EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 8, 2019 Page 3
Barbie is still celebrating her 60th birthday
and this time the Mattel icon was honored
at the Chamber of Commerce’s Celebration,
Installation and Awards Dinner, which was
held at The Lakes Golf Course on August
2nd. Everyone enjoyed the evening festivities,
which included a milkshake machine from
Cold Stone Brewery.
Award winners were: Business of the Year
– Raytheon
Community Betterment Award;
Mychal’s Learning Place
Volunteer of the Year
– Eloise Mendez;
Downtown Business of the
Year – Industrial Lock & Security; Member
of the Year – Cold Stone Creamery / Blimpies
Public; Service Award – Greg Carpenter;
Outgoing Chair of the Board – Charles Gale.
Burkley Brandlin
Swatik & Keesey LLP
AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW
Lifetime El Segundo Residents
Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury
Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation
310-540-6000
*AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization
Real Changes Could Reduce the
Wait Times at DMV Locations
By Rob McCarthy
The public can expect better customer
service and a fresh can-do attitude from the
Department of Motor Vehicles, says its new
leader who closed down the motor vehicle
licensing offices temporarily last month
to re-train and recharge the beleaguered
agency. “Real, tangible change is coming to
the DMV,” newly appointed Chief Deputy
Director Kathleen Webb promised on July
24, the same day that DMV offices statewide
closed their doors for a half-day of staff training.
Calendar of Events
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1
per word up to 25 words. Email listings
to marketing@heraldpublications.com. We
accept Visa and MasterCard.
THURSDAY, AUG 8
• El Segundo Certified Farmer’s Market:
Artistic Creation, 3:00 PM. – 7:00 PM.,
located on Main Street, Downtown El Segundo,
Stop by and show off your art skills
with our awesome arts and crafts projects.
FRIDAY, AUG 9
• Bingo, 1:00 PM. - 3:00 PM., 50 Plus, $3.00
minimum, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon Street
SATURDAY, AUG 10
• Family Campout at Rec Park: Stevenson
Field, $12.00 per person, Entry at 4:00
PM, Wristbands available through August
8th, space permitting, Call for more info:
310-524-2362.
• Saturday Night Dance, 7:00 PM. – 9:45
PM., Cost: $5.00 Per Person, Adults of all
Ages Welcome, Senior Club of El Segundo,
339 Sheldon St., Call: 310-524-2705.
SUNDAY, AUG 11
• Bridge & Pinochle Groups, 11:30 AM. –
3:45 PM, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon St., Call Pam at: 310-318-2856.
MONDAY, AUG 12
• Canasta Group, 11:30 AM. – 3:00 PM.,
50 Plus, Free, Senior Club of El
Segundo, 339 Sheldon St., Call Pam at:
310-318-2856.
TUESDAY, AUG 13
• Pinochle, 11:30 AM. – 3:30 PM., Senior
Club of El Segundo, 339 Sheldon St., Call
Pam at: 310-318-2856.
• Aging Mastery: Navigating Longer Lives,
11:00 AM. – 12:30 PM., Must register for
this event, El Segundo Public Library, 111
W. Mariposa Ave, Call: 310-524-2728.
WEDNESDAY, AUG 14
• Bowling, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, 50 Plus,
Senior Club of El Segundo, Gable House
Bowl, 22501 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance,
Cost: $8.50 for 3 games, Call Joyce at:
Double shot
The Jewelry Source
337 Main St. El Segundo. 310-322-7110
www.jewelrysourceUSA.com
©2007
earspresso
Community Briefs
Barbie’s Birthday
Celebration Continues
Seated from left to right: Tiffany L. Clyne, Anna Garalde and Tracy Horowitz. Standing, left to right, Ed Lynch, Heidi Maerker, Dean
Stehlik, Ed Myska and Mattel’s own Jamie Rangel, Manager and Retail operation, who was “representing” in her pretty pink.
