City officials, along with representatives from the California Department of Transportation, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail-road, the Passons Underpass Project Construction team and members of the community, officially cut the ribbon and declared the Passons Underpass OPEN following a dedication ceremony held last month. This ceremony marks the end of construction for the Underpass and the bridge. The final phase of the project continues as the four-lane highway is now open to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

TELEGRAPH ROAD TO BE IMPROVEDNew medians and drought-tolerant landscaping to run from Rosemead to Passons Boulevards

Construction of new landscape medians along Telegraph Road is set to begin this month as

part of the Telegraph Road Landscape Median Project. The major feature of the project, which extends from Rosemead Boulevard to Passons, will be the installation of raised medi-ans featuring special lighting and drought-tolerant landscaping that doesn’t restrict the view of drivers. A number of trees will also be planted along the parkway.

The work is a joint effort between Pico Rivera and the City of Downey, which were awarded a total of $900,000 in federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funds and $389,000 in Prop C funds for the project.

Other improvements included in the project are:

Rehabilitating the pavement in the Telegraph/Rosemead intersection;

Installing new asphalt/rubber pavement between Rosemead and Passons Boulevards, which helps reduce traffic noise;

Reconstructing deteriorated curbs and gutters, sidewalks and drive-way approaches;

Installing and repairing curb ramps in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and;

Upgrading traffic signals.

Lakewood Boulevard from Telegraph Road to Vista del Rosa Street will also

receive some street improvements as part of this multi-agency project. Funding for this work is being provid-ed by the City of Downey.

All American Asphalt was awarded the contract for the project, which is anticipated to be completed in April.

Work on the final touches to the Passons Underpass Project is begin-ning this month. Over the coming weeks, a new traffic signal will be installed at the intersection of Rivera Road and Passons Boulevard, with some modifications being made to the signal at the intersection of Slauson Avenue and Passons Boulevard. Also included in this phase of the project are minor repaving on Rivera Road and installation of a new fire access road for Maizeland School. The construction is expected to have little or no affect on area residents or traffic flow. Work is anticipated to be completed by March.

New traffic signal and road repaving to be included

WORK BEGINS ON FINAL PHASE OF PASSONSUNDERPASSPROJECT

Mayor Gustavo V. Camacho Mayor Pro Tem Brent A. Tercero Councilmembers Bob J. Archuleta · David W. Armenta · Gregory Salcido

PROFILEVol. 40 · No.1 JANUARY 2013

CITY COUNCIL

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 2244

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA

POSTAL PATRONPICO RIVERA, CA 90660

Distributed to Pico Rivera residents and businesses as an educational service. For information, contact Public Information at 562.801.4217.

P. O. Box 1016 · 6615 Passons Blvd. · Pico Rivera, CA · 90660-1016

PROFILELIBRARY UPDATEBuilding of new library continues to move forward with the completion of metal framing.

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BOXINGMEET & GREETCome on out and meet Boxing superstars from yesterday and today.

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CHRISTMASTREE RECYCLINGLeave your tree curbside during regular trash days through January 19.

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INSI

DETH

IS IS

SUE

Page 2 January 2013 PROFILE

This month on CTV3 This month, catch the Movie Classic - Blue Angel with Marlene Dietrich, Live at the Ford-Tradi-tional Dance and Music of Korea, CTV3 News and live coverage of the Pico Rivera City Council meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 begin-ning at 6:00 p.m. Complete schedule at www.pico-rivera.org.Time Warner Cable, Channel 3Verizon FioS, Channel 33AT&T U-Verse, Channel 99

Upcoming City Hall MeetingsCity Council Meeting - Tu, Jan. 8 & 22, 6 p.m.

Planning Commission - Mon, Jan. 7 & 21, 6 p.m.

Sister City Commission - Mon, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.

Parks and Recreation Commission - Th, Jan. 10, 6 p.m. at Parks and Recreation Building, 6767 Passons Blvd.

