Econo-My-Scene: The Heartbeat of AMERICA is THE ONE AND ONLY Los Cerritos Community News!

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LOS CERRITOS COMMUNITY NEWS: Reading the Heartbeat of America!

By Randy Economy

Los Cerritos Community News

Econo-My-Scene for

Friday, August 14, 2009

I have enjoyed the Internet Revolution, just like every other red-blooded human on this Planet.

I like to read all of the latest “Breaking News” on web sites as it happens in “real time.”

As a journalist and blogger, and political advisor for the past three decades, I love the art of reading and researching and always try to get the heart of the matter on issues here in our community.

I am not afraid to seek the truth, and I understand that the pen is mightier than the sword.

I also realize that the “heart and pulse” of a community exist in the pages of its local community newspaper.

The Los Cerritos Community News is the “Pulse” of our diverse and wonderful community here.

From Pico Rivera to Hawaiian Gardens, and Cerritos and Artesia, from Norwalk to East Lakewood, the Los Cerritos Community News has been THE PLACE for good, honest, community journalism for half a generation.

I want everyone here in our area to help support our outstanding “local/hometown” community newspaper.

Take out a local ad about your business, or interest, or website or blog.

I started advertising my blog here 10 weeks ago, and my Blog has attracted more than 20,000 NEW and RETURING readers in this short timeframe from our dedicated LCCN readers. It’s affordable (around $20 or $30 bucks a week), and I am doing my part in HELPING support a “free and open society.”

The times are rough right now. People are suffering in tough economic times, but we need to support our local economy, and our local businesses and yes, including our local newspaper. I try to ONLY shop within our community, and try to patronize our local “mom and pop” businesses and restaurants as often as possible. It’s amazing all of the treasures and bargains you can find along Pioneer Boulevard, and in Pico Rivera, and down in The Gardens.

Remember, Free Speech is the backbone of our Democracy, and the world of communications started with the printing of a local newspaper, hundreds of years ago.

So, join me. Let your voice be heard.

Get out your pen and paper and write a letter to the editor once in a while. Talk openly about your thoughts and opinions about our “world around us” by putting in your two cents.

It would be a sad commentary if our local community newspapers ceased to exist. I love the feel of ink on my hands when I thumb through a good local community newspaper. Give me my horoscope, and crossword puzzles, and photos of local events, and tell me about what’s going on at the school board and city hall, and at local hot spots, the lo’ down on local Clubs.

That reminds me, hand me my ballpoint, it’s time for a letter….

I got a bone to pick….

Your thoughts? Drop me a note to RREconomy@cerritosnews.net.

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Los Cerritos Community News Column focuses on Taking Back our Precious Planet from Toxic Polluters!

Econo-My-Scene: Cleaning Up our Planet started with a Buzz in the air!

By Randy Economy

I was 9 years old when Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the Moon back in the Summer of '69.

My family moved to the Eastside of Cerritos one year earlier, and we were surrounded by cows and corn fields. We held an "Out of This World Block Party" with all of our neighbors and friends for that special day. We watched in wonderment. Before our very eyes, we saw two men walk on the moon.
It was more than just one small step. It was the day that changed Mankind, forever.
A couple of years later, when I was attending Carmenita Junior High School in 1971, one of those precious, rare moon rocks paid a grand visit to our campus.
I stood in a long line, and touched the Heavenly rock that was guarded by members of the Military and local law enforcement. I remember how sharp and coarse and dense the jagged rock felt.
We actually had to have our parents sign a letter saying it was okay for us to be in the same room with the moon rock, just "in case" it might contained something "mysterious" or "hazardous" to our well being.
Fast forward 25 years later in 1994: I was working in the cable television industry and was attending a Discovery Channel party honoring Aldrin to commemorate the 15^th Anniversary of Apollo 11,
under the stars at the awe inspiring Griffith Park Observatory.
While standing in line for dinner, I looked over my shoulder, and lo' and behold, there he was. The Man. The Astronaut. Captain Buzz Aldrin. I shook his hand, hugged him, and thanked him for being my inspiration. I thanked him for empowering me and others to be the "Keepers of our Planet."
The "Ecology" Movement began here in Cerritos in the early 1970's.
We became an "Urban Forrest," we recycled our "reclaimed" water, made our new city hall operate on solar energy panels. The ABC Unified School District taught us about our local environment. We marched in our streets to make sure that the County of Los Angeles build more green space here, instead of more houses and industrial areas.
Sadly, we made a huge mistake back then, and today we must "right" those "wrongs" of our past.
We allowed major parts of our bedroom community to become the "home" to some mega smoke-stacking chemical producers, and toxic metal processors, and federal government fuel tank farms.
We sat silent and forgot the importance of protecting our precious Earth. We forgot to question if these businesses in an area I have named "Toxic Triangle" at Carmenita/Alondra/Firestone Frontage Road were in the "very best interest" of our health.
We forgot the importance of checking public records to see what's going on "inside" these plants. We forgot that it is our responsibility to keep tabs on these businesses, not just the government.
So, now IS the TIME for the People to take control of our local environment, once again. It's time for a new commitment right here in Cerritos, and Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, and in The Gardens.
We can't move mountain's by using spoons.
We need determination, and the courage to fight the good fight, and a plan to help keep our precious Mother Earth alive for generations to follow.
Your thoughts?
Drop me a note to RREconomy@aol.com.
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Econo-My-Scene: Holy Hydrazine Batman. No More Political Mumbo Jumbo

