RANDY ECONOMY: MY WORLD: 08/01/2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Cerritos Air Disaster 25 Years Later: Gathering to remember the day we will never forget

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen reflecting

By Randy Economy
Reporter
www.LosCerritosNews.net
August 31, 2011
7:53 p.m. PST

Cerritos gathered together as a community to remember the day that changed to lives of thousands of people all over the world and that left a hole in the heart of a city forever.

On Wednesday, under pristine blue skies, hundreds of family, friends, community leaders, neighbors, and members of the media gathered at an emotional memorial ceremony to remember those who died in the August 31st, 1986 Cerritos Air Disaster.

Cerritos city officials read a list of names of the victims who perished that somber day, laid a wreath at a memorial inside the Cerritos Sculpture Garden, listened to heartfelt and emotional stories, and just paused to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the biggest air disaster in the history of Los Angeles County.

Family and friends of victims along with city leaders held each other under a bright clear, sunny summer sky and recalled the crash of Aeromexico Flight 498 on Aug. 31, 1986.

The DC-9 and a small plane collided at 6,500 feet and fell onto homes. The crash killed 67 people on the planes and 15 on the ground.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, who was mayor of Cerritos at the time, says it was a fearful and painful moment in time that he'll never forget. "We will all remember that day. It was bright, sunny, a beautiful day here in Cerritos, just like today, and then something went terribly wrong," Knabe told those gathered. "Our lives changed forever that day, and it was the day the Cerritos had so much taken away from our heart and soul," Knabe said as he recalled the emotions of that day.

Ashworth and Holmes. August 31, 1986

Current Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen, along with Mayor Pro-Tem Joseph Cho and Councilman Bruce Barrows, and Joseph Cho read a list of all 82 people who died in the two plane crash. Chen also led the Memorial ceremony in a moment of silence at the exact time in which the crash took place at exactly 11:56 a.m. As ringing bells sounded, the hundreds who had gathered, including several members of the Southern California media who actually reported on the news to the world about the crash during that Labor Day Weekend, stood in silence and reflected.

Patrick Healy: NBC LA and me at Ashworth and Holmes today

Patrick Healy, a reporter for NBC LA was covering that "Breaking News" event in 1986, and returned to Cerritos again to cover the 25th Anniversary Memorial. "I remember every detail about that day, from the moment I heard about that crash, to pulling up with our news truck into the neighborhood. It was mass chaos," Healy said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe

Reverend Don Koepke, who served as a Minister at Concordia Lutheran Church at Stowers Avenue and 183rd Street in Cerritos, reminded those gathered that he remembered that "we were all involved in a very inhumane situation," but said that a "determination" and "prayer" and hard work helped get the neighborhood "back on their feet."
Koepke also recalled ministering to a wife and mother who was returning from the store when the jetliner smashed into her house, claiming 3 members of her family.

"She let out a moan like I've never heard and never will hear again," he said.

During the reading of the names of the victims, a jet liner streaked across the sky blue sky above and a light breeze blew across those who gathered inside the Cerritos Sculpture Garden. “It was like a sign from above,” Knabe said afterwards.

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

HORROR OVER CERRITOS: Remembering the Day I Will Never Forget, 25 years later

By Randy Economy

• Wednesday, August 31, 2011

10:45 a.m.

