ion member Jo Shade is revving up the engines and getting ready for this year’s upcoming Senior Parade through Rossmoor.
What began as a necessity during the depths of the pandemic is quickly becoming a celebrated community event and the 2022 parade is no exception. “It’s going to be super fun,” said Shade.
She said registration begins May 16th and “we’re doing things a little different this year.” First, she said, since most people are back to work, the event will be held on a weekend rather than a weekday. Also, she said there will be a ‘grand marshal’ of sorts in the parade, this year honoring longtime Rossmoor resident Georglyn Seligman. She said Georglyn “was our first RHA member, joining the association 65 years ago” and has dedicated herself to Rossmoor ever since.
Shade said the Los Alamitos High School award-winning drumline has agreed to be part of the parade this year. “It’s going to be so exciting,” she said.
To register, visit ourrossmoor.com/parade2022
It wasn’t a debate, but a back-and-forth sharing of information, between “Financial Partners Credit Union” Branch Manager Debbie Flannagan and “Farmers & Merchants Bank” Vice President Relationship Manager Al Stone during the Los Alamitos Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Networking meeting Friday, May 6, at Maderas Steak House, in Los Alamitos.
It was like a comedy routine with a serious message that made people both smile and laugh as each of the presenters shared worth-while information about banking and credit unions.
For instance, with the clever way Stone said, “We at our bank ‘can’ do this, or offer that, but we ‘can’t’ do this…” and Flannagan, without saying a word, gave facial expressions and pointing gestures, noting that her credit union ‘could’ offer that particular service.
“Banks can’t help everyone, but they can help some and we can help people understand banking and you don’t need to be ‘sorry’ for asking questions,” said Stone. “We serve the community with our finances; if people’s finances aren’t healthy, then probably their life isn’t either – and refinancing is a cleansing process – a solution.”
Stone said that people ask, “’How do I get capital?’ And I tell them that there are ways out of debt; it’s teaching people financial control and helping people build a better life; it’s hard work and thrift – we like to help and support the community – we can help you on a business and personal level and our competitiveness is service. If I can be of assistance, I’m here to help.”
Flannagan said, “At Financial Partners Credit Union, we do more than offer competitive products and services, we serve our communities in many ways; offering educational support to our members and local schools, volunteering in the local communities that we serve and provide credit reviews to help members achieve their best financial position; having healthy finances contributes to the overall health of a person.”
She pointed out that Financial Partners members can reach out anytime for personal one-on-one service, saying, “That’s something that isn’t so common today – we are ‘a service difference.’ Come on in and let us show you how we can help you.”
“As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, we keep borrowing rates low and savings-rates higher and we also believe in rewarding our members with, ‘The more you do, the more you get Reward Program.’ You can join! Let us help you save time, save money, and make money!”
Contact Los Alamitos Chamber at, in**@**********er.org.
Mount Calvary Lutheran Church is proud to announce its upcoming concert by the renowned musical group, Woven Image, on Saturday, May 28, 2022, at 7 p.m. A free-will offering will be collected, the proceeds of which will benefit the people of Ukraine through Lutheran World Relief (LWR.org). The group is led by Mount Calvary’s Pastor Carole Parmeter Dyer and her husband, Tom.
Woven Image performs songs from a wide range of styles drawing on folk, Celtic, jazz, and world music. This ensemble gives concerts all around Southern California that create community and raise money and awareness for social justice causes. The group has produced five CD recordings, including Woven Image, a self-titled recording of their band’s music which is available on iTunes.
Founded in 1992, by Carole and Tom Parmeter Dyer and Alan Cook, the core members of the group are: Thomas Parmeter Dyer (Piano, Vocals), Carole Parmeter Dyer (Vocals), Larry Klevos (Vocals), Sharon Edmondson (Vocals, Flute), Claudia Fitzpatrick (Cello), Maggie Fitzpatrick (Violin), David James (Guitar, Mandolin), and Susan Rishik (Violin).
Light refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall following the concert. Mount Calvary is located at 5895 Ball Road in Cypress. If you have any questions, please contact the church at (714) 527-6311.
Courtesy photo
GFWC Woman’s Club of Cypress installed their new officers for 2022-2023 on May 4, 2022.The Woman’s Club of Cypress is a non-profit organization that has been an integral part of the Cypress community for over 50 years. They have been supported by many philanthropic projects in and out of the community. They are part of an international women’s organization dedicated to the community by improving the lives of others through volunteer services. Pictured are: President Bonnie Peat, 1st VP/Dean Ginger Osman, 2nd VP/Membership Judy Wagner and Joan Larsen, Recording Secretary Shirley Bradley, Treasurer Maria Sterk, Financial Secretary Roberta Voet, Communications Secretary Megan Martinez-King, Program Chair Carole Stone, Parliamentarian Dawne Reed, and Publicity Chair Mary Kamhi.
The Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce Be More Healthy Expo will return to Eisenhower Park in Old Town Seal Beach on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Organizers of the Expo invited residents to nominate a Hometown Hero and will celebrate three special individuals at the event.
May is Women’s Health Month, but all are invited to Be More Healthy, have more fun and learn more about the state of their health at the foot of the Seal Beach pier from 9am until 2pm on that day.
There will be plenty to see and do, including on-the-spot health screenings for diabetes, thyroid, carotid artery, blood pressure and body mass index assessments. The first 500 participants will receive gift bags; the Seal Beach Lion’s Club will be giving away free reading glasses; and kids will take home free bike helmets with a fitting while they last.
The Kids Zone, manned by Seal Beach Leos, will provide plenty of exercise and fun for youngsters, including a bounce house, obstacle course, face painting, balloon toss, tug of war, hula hoop and hand-stand contests, and free GoGo Squeeze apple sauce.
The entire family will enjoy visiting more than 40 health-related vendors and demonstrations throughout the day featuring Beach Fitness, Fit After 50, Cycle Bar and more.
All residents were encouraged over the past 2 months to nominate someone who went above and beyond to improve our community during 2020 and 2021, for a Hometown Hero Award. Three heroes will be selected from the nominees and recognized at the Health Expo.
“After two long years, we couldn’t be more excited to bring back the Be More Healthy Expo to Seal Beach,” said Expo Chair, Diana Bean, Lifestyle Coach. “We can’t wait to see local and visiting families and individuals gather in the park for free screenings, exercise, health education and fun,” said Bean.
For more information visit www.sealbeachhealthexpo.com.
Brody Carson, age 12, Long Beach, competed April 23, 2022, in the Greco Wrestling California State Championships at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
Courtesy photo
Wrestlers from all around California are competing to be a State Champion. Brody competed in the age 14U division, 110 lbs and won in the state finals by pin to become the California Greco State Champion.
