intheav.com Blogs - leonardpflemkin - Random Thoughts

Rare Footage of Eye in the Sky Trial Flights

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:26:52 +0000

I was able to secure these rare, never before seen videos of the test flights for the Eye in the Sky. So secret was this filming, that it was done without sound and in black and white. ;)

Progress on the War on Terror

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:26:01 +0000

Apologies to all if this is old news, but in the event that this has gone under the radar...

Good Article on Section 8 Today in AV Press

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:20:16 +0000

If you haven't yet, check out the article on Section 8 by Craig Currier in today's AV Press (front page, top story). It really explains in detail what happened regarding the recent decision by the Supervisors.

Walmart Next to Quartz Hill: It�s Palmdale�s Fault?

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:10:01 +0000

This from today�s AV Press story on the successful lawsuit stopping the poorly placed Walmart center across the street from Quartz Hill High School. �While Parris said he understands why some residents don't want a Wal-Mart in their neighborhood, he said Lancaster officials are in fierce competition with Palmdale officials to secure sales tax revenue. "I never liked it in the first place," Parris said. "Whenever I said that, it was always drowned out by the shouts. I still don't feel like I have any choice. "Competition is sometimes brutal. I wish we didn't have to do it, but as long as we're in a competitive environment, I will compete." So now we know. The reason the Walmart is going next to a high school is because of Palmdale. Those rats! First, they reject Walmart�s attempt to build at 60th West and N. Then when Walmart goes across from Quartz Hill High, apparently there isn�t �any choice� in the matter. Apparently, there is no other piece of property in West Lancaster large enough to hold this project. Apparently, all that open space, most of it NOT next to schools must have contaminated earth, or be ancient Native American burial grounds, or former nuclear test sites, or�.or what? There really isn�t �any choice.� This project HAS to go next to a high school. Makes perfect sense, seeing that all the other high schools in the AV have Walmarts and Targets next to them. Like I�ve said, move it a mile or so north, and you �secure sales tax revenue,� maintain the integrity of the original zoning in the area, put the safety of the students first, respect the rights of the neighbors and uphold the will of the people. It ain�t rocket science.

QH Cares Makes LA News

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:28:16 +0000

A story that never gets old. Maybe some big wallets who appreciate what Loretta and the group did for the students of community of QH will help out with donations if the uncaring and callous powers try to resurrect this misguided project again. Link to the video: http://www.latimes.com/videogallery/69187682/News/VIDEO-Quartz-Hill-Group-Claims-Victory-In-Battle-To-Keep-Walmart-Out-Jennifer-Gould-reports The town of Quartz Hill in the Antelope Valley is claiming victory against retail giant Wal-Mart after winning a six-year court battle to prevent the big-box retailer from opening a store there. The community group Quartz Hill Cares took on Wal-Mart and the city of Lancaster in a David-versus-Goliath battle, KTLA-TV reported. Wal-Mart wanted to build a 100,000-square-foot store across the street from Quartz Hill High School in the 6000 block of West Avenue. Despite the potential addition of jobs, a number of residents said they did not want a place that could potentially sell alcohol so close to the school. After a series of lengthy court battles that took the case to California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, Quartz Hill won. Despite the court victory, plans for the Wal-Mart store in Quartz Hill are still moving forward, Wal-Mart officials said Tuesday. "The mayor said from the very beginning that this will be built," said Loretta Barry of Quartz Hill Cares. "He said he didn't care about the citizens of Quartz Hill or the businesses." Still, the group persevered, and Barry said she would encourage others to do the same. "We just want to put the message out there that small communities can do this," Barry said. "If the average person has the calling to make a difference, then they need to jump in there and do it. They need to get a group together, they need to hang in there, they need to fight the fight." Wal-Mart is trying to build a "Neighborhood Mart" in downtown Los Angeles' Chinatown that would be one-fifth the size of its superstores. [For the Record, April 3 at 1:01 p.m.: A previous version of this post stated that residents feared the store would sell weapons close to a school, but Wal-Mart officials said state law prohibits the sale of guns near schools, so any future store there would not be selling them.]