We will gather to remember the day many of us will never forget.
Just saying or hearing the words of “Sunday, August 31, 1986 at 11:56 am” still sends a shiver up my spine and across my face.
AeroMexico Flight 498 from Mexico City to LAX was cruising over the clear Los Angeles basin when something went horribly wrong. The plane that carried 68 passengers was in the direct path of a Cessna Piper Archer that was being flown by a meticulous pilot named William Kramer.
Kramer was flying his wife Kathleen and daughter Carolyn to a regional airport in the nearby mountain resort of Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead when his small recreational aircraft clipped the tail wing of the inbound jet that caused both planes to go into an uncontrollable spin.
Flight 498 crashed at Ashworth Place and Holmes Avenue and the terror reigned down from the sky into my quiet, pristine neighborhood. I watched in horror. How could this happen? At the time I was living in nearby Norwalk, where I was a candidate for Norwalk City Council, but was house sitting for my parents Rosemary and my late father Dick Economy. I had attended a wedding the day before with several of my lifelong friends from Felson Street for Phil Wilson and his bride Blair. Just about the entire wedding party stayed overnight to celebrate the wedding. I was watching the Los Angeles Dodgers on television when all I heard what sounded like a car accident a couple of streets over.
When I leapt to my feet, I gazed outside my back yard and looked up and saw the jet. My life flash before my eyes; the Aero Mexico jet was out of control and heading right at me. I literally turned away and just waited in horror. As painful seconds past, I looked to see the shadow of the massive jet roll across 183rd Street.
The jet slammed into the street. It exploded like a bomb. The blue sky quickly turned black with smoke. I ran into the street and saw my friend Phil who had just said his “I Do’s” 18 hours earlier and we looked at each other. We didn’t say a word. Debris was falling from the sky. The engine piston of the small plane literally missed me by inches and embedded into my front lawn. A major part of the wing slammed onto Wilsons’ driveway. Phil, a former standout quarterback at Cerritos High School, and who went on to play major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians, and I ran 200 yards down Felson to Holmes Avenue, and could not believe our eyes.
I was looking at hell on earth. We quickly grabbed hoses, the first fire truck from Stations 35 and 30 here in Cerritos was just pulling up. It was chaos. Explosion after explosion took place. Fuel from the jet and the gas lines from the nearly 20 houses that were destroyed on Holmes, Ashworth, Reva and Carnaby were bursting all around us.
We tried to pull people from the burning houses to no avail, and we looked onto the roof tops and all over our neighborhood death and destruction was all around us.
My amazing neighbors like Gail and Marty Grossman, and Joe Dominguez, the late Richard Santana, Rigo Uribe, the Johnson’s, Apodaca’s, Slattery’s, Kobiashi’s, and Asa’s and so many more had our lives changed forever that day.
The media converged on us from all over the world.
We had survived while 82 people perished before our eyes.
My late father Dick, had a reoccurring dream for 18 years about a “plane” crashing into our neighborhood, and that a “part would land” in his yard. Incredibly, his dream became a nightmare.
My mother and father learned about the crash on Labor Day Monday. 24 hours had past. They were heading back from a three-day weekend get-away to Rosarito Beach in Baja California with a long time friend.
As they were sitting in the long line of cars to cross back into the US, they heard about the crash on an AM radio station in a “Los Angeles neighborhood.”
When my dad heard it happened in Cerritos, he ran to a pay phone (no cell phones then) and called collect to our house. As I picked up the phone in our kitchen, the first words out of his mouth was “how close was it from us?”
I responded “around 15 to 20 houses.”
He asked, to the “east of Stowers?”
“No Dad, to the west by Carmenita.” He responded, “No, that can’t be, in my dream the crash was going to happen to the east of our house, over towards Marquardt Avenue.”
His words still embossed in my mind. Everyone who lived in Cerritos in 1986 will never forget that day, and the weeks and months that followed.
We went through this “inhumane” experience together as a community. I learned about life, and death, and what’s really important in life that August afternoon. I lived. My life was sparred.
This week I will attend the Memorial ceremony at the Cerritos Sculpture Garden at Cerritos City Hall, and will pause and reflect on the mystery of life and the blessing of having lived through this ordeal when so many of my neighbors did not.
There is a higher power. Just look to the sky above, and you will see miracles all around us in our community. God Bless!
Note: Randy Economy is a full time reporter for the Cerritos Community News. Randy@CerritosNews.net

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

ANNA GRACEMEN: She is almost "Home Sweet Home" after tonight's PERFECT performance on America's Got Talent!

By Randy Economy
www.LosCerritosNews.net
August 30, 2011
10:08 p.m.

Hollywood, CA!

Image via WikipediaShe did it again. Amazing. Remember, I WAS the FIRST BLOGGER and JOURNALIST to predict that ANNA GRACEMEN was going to be the winner in AMERICA'S GOT TALENT. Tonight, the 11 year old from Alaska blew the roof off of America's Got Talent and belted out a PERFECT rendition of "Home Sweet Home" from the heaviest of metal bands, Motley Crue.

Dude, get on the phone and put Anna into the FINALE of AGT! RIGHT ON! If you don't BELIEVE my prediction, just CLICK the "Related Blog Article" listed below!

