Week in Review: Sherri Akers, "Person of the Year," City Invites Public Comment on Lawn Replacement,

Mar Vista Patch honored Sherri Akers, co-chair of the Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee as our “Person of the Year.” Akers and the committee have made Mar Vista into a citywide leader on environmental and sustainability issues.

Jeanne Kuntz, who now co-chairs the committee with Akers said of her, “Sheri is incredibly good at getting things done and also incredibly naïve.” Akers, said Kuntz, “ really believes she can save the planet if she just keeps at it.”

Read Patch’s profile of Akers here.

Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee activists, along with environmental groups and other neighborhood councils went to a Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council meeting to urge the city to replace the South City Hall lawn with native and sustainable landscaping. The city, bending to the pressure is now inviting public input on options to replace the lawn, trampled by Occupy LA. 

The Mar Vista portion of the parking lot that serves the 99 Cents Only store in the Triangle Center on Washington Boulevard can remain in its current condition the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission decided Wednesday. The store is in Culver City.

Need a little pick-me-up? You can get one for yourself and one for local schools next week.

Starting on Monday, Jan. 23, the Wasserman Foundation will be giving away $10 gift cards for DonorsChoose at some area Starbucks stores.DonorsChooseLA.org is a website where individuals can select to fund grant requests from Los Angeles Unified School District teachers.

A divided Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Tuesday instructed Superintendent John Deasy to explore the possibility of lifting school boundaries to give students the option of attending different campuses.The board asked Deasy to report back within 90 days with recommendations.

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