COMMUNITY

Stayin Alive with CPR and AEDs

By on Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Nothing says it’s going to be a great day like a pulse. That’s why Valleyheartglenners is sharing this two-minute video on CPR and use of an AED (automatic external defibrillator).

Rather than count the recommended 100-120 pulses per minute, we hear that you can play Stayin Alive in your head and follow the beat. Here’s a sample of the tune on Amazon. (Another One Bites the Dust and The Imperial March from Star Wars are also rumored to work for those of you with sick senses of humor.)

The older model AEDs, after analyzing the person’s heart rhythm, would say out loud, “Recommend shock,” and light up a flashing button for the person to push after shouting out, “Clear!” Newer devices (after conducting the heart rhythm analysis) simply state, “Shocking now! Clear!” They then deliver the shock automatically. ♣

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COMMUNITY

IRS Phone Scams Podcast

By on Thursday, August 3, 2017

Receive any infuriating IRS scam phone calls lately?

Valleyheartglenners captured and recorded a robo-call from a scammer (would that we could name the source).

We talked to Special Agent in Charge Rod P. Ammari of the Los Angeles Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to get an update on the investigation and prosecution of these would-be thieves.

Credit: TIGTA

We spoke to a Glenner who has received the annoying calls within the last month.

Check out our podcast below.

Use this link to report IRS scam phone calls to TIGTA.

Check out the latest press release from the Department of Justice on the arrest and prosecution of scammers.

Want to live vicariously through a young genius who scams his scammer? Check out PCKiddy on YouTube as he takes over his scammer’s computer and deletes all his files. Sweeeeet!

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COMMUNITY

LA2024 Community Impact Day

By on Sunday, July 30, 2017

LA2024 Community Impact Day

How much produce did volunteers sort and pack in three hours on Saturday at LA2024’s Community Impact Day at your Los Angeles Regional Food Bank?

58,916 pounds!

LA2024 Olympic Committee volunteers joined teams Disney and Edison in sorting and packing cabbage and plums provided by growers and sellers at your Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in downtown Los Angeles.

Plums!
Gorgeous HMC Farms Plums
Cabbage!
Volunteer Josh A. with Disney ESPN

 

Volunteers were joined by International Olympic Committee Member and Bronze Medalist in Rowing in the 1976 Games Anita DeFrantz and double medalist in the 1996 and 2000 110 meter hurdles Mark Crear!

UDPATE: July 31, 2017 – 11:15 a.m.

Paris will host the 2024 Games and Los Angeles will host the 2028 Games. All those LA2024 t-shirts are now collectors items!

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COMMUNITY

The Great American Eclipse

By on Sunday, July 30, 2017
Credit: NASA

It’s coming. It’s almost here. When you see your fellow Glenners pouring out of their homes and looking up into the sky one morning this month you’ll have read this post and know … it’s The Great American Eclipse!

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On August 21, 2017, in Valleyheart Glen, starting at 9:05 a.m., the Moon will block the path of the Sun’s rays to the Earth. It will be a partial eclipse, 50 percent, because Valleyheart Glen is 677 miles from the total eclipse which will first be seen in Salem, Oregon. The full eclipse transit will head south across the country through Kansas City, Missouri and ending in Charleston, South Carolina.

At 10:21 a.m. it will be at maximum eclipse for Southern California and block half the Sun.

It will be over in Los Angeles by 11:45 a.m.

Of course, you’re not going to view the Sun with the naked eye. Of course, you’re going to buy eclipse glasses well in advance.

NASA uploaded a video to YouTube to show you the eclipse’s path across the United States.

 

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COMMUNITY

The Little Free Library

By on Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Whether a box of Crayola Crayons, a rocket to the moon, or a Cape Cod style house, a Little Free Library is a community treasure. The first Little Free Library was built by Todd Bol in 2009 in Hudson, Wisconsin. He decided to honor his late mother – a teacher who loved books – by building a box to house books to share with others. From that small act of generosity born of grief, the Little Free Library movement began. Today, it is an international movement with Little Free Libraries in over 70 countries.

Check out the story of our Valleyheart Glen Little Free Library and view our favorites below or find your own on Pinterest, Instagram and at LittleFreeLibrary.org.

 

The Original
Burkhard Mucke
Beyond My Ken

 

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DEVELOPMENT OP ED

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears

By on Monday, July 24, 2017

Are we expecting a Papal Blessing? Are we keeping an eye out for invading hordes?

Are there any good reasons why the Departments of City Planning and Building and Safety are permitting oversized, second-story balconies in Valleyheart Glen?

