SEE PAGE 3 for 21st annual gun melt in los angeles county
SEE PAGE 2 for women’s conference september 18 MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014 - AUGUST 31, 2014
cypressnewspress.com
The Ice Bucket Challenge: fun or controversial? by jennifer schlueter Have you asked yourself why so many of your social media friends and people like former president George W. Bush, LeBron James, and Oprah Winfrey recently have been pouring ice buckets over their heads? Not only in the United States have people joined this trend where you donate to the ALS Association if the chilling thought of ice water does not appeal to you: Thanks to challengers nominating three other individuals, the ice bucket challenge has quickly gone viral all over the world, and the ALS Association has received over $30 million as of August 20, according to the official website. Compared to the same period of last year, from July 29 to August 20, donations amounted to $1.9 million. According to Slate, the Ice Bucket Challenge was not an invention of Pete Frates, an ALS patient, or the ALS Association, but of a few pro athletes, who were dared to contribute $100 to a charity of their choice, if they declined an ice bath. Proving this are videos by Matt Lau-
proaching, the need for quality volunteers continues. Opportunities are available for one hour a week or more to help members with their homework, art activities, tournaments, and sports activities. School year program begins Monday, August 25 and runs from 2:00pm -6:30pm Monday through Friday. Volunteer schedules are flexible and can be arranged to Please see page 4
Please see page
with which former baseball star Frates was diagnosed. Critics of the #icebucketchallenge, as it is referred to online, have expressed their concerns about the dare being a bandwagon trend. Today’s web narcissists join to collect “likes” or because they feel peer pressure. The challenge Please see page 2
Over 1,200 Hours Volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club of Cypress this Summer The Boys & Girls Club of Cypress has had a fun and exciting summer program thanks in large part to many outstanding volunteers who were willing to share their time and talents with the youth members of the Club. Thirty different volunteers gave over 1,200 hours of service throughout the ten week summer program; volunteers were high-school students, adult volunteers, and members of the National Char-
ity League. These volunteers assisted grade-level groups, helped lead special classes, assisted with art and sports activities, performed janitorial work, and helped with lunch and snack distribution. The Boys & Girls Club of Cypress is truly appreciative of the commitment each and every one of these volunteers made to our program and our youth this summer. With the school year ap-
Landmark $400 million film and television job creation act passes final committee, headed to Senate floor The long saga of AB 1839, the California Film and Television Job Retention and Promotion Act of 2014, continued by passing its final committee barrier, clearing the Senate Appropriations Committee by a 5-0 vote. The legislation, authored by Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) and Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), contained numerous amendments today which represent the culmination of nearly a year of research and negotiations and would expand and significantly improve the state’s current program to keep production jobs in California. The most anticipated amendment to the bill expands the program’s allocation to $400 million a year. Other changes include: allowing big-budget blockbusters – which create the most jobs – to qualify for the incentive; spending requirements to protect jobs and wages for below-the-line workers; creating certainty for television series by guaranteeing credits if the show is renewed; and providing larger incentives for film and television productions that move to California from out of
Pete Frates, ALS patient, linked the Ice Bucket Challenge to the ALS Association. -Facebook Photo
er, Martha Stewart, and others, who predate any videos mentioning the ALS Association. Frates, 29, however, initiated people donating to the ALS Association should they refuse his Ice Bucket Challenge. The non-profit organization is committed to research the fatal nerve disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,”
VOLUME 1, NO. 9
2 | AUGUST 25, 2014 - AUGUST 31, 2014
Cypress Women's Conference, Thursday, September 18 Mark your calendars and register for the Cypress Women’s Conference on Thursday, September 18, 2014, from 8:45 a.m. to noon, at the Cypress Community Center, located at 5700 Orange Avenue. Council Member Mariellen Yarc stated, “I am very excited for the return of the Cypress Women’s Conference. We have some great speakers lined up for the event, including Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens. This event is a great opportunity for Cypress women of all ages and walks of life to come together to learn, share and celebrate our achievements.” In addition to the keynote speaker, the conference will also feature breakout sessions in a variety of interesting topics such as: - “Design What You Want or Deal With What You Get”
- Healthy Lifestyle & Nutrition - Tips for Women – Investing and Saving - Women in Business: The Glass Ceiling, Is It Still There? The cost to attend this event is $15. Online registration is available through the City’s Recreation Department online registration system at www.cypressrec.com. To register via mail, please send a check or money order to: City of Cypress Administration 5275 Orange Avenue Cypress, CA 90630 Interested in being an Exhibitor? It’s Free! Visit http:// www.ci.cypress.ca.us/economic_dvlpt/womens_conference. htm for more information and to sign-up. For more information regarding the Conference, contact Steve Clarke at sclarke@ci.cypress.ca.us, or (714) 229-6728.
Happily Ever After Wendy Crutcher, recipient of the 2011 Romance Writers of America’s Librarian of the Year Award, will discuss romance writing and writers with historical romance novelist, Tessa Dare, on September
13th. The author’s latest novel, Romancing the Duke, will be available for purchase and signing. Join us in the Cypress Community Room at 2:30 p.m. Please call the library at 714826-0350 for more information.
