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. 10 - March 5, 2015 Inside This Issue Community Briefs.................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................10 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................3 Legals....................................9 Police Reports.....................2 Real Estate.........................12 Sports....................................6 TerriAnn in Torrance..........8 Weekend Forecast North and West Team up for Raytheon Engineer Games On February 25, students from 34 high schools in the Los Angeles area gathered at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems for the 15th annual Engineer Games competition. Students were divided in teams of two high schools and one or two Raytheon engineers to ultimately build an AM radio and tune into a station for important information. Coming in second place this year was an all-Torrance team of North and West High School students. Photo by Patrick McEntyre. Council Adopts Resolution for Low Carbon Transit Operations Program By Cristian Vasquez Based on a recommendation by the city’s transit director, the city council unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the transit department to receive Low Carbon Transit Operations Program funds through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund. The staff report presented to the council indicates that the city’s transit department is eligible for $39,556 during the 2015 fiscal year from the state under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund. “The LCTOP was created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce greenhouse emissions and improve mobility, with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities,” indicates the staff report. “The Transit Department has been notified by the State Controller’s Office that we are eligible for FY2015 LCTOP funds.” LCTOP is just one of the several programs that exist in the state that are part of the Transit, Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. The program was created by the state legislature in 2014 through Senate Bill 826. The funds must be used to enhance and improve public transportation services and it is require that 50 percent of the funds being used are to be dedicated to serving underserved communities. The staff report stated that transit will use the funds for an upgrade to the transit buses’ portable bicycle racks. Through the upgrade transit expects to increase the number of bicycles that can be transported on a bus from two to three. In addition to improved bike racks, the project will promote the use of public transportation, assist in the reduction of greenhouse emissions and promote the first mile/last mile. The goal first mile/last mile is to better coordinate the infrastructure investments in station areas tin order to extend the reach of transit, with the ultimate goal of increasing ridership. It was estimated that the transit department will require 18 months to finalize the refitting of all buses to the new three-bike racks. The transit department will return to the city council at a later date with a proposal to authorize the purchase and installation of the bike racks. City Approves Subsidizing Fees To Use Softball Fields at Wilson Park Under the recommendation of the community Council approved to subsidize the fees for the use of softball fields at Charles H. Wilson Park for the Torrance National Tournament. The subsidy will not exceed $2,500 and will benefit the tournament hosted by Torrance High School, which will take place March 19-25. Despite the subsidy, there is a remaining balance of $5,681. In 2012, the Torrance National Tournament was able to host its first ever varsity high school fast pitch invitational softball tournament at Wilson Park. The success of the tournament was undeniable and it even attracted teams from four different states. Since its inception See City Council, page 10 services director, the Torrance City Board Approves Documentary Filming At Fern Elementary School By Cristian Vasquez In a unanimous vote, members of the Torrance School Board approved for the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education to film students and teachers at Fern Elementary School as part of a documentary focusing on the Cognitively Guided Instruction process and implementation in the classroom. “We have been working with universities for a very long time including this particular one,” Senior Director for Elementary Schools at TUSD Dr. E Don Kim said. “Fern has a very strong relationship with the University of Southern California and we actually have one of their professors working with Cognitive Guided Instruction with the teachers at Fern. So it is almost a natural extension for Fern and USC to continue what they would like to do for their school of education, using Fern as several model classrooms.” The USC Rossier School of Education’s goal is develop a series of small documentaries focusing on education. The short-film modules are intended to provide teaching and learning models for pre-service and in-service teachers that are studying the CGI process and implementation in their classrooms. “In this case the term documentary is a bit of a misnomer since they aren’t making a long-length documentary,” Dr. Kim said. “In reality it is short vignettes of good classroom teaching with our teachers at Fern, to be shown in the future to incoming teachers at USC as an example See School Board, page 10 Friday Sunny 74˚/52˚ Saturday Sunny 76˚/54˚ Sunday Sunny 76˚/54˚
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