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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

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Have Gun, Will Travel Burbank Airport officials did a double take when they heard Winner/Wagner & Associates was a finalist in the competition for a $1.7 million contract to promote the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport. An airport official said it is “curious” that the Encino-based public relations firm would want the job. Why? Because Winner/Wagner for the last two years has been helping the city of Burbank fight plans to expand Burbank Airport. Winner/Wagner President Chuck Winner said it’s not curious at all. The firm and its client, the city of Burbank, are not opposed to Burbank Airport’s expansion as long as it is “reasonable.” But working of both sides of the issue doesn’t end there. Washington, D.C.-based law firm Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which has worked for the city of Burbank for three years to fight airport expansion, has been simultaneously working for LAX on its expansion. Meanwhile, the lawyer who represents the Burbank Airport in its expansion efforts is also working for the city of St. Charles, Mo., fighting a proposed expansion of the St. Louis Airport. None of that surprises Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tim Pile. “There’s money to be made through airport consulting and legal work, let me tell you,” he said. Leaving Developers Cold Plans by Pierce College to turn its 240-acre Woodland Hills farm property into a biomedical campus, a golf course or some other venture are not exactly off to a smashing start. The college invited prospective bidders to the campus Oct. 27 for a tour of the property and a chance to get their questions answered. But when a dozen developers and architects showed up, some coming from as far away as San Diego County, top-ranking college officials weren’t around. The angry bidders were instead left to deal with a couple of Los Angeles Community College District administrators who hosted the meeting, but couldn’t or wouldn’t answer any questions. The bidders were further miffed when the district administrators said they knew nothing of a tour, even though it was mentioned on the district’s own request for proposals that went out to potential bidders. Entrepreneurial Partier Elisa Kotin has been hanging out at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys for more than 10 years. Now she’s hoping to turn her favorite leisure-time pursuit into a vocation. Since January, Kotin has staged four singles parties at the hotel, most recently a costume bash for Halloween, using a mailing list she first began to compile by visiting chat rooms on America Online. Since then, she has branched out to promoting her parties to members of Matchmaker, an online singles dating service, and she has built a mailing list of 1,000 people. Her first party drew about 100 people and attendance has since climbed to 175, with some revelers flying in from San Francisco and Arizona. “I started for selfish reasons,” says Kotin. “I wanted a place where people could go and meet.” For New Year’s Eve, she plans to reserve the ballroom. “I’ll guarantee the hotel 250 people, so I can make some money,” she said. So what’s Kotin AOL screen name? Boogiqueen. Newfangled Forget-Me-Not Tired of forgetting your credit cards at gas stations and restaurants? A Westlake Village company called Kopel Inc. may have the perfect solution with its “Beeping Wallet.” The wallet makes a beeping sound every 20 seconds after a card is extracted and only shuts up when the card is put back. Company President David Kopel, an aerospace engineer by trade, came up with the idea of the beeping wallet after his wife lost a credit card. “After extensive research, development and testing, Kopel designed the wallet to withstand extreme temperatures and pressure conditions,” according to a press release. The wallet is powered by a standard watch battery and uses a small microchip. It comes in four styles for men and six styles for women and is sold in specialty clothing stores. Next up for the company: beeping purses, says a Kopel spokesman.

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