Get up-to-date crime statistics for neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles. Being informed about crime in your community is the first step in preventing future occurrences.

www.crimemapping.com

The Los Angeles Police Department will directly feed its crime data to the Omega Group to ensure that each crime is reported accurately on the site. . . . → Continue Reading: LAPD Crime Mapping]]>

Get up-to-date crime statistics for neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles. Being informed about crime in your community is the first step in preventing future occurrences.

www.crimemapping.com

The Los Angeles Police Department will directly feed its crime data to the Omega Group to ensure that each crime is reported accurately on the site. The records themselves are also put through an exclusive data scrubbing process that works to locate each crime incident geographically, to a hundred block. A link to the crime maps can be found at www.lapdonline.org, and by clicking on Crimemapping in the left navigation or the link above. Once on the Crimemapping.com site, users can “filter” crimes from a list of law enforcement agencies that provide data to the site, and click on Part One crimes for specific information such as the date and time each crime occurred. Important links are also provided, as well a feature that allows users to view crime trends and subscribe to receive free Crime Alerts via e-mail when new activity occurs in their area.

For full details, view this message on the web.

More than four decades after it was dedicated, a memorial to Granada Hills residents who served during the Vietnam War has been updated and refurbished by a student born 20 years after the fall of Saigon.

Doug Smith, left, a 17-year-old Granada Hills Charter High School senior, is leading an effort to renovate . . . → Continue Reading: Granada Hills Student Leading Effort to Renovate Vietnam War Memorial]]>

More than four decades after it was dedicated, a memorial to Granada Hills residents who served during the Vietnam War has been updated and refurbished by a student born 20 years after the fall of Saigon.

Doug Smith, left, a 17-year-old Granada Hills Charter High School senior, is leading an effort to renovate the school’s Vietnam War Memorial.

The renovation was inspired by the reconstruction of a similar monument at the intersection of Zelzah Avenue and Chatsworth Street in Granada Hills, known as the “triangle.”

“When the `triangle’ was re-done last year, I noticed that some of the names on the plaque at the high school library did not match those on the triangle, and vice-versa,” said Doug Smith, 17, a senior at Granada, which serves roughly 4,200 students in grades 9-12.  “I needed an idea for my Eagle Scout service project (and) after we started looking into it, the interest and support from the school and our community really snowballed.”

The renovated memorial will be re-dedicated in a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 25, and Smith is seeking out relatives and friends of those honored to participate.

The renovation will add the names of six young men that did not make it onto the high school’s memorial when it was dedicated in the 1970s. It is unclear why some were listed and others were not, but may stem from the fact the high school serves other communities besides Granada Hills, and that some students who lived in the area may have graduated from neighboring John F. Kennedy High School after that campus opened in 1971.

Frank Allender, Granada Hills High alumnus, killed in Vietnam in 1967

Along with new bronze plaques for the missing six, the project includes cleaning the 17 existing nameplates, as well as adding a tile mosaic of the U.S. flag.  Materials and labor are being provided through donations and a grant from the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council, an elected volunteer town council that serves the area. The memorial has been approved by Smith’s scout unit, BSA Troop 92, and the board of Granada Hills Charter High School, and has been supported by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2323.

One of the young men to be honored is Frank Allender, who attended Granada Hills High and enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduation, serving as a helicopter crewman in Vietnam. He was killed in 1967, when his aircraft crashed due to a mechanical failure. Allender was 20.

Smith said renovating and expanding the monument is only fitting.

For more information, contact Granada Hills High at 818-360-2361 or Douglas Smith at 818-602-3330.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) today reminds customers that Mandatory Water Conservation remains in effect and urges customers to increase their water conservation efforts where possible.  Overall, water conservation in Los Angeles has been remarkable over the past five years, . . . → Continue Reading: LADWP Reminds Customers to Conserve Water]]>

Reduced Snowpack & Increased Water Use Call for Increased Conservation

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) today reminds customers that Mandatory Water Conservation remains in effect and urges customers to increase their water conservation efforts where possible.  Overall, water conservation in Los Angeles has been remarkable over the past five years, but recently customer use has been on the rise.

