Page 2 January 21, 2016 Hawthorne Happenings News for the ‘City of Good Neighbors’ From City Clerk Norb Huber City Council Delays Selection of a New Council Member Another special council meeting has been set for Thursday, January 28th beginning at 5:30 p.m. for the purpose of selecting a new council member. This will mark the third special meeting in which the council has had the selection as an agenda item. The council nominated applicants during eight rounds this past Tuesday night, but none of the rounds produced a majority applicant. So, we will continue the process next week. Historical Society Meeting Larry Guidi, former mayor of Hawthorne, will be our guest speaker at the next Hawthorne Historical Society meeting to be held on Monday, January 25 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Hawthorne Museum. Light refreshments will be served prior to the program. 2016 Membership Dues are now due. It›s a $10 fee for the year and goes to support the work of the HHS. Membership letters were sent out recently to all past members. Pancake Breakfast The Hawthorne Historical Society will host it›s Second Annual Hawthorne Hometown Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 27th from 8 to 12 noon at the Hawthorne Museum. Tickets will be available at the museum. $5 gets you a great breakfast and the monies raised supports the Historical Society. State of the City Luncheon The Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce has set the date of March 24th for the first State of the City Luncheon for our new Mayor, Alex Vargas. Make plans to be there to hear what is going on in our city. Parks Foundation Golf Tournament Mark your calendars for Monday, April 11 as the date of the Hawthorne Parks Foundation Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held at Coyote Hills Golf Club in Fullerton. New Tennis Courts at Memorial Park It’s been quite a few years since any of our city tennis courts have been given an entire make over. But, that is what is happening to the four tennis courts at Memorial Park. The courts are being resurfaced, new fencing is being installed and as soon as the lines painted and the nets go up, we will have some really nice courts to play tennis on. Thanks to the City for using some funds set aside for park improvements. New Walking Trail Being Constructed A new walking trial will be completed soon in the Hawthorne area. It will be located on the East side of the 405 freeway just South of 135th Street in the Wiseburn county area. • FAA Grounds New Hobby Drones Until They Register By Rob McCarthy Rotocopter hobbyists insist the government is ruining their fun, but public opinion seems with the Federal Aviation Administration after it grounded new hobby drones right before Christmas. New owners of the small unmanned aircraft can’t fly until they register with the FAA. The registration rule issued Dec. 21 applies to the hobby drones - known as unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS) - weighing up to 55 pounds. The chief of the FAA announced that 180,000 hobby aircraft were registered in the first two weeks. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has expanded no-fly zones around airports as drone ownership increases. The agency expected as many as 1 million hobby drones to be purchased in the United States over the holidays. Reaching every one of those owners is a daunting task for tan agency that polices American airspace. “But this is just the beginning,” Huerta said recently. “Our challenge is to make sure everyone is aware of the requirement and registers.” As expected, some UAS operators weren’t pleased with the expanded rules for the drones, which are used commercially by photographers to access hard-to-reach locations. Pilots, however, have reported seeing the hobby aircraft in their airspace, which prompted the FAA in mid-2014 to ban the lightweight copters from flying within five miles of airports, curtailing activity in the airport cities of Hawthorne, Inglewood, Compton, Torrance, El Segundo, Westchester and Santa Monica. A nationwide drone hobbyist group with 22,000 members in California advised members to ignore the registration order for now, the Orange County Register reported on Dec. 29 - eight days after the FAA issued its edict. The Academy of Model Aeronautics has 185,000 members nationwide, according to the Register. “We strongly believe that the new interim rule is unnecessary,” said Dave Mathewson, executive director of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, in a statement. The academy objects to the registration of drones, saying that it conflicts with a 2012 congressional rule that prohibits the FAA from regulating small recreational drones. The group’s leader issued a statement calling the federal registry redundant because the Academy of Model Aeronautics self-policies its members through its own drone registration system. Mike Rivard, co-organizer of a Los Angeles and Orange County Drone User Group, compared the FAA’s new requirements to the Federal Communications Commission’s unsuccessful attempt in the 1970s to get citizens band radios registered. Federal aviation authorities are using a carrot-and-stick approach to the drone registration process. The cost to register an aircraft is free for the first 30 days, and the penalties for failure to comply can be as much as $27,500 in civil fines and $250,000 in criminal fines and imprisonment, according to an FAA press release. The drone aircraft operated by current owners must be registered by Feb. 19. Owners will provide the FAA with name, address, mailing address, and a valid email address to register. Registration is done through a newly created web site, and a filing fee of $5 will be charged. As an incentive to comply, the FAA agreed to waive the fee for the first 30 days. After completing registration, owners will receive a personal registration number, the FAA explains on the web site: www.faa.gov/uas/registration/ “If a person owns more than one small UAS, each aircraft must be marked with that number. Any method may be used to mark the UAS, as long as the number is legible. Registrants may put the number in the battery compartment if it is easily accessible. “The FAA will immediately email a certificate containing the holder’s name, registration number, and the dates of issuance and expiration. The operator must keep either a printed or electronic version of this certificate on hand for inspection as proof of registration. Registration must be renewed every three years. If assistance is needed with registration, email UAShelp@faa.gov.” The FAA also released an app for Apple mobile devices for small drone operators to check on U.S. airspace requirements and restrictions. The agency plans to release a test version of the B4UFLY app for Android devices shortly, the Register reported. “We expect B4UFLY will help raise public awareness about what it means to operate unmanned aircraft safely,” Huerta said. