Issues

Paid Internships In The Arts Now Available

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved a motion to provide $250,000 for the 2010 Los Angeles County Arts Internship Program. The program is for Los Angeles County-based nonprofit performing, presenting and literary arts organizations interested in mentoring an undergraduate college student for ten weeks during summer 2010.

The guidelines and application for the program are now available on the Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s Web site.

The deadline to submit an application is Wednesday, April 7, 2010. Grants of $2,500 to $3,500, depending on organizational budget size, to be used to pay interns are awarded to successful applicant organizations.

Organizations interested in this program should review the guidelines before beginning an application. Several aspects of the program have changed due to decreased funding:

Only arts organizations that possess 501(c)(3) status are eligible for the program, including municipal arts agencies and municipal performing arts organizations.

Each organization may request only one full-time intern.

Organizations with budgets over $1.5 million are required to provide a $500 match.

Organizations with budgets over $4 million are required to provide a $1,000 match.

The purpose of the County’s program is to provide undergraduate students with meaningful on-the-job training and experience in working in nonprofit arts organizations, while assisting arts organizations to develop future arts leaders.

Child Support Services Outreach Event

Parents who owe past due child support are invited to a special community outreach event on Saturday, April 3. Parents will be able to make payment arrangements, have a suspended license released and receive information about services offered by Los Angeles County departments.

The Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department (CSSD) is holding Let’s Seal a Deal on Your Past Due Child Support, at the South Coast Botanic Gardens from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Staff from CSSD will be present to talk to parents about their child support cases and negotiate arrangements for past due payments. Payments can be made by cash, check or credit card.

Parents also will be able to get job and free service information offered by other County Departments including: Public Social Services, Military and Veterans Affairs, Community and Senior Services, and Children and Family Services.

The Department of Child Support Services wants to help parents act responsibly in eliminating past due child support which is important for their families, said CSSD Deputy Director Lori Cruz, who will be present at the outreach. This is a special opportunity for parents to come in and talk to us and work out some arrangements.

CSSD assists families and children in Los Angeles County with free child support services. CSSD basic services include establishing, modifying and enforcing child support obligations including medical support. Other services include free paternity testing, collecting child support and locating parents.

The South Coast Botanic Gardens is located at 26300 Crenshaw Boulevard in Palos Verdes Estates. For more information visit http://www.cssd.lacounty.gov or call (866) 901-3212.

Tuberculosis Is Not A Thing Of The Past, But A Current Threat

As nations around the globe observed World TB Day this week, the Los Angeles County Health Officer reminds residents that despite the popular misconception that tuberculosis (TB) is a thing of the past; TB impacts millions of lives worldwide every year. Drug-resistant forms of disease are an ongoing concern for Los Angeles County.

Though efforts to manage, treat and eliminate tuberculosis have met with remarkable success in Los Angeles County, we are not immune to more serious forms of this disease, said Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and Health Officer. There were 116 local cases of drug-resistant TB between 1998 and 2008, which reminds us that TB is an ongoing threat. Through rapid diagnostic methods, timely reporting of cases to Public Health and appropriate care for all individuals, we can work toward one day eradicating this disease.

The number of cases of all forms of TB in the County has plummeted from a peak of 2,100 in 1992 to 706 cases in 2009. Worldwide, more than 9 million cases are still reported annually, and more than 1.5 million people die of tuberculosis each year. Cases of TB in the County appear to be largely contracted abroad, with the vast majority occurring in foreign-born individuals. Though the prevalence of the disease in the U.S. has declined over the past century, Los Angeles County – as a major hub of international travel, commerce and immigration – cannot expect to be unaffected by an illness that so strongly affects the U.S.’s neighbors.

If not treated properly, TB can be fatal. It is particularly dangerous for medically vulnerable individuals. Patients who are immuno-compromised, such as those who are HIV-infected, and those who have other medical conditions, such as diabetes or cancer, are among the most likely to develop significant complications.

For further information about TB, please visit any of the following websites: Stop TB Partnership (http://www.stoptb.org), and the Los Angeles County TB Control Program (http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/tb).

Opera Tales Returning to Fourth District Libraries

Supervisor Don Knabe announced that the highly-acclaimed Opera Tales program will soon be returning to Fourth District County Libraries. Opera Tales is a LA Opera program that introduces children and families to the world of opera at local libraries. Supervisor Knabe established the partnership between the LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and provided funding to bring the free family performances to libraries in the Fourth District.

