"The Theory of Dropitivity" Italy MMXV Shocker! Space Cadet Leon Gold Wins Guest Of The Year Award

If you had told me that 12-year-old Leon Gold would win the coveted 2015 GOYA (Guest of the Year Award) for our annual summer trip to Italy, I would have thought you had lost your mind. 

I have known that space cadet for something like seven, eight  years and - after giving up saying 'hello' and getting no response -  I haven't uttered a single word to him in a good five years.  

But, defying critics, the odds, logic. and even Galileo Galilei,  the 2015 GOYA goes to Leon Gold, son of Laurie Ochoa and Jonathan Gold.

Now, many of you who know me fairly well might be wondering the same thing. "Mike, are you drinking heavily again?"

Nah. And for the record, Nancy - and many others - voted for Leon, as well. Still, the reason for this report took so long to publish after we've been back from Italy - 15 days - is because some of the other contenders for this year's GOYA couldn't believe it and demanded a recount. The original count was verified and so it is official. Leon Gold wins this year's GOYA..

And part of the reason is this. Though it probably seemed a put-down in the headline and second paragraph - referring to Leon as a "space cadet" -  it turns out Leon Gold IS a space cadet. I mean someone has to be a cadet. which is, what, basically a trainee, right?. Someone has to train to be an astronaut to go into space or to be a physicist or a cosmologist and that's what Leon is. A space or physicist or cosmologist trainee. A space cadet.

Nancy and I met the Ochoa/Golds in Modena near Osteria Francescan where Nancy and I - along with Bobby Silverstein and Danielle Bernabe - had a lunch for the ages  and where Laurie Ochoa, Jonathan and Leon had dinner. As usual I didn't say a word to Leon when I saw him. ( Not that he woulda heard me as he was wearing earphones listening to a podcast about physics or some such thing )  The next day we all had a lunch in the Modena countryside and it was here Leon made his first two impressions.  One is that if you are like an Emily Post type -  ya know, all proper and full of etiquette - I don't recommend sitting across from him at a meal, This guy grabs his fork by the tines as he delves deep into a plate. And if there's a bowl of anything eatable nearby ,  you can lay pretty good odds Leon's fingers will be in that bowl. ("Just like you', Nancy would say to me.)

But, at that lunch, a paperback by American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at his side, he made a pronouncement that didn't really hit me until later. It was like his first scientific ruling. He pronounced the so-ca;;led "three second rule " a fallacy. "Even if your food lands on the ground for one billionth of a second, it is no good. It will pickup as many microorganisms in that one billionth of a second as it will in three seconds or in 60 seconds. The three second rule is false."

He made this profound statement as seriously as I imagine Nicolas Copernicus announced that it was the Earth that orbited the Sun, not the other way around. 

I thought about Leon's theory for, well, for about three seconds. and it made sense. 

A day later in Panicale, Umbria, where Nancy has a home, I was walking the Ochoa/Golds to the apartment they had rented from our friends Enid and Richard since they didn't know exactly where said apartment was located inside the walls of the old town. On the way there. a super car came whizzing and roaring by. and Leon yelled out "Watch out, Michael!"   Now I would have had to be about 3,000 pounds heavier for this beautiful car to be even close to hitting me, but i was kinda stunned the kid even knew my name.

At dinner that evening, Leon told Nancy that "We spend too much money on the military and not enough on the space program." Did he, Nancy asked, think there was life in outer space?  "I don't know, but we are not going to find out bombing people." 

Was this the same Leon? This fool was starting to rack up GOYA  points.

The next dinner, i was sitting next to Leon. - which is better than sitting across.- and he started talking about how he doesn't think it is good for humans to be in cell phone photos. It's good for cats, but not humans, he said.  He mentioned something about nobody in the entire Milky Way Galaxy should be in a photograph. So I went with a variation of line I occasionally go to. "Why? Do you think people in the Snickers Galaxy might find out about us?" 

Leon gave out a sort of impish grin and said. "No. But, they might in Butterfingers Galaxy." We both smiled.

At long last, someone has responded to my Snickers Galaxy line. Leon scores more GOYA points.   

A day or two later, I am bored with the adult conversation about the merits of pici and umbricelli and other various noodle configurations.and lardo and culatello di Zibello and  so I turned to Leon and told him a story.

