Santa Clarita
Corporate Cleanup:
A property owned by Saugus Industrial Center LLC has been deemed eligible for the federal Superfund cleanup program by the Environmental Protection Agency. The property was formerly owned by Keysor Century Corp., which manufactured polyvinyl chloride from 1958 to 2003, used for making record albums and other plastics. The EPA, which has been investigating the site since 2005, found that Keysor illegally mishandled hazardous waste at the site. Cancer-causing chemicals have been found in the soil and groundwater. The Superfund was established in 1980 to provide state and government aid in cleaning up the most polluted sites in the nation.
Burbank
Club Misconduct:
Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank is being sued by member Reginald Lee, and his wife, Jennifer Merkel, of Sherman Oaks. The couple claims that Lakeside, which was made famous by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, discriminates against women by preventing them from becoming members and providing them only with undesirable tee times. Lakeside General Manager Lance Sabella called the lawsuit an attempt by Lee to “deflect attention” from his own misconduct and is seeking to revoke his membership.
Carson
NASA Deal:
Miltec, a subsidiary of Carson-based Ducommun Inc., was awarded a $3.7 million NASA contract to develop sensors that gather launch data such as temperature and pressure in areas previously considered too risky or challenging. Miltec is based in Alabama.
Hawthorne
Suit Dropped:
The City of Hawthorne dropped all charges against S & W; Towing, the company that served as its official tow yard for more than 20 years. S & W; was shut down after its top management pleaded guilty to a series of felony charges for selling impounded cars, sending false collection notices, and encouraging employees to falsify state sales reports. The lawsuit claimed that S & W; Towing underpaid fees to the city on cars impounded in the lot amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. The case was dropped because S & W; was a family-run business with most of its assets owned by a family trust and leased back to the company; little money exists for the city to collect. In response, S & W; Towing dropped its $5 million suit against Hawthorne that charged the city with breaching its contract and removing cars from the impound lot. John Germain, former manager of S & W; Towing, will be sentenced later this month. He is facing three years in a work center administered by the state prison.
Bell Gardens
Retail Opening:
The 81,000-square-foot Village Square retail center recently opened at Florence and Eastern avenues in Bell Gardens. The $13.5 million open-air style project was funded through a public/private partnership between the city and Primestor Development. Stores and restaurants include Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar, Washington Mutual, It’s a Grind, and Jamba Juice. Village Square was built on a once blighted piece of land and caters to a predominantly Latino market.
City of Industry
Federated Layoffs:
By October, Federated Department Stores will have laid off about 280 employees at the company’s City of Industry logistics facility at 15541 Gale Ave. Terminations began June 1 when 150 people were let go, according to figures on the California Employment Development Department Web site.
San Gabriel
Overdue Drugstore:
The San Gabriel Gateway Center opened at San Gabriel Boulevard and Las Tunas Drive. The Center is anchored by a 15,000-square-foot Longs Drugs, the city’s first new drug store in 20 years. Other tenants include a Wells Fargo Bank, Quiznos sandwich shop, and Apex golf shop. San Gabriel Gateway Center is the first of several new projects under development near this intersection. It was developed by Jacobsen Affiliated Holdings with the help of the San Gabriel Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Gabriel for $9 million.
Beverly Hills
Organization Expansion:
Boardroom Bound, a 501c(3) public service organization that promotes and prepares women and minorities for corporate boards, expanded into the Los Angeles area this month. Founded in 2000 in Washington D.C., Boardroom Bound has done annual outreach to C-level corporate officers, business owners, non-profit leaders, and government elected officials. It facilitates about 30 appointments a year. Last year it expanded into the Chicago and New York markets.
Downtown Monitoring:
A $200,000 network of surveillance cameras was donated by the Central City East Association to monitor Skid Row. Last year, 6,000 narcotics arrests were made on Skid Row. Surveillance cameras have been installed to aid police in MacArthur Park, Hollywood Boulevard, and the Fashion District and Historic Core downtown.
Sherman Oaks
New Parent: Waat Media, an adult mobile entertainment company headquartered in Sherman Oaks, is now operating under a newly formed parent company called Twistbox Entertainment, along with its partner, Charismatix Ltd. & Co., a mobile game company in Germany. Waat Media and Charismatix received $12.75 million in funding from Boston-based venture capital firm Spark Capital to form Twistbox. The money will be used for continued development of the company’s general entertainment category, expand distribution in Asia and exploration of acquisition targets. All late night entertainment programming will remain under the Waat subsidiary. Ian Aaron, former chief executive of TV Guide, is chief executive of Twistbox.
Santa Monica
Housing Dispute:
The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed a lawsuit to combat the City of Santa Monica’s inclusionary zoning ordinance. The ordinance requires developers building projects with four or more residential units to build some units to be sold below market prices as well. Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents an organization of local apartment building owners, charges that the ordinance violates taking clauses of the state and federal constitutions, which prohibits the governments from taking private property without just compensation. The suit further argues that the cost of the discount housing will be passed onto housing that isn’t price controlled, driving up prices for most buyers.
Malibu
New Owner:
Malibu Country Club was sold to a newly formed company called Malibu Associates for $30 million. Fuji International Inc. was the previous owner. The new owner is expected to make improvements to the golf course and possibly build a residential resort.
Gas Opposition:
Los Angeles County Supervisor, Zev Yaroslavsky declared his opposition to a plan by Australian-based energy company, BHP Billton to build a liquefied natural gas terminal 14 miles off the coast of Malibu. Yaroslavsky wrote a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging him to take a stand against the $800 million project, claiming that it has the potential to impact public safety, damage the beauty of the Malibu coast, and cause a threat to the environment. Before it can be built, the terminal must be approved by the State Lands Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard. The California Coastal Commission, the Maritime Administration and the governor have a say as well. Three other proposals have been put forth by other companies to build LNG facilities off the Southern California coast but the Malibu project is furthest along in the permitting process.
