February 28, 2006 -- Volume II, Issue III

Upcoming Events

Tues., Feb. 28, 2006
8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
"Latinas and Heart Disease Dialogue: What You Need to Know and What You Can Do"
St. Anne's Church
Conference Center
155 N. Occidental Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Tues., Feb. 28, 2006
Starts at 9:30 a.m.
L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting
Public Hearing
500 W. Temple St., Rm. 381B
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Tues., Feb. 28, 2006
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
East L.A. Chamber of
Commerce Open House and Grand Opening of
Blockbuster Videro
3431 E. César Chávez Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063

Thurs.,Mar., 2, 2006
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Small Business Workshop
Quiet Cannon Restaurant
901 N. Via San Clemente
Montebello, CA 90640

Fri., Mar. 3, 2006
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Kaiser Permanente's Baldwin
Park Community Center
Garden "Guest Chef" Program
13067 Bess Ave.
Baldwin Park, CA 91706

Sat., Mar. 4, 2006
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
"Read Across Montebello"

Montebello Unified
Methodist Church
1220 W. Whittier Blvd.
Montebello, CA 90640

Tues., Mar. 7, 2006
Starts at 9:30 a.m.
L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting
500 W. Temple St., Rm. 381B
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Wed., Mar. 8, 2006
11 a.m. to Noon
Smarter Senior Forum
Rosemead Community Center
3936 Muscatel Ave.
Rosemead, CA 91770

Thurs., Mar. 9, 2006
1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
First 5 LA Commission Meeting
750 N. Alameda St.
Multi-Purpose Room
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Fri., Mar. 10, 2006
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Hispanas Organized
for Political Equality (HOPE)
Leadership Institute
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
506 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Sat., Mar. 11, 2006
9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
11^th Annual Community
Job Fair
Dodgers Stadium
1000 Elysian Park Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Mon., Mar. 13, 2006
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
L.A. County Commission for
Women's 21^st Annual
"Women of the Year" Awards Luncheon
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
Crystal Ballroom
506 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90071

BEVERLY BOULEVARD BRIDGE REOPENS

Residents and merchants alike will be overjoyed with the reopening of the Beverly Boulevard Bridge, a critical traffic artery connecting the Cities of Montebello and Pico Rivera over the Rio Hondo Channel. Each day, thousands of commuters use the bridge to avoid freeway traffic -- especially

into downtown Los Angeles. But on November 1^st, a transient inadvertently set the bridge ablaze and destroyed approximately 180 feet of steel and timber. (The District Attorney has charged him with recklessly setting a fire.) So we had no choice but to close the bridge. Thankfully, this situation has come to an end. L.A. County partnered with Montebello and Pico Rivera to rebuild a temporary structure with one lane of traffic in each direction. The total cost was $850,000. Each city provided $85,000 and the remaining $680,000 came from federal road funds. L.A. County provided an additional $290,000 solely for costs associated with construction, which was managed and executed by the Department of Public Works. In April, work will begin to replace and widen the bridge permanently so that it features two lanes of traffic in each direction. This final phase should be complete by Summer 2007.

FIRST DISTRICT TINY TOTS LEARN SAFETY TIPS, ENJOY BEING KIDS

There is always something to do for children participating in our Tiny Tots programs. Recently at Saybrook Park in East L.A., Officer Louis Lave from the L.A. County Office of Public Safety advised Tiny Tots on everything from not talking to strangers to looking both ways before crossing a street. These same Tiny Tots also enjoyed a stuffed animal Show 'N Tell Day.

At Sorensen Park in West Whittier, we gave our Tiny Tots room a fresh coat of paint featuring bright, cheery colors. And at Mayberry Park in South Whittier, the Tiny Tots took a field trip to the South Whittier Library -- a first-time experience for some.

LIBRARY BOOKMARK CONTEST WINNERS EXPRESS JOY OF READING

Each year during Children's Book Week, the L.A. County Public Library hosts a bookmark drawing contest -- and the winning entries are disbursed at our libraries. Three First District residents were among this year's winners. Soroya Luga won the "Kindergarten through Second Grade" category. She is in second grade at Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera and reads at the Pico Rivera Library in Pico Rivera. Samuel Kim

won the "Third Grade through Fifth Grade" category. He is in fifth grade at Vejar Elementary School in Walnut and reads at the Walnut Library. Amy Phan -- who unfortunately, could not attend our official board meeting presentation -- won the "Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade" category. She is in eighth grade at Sparks Middle School in La Puente and reads at the La Puente Library. Congratulations!

DECORATIVE MEDIANS, PAVEMENT FIXES TO TRANSFORM AZUSA AVE.

L.A. County is partnering with the City of Azusa to install

decorative medians on Azusa Avenue from Amar Road to Temple Avenue. We have situated similar medians on various streets throughout the First District -- and residents always appreciated the aesthetic transformation of the thoroughfare. In the case of Azusa Avenue, we will simultaneously repair deteriorating pavement while installing the medians. The total cost of the project is $823,000; the city will finance $155,000 and the county will fund $688,000. Preliminary engineering work begins immediately. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and should last approximately two months.

STATE PRISONERS TO BE TRANSFERRED OUT OF L.A. COUNTY JAILS

You probably have seen billboards around L.A. County advertising job openings in our Sheriff's Department for new deputies. While we are adding new recruits to our ranks with each class of rookies, we still could use a lot more. Deputies are responsible not just for patrolling our streets but for working with custody assistants to staff four jails.

Currently, we house over 18,000 inmates -- and, of these, over 4,000 are state prisoners who either have violated state parole or have been sentenced to state prison and await transport. Often, it is this very population that is most violent and has the least to lose while in county custody. Recently, riots erupted in our jails -- a matter the Board of Supervisors discussed with Sheriff Lee Baca at a public board meeting.

We agreed that due to the grave nature of the disturbances, we must do whatever we could to reduce the number of inmates in our system so we could better control and supervise those inmates for whom the county is responsible. Accordingly, we began the process of eliminating L.A. County's current Pitchess Detention Center contract with the State of California. This move essentially means that the majority of state prisoners will be transferred out of L.A. County jails. By taking this action -- which Sheriff Baca supports -- we immediately will yield 199 more deputies and 64 more custody assistants. If you are interested in becoming a deputy in our Sheriff's Department, call (800) 233-7889.

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Photo of Beverly Blvd. Bridge by Henry Salazar, L.A. County Photo Dept.

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Photo of Officer Louis Lave and Tiny Tots by Angelique Lopez, Dept. of Parks & Recreation

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Photo of Tiny Tots at Show 'N Tell Day by Cindy Gomez, Dept. of Parks & Recreation

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Photo of Bookmark Contest Winners by Henry Salazar, L.A. County Photo Dept.

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Image of official City of Azusa seal courtesy of City of Azusa.

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Photos of Sup. Molina and Sheriff Baca courtesy of Jim Camp, L.A. County Photo Dept