Rear balcony on 4500 Block of Varna Avenue facing 4500 Block of Nagle Avenue

What’s a Glenner to do when the City grants a permit for a rear, second-story balcony overlooking one’s hitherto private backyard and pool? Smile and appreciate the free life guarding services?

Is the City offering to subsidize gym memberships so middle-aged homeowners can at least get in shape for all that unwanted viewing?

And what of the children? There’s nothing more relaxing than seeing a neighbor hanging over a balcony watching your scantily-clad tikes paddle about.

Do we have to entitle everything “Of Balconies and Bike Lanes” to get the mayor’s attention?

Do we have to sue the City again and again to make the Departments of City Planning and Building and Safety do their jobs? Here’s a micro-clip of a Building and Safety official about to explain to Zoning why his office issued permits.

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LOS ANGELES RIVER PRESERVATION

Fighting Mansionization Near the Los Angeles River

By on Monday, July 24, 2017

In addition to the historic nature of our Mellenthin-style and Post World War II architecture, Valleyheart Glen enjoys the special protections of a neighborhood adjacent to the Los Angeles River.

Ducks from the LA River strolling in adjacent Valleyheart Glen

Valleyheart Glen is within the City’s River Improvement Overly (RIO) Zone. The City’s River Design Guidelines seek to improve the aesthetic quality of the River and its surrounding communities. The stated purpose of the guidelines is to foster a sense of community and to encourage pride of ownership. The Guidelines’ Objective No. 2 is to employ high quality, attractive and distinguishable architecture adjacent to the river. The Guidelines’ Objective No. 3 is to maximize access to, and awareness of, the River and its relationship to the community. With respect to sight lines and views, the Guidelines intend to create view opportunities to and from the River and preserve visual access to existing landmarks and overlooks within view corridors. Over-sized mansions interfere with the surrounding residents’ benefits of their close proximity to the Los Angeles River and the character of the community in which they reside.

With these goals in mind, Valleyheart Glen is zoned R1 which signifies a low-density, single-family residential zone. R1 zoning requires side yards of not less than five feet and rear yards of not less than 15 feet. The RIO requires the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) to determine whether a project is subject to the RIO. No building permit shall be issued for any project within the RIO until the Department of City Planning has approved an RIO Administrative Clearance. The RIO is codified under Los Angeles Municipal Code section 13.17.

Also with these goals in mind, in 2013, the Department of City Planning published a “Do Real Planning” brochure with the stated goal of neutralizing mansionization.

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LEGAL MUSINGS

Homelessness and Vagrancy

By on Sunday, July 16, 2017

Residents of Valleyheart Glen may wonder why transients are allowed to sleep on our Sherman Oaks sidewalks?

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the City in federal court in 2003 on behalf of six individuals. The six plaintiffs had either been cited or arrested by LAPD for violating Los Angeles Municipal Code section 41.18(d), providing, “No person shall sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public way,” … in such a manner as to … obstruct or unreasonably interfere with the free passage of pedestrians … unless they are attending a parade or upon a city bench. The ACLU alleged the ordinance was cruel and unusual in violation of the state and federal constitutions. The district court dismissed the law suit. The ACLU appealed. A divided, three-judge Ninth Circuit Court panel overturned the dismissal on the basis that the ordinance was excessively punitive and due to the City not providing sufficient housing for the homeless. The lone dissenting judge ruled in favor of the City on the grounds of an unprecedented and unsupported expansion of the Eighth Amendment. The ordinance didn’t target homelessness, but rather conduct — sleeping on city sidewalks — which could be committed by those with homes as well as those without. The two ruling judges countered that the plaintiffs’ conduct was involuntary and thus the ordinance permitted status-based discrimination.

The City could have appealed the ruling to the California Supreme Court arguing that it had a compelling reason to prohibit sleeping on city sidewalks. The then City Attorney declined to do so. The City could have redrafted the law more narrowly. Instead, the City, through mediation, entered into an agreement, commonly referred to as the Jones settlement (one of the six homeless plaintiffs was Edward Jones). The City agreed not to enforce the ordinance from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. unless and until 1,250 additional homeless housing units were constructed. This informal agreement is referred to as the Right to Rest law. There’s also been a statewide movement to codify a Right to Rest law.

The City continues to abide by the agreement despite the satisfaction of the condition. By 2015, the Jones settlement requirements had been met as an additional 1,376 homeless housing units had been made available.

Let us know how you feel about this quality of life issue. Submit comments to comments@valleyheartglenners.com.

 

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