The Digest Dodger Dogs: A stand selling Dodger Dogs, previously only available at Dodger Stadium, has opened on the food court at Universal CityWalk, next to Universal Studios theme park. Available are the team’s trademark 10-inch hot dog, the jumbo Dodger Dog and the spicy Picanti, grilled Dodger Stadium-style. Fernando Award Deadline Approaches The deadline to nominate individuals for this year’s Fernando Award, which recognizes volunteers in the San Fernando Valley, is July 5. Applications should be addressed to Michael Miller, Fernando Award Foundation President, State Farm Insurance, 4874 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364. From the nominations received, five finalists will be selected and honored at the Jesse McHam Fernando Award Nomination Luncheon in August. The finalist of that group will be revealed in November. Last year’s award winner, Rose Goldwater of Woodland Hills, is the third woman in history to receive the award. SRM Acquires weComm SRM Networks Inc. has acquired weComm Ltd. in a reverse merger transaction. According to the agreement between the two companies, SRM has loaned weComm $1.5 million. At the close of the merger, a minimum of $5 million and a maximum of $12 million worth of SRM stock will be sold to private investors. Home Prices Up Again The median price of homes sold in the San Fernando Valley reached a record high of $309,000 in May. The Valley’s median price the point where half the prices are above and half below it was up 18.8 percent in May compared with the same month a year ago. In April, the median price of a home in the Valley was $293,000. Sales of single-family homes rose 4.4 percent in May over a year ago. However, escrow closings showed a 0.6-percent decline from the previous month to 1,310. The median home price of a home in California reached $321,950 in April. Condo sales grew 15.6 percent in May, with 497 closing escrows. The median price of a condo in May was $184,000, compared with $149,500 a year ago. The previous record was $175,000, reached in January and again in March. Nestle Buys Dreyer’s Nestle SA will acquire a controlling stake in Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. as part of a $2.4 billion deal. Nestle, whose U.S. headquarters is in Glendale, will merge its domestic ice cream business, including the Haagen-Dazs brand, into Oakland-based Dreyer’s. Nestle would receive 55 million newly issued Dreyer’s shares, boosting its stake to 67 percent from 23 percent. As part of the deal, Dreyer’s shareholders could sell their stock to Nestle for $83 a share in 2006. The following year, Nestle has the option of calling outstanding Dreyer’s shares for $88 a share. Dreyer’s ice cream is marketed under the Dreyer’s brand in the Western United States and as Edy’s elsewhere. The company, founded by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy in 1928, invented Rocky Road ice cream in 1929. After the deal closes, Dreyer’s will be headed by Rogers and based at Dreyer’s offices in Oakland. Nestle will get three additional seats on an expanded Dreyer’s board of 10. Nestle currently has two of eight board seats. The deal, expected to result in cost savings of about $170 million annually by 2005, is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval but is expected to close by the end of the year. Secession Lawsuit Filed Los Angeles’ largest municipal union has filed a lawsuit today aimed at stopping the November election on San Fernando Valley secession. Robert Hunt, general counsel for the Service Employees International Union’s Local 347, served the notice on Valley secession leaders, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Local Agency Formation Commission, the panel that put the breakup measure on the ballot. The complaint, which Hunt is filing as an individual, challenges LAFCO’s finding that the creation of a Valley city would not have a significant effect on the environment. The suit will ask the Los Angeles Superior Court to prohibit the Board of Supervisors from scheduling the election. Hunt contends that LAFCO violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not studying in detail whether a Valley city would have to construct more municipal buildings, hire more employees or take other actions that would have an effect on the environment. SEIU officials are among the leading opponents of secession, but they have said the union would not go to court to try to block a Valley cityhood vote.