Councilman LaBonge's Weekly Newsletter

[The information below was provided by the Office of Councilman Tom LaBonge.]

Tour LaBonge Rolling Your Way 

It's that time of year again ... time for the Tour LaBonge to roll through your neighborhood, on two wheels.  All are welcome to ride with us as we travel through several areas of beautiful Council District 4.  You'll get a different perspective of your neighborhood and your City from the seat of a bicycle.  All rides have a police escort for safety at intersections and are open to all who want to participate.

Here are the locations and dates for this summer's bike-rides:
June 14th - downtown Los Angeles
June 21st - 4th Street 
July 19th - Toluca Lake/NoHo 
July 26th - LA River/Silverlake 
August 2nd - Sherman Oaks  
August 9th - Hollywood
Tune-up your bike ... dust-off that helmet ... and take a ride with Tour LaBonge! 
Click here to see a Tour LaBonge 2012 Flyer

LA River Bikeway named National Recreation Trail

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Director of the National Park Service Jonathan B. Jarvis today announced the designation of 54 trails as national recreation trails, adding almost 1,400 miles of trails to the National Trails System.  The list includes the Los Angeles River Bikeway, which runs betwen the 5 Freeway and the LA River.

Spanning 23 states, the land and water trails provide opportunities for communities to connect to the great outdoors. 

“From Alabama to Alaska, these national recreation trails provide a gateway to outdoor recreation in both urban and rural areas,” said Secretary Salazar. "I am proud to partner with communities across the nation to expand this extraordinary network of trails,  National recreation trail designation recognizes existing trails and trail systems that link communities to recreational opportunities on public lands and in local parks across the nation. Each of the new national recreation trails will receive a certificate of designation, a letter of congratulations from Secretary Salazar, and a set of trail markers. 

From Griffith Park to Downtown Los Angeles, the 7-mile bike path is used for commuting, provides public access to social, economic, natural, and historic/cultural resources, serves as a safe pathway to fitness and related public health benefits, and coincides with a segment of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.  The trail is maintained by a collaboration of city agencies, rangers of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and youth from the LA Conservation Corps serving as the “LA River Corps.”  This part of the LA River trail system is an area of focus in the “50 State Report” of the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. 

And speaking of Bicycles...More New Bike Lanes Installed
LADOT bikeways, design, and field operations staff continue to install new bike lanes across the city. Last month, new bike lanes were installed on White Oak Ave., Weymouth Ave./13th St., Sesnon Blvd., Via Marisol, Laurel Canyon Blvd., Polk St., and 120th St. Through May, LADOT has installed 38.83 miles of bike lanes and 20 miles of sharrows (shared lane markings) in fiscal year 2011-2012. 

Visit LADOT’s for more details about bike plan implementation.

Grand Opening of Fire Station 82 in Hollywood

Councilman LaBonge joined Los Angeles Fire Chief Brian Cummings and members of his command staff, Fire Commission Chair Genethia Hudley Hayes, City Engineer Gary Lee Moore and Deputy Mayor Elaine Atkins at the Grand Opening Ceremony for Fire Station 82 in Hollywood.  The state-of-the-art facility is located at Hollywood Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue and covers a bustling, densely populated area of the city.

See more photos of the event

Read More About the Event at tomlabonge.com


IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR DWP CUSTOMERS:

Beware of Impostors Posing as Utility Service Workers
Call 1-800-DIAL DWP for Verification of Employment Before Allowing Access to Property
Councilman LaBonge and your Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) caution residents to beware of impostors posing as utility personnel making service-related house calls. These impostors seek to gain access to residential property in order to steal valuables from the occupant. LADWP customers have reported recent incidents of "distraction burglaries," wherein the impostors work as a team: one diverts the attention of the resident by taking them outside or to another part of the house, while another searches the home for valuable items to steal.

LADWP asks all customers to call the Department at 1-800-DIAL DWP (1-800-342-5397) to verify the worker’s identity, employment and purpose of visit before granting access to any part of their property. Employees will present their Department-issued IDs and give their name, employee number and supervisor name to customers at the time of visit and anytime upon request.

"Distraction burglary is an important issue for us but the good news is, this form of victimization is easily preventable," said Patrick Findley, Director of LADWP Security Services Division. "The more our customers know about it, the less likely it is to happen, so help us spread the word among your family, friends and neighbors."

All LADWP employees have ID cards and field employees wear uniforms and drive Department vehicles, both of which prominently display the familiar LADWP logo seen at the top right corner of this document. Additionally, LADWP employees typically do not appear at customers' doors unannounced. To remain safe, customers should not open their doors to anyone claiming to be a utility employee until the worker’s identity, employment and purpose of visit has been confirmed.

The public should always report any criminal incidents to the Los Angeles Police Department.

LADWP officers are on watch 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. To report suspicious activity to the Department:

call LADWP Security Services at (213) 367-3373 or (213) 367-9111, or
email SecurityServicesWebNotification@ladwp.com, or
visit www.ladwp.com and click Security Issue under Contact Us.

Venus Transit at the Griffith Observatory

Councilman LaBonge and Griffith Observatory Director Dr. Edwin Krupp welcome hundreds of people to the landmark this week to witness a rare celestial event known as the "Venus Transit", during which the planet's orbit takes it between the Earth and the Sun.  This allows us to see Venus glide across the face of the Sun as a black dot about a 30th the size of the Sun.  The phenomenon wont happen again until 2117.

Team LaBonge Competes in the 15th Annual Hope for Firefighters Event

Councilman LaBonge fielded a "Muster Team" for the annual Hope for Firefighters Games in downtown Los Angeles this week.  "Team LaBonge" was one of 17 teams from various companies and financial institutions who battled-it-out in a variety of firefighter-themed activities, including an old-time hose-cart pull.  "Team LaBonge" placed Sixth overall, but -- more importantly -- helped raise money to benefit the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association's Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firemen's Fund.

Will the Real Betty White Please Stand Up

Councilman LaBonge was on-hand this week as Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Hollywood unveiled a pitch-perfect wax likeness of "America's Sweetheart" Betty White.  The 90-year old actress quipped that she wished Tussaud's had contacted her "50 years earlier ... before gravity took its toll".  Well, we think she looks just as lovely in wax as in real-life.  By the way ... can you tell which is the real Betty?