This year, German Opera Tales features five professional opera singers who perform musical moments from such German opera stories as Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, and Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel in celebration of LA Opera’s Ring cycle and the Ring Festival LA.

Fourth District County Libraries that will host German Opera Tales:

Rowland Heights Library: Saturday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m.

Los Nietos Library: Tuesday, April 20 at 4:00 p.m.

Hacienda Heights Library: Saturday, April 24 at 2:30 p.m.

Angelo M. Iacoboni Library: Sunday, April 25 at 2:00 p.m.

Norwalk Regional Library: Tuesday, April 27 at 4:00 p.m.

Lloyd Taber-Marina del Rey Library: Thursday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Hermosa Beach Library: Friday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m.

For information on library locations or future programs, please call

(562) 940-8422, or visit the County Library Web site at www.colapublib.org.

County Hosting Census Assistance Centers

The County of Los Angeles will host centers within a number of its facilities to assist residents who have questions about the Census, need help in filling out their Census forms, or need a Census form.

Questionnaire assistance centers will be staffed by Census representatives to answer questions regarding the Census form. Be Counted Sites will provide residents with a new Census form if they have lost their form or never received one. Hours vary by location, and some sites will serve only as a questionnaire assistance center or a Be Counted Site, so residents should call before visiting.

There are 67 centers located at County libraries, parks, health centers, senior centers and fire stations open to assist the public. In addition, the County Public Social

Services Department will provide assistance at 21 of its offices to clients already visiting those facilities.

Fourth District Census Assistance Centers

Deane Dana Friendship Park: 1805 W. 9th St., San Pedro – (310) 519-6115

Rancho Los Amigos: 7601 E. Imperial Hwy., Room 103, Downey – (213) 974-1148

Los Nietos Senior Center: 11640 E. Slauson Ave., Whittier – (562) 699-9898

Office of Public Safety: 12951 Juniper St., Downey – (213) 974-1148

Registrar Recorder/County Clerk: 12400 Imperial Hwy., Norwalk – (562) 562-2704

San Pedro Service Center: 769 W. Third St., San Pedro – (310) 519-6091

Schabarum Regional Park: 17250 E. Colima Rd., Rowland Heights – (626) 854-5560

Hermosa Beach Library: 550 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach – (310) 830-0231

Lomita Library: 24200 Narbonne Ave., Lomita – (310) 830-0231

Paramount Library: 16254 Colorado Ave., Paramount – (562) 868-0770

Los Nietos Library: 11644 E. Slauson Ave., Whittier – (323) 722-5621

Hacienda Heights Library: 16010 La Monde St., Hacienda Heights – (626) 960-2861

Rowland Heights Library: 1850 Nogales St., Rowland Heights – (626) 960-2861

Disasters Happen. Prepare Today. Learn Here,

In less than a year, Los Angeles County residents have faced earthquakes, floods, wild fires, debris and mud flows, mudslides, winter storms, pandemic flu, and the effects of a tsunami.

Los Angeles County has prepared a comprehensive guide to emergency preparedness intended to help the residents of Los Angeles County better prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

The Emergency Survival Guide has 100 color pages of helpful tips and information for residents to prepare for fires, floods, earthquakes, pandemic flu, terrorism, extreme weather, and tsunamis. There is space to record household emergency plans including out-of-state contacts, family evacuation gathering points, and the location of utility shut-offs. The Emergency Survival Guide also includes checklists for gathering emergency supplies that will help individuals, families, pet owners, businesses and communities survive and recover after a major disaster.

The Emergency Survival Guide is available online at http://lacounty.gov. Additional information on preparing for disasters is also available on-line at www.espfocus.org.

Residents and business owners, including persons with access and functional needs may also call 211 LA County for emergency preparedness information and other referral services. The toll-free 2-1-1 number is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. 211 LA County services can also be accessed by visiting http://211la.org.

Blue Butterfly Release Planned For Palos Verdes This Weekend

Tomorrow morning, Supervisor Don Knabe will join community leaders for the release of endangered Palos Verdes blue butterflies into restored coastal sage scrub habitat at Deane Dana Friendship Community Regional Park and Nature Center (Friendship Park) in San Pedro.