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University announced a free, open online course to teach drone operators the basics of UAS and their operating environments. It runs through Jan. 24. Newspapers around the country have come out in support of regulation of the hobby drones, many of which are equipped with cameras. Newspaper editors have voiced concerns that the cameras endanger other aircraft and that any Peeping Tom can figure out how to fly one. Chief among them was the New York Times, which devoted a lead editorial in its Sunday edition to whether public privacy and safety is at risk from the remote-controlled aerial copters. Drones “can also be used to snoop on people and harass them. And they can threaten other aircraft,” the Times editorial stated. “Many Americans will be skeptical .. unless safeguards are put in place guaranteeing safety and protecting privacy.” Following up on the pushback by drone owners, the publication Aviation Today Network asked “Are Drone Advocates Losing the PR Contest?” The Jan. 11 article cited various U.S. newspapers whose editorial boards had taken a stand on tougher rules for hobby drones. “Newspapers large and small have said the risks small drones pose to other aircraft, to the privacy of people on the ground and to national security justify the FAA’s registration requirement as well as limits on the use of such aircraft,” Aviation Today concluded. Close calls with aircraft tripled in 2015, and a drone slowed firefighting efforts to battle a blaze in the Cajon Pass last July. Crews had to abandon air drops for about 15 minutes. It didn’t help that a government employee last January landed a hobby drone at 3 a.m. on the White House lawn. The drone, which weighed two pounds, was too small to be detected by radar. The employee, who was not identified, did it accidentally, according to the Secret Service. • coinstarexchangekioskfinder to find a Coinstar Exchange kiosk near you. • Review all your credit accounts. Even the most careful shopper can fall prey to crooks, who are particularly active and crafty during the holidays. Look over your credit card statements to ensure you authorized all the charges that appear on them. For an extra layer of safety, check your credit report; it can help you detect signs of identity theft or other fraud as quickly as possible. • Increase your savings. By now, you’ve reviewed your budget and cashed in your unused gift cards, so you’ve got some extra money in your pocket. Instead of spending it, use that money to increase your savings. It’s especially important to have an emergency fund equivalent to a few months of living expenses. Those savings can help protect your financial health against unforeseen circumstances like a big auto expense or home repair bill, or even job loss. While it’s always great to save more, setting aside even $10 a week can have a big impact on your financial future. Many financial goals require long-term planning, but others can be done quickly and easily. These simple, do-it-now steps can yield instant gratification, and help ensure you get a good financial start in 2016. • Finance 5 Simple Ways To Kick-Start A Financially Healthy 2016 (BPT) - You banked your holiday bonus and landed that raise you’ve been hoping for, but the post-holiday bills are coming. You may be wondering what more you can do to ensure you’re on the right track financially in 2016. Fortunately, you can do a lot right away to start the year off strong. • Reassess your budget; if you don’t have one, make one. A budget is an essential tool for planning how you will spend, save, invest and enjoy your money. It should be a guideline to how your money will work for you, but it’s not written in stone. Life changes, and outside influences mean you need to periodically examine and update your budget. Start by jotting down your financial goals for the year, then review your budget to see if it’s going to help you achieve those goals, or if you need to make adjustments. • Pay off holiday bills immediately, and if that’s not possible, then as quickly as you can. Each month you carry a balance on a credit card, interest rates increase the actual out-of-pocket cost of those holiday gifts you purchased. If possible, pay balances in full right away during the month of January. If that’s not possible, create a payment plan for yourself with the goal of paying off the total balance in as high an increment as you can afford, so you minimize the time you’re carrying a balance. • Maximize “found” money. Gift cards have been the most-requested holiday gift item for nine years running, according to the National Retail Federation, but not everyone uses all the cards they receive. In fact, a survey by Coinstar Exchange found 37 percent of people who received gift cards in 2014 still haven’t used all of them. If you have gift cards sitting around, they can be a great source of “found” money. Take your gift cards to a bright yellow Coinstar Exchange kiosk at your local grocery store and exchange them for instant cash. Put the extra money toward paying off holiday bills, boosting your emergency fund or for something you really want or need. Visit www.coinstar.com/
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