By now,  If you watch the news at all, you know this story. Leon. apparently doesn't watch the news, and doesn't know the story, but was utterly fascinated by it. It is the recent news story of the Grizzly bear from Montana who became an astronaut and on a mission to outer space, his fellow astronaut, a human from Tennessee, died somewhat mysteriously  and the grizzly bear astronaut ended up being charged with his murder. 

I am telling you, Leon was riveted by this story. It turns out the two astronauts -  bear and human - snuck along a 12 pack of beer - which Laurie accurately chimed in was Hamms -  and the human astronaut had been hogging them, He had guzzled eight of the first 11 beers and was reaching for the 12th when a struggle ensued. In that tussle for the last beer, the grizzly bear astronaut allegedly shoved the human astronaut out of the space capsule door and into outer space where he was never heard from. When the space ship managed to land back at Cape Canaveral, the grizzly bear was arrested and charged with murder. 

This Leon kid was in pure fascination.  He asked many questions, but, at that point, that is all I knew of the story.  

Two days later, at dinner, I get "a call" on my cell. I whisper into it. Leon is listening in with much interest. "What happened?". A verdict is coming down in the grizzly bear astronaut murder case, I tell him. We should know by the time the dolci arrives.  

Forty five minutes later, as the torta della nonna is dropped, I get "the call".. 

"Not guilty. The grizzly bear was found not guilty on all counts."

Leon was thrilled by this verdict. He wants to know what happened in the trial.

"I don't have all the details but apparently there was a camera on board and it showed the human astronaut drunk and stumbling. and he trips and falls against the space ship door and he goes tumbling out. The grizzly bear tried desperately to save him, but he couldn't. They also were able to prove the grizzly bear astronaut only had three beers as only three cans were crushed like only a grizzly bear can crush a beer can. Claw marks and all." 

"Will the  grizzly bear get to go back and be an astronaut again?"

"I don't know," I told Leon. "It's kinda soon for all that. i think he just want to go back to Montana and relax. Take a nap for a couple of months. 

t was fun telling that story. And it was fun having someone enjoy it. For that, for debunking the "Three second rule" and for a somewhat feeble attempt to save my life from a speeding Lamborghini Miura,  Leon Gold with this year's GOYA

In late July, as Nancy and I were on our morning five kilometer walk. the Ochao/Gold car drives by and stops to say goodbye. Laurie is driving. I guess Jonathan can't drive and plot his dining course at the same time. Leon is in the backseat with his earphones on. Nancy says something to him, thinking maybe he will say good bye or thank us for the good time or something, anything. But, nothing . He just keeps those earphones on. Leon Gold is out there somewhere in space. 

But, the next time you drop some food, don't bother picking it up and eating it. Just step on it. Accoridng to Leon Gold's theory of dropitivity, it's already ruined. 

"We are all in the gutter ( or on the floor) but some of us are looking at the stars" - Oscar Wilde

As GOYA, Leon Gold also wins a free pizza at Mozza

RECENT PREVIOUS GOYA WINNERS

2014 - (TIE) Hourie Sahakian and Tiffany Fox

2013 - Liz "Go Go" Hong

2012 - Cast of "The Wire"

2011 - .The Berrettos (aka Oliver and his buddies) 

2010 - (TIE) Duke and Patsi

Pizzeria Mozza General Manager Arielle Chernin Forced To Leave Los Angeles

Arielle Chernin, the adorable, charming, hard-working general manager of Pizzeria Mozza - who apparently led a double life - must leave Los Angeles to avoid facing felony charges stemming from a August 1st bar room biker brawl in Echo Park that left six people injured, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Office said Wednesday evening. 

Chernin, who had publicly announced this week she was leaving Los Angeles and her job at the revered pizzeria to "take a management position" at a San Francisco restaurant, was given an ultimatum by District Attorney Jackie Lacey:: "Get out of town or face charges" -  for assault, malicious biting, destruction of city property, inciting a riot, and, the most serious of the offenses, HRV 21 of the California criminal code, which is the hoarding of raw vegetables during a drought.

"Normally", Lacey said. "Chernin would have been arrested, placed in county jail, given the opportunity to bail out and gone on to trial, but due to severe budget restraints and overcrowding in the jails, she was given the options of "getting out of Dodge". Based on what I know of Chernin, I think it's best for the city if she just gets the hell out." 

Nancy Silverton, Chernin's boss for several years, expressed a range of emotions when she was told of Chernin's lawless behavior. 

