La Mirada Blog
Articles by Tony Aiello
La Mirada Little League Juniors Win So Cal Championship
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| NEXT STOP: After winning the So Cal title, the La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars next travel to Vancouver, WA to compete in the Western Regional, hoping to get back to the big show. |
UPDATE 07/28/13 5:47: The Junior All-Stars will be holding a fundraiser today at SoCal Pizza/Norwalk from 12-4 p.m. to help them with their expenses associated with their trip to Vancouver, Washington.
Santa Ana~The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars are headed to the State of Washington after beating Trabuco Canyon earlier today 10-5-sweeping the best-of-three series in two games to win the Southern California Division Championship.
La Mirada will know compete in the 2013 Western Regional Junior Baseball International Tournament at Propstra Stadium in Vancouver, WA beginning July 31st with a chance to return to the Junior League World Series.
This is the tenth anniversary season of when La Mirada won the Junior League World Series in 2003.
Walmart Neighborhood Market Coming to La Mirada This Fall; Hiring Over 60 Employees
La Mirada~As reported here first on the La Mirada Blog many months ago, a new Walmart Neighborhood Market is coming to La Mirada.
The new store located at 14865 Telegraph Road is currently under construction adjacent to the new Walgreens that opened last month in the Crossroads Shopping Center and is expected to open this fall.
Walmart will be hiring over 60 employees for the new store and they will be opening a temporary job hiring center tomorrow (Monday) at the WorkSource Center, 10400 Pioneer Blvd. in Santa Fe Springs. The center will be open 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. through Friday.
Expect to begin working around October with full and part-time positions available. You can also apply or inquire online at http://www.careers.walmart.com/
The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in 1998, and today there are approximately 250 Walmart Neighborhood Market stores nationwide. The markets offer a one-stop destination for customers to purchase groceries and pharmaceuticals, along with other features you might find in a conventional grocery store.
Also, at around 30,000-50,000 square feet, the stores are generally the same size of a traditional grocery store. The La Mirada store will be about 35,000 square feet.
Also, renovation continues on the additional building on the property-the site of the former SoCal Pizza-that was not demolished as part of the current renovation process at the center. It will be enhanced, and will compliment the new city-mandated Mediterranean design the new Walgreens and Walmart have incorporated.
La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars to Play in So-Cal Championship Series
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| Coaches and players celebrate last night after LMLL Junior All-Stars capture Southern California/North Championship |
Playing in the ten-year anniversary season of going to the World Series, the La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars are on the road to going back
Santa Ana~The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Star team beat Glendora National last night, 11-0, to capture the Junior Division Southern California North Championship title.
La Mirada will play again starting this Friday July 26th at Memorial Park in Santa Ana in a best-of-three series against the So-Cal South Champion (yet TBD).
The two teams will play for the Southern California Championship, with game time Friday at 6 p.m.
The last time the LMLL Junior Division went this far was in 2003, when they went all the way to the Junior World Series and won it all, ten years ago.
Should the team win the series this weekend, they will be traveling to Vancouver, Washington to compete in the Western Region Tournament for a chance to go back to the Junior League World Series which is held in Taylor, Michigan.
In 2003, La Mirada overcame numerous obstacles including postponements caused by the famous blackout of 2003 that stretched from the Midwest to the East Coast, and multiple rain delays.
La Mirada beat Santiago, Panama 8-7 in front of an ESPN audience-the last California team to win the Junior League World Series title.
New Walgreens Grand Opening in La Mirada
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| From left to right, La Mirada Chamber of Commerce President, Dustin Dahl; Walgreens Manager Sam Meas; La Mirada Mayor, Steve DeRuse; Mayor pro tem, Larry Mowles; City Council members, Steve Jones and Pauline Deal. |
La Mirada~The new Walgreens in La Mirada held its official grand opening Saturday, July 20th as residents and dignitaries gathered to celebrate the latest retail store to open in La Mirada-but more importantly, to usher in a new era for the nostalgic Crossroads Shopping Center.
The fanfare included live music, a ribbon cutting, and representatives from community organizations; also numerous local businesses had displays.
La Mirada City Council members on hand were Mayor Steve DeRuse, Mayor pro-tem Larry Mowles, Pauline Deal and Steve Jones.
