With much sorrow, we regret to inform you that Redevelopment Agency Board Chair, Bill Baker, has died at the age of 85.

Baker, a Ninth District resident and community leader, was born July 10, 1925 and attended our very own Jordan High School. He served as the RDA board chair since 2008.

Friends and associates are invited to a memorial gathering on June 18 at 2 p.m. in Villa Park at the home of his son, Bill Baker, Jr.

For more information please called Baker Jr. at 714-558-4832 or e-mail wbaker@lawbaker.com.

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On Saturday, May 21, fifteen 9th District residents from the Houghton Park neighborhood gathered at District Captain Manny Walker's home to have a community dialogue regarding issues in their neighborhood. House meetings are an essential step in the process of community building.

For more information on hosting your very own house meeting, please call 562-570-6137 or e-mail district9@longbeach.gov.

The Long Beach Water Department has contracted with Advance Sewer Technologies to perform cleaning and the closed circuit TV inspection of sewer mains.  The plans are to clean and inspect the sewer mains Wednesday, May 25 and Thursday, May 26 from 10 p.m. -6:30 a.m. 

The primary work site is bounded by E. 70th St, E. 70th Way, and E. 71st St. between Orange and Eastondale Avenues. 

It is necessary to perform the work at night into the early morning in order to avoid high flow of sewage within the mains during the day time, and facilitate proper cleaning and inspection of the mains.  Twenty-four  hours prior to the above start date, a reminder will be left at your front door to confirm the work for the next day.  

If you have questions, please call Steve Smigla at 562-570-2440 or Walter Trujillo at 562-570-4140.

Please use this card to report all instances of pot holes, graffiti, and other blight. You can also report issues by visiting www.insidedistrict9.com. The S.T.A.R. Task Force meets every second Monday of the month at 6 p.m. inside the Center for Families and Youth building - 6335 Myrtle Avenue. 

If you would like to request a stack of these cards, please call the field office at 562-570-3319.

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Thank you to everyone who attended the first Hamilton Neighborhood Association meeting on May 11 at Hamilton Middle School.  With approximately fifteen residents in attendance, we had a great discussion with community leaders and city employees about the benefits of building stronger neighborhoods. Four Hamilton residents stepped up to take on leadership roles to the new  association.

This meeting features presentations from Councilmember Steven Neal, Chief of Staff, Rex Richardson, Houghton Park Neighborhood Association President Dr. Crystal Howard-Johnson, and Hamilton Middle School Principal David Downing. We also had presentations by the Long Beach Police Department, Code Enforcement, and Neighborhood Services.

The next meeting will feature a brainstorm on community issues and continue with the presentation from Neighborhood Services. We will also establish a time line for officer elections.

We had a great time and we hope to see you at our next meeting on Wednesday, June 8th. 

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To be eligible to participate in the Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program, applicants must be the owner of a single-family residence, condominium, or live/work unit in the City of Long Beach where the qualified energy efficient product is to be installed. Residential owners who are eligible for the Rebate Program are entitled to the following incentives:

 

• Rebate of up to a maximum of $500 for the cost of one qualifying energy efficiency product.
• No-cost permit to inspect the installation of the qualifying energy efficient product.

The Rebate Program is limited to any of the qualifying energy efficient products: 

 

• Energy Star Solar Hot Water Heater Products.
• Energy Star Tank-Less Hot Water Heater Products.
• Energy Star Door, Window and Skylight Products.
• Energy Star Roof Products.

The Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program is subject to funding availability and rebates and no-cost permits are available for a limited time only. The Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program rebates and no-cost permits are provided on a first come, first serve basis, as determined by the permit application date.

The rebate program helps the City of Long Beach achieve its energy reduction and greenhouse gas reduction goals in the City's Sustainable City Action Plan and creates significant savings on homeowners' electric bills.

These rebates are made possible by funds from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

For more information about the program, contact Dale Wiersma at Dale.Wiersma@longbeach.gov or (562) 570-6737.

To download an application, click here.

Click on the following links for more information regarding the Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program:

On April 30, Ramona Park hosted the Healthy Kids and Teens Day health fair. More than 400 people attended for a day filled with exciting activities that included multiple workout sessions, face paintings, free medical screenings, and more!

World Vision donated 300 pairs of shoes for the youth, Subway provided 300 boxed lunches, and all of our participants helped with prizes our opportunity drawing. Mountain bikes, gift cards, and skateboards, were just a few of the prizes.  

Thank you to everyone who attended and all of the sponsors and participants who helped make this a very successful event. 

To view photos from the event, just click on the image below.

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 Building a deck? Planting a tree? Installing a mailbox? 811 is the new number you should call before you begin any digging project.

A new, federally-mandated national "Call Before You Dig" number, 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on digging projects. People digging often make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked due to concerns about project delays, costs and previous calls about other projects. These assumptions can be life-threatening.

The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) Scholarship Program was established to assist deserving students by offering financial assistance to help meet educational expenses. Scholarship candidates must be full-time students in good academic standing at an accredited college or university. Graduating high school seniors with written proof of acceptance at an accredited institution of higher learning are also eligible. The amount of each award is $1,000.00.

To be eligible for selection, candidates must have a minimum GPA of 2.5. and must complete the CLBC Scholarship Application and Personal Statement essay describing why they want to be selected. In addition, two letters of recommendation and a certified copy of the most recent transcript are required and must be submitted with the application and essay.

To identify your representative please visit the California Legislative Black Caucus website at

http://blackcaucus.legislature.ca.gov. On the front page under "Find Your Representative" enter your zip code. The applications must be received at the appropriate representative's address on the last page of the application by May 31, 2011.

APPLICATION TIMELINE

Friday, April 1, 2011 - Applications available

Wednesday, May 31, 2011 - Application period closed

Friday, June 24, 2011 - Scholarship Recipients Announced

Click here to download the CLB Scholarship Application.