"I couldn't believe it at first," said Silverton when reached by email in Italy. "I mean, here is a woman who was the epitome of team Mozza spirit. She was fun. She was a leader. She had this great energy. She started the Employee of the Month award program. She was the first one blowing up balloons at parties. Then to learn she is a drunken bar fighting biter, well, I guess you never really know someone. She sure had me fooled."

Privately, Silverton expressed relief Chernin was leaving. "Mozza got hit with a $15,000 fine for using excessive water after midnight during a drought. You know who was using the water and why?  That crazy Arielle, after one of her crazy midnight runs, was using the hose in the manager's parking lot to wash her hair.  Don't print that. No one would believe it. But, think about it. Who the hell runs around Los Angeles in a skimpy outfit at midnight."

As news vans parked outside the Chernin family complex near Boston hoping to get a quote, Arielle's father Phil, drove up, ignored reporters and headed to the front door. Half-way up the porch, however, he tripped on a empty Svedka vodka bottle, remnants of a party his daughter hosted many years ago.

"Look," Phil Chernin said as he turned to address the media, "Why don't you parasites leave my family alone? We are going through a trying time."

While most of the reporters respected his wish, one did not. It was Morty Goldstein, Jr., the tenacious award-winning journalist from Los Angeles  who yelled out "Were you shocked when you heard that Arielle didn't really have a job offer in San Francisco, but was being ordered to get out of Los Angeles?"

Phil Chernin stepped toward the front door, but then shocking the hoards of media. stopped and told this story. 

"No, I wasn't shocked. I was saddened, yes, but, not shocked. I some ways I was, and you might not believe this. but i was strangely relieved.   Me and my wife, Alciia have known since Arielle was a toddler that she was a troublemaker. And we both felt it was simply a matter of time before  everyone else found out, too."

"Can you give us an example?", Godlsteien yelled out.

At this point, Phil was joined on the porch by his wife. Alicia.  Alicia spoke up

"Sadly, I can,", said Alicia. "When Arielle was in pre-school at Brookline Schools Staff Children's Center. she got into a fight with a girl named Paige ( not to be confused with Front Paige Handler ). Our little Arielle is kicking some royal ass, But, that's not enough for Arielle. A simple beat down wouldn't do. . Arielle moves in and bites Paige. Went Mike Tyson on her.  Took a piece of Pagie's ear out.  They said you could heard that girl scream all the way to New Hampshire."

"Afterward,", Phil interjected, "The girl's mother storms over hear and say "You people have raised a monster. You people have raised Arielle the Biter."

And that is how the kindly, sweet appearing Arielle Chernin became to be known as "The Biter".

Phil and Alicia. hugged briefly,  Not knowing there was a remote microphone on the porch, Alciia was heard asking Phil, "Do you think we should tell them about the time she sneaked all that vodka into the High School prom?" Phil shook his head and then addressed the media again.  "Please give us some time alone." They walked inside.

But, just then. Arielle's brother came home, and he was either a very bad walker and stumbling drunk as he zig zagged up the driveway. 

Morty Goldstien yelled out again. 

"Yo, little bro. Do you think your sister is guilty.?

"I love my sister. But, she is more guilty than O.J.  She can be ruthless." 

Keith reached into his pocket and took a pull out of a "airplane" bottle of Svedka vodka and told a disturbing story about Arielle and that very ruthlessness.

"My sister and I used to spend a lot of time at our Popo (that's grandma in Chinese) 's house. She lived on the 9th floor of this tall building so we had to take the elevator up to her apartment. We were going up the elevator one day and Arielle (maybe 12 at the time) says 'Keith, (I was around 8 at the time), I bet I can kick my leg over your head'. She was confident she could do it cause she was pretty good at gymnastics. I didn't really have time to respond before she swung her leg up in the air and kicked me smack in the face.. As my eyes were starting to tear from the shock/pain she looked at me, shrugged, and walked out of the elevator as we arrived on the 9th floor. She kicked me in the face and ;never apologized."  

Court records show that Arielle first job was a bar maid at Matt Murphy's Irish Pub, that was owned by her best friend Cierra's mom. Old school drinkers still fondly recall the site of 13-year-old Arielle working the room, two mugs of beer in one hand, a shot of Jameson in the other.

Chernin's love - and sheer athletic talent - provided an outlet for the young outlaw. Sadly, even sports couldn't outrun the evil streak Arielle possessed. 

