Thursday, August 29, 2013

National Trust for Historic Preservation: LA Port Plan Makes Terminal Island Preservation a Key Goal

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has issued the following press release about upcoming Terminal Island preservation efforts and its new LA field office.

The Los Angeles Port Master Plan Update, adopted by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners earlier this month, offers a path forward for the preservation and re-use of historic buildings on Terminal Island in the Port of Los Angeles. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Los Angeles Conservancy collaborated on an advocacy campaign to preserve Terminal Island, which appeared on the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places List in 2012.

“Terminal Island represents important chapters of Los Angeles and America’s cultural, naval and economic history,” said Brian Turner, senior field officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The re-use of historic buildings at the port will help keep alive the area’s historic significance as a once-vibrant Japanese-American fishing village, a major World War I and II shipbuilding center and the birthplace of the worldwide tuna canning industry.”

The National Trust and the Los Angeles Conservancy worked to ensure that the final master plan would not pose barriers to preservation and serves as a replicable model for other industrial ports throughout the country. Preservation-focused components of the plan include the identification of Fish Harbor’s Japanese-American Commercial Village as a historic resource, the removal of road realignments originally intended to bisect historic buildings and mixed-use land use designations that provide greater flexibility in adaptively reusing historic buildings. The approved plan is the first comprehensive update of the Port’s development policies and procedures in more than three decades.

“The LA Conservancy has been advocating for the preservation of individual historic buildings at the port for years, so we’re thrilled that the updated master plan provides for the reuse of historic structures on Terminal Island,” said Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy Executive Director. “Terminal Island is unique in that it is historically important for several different reasons, all of which are of local and national significance.”

On the heels of this preservation victory, the National Trust will open a field office in Los Angeles on September 1 to further its efforts to preserve historic places in Southern California and the Southwest. In addition to the National Trust’s work at Terminal Island, the organization’s Preservation Green Lab is collaborating with the Urban Land Institute to advance the reuse of historic buildings in the City of Los Angeles that will help guide building reuse in other cities.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

First ‘Term’ Served: Congratulations to Rep. Janice Hahn


Elected two years ago this month, Rep. Janice Hahn has now served the equivalent to a first term in Congress. She was sworn in to represent the former 36th Congressional District on July 19, 2011 after winning a special election. She was subsequently elected to a full term representing the 44th Congressional District in November.

“For Rep. Janice Hahn, dad’s legacy is a selling point,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

San Pedro News Washington Edition invites readers to sign this congratulations card by writing your name and a message in the comments section below.

Monday, January 14, 2013

In the Inauguration Zone


Needless to say, Washington is abuzz over the Inauguration. The evidence is all around, from the fences and risers under construction to Friday’s opening of the official Inaugural store. Your San Pedro News DC editor submitted a field report of the store opening to Curbed DC. “Ghosts Of Inaugurations Past Come Out For Grand Opening Of the Official Inauguration Store” has all the vivid details.


Washingtonians flock to political events the way Angelenos flip for movie premiers.
Harbor Area residents coming to DC for the Inauguration are invited to contact us at SanPedroNews[at]aol[dot]com and we’ll do our best to answer your questions about the city, restaurants, sightseeing, etc.

House Speaker John Boehner with Hahn
Back in the district, Rep. Janice Hahn is holding a Community Swearing-in this Thursday in Carson. It takes place at 3 pm on Jan. 17 in the main hall of the Carson Community Center, 801 E Carson St. For information, contact (310) 831-1799 or HahnRSVP@mail.house.gov.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Have a ‘Super’ New Year

Wishing our readers a Happy New Year. Let’s make it super, shall we?

Exhibit A: View a fun video of Superman over the Pacific.

Exhibit B:


Greetings from SuperObama, striking a presidential pose at the DC train station.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Hahn to Congress on Fiscal Cliff: Don't Drop the Ball


Rep. Janice Hahn spoke on the House floor hours before the fiscal cliff deadline. Her office released this transcript of Hahn's remarks:
Tonight in Times Square, hundreds of thousands of people will be there at midnight to watch that ball drop.  But here in Congress, we’ve also dropped the ball. 
We are in the final days of the 112th Congress.  And no one expected us to be here on the House Floor on New Year’s Eve.  
But here we are, racing towards that fiscal cliff—towards higher taxes on the middle class, on slashed investment for the American people – including nutrition for mothers and infants, education for our children, and our infrastructure. 
What part of the “cliff” sounds like a good plan? I know I’m not the only one who has spent time with families that it will hurt. I know I’m not the only one who has visited the businesses that are worried that our country could have another recession. 
We should not be playing this game of chicken.  There is too much at stake to have politics as usual.  We have an opportunity to prevent the fiscal cliff, but in order to do so we must act as a unified Congress.  So I say to all my friends and colleagues, Democrats and Republicans: Let’s get this thing done.  
Tonight when that ball drops, let’s make sure that we haven’t also dropped the ball.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

January Calendar Line Items: Presidential Inauguration, White House Summer Internship Applications



Being Sunday, it’s theoretically the day of rest. If you’re restfully perched at your computer, here are two noteworthy opportunities for your consideration.

2013 Inauguration Tickets


Washington is getting atwitter about the presidential inauguration, which occurs on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.

The Destination DC visitors bureau is excitedly chirping that today, Dec. 2, is the 50-day countdown. 50 days! You have just 50 days to make plans!

To wit:

  1. You’ll want to enter Rep. Janice Hahn’s lottery for tickets.
  2. Then visit the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies for news, info and history.
  3. Click back to Destination DC for one-stop travel planning and event information.

White House Summer 2013 Internships

The White House is now accepting applications for 2013 summer interns. Applicants must be US citizens over age 18 and post-secondary students, recent graduates or veterans.

The internships are full time and unpaid. Application deadline is Jan. 27.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Food-minded Washingtonians Find Two Excuses to Ditch Work Friday

A tale of two queues unfolded Friday as food-minded Washingtonians lined the sidewalks for a pair of events.

Earlybirds gathered at sunrise for a chance to attend the one and only booksigning First Lady Michelle Obama is doing for her newly released “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.”


Bobby Campbell is smiling because he was first in line. 

Campbell and the front of the line in context.

The signing is taking place on June 12 at Barnes&Noble in downtown Washington. As reported on Obama Foodorama, attendees were required to buy the book in advance and submit to a Secret Service background check beginning at 9 a.m. on June 8.

The queue formed when Bobby Campbell assumed the first spot at 5:45 a.m., by his own report. No telling how many worker bees mysteriously had doctors’ appointments first thing Friday morning.

The next opportunity to skip work began at 10 a.m. across town, when Georgetown Cupcake opened for the day. The renowned bakery offered free cupcakes to promote Friday’s episode of DC Cupcakes, The Learning Channel reality show about the energetic sisters who own the cupcakery.

The promise of a free cupcake created a fine excuse to take a very long lunch or get stuck in, ahem, massive traffic.

Washingtonians vote with their feet to endorse the Georgetown Cupcake giveaway.

In fact, the traffic jams occurred on the sidewalk, where a midday line snaked out the door. The weekday after-lunch slot is usually an off-peak time when a customer can practically walk right up to the counter. The lure of free cupcakes changed the equation and left cubicles emptier than normal as the city’s cupcake enthusiasts queued up for a TGIF treat.

The political and pop culture circles actually overlap at this top-of-the-ticket bakery, which hosted First Daughter Sasha Obama’s 10th birthday party last year.

This year, the bakery has expanded beyond the Washington metropolitan area. Following openings in New York and Boston, it will set up shop on Los Angeles’ westside this fall.