The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 5, No. 6 - February 5, 2015 Inside This Issue Business Briefs....................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................10 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Police Reports.....................3 Politically Speaking............5 Real Estate.........................12 Sports.................................2,6 TerriAnn in Torrance..........8 Weekend Forecast Torrance High Takes on West High Torrance Tartar #12 Devin Kalthoff tries to find someone open during the West High – Torrance High game on January 28. West barely topped Torrance, 49-42. For more photos, see page 2. Photo by Osvin Suazo, oqoimages@gmail.com. School Board Recognizes Students, Honors Retirees By Cristian Vasquez In a council chamber full of parents, siblings and Torrance Unified School District employees, the members of the Torrance School Board honored district retirees while recognizing district students for some of their outstanding accomplishments during their Monday, Feb. 1 board meeting. Kicking off the evening full of recognitions was the UCLA-USC Tailgate Luncheon Check Presentation from the Torrance Rotarians (Lomita-Torrance Airport, Torrance, Del Amo and South Bay Sunrise Clubs). While all of the retirees ended their careers with the district between July 2014 and January 2015, the board saved the recognition ceremony for Anne Balleras, Paraeducator, Tier II - South High School; Sharon Jones, School Staff Assistant I - Adams Elementary School (1978); Sharon Lesniewski, Noon Aide - Arnold Elementary School (1995); Peggy Maddox, Adult Education Teacher (Non-Certificated) - Griffith Adult Center (1983); Lynette Rock, Director - Nutrition Services - Nutrition Services (1990); and Mary Tucker, Paraeducator Tier II - LAUNCH Preschool (1997). “I just really want to thank the board members for giving me the opportunity to work with such a fantastic group,” Rock said as she addressed the board. “It has been a blast and I want to thank Dr. [Donald] Stabler and all his support. He is a wonderful man and is the best boss that I ever had.” The six retirees honored and thanked by the school board combined for more See School Board, page 12 Friday Mostly Sunny 69˚/55˚ Saturday PM Showers 66˚/57˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 69˚/58˚ Council Approves Allocating Grant Funds to Support Police Department Programs By Cristian Vasquez that contribute to the development of their in need of equipment in order to conduct field In a unanimous 7-0 vote the Torrance City skills in law enforcement. In addition, these operations. Tactical equipment includes “door Council agreed to appropriate and allocate cadets are enrolled in school and completing breaching tools, surveillance camera systems an expenditure of $160,326.87 of the 2013 college credits. ballistic shield and first aid packs” while commercial Citizens Options for Public Safety [COPS] The department’s tactical and enforcement equipment is listed in the staff report grant in order to support several of the police equipment program, which will benefit from the as items such as “portable truck scales for department’s programs. allocated funds includes the police department’s traffic law enforcement on public roadways.” The City of Torrance received $265,333 Special Weapons and Tactics [SWAT] Team For the department’s facility equipment and total under the 2013 COPS grant, which has and what is known as commercial enforcement maintenance needs, the grant funds will provide generated $1,493.86 in interest to Dec. 31, detail, which the staff report indicates are all See City Council, page 9 2014. This leaves the city with $160,326.87 left in the grant, which the Torrance Police Department can use as supplemental funds “for the purpose of ensuring public safety” states the staff report. Of the money allocated by the city council, $60,000 will be used by the police department on its cadet program; $30,000 will be dedicated to the department’s victim assistance program and $16,500 will go toward the department’s dispute resolution program. The staff report shows that the remaining grant funds are scheduled to be distributed as follows: $23,000 for the cadet program, $70,000 for tactical and enforcement equipment, $53,000 on facility equipment and maintenance and $14,326.87 will be use for executive development and training supplies. The state controller distributes COPS funds to different county auditors. These funds will help TPD’s cadet program, which helps in the preparation of “qualified individuals to enter the field of law enforcement” within Torrance. The staff report indicates that the TPD currently has eight cadets performing a variety of assignments for the department
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