In her second Boston Marathon, around Mile 22, she had planned to "high five" Phil, Alicia, Keith and others It was her photo moment. But, just before she arrived at the pre-planned spot for the photo, another runner ran in the way. 

"I watched in horror as my very daughter wickedly pushed that poor, old  man out of the way so she could have her photo slash high five moment," said Alicia.  (For the record, that man was Frank Shorter, who won the 1972 Gold Medal in the marathon at the Mexico City Olympics.  Shorter, now 67, has never fully recovered from that shove, which has become known as the "Arielle Push".) 

Back in Los Angeles, reaction to the news the mild-mannered one was actually a hell cat was meet with a variety of reactions. 

"I hope she gets the help she needs," said Aex Munoz, director of Operations of Mozza. "As for Mozza, It's a tremendous loss. She's the best GM I've ever had" 

Still, Munoz, who once faced criminal charges himself for - in a desperate attempt to increase Osteria sales. - putting not only waterboarding on the secret menu. but Barolo-boarding as well, felt it would be the best thing for the restaurant if Chernin left. "The restaurant simply couldn¹t support her raw carrot addiction and , like i said, i really hope she gets the help she needs"

Former Mozza GM David Rosoff concurred about the vegetables. "That little Tupperware container of raw vegetables had to be soaked in hooch."

Kate Green, Silverton's assistant, said that she really wasn't stunned to learn of Arielle's other life. "Nobody's is that perfect. I will say she is quite ambitious. I wouldn't even be surprised to find out she will be running for the Republican nod for president.  She's  half Jewish. Half Chinese, right?  I mean half of her wants to build a wall around the Gaza Strip and the other half wants to build Cantonese take out joints next to the wall."

Kirstie Brittany Lee, a Pizzeria Mozza manager who worked under Chernin, said she was not "totally stunned" by the news that Chernin was trouble.

"Your talking about a cute 20-something woman who would go running at midnight. Midnight in Los Fuckin Angeles? Please. The only people running at midnight in Los Angeles are people who either want to get hurt or want to hurt someone. Maybe that's when she would go out an bite people. They should call her the MIdnight Biter. Hey, I want to play her in the movie." 

Mozza GM Will Simons said he "never bought those sweaty midnight runs, either."

"Bull shit if that was some Marathon training shit," Simons said. "It might be some type of so-called "training", but I bet it was, was.., Ya know what?  I don't even want to say." 

Still, despite suspicions, on the job at Mozza, Chernin was on top of things. She set a record of picking up 61 napkins in a single season ( 2013) and was the staff biggest cheerleader. (In comparison, Sam Schramberg once picked up a single napkin in 2010, but dropped it when a leggy blonde walked in.)  

"Arielle was tireless," said "Front" Paige Handler, ( Not the Paige who was bit,)   "The only times she slacked off working when was when there was a cute guy at one of the bars eating. "

"Yeah," Adam Boardman concurred. "She had this unique way of seeing if the guy was interested in her.  She called it her "Man Test". Arielle would come to me and say "Watch that guy I've been talking to. I'm gonna drop a napkin and then bend over to pick it up. Let me know if he looks at my ass. If he doesn't, well charge him for all the drinks.."

So Arielle Chernin will be leaving Los Angeles and leaving Mozza soon. And while law enforcement officials are relieved she is moving out, at least one Mozza regular is sad. 

Michael Krikorian, the restaurant's unofficial chief of security,  said he would deeply miss Arielle. 

"I knew if there was ever any trouble going down at Mozza,  Arielle would be right there in the thick of things and have my back," Krikorian said.  "But, the other thing i feel kinda bad about?   All those years  I knew her, she never once bit me."

"You want some, motherfucker?"

Nancy Silverton to Massimo Bottura, Who the Hell Do You Think You Are?

UPDATE - June 14, 2016 - Editor's Note - Further proving American chef Nancy Silverton's point, last night Bottura's Osteria Francescana was named #1 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

Three courses into a lunch this week at the renowned Osteria Francescana in Modena, Nancy Silverton put down her spoon after contemplatively savoring its hyper green contents, took a long sip of leggy red wine, slowly shook her head, scowled and said "Just who the hell does Massimo Bottura think he is..."

"You don't like this food, Nancy?" interrupted Danielle Bernabe, a fellow diner who clearly didn't know Siverton well.  Nancy ignored the question and continued with her thought. 

"That he can just go ahead and make food that is so much better than everybody else's.  Clearly, he has left the brotherhood of chefs. He's not a team player. I hope aspiring chefs don't taste this food. They'll give up the profession. Who the fuck does Bottura think he is?" .

