By Laura ColemanBeverly Hills Robinson Gardens'

Superintendent Timothy Lindsay startedout this New Year’s Day morning brightand early in order to serve as one ofthree float judges for the televised 127thTournament of Roses Parade, ‘Find YourAdventure.’

“Attending the parade on New Year’sDay has always been my family’s favoriteway to start the year,” Lindsayexclaimed. “This year, I am delighted toparticipate in the long-held tradition. Wewill judge 44 floats and present 23awards.”

Together with judges Tom Bowlingand Jodie Petersen, who like Lindsaywere culled from a pool of applicantsacross the nation, the team spent thepast two days judging the floats based oncriteria including creative design, floralcraftsmanship, artistic merit, computer-ized animation, thematic interpretation,floral and color presentation, and dra-matic impact.

The judges used iPads and softwaredeveloped by staff at the NASA JetPropulsion Laboratory in Pasadena inorder to sort out the categories anddeliberations to determine the winnersfor this year’s annual Pasadena parade.Tournament of Roses President Mike

Matthiessen was poised to announce thewinners this morning at 6 a.m. on thefront steps of the Wrigley Mansion, as ofpress time.

“These floral masterpieces aredesigned, built, and decorated by dedi-cated teams who put incredible effortinto perfecting their fantastic floats,”Matthiessen said.

“The Tournament of Roses paradepersonifies all that’s good aboutAmerica,” added Lindsay.

BEVERLY HILLS MAIN NEWS

BEVERLY HILLS COURIER | JANUARY 1, 2016Page 4

HERE!

Beverly Hills Families Prepare 1,200Meals For Homeless At Horace Mann By Laura Coleman

The Beverly Hills community cameout in droves on Christmas Eve morningto participate in the Feed the Hungryevent at Horace Mann School, which isheld every year on Dec. 24.

Over the course of two hours,Beverly Hills students, parents, teachersand community members joined togeth-er to prepare over 1,200 sack lunches forthe homeless in a joyful environmentwhere everyone worked together seam-lessly.

“This festive event is hosted by the

Horace Mann PTA and is a wonderfulway to help our larger community and tohelp our children experience communi-ty and compassionate giving,” said ChrisHertz, Director of Student Services andSpecial Projects for the Beverly HillsUnified School District.

The sack lunches were donated onChristmas Day to the West HollywoodFood Coalition, My Friend's Place andthe Covenant House. The event wassponsored by PTA Council withPavilion's Beverly Hills donating breadand Bombay Palace providing oranges.

Virginia Robinson GardensSuperintendent Tim Lindsay To Judge127th Rose Parade

Tim Lindsay

ADL GALA –The Anti-Defamation League annual gala at The Beverly Hilton raised morethan $850,000. Pictured (from left): honorees Jeffrey Gross and Gina Raphael of BeverlyHills; ADL CEO/National Director Jonathan A. Greenblatt; event co-chairs Stephanie andHoward Sherwood, also Beverly Hills residents; ADL’s Regional Director AmandaSusskind and Regional Board Chair Eric Kingsley. Christopher A. Murphy was anotherhonoree. Honorary Dinner Co-Chairs were Lynn and Les Bider along with Terri andClayton S. Friedman. Photo by Michael Kovac

Beverly Hills Attorney Fred Silberberg AtForefront Of Family LawBy Laura Coleman

In 2016, one of the hottest legal ar-eas may well be in family planning. Ac-cording to Beverly Hills attorney FredSilberberg, “most family lawyers knownothing” when it comes to the newmedical frontier in family planning,namely assisted reproductive technolo-gy.

Likewise, case history is painfullythin. In fact, in order for Silberberg towin his latest high-profile case forclient Sofia Vergara, which is scheduledto be heard in August, Silberberg willhave to reinterpret the Uniform Parent-age Act in a way that conflicts with howhe previously interpreted the law towin a case for client, Jason Patric.

In that case, Silberberg fought forPatric to maintain his ability to co-par-ent his two-year-old son, who was con-ceived through in vitro fertilization, af-ter Patric’s onetime fiance used the lawto allege that he was simply a sperm-donor.

Silberberg took the case on after a

trial court denied Patric’s bid for visita-tion rights after his ex-girlfriend’s attor-ney cited Family Code Section 7613 (b)to deny him parental standing. Silber-berg successfully argued that Patric hada right to claim paternity because theactor had established a relationshipwith the child.

“It was disturbing,” said Silberberg,who has specialized in Family Law foralmost three decades. “Jason had a re-lationship with his son [and the] kidknew him to be the father.”

Silberberg characterized the caseas ground-breaking.

“Nobody believed at that time that

(see ‘SILBERBERG’ page 12)

Fred Silberberg

Beverly Hills parents Emily Wolf, Tina Wiener, Archna Tuli, Lobat Zargar, MinaZargar and Anna German.

