Read a brief biography below on each of the candidates running for the Los Alamitos Board of Education.

Last spring, the Physical Education faculty at Los Alamitos High School met on multiple occasions to revise and revamp the P.E. instructional units.  A major addition to the curriculum this year is the SCUBA and snorkeling instructional unit.  The program began Monday, October 3 and continues through Thursday, October 27.  In conjunction with Left Coast SCUBA, the Los Alamitos High School P.E. staff is providing this opportunity to all students enrolled in Physical Education 9.  

Here at the News Enterprise, the philosophy is to remain objective and neutral when it comes to elections.
This year is no different.
As publisher Vince Bodiford wrote earlier this month, the newspaper will not be endorsing a candidate or a particular ballot initiative.
What the newspaper will do is bring the readers information on upcoming local elections.

Below are the responses of the five candidates running for three seats on the Los Alamitos Board of Education. The candidates are Robert J. Aguilar Jr., David Boyer, Megan Cutuli, Cathy Larson, and Karen Russell.

Candidates were asked: "What are two significant issues facing the school district?"

The Los Alamitos Race Track held its first horserace in 1947.  The Track has provided jobs, tax dollars and notoriety to the community for decades.  However the sun has begun to set on this local landmark.  The closing of the Race Track is inevitable and changes are certain.

A male who was later determined to be a 17 year old juvenile, came into the Los Alamitos Police Department lobby and threatened the unarmed professional staff at the front counter with a knife on Monday, October 10 at approximately 2:39 p.m., according to police.

It all began last April at the annual We Care “From the Heart” Fundraiser in Los Alamitos, and ended in September with a fantastic Moroccan themed party including a live camel. We Care live auction winners Julie and Tim Kadletz, Sharon and Butch Anderson, Ann and Steve Collins, Margaret and Jim Tyler and Suzi snd Tony Olsen were the lucky guests at the magical Moroccan party.  Upon arriving via magic carpet (limousine) and meeting their party camel JJ, guests enjoyed delicious Moroccan food and drinks while watching a belly dancer perform for them.

The Los Alamitos Unified School District recently announced four National Merit Semifinalists and fourteen National Merit Commended Students for 2016-2017.
The Semi-finalists are students who scored in the top one percent of students who took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) nationwide in fall 2015.  Commended students include those who placed among the top 5% of the more than 1.5 million students took this exam.  

Recently, U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King, Jr. announced that Francis Hopkinson Elementary School has been named a 2016 National Exemplary High Performing Blue Ribbon School. Hopkinson is one of three schools in Orange County and among 279 public and 50 private schools receiving this honor across the nation.

Preston Crandall, Eriq Perez, and Kevin Tamashiro have been selected as 2017 U.S. Army All-Americans, joining an elite group of marching band members who will perform during halftime at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl presented by American Family Insurance at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The trio currently attends Los Alamitos High School.

Preston Crandall, Eriq Perez, and Kevin Tamashiro have been selected as 2017 U.S. Army All-Americans, joining an elite group of marching band members who will perform during halftime at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl presented by American Family Insurance at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The trio currently attends Los Alamitos High School.

What if you have two children in need of an after school program, and you can only afford for one to attend?  What if your child loves basketball, but the Youth Center only has one hoop and a lopsided ball for its after-school program?  Thanks to generous donations from Run Seal Beach, the Los Alamitos Youth Center has scholarship and equipment funds to meet those needs.   
For 2016, the Run Seal Beach Organizing Committee awarded $2,750 in scholarship money for the Youth Center’s Summer Camp Program, and an additional $3,400 for sports equipment.

Dear Editor,
I urge Cypress citizens to vote on Measure GG.  
It is brought to us by the same people who brought us Measure L in 2012.
They promised us Senior Housing and Assisted Living, but instead proposed a 240 bay truck distribution center.
The Race Track is projected to run for another 10 years.   
The time to evaluate the best use of the property would be when the track is scheduled to close, not now.  We don’t know what the City will need in 10 years.  

In writing this column, I usually write it using my own words, but while attending Cliff Telasky’s funeral on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Cliff’s oldest grandson, Ethan Wright, presented an excellent eulogy on behalf of the family and the attendees.  Very few of us had known very much about Cliff.  I tried many times in the years I’ve known him, but he would not give me his story to write about him for this column.

Swing for a reason this weekend. Cypress Recreation and Community Services will host a Homerun Derby on Friday, November 4 and a Charity Co-Ed Softball Tournament on Saturday, November 5 at Arnold/Cypress Park.
Proceeds will be given to Breast Cancer Angels, a local non-profit organization.  The mission of Breast Cancer Angels is to provide financial and emotional assistance for women and their families as they go through breast cancer treatment.  This event will also feature a toy and canned food collection benefitting Grateful Hearts.

The Florida State Seminoles, coached by local dentist Dr. William Poe, were on fire as they opened the Friday Night Lights season with a huge win over Duke. Pictured from left to right, front Row: Dylann Ruiz, Connor Cunnane, Sebastian Lim and Flynn Twomey. Back Row: Kyle Hill, Quinn Unfried, Billy Poe and Coach Dr. William Poe.

Photo by Jeannette Poe

Los Alamitos residents and family duo Stephanie and Alex Born ran the 1st Annual Christ Cathedral 5K on Saturday, September 18 in Garden Grove. The race was an out and back course around the Christ Cathedral Campus, continuing on Chapman Ave and back again to the finish. Stephanie was the 10th overall female finisher and placed 2nd in her age division. Alex was the 15th male overall and placed 1st in his age division.

Courtesy photo

The fourth Annual Tri-City Women’s Conferenc  recently honored three award recipients for their notable contributions and active service to the communities of Cypress, Los Alamitos, and Seal Beach. Judy Wagner was recognized as the Cypress Woman of the Year, Frieda Caplan was recognized as the Los Alamitos Woman of the Year, and Deb Machen was recognized as the Seal Beach Woman of the Year.
This year's conference took place on Wednesday, September 21 at the Cypress Community Center, located at 5700 Orange Ave.

The new school year is already underway for many families. As your Clerk-Recorder, I would like to help inform our community about some of the convenient services that we provide. Did you know that you can obtain a birth certificate for anyone born in Orange County, at any of our three locations?

Some readers found my recent columns about envelopes quite interesting, and asked for a few more examples. Here they are.                              
 Interdepartmental envelopes  are usually 10” x 13” open end, with 6-8 holes punched through both sides of 28 or 32# kraft so the recipient can see if there is, or are, any contents within.