Councilman Jere Melo: City of Fort Bragg in Shock over Murder of Councilmember; Suspect is Aaron Bassler

Councilman Melo

The City of Fort Bragg is in shock over the murder of Fort Bragg City Councilmember Jere Melo yesterday morning on private timberlands east of town. In his capacity as a security contractor for

Suspect Aaron Bassler

a local timber company,

Jere was investigating a marijuana grow operation when he was shot to
death. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is handling the homicide investigation and a
suspect has been identified. A multi-agency effort is underway to capture the suspect, a local
man who is believed to be armed and dangerous.
A suspect has been identified as Aaron Bassler, and a manhunt is currently underway, according to the City of Fort Bragg website.
City officials, employees and residents are devastated by the loss of Jere, their close friend and
colleague. According to Fort Bragg Mayor Dave Turner, “Jere was the best of us. No one gave
more of himself to our community. The shock of his death is too fresh to begin to realize all the
ways we will miss him. Today I mourn for the loss of a dear friend. I know I speak for the entire
Council and all of our City employees in extending our deepest condolences to Jere’s wife
Madeleine and family. Words cannot express our sadness. The City will be dealing with the tragic loss of Councilmember Melo for some time."

Councilmember Jere Melo was first elected in 1996, after serving a 4-years term on the Planning Commission. He served as Mayor Pro Tempore in 1998 - 2000, and he served as Mayor, 2000 - 2004. His regional duties include service as a board member on the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission (12 years), Fort Bragg Fire Protection Authority (8 years), and as the Chair of the Coastal Cities Issues Group for the League of California Cities. Councilmember Melo also previously served on the League of California Cities Board of Directors.

Councilmember Melo has lived in or near Fort Bragg since 1966, when he began working for the Union Lumber Company as a forester. He was raised in the City of Mt. Shasta, and he attended the University of California at Davis and Berkeley, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in February, 1964. He received a commission in the U.S. Army upon graduation from Berkeley and served in South Korea and in NORAD on the continent. Upon his employment with Union Lumber, the Army assigned him as Company Commander to the local Army Reserve unit, and he served six years in the reserves.

Jere and Madeleine are active in several local organizations, the Episcopal Church, Mendocino Coast Sports Foundation and the Fort Bragg-Otsuchi (Japan) Exchange Association.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Hurricane Katia? Kat"r"ina without the "R" could be born any day...

[Image of 5-day forecast and coastal areas under a warning or a watch]

Above: Hurricane Jose in formation. Where is KATIA? Stay Tuned!

By Randy Economy
www.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
August 29, 2011
11:35 p.m. PST

Los Angeles, Ca

Image via Wikipedia

Hurricane Jose on the HORIZON?

Get ready for Hurricane Katia? Huh? Katia? As is Katrina without the "R?" Yep. Maybe, the ugly step-sister to the killer "Katrina" (and the waves) from four years ago, could be on the horizon. Not sure how, and why, or even if this "hurricane" is going to actually come to pass. Above is the possible "Hurricane Jose" in the making. Let's just keep an eye on the Atlantic over the next few days...

Katia? WTH? BTW. If Katia hits, we can look forward to Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia,
Phillppe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince and Whitney. Whitney? Oh oh. Houston we may have a problem.

CHYNNA PHILLIPS, CHAZ BONO will be DANCING WITH THE STARS! Right ON!

Image via WikipediaBy Randy Economy
www.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
August 29, 2011
8:40 p.m.

Hollywood, CA

This is going to be the BEST YEAR EVER on Dancing With the Stars. Okay. I am a total SAP for this show. Chaz Bono will be tearing up the dance floor and will be ready to rumble. Also THRILLED to see CHYNNA PHILLIPS in the cast. I talked to Chynna last week here in Cerritos at the Performing Arts Center and their was a "buzz" in the air around this. Great to see Ricki Lake, and omg, for all the Nancy Grace HATERS, get ready to grab them cell phones.

Here is the 2011 CAST for DANCING WITH THE STARS!

Ricki Lake: “Daytime Darling”
Ron Artest: “The NBA Champion”
Chynna Phillips: “The Pop Princess”
David Arquette: “King of the Big Scream”
Carson Kressley: “The Fashion Guru”
Nancy Grace: “The Courtroom Queen”
J.R. Martinez: “Soap’s Real-Life Hero”
Hope Solo: “The Soccer Superstar”
Rob Kardashian: “Reality’s Royalty”
Elisabetta Canalis: “The Italian Beauty”
Chaz Bono: “The Most Unexpected”
Kristin Cavallari: “The Reality Sweetheart”

Alberd Tersargsyan: Suspect Indicted in Quadruple Hollywood Homicide

Image via WikipediaFYI. I have been following this murder case since the FIRST night it took place. I hope that JUSTICE is DONE in this horrific crime. Thanks to the Los Angeles District Attorney Alan Jackson and Amy Ashvanian for overseeing the prosecution in this case! Keep you posted!