Are Section 8 Recipients "Encouraged" to Move to the AV

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:29:44 +0000

I keep hearing that Section 8 recipients are being or have been "encouraged to move to the Antelope Valley." Yet I cannot find anyone who will verify this statement. I have spoken to realtors, Section 8 recipients and people who are more familiar with the program than I am, and none of them confirm that the program recipients are "encouraged to move to the Antelope Valley." In fact, they tell me that the Section 8 program does NOT direct people where to live. Can anyone here on the blog elaborate?

Great Day for Quartz Hill; Walmart Project Halted

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:59:39 +0000

The full story is in today's AV Press. Pick up a copy if you don't have one for all the details. Capping a six-year fight by Quartz Hill residents, an appellate court panel blocked a Wal-Mart shopping center near Quartz Hill High School, ruling that an environmental impact report was flawed because it failed to adequately analyze the possibility of building a smaller shopping center without a Wal-Mart. "This is a good, good day. We are ecstatic, obviously. This is a huge win for the people," said Loretta Berry, co-founder of Quartz Hill Cares, the organization that filed the lawsuit. "For all the people who say, you can't fight City Hall - we just proved you can."

Lackey Makes It Official

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:00:57 +0000

Just saw this on Facebook on the Draft Lackey page: Please join Tom tomorrow at 9:30am at Poncitlan Square in front of Palmdale City Hall! I am announcing my decision tomorrow at Poncitl�n Square at 9:30. Please come if you can! Tom Lackey

RIP Davy Jones

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:20:26 +0000

For those of us old/young enough to remember... Davy Jones, the mop-topped leader of 1960s pop band The Monkees, died Wednesday of a massive heart attack. Jones was 66. His publicist, Helen Kensick, said the singer died in Indiantown, Fla., where he lived. With an infectious smile and easy humor, the diminutive Brit played the Paul McCartney role in the Beatles-inspired quartet, which also included Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. Jones sang lead on some of the group's biggest hits, including Daydream Believer, which reached number one on the charts. Davy Jones continued to stay busy after The Monkees, doing music gigs and attending collectors' shows. Here he's at the Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show in 2009. Jones, who like his bandmates had continued to perform, had dates scheduled for March. Formed in 1965 by Hollywood producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, The Monkees quickly stormed radio and TV airwaves with a string of chart-topping songs that went on to sell an estimated 65 million copies worldwide. "There were certain indelible images we had of The Monkees, and that was Mike's cap, Micky's goofy looks and Davy's cuteness," says Phil Gallo, senior correspondent at Billboard. "Of all of them, Davy's character was the softest. He was the nice guy, the crowd pleaser." Gallo recalls being a kid in the 1960s, "collecting Batman cards, then graduating to Monkees cards, way before I got into baseball cards. They were the very first boy band, when you think about it." Andy Kim, who sang Rock Me Gently and wrote The Archies' Sugar, Sugar, said of Jones: "Everybody loved Davy's smile, the way he came across, his incredible presence and was a phenomenal ambassador for a band that didn't really start off a band, but quickly became a force�. I wrote Oh My My for Davy and Mickey's joint album after The Monkees broke up and it was an honor to know him." The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr said of Jones: "God bless Davy. Peace & Love to his family." Jones was born Dec. 30, 1945, in Manchester, England. His long hair and British accent helped him achieve heartthrob status in the United States. According to the Monkees website, Monkees.com, he left the band in late 1970. In the summer of 1971, he recorded a solo hit Rainy Jane and made a series of appearances on American variety and television shows, including Love, American Style and The Brady Bunch. By the mid-1980s, Jones teamed up Tork, Dolenz and promoter David Fishof for a reunion tour. Their popularity prompted MTV to re-air The Monkees series, introducing the group to a new audience. In 1989, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the late 1990s, the group filmed a special called Hey, Hey, It's The Monkees. Jones is survived by his wife, Jessica Pacheco, and four daughters from previous marriages.

