Saturday, October 22, 2011

Tonight - The LHS Alumni Association Fall Dance in Santa Fe Springs

If you are an LHS alum and haven't heard about the Fall Dance, the LHS Alumni Association's fundraising event tonight at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs, then you are likely in the minority of active alumni still in the Southern California area.

The links in the sidebar LHS official website will let you know more about this.
OR
you can just call dance chair persons: Mike Ibarra - S’66 - (323) 683-6102 -or-  Luz Lopez - S’75 -- (310) 701-6846

At last check, the ticket prices were $35 per person.  Call one of the numbers above if you are interested in information about at-door ticket sales.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Lots of activity in at City Hall but Mayor still hooked on hitting the publicity circuit.

The mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa- who will be just Antonio Villar when he ends his term according to reports on the divorce settlement, is totally into publicity as long as it include the mayor.

He continues to exercise that personal choice that belies his claim to care about the city.  That commitment the city is simply overrulled by a terminal case of narcissism to make publicity opportunities a regular preference. 

It's a choice made by the mayor in the midst of all that's happening with the city that means a lot for how L.A. residents will enjoy or suffer (as the case may be) living in L.A. including steep hikes in DWP rates, Sewer fees almost doubling, the budget still short, OccupyLA creating costs for L.A. (aside from demands), and all the FBI subjects of investigation as fraud, waste and abuse happen to be more the rule than the exception.

Here's a selection from The City Maven blog "Pressers" section today http://www.thecitymaven.com/ to give you an idea of how the elected "leader" (by a slim majority of the approximately 18% of the city's registered voters who came out to cast votes- so that's roughly 10% of the registered voters choosing this mayor) ostensibly "works" for the city of L.A.
"10:15 a.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will participate in the Great California ShakeOut at Target in Northridge.
11:30 a.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will recognize Domestic Violence Awareness month at LAPD Headquarters
7:30 p.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will attend the Safe Passage Domestic Violence Awareness Month event at L.A. Live.
8 p.m. Mayor Villaraigosa will speak at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Great Futures Gala at L.A. Live"
The L.A. Weekly's editor, Jill Stewart referred to Villaraigosa as "The Partyboy Mayor" in a radio interview a few months ago, and he surely seems to be that, as well as the subject of the L.A Weekly's "11% Mayor" - a reference to the time spent on real city business based on his official calendar records..  http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/ 

"The All-About-Me Mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa's Frenetic Self-Promotion-Hours of travel, fund-raising and PR leave little time for his job" By Patrick Range McDonald Wednesday, Sep 10 2008 
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/

Not much seems to have changed aside from the mayor continuing his mission to find a new office to hold and maybe get better publicity photos from it.  We might have been better served had Villaraigosa spent more time in his office, in the city and not be so busy involving himself in all that he manages to find that does not get the job done as mayor for L.A. residents and busineses.
There was a continuation of this L.A. Weekly story a few months later: "Villaraigosa, the All About Me Mayor, Is Still 11 Percent There,"  By Patrick Range McDonald,  Wednesday, Dec 31 2008
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-01-01/news/villaraigosa-the-all-about-me-mayor-is-still-11-percent-there/


Well, he's the mayor until July 1, 2013 when the March 2013 election results will produce another mayor, one who might do better, let's hope.

Friday, October 14, 2011

LHS Football (tonight) v. Eagle Rock HS- Kenny Washington Story in L.A. Times

The Lincoln Tigers will host the Eagle Rock Eagles Friday night.

The L.A. Times this week published a story this week about Kenny Washington and the ongoing work that's being done to honor the former Lincoln student athlete who broke the NFL color barrier. "Remembering forgotten hero Kenny Washington," by Bill Plaschke, October 12, 2011, http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-20111012,0,2930677,full.column

A key part of the story tells much about the big picture for Washington,

Mark Shapiro has spent 35 years shouting out yards and numbers to Lincoln fans with a tiny microphone while standing in the seats in front of the marching band. In the most sadly perfect of ironies, on Friday night at a Kenny Washington memorial game designed to raise money to fix this field, he couldn't talk about the honored man because nobody could hear him.

"And believe me, somebody needs to talk about Kenny Washington," said the retired teacher and softball coach.
Welcome to Kenny Washington's house, the home of a man who fought for something that has not fought for him.
On March 21, 1946, Washington signed a contract with the new Los Angeles Rams, making him the first African American in an NFL that had been unofficially segregated the previous 12 seasons.

The former UCLA star, who signed when he was 28 years old and coming off five knee surgeries, lasted just three pro seasons. He retired young, and when he died at age 51 of heart and lung problems, his memory seemingly vanished with him.

"He wasn't in the NFL long enough, so he just faded out of sight," said Jim Tunney, former longtime referee and Lincoln High administrator whose father once coached Washington here. "And now nobody knows what to do with him."

Washington broke his sport's color barrier a year before his former UCLA football teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, yet pro football never retired Washington's No. 13, and his Los Angeles hometown has yet to put his name on any parks or fields.
Read the rest of the story for the current status of the effort to give due notice and honor a person from Lincoln's historic past.

LHS ALUMNI meets Saturday at 9:30 in LHS Cafeteria

The location of the October Meeting of the Alumni Association is back at LHS in the student cafeteria and NOT in the Cafe in the Heights.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

LHS Alumni Association Meeting Saturday

This Saturday at the Cafe in the Heights is the place for the LHS Alumni Association's monthly meeting at 9:30 am.

One topic will be the Fall Dance that's planned for Saturday, October 22, 2011. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event will continue until midnight at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs that has been the regular site for LHS Alumni dances.  This event includes a buffet dinner as with past dances there.
Get your tickets now.
Contact persons Mike Ibarra - S’66 - (323) 683-6102 -- Luz Lopez - S’75 -- (310) 701-6846