Westside : Eviction Notice Takes Psychics by Surprise
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After nearly 40 years of telling fortunes on the Santa Monica Pier, Dorothy and Ruby Adams are being given the heave-ho. But you have to wonder about their psychic abilities: The women say they were caught by surprise.
“They’re absolutely shocked,” said attorney Rosario Perry, commenting on Santa Monica’s efforts to evict the sisters--who have read Tarot cards and palms at Doreena’s on the pier since the 1950s.
Their lease expired in May and city officials have filed suit to evict the psychics by Labor Day. Among other things, officials complain that the sisters, who are in their seventies, do not keep their shop open long enough. Their lease requires that the business stay open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but in the last few years, officials say, the hours have been erratic.
Perry insists that the reason the city wants Doreena’s closed is that it doesn’t fit the glitzy image promoters want for a revitalized pier. The sisters, he added, are confident they will prevail in court.
Maybe it’s in the cards.
![LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 - Bertha Gomez, right, and her son David Gomez, the new owners of La Golondrina Cafe, stand inside the famed restaurant that remains closed on Olvera Street in El Pueblo de Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. The Gomez' have not been able to open the business because of a damaged sewer line into the building. La Golondrina Cafe]has been closed since March 2020. They are locked in a lawsuit with the city, because they claim that the city is responsible for the repairs, while the city argues otherwise. The Board of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority Commission on Thursday oversaw a hearing and decided that the Gomez' should be evicted from the location, nearly 95 years after the business first opened. The previous owners were the original family who started the business and it's considered one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in the city. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fc1b23c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6699x4480+10+0/resize/1024x685!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2F88%2Fe2b72d1641ec8c2de63a02da4ef8%2F1353501-me-0928-la-golondrina-cafe-gem-001.jpg)
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