City Hall Closed: Tu, Jan. 1; Fri, Jan. 4; Fri, Jan. 18 & Mon, Jan. 21

Editor Mike Matsumoto

Layout & Design Gabriel Daigle

Staff Writers Gabriel Castorena Michael Maxfield

Photographer Oscar Castillo

The Pico Rivera Profile is produced by the City of Pico Rivera and is distributed to Pico Rivera residents and businesses as an educational service. For information about the Pico Rivera Profile contact Public Informa-tion at 562.801.4217.

Now you can receive important City news, information and updates directly by email by subscrib-ing to the City’s e-newsletter service. The e-newsletter service is designed to keep you up to speed on all city events, activities and issues with special email messages and alerts. Sign up for City e-mails

The El Rancho Education Center, formally known as the El Rancho Adult School, continues to help area residents in obtaining important job skills and achiev-ing educational goals to help them find a job or earn their high school diploma or GED. The Education Center is currently working with the state of California Employment Development Depart-ment (EDD) to assist job seekers and employers. Among the no-fee services provided by the EDD are workshops on resume preparation and interview tech-niques, access to job openings through the CalJOBSSM system, announcements of new job openings, and free job listings for employers. A number of job-skills classes are available through the Education Center’s Career Technical Education program. Class topics include keyboarding, computer programs such as Power Point, Outlook, Excel, and Word, and employability skills for students who wish to enhance their current skill levels. Many classes are offered online. A new session of classes will begin on Monday, January 28, 2013. Also offered through the Education Center are classes to help students obtain a GED or high school diploma. Students must meet with a counselor prior to enrolling in certain GED/diploma classes. For details on registration dates and more informa-tion about the classes, programs, and services available through the Education Center, visit the school office at 9515 Haney Street or visit the website at elranchoeducationcenter.org.

The City of Pico Rivera is looking for volunteers to participate in a three-night census and survey of home-less persons within the community. The effort, being done in conjunction with Team Pico Rivera and Whit-tier First Day, is part of the Los Angeles County Home-less Services’ 2013 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count and the 100,000 Homes National Campaign’s Count-Plus Homeless Registry. The Homeless Count census, which involves a visual count of all homeless individuals within Pico Rivera, will take place on Tuesday, January 29. The Homeless Registry survey will take place on Wednesday, January 30 and Thursday, January 31. On those two nights, volunteers will survey homeless individuals to deter-mine whether their homeless status is chronic and if they could be considered vulnerable. The data collected will be used to provide stakehold-

ers with a better understanding of the area’s homeless community and could help bring additional resources to our region. Team Pico Rivera is also looking for sponsors to donate materials such as clip boards, printing servic-es for training and survey materials, refreshments for volunteers, flashlights with batteries, extra flashlight batteries, emergency rain ponchos, and monetary donations for the purchase of office supplies. Also, the team will be accepting hygiene kits, sack lunches with non-perishable items and food gift cards to pass out to the homeless. If you would like to volunteer or would like more information on how to sponsor the event, please contact Christina Gallagher, Pico Rivera Deployment Site Coordinator, by email at cgallagher@pico-rivera.org or by phone at 562.801.4332.

The Pico Park Express Library and the Rivera Library will be hosting a variety of activities for all ages during the month of January. Storytime for Children is hosted at both libraries every Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. at the Rivera Library and 4:30 p.m. at the Pico Park Express Library. On Saturday, January 19, the Pico Park Express Library will be hosting a Resume Writing Workshop for teens and adults from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. The workshop will cover topics such as what information is needed on a resume and cover letter, as well as how to write a digital online resume. Anyone interested in attending the workshop must pre-register at the Pico Park Express Library. The Rivera Library will be hosting Fun with Flower Arrangements from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 26. Participants will join instructor Mari Prasad for a discussion and demonstration of Japa-nese style flower arrangements. Participants are asked to bring their own vase for use in creating their own flower arrangement to take home. Every Tuesday from January 29 through Febru-ary 12, the Rivera Library will host Teen Social and

Dining Etiquette from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Teens will learn proper table manners, social networking, etiquette for public places, introductions and hand-shakes. The Pico Park Express Library is located at 9528 Beverly Boulevard and the Rivera Library is located at 7828 Serapis Avenue. For more information and a complete list of events, call the Pico Park Express Library at 562.271.7615 or the Rivera Library at 562.949.5485.