Adopt one of these pets and receive a free month of food from Freshpet!

NEW YEAR’S DOG–Glenn is a 4-year-old, 6-pound Yorkie mix pup.Volunteers at the rescue only pet storeShelterHopePetShop.org say he issweet as can be and barks like a duck.Those interested in giving a new life tothis lovable, little guy this New Yearmay contact Shelter Hope at 805-379-3538.

Mojo is a 9-month-oldboxer/mastiff mix, 60pounds.

The above four dogs are available through Wags and Walks,a West LA Rescue. To adopt visit http://www.wagsand-walks.org/adoption-application/

Jefferson is a 3-year-old spanielmix, 16 pounds.

Butterfly is a 2-year-oldpitbull, 52 pounds.

Iggy is a 3-year-oldshepherd/chow mix, 40 pounds

Page 12 | January 1, 2016 BEVERLY HILLS

We File &PublishDBA’s

• • • • •Please Call310.278.1322

a busy post office and theywanted to be of assistance totheir customers. What a con-cept! Beverly Hills could learna thing or two. I am old enoughto remember when it was theold post office and that wastheir attitude too, but certainlyno longer.”

We asked our corporatecommunications representativefor the USPS. He responded:

“Post offices were openChristmas Eve, Thursday, Dec.24, but many were authorizedby the Los Angeles District toshorten retail lobby hours andclose at noon. Regular maildelivery was unaffected by thechange. Revised hours wereposted in advance at each postoffice adjusting hours. This wasa national holiday policy basedon previous years’ demand forretail service on this day.

All post offices were closedon Dec. 25 and there was noregular mail delivery. OnlyPriority Mail Express was deliv-ered that day. All post officeswere open and regular maildelivery resumed Dec. 26.”

The early Christmas Eveclosure coincides with whatpolice say is an ongoing City-wide concern about mail theft,which was detailed by one res-ident who wrote to The Courierthis week to detail her unfortu-nate incident.

“Just found destroyed mailby the side of the house. Tornenvelopes with addresses to CC[Editors note: CC means creditcard] companies and nochecks. Police came out. This iswhat the police said: what thethieves do is put a sticky rattrapdown the mailboxes with astring and pull out the mail!The police said to only mail atthe post uffice! This has been abig problem in BH.”

Only mailing at the postoffice is one thing, but whenthey close early, what are resi-dents to do?

BHPD Sgt. Kurt Haefs toldThe Courier that mail theft hasbecome an ongoing issue inBeverly Hills that the police arehard at work trying to tackle.

“We catch them often anddo make arrests quite often onit,” Haefs said, noting the thiefsuse fly paper tied to the end ofa string to grab the mail andpull it out of the mail box.

“I would suggest grabbingyour mail quickly,” Haefsadded as advice to residentswho have mail delivered totheir home. “Don’t let it sitthere for days and days insideyour mail box.”

USPS’ communicationsrepresentative responded:

“Reports of mail theft fromcollection boxes escalated allover Southern California duringthe holidays, as thieves hopedto steal gift cards and other

valuables in letters and cards.“Postal managers immedi-

ately report occurrences assoon as detected or shared bymembers of the public to theU.S. Postal Inspection Service,and also to USPS field mainte-nance to clean the box of theglue. Letter carriers can report acollection box problem viatheir scanner device while ontheir route.

“USPS is responding to thisproblem by modifying collec-tion boxes. Field Maintenanceis in the process of removingthe drop-down door on bluecollection boxes and replacingit with a single slot with an anti-theft downward-angled shootinside. With thousands of col-lection boxes in the LA area,they are responding to inci-dents as quickly as possible. Ofcourse, when we do modifyboxes, we get a lot of customercomplaints that it is hard andinconvenient to put one letterin at a time and the anti-thefttheft device inside makesinserting rigid articles difficult.The price we pay for security.(I’m pretty sure some modifica-tions have taken place inBeverly Hills as one of the cus-tomer complaints you forward-ed a while back had to do withcollection boxes and the diffi-culty this customer had insert-ing her mail.

Theft prevention tips:Most collection box tam-

pering and theft occurs undercover of darkness. USPS advis-es to place mail in blue collec-tion boxes BEFORE final sched-uled pick up of that SAME DAY.Do not allow mail to sit overnight or over the weekend. Donot use a collection box thathas a sticky substance on it. Bealert and check a collectionbox for glue or other devicesthat indicate it may have beentampered with before placingmail in it. Immediately reportany suspicious activity topolice.”

With a unique quasi-gov-ernment status, the USPS islegally defined as “an inde-pendent establishment of theexecutive branch of the govern-ment of the United States.” AConstitutional office, the USPShas a legal monopoly on FirstClass mail delivery and thus, alegal obligation to provideservice, the Universal ServiceObligation (USO).