Santa Clarita Weighs in on Er

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:21:53 +0000

This from The Signal. Instead of pissing off our neighbors to the south, how about trying to get them to come up here for some of the things they don't have...Yard House, Fresco II, Famous Dave's (which I like much better than Rattler's), Jethawks, Lemmelle (or however you spell it), AV Fair, DryTown (much better for the younger kids in my opinion, than Hurricane Harbor), Palmdale Amphitheater, LPAC, etc. Why keep bringing up the Jake's Way comment when Palmdale Mayor Ledford already accepted the apology. Thanks, Mr. Ehrlich. Appreciate your input on how we in the AV should be structured. Developer calls for Palmdale, Lancaster to unite against Santa Clarita Merger of two Antelope Valley cities proposed By Jana Adkins LANCASTER - A prominent Antelope Valley developer called on Palmdale and Lancaster to merge into one city Friday and battle Santa Clarita for its jobs and industries. Scott Ehrlich of InSite Development seized on Mayor Laurie Ender's comment that a relatively low income area of Canyon Country should become part of Palmdale as a unifying point for the Antelope Valley's two cities. "The mayor of Santa Clarita had the audacity to say they should dump their Section 8 (housing) applicants in Palmdale," Ehrlich said during Friday's Antelope Valley Board of Trade conference. Reached for a response Friday, Ender said her comment about cutting out Jakes Way and moving it to Palmdale had nothing to do with Section 8 housing and noted she had apologized for the Jan. 31 remark made during a candidates' debate. "We have had a long and successful relationship with the Antelope Valley area in a number of aspects," she said of the city. "I really want to continue our positive relationship with them." Ehrlich, whose Woodland Hills-based firm revitalized downtown Lancaster's "The BLVD." and was involved in other Antelope Valley developments, used his acceptance speech for a Board of Trade award to call on Antelope Valley business leaders and residents to unite and become the economic capital of Northern Los Angeles County. "We should join forces to battle Santa Clarita and the likes for their jobs and other industries," Ehrlich told about 700 business leaders and others who attended the conference. The developer complained the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster have wasted thousands of residents' dollars battling each other to lure companies such as Costco to the region - companies that would have located there anyway, he said. He said he plans to put a referendum on the ballot in each city to let voters decide if the region would better benefit economically by merging the cities' resources and tax dollars. "I'm not really against Santa Clarita," Ehrlich told The Signal after his speech. "I like Santa Clarita." "But it should be all regions working together, not against each other." The developer said he used Ender's slur as a rallying point to unite residents and business owners in the Antelope Valley in favor of a one-city plan. "I believe it has a chance of passing in both cities," he said. "I'm doing this because I truly believe it's the right thing to do."