Film and television job creation act Continued from page 1
state and those that film outside of Los Angeles. “I’ve heard from so many people over the past year, who have told me about their family being torn apart because production left the state,” said Gatto. “This proactive effort ensures well-paying jobs stay in California and families remain together.” California’s film and television industry has faced increasing competition in recent years from subsidies by other states and countries. Since its creation in 2009, the California Film and Television Job Retention and Promotion Act prevented as many as 51,000 well-paying jobs from leaving the state, and helped generate $4.5 billion in economic activity. Despite the program’s success, figures from the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show that from
2004-2012, California lost more than 16,000 film-and televisionindustry jobs, resulting in more than $1.5 billion in lost wages and economic activity. “Passing this expanded and improved program is a critical step forward to bringing back high-paying film jobs to California,” said Bocanegra. “I’d like to thank Chairman De León for his leadership on this effort. He’s been a tremendous partner and champion for the film industry. I appreciate the Committee’s support of AB 1839 today and look forward to continuing the fight to move this through the legislative process and ultimately see it signed into law.” The bill now goes to the Senate floor, where it needs to be voted on by the end of the legislative session, August 31, 2014.
Ice Bucket challenge Continued from page 1
was supposed to help charities by donating money to them; however, more people seem to enjoy freezing their brain cells because their friends do it rather than raising awareness for a good cause. That’s probably why some videos do not even mention ALS. Yet, there are those outstanding people who have done both the challenge and a donation. Especially in droughtstricken California, the Ice Bucket Challenge videos are viewed with raised eyebrows and shaking heads. According to Reddit, less water than people believe is wasted: “Comparatively speaking, very little. People use much, much more water for everyday activities than they do for the ALS ice bucket challenge. The most obvious example: you use as much water in one minute in the shower as you would use for one bucket of ice water. (The average showerhead uses about five gallons per minute,
while the average bucket holds the same amount.) And most people take showers every day, for often quite a bit longer than one minute.” With California authorities issuing fines for unlawful outdoor water use such as hosing down asphalts and watering on certain weekdays, it is interesting to note that, according to a 2012 Pacific Institute report, households only use about 4 percent of California’s water, whereas agriculture takes up 93 percent. Cows drink 23 gallons of water, and automatic flushing systems for them can use up to 150 gallons a day. The One Green Planet article which compiled this data therefore suggests replacing animal products with a plant-based diet to save water. Whether you choose to engage in the Ice Bucket Challenge or not, please keep in mind that it intends to promote donations to charities, and not a trend.
AUGUST 25, 2014 - AUGUST 31, 2014 | 3
hlr media EDITORIAL
jschlueter@hlrmedia.com
Editor
Jennifer Schlueter
Publisher HLR Media
Advertising
advertising@hlrmedia.com
Submissions:
Please send all press releases to: jschlueter@hlrmedia.com HLR Media, LLC .All contents herein are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily that of the management and staff at HLR Media, LLC
Phone: (626) 386-3457 Fax: (626) 600-4452
Alhambra PRESS
Baldwin Park
INDEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT
Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers oversees the 21st annual Gun Melt On Wednesday, August 13, 2014, Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers announced the destruction of 4,661 weapons confiscated from criminals in Los Angeles County and collected through the “Gifts for Guns” exchange program. Annually, Gerdau Steel Mill, located in Rancho Cucamonga, generously donates its furnace, equipment and personnel to convert these weapons into steel rebar. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works also donates the trucks every year that transport the weapons to the Mill. These weapons will be melted into steel reinforcing bar (rebar) and ultimately transformed into elements of construction for upgrades in freeways and bridges in Arizona, California and Nevada. “Our partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department allows us the opportunity to make a positive impact on our community,” said Mark Olson, Vice President and General Manager of the Gerdau Mill in Rancho Cucamonga. “Gerdau is melting materials that could otherwise damage our community and transforming them into steel that will be repurposed to create the buildings, roads and bridges we use daily.” This year twelve law enforcement agencies contributed confiscated weapons to this program. These agencies include Downey Police Department, Long Beach Police Department, South Gate Police Department, Beverly Hills Police Department, El Monte Police Department, West Covina Police Department, Gardena Police Department, South Pasadena Police Department, Manhattan Beach Police Department, UCLA Police Department, Department of Motor Vehicles Police Department and Pasadena Police Department. “The continuous partnership with Gerdau Steel Mill has allowed law enforcement to destroy thousands of weapons that will never be used again to commit crimes on the streets of Los Angeles County. The guns that are being destroyed today have
-Photo by Terry Miller
been collected throughout the year and are a great example of the hard work of law enforcement officers in the communities we serve. Since the inception of the Gun Melt Program we have destroyed a total of 178,167 weapons,” said Assistant Sheriff