Brody lives in Long Beach and has an older brother, Brayden (13 years old) that also wrestles. Brayden was the runner-up at State Championships at 14u division 149 lbs. Both boys wrestle for and train at Monster Garage/ Sunkist Kids and also at Los Alamitos High School.
Murray Mednick’s THREE TABLES is the newest work from the famous poet/playwright who spearheaded New York’s off-off-Broadway movement in the ’60s. Presented by the Padua Playwrights, the production premiered under his direction at the Zephyr Theatre on Melrose Avenue.
To give you a theatrical reference point to Mednick’s complicated, non-linear play, it could fall into two categories: Theatre of the Absurd* and Existentialism,** or perhaps a little of both. For some background, some of the most influential people in the Existentialism Movement were either social philosophers or psychiatrists as it applied to the human condition. A few of the most famous philosophers include: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Viktor E. Frankl, Martin Buber, Karl Japers, Erich Fromm, Colin Wilson, Søren Kierkegaard, and Albert Camus, who influenced the emerging Theatre of the Absurd.
Some of the most famous playwrights whose seminal bodies of works reflected this stylized form of theater, include Eugene Ionesco, (The Bald Soprano,) Samuel Beckett, (Waiting for Godot,) Jean-Paul Sartre (No Exit,) Jean Genet, (The Blacks,) Harold Pinter (The Birthday Party,) Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead,) and Edward Albee (The Zoo Story.)
I present you with these references to give you an idea on how to understand a play that is quite, quite obtuse without a distinguishable through-line. Clearly influenced by some of the above-mentioned playwrights, Mednick takes us through approximately sixty minutes of rambling, stream of consciousness, disconnected dialogue The sparce set has three unmatched tables filled with his ensemble of actors who are in a restaurant taking a break from rehearsals. The subjects on which the different characters comment include a broad range of topics from the Holocaust, climate change, relationships, to bomb scares, and black holes.
There is a bizarre reference to an unseen body of water downstage along with an unseen woman who is drowning, perhaps referencing the polluted state of our oceans and rivers. One of the characters says: “I look in the mirror. It’s not me” and at one point, we hear Beethoven’s 5th as one of the characters riffs on growing up in New York and sleeping on the fire escape to get some respite from the intense summer heat and humidity. (I can really relate to that.) Each member of the ensemble breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience about his or her observations, sometimes even singing the dialogue, nicely done by Dennis Renard and Raquel Cain. A waiter serves unseen glasses of wine (nice sense memory) and comments are made on creeping fascism in the U.S. One could summarize by saying perhaps this is an existential meditation or existential dread on all that is wrong in the world, holding out little hope for our physical or psychic survival. It also could be a wake-up call to take action before it’s too late, if indeed, it’s not too late already.
The rest of the excellent cast includes: Eric Stanton Betts, John Fantasia, Laura Liguori, Corey Rieger, Richard Sabine, Michael Uribes. Considering the complex, disconnected nature of the dialogue, they all did a commendable job in trying to make sense out of very obtuse material.
*Theatre of the Absurd: Plays that seek to represent the absurdity of human existence in a meaningless universe by bizarre or fantastic means.
**Existentialism: A 20TH Century philosophical movement centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.
THREE TABLES
Zephyr Theatre
7456 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Run:
Fridays & Saturdays: 8:00 p.m.
Sundays: 3:00 p.m. 2:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Closing: Sunday, May 22, 2022
Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets: $25.00
onstage411.com/tables
The members of the La Palma-Cerritos American Association of University Women elected their new officers for the 2022-2023 year at their General Meeting on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at the Cerritos Library in Cerritos. Nominating Committee Chair Dorothy Edwards presented the nominated slate of officers who were elected by acclamation by members present at the general meeting. The newly elected officers included the following members: President, Celia Spitzer; Program VP’s, Faith Hershler and Cathleen Niederman; Membership VP’s, Saurabh Deedwania and Jacqueline Shahzadi; AAUW Fund VP’s, Tobi Balma and Sue Solomon; Secretary, Christine Taxier; and Treasurer Marilyn Forsstrom. There is still an opening for the office of President-Elect. If a member is interested in serving on the board in that position, contact Nominating Committee Chair Dorothy Edwards at pa************@*ol.com.
The new Executive Board will be installed at a luncheon on June 4, 2022, by installing officer Tobi Balma, with details to be determined by incoming President Celia Spitzer. Members will be receiving more information about a Planning Meeting for the 2022-2023 year that has been scheduled for June 25, 2022, as plans are finalized. For information regarding the 2022-2023 programs for La Palma-Cerritos AAUW, contact Program Co-VP Cathleen Niederman at 714-826-4374.
Prior to the General Meeting with the Election of Officers and other branch business, members were introduced to guest speaker, Francine Rodriguez. Francine is an author who won the Silver Medal Award at the International Latino Book Awards in 2021,for her anthology, A Woman’s Story. The book depicts the lives of ten Latinas of varying ages and lifestyles living in contemporary Los Angeles who experienced different problems in their lives such as violence, racism, sexism, inner rage, and conflicts with gender identity or family members. Francine said that women shared their experiences with her as she worked in the fields of law and psychology as a Federal Mediator, DOJ Litigation Specialist, and Substance Abuse and HIV Counselor. Francine’s book is based on her experiences, but she said that it is a work of fiction with names, places, and incidents are products of her imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Francine read one chapter from the book, A Woman’s Story, called Smiley and Laughing Girl. In the story, Smiley is a young girl who gets pregnant by a gang member, Chavo, who was shot probably by rival gang members and dies in a crash of his car. Laughing Girl is the child she had, but she is not sure of who was the father. She also has two other boys not knowing which men were their fathers. Smiley was into selling drugs to get money and was involved with the murder of a rival gang member because of Chavo. She was jailed for different times due to her gang involvement. At the end of the story, she was hoping to help her daughter, Laughing Girl, from making bad decisions like she did.
Members of the La Palma-Cerritos AAUW were shocked to hear of all the problems that were described in the story. One member commented that it was an “eye-opener” to learn about the multiple problems that Latinas face with the gangs, and in their own families, in the Los Angeles area as shown in the story about Smiley and Laughing Girl. Francine realistically described the people and the dark events in the story so that people could easily identify with the characters in the story.
All of the stories in Francine Rodriguez’s book, A Woman’s Story, are very interesting to read and are available on Kindle and in paperback. The book has received Five Star ratings on Amazon. For more information about Francine Rodriguez and other books she has written, contact Francine at tr***********@***il.com.
Ballots for the June 7 Statewide Direct Primary Election are landing in mailboxes this week. But it’s not too late to learn more about the candidates asking for your vote.