Image via WikipediaLOS ANGELES – A superceding Grand Jury indictment unsealed today charges Alberd Tersargsyan with the murders of three family members and a woman not related to the family, the District Attorney’s office announced.

Tersargsyan, 65 (7-7-46), pleaded not guilty before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli in case BA 382886. Tersargsyan, who was ordered held without bail, returns to court on Oct. 17 for a pretrial hearing in Department 100, said Deputy District Attorneys Alan Jackson and Amy Ashvanian.
The four-count murder indictment was returned Aug. 26 by the Grand Jury. It charges Tersargsyan with the March 26, 2010, murder of Karine Hokobyan. The 38-year-old victim had just returned home about 8 p.m. and parked her car near her apartment on Lexington Avenue in Hollywood when she was fatally shot while still in her car.

The indictment also charges Tersargsyan him with the murders of Hokobyan’s 43-year-old husband, Khachik Safaryan, and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, Lusine Safaryan. Their bodies were discovered fatally shot in the family’s Hollywood apartment on Dec. 11, 2008.

The indictment also charges Tersargsyan with the sniper-style shooting of Julie Kates on

Image via WikipediaMarch 11, 2010, on Sunset Boulevard. She allegedly was murdered because the defendant thought the woman acquaintance stole a DVD from him.

The indictment alleges the special circumstances of lying in wait, multiple murders and murder of a witness, Lusine Safaryan. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty. Tersargsyan, who was initially thought to be in his 70s, was first charged in April 2010 with Hokobyan’s murder. That case, which was later amended, will be dismissed.

LCCN BREAKING NEWS Stolen van crashes into Cerritos gun store in burglary attempt

Monday August 29, 2011

By Randy Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community News Group
www.loscerritosnews.net

(Cerritos)

A stolen van crashed into a popular Cerritos retail business that specializes in the sales of ammunition for recreational hunting early Monday morning, and it appears that the store was deliberately targeted by the would-be thieves.
At 4:40 A.M., Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies assigned to Cerritos Station responded to “Ammo Bros” on the 15000 block of Piuma Ave., Cerritos, regarding a vehicle crashing into the business.
Once deputies arrived they saw a van had crashed into the front doors of the gun store.
No one was in the store, that is located next to the Iron Wood 9 Golf Course near the 605 Freeway on the westside of Cerritos.
After a brief investigation Cerritos Sheriff Deputies realized that the blue and white 1984 Chevrolet van had been stolen on Saturday evening from Bellflower, was used as a battering ram for would-be thieves to burglarize the store of firearms and ammunition. Fortunately, the store owners had taken extraordinary security measures to protect their store and merchandise. As a result, the suspects were not able to enter the store or steal anything.
“The suspects were presumably targeting firearms and detectives are actively investigating the incident,” said Lieutenant Richard Harpham. “Had this been successful and the guns end up in the hands of criminals, they would present an inherent danger to the public.”
Cerritos Station detectives are handling the investigation and are looking for two or three males who committed the crime. They are also advising that a gray sedan and champagne colored Ford Excursion may have been used as getaway vehicles by the suspects.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Cerritos Station Detectives at 562-860-0044. If you prefer to provide information ANONYMOUSLY, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Larry Villegas, 24, ided as second victim in drive by shooting on Painter Avenue in Whitter over the weekend

By Randy Economy
www.loscerritosnews.net
Monday, August 29, 2011
9:45 a.m.

Norwalk, CA

We now know the name of the second person who was brutally shot down on Painter Avenue early Sunday morning at Frank Villegas, age 24. Also killed in the apparent drive by shooting was Cesar Rodriguez, 19, who was a volunteer Explorer with the Norwalk Sheriff's Department. See the Los Cerritos Community News for more details.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

CESAR RODRIGUEZ: Popular 19 year old Norwalk Sheriff’s Explorer gunned down with another victim on Painter Avenue

Image via Wikipedia

Cesar Rodriguez 19 identified as one of the victims; suspects at large

By Randy Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community News
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011
3 p.m.

