(From left: Reed Saxon / Associated Press; Los Angeles Times; Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Running and moderate exercise is not only good for your body, but also good for your mood!
A study conducted by Dr. Jeremy Sibold of The University of Vermont, Burlington, concluded that, "Moderate intensity aerobic exercise improves mood immediately and those improvements can last up to 12 hours."(Doheny, Kathleen. Health.US News.com).
Thankfully, The L.A. Times Newspaper posted an article in which they name thirteen of the best running and hiking places in Los Angeles. Not only will you enjoy a calorie-burning jog, but you'll do it surrounded by natural beauty. Best of all...it's free!
Click the following link for information on the various beach, mountain, and park trails: LA Times
Auto repair and tire store on Fries Avenue in Wilmington. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)
Wilmington residents could soon receive a respite from the area's long history of pollution.
Under a motion backed Friday by five members of the Los Angeles City Council, Wilmington is one of three city neighborhoods recognized as "toxic hot spots" that could be redesignated as "green zones."
The "Clean-Up, Green-Up" plan aims to attract green businesses and use environmental innovation and planning in the port town, as well as in Pacoima and Boyle Heights.
The proposal will allocate funding and offer tax incentives for green businesses, provide strategies for cleaning up polluted areas and create job opportunities.
The plan is gaining early support from local residents and concerned environmentalists.
Auto dismantling yard in Wilmington. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)
About 100 people gathered at Breed Street Elementary School in Boyle Heights on Friday to voice support for the "green zones."
"The people of Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington deserve healthy and livable communities, especially for those who are most vulnerable to the high levels of pollution in toxic hot spot neighborhoods," said Leonardo Vilchis, co-director for Union de Vecinos, a collection of local activists.
The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce is cautiously optimistic about the campaign.
"It's most likely to create more business opportunities and jobs for people out here," said Executive Director Dan Hoffman. "But we have to look before we leap."
The plan will also mean tighter controls and enforced regulations for heavy polluters, including the numerous metal recyclers, auto body shops and chrome-platers that abound in Wilmington, often within blocks of residential areas.
Wilmington street scene at Anaheim Street and Avalon Boulevard. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)
"This is what we need to clean up our neighborhoods and create good-paying green jobs where they are desperately needed," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, one of the motion's presenters. Wilmington is in the heart of Hahn's 15th Council District.
Despite the initial positive response from environmental groups, some local business owners are worried that the proposal will overlook the most deserving areas.
"It needs to go here, for downtown, not out there in the industrial areas," said 28-year-old business owner Donald Rebek. "This is the heart of the city."
City analysts have 90 days to report to two committees - the Jobs and Business Development Committee and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee - which will then submit recommendations to the council for approval.
Voting on the "Clean-Up, Green-Up" recommendations is expected to happen within three to four months.
WECAN FUNDRAISER: Double Feature Art Film Screening
Saturday, January 22, 2010 7:00 pm - 12:00 am
WJC Adult Day Program Center
1148 Avalon Blvd. Wilmington, CA 90744
Your presence will be highly appreciated at wecan's double feature premiere of selected films that embody the voice of the art that has been represented in the 21st century.
Selected short films will be shown during intermission
Show starts at 7:00pm Suggested donation $3
Food and beverages will be sold at the screening
Please join us for wecan's first show of the year!
-WECAN
Connect with Wilmington's very own budding artists at WECAN on Facebook!
Have you experienced job loss? Reduced hours at work? Having trouble paying rent, paying past-due utility bills, or possibly need funds for utility turn-on fees? If so, then The L.A. County Housing Resource Center & HPRP are here to help. The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid-Housing Program could be of monetary assistance for you and your families during this difficult economy.
To find out if eligible, please visit the county's program online and fill out a pre-screening questionnaire at: http://housing.lacounty.gov/HPRP/Launch.html, or simply call 2-1-1 for more assistance with this program.
Please click on the images below to zoom in on details, both English and Spanish attached.
Lucy Mackuse has a vision to get Los Angeles County moving, one YMCA at a time.
"We want to be in the forefront of the prevention of child obesity, prevention of diabetes, prevention of heart disease," said Mackuse, operations executive director for the San Pedro & Peninsula, Gardena-Carson and Wilmington YMCAs. "We should be partnering with our community and making sure that we fight this and that we help people understand what healthy lifestyle means."
Mackuse is part of a team spearheading Southern California's first "Get Moving" campaign, a YMCA initiative Mackuse began while she was in South Florida.
The yearlong "Get Moving South Bay" program began Jan. 6 with events at the Gardena and San Pedro YMCA locations. There were walks at both sites, as well as chefs preparing healthy foods and consultations from health professionals, including a pulmonary specialist and a massage therapist.
Julie Turner Tisue, executive director of the San Pedro & Peninsula YMCA, said "Get Moving" is designed for people who do not already integrate athletics into their schedules.