We also received thisemail:

“I’m incredulous as to whyBeverly Hills has such a terribleongoing mail delivery prob-lem… Mail seems to comebetween 3 and 7 p.m., somedays nothing. I’d heard of com-plaints about mail being stuffedhalfway down mail slots. Nowthat’s happening to us –with damage to our mailboxcover! The deliverer kept tryingto put so much through the

(sturdy cast iron!) mail slot thata hinge broke! Now not onlydo we all have to put up withpoor delivery but also damageto our mailboxes and filingclaims to fix them! …Thephone number that I have pre-viously called the PostmasterKoala Fuller at does notanswer, ringing until it discon-nects itself. I can’t imaginewhat is going on at the USPSbut it must be handled! Wemust need a new Postmaster.”

Our postal representativeresponded that yet again, thephones were not working. “…The phone lines at the BH PostOffice are out of service. It wasdiscovered calls were not com-ing in or going to voice mail onDec. 24. It has been reported toour provider and I will alertyou when it is restored.”

Oddly, this has been thecase most of the last sixmonths, and actually, it strainscredibility.

Another resident reportedthat she had not received mailThursday. The USPS reports thatall the mail was reported deliv-ered on Christmas Eve. Thattoo, strains credibility withsuch a poor track record. Lastweek, The Courier found unde-livered First Class mail, to vari-ous addresses, in our buildingfoyer.

POST OFFICE(Continued from page 1)

“I thought every parent hadto make the decision for them-selves,” Jackson said.

On Dec. 8, 2015, the verysame night that a new Board ofEducation was sworn in to servethe community, and less than amonth after the deadly terroristattack in Paris on Nov. 13 killed130 people, a group of parentsmet with Jackson to discuss ifthe students should even beallowed to go on the trip.

Jackson underscored thatthe trip was “done privately”and “not a school event.”

“Parents make choices con-cerning their children each andeveryday, this is just one morechoice they will have to make,”Board of Education PresidentHoward Goldstein said at theDec. 10, 2015 board meeting.

Since marching in the

LNYDP 2013 parade, the bandhas marched at Disneyland, theHollywood Christmas Parade,the San Fernando Veteran’s DayParade and down Rodeo Drivein Beverly Hills.

“I’m hoping the kids have agood time and return homesafely...to class on Monday,January 4,” Jackson said.

As part of the week-longtrip abroad, which began Dec.27, the 80 BHHS students inattendance have visited a vari-ety of spots across London, inaddition to Windsor Castle.

For information on theparade, visit:http://www.lnydp.com. To seefootage of the BHHS MarchingBand performing in the paradein 2013, visit: http://bhcouri-e r.com/bever ly -h i l l s -h igh-school-band-marches-london-parade.

BHHS BAND(Continued from page 1)

you could become the father ifyou donated sperm,” he said.

In the case of Modern Fam-ily star Vergara, who wants tokeep frozen two female em-bryos she created with formerfiance Nick Loeb, Silberbergwill argue that Loeb doesn’thave a unilateral right to bringthe embryos to term.

According to an agreementsigned by both Vergara andLoeb when the embryos werecreated in 2013, one year be-fore the two split: “No unilater-al action can be taken with re-gard to the embryos unlessboth parties consent.”

In November, Vergara mar-ried Joe Manganiello and hassaid she does not wish to havethe embryos she created withLoeb implanted in a surrogate.

In April, Loeb authored a

New York Times editorial enti-tled: “Sofía Vergara’s Ex-Fiancé:Our Frozen Embryos Have aRight to Live” advocating thathe be allowed to have the em-bryos in order to bring “thegirls to term and raise them.”

Loeb, who offered to haveVergara declared an “eggdonor” if she doesn’t want toshare custody wrote: “Wesigned a form stating that anyembryos created through theprocess could be brought toterm only with both parties’consent. The form did not spec-ify — as California law requires— what would happen if weseparated. I am asking to haveit voided.”

While the case may justcome down to a straight-for-ward contract dispute, Loeb’sargument that consent formsaren’t binding underscores justhow important it is that patients

at reproductive clinics under-stand that consent forms are in-tended to protect the clinic, notthe patients, Silberberg said.

In the editorial, Loebqueries: “A woman is entitledto bring a pregnancy to termeven if the man objects.Shouldn’t a man who is willingto take on all parental responsi-bilities be similarly entitled tobring his embryos to term evenif the woman objects?”

Silberberg says no. At the heart of Roe v.

Wade, the landmark decisionby the U.S Supreme Court onthe issue of abortion, is that thewoman gets to make the deter-mination about her body; shehas a right to choose to carry achild to term.

“A person cannot unilater-ally get custody in writing - un-less both agree,” Silberbergsaid.

SILBERBERG(Continued from page 4)