Store manager Sam Meas told us that this is one of the first Walgreens store in the area to incorporate the chains new ‘’well experience” format that the company rolled out last year.
“Our floor plan is different, we have new services,” he said, “Our pharmacist, for example, is out on the floor to where they can consult and give advice to patients and customers.”
The chains new format aims to transform the traditional drugstore into a new health and daily living destination offering a range of products and services to help customers get, stay and live well. These stores offer a new, enhanced layout, a completely revamped pharmacy and health care experience, and a number of new product selections.
“We have a number of products such as fresh fruit, that you won’t find in other Walgreens”, Meas said, “Customers will also notice the wider aisles, lower front windows and special lighting.”
Mayor DeRuse was excited about the progress at the Crossroads Center and told the assembled crowd, “You know what this center looked like before, this is a great improvement. We are very excited to have Walgreens open this store.”
All Five La Mirada Little League Teams Win Their District All-Star Tournaments
7/22/13 19:39 UPDATE: The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars pulled off a stunning victory, coming from behind in the 6th inning to beat Manhattan Beach 7-4 at Santa Ana this past Saturday in the Southern California Divisional/Sub-Division III Tournament.
Manhattan Beach started off the game by scoring three runs in the first inning and a then a solo homerun in the 4th put them up 4-0.
La Mirada finally got on the board in the 5th inning with a base hit from Nick Rios and a home run from RJ Lan.
In the top of the 6th, La Mirada's bats came alive with a base hit from Isaiah Carreon and Jake Bale. Starting pitcher Jose Gutierrez hit a shot to right field, cutting the Beach lead to 4-3. With two outs Beach intentionally walked RJ Lan-who had homered earlier-to load the bases.
Chad Wilson was next up and hit a 2-2 count out and over for a grand slam giving La Mirada the 7-4 lead.
La Mirada held off Manhattan Beach in the 6th and 7th to win Game One of the Sub-Division III Tournament.
Tonight, La Mirada beat Glendora National 12-1. They will tomorrow evening (Tuesday) at 7:15 in the championship game.
ORIGINAL POST: Junior Team Advances to So Cal Divisional Today in Santa Ana
Talk about a strong showing.
All five of La Mirada Little League's (LMLL) All-Star teams, the 9-10 & 10-11 year-olds, along with the Little League division (11-12), and Junior and Senior Divisions all won championships recently in their respective District All-Star Tournaments.
La Mirada plays in Little League District 29.
The various District 29 All-Star Tournaments began on June 22 and ran through July 9th. As far as LMLL has been able to verify, this is the first time in league history that all five divisions in LMLL won their district tournaments.
All five teams moved on to represent La Mirada Little League and District 29 in the Section 5 Double Elimination Tournament which began this past Saturday July 13th and finished up Thursday, July 18th.
The 9-10 Tournament and Senior Tournament was hosted by District 29 and the games were played at Bellis Park in Buena Park. The 9-10 Team was eliminated in two games and the Senior’s made it to the championship game, but lost, finishing in second place.
The 10-11 team played at Veteran's Park in Yorba Linda as that tournament was hosted by District 56. They were also eliminated in two games.
The Little League Division tournament was hosted by District 38 and was played at Stearns Park in Long Beach. This LMLL team also made it to the championship game, but lost.
In the Junior Division tournament played at Memorial Park in Santa Ana and hosted by District 30, LMLL won the Section 5 Championship beating Golden Hill Little league, 3-0.
The team now advances to the Southern California Divisional Tournament which begins tomorrow, July 20th. The Section 5 games will be played again at Memorial Park in Santa Ana, with the LMLL Juniors playing today at 3 p.m.
If you would like to view results and follow the Junior team’s progress in the tournament beginning tomorrow visit the LMLL website at http://www.lamiradalittleleague.com
Walgreens La Mirada to Host Grand Opening
La Mirada~The new Walgreens in La Mirada, open since last month, will host a special grand opening celebration tomorrow July 19th from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
“You can participate in a raffle where you can win movie tickets and other great prizes”, said Store Manager Sam Meas,"we will also have live music with a DJ and giveaways.”