"Get Moving's" specific goal is to get people moving 10,000 steps a day, which translates into 30 minutes of exercise.
Participants are encouraged to wear a pedometer to track steps during daily activities such as walking to and from their car and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, along with any planned exercise.
"The Y has always been focused on helping our community be healthier. But this is the first time we've really taken this larger, all-coordinated effort to work on community health," Tisue said.
"With the state of health care today, and the costs associated with being sick, and the reality that a lot of our illnesses stem from behaviors that we can change - you could throw all the health care dollars in the world at people but if they don't start moving more and making better healthy eating choices, it will never be enough money," she said. "We have to lower the rate of obesity in our communities."
"Get Moving South Bay" was spurred by research showing that the largest health problems in Los Angeles County include heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and depression.
Mackuse said studies have indicated that 50 percent of all diseases are preventable through a modified lifestyle, and regular exercise has been proven to reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease, among others.
A study conducted by the University of Tennessee found that middle-aged women who take at least 10,000 steps per day are more likely to have healthy body weight and body fat percentages, which reduces risk for obesity, heart disease and other illnesses.
Participants in the "Get Moving" kickoff were given initial consultations and personalized workout recommendations. But Mackuse said the day was only the beginning of a much longer commitment to motivate the South Bay.
New YMCA members are being programmed into the Y's FitLinxx system, a program that will track the progress of each participant throughout 2011. FitLinxx is designed to motivate users by marking certain fitness goals.
"This initiative ... is really in line with our focus of community health, or building a healthier community, and social responsibility," Mackuse said.
"There isn't a bigger mission that the Y could have - and a more important mission that the Y could have - than helping our communities become healthier."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - Department of Justice and Facebook join teams in the fight against child abduction and kidnappings. If you have a Facebook account, please add and share the Amber Alert® Page to obtain live stream information. When such crimes are committed, time is of the essence.
The AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement, media, transportation and others to send bulletins about child-abduction cases. Visit your state AMBER Alert page for alerts in your area. Info at www.amberalert.gov
Do you know of someone who is courageous, fearless, and advocates for social change? If you do they might be the perfect candidate to nominate for the Freedom from Fear Award. Geri Mannion and Taryn Higashi are founders of the awards and are also co-recipients of the Council on Foundations 2009 Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking.
The name Freedom From Fear Award was inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous “four freedoms” speech, where he focused on the four fundamental freedoms that all people worldwide have the right to.
• Freedom of speech and expression; • Freedom of religion; • Freedom from want; and • Freedom from fear.
Mannion and Higashi were recognized by the Council on Foundations for their leadership of the Four Freedoms Fund, a national funding collaborative that has invested more than $35 million since 2003 in more than 85 grantees working in 33 states to protect immigrants against abuses, promote humane immigration policies, engage newcomers in civic life and build bridges between receiving communities and new residents.
Both have decided to donate the $10,000 cash prize accompanying the Scrivner Award to establish the Freedom From Fear Award. Since the award was first launched 40 other individuals and foundations have partnered in to help commence the award. Click here to see the list of donors.
Starting this month, dangerous drivers will have to answer for their deeds to the state, rather than to local jurisdictions. That will ensure uniform enforcement of speeding, DUI, and reckless endangerment laws, and also gets the state Department of Motor Vehicles involved.
The result will be fewer crazy drivers on the road, with the DMV empowered to revoke the license of habitual accident-causers.
Enablers of drunk drivers will face particularly stiff penalties. Adults who serve liquor to minors will be held accountable if those minors cause accidents.
The new laws come at a time when the City of Los Angeles is cash-strapped and singing the budget blues. However, the new laws aren't the only changes coming in 2011 as the price for breaking those laws (and the old ones) is changing too.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the state is adding $4 to the price of every traffic ticket to pay for emergency air transport services because of a revenue shortfall in Medi-Cal funding. It is set to generate an estimated $34 million a year through 2016, according to state estimates.
"We have so many different fees tacked on to traffic tickets and many tickets are in the $400 range now," Auto Club of Southern California spokeswoman Marie Montgomery told the Times. "They should be paying a fine because they broke the law but it's just a question of how disproportionate this is on drivers versus other taxpayers."
Are you thinking of solving the ticket dilemma by selling your car and investing in a bike? Well, new laws will also affect LA bikers with weaken penalties for bike theft..
The new threshold for "grand theft" is nearly a thousand dollars, which means that most bicycles won't qualify. Seems like there ought to be a way to consider factors like "suspect took victim's primary mode of transportation to work, depriving them of income" when charging thieves.
The Worlds Largest Hot Dog Chain Turns 50 Born in Wilmington in 1961, Wienerschnitzel has grown large enough to call itself the world's largest hot dog chain
By Vikki Vargas and Julie Brayton Wednesday, January 5, 2010 Story from www.nbclosangeles.com
The meat comes from Denver. The chili recipe is a secret, and yes, you can have it your way.
