La Mirada Blog
Articles by Tony Aiello
La Mirada Community, Candidates Forced to Wait on Second Winner for City Council
La Mirada~Wow, talk about suspense.
Two candidates will have to wait until tomorrow to see who captures the final seat for the La Mirada City Council.
There are 323 provisional ballots that still need to be counted. The will be counted tomorrow at City Hall around 3 p.m.
153 of them are vote-by-mail ballots that were dropped off at precincts instead of being mailed-they are still valid. The remaining are also still valid but were not originally counted because of technicalities, but again, are still legitimate.
Pauline Deal has easily captured first place with 1,693 votes so far.
The second and final spot is too close to call and is up for grabs with Steve Keithly receiving 1,300 votes to Andrew Sarega’s 1,291. Keithly, trailing Sarega most of the night, by less than 100 votes surged in the last few precincts announced to overcome Sarega.
A broken ballot-counting machine delayed the vote.
More coming.
| La Mirada City Council Race 2013-Unofficial Results | votes |
% |
| Pauline Deal (Appt Inc) |
1693 |
29 |
| Steve Keithly | 1300 |
22 |
| Andrew Sarega |
1291 |
22 |
| Gabe Garcia (Inc) |
855 |
15 |
| Randy Gray | 725 |
12 |
Play Ball! La Mirada Little League Opening Ceremony This Saturday
La Mirada~It's that time of year again! Can you smell the fresh cut grass?
La Mirada Little League will hold its annual Opening Day Ceremonies this Saturday, March 2nd at the Behringer Athletic Facilities.
There will be a ceremony recognizing the 10th anniversary of the La Mirada Little League Junior Team that won the Little League World Series in their division in 2003.
The ceremony begins at 8 a.m. with a full slate of games following.
The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada will be there serving up their pancake breakfast on their world-famous rotating grill from 9-11 a.m.
Rosecrans Closing for Five Days
La Mirada~Valley View Avenue-from Rosecrans Avenue to Gannet Street-will close for five days from Thursday, February 21st through February 26th.
The closure is pat of the Valley View Grade Separation Project.
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Game Between Rivals to Decide League Title
Season of Streaks for Matadores Culminates With Last Regular Season Game Deciding League Title
La Mirada~In a season that has had more ups and downs than gas prices, the La Mirada High Boys Basketball team plays the biggest game of their season-thus far-tonight at Mayfair High School.
The Matadores will face the Monsoons, with both teams at 10-1 in league and the Suburban League title on the line.
The Matadores only league loss was against Mayfair January 11th, 54-44 at La Mirada.
Mayfair lost to Norwalk January 25th, 67-53.
2nd year head coach Bryce Jones says the team is ready, "We feel pretty confident. We have had four straight days of practice. The guys know what to do and we know what we did wrong last time against them. There's a lot on the line. This is why we work hard all year."
A league title would almost guarantee a first-round home game in the CIF playoffs beginning next week.
La Mirada is looking for their first outright Suburban League title since 1982.
UPDATE: The Matadores lost to Mayfair 60-59 in a very exciting game Friday night. The Mats actually took the lead 59-58 with 38.6 seconds left but, couldn't pull out the victory. The Matadores (17-11,10-2), second-place finishers in the Suburban League, now await the release of the CIF playoff pairings on Sunday to find out where and who they play next.
School Board May Decide to Close Dulles
District Staff Recommends Closure of School
Norwalk~The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board members are meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. and will vote on whether or not to keep Dulles Elementary School in La Mirada open.
At the January 7th meeting, district staff reported that Dulles is currently operating at 50 percent capacity (237 students). The school has nine teachers and three of the nine have combination classes (two grades, one class).
Five Dulles parents spoke at the meeting in support of keeping the school open.
The district is expected to save at least $366,000 annually if the school is closed.
The school district is looking to cut costs as the combination of recent budget deficits and declining enrollment are expected to deplete reserve monies in a few years.
Four years ago, the district closed Hargitt and Huerta schools in Norwalk
UPDATE: 01/22/13 8:13p~The Board of Education voted unanimously to keep Dulles open after the district's finance department miraculously provided information at the meeting from the Governors office, they say they received last Wednesday, in which new projections indicate more money to be available. In other words, an hour and a half of my life I will never get back.
School Board May Decide to Close Dulles Elementary
District staff recommends closure of school
Norwalk~The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board members, at its meeting tonight, may decide to close Dulles Elementary School in La Mirada.
At the January 7th meeting, district staff reported that Dulles is operating at 50 percent capacity (237 students). The school has nine teachers and three of the nine have combo classes.
Five Dulles parents spoke at the meeting in support of keeping the school open.
The district is expected to save at least $366,000 annually if the school is closed.
The school district is looking to cut costs as recent deficit budgets are expected to deplete the current surplus in a few years.
Four years ago, the district closed Hargitt and
Tony Award-Winner Opens at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
“It’s deliciously, deliriously innocent. Pure pleasure!” – NY Times
La Mirada~La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment are thrilled to present the Tony Award-winning (2008 Best Play Revival), hilarious, sexy, non-stop comedy, Boeing-Boeing, written by Marc Camoletti, translated by Beverley Cross & Francis Evans and directed by Jeff Maynard.
In this Tony Award-winning comedy, a self-styled playboy, Bernard, (played by Carter Roy), has French, German, and American fiancées, each a beautiful airline hostess with frequent “layovers.” He keeps "one up, one down and one pending" until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Bernard's apartment in Paris, France all at the same time which leads to unexpected and very funny escapades.