That particular comment - profanity included - was broadcast on news stations throughout Western Europe and initially drew outrage toward Silverton on both traditional news outlets and social media. In addition, many food critics who have adorned Osteria Francescana with every possible restaurant accolade, criticized Silverton for being not only jealous of Bottura's talents, but crass. "Nancy Silverton is simply an American PBC", said Sir Charles Dillingsworth, food critic for the London Herald who used the acronym which means Pretty, But Crass.

But, Silverton's fellow chef cadre quickly came to her defense and stunned the restaurant world when they agreed with her assessment of Massimo Bottura.

"I'm with Nancy. Fuck that guy," said Mario Batali, the famous American chef based in New York City and partners with Silverton in the Mozza kingdom based in Los Angeles, Stalingrad, Newport Beach and Singapore. "Just because Massimo's aunt invented tortellini and his grandma invented milk and his great, great grandfather domesticated the pig, does not mean that Massimo does not have to work like the rest of us."

In San Francisco. Dominque Crenn, the impassioned chef of Atelier Crenn who shares some of Bottura's wild -if not downright hallucinogenic - imagination, weighed in..  

"Look, I don't even know Massimo, but I think he is a genius," said Crenn, whose two Michelin star restaurant in San Francisco is considered one of America's best.  "I know Lara [Gilmore, Bottura's American wife] and I am inspired by their story.  But, as for him, well, umm, well, I better not say anymore. I am French and I don't want to make Franco-Italian relations any worse than they already are."

Crenn walked away from the interview, stopped, turned around and said "But, I think Nancy is right. Nancy is always fuckin' right."

In Los Angeles, Roy Choi, L.A.'s "Takin it to the Streets" chef, said he considered Bottura a "brother", though he had not been to his restaurant. 

"I love him a a human though I've never had his food in Modena.  I can't get a reservation. Who the hell do you need to know to get a damn table at Osteria Francescana?".

Max Paul Runstedtler, professor of food history at the American University in Washington, D.C., said that Bottura was at the "classic crossroads" of his career. 

"Massimo Bottura is at that well-known intersection where he is in front of the pack. and he can choose to wait and have everyone catch up .- the few that can, at least - or he can continue on his Monza-speed path and go on increasing his lead," said Runstedtier, who was an associate producer of the documentary "Chefs Gone Wild",  "Right now, it looks like Bottura is not stopping. I had the "Sensatons" menu for lunch at OF the other day and it was well-named."

It is that very "increasing the lead" impression that is troubling for many. And those accolades are becoming problematic, as well.

Most troubling of the honors bestowed on Bottura and Osteria Francescana has been the never-before-garnered rating of 19.75 in Le Guide de L'Espresso's I Ristoranti D'Italia. The reason for the backlash of that rating is that 19.75 is - clearly - a figure greater than 19.72, a number that is dear to millions of Italians. In a February, 24, 2012 interview, just a week before he died, colorful Italian sports reporter Germano Mosconi explained the importance of 19.72.

"19.72 is the beloved number of seconds that Barletta, Italy-born sprinter Pietra Mennea took to famously win the gold medal in the 200 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics,"  said Mosconi, the late Telenuovo sports reporter based in Verona.  Mosconi was quiet for a few seconds, than released a torrent of expletives in ascending volume before straight out screaming "Pietra Mennea set a world record with that 19.72 and it held for over 16 years, goddamnit. For Bottura, or anyone, to mess with 19.72 is cazzo scopata!"

So will Massimo Bottura slow it down and have the other great chefs of the world catch up? If his Four-door Maserati Quattroporte is any indication, then the answer is resounding, unmuffled "No".  The Maserati sedan is normally equipped with a V-6, 410 horsepower engine. Bottura's Maser? 490 horsepower. Massimo Bottura is not slowing down at all. Floor that baby. 

(To see sports caster Germano Mosconi in action check this  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRG2LlBfCn8

Donald Trump Soiled Pants After Getting Threat From Chapo, Dry Cleaners says "Trousers Totally Ruined"

Republican presidential candidate and television personality Donald Trump was talking tough when Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera escaped Mexico 's highest security prison Saturday, but he changed his tune dramatically - and most foul - when the drug lord threatened him on Twitter

According to sources in the businessman's  camp, Trump turned a shade of "very light pink" and then began making "a series of high-pitch toots" from his buttocks area and then a "painfully loud :gasp emerged followed by a stench of usually bad proportions". The account was confirmed by two others in the room at the time, one who was briefly hospitalized for fart inhalation. 

