Stewart Penn - Los Angeles Condo Specialist

"It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt and we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters at a press conference.

So the Balloon Boy incident was just a big hoax .....

It boggles the mind that Richard and Mayumi Heene could conceive such an outrageous plan.

They manipulated their children, endangered the lives of the rescue workers, wasted tens of thousands of dollars in rescue resources and even destroyed a wheat field when rescuers trampled through it to reach the helium balloon.

Based on the media reports this morning it sounds like the penalties for orchestrating such a hoax will be minimal. Is this right?

Who will pay for the wasted expenses of the search? Who will pay for the counseling that the Heene kids will inevitably need? Do the parents even deserve to keep their children?

Philippe - A New Restaurant in West Hollywood - 8284 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Prominent chef Philippe Chow (of Mr. Chow fame) has opened a new restaurant on trendy Melrose Ave in the space previously occupied by Aston Kutcher's Dolce Restaurant. The newly decorated space is stark black & white accented with red booths and bar stools. The menu is Chinese cuisine, similar to the Phillipe restaurants in Manhattan and Miami.

So after reading the great reviews for Philippe's newest restaurant we were expecting an extra special dinner .... Instead we had a very ordinary meal and an extraordinarily large bill.

We started with Shrimp Toast which was totally bland, and Chicken Lettuce Wraps which were uninspired and tasteless. We tried the Crispy Beef which apart from a tangy sauce, could have been anything in fried batter. The Green Shrimp was equally unexciting. The Dessert Tray was unimpressive and appeared tired.

For a fraction of the bill, takeouts from PF Chang's would have been far more satisfying!

In my opinion this place won't survive unless the quality of food improves substantially to justify the high priced menu.

An Unusual View of The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles

Balloon Boy - Why all the TV Coverage?

I was amazed to see the Network News coverage of the Balloon Boy story yesterday.

Wolf Blitzer (for whom I have enormous respect) spent much of the time on yesterday's "The Situation Room" tracking the unmanned home-made balloon that floated across the Colorado sky. Tom Foreman worked the "Magic Wall" and various "Balloon Experts" were interviewed. MSNBC kept on with the story as did Fox News.

The Colorado Sheriff was out in full force and even the Colorado Air National Guard was called out to track the Balloon and help find the missing 6-year old that was speculated to have been on board the runaway Balloon.

Ariana Huffington (The Huffington Post) was preparing to to be interviewed by MSNBC on the topic of Afghanistan, but instead was asked her thoughts about the Balloon Boy. Her reply was direct and to-the-point. She asked why, since the 6-year old boy had been found safe and sound at home, the media was still continuing with the coverage of the story.

In a later interview with CNN's "Larry King Live," the 6-year old boy (Falcon Heene) said he heard his parents call for him from the garage. When asked by his father on-air why he didn't respond, the boy replied, "You guys said we did this for the show." Wolf questioned the boy's father about this response, but the father became indignant and said he was "appalled" at the insinuation being made.

The Balloon Boy's father - Richard Heene - obviously thrives on media attention having appeared twice on ABC's reality show "Wife Swap" (fortunately I've never watched it) as well as being known as a "Storm Chaser".

If in fact Heene wants to dismiss yesterday's fiasco as a genuine mishap with a good ending and get on with his private life, why is he on the morning TV shows today?

Major difficulties are looming for FHA Mortgages on condos which will inevitably slow the recovery of condominium prices.

Effective November 1, 2009 new FHA Reserve Funding Requirements for Condo Homeowner Associations comes into effect. (This is not a National standard but issued by the Santa Ana HUD/FHA office which sets the rules for all loan guarantees in California).

In terms of the new rules, the FHA will not insure loans in condo developments where the HOA Reserves are less than 60% of the most recent Reserve Study Funding Levels. Furthermore, all condo project will need full HUD approval as opposed to the "Spot Approval" that has been allowed to date.

This rule applies to existing condo associations, but gets even more restrictive for new condo conversions. In these cases Reserves must be 100% of of what's detailed in the Reserve Study.

Where is the National Association of Realtors and the California Association of Realtors on this issue?

This is surely going to hurt condo sales, especially in that sector of the market that needs most assistance.