LOCALmotion – Jozelle Smith

Isn’t it annoying to have a chair where the leg has come loose? Or a toaster that no longer works? Or denim pants with holes and tears? Or a computer that’s running badly? You can get help repairing all these and more at the Regional Westside Repair Café! It all takes place this Saturday, April 18th from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Veteran’s Memorial Building’s Multipurpose Room, 4117 Overland Ave. Bring along things that don’t work well anymore and need some fixing; a small donation for supplies; used items for the Give-Away Table; and a supportive attitude – after all they’re all volunteers. This Regional event is sponsored jointly by: The Cities of Culver City and Santa Monica and you can find out more by visiting www.culvercity.org/Home/Government/PublicWorks/EnvironmentalPrograms

You can hear them better! You can see them better! (that is if you really want to…) We’re talking about the city council chambers’ renovations. Over the past several weeks, considerable work has been done to upgrade the outdated lighting, audio, and broadcasting equipment in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers. Beginning with the Monday, April 13th City Council meeting, the public will once again be able to participate in City Council, Commission, and other specified public meetings in the official Council Chambers. Please visit http://culvercity.org/agenda.aspx to learn about upcoming meetings.

Just to make sure they’re right on top of things in case of any local emergency, Culver City CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) will be conducting a Drill this Sunday, April 19th from 12:45 to 4:00 p.m. at the latest. CERT and CCARES Members should meet at the Staging location at Coombs Park located at Coombs and Franklin in NERT 22. Members will be reporting with the appropriate Response Gear and PPEs. (If you’re a member, you’ll recognize all the acronyms.) CCARES Members will have their radios fully charged. Members who are planning to take part should email Erik Mayer, Operations Manager at [email protected]. A sigh of relief and a big THANK YOU to thesefolks! (BTW, just as we’re ready to hit the “Send” button to submit this column we experienced a 3.5 earthquake – a sharp one. Glad CERT and CCARES are brushing up on their rescue techniques!)

Here’s a great combination: a healthy walk plus some interesting history about your surroundings! Usually based at Veterans’ Memorial Park, this (third) Saturday’s “Walk With a Doc” begins at the Culver City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd. (parking underneath the building off Duquesne). At 8:40 a.m. Culver-Palms Family YMCA Fitness Trainer Brandon Webb will conduct a warmup, followed by a ten-minute health presentation by one of our local MDs. Then at 9:00 a.m. City Historian Julie Lugo Cerra will narrate a local, downtown Culver City walk that includes lots of historic sites – all in an hour’s time. For more information visit www.docwalk.org.

No April Fool’s jokes, please: Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas visited our Culver City Police Department on Wednesday April 1st, where he met with Chief Scott Bixby and the Command Staff to discuss current issues facing the City and the State. The Assemblymember learned about our Department’s goals, measures of effectiveness and all of the positive community outreach the Department has in place to make the citizens safer in our community. We’ll bet he was impressed!

If you are interested in getting on better terms with your creativity, Healing Yoga Studio is offering workshops in The Artist’s Way. This amazing workbook by Julia Cameron was published way back in the 20th Century, and has been used by millions (yep, millions) with huge success. If you want to write, paint, dance, sing or just get more fun out of life, this class can open doors, open minds and open your to your creativity. There are both afternoon (Monday) and evening (Tuesday and/or Thursday) classes starting next week, so sign on for a ten week intensive encounter with an amazing artist (that’s you !) Email to [email protected] and put ‘Artist Way’ in the subject line to sign up or get more info.

Speaking of history, don’t forget the Culver City Historical Society’s general meeting this Wednesday, April 15, at 7:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room in the Veterans Memorial Building (VMB) at 4117 Overland Avenue. Featured will be Albert Vera, Jr. as he tells the story of his father, Albert Vera, the founder of the Sorrento Market. There will be a power point presentation and discussion of the family’s history with other members of the Vera family. Visitors are always welcome.

The deadline for purchasing your tickets ($40.00 each) to the 35th Annual Mayor’s Luncheon is this Wednesday, April 15 for the luncheon, set for Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles, Westside located at 6161 W. Centinela Avenue in Culver City. (All reservations must be prepaid.) Outgoing Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells will give the “State of the City” address at this Earth Day luncheon, which offers a great opportunity for businesses, religious organizations, schools, service clubs, and community organizations to meet together over lunch and collectively look at our community’s programs and activities over the past year as well as the accomplishments of the City.The Culver City Chamber of Commerce serves as the host of the Annual Mayor’s Luncheon. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. on the 22nd, the luncheon begins at 12:00 p.m. and will run until 1:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Barbara Brody at the Culver City Chamber of Commerce at 310-287-3850. The big question: will the Mayor ride her bike to the Doubletree by Hilton??

Springing into April birthdays this week are City Councilmember Andy Weissman, Inger Kleckner, Peter Benjamin, Janet Shelton, Lucy Safai, Bernice Mathison, Freddie Wilson, Martin Hente, Barbara Jefferson, Frank Keister, Carly Priebe, Angel Amulis-Hodel, James Powers, Jillian Daniels, and Jette Sorensen. If you’d like to have your (or a friend, neighbor or family member’s) birthday noted here, send the info to [email protected] and we’ll post it!