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:18:37 +0000

What does the illustrious InTheAV blog think of this? LANCASTER - The Lancaster City Council Tuesday approved an agreement with Organic Energy Corporation to develop a facility in Lancaster that would convert city garbage into various forms of renewable energy. The proposed material recovery and conversion facility (MFR) would use state-of-the-art technologies to convert unrecyclable solid waste into useful products, such as green fuels and renewable energy, and would recover up to 85% of recycled materials from waste streams, which would be approximately 49% more efficient than what currently exists in Lancaster, according to city documents. "This is one of the most innovative green energy facilities of its kind..." said Deputy City Manager Jason Caudle. "It's not just about going green, it's not just about being net zero, it's about creating job opportunities through new innovative ways." City officials say the new facility would create approximately 200 permanent green collar jobs and 100 construction related jobs for the community. Per the terms of the partnership agreement between Organic Energy Corporation (DBA Ecolution) and the City of Lancaster: The city will work with Ecolution to identify a 40-acre site for the facility, and would assist the company throughout the development approval process. Ecolution will be responsible for building and operating the plant within a 24-month period. The city would commit to directing its local waste to Ecolution's proposed facility for 20 years with an opportunity to change or renegotiate after 10 years. The city will contact regional waste haulers and encourage them to divert their waste to Ecolution's facility. The city will receive a host fee of $5 per ton or 10% of the tipping fee at the facility, whichever is greater. Ecolution's headquarters and point of sales will be in Lancaster. Before the city council approved the agreement Tuesday, Ecolution president Tim Fuller gave a detailed presentation on how the proposed facility would work. Fuller said Ecolution uses a proprietary GreenStream waste processing method which consists of grinders, belts and other machinery to mechanically sort and separate waste into 20 different materials of "highly dependable quality, quantity and value." He said the method would eliminate the current three-bin waste collection process. "The GreenStream does not require you to decide which bin each piece of garbage belongs in, you dispose of everything in one bin," Fuller said. He said GreenStream would work 20 hours per day, six days a week, with 48 hours each week devoted to cleaning the system. Fuller said waste processing would be done in a completely enclosed facility within the city limits of Lancaster. He said from the outside of the facility there would be no smell and no indication that up to 4,000 tons of waste per day was being processed inside the facility. Fuller said at full capacity the facility would generate up to $6 million dollars annually for the city of Lancaster. Not all residents were fans of the Ecolution agreement. Lancaster resident Scott Pelka expressed concerns about where the money would come from to acquire the 40 acres of land promised by the city to Ecolution in the agreement. He also asked how toxic chemicals would be managed, worried that the city was financing a start-up company, and wanted to know all the partners invested in the Ecolution company. "This whole thing kinda stinks, and I don't mean from trash either," Pelka said. Lancaster city council candidate Michael Rives said he opposed the project, and wanted the council to hold a public hearing before approving the agreement. "This ought to be postponed for one council meeting to have a public hearing," said Rives. "As you recall Palmdale, our friends to the south, when they were considering a power plant they had public hearings." And Lancaster resident, Maureen Feller, was concerned about Ecolution's time in business and the fact that the city was not putting the project out to bid. "Once again the tax payers of Lancaster are giving public resources to start somebody's business," Feller said. "Not only are we paying to set up a company for somebody, but we also are going to watch that company make a profit on our waste." Several others however, including Waste Management representative, Sandra Pursley, and Antelope Valley Black Chamber of Commerce President, Rich Poston, spoke in favor of the project. "Because of the job creation and the economic development that's going to take place as a result of this project, this is the perfect project for this area," Poston said. In the end council members voted 4-0, with Mayor R. Rex Parris absent, to approve the agreement for the city to partner with Ecolution (read it here.) to develop a materials recovery and conversion facility in Lancaster and for a separate Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) (read it here.) to allow the city to work with Ecolution to locate a site that could accommodate its facility and assist Ecolution through the development approval process. "This will be one of the largest resources in the history of the Antelope Valley," said councilmember Marvin Crist

The Solar Leader of California is...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:24:55 +0000

Here's a good read from today's LA Times on solar projects in CA. By Ronald D. White January 24, 2012, 11:00 a.m. Which California city currently has more solar power installations within its boundaries and generates more solar energy than any other? Here's a hint: it's not Los Angeles. San Diego is the California leader when it comes to solar power, according to a new statewide analysis that will be unveiled there Tuesday morning by the Environment California Research and Policy Center. In 2011, San Diego had 4,507 solar power installations, generating almost 36.7 megawatts of power from the sun. To put that in perspective, Environment California said that would be enough to rank San Diego among the top 25 nations in the world. Los Angeles was second in the rankings, with 4,018 installations and a little less than 36.2 megawatts. San Jose was third, with more than 2,700 installations and 31MW. The report focuses on solar photovoltaic installations that are mostly owned by ratepayers or by third-party financing companies, as opposed to electric utilities. The installations are located on or near buildings throughout the state, the report said. The report highlights just how far the state has come in utilizing the sun's energy, but it also warns that it has much farther to go. As of 2010, solar power was still contributing little of the state's total energy needs, according to the California Energy Commission. "Ten years ago, solar panels atop roofs were a rarity," the report said. "Today, solar is taking hold in cities across the state, from coastal metropolises to agricultural and industrial hubs in the Central Valley. In the past two years alone, the solar industry has installed more than 5,000 kilowatts of solar power in each of 10 different California cities." The report is comprehensive, documenting "the number of grid-connected solar electric systems installed in California and their total electric generation capacity on a city-by-city basis" throughout the state. For anyone keenly interested in how the state's cities and towns compare, the report also break down the analysis in almost every way imaginably. For example, to detail how cities rank in terms of the number of solar installations per 100 residents, the results are separated by population levels of towns with 1,000 to 10,000 residents, by cities with 10,000 to 50,000 residents, and by those with populations of more than 50,000. Those and similar results show Los Angeles trailing in some categories. "While L.A. is a leader in terms of total installed projects, it has yet to achieve the level of solar penetration seen in some of the other top 10 cities," such as Santa Rosa and Clovis, the report said. The Environment California Research and Policy Center report also includes a number of recommendations. Among them: California officials should "increase the use of solar energy systems in new construction by requiring all new homes to include solar power or other on-site renewable electricity generation by no later than 2020, and all new non-residential buildings by no later than 2030."