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS
OUT OF NORWALK SHERIFF'S STATION!

Cesar Rodriguez, a popular 19-year old Explorer with the Norwalk’s Sheriff’s Station was found shot to death along with another victim early Sunday morning near the 11800 block of Painter Avenue in the unincorporated portion of Whittier.
Members of the Norwalk’s Sheriff’s Station received a call at around 3:10 a.m. about shots being fired, and when they arrived on the scene they found two victims who were both unresponsive.
So far, the only details Detectives have learned are that both victims were standing in front of the residence when a gray "Scion" vehicle drove in front of them. The driver of the vehicle pointed a handgun at the victims and fired multiple times. Both victims were struck and were later pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect vehicle with three or four male Hispanic occupants drove away northbound on Painter Avenue.
Sgt. Mike Mendoza, Watch Commander for the Norwalk Sheriff’s told the Los Cerritos Community News that they have few leads in the case, and that an investigation has been opened by members of the Homicide Bureau.
The name of the other victim has not to been released.
According to Mendoza, the entire Norwalk Sheriff’s Station has been “deeply touched and saddened” about the death of the Rodriguez.
“Cesar had his entire life in front of him, he was well liked and very popular with all the other Explorers,” Mendoza said.
Rodriguez had just completed the first phase of becoming a full-fledged Deputy, and was a member of the Explorer Color Guard.
“He was the best of the best, very dedicated and very determined to become a Sheriff. This makes it all the harder for us today,” Mendoza said.
“He was a young kid, and we are at a loss for words today,” Mendoza said.
“He had his entire life in front of him. We are all at a loss for words today here at the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station,” he said.
Detectives are seeking the public's assistance with information about this

Image via Wikipediaincident.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau, 323-890-5500. If you prefer to provide information ANONYMOUSLY, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

For more information visit the Los Cerritos Community News! Click HERE!

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www.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
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2:28 p.m.

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Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant experiences an "unusual event" during Hurricane Irene. WTH?

CAPE MAY, NJ - AUGUST 26: A sign saying 'Go A...

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBy Randy Economy
1:20 a.m.

New reports are claiming that Hurricane Irene has sent a nuclear reactor offline late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning.

According to the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, a heavy gust of wind knocked a large piece of aluminum siding from the building and the siding came in contact with a main transformer,.

CNN is reporting that an "Unusual Event" was declared. "Unusual?" WTH?

Here is the "official statement" released to the media:

"BALTIMORE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As of 7 p.m. EDT, the CENG Calvert Cliffs nuclear power facility in Lusby, Maryland remains at 100 percent power on both units. Two representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are on-site. There is a large incident response team on-site closely monitoring the storm. We remain aligned with local, state and federal officials. Safety is our number one concern for our employees and their families, the plant and our surrounding communities. Special thanks to our outstanding employees for the extraordinary job they have done preparing the facility for the storm. Nuclear power plants are designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. Our facilities at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, and R.E. Ginna and Nine Mile Point in New York have emergency safety procedures and back-up systems in place, which include early and extensive preparation for storms. We practice the plan routinely. As the storm progresses, we will comply with the NRC's rigorous safety requirements in evaluating plant conditions as the storm progresses. At this time, we are not experiencing hurricane force winds at our Calvert site. We will continue monitor Hurricane Irene throughout the night and into Sunday."

Man, I am glad I live in "earthquake" country here in Los Angeles County, rather than having to deal with hurricanes.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Vehicles collide in Lancaster, strike bicyclists

Image via WikipediaA group ride organized by a Lancaster bicycle shop was tragically interrupted when a minivan collided into two cyclists, both residents of Valencia, while they were crossing an intersection.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Avenue L and 4th Street West, Lancaster, to investigate the collision which sent husband and wife cyclists to the hospital.

The collision happened when a group of approximately twenty cyclists was crossing the intersection together. The driver of the minivan was also crossing the intersection when she was hit by a driver of a PT Cruiser. The collision forced the minivan into the path of two of the cyclists, causing serious injuries to both of them.

Even though all riders were wearing helmets, the collision left the husband suffering head trauma. He is currently listed in critical condition at a local hospital. The female cyclist suffered moderate injuries and is listed in stable condition.