The Palos Verdes blue butterfly is a small, colorful, thumbnail-sized butterfly that was federally listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980. The release of endangered Palos Verdes blue butterflies at Deane Dana Friendship Park is one component of ongoing multiple partnership efforts to recover this endangered native species in southern California.

Recovery actions include the restoration of the butterfly’s habitat by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy at Friendship Park, and captive-rearing at Defense Fuel Support Point San Pedro and The Urban Wildlands Group and America’s Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College.

Deane Dana Friendship Community Regional Park and Nature Center is located at 1805 W. 9th Street, San Pedro, CA 90732. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and admission is free. In the event of rain, the butterflies will not be released but will be available on display inside the Nature Center.

Statement On Abandoned Newborn In Redondo Beach

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe issued the following statement regarding today’s discovery of an abandoned, deceased newborn in a trash can in Redondo Beach:

Tragedies like this do not have to happen in this County and in our communities. Since 2001, we have had a successful alternative in the Safe Surrender Program, which is designed to prevent abandonments and save precious lives. It provides a way for desperate parents to safely surrender their baby without fear of prosecution. Parents or family members can safely surrender their baby at any hospital and every fire station in Los Angeles County. The babies are given medical treatment and immediately placed in a loving foster or pre-adoptive home.

There is no shame, no blame, and no names. Don’t abandon your baby. You have a confidential choice. Bring your baby to any emergency room or fire station. Get your baby into safe hands. We will take care of the rest. No questions asked. The multilingual Safe Surrender Hotline, 1-877-BABY-SAFE, is available 24-hours a day for more information and the location of the nearest Safe Surrender site. Surrender sites can also be found by calling the County helpline at 211 or by visiting www.babysafela.org.

76 Safe Surrenders have occurred Safe Surrender since the program began in 2001. The last surrender occurred in Pasadena in October 2009, and a total of seven newborns were surrendered last year. The last abandoned, deceased newborn was discovered in Pomona in April 2009. A total of two abandonments were discovered in Los Angeles County in 2009, down from a high of 14 the year the program was launched.

The program was initiated by Supervisor Knabe and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in 2001. It allows someone to surrender an infant that is no more than three days old, as long as the infant shows no signs of abuse.

Moderate Tsunami Damage Reported In Marina del Rey

The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors announced today moderate damage in connection with the tsunami activity on Saturday, February 27, as a result of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile.

A series of tidal surges impacted many Southern California harbors including Marina del Rey, with moderate dock damage reported at the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors’ public docks.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., Beaches and Harbors’ Marina Maintenance staff responded to slip G-200 when a dock finger pulled away from the main walkway. Work crews secured the broken finger to the other boat slips to prevent it from entering the main channel. Utility lines on the dock were also secured and turned off.

To reduce damage to adjacent boat slips and vessels, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Marina Station relocated six vessels ranging in length from 30′-55′ within the anchorage with all vessels reported secured by 9:30 p.m.

Damage assessments are currently underway to determine the cost of replacing the eight Beaches and Harbors’ public docks affected by the February 27th tsunami. There were no reports of vessels damaged in Marina del Rey by the series of tidal surges.

Reward Sought After Swastika Carved Into Putting Green At County Golf Course

Supervisor Don Knabe will be introducing a $5,000 reward for information on the vandals responsible for carving a large swastika into a putting green at Lakewood Country Club over the weekend.

Sometime in the early morning hours of Sunday, February 28, vandals broke into the County-owned golf course and carved an approximately eight foot by eight foot swastika into the putting green on Hole #1. Vandals also dug several deep holes into the green near the swastika.

The damage was discovered by an employee at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and reported to the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station. The investigation into the vandalism is ongoing.

Crews have already repaired the damage to the golf course, and the swastika is no longer visible. In response, Supervisor Knabe will be asking his colleagues to approve an urgency motion at tomorrow’s Board of Supervisors meeting to establish a $5,000 reward for information about this vandalism or those responsible.

The physical damage to the golf course may be repaired already, but the lasting damage that crimes like this leave on a community can be far more devastating, said Supervisor Knabe. This vandalism is simple and unacceptable hatred. The residents of Lakewood will not tolerate it, and the County will not tolerate it at our publically-owned golf courses.

Questions or information can be directed to Detective Theo Gekas of the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station at (562) 623-3500. The damage has been repaired, but a photo from when the vandalism was first discovered is attached to this press release.