Boeing also stars Michelle Azar, Melanie Lora, Kalie Quinones, Amy Rutberg and Marc Valera.
Boeing-Boeing will begin performances on Friday, January 18, 2013 and runs for four weeks through Sunday, February 10.
Performances will be 7:30pm on Wednesdays & Thursdays; 8pm on Fridays; 2pm and 8pm on Saturdays; and 2pm on Sundays.
There will be no matinee performance on Saturday, January 19th and talkbacks with the actors will be on Wednesday, January 23 and Wednesday, February 6.
Tickets range from $20 - $70 and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre’s website, www.lamiradatheatre.com or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Student, Senior, Children and group discounts are available.
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is located at 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where the 91 and 5 freeways meet. Parking is free.
La Mirada Mayor Gabe Garcia Arrested for Reported DUI
Mayor crashes vehicle into parked car on Tacuba Drive
La Mirada~Hews Media Group is reporting that La Mirada Mayor Gabe Garcia was arrested last night, reportedly on suspicion of driving under the influence.
According to the La Mirada Lamplighter and the Los Cerritos Community Newspaper, Garcia struck a parked vehicle while driving his car along the 14700 block of Tacuba Drive near Biola Avenue around 10:30 last night, said Captain Pat Maxwell of the Norwalk Sheriff's Station.
La Mirada Lieutenant Pat Valdez told the La Mirada Blog that the Mayor received no special treatment and was booked by standard protocol, "The fact that he is a city councilman absolutely had no affect on how he was treated. He was treated no differently than anyone else."
Valdez said Garcia was held for eight hours was then released around 5:30 this morning, and was issued a citation for drunk driving.
Garcia more than likely will face a court appearance in the future, but we have no information on the court date at this time.
There were no other persons or moving vehicles involved.
The Mayor is seeking re-election for a second term as a La Mirada City Councilman on March 5th.
We will provide additional information as it becomes available.
Contestants to Compete for the Crown of Mr. La Mirada
Ten Students to Battle for Scholarship Funding
La Mirada~Presented by the Girls League Club of La Mirada High School, the community is invited to the 2nd annual Mr. La Mirada pageant to be held Saturday, January 12th on the school campus from 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Ten nominated male seniors will compete for the crown of Mr. La Mirada, based on their personalities, talent, fashion and more.
First-place prize is $200 in scholarship money, with second and third place receiving $100.
Three judges will decide the winner. Scheduled judges to appear are La Mayor Mayor Gabe Garcia, La Mirada Blog Editor Tony Aiello, and the La Mirada Fire Station 49 Battalion Chief Douglas.
Tickets are $5 with an ASB card, $8 without, with tickets being sold the night of the event for $8.
La Mirada Blog Calms Community as News Agencies Trip Over Themselves
La Mirada Blog First to Report Situation at La Mirada High; Uses Social Media to Reassure Parents
La Mirada~Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies help secure La Mirada High School Friday morning after an unspecified threat was made against the school according to the Norwalk Sheriff's Station.
Captain Pat Maxwell said they were dealing with unsubstantiated rumors only, "At this point of the investigation, there is no specific information that the threat is credible, or to identify the source or wording of the alleged threat. It appears to be spoken concerns only," he said in a press release issued by the Sheriff's Department about 8:20 a.m. Friday morning, about ten minutes after the first La Mirada Blog followers were already tweeting us letting us know that there was some kind of police activity at the school.
At 8:10 a.m. follower @MaryRandall8 tweeted, "Anyone know what is going on at La Mirada High? LOTS of police activity." Eight minutes later and two minutes before the sheriff press release follower @MimsyYamaguchi reported, "My son said there were threats at La Mirada High, so there's an increased sheriff presence on campus and the park,"
Yesterday was the last day of school for students before beginning winter break and sheriff's deputies continue to work closely with school officials to ensure the safety of the students on the heels of the events in Connecticut last week, and to help deal with the ramifications of the tragedy that has affected many schools across the nation.
Deputies on the La Mirada campus yesterday encouraged students to ask questions and/or comment on what was, or is, on their mind in regards to school safety.
Officials from schools continue to grapple with numerous threats and the copycat syndrome that seems to follow in such tragedies. Earlier in the day deputies entered the Diamond Ranch High School campus in Pomona after two telephone threats that morning against the school. A similar security alert also occurred at South Pasadena High earlier in the day.
Shortly after the sheriff press release, at 8:37 a.m., the La Mirada Blog informed its readers of the situation by linking to the sheriff press release on its Twitter feed. With over 1000 followers in the La Mirada area, the service allows for messages to get out into the community almost immediately.
Within that same hour hour we already had parents tweeting us, on-scene at the school, letting us know that everything was under control, messages we were able to relay to followers. At 9:20 a.m. LM Blog fan @Crab_Apel tweeted "only a few police units out front. Things seem to be normal at the school. Nothing serious." Again, a message we were able to get out into the community almost immediately.
La Mirada student @LeviFrafjord tweeted, "every where I looked I saw a cop."
Throughout the day, news stations continued to blast the "breaking story" of the "police presence" at La Mirada High, giving the impression something was wrong, even though most in the La Mirada community already knew there was no story, as early as 9:30 a.m. they knew, thanks to our Twitter feed.
La Mirada Blog fan @ipadsforautism tweeted, "Numerous High Schools in the area had similar events this week, everyone is understandably jumpy given recent events."
Even into the early evening the news stations led with the "big story" at La Mirada High, but most parents in La Mirada already knew, since early in the morning, there was no story.
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