The cause of this collision is still under investigation.

Any witnesses to this incident are encouraged to call Lancaster Sheriff’s Station at 661-948-8466, and speak to Traffic Investigator Deputy Richard Dailey, or Traffic Sergeant Brian Dunn. If you prefer to provide information ANONYMOUSLY, you may also call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

HORROR OVER CERRITOS: Remembering and learning from the Cerritos Air Disaster, 25 years later

Image via Wikipedia

Cerritos Air Memorial at Cerritos Civic Center

By Randy Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community News

Cerritos:

We will gather to remember the day many of us will never forget.

Just saying or hearing the words of “Sunday, August 31, 1986 at 11:56 am” still sends a shiver up my spine and across my face.

August 31, 1986

11:56 a.m.

AeroMexico Flight 498 from Mexico City to LAX was cruising over the clear Los Angeles basin when something went horribly wrong. The plane that carried 68 passengers was in the direct path of a Sesna Piper Archer that was being flown by a meticulous pilot named William Kramer.

Kramer was flying his wife Kathleen and daughter Carolyn to a regional airport in the nearby mountain resort of Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead when his small recreational aircraft clipped the tail wing of the inbound jet that caused both planes to spin into an uncontrollable spin.

Flight 498 crashed at Ashworth Place and Holmes Avenue and the terror reigned down from the sky into my quiet, pristine neighborhood. I watched in horror. How could this happen? At the time I was living in nearby Norwalk, where I was a candidate for Norwalk City Council, but was house sitting for my parents the Rosemary and my late father Dick Economy. I had attended a wedding the day before with several of my lifelong friends from Felson Street for Phil Wilson and his bride Blair. Just about the entire wedding party stayed overnight to celebrate the wedding. I was watching the Los Angeles Dodgers on television when all I heard what sounded like a car accident a couple of streets over.

When I leapt to my feet, I gazed outside my back yard and looked up and saw my life flash before my eyes. The Aero Mexico jet was out of control and heading right at me when I literally turned away and just waited in horror. As painful seconds past, the shadow of the massive jet rolled across 183^rd Street.

The jet slammed into the street. It exploded like a bomb. The blue sky quickly turned black with smoke. I ran into the street and saw my friend Phil who had just said his “I Do’s” 18 hours earlier and we looked at each other. We didn’t say a word. Debris was falling from the sky. The piston of the small plane literally missed me by inches and embedded into my front lawn. A major part of the wing slammed onto Wilson driveway. Phil, a former standout quarterback at Cerritos High School, and who went on to play major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians, ran 200 yards down Felson to Holmes Avenue, and could not believe our eyes.

I was looking at hell on earth. We quickly grabbed hoses, the first fire truck from Stations 35 and 30 here in Cerritos was just pulling up. It was chaos. Explosion after explosion took place. Fuel from the jet and the gas lines from the nearly 20 houses that were destroyed on Holmes, Ashworth, Reva and Carnaby were bursting all around us. How could this be happening? Why here?

We tried to pull people from the burning houses to no avail, and we looked onto the roof tops and all over our neighborhood death and destruction was all around us.

My amazing neighbors like Gail and Marty Grossman, and Joe Dominguez, the late Richard Santana, Rigo Uribe, the Johnson’s, Apodaca’s, Slattery’s, Kobiashi’s, and Asa’s and so many more had our lives changed forever that day.

The media converged on us from all over the world.

We had survived while 82 people perished before our eyes.

My late father Dick, had a reoccurring dream for 18 years about a “plane” crashing into our neighborhood, and that a “part would land” in his yard. Incredibly, his dream became a nightmare.

My mother and father learned about the crash on Labor Day Monday. 24 hours had past. They were heading back from a three day weekend get-away to Rosarito Beach in Baja California with a long time friend.

As they were sitting in the long line of cars to cross back into the US, they heard about the crash on an AM radio station in a “Los Angeles neighborhood.”

When my dad heard it happened in Cerritos, he ran to a pay phone (no cell phones then) and called collect to our house. As I picked up the phone in our kitchen, the first words out of his mouth was “how close was it from us?”

I responded “around 15 to 20 houses.”

He asked, to the “east of Stowers?”

“No Dad, to the west by Carmenita.” He responded, “No, that can’t be, in my dream the crash was going to happen to the east of our house, over towards Marquardt Avenue.”