Since 2009, when Mandatory Water Conservation took effect, LADWP water customers have successfully reduced water consumption citywide by nearly 20%. Though overall water use continues to be significantly lower than it has in the past, water use in recent months has risen sharply since January. Year-to-year trends are more modest, but are still cause for concern with overall water use from July 2011 to March 2012, up nearly 3% when compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Single-family residential customers alone have demonstrated an increase in water use of more than 5% for the same period, while multi-family residential customers are up just over 1%.

LADWP urges all customers to keep saving water, and money, by continuing to abide by Mandatory Water Conservation measures put into effect in 2009.  Reducing water use is as simple as checking sprinkler timers, checking indoors for leaky faucets and toilets, and using a hose fitted with a shut-off nozzle when watering landscape or washing your car.

“In 2011, our customers reached a per capita water usage of 123 gallons daily – the lowest in Los Angeles in more than 40 years and the currently the lowest among any U.S. city with a population over one million,” said James McDaniel, Senior Assistant General Manager, LADWP Water System. “Still, even with this remarkable achievement, recently we’ve noticed water use on the rise and with temperatures climbing and summer coming, we’re asking our customers to once again take a look at their water use and see how they can use less.”

The recent uptick in water use this fiscal year is especially concerning following a dry winter and a below-normal snowpack this year. Dry years require increased purchases of expensive imported supplies from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to supplement Los Angeles’ water supply, resulting in higher costs for customers. LADWP customers can curb the impact of the dry winter by increasing water conservation efforts to reduce the city’s overall water demand and thereby reduce the amount of purchased water needed. Since LADWP customers pay only for water used, without any fixed water charges, any additional reduction in water use will result in direct savings on their water bills compared to what they would have paid without conservation.

In June 2009, the City of Los Angeles instituted Mandatory Water Conservation, which restricted outdoor watering and prohibited certain uses of water. The outdoor watering restrictions currently in effect allow customers to use sprinklers three days a week based on their street address. Customers whose address ends with an odd number – 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 – are allowed to use sprinklers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Customers whose addresses end in even numbers – 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 – are allowed to use sprinklers on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Watering with sprinklers is allowed before 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m. only, regardless of the watering day, for a maximum of eight minutes per station.

Mandatory Water Conservation also places restrictions on specific water uses, which also remain in effect. Restrictions include prohibiting customers from hosing down driveways and sidewalks, requiring all leaks to be fixed, and requiring customers to use hoses fitted with shut-off nozzles only, among other measures.

To assist customers in conserving water, LADWP offers numerous rebate programs and incentives for switching to water-efficient devices as well as tips for easy ways to reduce water use. Information on the water conservation rebates, as well comprehensive information on Mandatory Water Conservation, is available at www.ladwp.com or by calling 1-800-DIAL DWP.

The second consecutive national crown . . . → Continue Reading: Granada Hills Charter Captures Back-to-Back National Academic Decathlon Titles!]]>

Granada Hills Charter High School students are back-to-back National Academic Decathlon champions. Preliminary results show that the Granada Hills Charter team has broken many records at the national competition, including the highest ever point total for a school in the history of the National Academic Decathlon competition.

The second consecutive national crown for Granada Hills Charter was announced this morning from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the team was competing in the most prestigious national academic team competition for high school students. Granada Hills Charter remains the only charter school in the over 30-year history of the National Academic Decathlon competition to claim the national title, and is only the third school to win back-to-back national titles.

Granada Hills Charter beat out a crowded field of over 30 teams including past national champion, Waukesha West High School (Wisconsin) as well as contenders Rockwall High School (Texas), Whitney Young Magnet High School (Illinois), and Mountain View High School (Arizona). The team earned 54,081 out of 60,000 points. A breakdown of school scores and medals will be provided this weekend.

Academic Decathlon is a grueling two-day competition that tests participants on a range of topics from math and science to art and literature in all kinds of formats. There are multiple choice, fast-paced trivia questions, essays, speeches and interview competitions. The teams are made up of three “A” students, three “B” students and three “C” students, who spend hours studying and preparing for the competition. This year’s theme was “The Age of Empire.”

The team members are Christian Koguchi ’12, Stella Lee ’12, Priscilla Liu ’12, Kimberly Ly ’13, Hamidah Mahmud ’13, Lev Tauz ’12, Julia Wall ’12, Sean Wejebe ’12, and Jimmy Wu ’12. Their coaches are Mathew Arnold, Spencer Wolf and Nick Weber.