Construction on the City’s new library on the corner of Rosemead Blvd. and Mines Ave. is progressing as planned. Most notably, the metal framing of the single-story complex has been completed. Construc-tion crews continue to work on the interior of the building installing wall structures and utility components. The construction project is a joint effort between the City and the County of Los Angeles, with the City’s share of

the costs coming from the 2009 Vital City Services Bond. When completed, the 16,000-square-foot building will be nearly three times the size of the previous library and include a variety of state-of-the-art amenities. Construction remains on schedule for a Summer 2013 opening. The Pico Park Express Library, 9528 Beverly Blvd, will continue to operate until work on the new library is completed. For more information, call 562.801.4388.

Coming in January, the Parks & Recreation Department is introducing a new Customer Satisfaction Survey to help meet your needs and interests. Surveys will be available at all City facilities. Just fill it out and return it to the Pico Rivera Post Office. Thank you for your assis-tance in helping us provide you with the best possible service!

El Rancho Education Center Programs

Building of New Library Continues

Volunteers Needed for Homeless Survey We Really Like You! Do You Really Like Us?

Library Happenings

PROFILE

SweepstakesIsabel

&Abraham Duran

9059 Myron St.

SecondPlace

RaymondMurillo

9530Myron St.

RetirementLiving

FacilitiesTELACU

9036Washington

Blvd.

FirstPlace

ChristopherAyala

8726Olympic Blvd.

ThirdPlace

SocorroFigueroa

&Marina

Cardenas

9527Foxbury Way

HOLIDAY DECORATING CONTEST WINNERS

PROFILE January 2013 Page 3

Boxing enthusiasts of all ages are invited to participate in the third annual Boxing Meet and Greet on Saturday, January 26 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Pico Park. This free autograph and “meet and greet” session will give attendees the opportunity to meet some of today’s boxing superstars and upcoming contenders. Everyone in attendance can enter a free drawing for autographed sports memorabilia. For those who want to be sure to take home a piece of boxing history, a variety of memorabilia and merchan-dise from the participating boxers will be available for sale. Kids 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. For more information about the event and participating boxing celebrities, call 562.801.4430 or visit the City’s website at www.pico-rivera.org.

Individuals whose vision cannot be corrected with prescription lenses can learn how to improve their remaining sight by attending a series of educational workshops hosted by the Pico Rivera Senior Center and the Braille Institute. Low vision rehabilita-tion specialists will give demonstrations and recommendations on how participants can use their remaining vision more effectively and show them other services that may help them perform tasks more easily. The workshops will provide participants with an opportunity to try special lighting and magnifica-tion devices that make objects larger, brighter, clearer or bolder when eyeglasses no longer can correct their vision. The workshops will be held on Wednesday after-noons beginning January 9. English workshops will meet from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. through January 30. Spanish workshops will meet from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. through February 13. For more information about the workshops, call the Senior Center at 562.948.4844.

Once again Pico Rivera residents proved to have plenty of holiday spirit - and creativity - by doing an outstanding job of decorating their homes and businesses. While their creativity made it fun for residents to see, the members of the Parks and Recreation Commission had a difficult time determining the 2012 Home Holi-day Decorating Contest winners. However, after careful consideration of all the entries and several trips around the city, the commission reached a decision. The 2012 winners are all pictured below. Congratulations!