There are races for three seats on the Orange County Board of Education or OCBOE in the primary and these contests will not lead to a runoff in the November General Election. The top vote-getter in June wins the seat. Also, this is a nonpartisan race so a candidate’s party preference does not appear on the ballot.
Wondering what the Orange County Board of Education does? It’s composed of five elected trustees each representing a different geographic area. They must approve the Orange County Department of Education’s budget. Trustees also decide various appeals. That includes appeals from students seeking to transfer between districts and students seeking to overturn an expulsion. The board also decides appeals from charter schools seeking approval to operate. Charter schools are publicly funded campuses that are run independently but must meet state requirements.
The voting maps for the OCBOE were recently redrawn after the 2020 U.S. Census, which documents the population and demographics of the nation every ten years. (Of note: a legal battle played out over the redrawn maps including an unsuccessful lawsuit from a majority of the sitting OCBOE members.)
Trustee Area 2 includes Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos, Cypress, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and parts of Newport Beach and portions of Irvine.
Meet the Candidates
Three people are running to represent Trustee Area 2. Spotlight Schools conducted individual Zoom interviews with each of the candidates as well as exchanged emails.
The candidates differ in their vision for the priorities for an Orange County Board of Education member. There is one thing they have in common: they are all parents of children who attended public schools in Orange County.
Here’s some background information on each candidate.
Mari Barke
Incumbent Mari Barke Courtesy photo
First elected in 2018, Rossmoor resident Mari Barke is the current president of the OCBOE. She is a staff member at the California Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank. Its founder opened a charter school with Mari’s husband, Jeffrey Barke, M.D., in 2020. The school recently received approval from the OCBOE to expand and operate as a countywide charter school. Barke abstained from that vote. She says she is committed to parental rights and making sure “children are not trapped by their zip code.” She said she’s voted for every parent-requested interdistrict transfer. She cites the documentary Waiting for Superman as a major influence.
Martha Fluor was a trustee on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education from 1991-2020. She said she’s coming out of retirement to run for this seat, in part, due to the board’s handling of an appeal from a charter school in her district in 2019. Fluor said she’s “pro great schools, whether they’re public, private or charter” and supports local control for school districts. She opposes the OCBOE’s recent lawsuits including ones against the county superintendent of schools and others against California Governor Gavin Newsom over his response to Covid-19. “It’s about kids, not politics. It’s about funding education, not litigation,” Fluor’s website reads.
Christopher R. Ganiere of Costa Mesa is a product of Orange County public schools. He has been active in the leadership of the Libertarian party of Orange County. An architect, Ganiere has worked for firms specializing in designing school facilities. Designing for schools has influenced how he views the needs of students and educators. Ganiere said he wants to make it easier for students to transfer outside their district. He also thinks students who are homeschooled should be allowed to participate in public school extracurricular activities. “[Homeschool] families pay the taxes too. They should have the same access that anybody has to that local school,” he said.
Editor’s note: the following responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What is the role of the Orange County Board of Education and its trustees?
BARKE: “Technically, the OCBOE is an appeals board. And that was why I ran … because we appeal charter schools and interdistrict transfers and those are two ways that you can really change the trajectory of a child’s life. You know, so many children are trapped by their zip code. They don’t have good educational choices. Charter schools are often declined at the district level for various reasons. … We’ve not authorized every charter school. We’ve declined two that have come to us. But if we feel that the charter school is viable, and it offers choices, in a community where there aren’t enough … we have a board that is very favorable for school choice.”
FLUOR: The OCBOE should “rally the troops and … support public education; support our kids. It’s not about an ideology. It’s not about being anti-union. It’s about education and about what’s in the best interests of the kids. And if that’s a charter [school], great, no problem but … the majority of our kids in California and in Orange County are in public school. And private schools don’t have the capacity to take them either. And charter schools don’t have the capacity to take all the kids either. They get to pick and choose [students] as well. So, you know, that’s one thing that the [OCBOE] can do is to express confidence in their locally elected school boards and in their local school districts.”
GANIERE: Ganiere said the OCBOE acts as an “administrative body that distributes funds from the state.” But he also stressed its role as deciding appeals from students seeking interdistrict transfers. “I’d like to see transfers become so easy that they can be accomplished in 24 hours. … Because everybody knows, some schools are really good and some schools really suck. And we should not be in the business of making sure the sucky schools stay around.” Ganiere also thinks “we need to have a strict medical privacy attitude at the county level. What I put in my body, what medication I’m on, what physical therapy I’m going through, what surgeries I have, that’s for me to decide when to disclose it. Not some staff level person at a school district or Board of Education.”
Question: What’s the biggest challenge facing parents, students, educators and administrators in education in Orange County? How will you help?
BARKE: “I would say just what we’ve gone through with COVID and the fear of what mandates might return or might be there.” … “I think most people think that [requiring students to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend in-person public education] is really an infringement on their basic parental rights. And, I do think if the vaccine mandate comes down, that you will see a mass exodus out of public education.” Barke said one way to address that issue is with the board majority’s ongoing lawsuit challenging Gov. Newsom’s emergency declaration related to the pandemic, which she said two attorneys are working on pro bono.
(Note: Last month California announced the earliest it would require a Covid-19 vaccine for students is July 2023.)
FLUOR: “My biggest concern right now is the social-emotional [health] and the learning loss” caused by the pandemic. “While things are getting better and there are things that are coming back to normal, my heart goes out to parents and teachers.” To help with this challenge, Fluor thinks OCBOE should “cease suing and refocus the monies into classrooms and teachers.” She thinks the board should lobby local representatives to Sacramento to influence decisions on state mandates. “I don’t care whether they’re Republican or Democrat. We need to reach out and let them know our position on that. I don’t see this board doing that. They will just sit back and rally against it but that doesn’t do anything. That just frightens parents.”
GANIERE: Ganiere sees a problem with what he said is too much of a focus on making students “college-ready” right out of high school. “So much of the focus is on the kids’ need to get ready for college. You need to get the grades, you need to get the classes, you need to get the extracurricular activities and that’s putting a lot of undue pressure on students. … And after being told for 12 years, there’s only one true way to be an adult and that’s to go to college, you’re crushing these kids unnecessarily” when they receive college rejection letters. “There are lots of good, valid options in Orange County to be an adult without going to college first.” He said he would support expanding those options.
Question: Why should voters pick you?
BARKE: “Voters should pick me because of my track record as a board member since 2018. I think they’ve been a great four years of always putting the kids first and honoring parental rights and approving five charter schools. I want to continue the things we did, which is increasing transparency by moving [board] meetings to a time when parents can come after work and children can come. I want to continue to provide choice. I want to look at each and every charter school and if it’s viable, I want to find a place for it. I want to continue to honor interdistrict transfers. I want to continue to be a place where parents can come and speak out.”