His words still embossed in my mind. Everyone who lived in Cerritos in 1986 will never forget that day, and the weeks and months that followed.

We went through this “inhumane” experience together as a community. I learned about life, and death, and what’s really important in life that August afternoon. I lived. My life was sparred.

This week I will attend the Memorial ceremony at the Cerritos Sculpture Garden at Cerritos City Hall, and will pause and reflect on the mystery of life and the blessing of having lived through this ordeal when so many of my neighbors did not.

There is a higher power. Just look to the sky above, and you will see miracles all around us in our community. God Bless!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

TACTICAL ALERT IN LOS ANGELES AFTER OFFICER SHOT AT 66th and WESTERN! LISTEN LIVE TO MANHUNT!

Image via WikipediaBy Randy Economy
www.LosCerritosNews.net
August 25, 2011
3:49 p.m.

Los Angeles Police Department is on an official "tactical alert" after an officer was shot multiple times near 66th and Western. Call came in around an hour ago. You can listen LIVE to the LAPD by clicking here.
Apparently the officer, who was shot several times after questioning "several" pedestrians in South L.A. One suspect is in custody. Please pay attention if you live in this immediate area.

HURRICANE IRENE: Video from space show the MASSIVE storm BUILDING MOMENTUM!

Friend of mine from Florida sent me this You Tube clip of Hurricane Irene from the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. Could be a Category 3 or 4 by the time this bad girl is done on the east coast of the USA.

Bret Stanton Philhower: Arrest Made, Man Charged In Stabbing Over Cardboard Recyclables In Cerritos

Bret Stanton Philhower

By Randy Economy

Reporter

Los Cerritos Community Newsgroup

Cerritos-

An arrest has been made in the case of a brutal stabbing involving to transients who were fighting over the same recyclable materials in front of a Cerritos residence on August 14.

Bret Stanton Philhower, 32, who has had many recent run ins with local law enforcement, will be appearing at Bellflower Superior Court on September 1 to face formal felony charges.

He is being held on a $35,000 bail.

According to records obtained by the Los Cerritos Community News, the suspect has had many run-ins with law enforcement including having as many as three recent cases dismissed.

Philhower is listed as being 5’10 and weighing 180 lbs with dark hair and blue eyes. He allegedly went into a “rage” after he and the victim, whose name has not been released to the media, started arguing over recyclable cardboard that was located on a curbside in front of a house located near the Cerritos Towne Center.

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Meet Randy Economy

You may know me from my role as the Senior Advisor and Official Media Spokesman for the Recall Gavin Newsom campaign that established a worldwide blitz of interviews. I conducted more than 2,200 media interviews on behalf of “The People’s Recall” during a 10-month period from November 2020 to September 2021. The iconic magazine Mother Jones in a dramatic feature article called me “A ‘Superhero Pirate’ Radio Host, (and) Gavin Newsom’s Strangest—and Most Dangerous—Threat. Meet Randy Economy, the man behind the effort to recall California’s governor.” I appeared on more than 330 media outlets around the world in my capacity with RecallGavin2020. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Newsmax, NBC Nightly News, ABC News, as well as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, and dozens of other media outlets aired featured reports on my work on behalf of “The People’s Recall.” I am and will always consider myself to be a journalist. Sometimes I think I bleed ink. My talents as an Investigative Journalists in California earned me FIVE top awards from the prestigious Los Angeles Press Club in 2013, 2014, and 2016. I am tenacious. My reporting over the years has led to the prosecution of several elected officials in California. While working for a tiny community newspaper in Southeast Los Angeles County, I worked doggedly to expose the biggest public corruption case in Los Angeles County history when I unearthed a massive pay to play scheme inside the Assessor’s Office that led to the arrest of then Assessor John R. Noguez and four others. However, politics has been in my DNA since I was a child. I have worked on more than 300 political campaigns as a consultant and advisor since 1982 for candidates from all sides of the political spectrum including Democrats and Republicans, and even Libertarians. I am also a small business owner, serving as the President and CEO of Hot Water Studio & Production, LLC. My company works with media outlets across the state, nation, and world exposing public corruption via several new media platforms. I have also overcome personal challenges. I am legally blind with zero vision in my right eye and only 40 percent vision remaining in my left eye. I sometimes wear an eyepatch due to my failed vision. (Hence the nickname of “America’s Political Pirate.”