www.palisadesnews.com
June 2024
This Palisadian Will Be the Youngest Ever U.S. Olympian in Beach Volleyball Miles Partain, 22, Is One of Several Olympians That Came Out of Pali High By Zach Armstrong Palisadian talent will represent the Red, White and Blue on the international stage next month. Miles Partain, a professional beach volleyball player and former Pali High Dolphin, will represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games this Summer along with his partner, Andy Benesh. In addition to Partain becoming the youngest ever American Olympian for the sport, the Benesh/Partain duo are set to be the youngest U.S. men’s beach team in Olympic history, according to NBC Sports. Partain, 22, is one of several Olympians that came out of Pali High, including Chris Marlowe, Ricci Luyties, Dave Saunders and Kent Steffes, as his website states.
The star athlete grew up in Pacific Palisades, having played in his first organized beach volleyball tournament on Will Rogers Beach at 10-years-old, his website states. During his tenure at Pali High, the Dolphins won three CIF City Section Championships, while Partain himself placed 3rd in the 2018 Junior Nationals and 5th in the 2019 Junior Nationals as a player for Pac6 volleyball club. After graduating valedictorian and a semester early from Pali High, Partain completed coursework at UCLA in March 2023 for a B.S. degree in Applied Math. He then trained full time with beach partner Benesh (who played four years for the USC Trojans’ indoor team and earned Volleyball Magazine’s 2023 AVP honors as its MVP, according to Partain’s website). Benesh and Partain first teamed in a one-off in November 2019 while Partain was still a high school senior, according to NBC Sports. The pair won a oneday Southern California tournament. Although Benesh played with different partners while Partain went off to UCLA, Benesh “always kind of knew [he] wanted to play with Miles,” as he stated on a volleyball podcast.
Last spring in a top-level international tournament, the pair finished third and were victorious in the next event, as reported by NBC Sports. In those events, they defeated Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway. Although American men won three of the first four Olympic beach volleyball tournaments in 1996, 2000 and 2008,
they have not won a medal since, according to NBC Sports. Next month in Paris, Pertain and Benesh look to change that; as the former is already the youngest American to win a gold medal in a major FIVB event (Dubai 2022) and the youngest to win a gold medal in a NORCECA event (Jamaica 2019), as stated on Pertain’s website.
Real Estate Mogul Donates $5K for Extra Police Patrolling in Palisades The Donation Is a Reaction to a Multitude of Recent Illegal Behavior in the Area By Zach Armstrong Michael Edlen, a leading local real estate agent and alternative representative for Area 3 on the Pacific Palisades Community Council, made a $5,000 donation to prevent crime in the neighborhood as “disruptive teenage activity” has become more prevalent. According to PPCC, the funds are earmarked for the “public safety pilot partnership” that is currently being considered by CD11 and LAPD. The effort would add between 15 to 20 hours of patrol time in the Palisades. The CD11
Council Office and LAPD West have already met to discuss the initiative, according to PPCC President Maryam Zar, who said “everyone involved has indicated a willingness to consider the idea.” Although he hasn’t witnessed any of the disconcerting activity firsthand, Edlen says the donation is a reaction to a multitude of recent illegal behavior in the area, primarily coming from adolescents. The Palisadian Center for Youth Sports and Recreation, in particular, has somewhat become the neighborhood hotspot for dangerous teenage activity. In early November of last year, LAPD were called about juveniles chasing others on the tennis courts with tasers. A month prior, LAPD received a radio call for a possible overdose of a 16-year-old female around the area behind Palisades Library. Other reports of partying, drinking, lighting fireworks and vehicle racing around the rec center led LAPD
to identify the park and surrounding area as an “extra patrol location.” In a more recent episode of these illicit actions, which was also relayed to Edlen, two teenagers were found “engaging in activity” on the public Carthage stairwell leading up from Haverford Avenue to the alley behind Via de la Paz. Edlen, who has been a Palisades resident for five decades and a prominent real estate mogul for 35, is a licensed realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty. Over the tenure of his career, Edlen says he has represented about 1,750 clients (approximately 90% of whom are in the Palisades) with nearly $2 billion in real estate transactions made. The recent PPCC donation is one of many philanthropic contributions from Elden, who says he has donated over $1.5 million to various organizations, schools and programs over the years, and that he believes other real estate leaders should do likewise.
“I made it my policy for the last 20-something years to donate a portion of the commission I receive on any purchase or sale transaction. As far as I know, I was the first in the Palisades to make that a business model. Now, at least three other agents have officially taken a similar approach.” said Edlen. “I would like to encourage anyone in real estate to have a similar perspective and give back to the community that they have derived their income from.”