FLUOR: “I am the most qualified candidate, serving as an elected school board member for over 29 years. I understand and adhere to the Brown Act. I am well-schooled in presiding over meetings; follow State and Federal Laws, and the California Education Code. Most importantly, I am respectful to all when on the dais or in public. I exercise tolerance, transparency, and civility. … I respond to all emails, phone calls, or texts within 24 hours. During my tenure as a school board member, I visited every school in our district many times. I met with parents, community members, teachers, and classified staff groups, PTA/PFOs, school foundations, and other stakeholders. I celebrated student, teacher, and school successes. As my campaign motto states – it’s about kids, not politics.”
GANIERE: “If parents are looking for a shake up to the status quo, if parents want scrutiny of federal meddling in schools, if medical privacy matters to you, vote Christopher R Ganiere for OCBOE Trustee Area 2.”Want more local education news? Sign up for the free weekly email newsletter from Spotlight Schools at SpotlightSchools.com.
The Cypress School District and its 188 teachers are headed to mediation this week after a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement that ended in an impasse.
While there is a process required to proclaim an official “impasse” of the negotiations, Cypress School District officials confirmed that is exactly where the unresolved negotiations are headed.
In addition, Dr. Timothy McLellan, Assistant Supt. for Business Services, said in fact that this could be the first time the district and its teachers fail to reach a labor agreement since the district was formed in 1895.
“Maybe it happened somewhere along the way, but this could very well be the first time,” he said.
As stipulated in their respective agreements, the two sides must now surrender to a third-party negotiator, an arbitrator, who will try attempt to bring the sides together.
When, in the district’s opinion, it became obvious teachers did not understand the district’s financial position, McLellan said the district’s five-person team thought it was time to try something different and declared they preferred to signal a mediator step in.
“We were ready to continue talking,” said Elizabeth Dunagan, the teaacher’s top negotiator, but she said the district did not.
“We also want to continue talking,” said McLellan, but he thinks that doing so with a third-party negotiator may be able to bring a “fresh perspective” to the teachers.
“We decided to start the proceedings for an impasse,” acknowledged McLellan, “and I’m optimistic a third party will be a positive thing.”
Moreover, he suggested an independent arbitrator could help teachers “understand the seriousness of the situation.”
After multiple negotiating sessions, the two sides have failed to reach an agreement on pay raises and benefits.
The two sides began negotiating in January, following the district’s receipt of a 5.07 percent cost-of-living increase from the state’s funding formula.
McLellan said that COLA brought in approximately $1.2 million in “new money” to the district.
Teachers were demanding that more of that COLA be used to increase their salaries and benefit increases than the district was apparently willing to spend.
In principle, McLellan said the district does not disagree that the district’s teachers need a raise but noted said teachers must understand “that you can only spend a dollar once.”
The CSD negotiator said the teacher’s original request for a six percent pay raise with no change in benefit structures was simply unworkable.
Not only are insurance premiums rising, but so are pension costs and with inflation at near 8 percent, everything the district needs to operate costs more, said McLellan.
“Our job is to manage the entire process,” said McLellan, maintaining teachers were offered a fair deal.
Regarding comparisons to other districts, the Assistant Supt. said while some Orange County districts did give their teachers a 4.0 percent pay raise this year, they simultaneously instituted “realistic caps,” creating a “cap” of the amount over which they will not pay for insurance premiums.
McLellan acknowledged this change could impact some teachers’ families but would have no effect per se, on any CSD employees, per se, as every system employee’s premium would be covered.
“Under any option we offered, the district will be responsible for the health benefits of every employee,” he clarified.
In some cases of employees with larger families, there could be a differential in the cost of the premiums and the amount paid by the district to cover them, he acknowledged.
“We offered the teachers a 4.5 percent raise,” said McLellan, but that would be with a cap similar to others instituted in some OC districts.
As an alternative, the district offered teachers a 2.5 percent pay raise but would agree to not touch the current health benefit structure across the board.
On Thursday, Dunagan said the teacher’s counteroffer dropped their request to 4.75 with no caps, and while the district did move from 2.5 percent to 3 percent before the negotiations were halted.
After it was obvious there would not be any additional movement, McLellan said the district’s five-person negotiating team opted to pull the plug on the negotiations, announcing they would prefer to start the process that will end in an official “impasse.”
Brittney Cook, an activist with children in the system, said “as a parent, I’m disappointed and disheartened that we’re at this point. The Cypress School District’s courageous leadership that I’ve always known, and loved, is looking a lot more ineffectual.”
“The teachers and staff at our schools have literally risked their lives over the last few years for our children and it seems to mean nothing at this point,” she said. “I hope for the sake of the community as a whole that we can come together and carve out an effective compromise. Until then, I’ll be out there every Wednesday morning, holding my sign and standing with our teachers.”
But why, after all these years, did the negotiations break down?
“Yeah, we’ve been trying to figure it out ourselves,” said Dunagan. “I know our board isn’t especially new, many of them had been on for a few years. And by and large, we’ve always felt that the board was very supportive for the teachers, and so I’m really not sure where this is coming from,” she said.
Obviously, as an employee of a school district. You want your district to be financially solvent, that’s a priority,” the ACT negotiator said, adding that teachers also know that Cypress, like other districts, is facing declining enrollment, yet “we really feel like the district can do a little better,” she said.
“And our teachers came back last year and worked during a pandemic, five days a week in a classroom with students from the end of September of 2020. Through the entire school year,” said Dunagan, while surrounding districts did not.
“I mean, obviously Anaheim Union never even opened,” said Dunagan.
It is a fact that Cypress received recognition for its work during the pandemic. In fact, the Cypress Elementary School District Superintendent, Anne Silavs, is the reigning Orange County Superintendent of the Year.
“We were right back in that classroom at the end of our winter break, just like every other regular year, and the teachers who were willing to be in their classroom with 26 students a day for seven hours a day during COVID, that needs to be recognized,” said Dunagan.
Moreover, Dunagan said teachers
Cypress teachers say they will continue taking their case to the public, but it appears as though their financial fate soon will be in the hands of a third-party mediator. Courtesy photo
in Cypress have always been willing to work with the Board of Trustees and did it again during the pandemic.
“And if the district requested us to come back in the classroom, we could find a way to make that work. We were willing to make that work. So then, for the very next year for them to come to us and say well, we know you did more because we asked you to, but we’re not willing to do more for you. It’s just upsetting,” said Dunagan.
“I think that we are going to add some other community activities where we let the community be aware of the fact that the teachers are at an impasse, and that we really feel like the district can do a little better,” she said.
Cara Patton, President of the ACT, confirmed they would increase public support.
“I’m hopeful that our negotiating team in the district can get a mediator assigned quickly and that we can meet over the summer and make some progress together so that it really has as little impact on the students as possible,” said Dunagan.