“What an amazing feat for this team and their coaches!” said Executive Director Brian Bauer. “Their results and comportment during the entire decathlon season make all of us in the Granada Hills Charter community and the larger community of charter and traditional public schools extremely proud.”

Earlier this year, Granada Hills Charter took first place in the city of Los Angeles Academic Decathlon competition and last month captured the state title in Sacramento. With the 2012 national title, Granada Hills Charter has captured the “triple slam” – local, state and national Academic Decathlon titles – in the same year. The team also captured the local, state and national titles in 2011.

The decathletes, their coaches, and administrator Julia Howelman return to Granada Hills Charter Monday, April 30th at 7:30 a.m. for a celebratory “welcome back” at the school entrance. Following the reception, press will have access to the team in the school library. The morning will conclude with breakfast in the staff cafeteria for the team, coaches and their family members.

Granada Hills Charter High School, the largest charter school in the nation, is an independent public school in the San Fernando Valley. Granada Hills Charter made history nearly nine (9) years ago when almost all of its employees – teachers, classified staff and administrators – along with over 2,000 parents, signed its charter petition for independence from Los Angeles Unified. As a fiscally independent conversion charter school, Granada Hills Charter has a student enrollment this year of over 4,200 and an annual student waist list of approximately 2,000. The School’s student body is considered one of the most diverse, with more than 40 languages other than English spoken at home and over 60 nationalities represented.

Along with an API of 876 – the highest of any pubic comprehensive high school in Los Angeles – Granada Hills Charter is a 2011 California Distinguished School.

For additional information about the school or this release, please visit our website at www.ghchs.com or contact Carrie Boutros, Director of Development and Outreach at 818.360.2361 or cboutros@ghchs.com.

The Mayor and the City Planning Department have proposed a five-year project to completely rewrite the Los Angeles Zoning Code. It would throw out all of the existing fixed zones and replace them with “dynamic” zones. There would be considerably less control exercised over height, density, interior building space and parking.

This project could be . . . → Continue Reading: Mayor Proposes Complete Overhaul of the Los Angeles Zoning Code]]>

The Mayor and the City Planning Department have proposed a five-year project to completely rewrite the Los Angeles Zoning Code. It would throw out all of the existing fixed zones and replace them with “dynamic” zones. There would be considerably less control exercised over height, density, interior building space and parking.

This project could be on a fast track through the City Council. It was originally scheduled to be heard by the Planning and Land Use committee on April 24. That is three working days after the Chief Administrative Officer referred its report to the committee. The hearing was later rescheduled for Tuesday, May 8.

It is unclear how the Zoning Code could be completely rewritten without also changing the city’s master planning document, the General Plan. It is also unclear whether or not a rewritten Zoning Code would render moot the local protections that are contained in the city’s many Specific Plans and Community Plans.

This is a major proposal that will affect every neighborhood in Los Angeles — indeed, the character of the city as a whole.

The Council File number is 12-0460. To keep track of the issue and to read the documents, go the the City Clerk’s Council File system, enter 12-0460 in the Simple Search field, and click the Search button: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/

For a taste of the dialog that is likely over the Mayor’s Zoning Code proposal, check out the mixed reactions to the recently proposed revision to the Hollywood Community Plan. The New York Times article of March 28, 2012, reports both sides:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/us/far-reaching-rezoning-plan-for-hollywood-gains-key-support.html?pagewanted=all

(Content borrowed from panoramacitync.org)

Granada Hills Baptist School will be closing their doors after serving the Granada Hills community since September 1953.

The GHBS family will be celebrating the school on June 9, 2012 from 2-4 PM at the church at 10949 Zelzah Avenue, Granada Hills.

If you, your children, parents, or even grandparents attended the school – . . . → Continue Reading: Celebrate Granada Hills Baptist School]]>

Granada Hills Baptist School will be closing their doors after serving the Granada Hills community since September 1953.

The GHBS family will be celebrating the school on June 9, 2012 from 2-4 PM at the church at 10949 Zelzah Avenue, Granada Hills.

If you, your children, parents, or even grandparents attended the school – even if you are just a friend of the school – please contact us at 818-368-2104 or ghbchurch@aol.com. And let us know if you will be able to attend.

