Jul
29
Only 2 candidates so far for 3 Los Alamitos City Council Seats
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council, Election Issues | 5 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 7/29/2010) As of noon today, only two people had even “pulled papers” to run for the three seats up for election this November for Los Al’s City Council, and both are incumbents.
Both Troy Edgar and Dean Zarkos have picked up their election packets but neither had returned them yet. Papers must be filed with the City Clerk by next Read more
Jul
28
(7/28/2010, Los Alamitos) Los Alamitos, birthplace of the Claim Jumper chain, has long had an abundance of great places to eat, both formal and informal.
On the informal side, Paul’s Place and Volcano Burger have long been local favorites, while Nick’s Deli is a newer addition that’s pretty hard to beat.
Also hard to beat, but more in the “family dining” category would be the Gourmet Pie and Cafe across from Costco and Hoff’s Hut.
One of the newer and nicer restaurants is the Mediterranean/Greek Preveza which opened in the old Burger King on Los Al Blvd. If you haven’t tried it, you should!
The question is, what are your favorites, and why? A little opportunity to exchange info. Try to keep it to restaurants actually in Los Alamitos if you can–why not have 1% of the tab go to our city instead of Seal Beach or whomever? Maybe we’ll do another post for nearby food places later on.
What’s your favorite Los Al restaurant or fast food place? What’s your favorite item? What’s our town’s “Best Read more
Jul
25
Sunday Sermon: Empathy–the importance of “changing places”
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon, Teamwork | 1 Comment
(Sunday, 7/25/2010) In our “Sunday Sermon” series we take a break from the craziness of local politics and news to seek a more timeless & spiritual perspective. If that doesn’t interest you, you’ve got hundreds of other posts and thousands of comments to choose from.
Today’s thoughts are excerpted from a letter I received last month from a friend, Paul Rhoads, formerly assistant pastor at a church in Lakewood, currently with Christian Resource Ministries. In it he shares some truths that I think will hit home with most of us, but he definitely approaches the topic from a Christian perspective.
“Changing Places” is an attitude, or “posture” that my friend Paul believes is essential to “a life of on-going growth and renewal.” I’ll let him explain in his own words:
Changing Places means seeking to truly understand whatever situation I am in from the other’s point of view. There are three biblical convictions that undergird this posture:
We are incurably self-focused
Why? Because of our finiteness and our fallenness: We are limited by our own experience. We have only lived our own lives. We cannot know what it is really like to be someone else. We can imagine; we can try to put ourselves in their place, but our efforts are limited by that fact that we can only live our own life.
What makes matters worse is that we have been distorted by the disease called sin. Sin creates a centripetal force that pulls us into Read more
Jul
23
Curious minds want to know. . . random thoughts and questions
Filed Under Miscellaneous reader thoughts & questions | 18 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 7/23/2010) (by Dave Emerson. . . & you!) In the last few days I recieved several comments and questions from Los Alamitos residents via the “contact us” button in the masthead.
They weren’t related to any specific post, but raised good points. So I’m experimenting with a weekly post for you to post snippets of information, questions, or anything else you’d like to communicate with the community.
To read some of the comments and questions I received this week, or to post your own, please click here: Read more
Jul
19
Your reporting & comments on tonight’s 7/19/2010 Los Al Council meeting
Filed Under City Council Meetings | 1 Comment
(7/19/2010, Los Alamitos) As has become our custom, it’s your turn to let us know what you saw and what you thought at tonight’s City Council meeting. Whether you’re there in person or following along on LosAlTV3, or viewing it on a tape delay (yours or theirs).
To follow along just click here for tonight’s agenda, with links to all staff reports and attachments.
As always, please don’t assume all our readers saw the meeting. Describe what you saw before commenting on it.
To post your comments, or read those of others, just click the “more” Read more
Jul
19
“Compass Study” recommendations from tonight’s Council Presentation
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council, Planning & Zoning, Traffic | Leave a Comment
(7/19/2010) Tonight’s 7 p.m. Los Alamitos City Council meeting will feature a presentation on the results of SCAG’s study of the city’s two major traffic corridors.
I was surprised by both what was included and even more by Read more
Jul
17
Mob payback & reconciliation in “Shark Tales” movie at the Base pool tonight!