“The last thing any teacher wants is to be distracted by their income while trying to teach a classroom full of kids.”
Editor’s Update: The ENE has learned the two sides met in what appears to be a last minute attempt to avoid an impasse late Wednesday but failed to reach an agreement. Watch for the latest in next week’s Event News Enterprise.
You may have seen the campaign signs popping up around your neighborhood.
Yes, the 2022 election season is in full swing.
California’s Primary Election is coming up on June 7 and you’ll be able to start casting a ballot as early as next week.
Here’s what you need to know.
First, some things have changed since most of the nation last cast ballots in 2020.
Thanks to the 2020 U.S. Census, which documents the nation’s demographics every ten years, the boundaries for some Congressional, state, county and local voting districts have changed.
In California, every registered voter should receive a ballot in the mail. Ballots will begin to arrive on or before May 9.
There are a few ways to cast your ballot once you receive it.
Mail it: You can send it via the U.S. Postal Service as soon as you’re done filling it out. Just drop it in a mailbox or off at a post office and there’s no need to apply postage; it’s pre-paid.
Ballot Drop Box: You can also drop it in any secure Ballot Drop Box across Orange County. Drop boxes will be open 24/7 starting May 9 through Election Day.
Vote Center: You can also vote in person at any of the more than 180 Vote Centers across the county. Some will open starting on May 28 for early voting. All will be open June 4 – June 7.
You can find Ballot Drop Box and Vote Center locations and more about how and where to cast your ballot by visiting the Orange County Registrar of Voter’s office website at www.ocvote.org/options.
May 23 is the last day to register to vote for the June 7 election. If you miss the deadline you can “conditionally” register to vote at polling locations, including on Election Day.
What’s on the June 7 Ballot?
The Primary Election includes contests for California Governor, U.S. Senate, Congressional seats, State Senate and Assembly seats as well as countywide races including three seats on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. There are also three ballot measures including Measure C in Westminster, which, if passed, would eliminate the office of elective mayor and increase the number of councilmembers from four to five.
You can see what’s on your ballot by searching your address on VotersEdge.org.
For most of the races, the June election will determine the candidates that advance to compete in the Statewide General Election in November.
California has a top-two primary for statewide offices. That means for each race, only the two candidates receiving the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the General Election.
That’s not the case for seats on the Orange County Board of Education. In these races, the top vote getter will be declared the winner in June.
The City of La Palma is the latest local municipality to be cited for violations of the California Voting Rights Act, as Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman has written a letter to the Mayor and Council demanding they switch to district-based elections.
The Council, which meets only once per month, received the letter in March and after one executive session has agreed to hold a public hearing to allow citizens to weigh in on the matter during its May 3 meeting.
In his letter, Shenkman lays out the various “factors” that are required to establish “a violation” of the state’s voting rights act.
“These “other factors” include “the history of discrimination, the use of electoral devices or other voting practices or procedures that may enhance the dilutive effects of at-large elections, denial of access to those processes determining which groups of candidates will receive financial or other support in a given election, the extent to which members of a protected class bear the effects of past discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and health, which hinder their ability to participate effectively in the political process, and the use of overt or subtle racial appeals in political campaigns,” his letter said.
Moreover, Shenkman claimed in the letter that “as of the most recent data released by the United States Census Department, Latinos comprise 19.4% of the City’s population of 15,581. Yet, since 2013, the City’s governing board has been devoid of Latinos.”
Furthermore, it said, “the current and historical underrepresentation of Latinos on the City’s governing board is revealing.”
“The City’s at-large system dilutes the ability of Latinos (a “protected class”) – to elect candidates of their choice or otherwise influence the outcome of the City’s elections,” said Shenkman in the letter.
“It appears that in the past 12 years, the City’s elections have been nearly devoid of Latino candidates, and while opponents of voting rights may claim that indicates an apathy among the Latino communities, the courts have held that is an indicator of vote dilution,” said Shenkman.
“Elections involving Latino candidates are additionally illustrative. In La Palma’s most recent 2020 election, Emanuel Aparicio emerged as a La Palma City Council candidate. Despite significant support from Latino voters, he lost his bid for a seat on the Council,” cited Shenkman.
“This election evidences vote dilution which is directly attributable to the City’s unlawful at-large election system.”
“As you may be aware, in 2012, we sued the City of Palmdale for violating the CVRA. After an eight-day trial, we prevailed. After spending millions of dollars, a district-based remedy was ultimately imposed upon the Palmdale city council, with districts that combine all incumbents into one of the four districts,” the attorney said.
“Given the racially polarized elections for the La Palma city council and exogenous elections, we urge the City to voluntarily change its at-large system of electing its City Council. Otherwise, on behalf of residents within the jurisdiction, we will be forced to seek judicial relief.”
Shenkman gave the city until April 27 to seek a voluntary change to district elections.
La Palma officials have yet to comment publicly but did agree to allow the public to have input by scheduling a public hearing at Tuesday’s meeting.
The ENE will cover Tuesday’s meeting and report on the latest developments.
The Los Alamitos City Council voted unanimously at their most recent meeting designed to mitigate the cost-of-living increases to its fees and permit schedule.
The Council voted unanimously to approve an annual increase for permits and fees yet stopped short of the staff recommendation of 7.4 percent.
Each year, the Council is mandated to analyze the cost of city services and pass those costs on to the public who pay for permits and development fees and a host of services authorized by the city.
With the cost-of-living increases nationwide estimated to be near 8 percent, the city staff recommended a hike of 7.4 percent to keep the cost of city services in step with the current economic situation.
However, Councilman Ron Bates, backed by Councilman Mark Chirco, suggested the city not increase the fee and permit schedule the full 7.4 percent.
“I suggest we consider five percent,” said Bates, suggesting that raising the fees to the full 7.4 percent could blunt economic growth.
“I think it [7.4 percent] is too much of a step for us to take right now,” said Bates.
“I agree,” said Chirco, noting that businesses in the city “are already getting hit everywhere.”
City Manager Chet Simmons said the city has completely changed the way it operates in the past two years so a few months to complete a more thorough audit of the process would be in order.
“We can work on our internal calculations and rework our fee schedule,” said Simmons. As necessary, the fee schedule can be adjusted once the new analysis is complete.
Craig Koehler, Director of Finance, asked the council to consider authorizing a qualified outside contractor to assist the city in completing the financial analysis.
The Council unanimously approved a motion by Bates and seconded by Chirco that included the five percent increase and the contractor for the analysis.
The city manager said he would have the revised permit and fee schedule ready for the Council to review at the next meeting.
In other action, the Council:
Declared April as DMV Donate Life Month. Info at livingdonationscalifornia.org.
Welcomed Janet Gallagher to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission.
