Leo Land Looking Up

Zak Ols defeated Jose Hernandez in his pro MMA debut fight at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello, Calif., on February 9.  La Verne locals recall Zak, a 2003 Bonita graduate, sacking quarterbacks and slamming baseballs for the Bearcat varsity. Once we track down the promising mixed martial artist, you’ll learn more about Zak’s life inside and outside the octagon…  In Leo Land, aka the University of La Verne, you can pick up a terrific magazine called the “Voice.” Its current cover story features ULV Professor Dr. Ahmed Ispahani, former economic advisor to both the Shaw of Iran and his cousin, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December 2007… Keep turning the pages and you’ll discover another fascinating profile on PJ Butta, aka Joeseph Paul Kilanski, an international music mogul who boogied his way to the top, from KULV, the campus radio station, to “The Beat,” a popular SoCal FM stop where he deejayed for a dozen years. On his success, he said it was easy as floating down the NILE (Networking, Internships, Luck and Experience)…Talk about well connected, La Verne City Manager Marty Lomeli is a University of La Verne graduate, as are La Verne Council member Donna Nasmyth and La Verne Council candidate Robin Carder who are also both employed by the University. Conclusion: If you want to launch your political career, ULV is a pretty good place to start…Last add ULV: Its new Abraham Campus Center is rapidly rising and scheduled to open this summer. On the structure’s west end, you’ll be able to nosh on great food at Barbara’s Place, named for Barbara Harris, wife of Board Chairman Benjamin Harris…La Verne Burger Wars? There is no law prohibiting one from eating at In ‘n’ Out, The Habit, McDonald’s, Carl Jr.’s on the same day!!! My sweet Lord. In its early history La Verne was known as Lordsburg, not because it was a religious site or shrine, but because its founder was Isaac W. Lord, a Los Angeles businessman and speculator. With a nod toward secularism and its citrus culture, residents tried to change the name of the Lordsburg community to La Verne in 1912. The naming  switch-a-roo was unsuccessful, however, until Lord died in 1917. Moral of the story: If you want your name to live on, don’t die or bequeath a large enough legacy to your beneficiaries, a hospital or educational institution perhaps, so your name might be chiseled in granite somewhere.