By Randy Economy
I would have NEVER imagined that I would have to become educated about a dangerous gas called “Hydrazine,” which according to the Environmental Protection Agency is highly toxic and is polluting our air here on the Eastside of Cerritos.

Don’t mess with Hydrazine. It’s wicked and dangerous to us human folks.

Hydrazine is a known carcinogen that causes damage to your kidneys, liver, and reproductive organs. It causes cancers and horrific breathing disorders.

The EPA revealed that in 2002 an industrial plant run by a company called PGP Industries/Hereaus here in the back yard of East Cerritos has emitted a “dangerous” amount of Hydrazine into our air.

How come we weren’t informed about this chemical leak SEVEN years ago?

Why are we sitting silent to those we send to protect us in Washington, DC and Sacramento?

I live around 4,000 yards (as the crow flies) from PGP/Hereaus. This company is actually located in the City of Santa Fe Springs and has been at this Carmenita Road and Alondra Boulevard site for eons.

According to Heraeus, they are a “globally active precious metals and technology Group” with firm roots in Germany, headquartered in Hanau near Frankfurt. The company has been family-owned for more than 155 years. Precious metals, sensors, dental and medical products, quartz glass, and specialty lighting sources are the focus of their activities.

Quick grab me my Resume, I totally would love to work for such a “delightful” sounding company like this one.

For us here on the Eastside of Cerritos, Heraeus is known as the “smokestack” across from a hamburger joint.

But, what’s going on INSIDE the plant? What’s really in that smoke? What’s that awful smell?

Our wonderful Eastside Cerritos neighborhood was listed on June 25, 2009 by the EPA as having the worst toxic air in the United States. We are “Ground Zero” according to this report. We can handle the truth. We just need to know what the truth IS, and what WE need to do to take this matter into our own hands.

The City of Cerritos is talking about this Company, Heraeus, thank goodness. Check out http://www.cerritos.us/ for more information on what our city leaders are saying about this situation.

One city councilman here in Cerritos sent out an email this week telling resident’s “not to panic,” that our air here isn’t really isn’t that “bad” compared to other areas in Los Angeles County. Huh? Not “that bad?” Give me a break, Joe.

For years we have endured thick rotten smelling white smoke spewing into our East Cerritos neighborhood from the dozens of stacks from Heraeus and other manufacturing companies within the Alondra Boulevard/Carmenita Road/ Firestone Frontage Road area.

The EPA has also listed at least SEVEN additional companies as being “harmful” polluters. I am now calling this area the “Toxic Triangle.”

Like clockwork, “The Toxic Triangle” stacks start blasting around 9:30 p.m., and continues to spew into the wee hours of the morning. Grab your camcorders and start rolling footage for yourself. You will be stunned what you actual watch.

Hereaus has employees working 24/7. They never stop working. I hope the employees of this company ask hard questions of their management.
We need real experts to investigate this situation.
We don’t need elected officials telling us their opinions about this situation in political emails.

We need scientific data and tests, and conversations, not “duck and cover” from elected officials.

The next time a politician sends you and email telling you not to panic about the air here in Cerritos, grab your telephone and call him or her and start demanding facts.

Hey, I hear they have clean air in Boron, California. Who knew!
Stay Tuned.

Drop me a note to RREconomy@aol.com

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Econo-My-Scene: Politics in the Age of Facebook, Twitter and Blogger.

This is my regular column here in the Los Cerritos Community News.  Thanks for checking out, and thanks for your support and readership!  This is actually quite funny.  Enjoy.

Randy

Econo-My-Scene:
Politics in the Age of Facebook, Twitter and Blogger.
By Randy Economy

I love Facebook.
I just started to Twitter, and I have been Blogging for the past 4 years.
Hitt me up, send me a "Friend Request" to "Randy Economy" and viola, you will be my new best pal. Facebook and Twitter is interesting to those of us who enjoy being involved in movements, campaigning for good people in public life, and to keep in touch with those we haven't seen in eons.