Approved spending $5,000 on self-locking doors to save staff time at remote facilities.
Gave Acting City Manager and Development Services Manager Ron Noda the go ahead to proceed with a $92,000 project to replace all 122 catch basins in the city.
Just when you think the art of fine dining has reached its zenith, a Seal Beach restauranteur has taken it to the next level.
Nick Quiroz is giving patrons an opportunity to learn the finer art of dining while also obtaining a better understanding of what the chef staff is thinking as they prepare the menu.
In an interview, Quiroz said when his group purchased Patty’s Place in 2019, the restaurant had a good reputation, a great staff, and enough goodwill to keep it going. Three years in, however, Quiroz has begun to put his own stamp on the restaurant by taking fine dining a step further.
Quiroz is the owner/manager of Patty’s Place, and he has embarked on an effort to educate and enlighten customers with a series of special “Wine&Dine” events.
These special events combine culinary knowledge with the wit of a master sommelier to allow the restaurants to understand wine and how it plays a role in planning the menu.
“The upside for us,” said Quiroz, “is to be able to have fun creating a menu that is designed specifically to pair with particular wines.”
Courtesy photo Jim Osborn, left, Maureen and Jerry Pabbruwee in the foreground of a group photo of 36 “Wine&Dine” participants.
Moreover, with more than 40 years in the business, Quiroz employs a table-hopping management style. “I love going table to table,” said Quiroz, “saying hi to everyone who comes in. Even when they are complaining. I don’t hesitate, I go there and face the music.”
Truth is, however, there’s not much complaining over at Patty’s Place. Quiroz says business is better than ever. So much so that he has embarked on an effort to occasionally invite interested customers to attend the special “Wine & Dine” events, featuring Master Sommelier Michael Jordan.
In the most recent Wine&Dine event, Quiroz introduced Jordan to a room packed with customers who had been lucky enough to get one of the thirty-six seats to the private event held in the back private dining area.
“We’re so honored to have him (Jordan) here,” Quiroz explained to the excited guests. Each of thirty-six guests attending the event was seated around a fine dining setup, complete with eight glasses of wine, four red and four white.
“We get to do a blind tasting with a certified wine educator,” said Quiroz.
In addition, he said Jordan is a “Master Sommelier,” a rare breed of wine specialists that must endure a near impossible set of challenges to be inducted into the rank of “Master.” They must proceed through four levels of testing, then they must be able to identify everything about a wine, including what grape variety they were made from before they are certified, said Jordan.
According to the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, there are less than 200 “Master Sommeliers” in the USA, of which Jordan, of Costa Mesa, is indeed recognized on the institution’s website.
According to Jordan, Master Sommeliers must in an instant be able to identify, with only a swirl, sip, and a smell of wine (which is called a “blind testing” in wine speak), pretty much everything about a wine.
They must be able to identify the wine’s history, know from which country/region it is from, what grape may have been used, in what village they were grown and the wine’s vintage year, among many other characteristics.
Master Sommeliers even understand the soils in various regions around the world and how those soils are traceable by the certain tastes and smells they produce.
He provided the audience with many tips about wine most never knew. Jordan says you determine the acid level in a wine simply by judging how much your mouth juices up when you drink it.
While wine connoisseurs hang onto every drop of information, even the average wine drinkers attending the event got more than a bottleful of facts and ideas about wine from Jordan.
Participants got a printed checklist from Jordan with more than fifty characteristics of wine that would be soon become a part of Jordan’s wine lessons.
For example, Jordan held a glass of white wine up to the light, and said, “look at that light,” pointing to the wine. “It is bright,” he said, “in fact, it’s kind of starbright, and the deep lights shining through it, are pale straw with a watery rim.”
“In fact, in the light, you can see a light green hue,” said Jordan, drawing his audience closer.
“That’s a very important clue,” he says to the group, “because a green hue in a white wine,” says Jordan, “means it’s either a young wine or from a cool climate.”
He called the exercise a “deductive tasting.”
First, he said, when you “swirl” the wine around the glass, you are supposed to look to see how much of the residue sticks to the glass. The “viscosity” determines the fullness and texture. More sticking to the glass reveals many of the ingredients therein and its residue is a huge clue.
“We don’t swirl the wine around the glass to look cool at a cocktail party,” said Jordan, “we spin it around for two reasons. One, we want to see how thick the drips are on the side and two, we want to coat more surface area of the glass, so as the alcohol evaporates from a bigger surface area, it’s easier to get some aromas out of it.”
Then another little secret from the Master Sommelier, the greatest aromas are not in the bowl of the wine glass but hovering on top of it.
“Right at the rim of glass,” he said, simmering above the wine, are delicate smells, perhaps herbs, floral and spice, that are very helpful in identifying the wine. “If I just stick my big old nose into the glass, I miss all that stuff at the top,” said Jordan.
“So I approach the wine very carefully,” he said because the “deeper, heavier, fruitier flavors sit in the bowl of the glass” and I don’t want to miss the subtle hints of smell.
After explaining the various regions around the world where grapes are grown, Jordan also explained how a keen nose can smell the wine and know exactly from where the grapes likely come by the grass and floral smells, the smell of oak barrels, or not.
When it comes to wines, Jordan said there are simply the “old world” and the “new world,” he said. “Europe is the old world, and the new world is everything else.”
It was soon time for the participants to use the knowledge they had hopefully gained.
Jordan methodically went through each of four white wines, then red, allowing each of the thirty-six participants to register their own thoughts. Occasionally, he quizzed the diners to make sure they were taking it all in.
“I think I can smell the oak [barrels] in this one,” said Maureen Pabbruwee, of Seal Beach, who attended the event with her husband Jerry.
As they marked their choices on the paper he provided, Jordan told the Wine&Dine participants not to worry if they had not yet mastered the many skills of wine identification.
“It’s the hardest thing in the world to do,” said Jordan, as patrons went on with the test, trying to impart their newfound wine knowledge as they guessed wildly about the four reds and four whites until they had all been properly identified.
Following Jordan is a tough act, said Quiroz, but working with Chef Jose Navarro, they put together a memorable service where each of the wines were selected specifically for the accompanying dish.
“The dishes we serve for Wine&Dine are not on our regular menu,” said Quiroz, “so it gives Jose and I time to do a little research and be creative in putting the menu together.”
Quiroz said for the five-course Wine&Dine dinner, he and Chef Jose worked tirelessly to match the wines with the dish, especially given the patron’s newfound knowledge of both.
The arugula salad was served with Capture Sauvignon Blanc, the poached fresh coast scallop with orzo in lobster sauce was served with Diatorn Chardonnay, the pan-seared white Peking duck breast was served with Brewer Custom Pinot, the prime short rib came with Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon and the sorbet and gelato came with coffee.