The City’s Parks and Recreation Department will once again be hosting a Special Olympics Basket-ball program for youth and adults with intellectual disabilities. This free program, now in its second season, will be held at Pico Park beginning Saturday, February 2 and continuing through Saturday, June 29. Registra-tion begins on Wednesday, January 2 and continues through Friday, March 1. For more information about this program, call the Department at 562.801.4430.

Monster trucks and dates are the highlight of trips scheduled in February for the Pico Rivera Trips and Tours Program. Monster truck fans of all ages are invited to join us on Saturday, February 9, as we head to Monster Jam at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Participants will expe-rience the rush of roaring engines coming from the twelve-foot tall, ten thousand pound Monster trucks as they smash and soar their way through an obstacle course. This trip is from 4:00 to 10:30 p.m. Fee is $20 for children, ages 2 to 12 years old, and $40 for adults 13 years and older. Deadline to register is Friday, Janu-ary 18. On Saturday, February 16, Trips and Tours is head-ed to Riverside for the 66th Annual Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. Among the featured attractions are the aquatic antics of the Sea Lion Splash, the action-packed stunts of the Canine Show Dogs, a hypnotist show, ostrich races, live animals, a petting zoo, monster trucks and everything else a county fair has to offer. This trip is from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Fee is $18 for all ages. Deadline to register is Friday, February 1. Both trips will depart from the Pico Rivera Senior Center located at 9200 Mines Ave. For more infor-mation about these trips, call the Parks and Recre-ation Department at 562.801.4430.

Pico Rivera to Host Boxing Meet & Greet

Senior Center to Partner with Braille Institute

Trips and Tours

Special Olympics Basketball

Page 4 January 2013 PROFILE

The holiday season may have come and gone but you can still give everyone a gift by remembering to recycle. It’s easy to do by following a few simple steps. Most left-over boxes and packaging materials can be placed in your blue NASA recycling bin, but there are other things you can do to help protect the environment and save a few dollars. For example, chances are some of your gift wrap is still intact. Save some money and some trees next Christmas by storing any leftover gift wrap and using it to wrap next year’s presents. Or you can use that wrapping paper to make origami. Leftover Christmas cards can be recycled into gift tags or bookmarks by cutting them into squares, rectangles and strips. Got any old Christmas lights? Don’t throw them away in the regular trash since they contain toxic materials. Instead, take them - along with old televisions, comput-ers, printers, cell phones, alarm clocks, fluorescent light bulbs, motor oil, oil filters, anti-freeze, paint, paint thinner, brake fluid, expired pharmaceuticals, and pesticides – to the upcoming Bell Gardens Household Hazardous Waste/Electronic Waste event on Saturday, January 12 in the swimming pool parking lot of John Anson Ford Park located on the 7800 block of Scout Avenue. Then next Christmas, switch to LED lights. They don’t contain the mercury and other toxic materials found in older Christmas tree lights and they’re 85% more efficient, which means you’ll use less electricity and help lower your electric bill. Batteries for all the kids’ new toys and other battery-powered devices also need to be disposed of at a hazardous waste collection event since they too contain toxic materials. Then consider switching to rechargeable batteries, which reduces the amount of toxic materials going into the environment and helps you save money by reducing the number of batteries you need to buy.

While you’re at it, be a part of the 93% of Americans who recycle their Christmas tree. The City of Pico Rivera is once again partnering with the County Sanitation District of Los Angeles and NASA Services to recycle natural Christmas trees. Since natural Christmas trees are biodegradable, they can easily be chipped into mulch, which helps protect plant roots, inhibit weed growth, and retain moisture thus reducing water usage.

To recycle your Christmas tree follow these three simple steps:Remove all the ornaments, tinsel, non-wood tree stands and lights from your tree;

Do NOT put your tree in a tree bag, and

Leave the tree on the curb just like you would your regular green waste recycling bins.