The Birds are Back!

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:16:08 +0000

Looks like this story has migrated for the winter... From the Wall Street Journal... A California City Is Into Tweeting-Chirping, Actually-in a Big Way Lancaster Mayor Thinks Piped-In Bird Song Reduces Crime; Here's the Evidence LANCASTER, Calif.-Crime is down in this city on the desert fringe of Los Angeles County, and Mayor R. Rex Parris is sure he knows one reason: It's the chirping. "Do you feel that?" he asked as he inched forward in his cowboy boots on a city sidewalk, anticipating a calming sensation from the faint sound of birds above his head. The chirps subconsciously discourage criminality, Mr. Parris says: "Everybody is now in a better mood, a better place." Those chirps aren't from here. The mayor bought them in recordings from England, and for the past 10 months he has had his city play them over 70 speakers along a half mile of Lancaster Boulevard, blended with mellow synthesizer tones, five hours a day. His claim: The bird song and music calm citizens by fine-tuning brain chemicals. Listen to a sound composition utilizing bird songs that is being regularly broadcast in an area of downtown Lancaster, Calif., in a bid to soothe locals and create a safer environment. Minor crimes in Lancaster fell about 15% last year, compared with 2010, says the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, this city being part of the county, and serious crimes fell about 6%. "We're not seeing that impulse-control crime," Mr. Parris says. "It has just been astonishing to us how the community has changed as a result of a one-half-mile stretch." Some people are skeptical. Laura Dugan, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Maryland, says public officials often claim their initiatives reduce crime, but without sufficient evidence for their assertions. "There's also a drop in crime in every other major and minor city, so just because somebody tries something and you see a drop in crime, it doesn't mean it necessarily caused it," Ms. Dugan says of Lancaster's piped-in birds. Lancaster was already seeing a multiyear decline in crime before the birds, says Robert Jonsen, captain of the Lancaster Sheriff Station. That's because city officials worked more closely with police, increased public engagement and improved Lancaster Boulevard, he says. But the boulevard bird song is an important element in the effort to decrease crime, Mr. Jonsen says. It has also carried over into other parts of town, he says, as visitors bring the mellow vibes back to their neighborhoods. Many locals believe in the birds. Maria Elena Grado, who runs the Lemon Leaf Caf� near speakers playing the bird music, says the area was "crime infested" when she opened in 2006. The birds, and a broader upgrade of the area, have had a positive impact on the demeanor of customers, she says. "Everybody laughed at the idea, but people don't even realize the things that make them tick." Mr. Parris, who is also a practicing personal-injury attorney, says he got interested in ways to affect brain chemistry because he wanted to be more persuasive in court. "Once you recognize that all of this happens because of chemicals in the brain, you look at how do we affect those chemicals." Mr. Parris saw a way to test tweets after he became the part-time mayor of Lancaster in 2008. The city has about 157,000 residents. Frank Zappa and Judy Garland both lived there at some point. Mr. Parris first recorded birds in his backyard, but decided in early 2011 to spend his own money commissioning a composition from Julian Treasure, a sound consultant based near London. Mr. Treasure used recorded chirps from Europe, blended with water sounds and what he calls "uplifting musical figures." Mr. Treasure's firm, The Sound Agency Ltd., previously had installed bird sounds in bathrooms of some BP PLC gas stations in Europe. A BP spokesman says the bird sounds resulted in compliments from customers. Bird sounds can reduce cortisol and adrenaline, which are produced by the human body in response to stress, Mr. Treasure says. Ever since early man had to worry about forest predators, he says, people found singing birds reassuring. "We've learned over hundreds of thousands of years it's when they stop that we need to worry," he says. It is plausible that Lancaster's bird sounds would have their claimed effect on crime, says Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist at McGill University, as long as an individual genuinely found that sound pleasing and songbirds were used. "The obvious thing is it can't be the sound of vultures ripping apart a bison or anything," he says. Mr. Treasure says he isn't certain what birds are on the recordings. Ben Sheldon, a University of Oxford field-ornithology professor, upon listening to a segment, says he detects male songbirds such as the robin, wren, blackbird and perhaps a bit of the Great Tit. Their message to females, he says: "I'm here, are you unattached?" There may be precedent. Doha, Qatar's Aspire Park serenades visitors with recorded birds. Walid Bachir, section head-public domain at the park's management agency, thinks the sounds do help modulate behavior. "Otherwise, we might have more fighting between visiting groups or kids," he says. Mind control isn't just for the birds. The London Underground plays classical music in some stations to create a more crime-free environment, says a spokeswoman for transport for London. U.K.-based Compound Security Systems Ltd. sells a device to repel loitering teens with a frequency adults can't hear. It also appears not to bother dogs. Greg Budney, audio curator at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library, a renowned collection of recorded bird song, says he has had requests to use the collection for medical purposes but hasn't heard of bird song being used to fight crime. Neither has Charles Sczuroski, a senior trainer at the National Crime Prevention Council. But broadcasting bird song meshes with the concept of crime prevention through environmental design, he says, in which cities might improve lighting or play cheerful music in public spaces. If chirping influences ne'er-do-wells, "It really does not surprise me." Still, skeptics remain. "You might get people who say it was a waste of money, or you might get people who say they enjoy the sounds," says Joshua Ely, a high-school senior strolling the boulevard. "Then there's those of us who just don't pay much attention to it."