So mark your calendar and save the date.

For further information please contact Mary Miller at 818-368-4438.

Cracked, broken-down streets are something that affects every one of us every day and repairing and maintaining them is a core City service. This is why Councilman Englander is launching a special April Pothole Project. The Bureau of Street Services usually fills potholes within 24 hours, but they need . . . → Continue Reading: April Pothole Project]]>

Cracked, broken-down streets are something that affects every one of us every day and repairing and maintaining them is a core City service.

This is why Councilman Englander is launching a special April Pothole Project. The Bureau of Street Services usually fills potholes within 24 hours, but they need to know where they are.  The people in our community are encouraged to help identify the worst potholes in our District.

A special interactive form on the Council District 12 website  has been set up (at http://tiny.cc/CD12Potholes) where you can report the exact location of potholes in Council District 12. The information will go directly to the Bureau of Street Services.  Progress will be tracked and you will be sent a notification when it has been completed.

If you have any questions about the April Pothole Project, please call the CD12 Office at (818) 882-1212.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will hold a series of community meetings throughout the city beginning April 25 to educate and inform customers regarding proposed power and water rate changes needed over the . . . → Continue Reading: LADWP to Hold Community Meetings to Discuss Proposed 2-Year Power and Water Rate Changes]]>

Legal Mandates and Aging Infrastructure
Driving Need for Rate Increases;
Seven Regional Meetings Slated April 25-May 10

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will hold a series of community meetings throughout the city beginning April 25 to educate and inform customers regarding proposed power and water rate changes needed over the next two years.

The proposed changes are necessary to meet a series of regulatory mandates that affect much of LADWP’s existing energy and water supplies, and to invest in replacing aging infrastructure to maintain reliability for LADWP’s 1.4 million electric customers and 657,000 water customers.

Following are the dates and locations for the regional meetings. In addition, LADWP is planning to hold additional online webinars and meetings that will be announced in the near future.

RSVP’s for the community meeting are encouraged, but not required. To RSVP, please click on the link below each meeting.

Harbor:
Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Salon A
601 S. Palos Verdes St.
San Pedro 90731
RSVP

West Valley:
Thursday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
22617 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills 91367
RSVP

Metro:
Saturday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
LADWP John Ferraro Building Headquarters
111 N. Hope St., A Level
Los Angeles 90012
RSVP

South L.A.:
Monday, April 30, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LADWP Crenshaw Service Center
4030 Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles 90008
RSVP

East L.A.:
Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Recreation and Parks Ramona Hall
4580 N. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles 90065
RSVP

East Valley:
Thursday, May 3, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
LADWP Van Nuys Service Center
14401 Saticoy St.
Van Nuys 91405
RSVP

West L.A.:
Thursday, May 10, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Stephen S. Wise Temple, South Taub Annex
15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive
Los Angeles 90077
RSVP

Click here to contact your Neighborhood Council Representative.

We are proud to congratulate Granada Hills Charter High School on winning the California State Academic Decathlon for the second consecutive year this week.

The nine students from Granada Hills scored 52,327 out of 60,000 possible points during the grueling two-day contest, featuring essays, tests, speeches, interviews and the rapid-fire Super Quiz.

Congratulations to . . . → Continue Reading: Congratulations Granada Hills Charter High School on Winning the State Academic Decathlon!]]>

We are proud to congratulate Granada Hills Charter High School on winning the California State Academic Decathlon for the second consecutive year this week.

The nine students from Granada Hills scored 52,327 out of 60,000 possible points during the grueling two-day contest, featuring essays, tests, speeches, interviews and the rapid-fire Super Quiz.

Congratulations to team members Lev Tauz, Sean Wejebe, Hamidah Mahmud, Christian Koguchi, Priscilla Liu, Kimberly Ly, Jimmy Wu, Stella Lee and Julia Wall and to coaches are Matt Arnold, Spencer Wolf and Nick Weber!

The Granada Hills team will go on to try for their second consecutive win in the U.S. National Academic Decathlon on April 26-28 in Albuquerque, N.M.

To read the article in the Daily News about the Academic Decathlon victory, click here.

Via northridge.patch.com

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a $7.2 billion budget proposal today that includes 231 layoffs and would reduce employee retirement benefits while raising the retirement age from 60 to 67.