In honor of her decades of community service and upcoming retirement, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved renaming Admiralty Park in Marina del Rey as Yvonne B. Burke Park.

The name change, proposed by Supervisor Don Knabe, honors Supervisor Burke’s 16 years of service representing the Second District. In his proposal, Supervisor Knabe also cited Supervisor Burke’s many firsts, including becoming the first African-American elected to the Board, and devoting her entire professional life to public service, whether as an elected official, an attorney, or as an official of the U.S. Olympics Organizing Committee.

Today’s motion is actually the second proposal to name Admiralty Park after Supervisor Burke. During her original appointment to the Board of Supervisors in 1979, representing the Fourth District, she was instrumental in advancing the development of a park running along Admiralty Way in Marina del Rey. With park construction completed just after she left office the first time, the Board of Supervisors approved naming it the Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Park.

However, soon after, a recommendation was made to honor her service by renaming of the Health Services’ West District office to the Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Health Center. Determining that this was a more fitting tribute to Supervisor Burke due to her interest and work in the health field, the Board of Supervisors adopted this subsequent recommendation and rescinded its earlier order, instead naming the Marina del Rey Park as Admiralty Park.

Supervisor Burke has a deep personal attachment and commitment to Marina del Rey dating back nearly 30 years, said Supervisor Knabe. I am proud to honor my colleague and my friend by finally and permanently renaming this park with the name it should rightfully have.

A photo gallery featuring dramatic scenic shots of Los Angeles County is officially open at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. The exhibit was formally unveiled recently at a brief ceremony conducted by Supervisor Don Knabe.

The photos by local photographer Stephen Coleman are in the hallway of the Third Floor of the county government headquarters, located at 500 West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles. The gallery, which is the first of its kind at the Hall of Administration, is planned to be a permanent exhibit of local works highlighting the County. Coleman has agreed to loan 22 photos to the County for a year. The photos include ocean, desert, mountain and city scenes.

The gallery was created at the suggestion of Supervisor Knabe, who met Coleman as a television news cameraman and was impressed with his photographs. Stephen’s work is stunning and captures the beauty and diversity of our great county. The composition, colors, and angles of the photos are just incredible, said Supervisor Knabe.

Coleman said his love of photography began in high school when a teacher loaned him a camera. I fell in love with the joy of experiencing the world and capturing the world’s beauty and essence through the art of photography.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe released the following statement tonight on the newest member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors who will be representing the Second District:

I would like to personally congratulate Supervisor-Elect Mark Ridley-Thomas on his election victory. I look forward to working with him closely in the years ahead. Mark has a long record of working to bring people in communities together to improve services, and I am confident he will bring these strengths to the Board of Supervisors.

I also want to congratulate Councilman Bernard Parks on running an excellent campaign. He is a friend and colleague, who I’ve had the privilege of working with the last several years on the Coliseum Commission and the MTA. I look forward to our continued working relationship on both agencies. With the death of Councilman Parks’ father last month, this has been a difficult time for the Parks family and I continue to have them in my thoughts and prayers.

This is also a bittersweet moment, in that we are saying goodbye to a long-time friend and colleague, Supervisor Yvonne Burke. Her retirement is an enormous loss for the Board of Supervisors and the County of Los Angeles, but we will continue to draw inspiration from her service and her example.

– Supervisor Don Knabe

County of Los Angeles, Fourth District

As fake check scams proliferate and get more sophisticated in nature, more and more unsuspecting consumers are losing thousands of dollars to this financially harmful scam. A current scam targeting seniors across Southern California uses fake checks that appear to be from the County of Los Angeles to lure victims into wiring money to thieves in Canada.

One vigilant consumer asked the Los Angeles County Department of the Auditor-Controller to verify the legitimacy of a County check he received. Auditor-Controller staff determined that the check was counterfeit. Further investigation discovered the existence of an elaborate fake check scam.

Here is how the scam works. The victim, usually a senior citizen, receives an official-looking final notice claiming to be from Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. The notice tells the victim that he won a lottery prize, and urges him to call immediately to claim his winnings. When the victim calls, the official tells him that he has to pay a customs fee. To reassure the victim, the thief offers to mail him a check, and asks him to deposit the check in his bank account and wire the funds back to claim his prize.

The victim then receives a check that looks like it was issued by the County of Los Angeles. Convinced this is the real thing, the victim deposits the check and wires the money via MoneyGram to British Columbia, Canada. Days later, the victim’s bank tells him that the check bounced and he needs to pay the money. The victim, of course, never gets the prize.

Los Angeles County officials say that fake check scams are on the rise. Recent surveys show that fake check scams rank on the top five consumer scams, said Pastor Herrera, Jr., Director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs. Consumers must protect themselves against these scams because once they wire money to thieves it is virtually impossible to get it back.

Tips for consumers to spot and avoid fake check scams:

– Never wire money to strangers. There is no reason for someone to pay you by check and ask you to wire back some of the money.

– Fake checks look real. Even some bank tellers are fooled by some fake checks. However, just because the bank accepts the fake check and releases the funds, it doesn’t mean the check is good. It can take weeks for the bank to find out and tell you that the check is bad.

– You are responsible for fake checks you deposit. When a fake check bounces, the bank will deduct money from your account or even sue you to recover the funds. If you deposit a check you know is fake, you can be prosecuted.

– It is very hard to get your money back. Thieves often live in other countries out of the reach of U.S. authorities. Your best protection is not to send them money no matter what they promise you.

– If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Don’t believe promises that you won a lottery or drawing you never entered.

Victims and people who need information on fake check scams can call the Department of Consumer Affairs at (800) 593-8222 or visit their website at http://dca.lacounty.gov