Pre New Year's New Year's Resolution

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:23:27 +0000

Did some walking on the Quartz Hill high track this afternoon. The weather was perfect and the view of the west AV looking north was spectacular. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful portion of our beloved Valley. The only thing that could ruin that view would be for some large super store or retail development across the street from QH high. Which made me think of two things: 1) no high school in the valley has a super store stuck next to it; and 2) my New Years's resolution: to fight tooth and nail to stop that foolish and poorly thought through monstrosity that is supposed to go across from QH High. 2012 is gonna be a great year, I don't care what the Mayans said! ;)

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know...but...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:06:20 +0000

....is He REALLY playing favorites with cities? A VERY interesting quote in today's AV Press (Speedy review of 'Jesus prayer' sought). In the article, Mayor Parris is quoted: "I think we are right, and I am convinced the reason we have become so successful in the last three years is because we do pray, and because we acknowledge the beliefs that the nation was founded on. There has to be some reason that Lancaster is thriving when every other city in the country is failing." Wow. What does this mean for the millions of faithful believers in other cities who pray? God doesn't hear their prayers? He must not because they're all "failing." I may be going out on a limb here, but I am certain that there are many cities that are not failing. In fact there are many cities that may actually be doing better than Lancaster. This is not a slam against Lancaster and the good things that have occurred, not only in Lancaster but in Palmdale and the unincorporated areas of LA County here in the Valley. But to say that "every other city in the country is failing" cannot be backed up with facts or statistics. There are cities with lower crime rates, lower unemployment rates, better shopping and restaurants, higher bond ratings, etc. There are certainly cities that are in worse shape. The claim that "every other city in the country is failing" is completely untrue. (For the record, I believe in prayer.) What do YOU think?