Filed Under Election Issues, News you can use | Leave a Comment
(Saturday, 7/17/2010) Wow! Our Los Alamitos Recreation Department sure knows when to schedule a free movie in the pool! Their choice of topics is even more intriguing. . .
At 7 p.m. tonight they’ll be showing the first of three free movies set for this summer. It’s Dreamworks 2004 animated film, “Shark Tales.” You can watch it from in the water or on the bleachers, and you’re even encouraged to “bring your inflatables for the pool!”
Shark Tales is a 90 minute feature with the voice of Will Smith as the main character.
It’s a kid’s movie that’s essentially a symbolic parody of 1972′s The Godfather (I’m not making this up. . . yet. . .) in which a City Council Majority elected with big money support from the local trash boss orders a hit on the Chairman of the Ocean’s Traffic Commission after he publicly opposes the Council for awarding the trash boss’s former company a ten year exclusive franchise costing six million dollars more than the lowest bidder.
Or something like that. The rumor is that the film’s been updated with a segment in which an evil foreign oil conglomerate’s massive oil spill threatens to destroy all the sharks in the Gulf, both good and evil. Anyway, in the end the mob boss comes to accept Will Smith’s character even though he doesn’t fit the standard mob mold, proving (are you listening, JM?) that even villains can have a change of heart. . .
If you don’t have air conditioning and are tired of paying to watch a movie to keep cool, then you might just want to toss the kids into the car tonight & drive over to the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base Pool. (Take Lexington south from Katella right into the main entrance. Lexington is east of Los Al Blvd. and west of Costco (Walker).
All adults entering the Base must have photo ID, but you do not have to be a Los Alamitos resident to participate.
This is the first of three “Movies in the Park” co-sponsored by Los Al Rec & and Revolution, the same folks that have combined to bring us the Easter Egg Hunt and Halloween Carnival for the last few years. (Despite rumors allegedly spread by a former Mayor, neither the Los Alamitos Easter Egg Hunt nor the White House Easter Egg Hunt was ever canceled due to the introduction of new crops on the White House lawn.)
Revolution is a non-denominational, contemporary church that meets at 10:00 a.m. Sundays at Artesia High, 12108 Del Amo, Lakewood (east of the 605). Church offices are actually in Los Alamitos at 10867 Portal Drive.
The other two movies are scheduled for Read more
Jul
16
SCAG Vision for Katella & Los Al Blvds on Monday Council Agenda
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council Meetings, Development, Planning & Zoning | 5 Comments
(7/16/2010, Los Alamitos) The agenda is out for this Monday’s City Council Meeting, with several items of interest.
Most significant for the city’s future is Read more
Jul
11
“Sunday Sermon:” The proper perspective on problems big and small
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | 6 Comments
(7/11/2010, Los Alamitos) Our occasional “Sunday Sermons” are a glance away from current issues in Los Alamitos in an attempt to capture the much broader perspective of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. If you don’t want to read such a perspective, you have been warned.
Today’s “Sunday Sermon,” once again, is taken from one of the notes by Pastor Chuck Smith in The Word for Today Bible. I would love to post “Sunday [or Shabbat] Sermons” from other local pastors & rabbis. Please encourage yours to submit brief devotionals using the “contact us” button in the masthead.
David’s perspective:
From First Samuel 17:32 – 37 (English Standard Version):
And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
“Pastor Chuck’s” comments:
David saw this giant Goliath from the proper perspective. It wasn’t David against the giant, but the giant against the God David served. So it wasn’t “Poor me, I’m facing a giant,” but it was “Poor giant, he’s facing the eternal God of Israel.”
David’s take on Goliath was that he had “defied the armies of the living God” and didn’t have a chance.
So often we become overwhelmed by our problems, and lose true perspective. Fear then grips our heart, and we are open for defeat. Remember who God is. That will give you perspective.