Trump, another sources said, then whimpered "I think just ruined these Paul Smith pants" and ran "awkwardly" from the room.

After Trump had threatened Guzman, the man from Sinaloa  tweeted  "Sigue chingando y voy hacer que te tragues todas tus putas palabras pinche guero cagaleche" which translates roughly into  "And I still fucking make you swallow all your fucking fucking punk ass  words"

A dry cleaner speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the trousers "rear end looked like they had been through a Dresden fire bombing." 

Guzman, known as "El Chapo" is perhaps best known for being the world's best drug lord, a titled he has had for over a decade.   Most drug trafficking reporters usually rate him second only to Colombian  Pablo Escobar as the greatest drug dealer of all time.

A Huffington Post piece recounts the Tweets.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/13/donald-trump-el-chapo_n_7788128.html

Joyce Mitchell Seen At Taco Truck Near Prison Where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Escaped

Joyce Mitchell, previously best known for her role in the escape of two New York state prison inmates, was spotted late Saturday afternoon at the Luis Ramirez Taco Truck in La Manera which happens to be located two miles northwest of the Mexican prison where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped Saturday night.

Mexican authorities initially dismissed speculation that Mitchell, 51, had anything to do with the infamous drugs lord's escape, but admitted Sunday to being stupefied when they learned the former prison employee had ordered chicken enchiladas at the truck. The Luis Ramirez. truck is known solely for its tacos, consistently listed among the top 25 in North America.

"That Joyce was at the truck near the prison where Chapo escaped would not normally be of an issue to us," said an Mexican federal law enforcement officer speaking on the condition of anonymity and fifty dollars. "However, that she ordered the enchiladas at Luis'  truck, well, that raises some concerns. I've had the enchiladas there."

Five members of Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel, dining at El Pollo Hermanos in Culiacan,  denied any knowledge of Chapo's whereabouts and claimed to have never heard of Mitchell. 

Tavin Price Gets His White Picket Fence; LAPD Gets His Killers

Three Los Angeles street gang members are in custody for the killing of Tavin Price, the 19-year-old mentally handicapped  man shot to death May 29 in front of his mother at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard. 

The alleged shooter, Kanasho Johns, 27, was taken into custody today near Houston, Texas  and will be transported to Los Angeles within a few days.  Dwight Kevin Smith, 30 and Kevin Deon Johnson, 24, who allegedly confronted Price over his red Chuck Taylor Converse tennis shoes,  were both arrested and charged on suspicion of murder last week and are being held in lieu of more than two million dollars bail.   A 27 year-old woman, Antheyst Jarrett, was arrested shortly after the homicide on charges of witness intimidation and accessory after the fact to murder. Her bail is $500,000.

"These people murdered my child in front of my face," said Jennifer Rivers, Tavin's mother who broke down once during Tuesdays's press conference announcing the arrests. "I'm going to be seeing my son shot  in front of me and asking me "Am I gonna be Okay?" and then telling me "Mommy, I don't want to die"  for my while life. This is just torture." 

LAPD homicide detective Chris Barling, coordinator of the 77th Street Division's busy homicide unit,  applauded Rivers' for her relentless efforts to help find the killers of her son. 

 "I want to thank her because she helped keep this in the public's eye," Barling said in the 77th's press room which was packed with local television news cameras.  "I also want to thank LAPD's Metropolitan SWAT unit, the FBI/ LAPD Fugitive Task Force, Houston Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriffs, the local media and, mostly, the community for their help."

Tavin Price, who was, in the correct term, "intellectually disabled",  was at the Simms Car Wash on Florence at 11 a.m. with his mother and a family friend when he walked into the adjoining smoke shop. Price, not a gang member, was confronted over his "red Chucks", the symbolic color of the confederation of street gangs known as the Bloods. Price did not reply and returned to his family vehicle. Soon after, allegedly, Johns, who was not in the smoke shop, ran from across the street to the car and shot him multiple times.