It's also a great place to speak out for and against "social causes."
I started a FB Group called "Throw Your Shoes At AIG Chairman Edward Liddy." What a riot. Within hours I had 150 new friends involved in a conversation about the corruption of the failed financial institution that has cost us taxpayers Billions upon Billions of real "bailout" bucks.

Candidates for local, state and national offices are ALL on Facebook.
I love seeing what Meg Whitman is doing in her campaign for California Governor each day on Twitter, and our Attorney General Jerry Brown also has a great following via his new Blackberry.

FB and Twitter and Blogger are great tools to engage new supporters, and to give them "insight" into your personal life, and what you do on a daily basis.
But sometimes, it's a tad disturbing to actually see what some of our elected officials post on their Facebook and "Twitter" updates" or "What I am Doing Right Now."

One local state legislator updates his FB and Twitter "status" at least 10 times a day. Instead of being a candidate for public office, he should be a candidate for a "reality tv" series called, "I'm a Politician, Get Me Out of Here."

"HEY. Just left a fundraiser over at Frank Fats and now heading to another fundraiser at the California Train Museum, then heading over to a friend's place for a pizza and beer bust to watch the Laker game," a recent posting claimed.  "Then, I am heading over for a nightcap at Camacho's. PARTY!"

Wait a cotton pickin' minute.

Do I really want to know that much information about the daily doings of those we send to represent us in Sacramento or Washington DC?

Pizza and Beer Parties, Drinking Games in bars, and going to fundraisers every night?

Huh?

No wonder we are in such a mess here in California.
One night I got flash message from a local Member of Congress telling me that they just woke up with a HUGE hang over after a night of wildness in Georgetown.

Political hangover's in Georgetown?

That's, way too much information.

It's time for us on Facebook to start telling our elected officials to get back to work, and get the job done, and stop the "fun and games" once and for all.

Sacramento and Washington has "Gone Wild."
 Social networking sites are a great tool for the people to keep tabs on those we like to call our "public servants."

Take my word on this. During the next campaign here in California, these daily postings from our politicians will come back to bit them in the rear.
Their own words and actions will come back to haunt them.  Hang on. I have an incoming message from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villiaraigosa. He's having din din over at the Ivy with some news anchor gal from KTLA. Now that's HOT!

Econo-My-Scene: Be on your toes, Politicians, we're watching your EVERY MOVE!!

QUICK NOTE:
I will be posting my bi-weekly column "Econo-My-Scene" later this afternoon (Friday) here on the Blog.  My column now runs EVERY other WEEK in the Los Cerritos Community News and covers life in the cities of Cerritos, Artesia, Pico Rivera, Norwalk, Lakewood, and Hawaiian Gardens, CA

PEEK:

It really drives me crazy to see some of the things our elected officials POST on their Facebook, Twitter and other "Social Media" outlets.

Stay tuned.

This is going to crack you up.

I've been watching our Politicians UP to in Sacramento and Washington, DC. to see how they REALLY spend their time working "for us" on the job.

Check back this afternoon...

Randy Economy

Econo-My-Scene: Fixing California Begins with Paging Art Gallucci!

Image via Wikipedia

This is my weekly column for the Los Cerritos Community News for this weekend, and focuses on my solution to fix California, once and for all. Your thoughts? RREconomy@aol.com.
Randy Economy

I have been thinking a lot about the fiscal mess we are facing here in California, and what in the world WE can offer up as a solution to rescue our beloved Golden State.

I can’t sit and watch California fall into the Pacific Ocean from our ineffective and out of touch politicians in Sacramento any longer. We gotta’ get a plan, man. Wait. I got it.

It’s time to send in reinforcement. Not the National Guard or the Army into Sacramento. I have a better idea. We need to send in Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci to fix Sacramento.

Let’s face reality; no one up THERE really has a clue on how to run our State. Actor Dude is toast, we all know that. The 30-Year-Olds running the State Assembly are all too young and too inexperienced to fix anything, and the termed out State Senate cares more about “leaving Sacramento,” collecting their pensions, instead of hanging around to fix the mess they created when they were first elected to the State Assembly six years earlier.

Yep, time to send in the “A” Team to Sacramento for the next 6 months to lead us out of this fiscal dark forest.

Can you imagine what California could accomplish under the tight, fiscally creative reign of Art Gallucci? Can you imagine what could get accomplished on the Floor of the State Assembly or Senate with Galluch’ runnin’ the joint.

First of all, we would understand how big our budget crisis “actually” is, instead of the current system of drawing numbers out of a hat everyday in the State Capitol Basement Cafeteria that determines how much California is in debt on that particular day.

We need to have Art’s vast experience and keen knowledge to help fix California.