Todd Rogers. For more information please contact Public Information Officer Nicole Nishida at (323) 810-1973 or Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau at (323) 267-4800. For information about Gerdau please visit http:// www.gerdau.com/longsteel/
Long Beach Office 3780 Kilroy Airport Way Suite 360 Long Beach, CA 90806 Ph. (562) 472-0071 Fx. (562) 689-0071 Los Angeles Office 5701 South Eastern Avenue Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90040 Ph. (323) 727-1144 Fx. (323) 727-9198 www.heger-industrial.com Lic. #00814086
4 | AUGUST 25, 2014 - AUGUST 31, 2014
LADWP Water Conservation Response Unit takes to the streets to curb water waste As California continues to weather through the drought, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Water Conservation Response Unit (WCRU) is stepping up public education and enforcement of the water conservation ordinance with three additional staff members and specially marked vehicles. The additional staff has already begun patrolling the city of Los Angeles for water waste and responding to tips provided by phone, email and through social media. LADWP’s General Manager Marcie Edwards says, “The WCRU will help remind customers about our watering restrictions, the importance of saving water, and enforce the ordinance in a friendly yet firm way.” She adds, “They are also great sources of information on how to become more water efficient in your home and outdoors, where about half of all water is used.” L.A. is currently in Phase 2 of the mandatory water conservation ordinance. This phase prohibits the following uses of water in Los Angeles: Watering more than 3 days a week. Odd addresses may water with sprinklers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Even addresses may water on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Absolutely no watering on Saturdays. Watering between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Watering more than 8 min-
utes per station. Watering of any hard surfaces such as sidewalks, walkways, driveways or parking areas, except for sanitary purposes. Outdoor watering during periods of rain. Allowing runoff onto streets and gutters from excessive watering. Allowing leaks from any pipe or fixture to go unrepaired. Washing vehicles without using a hose with a self-closing water shut-off nozzle. Through conversations or informational materials, the WCRU will first educate water wasters about the ordinance and prescribe corrective measures. Repeat violators are subject to monetary fines, from $100-$300 for residential customers and $200-600 for commercial customers. From January through June 2014, the WCRU has received 1,400 reports of ordinance violations, 863 resulted in warnings or citation letters. However, no fines have yet been assessed. According to Rick Silva, the supervisor of the WCRU, “We don’t expect to issue a lot of fines because people understand the drought but simply don’t know about the ordinance. After our interaction with them, they are usually able to correct the violation and comply with the ordinance." This approach worked well in previous years when LADWP used a small team to enforce the ordinance. From 2009 through
2012, 9,000 warnings were issued and only 300 monetary fines were imposed while water use dropped over 20 percent citywide. Overall water use in Los Angeles is down. Since the last drought in 2007, L.A. has reduced its water use by 17 percent. Following the state’s call for more water conservation, water use in Los Angeles in July 2014 fell 4.4 percent compared to the
same month last year despite a 2.6 degree increase in temperature. Today, L.A. water customers as a whole use the same amount of water as they did 40 years ago despite the rise in population. To report water waste to the WCRU, residents may email waterwaste@ladwp.com or call 1-800-DIAL-DWP. To learn more, visit www.ladwp. com/waterconservation.
Holden’s kitchen grease theft bill goes to Governor for signature The California State Legislature has overwhelmingly approved Assemblymember Chris Holden’s bill to strengthen laws against stealing used cooking oil. The Assembly gave final approval to Holden’s AB 1566 which increases penalties for stealing grease and beefs up law enforcement’s efforts to stop modern-dayrustlers. The vote was 70 to 0. Used cooking oil from deep fryers in restaurants all across the state has become a hot commodity which can be worth hundreds of dollars when converted into clean-burning biofuel. It is often targeted by grease thieves who see it as a way to make an easy haul. The penalties have been so minor, many law enforcement agencies don’t even respond when owners report the theft. “As the alternative fuels market keeps growing, the demand for inedible kitchen grease-based biofuels will grow as well,” said Assemblymember Holden.
“The price increases stemming from this new demand will make grease theft a more lucrative crime in the coming years. AB 1566 provides law enforcement with the tools to combat grease theft and protect the burgeoning biofuels market by beefing up requirements for licensed haulers, increasing the penalties for stealing grease and allowing law enforcement to impound vehicles for up to 15 days.” According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, a typical fast-food restaurant produces 150-250 pounds of grease a week and a fully loaded pumper truck could bring in as much as $900 at a recycling center. Thieves often strike in the night and syphon off the used grease and sell it on the black market. It has been an on-going safety and environmental issue in many areas. AB 1566 now goes to the Governor for signature.
1,200 volunteer hours Continued from page 1
fit availability. If you are interested in volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club of Cypress, applications can be found online at www. boysandgirlsclubofcypress. com or picked up in person from the Club, which is located
at 10161 Moody St. in Cypress. For more information about the volunteering program, please contact Erika Gary, volunteer services coordinator, by email at kingadmin@bgccypress.org or by phone at (714) 527-2697 or (714) 473-3409..