Commerce News

Rundown and too frequently the location of crime scenes over the years, Closter Community Park in Salinas will soon get a much needed makeover. The Rotary Club of Salinas is spearheading a plan to build 'La Plaza Rotario,' in collaboration with four other Rotary clubs, to aesthetically improve the park on Towt Street. The project is an unprecedented collaboration with the Alisal, Corral de Tierra, Salinas Northeast and Steinbeck Rotary clubs, along with two clubs from India and another three in Mexico, said Brett Harrell, president of the Rotary Club of Salinas. "We wanted to show ... that our generosity could be used to fund a project in Salinas — right in our own backyard," Harrell said. La Plaza Rotario will feature a traditional, Mexican-style kiosko, or bandstand, as a centerpiece and includes renovations such as new seating areas, landscaping, lighting, a boxing center and a tutoring center for the youth. The plan will be presented to the community at 6 p.m. Monday at St. Mary of the Nativity Church on Towt Street in Salinas. The idea for the project, Harrell said, came from a conversation with Salinas Councilman Tony Barrera about 15 months ago. While his group has done community projects internationally, he said, he was searching for a project they could do locally. Harrell said Barrera suggested picking up a project idea of Leadership Salinas Valley that had fallen through. Leadership Salinas Valley is a community leadership and skills training program offered by the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce. The original plan, he said, was to create a 'La Placita,' or small plaza at Closter featuring a fountain and benches. Following conversations with the Salinas Alisal Rotary, Harrell said, the idea expanded to include a 'kiosko,' a focal gathering point for families in the park. The project is scheduled to break ground in April, he said, with an anticipated completion date of June 30. Harrell said the project's funding is a combination of money raised by the Rotary clubs and matching funds by the Rotary Foundation, in-kind labor and equipment, a brick purchase program and donations. He said they're about halfway to their goal of raising the estimated $350,000 for the project. Meetings this month, Harrell said, are to generate community support and ownership for the project — a key component to the long-term maintenance of the park. 'The goal of it is to drive by the park in five or 10 years and still be proud of what's been done,' he said. For Harrell, the project is important because it allows for the community and Rotarians to show their commitment to the neighborhood. He said renovations of the widely-used park will also have a significant impact to the larger community's impression of the neighborhood. 'We're excited, and sometimes the most important work you do is next door and not across borders,' Harrell said.

After the driest December in 22 years, and a January that was merely damp, California weather watchers are hungry for any whiff of change in the air.

Three speakers will be featured at the 2012 Economic Forecast Luncheon hosted by The Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lakewood Feb.

At one of the last public hearingsA involving the redrawingA of Los Angeles city district lines-held atA Walter Reed Middle SchoolA in Studio City Thursday night-more than 250 people showed up and 148 of them signed up to speak.

Fighting to save the transitional kindergarten program that has already served hundreds of Long Beach children for the last five years, Long Beach Unified School District leaders, educators, parents and advocates rallied on Feb.

The site of the Gateway retail project in Temple City on Tuesday. Two Temple City Chamber of Commerce officials will be traveling to China this week to help recruit investors for the $20 million project.

Stephen Domingue, who ran the Ragin' Cajun restaurant in Hermosa Beach for 18 years, now operates a food truck, wheeling out to different Southern California locations daily.

A search is under way for the next Miss Cerritos as the Cerritos Regional Chamber of Commerce A prepares to host the 2012 Miss Cerritos Contest on Tuesday, March 13.

His plea comes on the heels of his sister-in-law and campaign treasurer, Ana Perez, 46, pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge related to her conduct in the scheme.

A panel of state policymakers including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will discuss California’s future and its impacts on the local economy at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 State of the State legislative event.

Discover the Artsis held in conjunction with the City's annual Los Angeles Arts Month celebration.

Local water agencies, chambers of commerce and construction unions are supporting a bill that would speed up the planning and set a date for construction of a new kind of peripheral canal to bring water from Northern California south.

LOS ANGELES - A city councilman from Commerce could face up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

More than 40 businesses will be participating in South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce's Arts Crawl 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

The Ramona sheriff's staff are gearing up for a public awareness program to deter vandalism in town.

Two Chamber of Commerce officials will be traveling to China this week on a local developer's dime to help recruit foreign investors for a commercial project once at the center of a bribery scandal in the city, a chamber official said Monday.

San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital chief executive officer Mark Turner is scheduled to speak this Thursday at Russo's Italian Kitchen in Banning.

Mandates from Sacramento have placed a burden on Los Angeles County services and the budget, said Supervisor Don Knabe Thursday during his annual State of the County address.

TEMPLETON HIGH SCHOOL REPORTER TALKS TO KATCHO Atascadero News http://www.atascaderonews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=77&story_id=4724 Feb 3 2012 CA BY: Benton Lowerison, The Aerie Many constituents can identify our state assemblyman, Katcho Acahdjian, but few know his story.

About seven years ago, Donna Schilder was at a local Chamber of Commerce event where the speaker didn't show up.