About Town
Ballot effort
Volunteers said they will collect signatures for a proposed ballot referendum to bar the state government from diverting from cities certain funding for transportation and public safety. Friday afternoon at the Farmers’ Market at Clark Stadium, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the Pier Plaza. For more information call 310-846-7843.
In the cards
Annie’s Texas Hold-‘Em Poker Tournament, with poker celebrity Annie Duke, will benefit the Hermosa-based 1736 House with 100 percent of its proceeds, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 3 at the Bicycle Club Casino in Torrance.
Buy-in is $350 with $100 re-buys available for the first hour. First prize is $10,000 and second prize is a private poker lesson with Duke.
Buy-ins or donations can be sent to 1736 Family Crisis Center, 2116 Arlington Ave., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90018, attn: Poker Tournament. Buy-ins or spectator admissions can be purchased at 1736fcc.org or thebike.com.
Paws to Read
The SPCA-LA will bring the child-loving dogs of the Paws to Read program to the local branch of the Los Angeles County Library, 550 Pier Ave., 10:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 10.
The program provides a non-threatening place where children can read for the fun of it.
“There is no risk of being embarrassed by mispronounced words, slow reading skills or lack of comprehension skills when reading to a therapy dog,” organizers said.
Established in 1877, SPCA-LA is a nonprofit animal welfare organization serving Southern California. There is no national SPCA, parent organization, or umbrella group that provides financial support to SPCA-LA. Donations run programs and services including cruelty investigation, a disaster animal response team, and humane education and shelter services.
For more information call the library at (310) 379-8475 or see spcala.com.
Green gardens
Free professional evaluations of residents’ water usage, to assess where they can conserve in their outdoor irrigation, are offered in the beach cities under a “Green Garden” program sponsored by the West Basin Municipal Water District.
Residents can call the Green Garden hotline at 866-861-0784 to have a trained water surveyor review the water use of landscape and outdoor irrigation methods and suggest how to use water more efficiently.
Residents must sign-up for a water audit and qualify for the program. If they qualify, they also can attend a “smart irrigation” controller workshop. ER