Art Gallucci has created a legacy of success here in Cerritos that is recognized all over America and the World. He is The Prince of Bloomfield. The King of the Golden Library. The Wizard of 183rd. Get my drift.

For his ENTIRE adult life, Art Gallucci has dedicated it to the people of this community.
I first met Art in 1970, in the trailers at Cerritos City Hall on Pioneer Blvd. Art was hip, young, 25-ish. I was like 9 years old back then. My parents Dick and Rosemary Economy immediately fell in love with Art. He was "an up and comer" in a city that was nothing but cows, a billion flies, and a Field of Dreams 7 miles wide!

Art’s first job was to oversee the construction of all of our Parks here in Cerritos. Voila, A Masterful job.

Elected officials come and go here due to voter mandated term limits, but Art is the cement that holds Cerritos together year in and year out. He literally helped build Cerritos, park by park, house by house, waterfalls, and shopping centers, and center medians, and the world’s largest Auto Mall that has been our fiscal “Saving Grace.”

Art is the Man who listens to ALL the People of our community. Trust me, if you call City Hall and ask to speak to the City Manager, you will get Art on the phone ASAP. He is Cerritos. He is sophisticated, yet unassuming. He is sharp on his feet, and is someone every local city manager aspires to become. He is a Diplomat amongst sometime shaken egos, and speaks with pride and knowledge.

Having to balance a City Council and a city staff, law enforcement agencies, employee unions, 55,000 residents, and an amazing wife (Joann) and family is a tough gig. Art makes it look fun and actually enjoyable. Just think of what he could do to get Sacramento under control?

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Econo-My-Scene: Artesia's First Gals Celebrate 50 Years of City Hood!

Econo-My-Scene:
Tea Time: "The First Lady's" Celebrate Artesia's Rich Past.

Note: This is my weekly column for the Los Cerritos Community News, that appears in this weekend's edition.

By: Randy Economy

Last weekend, I attended my first "Victorian High Tea." Okay. I have not cracked up. This is really great stuff.

It was held in honor of all of the amazing women who have served as "First Lady" from the City of Artesia. The most famous "First Lady" from Artesia is none other than "America's Past First Lady" Thelma Patricia Ryan Nixon, also known as Mrs. Richard Nixon.

2009 marks the 50th Anniversary of when Artesia was incorporated as a "city." But, Artesia's rich history goes back more than 130 years.
The "Village" of Artesia formally became a "community" when the Artesia School District was established on May 3, 1875. The first school house was a rustic timbered two-story building with a classroom on each floor.

Artesia was formally incorporated as a "city" on May 29th, 1959, and is only 1.6 square miles in size, and has a population of around 11,000 (give or take a couple of hundred). Its "official" flower is the "Chrysanthemum" and the official city motto is "Service Builds Tomorrow's Progress."

I know "real men" can enjoy sipping fine tea, munch on savory cucumber and water crest sandwiches, buttery scones with Devonshire Cream, Chicken Waldorf Salad, Sweet Petit' Fours, Chocolate Hand Dipped Strawberries, and this event had it ALL.

The "High Tea" was hosted by the Artesia Historical Society, under the

leadership and coordination of President Veronica Bloomfield, Vice President Barbara Frampton Applebury, Event Chairwoman Diane Padelford Young and Committee Member Rosemary Economy. The event was catered by the Cerritos Sheraton Hotel under the amazing help from Chef Carlos Garcia and Banquet/Entertainment Wiz Ryan Keithley.

The Artesia Historical Society is an amazing community service organization whose sole mission is to preserve the rich heritage of Artesia, educate the community about its past. The AHS also operates the Artesia Historical Museum at 18644 Alburtis Avenue.

The Museum is open the Second Saturday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. and EVERYONE who lives in our community needs to visit this great attraction.

Honored at the Tea was each of Artesia's past "First Ladies," including the "First" First Lady Bettye Padleford. She is the wife of founding Artesia Mayor Warren "Gene" Padleford, and looked amazing during this special afternoon.

Women have played a historic role in all of our communities. I think back to women like Norwalk's Margaret I. "Peg" Nelson, and Cerritos' Dianna Needham and Lakewood's Jackie Rynerson, and Santa Fe Springs Betty Wilson when they were all elected as "the First" woman to serve as City Council Members in our area.

We are richer as a society for our "First Ladies." Michele Obama is changing the role of America's First Lady. Her elegance, community investment campaign, promotion of community gardens, devotion to her children, and those "amazing arms" is a breath of fresh air in these tough times.

Artesia has changed greatly since 1875, but it has retained so much of its past, and for that we are all grateful. Thanks, Lady's for a great afternoon.

Pass the sugar, and give me a couple of them scones...