Trees will be collected on your regularly scheduled pick up date now through January 19. For more information on Christmas tree recycling and other recycling programs in the City, contact the City of Pico Rivera Environmental Programs Division at 562.801.4961.

While many people consider going through trash cans and bins looking for recyclables to be harmless, scavenging is actually illegal and harmful to the City’s efforts to comply with California’s recy-cling requirements. Pico Rivera Municipal Code 8.12.440 prohibits anyone who is not contracted by the City from collecting “rubbish,” which includes recyclables. Under this code as well as state law, scavenging is considered a crime. Furthermore, California Assembly Bill 341 requires cities to divert 75 percent of their waste from landfills. Diversion efforts include the collec-tion of residents’ recyclable material by NASA Services Inc. When scavengers take recyclables, they hinder NASA’s efforts to comply with Pico Rivera waste collection requirements - and put the City at risk of having to pay fines for non-compliance. Scavenging also presents another risk. Residents often throw items contain-ing sensitive personal information into their recycling bin, such as utility bills, credit card statements and other print-ed materials. If a scavenger rummages through your recyclables or trash, he or she may get a hold of some of this information, thus putting your privacy at risk. Clearly, scavenging can present a huge problem for the City and our residents. Please help Pico Rivera combat scav-enging by reporting scavengers to the Sheriff ’s Station at 562.949.2421. For more information about the City’s recycling programs, contact the Environmental Programs Division at 562.801.4961.

The Rio Hondo Symphony will pres-ent its third free concert of the 2012-2013 season on Sunday, February 10, at 3:00 p.m. in the Vic Lopez Audito-rium at Whittier High School, 12417 E. Philadephia St., Whittier. The afternoon’s program, titled “Teutonic Titans,” features conduc-tor Kimo Furumoto and includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture, Johann Sebas-tian Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring from Cantata No. 147, Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No.4, George Frideric Handel’s Hornpipe from The Water Music, Richard Wagner’s Sieg-fried Idyll and Johannes Brahms Varia-tions on a Theme of Haydn. For further information, call 562.698.8626.

The City will continue with a weekly schedule for sweeping all residential and commercial streets for 2013. Sweeping the streets every week reduces the amount of pollutants that enters storm drains, helping keep local rivers and the ocean cleaner and healthier. Frequent street sweeping also improves the appearance of our local roadways. Residents are reminded to keep parked vehicles off the street every week on their assigned sweeping day. Cars parked on the street on sweeping days may be ticketed. For questions regarding the weekly street sweeping schedule and the holi-days that will be observed, log on to the City’s website at www.pico-rivera.org or call the City’s Public Safety Division at 562.801.4413.

Pico Boys Baseball LeagueRegistrations will be taken at Stream-land Park, 3539 Durfee Avenue.562.665.3378

Saturday, January 5 & 12,10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Tryouts and Late Sign-upsSaturday, January 19 & 26; Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3,10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Pico Fast Pitch Association SoftballRegistrations will be taken at Pico Park, 9528 Beverly Boulevard and Rivera Park, 9538 Shade Lane.562.556.4851

Saturdays, January 5, 12, 19 & 26, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.Wednesday, January 23 & 30,6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Mary Loehr Girls Softball562.298.8211

Rivera Baseball Association562.832.0846

Smith Park Pony BaseballRegistrations will be taken in front of DD’s Discounts, 6101 Rosemead Boulevard.562.533.5851

Saturdays, January 5, 12, 19 & 26,10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.Wednesdays, January 2, 9, 16, 23 &30,6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Scavenging:Costly and Illegal

Street Sweeping Update

Free Symphony Concert Planned

Have a Green New Year - Recycle!

Curbside Christmas Tree Recycling

Sign-ups for local youth baseball and softballAll of Pico Rivera’s youth baseball and softball organizations are holding sign-ups for their 2013 seasons in the coming months. Following is information on sign-up dates and locations for each league, along with a phone number to contact for further information.