Johns is a member of the 58th Street Neighborhood Crips. Both Smith and Johnson are members of the Rollin' 60s Crips, one of the city's most infamous. Both gangs have been widely criticized on the streets for not only killing the diminutive Price in front of his mother, but for shooting a 4-foot, 11-inch, 100-pound mentally handicapped young man in the first place. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Inmate Locator website,.Smith is 6-foot, one-inch, 170 pounds and Johnson is five-foot, five-inches 140 pounds.  "Why couldn't they just go toe-to-toe with the guy if they thought he was a Blood?" several people have said.

"Who would do that?" Jennifer Rivers asked. "I don't get it. But, I'll be in court everyday."    

Los Angeles City Council member Bernard Parks, the former LAPD Chief of Police, said their arrests should provide some comfort to the family, but won't stop the pain.

"There is never closure when you lose a loved one," said Parks, who has known Tavin's family since the 1960s. Parks noted that near the same car wash where Tavin was shot, LAPD police officer Daniel Pratt was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 3, 1988. (Kirkton Phanor Moore, now 54, was convicted of the murder in 1990 and is serving life at Kern Valley State Prison.) 

After the press conference, at the  Inglewood Park Cemetery where Price was buried last Saturday, family and friends gathered at his grave site. Tavin's brother James clowned around, getting laughs for his impersonation of Tavin walking when he was upset. 

The grave was surrounded by a white picket fence.  

"Tavin loved white picket fences," his mother said as she looked on from afar. "We used to have one when we lived on the Eastside. Now, Tavin has his own."

$50,000 Reward For the Killers of Tavin Price, Man Shot at Car Wash in Front Of Mom

Of all the posts on this site, none have garnered more page views than the story about recent killing of Tavin Price, the 19-year-old mentally handicapped, 4-foot, 10-inch, 100-pound man shot to death by gang members in front of his mother at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

His last words, "Mommy, I don't want to die", made this already-maddening story incomprehensible. Even the hardest gang members in Los Angeles were disgusted by this killing.

Today,  Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard C. Parks introduced a $50,000 reward motion to help solve the death of Tavin Terrell Price.  The reward motion is expected to be officially heard and voted on at the Wednesday, June 24 Council meeting. The reward is for information leading to arrest and conviction. 

"Hopefully the money will, with the grace of god, help get someone to come forward so they can catch the people who killed my son," said Tavin's mother, Jennifer Rivers. 

On May 29, at 11 a.m, Price was at the Five Minute Car Wash, located at 3312 West Florence Avenue, with his mother and a family friend. Price walked about 25 feet away to the adjoining smoke shop and was confronted by "Suspect-1" over gang affiliation.  The suspect made comments about Price's "red Chucks", his Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers.  Price did not reply and returned to his mother's vehicle. "Suspect 2" walked up behind Price and fired multiple times striking Price in his torso

A 27-year-old woman, Antheyst Jarrett was arrested shortly after and charged with accessory to the murder of Price as well as two counts of witness intimidation. She is being hel ind the county jail facility in Lynwood on $500,000 bail. She is expected in court tomorrow, June 18.  

Anyone with information is urged to call Detectives Eric Crosson or Fernando Cuevas the Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100 or (323) 786-5113.

To read more on the death of Tavin Price check these links.

http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/1/son-dies-in-his-mothers-arms-after-being-shot-at-car-wash-on-crenshaw-and-florence

http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/11/4vfs7n6zmv7g036k8lrjivb5x6f20

Tavin Prce

Carl Betts Remembered as "Cornerstone of his family" as 1,000 Pay Tribute

More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday morning to pay tribute to Carl Sebastian Betts at the Bethel A.M.E. Church on Western Avenue, recalling him as a "cornerstone of his family" and "a friend who was always there when you needed him."

Betts, 51, was shot to death on the night of May 31st on St. Andrews Place and 85th Street by some lost soul who asked him those three notorious words "Where you from?"

The accurate answer to that question from Carl would have been Florence, Arizona, and - if he got particular - to James and Barbara Betts on June 29, 1963. His large family moved to South Los Angeles and he attended La Salle Avenue Elementary, Brette Harte Middle School and Washington and Gardena high schools.

Betts married the love of his life, Jessa Weaver, in 1992 and was a father to eight and a grandfather to nine. 

"Carl was the cornerstone of his family, a man who made other people feel good about themselves," said Kevin "Twin" Orange who had known Betts for nearly 40 years. "He was all about family."

Several of the mourners talked of Betts love of sports and his nearly fanatical love of the Dallas Cowboys. Several men attending the funeral wore Cowboys jerseys.

"Somehow, even if the conversation wasn't about sports, Carl would find a way to bring up the Dallas Cowboys," said one man.  