The key to conquering the giants God wants us to conquer, and to peace in all situations, is Read more
Jul
6
Your reporting on tonight’s (7/5/2010) Council Meeting
Filed Under City Council Meetings | 36 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 7/5/2010) Important meeting, (click here for details), lots on the agenda. If you catch it on TV3 or live, please let us know what you saw of significance & what you think. Diplomacy & polite language is always appreciated. Click “more” for comments or to comment: Read more
Jul
5
Council to consider ousting Commissioner Sheridan & also reversing Planning Commission @ 7 Tuesday
Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council Meetings, Decency, Traffic | 6 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 7/5/2010) This week the “5th of July” holiday resulted in the City Council’s meeting being pushed back to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, but it appears that the Council majority, fresh from their victory over ratepayers on the trash contract, is not taking any holiday from Read more
Jun
29
Fallen hero returns Wednesday at Los Al Base
Filed Under Community News, Inspiration, National Issues, The Base | 1 Comment
(6/29/2010, Los Alamitos, info supplied by Laura Hertzog, Base Community Relations) The Joint Forces Training Base will be welcoming home a Fallen Hero this Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Hero Mission for Cpl. Claudio Patino is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. The public is requested to arrive between 10:15 – 10:40 to allow time for parking and walking to the location.
Directions can be obtained from the Guard at the entrance to the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, 11206 Lexington Drive, south of Katella. Photo identification is required for entrance to the Base.
USMC Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, of Yorba Linda, Calif., died June 22 while supporting Read more
Jun
27
Your reporting & comments on 6/28 Public Hearing on City Budget
Filed Under City Budget, City Council Meetings | 3 Comments
8 p.m. Monday update: By now the hearing’s been held, and the staff report is up. If any of you happened to attend the meeting or watch on LosAlTV3, your reporting and comments would be appreciated.
3 p.m. update. Staff report link is now good–click here.
12:30 p.m., Monday, 6/28 update: Still no working link on the agenda to the staff report, unfortunately. Details below.
(6/27/2010, Los Alamitos, CA) The Los Alamitos City Council is holding a Special Meeting this Monday at 5:30 p.m. for the purposes of:
- Holding the required public hearing on the Annual Budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, apparently with a million dollar plus deficit (more on that later)
- Adopting the budget resolution.
- Adopting the city’s fiscal year appropriations limit in accordance with state law (the “Gann limit”).
Interestingly, the appropriations limit the city is set to adopt is almost 70% higher Read more
Jun
25
John Wooden Memorial Service broadcast live Saturday @ 11 on KCAL 9
Filed Under Inspiration | Leave a Comment
(6/25/2010) Saturday, June 26, beginning at 11 a.m. in Pauley Pavilion, UCLA will host a public memorial service on behalf of the Wooden family to celebrate the life of Coach John Wooden.
I had the privilege of attending UCLA during the height of Coach Wooden’s success, and have long admired him for his character, his skills in teaching, mentoring, building teamwork, and discipline.
Bruins and sports fans around the world have expressed interest in attending the memorial or gathering informally with fellow Bruins to remember Coach. The memorial service, expected to last 90 minutes, will be broadcast live at 11:00 by both KCAL 9 and Fox Prime Ticket in Southern California.
Too much good stuff
If you also want to watch the USA Ghana World Cup Round of 16 Soccer Game at 11:30 a.m. (on ABC 7), you’ll need to tape the Wooden Memorial, or vice versa. The problem is, UCLA’s amazing men’s baseball team will be playing the elimination game to decide if they make it to the finals of the College World Series at–you guessed it–11 a.m. Saturday morning (all times Pacific Daylight Savings). I plan on taping the Memorial as well as the half hour special at 12:30 on FSW and saving both for a long time, while flipping between the College World Series and the World Cup. . . . and, oh yeah, watching the grandkids.
Sound like a busy Saturday morning!
Wooden links
“John Wooden’s life was a love letter,” L.A.Times columnist T.J.Simers’ tribute.
UCLA’s Wooden Tribute page with videos, additional links.
As always, your thoughts and comments, including any postings about the Memorial Service itself, are welcome. Click here to post a or read a comment: Read more
Jun
22
Meeting for Vets at Base this Thursday
Filed Under Local events, News you can use, The Base | Leave a Comment
(Los Alamitos, 6/22/2010) If you know any vets, especially any recently returned from active duty, you might want to use the “share this” button at the bottom of this post to forward this information.
The California Department of Veterans’ Affairs is holding a series of “All Hands” meetings across California to convey a variety of important information about benefits and other news to California Veterans, and the local meeting is scheduled for this Thursday evening, June 24, 2010, at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.
Here are Read more