“This was an amazing event,” said Jim Osborn, the former owner of the Tustin Grill and a longtime friend of Quiroz, He is still an Orange County restauranteur and complimented the presentation of Jordan, a man he said he’s known for many years.
With more than four decades in the business, Quiroz has worked his way up from bartending to owner/manager. He takes pride in the fact that his employees are well paid and many have spent their careers in the same restaurant.
For instance, Chuck Armstrong, a popular local bartender, recently retired with twenty-five years of service, said Quiroz. The Wine&Dine events, of which there have thus far been only two, are an experiment to provide diners with culinary insights while also giving them a chance to have some fun, he added.
“The end goal, really,” said Quiroz, “is to bring in anyone interested in fine wine or fine dining, break some bread together, maybe learn something, and have a really nice evening.”
By Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman
For the Event-News Enterprise
Hundreds of elementary, middle school and high school students from throughout California traveled to Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, April 23, to strut their skills and compete in California Cadet Corps State Drill Competition.
More than 330 cadets comprising 71 different teams marched onto the base parade ground to represent the Corps’ 14 brigades in a variety of events.
Earning the right to compete at the state level was no easy feat, said California Cadet Corps Col. Michael J. Smith, who serves as the Corps’ executive officer.
“This is sort of a culmination event for them,” Smith said. “They’ve already been through several challenges to get to this level, so I hope they feel some fruition and that it all was worth it… I hope they have a sense of accomplishment about performing as a team.”
For the armed and unarmed drill categories, cadets competed in smaller squad-level formations and larger platoon-sized groups and performed a prescribed sequence of commands – from memory – in front of judges and a crowd of family members, teachers and cadets from other schools.
Judges scrutinized every move closely to score teams based on their precision and military bearing.
“The kids, they’re nervous and have butterflies. You’ve got everybody watching you,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Pedro Kladis, of the 146th Security Forces Squadron, 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard.
Kladis and several other members of the 146th volunteered to judge the competition. Precision was important, he said, but bearing was key.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about how precise you can execute. It’s about if you fail, how fast can you recover,” Kladis said. “How well can you bounce back up? Those are lessons learned in life.”
Photo by U.S. Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman California Cadet Corps Cadet Capt. Myriam Escamilla, a student at Leadership Military Academy in Moreno Valley, reports to judges before her team’s exhibition drill performance during the Corps’ statewide drill competition, April 23, 2022, at Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, California. California Cadet Corps is a school-based youth leadership development program run by the California Military Department’s Task Force Torch which focuses on youth and community programs.
The annual competition is about more than naming the Corps’ best drill teams in the state, Smith said. The event provides cadets with face-to-face leadership opportunities they didn’t have in 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced learning online.
“COVID was a huge setback for a lot of the young cadets, in particular. We lacked two things: opportunities to get together and do things like this in the competitive environment, but also the leadership laboratory that that affords,” Smith said. “Rather than being on Zoom sessions, squad leaders, platoon leaders and company commanders can interact face-to-face with subordinates and hone those leadership skills.”
During the height of the pandemic, drill competition went virtual with cadets competing in their bedrooms using video capabilities of their laptops and home computers. It worked but it wasn’t the same, Smith said.
“That was a huge deficit in those challenging years, and it’s so exciting to be back from that,” Smith said.
Cadet Col. Katelyn Santa Maria, a high school junior who serves as the cadet executive officer within the program’s state-level operations brigade, was integral in planning the event.
“Saying that it took years for planning would not be an overestimate,” Santa Maria said.
She and fellow cadets reviewed reports from previous drill competitions to plan the Corps’ return to an in-person competition.
Santa Maria participated in the drill competition as a first-year cadet during middle school. As a past competitor, the program was near to her heart.
“It’s cool to have a completely different angle on it from a competitor being so young to running the thing,” she said.
Like Smith, she was excited to see the competition’s face-to-face return.
“Coming back in person is just outstanding,” Santa Maria said. “It’s so great to be able to lead so many of these kids, not just through a screen, but to actually see them.”
Founded in 1911 by the state’s adjutant general, the California Cadet Corps began as a way to prepare California youth for commissioned military service. The program, which now serves more than 6,000 cadets in 91 California schools, evolved into a leadership development program with a focus on citizenship and patriotism while promoting academic excellence and encouraging personal health and wellness. California Cadet Corps is run by the California Military Department’s Task Force Torch youth and community programs directorate.
When it works, representative democracy is a two-way street. Elected officials should do what they believe is in the best interest of the community while we the people must do our part by staying informed and holding our representatives accountable.
Of course, we can only fulfill our duty as citizens if we know where our representatives stand on important issues, and the reasoning behind their stances. That’s what makes the Cypress City Council’s refusal to vote publicly on whether to maintain at-large elections so troubling.
After months of inaction followed by three public forums in which council members never openly expressed their views on the issue, the City Council abruptly voted to maintain at-large elections in a closed session on March 14, 2022.
Now, in addition to the threatened litigation over an alleged California Voting Rights Act violation, the City of Cypress received a demand letter from a nonprofit called Californians Aware alleging that the closed session vote violated the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Elected officials in neighboring cities who faced similar circumstances criticized both the City Council’s decision and the secret nature of the closed session vote, with Tustin’s former mayor and current council member Letitia Clark saying, “It’s absolutely the best practice to have the vote in open session. This is something that literally impacts every voter.”
To her credit, Council Member Frances Marquez has publicly shared the reasons behind her support for district elections at prior council meetings. But the City Council, as a whole, still has not voted publicly or explained their reasoning. One would think that if representatives have confidence in their decision, they would be willing, even eager, to share their views publicly.
Perhaps most disappointingly, the closed session vote came after the City Council actively sought input from members of the public. If council members are going to ask us to share our views on how elections should be conducted and why, they should extend us the same courtesy.
And regardless of whether the closed session vote violated the Brown Act or might be upheld by the right judge isn’t the issue. Being open about votes that affect the community is simply the right thing to do
Editor’s Note: David Burke is an attorney and the founder of Citizens Take Action, a Cypress nonprofit organization.
A 19-year veteran educator, Gloria Badal has been a professor of political science at Cypress College since 2007. She has also served as a lecturer at California State University, Fullerton, and adjunct instructor at Santiago Canyon College, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, and Riverside Community College.
From the first political science class she took as an undergraduate at California State University, Fullerton, Badal recalls falling in love with political science and realizing she wanted to be like the professors who made ideas come alive for her.
“My inspiration were professors like Raphe Sonenshein, Bruce Wright, Jesse Owens Smith, and Carl Jackson. Today, my motivation is still in those early memories of the inspiration I gained from my professors. If I am that inspiration to my students, my goal has been achieved.”
Badal said receiving the nomination to represent Cypress College as Teacher of the Year is the highest honor of her career.