On his last night on earth, Betts visited his mother Barbara, gave her a gift, told her he loved her, and went out to get some food with two friends. By 10:30, he was dead.,Detectives have surmised Bett's assailants may have thought he was "from" Eight Trey Gangster Crips, the gang that has dominated that Manchester Square neighborhood for decades.

Wednesday around 12:30 p.m.,  an Eight Trey Gangster known as "G Witit" was shot to death by the liquor store on 88th Street and Vermont Avenue. 

And, as Betts was being eulogized, so too was Tavin Price,  the intellectually disabled 19-year-old who was shot to death in front of his mother at the car wash on Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. To read more on Price check here - http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2015/6/11/4vfs7n6zmv7g036k8lrjivb5x6f20t  

Twin, speaking from the church podium, passionately urged the crowd to get involved with ending the gang violence.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves because we are creating a genocide. We have become expert marksmen on each other, We need to stop this and make our neighborhood a community like we had in the '70s."

After the funeral, on Vermont Avenue and 88th Street, Raymond Lockett slowly shook his head as he spoke of his old friend Betts who had the nickname "Straw Dog". 

"Man, Straw Dog was good people. And they killed him for nothing."  

carl betts was loved by a whole lotta people.

Family Marches For Tavin Price, "Intellectual Disabled" 19-Year-Old Killed in Front of his Mother by "Biggest Coward"

"A man got to have a code" - Omar Little

The adult gang member who shot Tavin Price, had no code. If he did, he wouldn't have shot a 4-foot, 10 inch, 100-pound,  19-year-old intellectually disabled man in front of his mother.  But, this man - now wanted methodically by the police, wanted revengefully by some members from his own set and wanted most passionately by the heartbroken mother - did just that to Price two weeks ago at a car wash on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

Street sources say the shooter was urged to kill Tavin by another gang member who had lost a fist fight (aka "fade") to a family member of Price's a month or so ago. Using Price's red sneakers as a pretext, the instigator told his accomplice that Price was from a local rival gang, sources said.  The two, said to be affiliated with the Rollin' 60s, demanded the "red Chucks" ( Chuck Taylor Converse tennis shoes) and when the confused Price headed to his mom who was cleaning her car, he was shot at least three times. 

"Mommy, I don't want to die," were his last words.

Tavin's mother, Jennifer Rivers said "The coward who killed my son disrespected every mother in the world."

Condemnation for the attack was universal on the streets, too  Here is a smattering of comments. 

"In front of his moms?!"

"Boy, was like four feet something, Couldn't he go toe-to toe with him? Coward." 

"Why the coward have to shoot him? And in front of his mother? Man, sock him, if you got to, He had to be the biggest coward."

"It's an embarrassment for the Sixties, if he really from Sixties."

"Someone that small and you got to put heat on him? That's some cowardly shit. A fuckin' embarrassment."

Last week, some Rollin' 60s, who the LAPD say have 1,200 members, expressed their sympathies to the family.

"Some of the guys from 60s, they knew Tavin and they said this was a totally senseless killing," said Tavin's sisters Runisha. "Tavin was stylish and walked around he neighborhood, but he wouldn't hurt a flea. Everyone around here knew that."

Sister Runisha thought about the person who killed him. 

"Whoever shot my brother if he was trying to get some brownie points for his gang, instead, he lost his entire soul." 

Meanwhile, the family and friends of Tavin, after hosting a viewing of his body,  marched in his memory down Crenshaw to the site of his killing in front of the Express Car Wash on Florence.

There were about 60 people along the march. There were no so-called national black leaders there. There was no national media. CNN and Wolf Blitzer didn't have 'man on the street" reporters there. There wasn't even any local media there.  The mayor wasn't there. Tavin Price wasn't much in the way of news. Just a short, mentally-handicapped,  young black man gunned down by another black man. 

Everybody, black and white,  gets all up in arms and marches in unity when a cop kills a black man. But, it appears it's okay with everybody - everybody except the family and friends of the victim, everybody except the homicide detectives  - when people kill their own.   

Funeral service for Tavin Price will be held Saturday, June 13 at 1 p..m at Angelus Funeral Home at 3875 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif, 90008.

If anyone would like to help the family with the burial costs, check this site  - http://www.gofundme.com/w3u5ag

Anyone with information on the homicide can call Det. Eric Crosson of LAPD's Crinimal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100.