Meas told us there also will be representatives from other local businesses at the event.
The La Mirada Chamber of Commerce will be conducting a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new member beginning at 11 a.m. with local dignitaries expected to
attend.
American mixed martial artist and UFC fighter Mark Munoz is scheduled to appear from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
The store is located within the newly renovated Crossroads Center at 14885 Telegraph Road in La Mirada.
For more information call (562) 777-3405.
Sign-Ups This Weekend for La Mirada Girls Softball 2013 Fall Season
La Mirada~Sign-ups for the La Mirada Girls Softball Association 2013 Fall Ball season will take place this Saturday and Sunday July 13th & 14th, for residents and non-residents at Behringer Park North from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Also, girls may sign up Monday July 15th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the La Mirada Resource Center.
Check out their website for more news, updates and additional dates to sign up at www.eteamz.com/lmgsa
The fees for girls 8-18U are $85.00 for residents and $100.00 for non-residents.
The season runs from August to November, and new players must bring their driver license, birth certificate and a current utility bill.
For more information or if special arrangements need to be made for a sign up time or date please contact the league president at 562-522-6077.
Jeff Boynton Appointed as New City Manager
La Mirada~The City Council has appointed Jeff Boynton as the new City Manager of La Mirada after a 5-0 vote at its meeting this past Tuesday.
Boynton, 34, will replace the retiring Tom Robinson who has held the position since August of 2009, when he replaced Andrea Travis.
We caught up with Boynton yesterday morning and he provided this statement to the La Mirada Blog, “I am honored to be selected by the City Council to serve as City Manager.
La Mirada is a great community, and I’m looking forward to building upon its strengths as a safe, attractive, and family friendly place to live and work. La Mirada has a bright future, and I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of it,” he said.
The move is to become effective September 16th, with a contract to be considered at the July 23rd City Council meeting.
Boynton was hired by the city in 2001 as an administrative aide.
La Mirada Chamber New Website Now Up and Running
La Mirada~A new website has debuted for the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce featuring a member center, events section, a member spotlight recognition, and so much more.
President Dustin Dahl told the La Mirada Blog the board is “very excited to go live” with their new website and is eager to show the members what they have been working on the last few months.
The new site at www.lamiradachamber.org features menu interactive tools highlighting the many benefits of becoming a La Mirada Chamber member including a membership center, calendar, maps, directory, current news, and much more.
Helping businesses grow in the La Mirada area since 1958, the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce has a rich history of being considered one of the most prestigious chambers in Southern California.
For more information call (562) 902-1970.
After Almost a Decade of Delays, New Housing Development in La Mirada Breaks Ground
La Mirada~Although the city is basically built-out when it comes to new housing developments, there are still small-scale possibilities, even if they seem to take forever to commence.
After nine long years, and countless delays, construction on The Orchards housing development in La Mirada began earlier this week at the site of the old Alondra Center.
The former outdoor strip mall located at Alondra Boulevard and Escalona Road was demolished in 2008.
Using bulldozers and other heavy equipment, construction workers were clearing debris and performing grading work on the land.
The 3.93 acre Alondra Center site was purchased recently by Irvine-based Brandywine after construction was stalled by a lengthy state environmental remediation process.
“We are very pleased to see construction begin on Brandywine’s new housing development in La Mirada,” says City Manager Tom Robinson. “Having such an experienced private developer invest millions of dollars into building new housing in our community reflects the strength of the housing market in La Mirada.”
It all began in March of 2004 when then City Manager Andrea Travis, at a city council meeting, described the center as “blighted”, and city staff began the–not known at the time-long process of getting the site to be demolished with the intent for the city to purchase it and develop single family homes.
The latter did happen, but the city sold the property back to Brandywine earlier this year, suffering a multi-million dollar loss.
In 2004, it was a controversial decision at the time, with at least one business owner from the center (a second generation family-owned printing business) publicly opposing the decision to demolish the buildings. That business eventually moved to Santa Fe Springs.
But a report from the city’s Community Development Department then indicated the change was necessitated by the condition of the center, along with “poor tenant retention and an increase in vacancies leading to loitering, vandalism and public safety concerns with the overall condition of the center negatively impacted the aesthetics of the City,” it read.
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