El Segundo Firm Wins U.S. Air
Force Innovation Research Contract
Epirus, the only U.S. company developing
software-defined electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
technology designed to take down dangerous
drones, was awarded a Small Business Innovative
Research (SBIR) Phase I contract by
the U.S. Air Force at its Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (UAS) Pitch Day on July 24. Epirus
CEO Nathan Mintz and CTO Bo Marr led the
company’s presentation, held at the Kostas
Research Institute for Homeland Security in
Burlington, Mass.
Epirus, which is based near the U.S. Air
Force Space and Missile Systems Center in El
Segundo, was one of just 13 firms out of 108
selected to present at UAS Pitch Day. Epirus
presented the world’s first ever megawatt-class
drone-mounted, directed energy capability
system and was the only company with this
capability that was selected for a contract award.
Epirus presented video demonstrations of the
megawatt class system at work in the field.
Epirus’s technology uses a short burst of
directed energy to neutralize UAS such as
drones, which present a new, unique threat to
national security. In fact, recreational drones
have caused shutdowns at busy airports like
London’s Gatwick, affecting thousands of travelers.
And as drone technology becomes cheaper
and more easily accessible, the possibility of
them being used by enemy combatants of all
types continues to increase. The company has
expertise in understanding how drones respond
to EMP, which helps inform its work in developing
technological innovations for how
America will defeat drone swarms.
– Source: Vectis Strategies
Another Hole in One for Lee
Not satisfied to rest on his laurels with
only a solitary hole in one to his credit
in 2019, Lee Davis notched his second
hole in one of the year while golfing at
The Lakes at El Segundo on Aug. 1. He did
it on the third hole. He’s hoping to make a
habit of it.
– Photo: Dave Atkinson
See Calendar of Events, page 4
New procedures were demonstrated for
processing driver’s licenses and identification
cards, primarily the REAL IDs that airports
and federal buildings -- including military
bases -- will accept as proper identification
as of October 2020.
The half-day, closed-door session follows
a series of mishaps at the department
that cost the former director her job last
December. And the department responsible
for driver’s licenses and motor vehicle licensing
has been dealing with an unprecedented
demand for the new federal REAL IDs,
causing hour-long waits for the licenses at
local DMV offices.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last December replaced
DMV Director Jean Shimoto after embarrassing
problems with the Motor Voter registration program.
Webb took over permanently for Shimoto
earlier this year, even though the former director’s
management team had reduced wait
times for driver’s licenses at DMV offices
statewide. However, it was discovered that
150,000 driver licenses were delayed and
Gavin replaced Shimoto, making good on
his promise to make it his priority to fix the
problems at the DMV.
Lawmakers gave the motor vehicle licensing
department a one-time $226 million increase to
hire 2,000 more employees and to extend hours
at some local DMV offices. To cope with the
high demand for REAL IDs, the Hawthorne
DMV office is now open on Saturdays for
licensing and vehicle registration.
“We know that our customers deserve consistent,
quality service on every visit at every
office,” Webb said last month. “That is why
we took the extraordinary step to stop business
for half a day and give our employees the support
and information to provide that service.”
The half-day training on July 24 included
the Hawthorne, Inglewood, Culver City and
Torrance offices. The rare closed-door session
followed the release of a report by a strike
team that studied the department’s operations
and made recommendations to the governor
about how to clear the bottleneck at DMV
counters. The front-line employees learned
about new procedures and computer-assisted
resources now available to them.
Employees were told to be ready for customer
volume to double between now and fall of
2020, when the REAL ID enforcement date
starts. The closed-door training introduced
steps taken to streamline REAL ID processing,
including developing a digital REAL ID
Field Guide that employees can now access
at their workstations.
Another change implemented this summer
was to open DMV offices earlier, including
Inglewood and Torrance, at 7 a.m. four days
a week. The exception is Wednesday when
the offices open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.
The motor vehicle and licensing agency
for California is, in one state official’s words,
See DMV, page 10