"Kraut dog with pickle, relish, mustard and cheddar cheese. No, I don't put the chili on it, because, gotta watch my boyish figure," vows Gary Lynch, a Wienerschnitzel customer.
The man who decided dogs rule is John Galardi. Half-a-century ago he was pals with a guy named Glen Bell, as in Taco Bell.
Bell's wife saw the word Wienerschnitzel in a cook book, and figured John could use it for his first Wilmington hot dog stand.
"First off it means absolutely nothing. It's incorrect, and we have a lot of German people that will tell us, your name is wrong," according to Dennis Tase, CEO of Wienerschnitzel.
Language lessons aside, the company decided to stake its claim on the weiner dog.
Now 50 years later Wienerschnitzel is looking back, and cooking up it's own fast food history.
"I'm into nostalgia, I like hot dogs. I like mustard dog in particular," according to Julie Lauterborn, a Wienerschnitzel customer.
Over the years the Irvine based company has stayed out of the burger wars, adding the patties only as an alternative.
Police dogs came about because of a suggestion by a Long Beach longshoreman.
But the two basic menu items are still the same.
"The staple is our hot dog and our chili," according to Dennis Tase, CEO of Wienerschnitzel.
Company officials believe their 50th anniversary will give loyal followers a culinary look back at what hot dogs used to be in 1961.
"Everybody was happy. It was all about families, and it was a simple life style. Look at today. We're busy, busy, busy," states Dennis Tase, CEO of Wienerschnitzel.
"It's simple and it's not the burger," states Julie Lauterborn, a Wienerschnitzel customer. "It's everything but the burger. I like that."
To celebrate Wienerschnitzel is offering its Original Chili Dog for only 99 cents throughout the month of January.
If you are a Wilmington stay-at-home mom in search of fun activities for your toddler, “Baby Moves” is the program for you. “Baby Moves” is an educational program that provides both physical and mental activities in the critical stages of a child’s development.
Every week mom’s unite with their toddlers to encourage their child to socialize with other kids. “Baby Moves” is held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the East Wilmington Greenbelt Community Center and is open to the public for free.
Maria Elena Saucedo, the instructor, leads the class with a full curriculum of arts and crafts, reading time, sing-a-long, and other fun active games. Mrs. Saucedo has been instructing the class since the program was founded in 2008. “We have very few funds to work with so mom’s donate many things like books, toys, and snacks for the kids,” Saucedo explained.
Providence Little Company of Mary and other state grants fund “Baby Moves”, but because of state budget cuts the program was in jeopardy. However, thankfully because of the high demand for it the grant was extended and “Baby Moves” will remain in Wilmington.
When the program was first launched only two families attended the class. With the help of recommendations and word of mouth they currently have over sixty families who take their child to “Baby Moves” regularly.
This is a unique program needed in Wilmington because there is nothing like “Baby Moves” in the community. Having the guidance and resources for moms with young children at no cost is very beneficial in building a healthy and safe neighborhood. “I love bringing my child here because at home there are no kids his age and I really want him to have the right social skills when he begins to go to school,” said Ana Gonzalez.
It is important to continue having programs like “Baby Moves” because early childhood education is crucial in helping kids develop quicker. A child in the toddler stages is full of energy and it is vital to keep them active and stimulate their minds with educational activities.
The Banning Museum is seeking volunteers for a variety of programming opportunities, and it will host two “Get to Know Us” receptions for prospective volunteers. The “Get to Know Us” receptions will take place at 11am on Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5 in the museum’s library, which is in the barn, at 401 East “M” St. in Wilmington. Reservations are available for one of the dates above, but not for both dates.
Volunteers at the Banning Museum attend a training class to gain the background necessary to offer public and special group tours of the house, stagecoach barn and grounds. Once the training class is completed, the volunteers are able to participate in a full range of museum programs, such as the conservation and maintenance of antiques, decorative art exhibitions, special events, museum shop assistance, lecture and discussion committees, the Living History Program and the school program. The museum’s school program is designed to introduce fourth grade students to local cultural and historical heritage and require additional training to familiarize volunteers to the program details.
San Pedro, Harbor Gateway Added to New Enterprise Zone
Harbor Area businesses got a boost this week with an announcement that the region has been included in a newly drawn state Enterprise Zone.
Businesses will receive up to $11,700 in tax credits in the first year for hiring local residents and those in hard-to-hire categories. The amount goes up to $35,400 for each hire over a five-year period.
But that's not all.
They also stand to benefit from sales tax credits on purchases of machinery, low-cost loans and a 35 percent electrical rate reduction from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
"These are very significant benefits," said Clifford Weiss, economic incentive zone manager for the city of Los Angeles.
"This is the holiday gift that the Harbor Area needed," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn said in a statement.
