Tough times are college time
Recent studies indicate that students receiving a degree or certificate from a community college benefit from an 86 percent increase in their wages, from $25,600 to $45,571, within three years of earning their degree. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there is a shortage in the nation’s labor force of workers with up to two years of postsecondary education.
Schooled in thought, and practice
Access to high-quality education is, as journalist John Merrow asserts, a key civil right of all Americans. The very health of our democracy is dependent on knowledgeable, critically thinking citizens who can participate fully in civic life. When we prioritize quality education for all children regardless of race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, geographical location, or gender, we re-commit ourselves to the values of equity and access that distinguish us as Americans.
Torrance Memorial a collaborative effort
Torrance Memorial Medical Center is poised to meet the needs of its growing community with the construction of a new seven-story, 256-bed patient care tower. It is scheduled for completion in 2015.
From clicks-to-clicks to clicks-to-bricks
If you’re a business owner and you’re not using online marketing, you face a serious disadvantage because your competitors are. They’re gobbling up your customers with constant streams of Facebook posts, tweets, e-mail blasts, online offers and in-your-face messaging popping up with every click.
Making the golden state green
A plan to jump-start California’s clean energy business sector and spur job creation in California was recently presented to the California State Legislature. As a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I plan to take a lead in clean energy efforts.
Protecting the core
A recent Sports One Source survey found that the Body Glove trademark is one of the top two most recognized surf brands in the country.
The start of a virtuous cycle – South Bay businesses will benefit from early recovery and low rates from their responsive, local banks
As businesses start and grow, they hire employees, and then they need more space, so those ubiquitous For Rent signs start to disappear. Working people feel better about themselves and their prospects for the future, so they spend money, go out to dinner, buy that new car and take a vacation. Restaurants are more crowded, hotels are fully occupied, and real estate prices start to rise. Even investors return to the market. All of this creates a virtuous cycle of success that feeds upon itself.
Relationships you can bank on
The good news is there are pockets of business that are picking up as we roll into 2011. Areas of improvement include real estate, bolstered by lower prices and low interest rates; the financial services sector, helped by the stock market’s increase in the past nine months; and some local tech/entertainment industry growth related to increases in personal spending.
The architect’s approach
As creators of the built environment we live in, architects not only have a commitment to their clients, but also to the community at large. Sometimes, these responsibilities conflict.
Letters
Trash talk Dear ER: Congratulations to the City Council of Redondo Beach for making their city greener. The awarding of their new trash/recycling contract includes residential and commercial foodwaste recycling. They achieved a low rate and new services. I hope Manhattan Beach next month and Hermosa Beach this summer do the same. If both those […]
The B.Rad Blues Band
While the South Bay has come to be musically renowned for its punk and reggae scene, we do dabble in a bit of everything, from electronic and pop to jazz and hip hop. But with the loss of Boogaloo as our go-to sanctuary hub for southern roots music, has our local Blues element become as […]
Straight outta Kona town
Pepper is a hot band. They recently sold out Club Nokia in L.A. and have toured nationally with the likes of Pennywise and Slightly Stoopid. The band came together in 1996 when guitarist Kaleo Wassman met bass player Bret Bollinger in middle school in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. They added drummer Yesod Williams and by 1999 hit […]
Three candidates vie for school board
The Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of Education has done at least one thing better than any other elected body in the South Bay in recent years. It has remained intact. The five person board has been remarkably stable even as the district has undergone massive changes in facilities and personnel. Three of its […]
School board candidate: Anita Avrick
Anita Avrick has been an ardently constant presence in RBUSD schools and at board meetings for the better part of two decades. Avrick has served as PTA president at Beryl Heights Elementary School and Adams Middle School and twice served as Redondo Council PTA president. Last year, she was named the district’s Educational Advocate of […]
School board candidate: Arda Clark
Arda Darakjian Clark comes from a family of educators. Her father and grandmother were teachers. Her great grandfather was a college professor – as is her sister – and her great grandmother was a school principal. Her uncles, aunts, cousins are mostly teachers, or writers. “That has just been my family story,” Clark said in […]
School board candidate: Laura Emdee
Laura Emdee is the only candidate in this race not endorsed by the politically influential teacher’s union, and she’s just fine with that. In fact, part of the reason she is running is to provide a voice on the school board that comes from outside the political establishment. “Teachers and administrators all have a very […]