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Sunnylands. LA Observed photo.
President Obama is headed to the Bay Area today and will be in the Los Angeles area Thursday for Democratic Party fundraisers and an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." He will spend the night somewhere here then head out Friday to the desert for a gathering of Asian leaders at Sunnylands, the former Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage.
Traffic guidance from the LAPD has yet to be released, but the fundraisers that Obama is attending are in the Hancock Park area. The military aircraft that precede a presidential visit did their flyover on Tuesday — one observer said they were Ospreys and that they kicked up a lot of dust in the vicinity of Los Angeles High School. That landing location makes some sense given the Hancock Park destination.
The first fundraiser is hosted by "Scorpion" executive producer Danny Rose and entertainment lawyer Aaron Rosenberg and will feature a performance by John Legend. Tickets start at $1,000 per person, and rise to $33,400 per couple, with the money going to the Democratic Hope Fund and to help retire debt from the 2012 Obama campaign. A second fundraiser is a small $10,000 dinner nearby co-hosted by Leah and Sam Fisher, Lisa and Ken Solomon and Sonny and Michael Lombardo, per reports.
Ellen's show tapes at Warner Bros. in Burbank, so figure the traffic impact of this latest Obamajam-creating fundraising visit won't be limited to Hancock Park. No word on where Obama is staying the night.
* Update: Our observer was right about Los Angeles High School. The campus will close at 3 p.m. on Thursday, presumably for Obama security. Here's what the LAPD and other officials are advising on streets and areas to avoid:
Thursday Mid-City:
* Los Angeles High School will close at 3 p.m., and South Rimpau
Boulevard will be closed between Edgewood Place and Olympic Boulevard from
about 3 to 4 p.m.
* Rimpau Boulevard between Pico Boulevard and West 6th Street, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Thursday Burbank:
* Hollywood Way from Forest Lawn Drive up to San Fernando Road, 3:15 to 6:15 p.m. And Olive Avenue between North Pass Avenue and Hollywood Way.
Thursday Hancock Park and Windsor Square:
* Wilshire Boulevard between Hudson Avenue and Arden Boulevard, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
* West 4th Street between Muirfield Road and Lorraine Boulevard, 7:15 to 8:45 p.m.
* South Rossmore Avenue between West 3rd Street and Wilshire Boulevard, 5 to 8 p.m.
* West 6th Street between South Muirfield Road and South Arden Boulevard, 5 to 8 p.m.
* South Windsor Boulevard between West 2nd Street and West 5th Street, and West 3rd Street between Plymouth and Lorraine boulevards, 7:30 to 10 p.m.
* Crenshaw Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and West Adams Boulevard, 8:45 to 10:30 p.m.
Thursday and Friday Westwood:
* Wilshire Boulevard between the 405 Freeway and Malcom Avenue, 8:45 to 10:30 p.m.
* Hilgard Avenue between Weyburn and Le Conte, from 10 p.m. Thursday through 10 a.m. Friday.
* Wilshire Boulevard between Westwood Village and the 405 Freeway, 9:30 to 11 a.m. Friday.
* South Bundy Drive between Ocean Park Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway,
9:30 to 11 a.m. Friday.
Note that eight-minute closures are anticipated on Sepulveda Boulevard between Lincoln and Century boulevards, that's at LAX, between about 2:30 to 4 p.m. Thursday and 9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday.
All times are approximate, and plans can change at any moment.