“This nomination means that my students know how much I love teaching them and how important their success—not only in my class, but in life—is to me,” said Badal.
In addition to her role as professor, Badal is the political science department coordinator, the faculty advisor for the political science club, a faculty mentor for the Legacy Program, and the political action committee chair of United Faculty.
According to Dr. Lisa Gaetje, dean of social sciences at Cypress College, Badal is a beloved professor who creates a climate where students are allowed to respectfully disagree, become advanced critical thinkers, and enhance their commitment to social and political engagement and global citizenship.
“Gloria sees the relevance of her course content to the advancement of educational trajectories, but also to engaged participation in society as a whole,” said Gaetje. “She is thoughtful about the equitable experiences of students and is keenly aware of how a college experience and student connectedness to their courses and instructors can change lives.”
While we continue to study and gather data about the second-order impacts of COVID-19, it is becoming clear that the pandemic exacerbated risk factors for falls among older adults like physical inactivity. For this reason, it is vital for older adults to know that support is available that can help reduce their risk for falls and improve their quality of life.
Nearly 25 percent of able-bodied older adults in California is classified as physically inactive, putting them at increased risks for falls and disease, according to the 2021 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report. In California, 30.4 percent of adults aged 65 and older reported a fall in the past year, the reported showed.
Falls present a more significant health threat than many realize, and, for older adults, they can take a serious toll on quality of life, independence, and overall wellbeing. While the risk of falls increases for older adults, falls are not a normal part of aging and pose a serious public health concern.
While contributing factors for falls like physical inactivity, obesity, and alcohol abuse were exacerbated by COVID-19, other risk factors include arthritis, poor balance and vision, certain medications, osteoporosis, certain disabilities and general frailty. Older adults with arthritis, a common driver of disability, are more than twice as likely to experience a fall.
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) show falls are the No. 1 cause of injury and ER visits for adults age 65 and older. One in 4 older adults fall each year, costing more than $50 billion annually. And that cost is projected to increase up to $100 billion by 2030.
As a physician and a leader in healthy aging, we have each seen firsthand the impact of falls on both patients and loved ones. Falls too often lead to a cascade of health challenges and a decrease in quality of life. An older adult who suffers a fall may not be able to enjoy the same activities as before like gardening, sports, or other hobbies.
To help address these challenges, Age Bold and UnitedHealthcare are working together in California to provide fitness programs at no additional cost for eligible UnitedHealthcare Medicare plan members and to raise awareness of risk factors for falls among older adults. Proper exercise can reduce risks for falls among older adults by improving strength and balance.
In addition to exercise, the CDC has helpful resources and tips for reducing risk for falls, including speaking openly with your physician, having your eyes and feet checked, and removing obstacles in the home that could pose a tripping hazard.
COVID-19 caused a shift in consumer demand for flexible, simple, and convenient options to access healthcare and the resources to live a healthier life. It’s more important than ever that we come together to support the older adults in our communities with the resources they need to stay on their feet and maintain the quality of life they deserve.
Dr. Daman Jamarai is Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement of California
The members of the La Palma-Cerritos American Association of University Women elected their new officers for the 2022-2023 year at their General Meeting on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at the Cerritos Library in Cerritos. Nominating Committee Chair Dorothy Edwards presented the nominated slate of officers who were elected by acclamation by members present at the general meeting. The newly elected officers included the following members: President, Celia Spitzer; Program VP’s, Faith Hershler and Cathleen Niederman; Membership VP’s, Saurabh Deedwania and Jacqueline Shahzadi; AAUW Fund VP’s, Tobi Balma and Sue Solomon; Secretary, Christine Taxier; and Treasurer Marilyn Forsstrom. There is still an opening for the office of President-Elect. If a member is interested in serving on the board in that position, contact Nominating Committee Chair Dorothy Edwards at pa************@*ol.com.
Pictured is VP Nancy Kawamura with Francine Rodriguez. Courtesy photo
The new Executive Board will be installed at a luncheon on June 4, 2022, by installing officer Tobi Balma, with details to be determined by incoming President Celia Spitzer. Members will be receiving more information about a Planning Meeting for the 2022-2023 year that has been scheduled for June 25, 2022, as plans are finalized. For information regarding the 2022-2023 programs for La Palma-Cerritos AAUW, contact Program Co-VP Cathleen Niederman at 714-826-4374.
Prior to the General Meeting with the Election of Officers and other branch business, members were introduced to guest speaker, Francine Rodriguez. Francine is an author who won the Silver Medal Award at the International Latino Book Awards in 2022 for her anthology, A Woman’s Story. The book depicts the lives of ten Latinas of varying ages and lifestyles living in contemporary Los Angeles who experienced different problems in their lives such as violence, racism, sexism, inner rage, and conflicts with gender identity or family members. Francine said that women shared their experiences with her as she worked in the fields of law and psychology as a Federal Mediator, DOJ Litigation Specialist, and Substance Abuse and HIV Counselor. Francine’s book is based on her experiences, but she said that it is a work of fiction with names, places, and incidents are products of her imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Francine read one chapter from the book, A Woman’s Story, called Smiley and Laughing Girl. In the story, Smiley is a young girl who gets pregnant by a gang member, Chavo, who was shot probably by rival gang members and dies in a crash of his car. Laughing Girl is the child she had, but she is not sure of who was the father. She also has two other boys not knowing which men were their fathers. Smiley was into selling drugs to get money and was involved with the murder of a rival gang member because of Chavo. She was jailed for different times due to her gang involvement. At the end of the story, she was hoping to help her daughter, Laughing Girl, from making bad decisions like she did.
All of the stories in Francine Rodriguez’s book, A Woman’s Story, are very interesting to read and are available on Kindle and in paperback. The book has received Five Star ratings on Amazon. For more information about Francine Rodriguez and other books she has written, contact Francine at tr***********@***il.com.
Courtesy photo
Once upon a time in Los Alamitos, Pine and Reagan Streets were town center thoroughfares. Now relegated to side streets, the City of Los Alamitos would like to return these boulevards to bustling pedestrian-friendly broad streets where shopping, entertaining and family gathering can once again thrive in a relaxed walkabout atmosphere, beginning on Pine Street with a three-day event for the next two weeks that reimagines the boulevard between Katella and Florista Avenues as a family destination for shopping, movie going and staged entertainment. It’s called the Parklet Series and Los Al TV producer John Underwood captured the first of four of the three-day weekend events featuring live bands on Thursday, a Friday movie night, and a Saturday morning farmer’s market right on the street. There are still two weekends in which to partake of any or all of the events. You can view the first weekend in the series now airing on Los Al TV Channel 3, online at losaltv.org, or on demand via the Our Los Al streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV app stores.
