Hacienda Heights discusses NFL football stadium

The Hacienda Heights Improvement Association will meet 7 p.m. Monday, April 20, in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School Board Room at 15959 E. Gale Ave.

The group will be discussing the new NFL football stadium in Industry and its effect on the local communities. They will also plan the next beautification day event.

For more information, check out their web site at hhia.net.

Homestead Museum holds curator camp for kids in Industry

The Homestead Museum’s popular Curator Camp will be offered on Saturday, April 18.
Children in the fourth- through sixth-grades spend the day working behind the scenes with curators on fun projects.

Participants will also investigate corners of the museum that are not usually accessible to the public. The camp will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Museum, located at 15415 Don Julian Road.

The $20 fee includes a Junior Curator T-shirt, a take-home conservation kit, lunch and more. Class size is limited.

For information or to secure an application, call (626) 968-8492 or visit www. homesteadmuseum.org.

Metropolitan Water District cutting water supply

I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did. Our water districts have been pushing conservation because they saw what was coming.

And now it’s happened, the Metropolitan Water District, the agency that distributes water imported from the north and the Colorado River to the region, voted Tuesday to implement an allocation plan that cuts the amount of imported water local agencies will receive by 10 to 15 percent. Yes that includes Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. Hello!

The MWD board of directors also voted to increase water rates by 20 percent this year, and plan to raise them by as much next year. Can you afford a 40 percent increase in your water bill during these hard times?

The actions mark the first time since 1991 that imported water has been rationed and the first time in since 1993 that rates have increased so dramatically.

“Today is really a historic day, it is a day many of us hoped we wouldn’t come to,” said board chairman Timothy Brick, who represents the city of Pasadena on the board. “The challenges we face today are as great as any board of Metropolitan has faced … It represents the end of an era of cheap water.”

Read the whole story in the Rowland Heights Highlander.

Homeless coalition facing budget cuts

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Just when the need continues to grow, cities are cutting their funding for the East San Gabriel Coalition for the Homeless.

For the second time this year, the area’s main homeless-services group could lose funding from one of its member cities.

In February, the city of Covina decided against giving the East San Gabriel Coalition for the Homeless its customary $5,000 annual funding.

Now Glendora may pull its $5,000. At its meeting tonight, city council will consider a recommendation to fund eight groups, but not the homeless coalition.

This year’s winter shelter program saw a huge increase in the number of homeless families looking for shelter. According to Irene Kubo, executive director for the coalition, there were 1,021 unduplicated individual clients served, and 131 unduplicated family units. The latter broke down into 249 children and 172 adults.

Among other services, the coalition runs the Emergency Assistance Center at St. John Vianney Catholic Parish on Turnbull Canyon Road. Pictured above is some of the homeless receiving a nutritious hot meal before spending the night.

The coalition houses only individuals overnight at the church sites, and gives motel vouchers to families. The Coalition issued 291 motel vouchers plus housing at a Glendora church for 48 nights.

The churches generously donate their facilities at no charge, but the cost for the motel vouchers exceeded $16,000.

Volunteers served 18,200 hot meals, packed the same number of lunches and served the same number of breakfasts — 54,600 in 105 days! Of those meals, 869 were to individuals and families who came just to eat dinner.

There were 16,500 bed nights. A “bed night” is a cot occupied by an individual for the night. This average was about the same as last year.

The coalition provides showers, toothbrushes, food, clothes, bus tokens and other services to about 500 people a year. The winter shelters are run by volunteers at many of our area churches, including Glenkirk Presbyterian in Glendora.

Last year, only six cities in the San Gabriel Valley funded the homeless group: Covina, Glendora, Baldwin Park, West Covina, Montebello and La Puente.

Together, the cities chipped in $45,000. Now that number is expected to drop to $35,000.

The coalition received a score that was too low to qualify for funding, according to Jeff Kugel, the city’s redevelopment and planning director.

The staff recommended that eight other groups split the city’s $67,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds designated for services, including helping the homeless, Kugel said.

“The thing that really hurt (the coalition) was that they could not tell us how many Glendora residents they served,” he said.

Workers at the coalition said they have ample documentation of serving Glendora residents.

“We don’t turn anybody down, so other cities are going to pick up the slack,” Kubo said. “This is going to have a ripple effect throughout the area.”

The council will vote on the funding at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 116 Foothill Blvd.

Bee, Bat and Bonk at Hacienda Library

A children’s program at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, will help the entire family celebrate National Library Week at the Hacienda Heights Library.

Flights of Fancy Story Theater group will present “A Bee, A Bat, and A Bonk” with fun props and zany antics. The performers give a unique spin on folk tales and fables from around the world. This program is funded by the Friends of the Library.

The Hacienda Heights Library is at 16010 La Monde St. For information, call (626) 968-9356.

Council talks trash in Rowland Heights

The Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council will meet tonight at 7 p.m. at Pathfinder Park Community Center, located on the corner of Pathfinder and Fullerton roads.

Representatives from United Pacific Waste and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works will discuss local trash franchises and concerns.

The meeting will also include reports from law enforcement and from representatives of local elected officials.

For information about RHCCC, visit www.rhccc.netfirms.com.

Los Altos students win C-SPAN contest

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(Leo Jarzomb / Staff Photographer)
Los Altos High students from left: Jared Kasparian, Kevin Halpin, Diane Ting and Enid Zhou, all 18, placed in a nationwide video contest sponsored by CSPAN.

Timing is everything, and when C-SPAN asked high school students to submit videos for their annual StudentCam competition on the eve of Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration, it made all the difference, according to Meredith Rapp, C-SPAN’s education program specialist.

C-SPAN received 1,000 videos, or three times the entries that they did last year, and at the top of the heap were two videos produced by Los Altos High School seniors.

The videos that snagged two out of the competition’s 75 honorable mentions were “The Economic Crisis” by Jared Kasparian, Lance Vitali and Kevin Halpin, and “‘These Kids’ Syndrome: A Comparative Look at American Education” by Enid Zhou and Diane Ting.

Read the whole story in the Hacienda Heights Highlander.

Disaster education at Hacienda Library

The Hacienda Heights Library and the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles will offer “Community Disaster Education” at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11.

Officials warn that 64 percent of Americans have no evacuation plan and only 7 percent of the population is ready for a disaster.

This free program will teach the skills needed in three simple steps: Get a Kit, Make a Plan and Be Informed.