Monday, October 10, 2011
The deadline passes for Gov. Jerry Brown to sign bills into law. Here's a list of what Assemblymember Betsy Butler, D-Marina del Rey, did (and didn't) get done this term.
You can tell a lot from a legislator's bills. They reflect a representative's priorities, and, hopefully, the priorities of his or her district. Below is a list of the bills Assemblymember Betsy Butler, D-Marina del Rey, introduced this year*. Bills signed into law: AB 1319 – Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, signed Oct. 4. California law will now prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of baby bottles and sippy cups that contain more than 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of BPA. AB 1319 provides children from every community access to safe, non-toxic baby products and significantly decreases their exposure to a chemical that has been linked to a host of health problems, including early puberty, breast and prostate cancer, infertility…
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Heal the Bay releases its 2011 End of Summer Beach Report Card, and Venice gets the highest grades possible, while in Los Angeles County, beaches with A or B grades rose from 79 to 85 percent.
All four locations on Venice Beach where water quality was tested over the summer received A+ ratings in Heal the Bay's annual End of Summer Beach Report, released on Tuesday. Heal the Bay monitors and rates 447 locations in California between Memorial and Labor Day weekends each year for the report. Venice Beach is rated at Rose and Brooks avenues, the Venice Pier, and Topsail Street on the Peninsula. Last spring, Venice Beach got high marks when it was dry but didn't fare as well after rain. The summer report card did not include any rainy weather. This summer, 89 percent of Santa Monica Bay beaches earned A or B grades, compared with 87 percent last year. In Los Angeles County, the number of A or B grades rose from 79 to 85 percent of …
The holiday, which marks the beginning of the Jewish year 5772, begins at sundown Wednesday.
Rosh Hashana, which means the beginning of the year in Hebrew, is a two-day holiday. The Jewish calendar is lunisolar—one that follows the moon but has leap years to keep it in line with the solar year—so Rosh Hashana can fall in September or October. This year, Rosh Hashana marks the Jewish year 5772 and begins at sunset Wednesday and ends at nightfall Friday. Much like the Jewish Sabbath, on Rosh Hashana Jews avoid work and share meals with family and friends. In synagogue, there’s prayer, reflection, sermons and a public reading of the Torah. On Rosh Hashana the shofar—a ram’s horn—is blown in the synagogue services. The blowing of the shofar is meant to symbolize a wake-up call to self-improvement. That shofar blast connects to the …
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The girls team gets swept Monday by rivals Pali High, which took Venice out during the city playoffs last fall, but the coach remains upbeat about the team's chances this year.
The Gondoliers were swept Monday in Venice High girls volleyball's first match of the season against archrival – and reigning division champions – Pali High. The Gondos beat Palisades twice on their way to winning the Western League title last year, but the Dolphins upset Venice in the semifinals of the City Section Division II playoffs and swept Poly in the finals. "The focus right now is on our side of the court," Venice Coach Allen Hunt said. "We're a little younger and ball control is a problem. We have a new setter so we're trying to improve our serve reception and the speed of our sets." Venice High fell on Monday by a score of 25-10, 25-8, 25-19. This year's senior captains are three-year starting outside hitter Molly Lieske and …
33.998931
-118.442882
Venice High School
13000 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
/articles/venice-volleyball-falls-to-pali-high
1560710
/locations/5466935
Coach Mike Finegold seeks to find a winning formula for the Gondos.
Five matches into the 2011 season the Venice High girls tennis team is still searching for its first win, but Coach Mike Finegold maintains a positive outlook. "We lost all four of our singles players, our No. 1 doubles team and two JV players from last year," said Finegold, now in his 15th year coaching the team "We've also had two ineligibilities, one girl changed schools, another one got injured, and three more are playing hurt right now. "But I like my team and this is the nicest group of girls I've had yet, which says something because they've all been nice." Venice took on archrival Pali High in the first of two Western League meetings Monday at the Palisades Recreation Center, and it was hardly a surprise that the Dolphins won 7-0. …
Monday, September 26, 2011
Check out Venice Patch's pics from Sunday's street festival.
It was a lovely, almost cool day on Abbot Kinney Boulevard on Sunday, when thousands of people turned out for the annual Abbot Kinney Festival. Patch was there, and we snapped some pictures of the crowd. Let us know if you spot anyone you know! Be sure to fan Venice Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more local news.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A free event Saturday offers a chance for participants in Los Angeles' local form of governance to network and learn from one another.
More than 500 people attended the 2011 Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhood Councils at City Hall on Saturday. The congress is an annual free event designed to educate, network and inspire neighborhood council activism across the city. The city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment offered attendees, many of whom are members of one of the city's 95 neighborhood councils, a full day of programs and panels. "Neighborhood councils are really grass-roots democracy in action," said Linda Lucks, president of the Venice Neighborhood Council and a member of the Los Angeles Board of Neighborhood Commissioners. Lucks said that the annual congress "is a really good place to network, realize we have a lot of power and learn how to harness it." …
Friday, September 23, 2011
The autumnal equinox occurred at 2:04 a.m., marking the official beginning of fall.
Goodbye, summer and hello, fall. The autumnal equinox took place at 2:04 a.m. Friday morning when the sun crossed the equator heading for the Southern Hemisphere. There are approximately equal amounts of day and night today because the Earth's axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun. In other parts of the country, fall means leaves turning from green to red and gold. In our parts, it normally means sunny and mild days with that tinge of crispness in the air. It mostly means there are more football games on television, students are going back to school, stores are starting to fill up with Halloween candy and we start pulling those sweaters and jackets out once again. It also means that …
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Venice Coach Angelo Gasca is optimistic heading into Friday's opener.
The Venice High varsity football team opens the season Friday night in North Hollywood against Harvard-Westlake. The Gondoliers are in pursuit of their 10th consecutive Western League crown and are No. 4 in the MaxPreps preseason Los Angeles City Section rankings. Patch caught up with head coach Angelo Gasca after practice Wednesday to get his thoughts on this year's team and what his expectations are for Friday's first game and the season as a whole: Patch: How well prepared is the team heading into the new season? Angelo Gasca: We had a good summer. We're healthy and I'm very happy with the team. I think we should have a strong season. We've got a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and we've got just as good a chance as anyone to …
graciela huth
7:04 pm on Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Betsy Butler has done an excellent job and deserves our appreciation. more ›