.com/endorsements.
It has been some two and a half years since the pandemic began, and somehow it is sort of (not) over. In that time, since March 2020, America has been in a slow-motion meltdown, proceeding quickly, an epoch unlike any other with riots, lockdowns, and a lunatic who would not and will not accept that he is no longer President.
There was always Santa Monica for me.
Since I came here in 1994, that always cooler place near the ocean was a destination for dining, drinking, shopping, biking, and hiking. It was where you took out-of-town guests, where you went to show them, half truthfully, that LA was just as walkable, vibrant, urbane and enjoyable as New York.
I went down there yesterday to cool off and what remains on Third Street is deserted. Gone are the crowds, and gone are the stores: J Crew, Banana Republic, Bloomingdales, Barneys, Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, and Levi’s.
The sun still shines brilliantly. The buildings, for the most part, are well-kept. But the life and the crowds are absent. Benches, outdoor dining, storefronts, are lifeless. There are “for lease” signs everywhere.
In some ways it feels as if the clock has spun backwards before gentrification, when Third Street was awaiting revitalization, when JC Penney was the big store.
We walked, expecting to come to that fancy outdoor mall with the wine bar on the floor and Bloomingdale’s, the blowout salon, Jonathan Adler, Starbucks and CB2, but all of it was gone, shuttered, closed down, papered over windows and nothing. All the jobs, all the merchandise, all the interactions between people and goods, work and profit, and millions in tax revenues for the City of Santa Monica, wiped out.
This is August! This the height of tourist season! This is when thousands of families come to Santa Monica to partake and enjoy everything this city has to offer! And hardly anybody was there on a Saturday morning! Except for the Farmer’s Market.
The low point for me was May 31, 2020 when mayhem and looting destroyed many businesses, the murder of George Floyd acting as irrational justification for mass robbery, fires and stealing. I remember the BMWs and Audi’s pulling up to Vans, the broken glass, the fat, young, tattooed trash in black leggings, with boxes of sneakers getting into their cars and driving off. I saw the mobs work their way up the street and hit everything they could get their hands on.
And now Santa Monica is a quieter and dying version of its pre-pandemic, pre-George Floyd self. Will it come back? Detroit, Newark, The South Side of Chicago, Watts, 1965, 1967, 1968…are they somehow the ancestors of Santa Monica’s fate? Or does Santa Monica belong with Beverly Hills, often assaulted, but easily available to afford plastic surgery, police protection, and investment capital?
Will Santa Monica slowly fade off the way so much of Los Angeles has, all the places that once held joy and nice stores and nice memories: Miracle Mile, Westwood, Bullocks, 7th Street, Van Nuys Boulevard, the May Company?
Los Angeles is fickle, people dispose of anything inconvenient or unpleasant if it does not offer amusement or distraction. A destination without anything to offer is DOA.
My neighbor, who has lived in Van Nuys since 1979, is aghast at its condition and appalled at the utter lack of leadership in correcting its continuing decline.
She wrote a letter, intended for Nury Martinez our Councilwoman and now the President of the City Council.
I agree with everything in it. Our community is dying with rampant lawlessness and political leaders who mouth platitudes but have no guts to fight for the forgotten taxpayers and residents of Van Nuys.
Here it is:
“As a long time resident of Van Nuys, 42 years, I have watched its steady decline with dismay.
Among my many concerns is the appalling lack of investment in upgrading and maintaining the city center. All the city buildings are here: the courthouse, the police station, the library, train/bus stops etc. This should be a center of pride for the city, but instead it is a fenced off desert with no landscaping, few trees, garbage and litter everywhere.
Old Post Office
I understand that the homeless problem has impacted all, but other than DTLA or Venice, we are the worst.
3/5/18 Bessemer at Cedros.Van Nuys, CA 90401
Built: 1929
Owners: Shraga Agam, Shulamit Agam
At one point, a few years ago, Van Nuys Blvd. received a grant titled something like “Beautiful Streets.” There were plans afoot to utilize that money to help VNB from Oxnard to Victory but nothing ever was accomplished. What happened to that money?
In the past I have been to several Van Nuys City Council meetings and found them to be a joke. Most of the Council members seemed preoccupied with eating pizza, nothing was accomplished and many did not even live in Van Nuys.
Once upon a time Van Nuys was a charming little town with thriving shops, and restaurants and a pretty City Center. Now it is a filthy, sad and neglected relic. Come take a drive Along Van Nuys Blvd from Oxnard to Roscoe and tell me if you would feel any pride in living here?
Van Nuys, 1938
At least clean up the median on Sepulveda Blvd between Haynes and Le May. Clean it, plant trees and maintain it. Clean up the constant trash along the streets.
This list could go on and on but it would show that you care if you would just do this much, it is the least you could do and it’s a start.
And is it not illegal to litter? What about a litter free campaign and enforcement of the law? LA used to be one of the cleanest cities in the country now it is the filthiest.
My heart is breaking. Please help us!
And if you cannot, let us know whom to vote for who can.”
They live in trash camps beside the freeways, under bridges, or along the train tracks. You know they are around when fire trucks speed down the street to put out their fires. Perhaps you’ve seen their gardening, the charred acres of blackened trees in Woodley Park?
But you are happy because you work from home, perhaps in your condo in Studio City, or in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills, earning $85,000 a year to assist a non-profit in expediting relief programs for unhoused individuals.
Flush with money from Mayor Garbageciti, (now in his seventh year of misadministration) blessed by the kind intentions of Washington, applauded by those who imagine that a city and state that allows vagrancy of 100,000 people, is somehow going to end the blight and destruction of the Golden City; this is the shining hour when, at last, the absolute desecration of urban life by filth, trash, feces, squalor, crime and disorder ends.
For the erection of storage sheds behind high fences on freeway offramps will persuade those who have fallen into drug and alcohol abuse to move their dozens of trash filled carts and begin reform!
To perpetuate the madness of a declining civilization, there are now many executive positions in a new industry that will keep you; college educated, highly skilled, they/them/he/she; comfortably employed with benefits for years to come.
The homeless crisis is now a permanent industry, as real as the movie studios and oil wells once were. It is the new future of California. And it fits in perfectly with performance virtue signaling, to pretend to be doing socially beneficial acts while skimming public money into private pockets.
Common sense would have once required all homeless persons to register with the police. Then they would have been monitored. The sick ones would be sent to mental hospitals or treatment centers. The bad ones would be sent to jail. The single ones would be sent back to Kansas. The ones who refused help would be arrested.
And nobody would sleep on the sidewalk.
But to maintain law and order, a special type of government worker, with a blue uniform, badge and gun is required. And they, my friend, are not welcome.
For now, the word police itself is toxic, a derogatory word to describe beasts. Let us, try then, to live in a nation without any law enforcement, to erect a new country where 400 million people are self-policing.
The experiment in lite, invisible policing is well underway in Los Angeles, and we lucky ones who live here in 2021 are now under strict rules as to how we may express ourselves, and what words we may not use. But those who wreck, defile, and implode in their own life are invited to perform in public to bring down the rest of us to live inside their mental and physical hell.
In this modern era, private words are punishable but public acts that endanger life, health and security are permissible. It’s enough to make housed people want to set their own houses afire.
But don’t fret about it. There are high paying executive jobs, working from home, snuggled up on your couch, in the air-conditioning, attending Zoom meetings and sending out memos to government entities who are earnestly working to end the very thing that keeps them employed.
Here in Van Nuys 
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