Valley Talk

The Big Sleep Don’t give up hope if earplugs and nudging and loud coughing have done little in the battle against your loudly snoring partner. Now you can take revenge. Through the month of May, the Sleep Disorders Center at Glendale Adventist Medical Center is staging a snoring contest. Partners desperate for a good night’s sleep can submit an audio or videotape of the boisterous snoozer in action, with the loudest subject winning a free sleep and snoring evaluation package, including a consultation with a physician and an all-night sleep study at the hospital. Just how big a health problem is snoring? “It can be a sign of sleep apnea, which occurs in up to 10 percent of the population and can be a serious condition,” said Kathy Calvander, coordinator of the sleep disorders center. “Your blood oxygen drops as you gasp for air and that lack of oxygen can cause stress on your body parts.” All Things Considered Long considered L.A.’s outback stepchildren, the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster have reached a new milestone on their way to big-city sophistication. The sound of public radio began blasting through the Antelope Valley this month for the first time ever. In fact, officials at KCRW-FM 89.9 said the area already boasts the station’s second largest audience, behind the L.A. metro area. The reception has been made possible by a powerful new transmitter costing $160,000 erected in the town of Mojave that will serve north L.A. and Kern counties. Station officials said they decided to target the area after discovering there were already 402 subscribers in that area, and after receiving more than 100 letters supporting increased signal power. (Listeners had been able to tune in occasionally when winds didn’t disrupt the L.A. signal or affect the small antenna that had been operating in the area.) “We definitely wanted to make sure we had an audience there first,” chief engineer Steve Herbert said. “It made a lot of sense for us to do this.” Paradise Lost In the ’60s, Joni Mitchell protested the trend to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. You can tell it’s a new millennium when folks start asking for their parking lot back. That’s the case in Westlake Village, where a couple of neighborhood residents have been ferociously complaining about a farmers market that occupies the parking lot of a nearby strip mall. Jennifer McColm launched the Westlake Village Farmers Market at Landing in November, to the glee of most neighborhood residents. But several neighbors who reside just behind the strip center have been complaining ever since. McColm moved the stalls to the farthest end of the parking lot, and she told the vendors not to arrive until 9 a.m. to try and appease the unhappy neighbors. She even brought one naysayer flowers from the market as a kind of peace gesture, but to no avail. “They think it looks like a circus in their backyard,” McColm said. “My comment was, ‘As opposed to a parking lot?'” Relative Value Sometimes it’s impossible to figure out what’s really valuable in Hollywood. Just consider events at a recent fund-raiser held by Nancy Davis, daughter of financier Marvin Davis, that raised $2.5 million for multiple sclerosis research. At one point during the soiree, guests were invited to bid on a number of high-ticket items, including an Andy Warhol print featuring Rolling Stone Mick Jagger that was signed by both the artist and the singer. The work, which had been owned by designer Tommy Hilfiger, was gaveled at $7,500, a bargain for something that had been described as priceless. But the bidding became even more furious when a golden retriever puppy was put on the auction block. It went for a whopping $10,500. “Guess it’s a dog’s life,” quipped one bidder. Party Central During this summer’s Democratic National Convention, all sorts of parties will be going on throughout L.A. And one of those planned events has already generated political heat. Hispanic Unity U.S.A., a bipartisan political organization chaired by Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Orange County, is planning to hold a party at Playboy Mansion West. There’s nothing new about political events at the mansion, especially those featuring prominent Democrats. But this time, Republicans eager to play the family values card have come down hard on the choice of that venue. “There are dozens of more fitting venues that better highlight the pride, accomplishments and spirit of the Latino community than Hugh Hefner’s palace in Hollywood,” said California Republican Party Chairman John McGraw. Countered Sanchez spokeswoman Sarah Anderson: “The Playboy Mansion is a high-profile venue that will highlight the goal of registering and educating Latino voters.