CYCLIST GIVES CITY HALL HELL ON WHEELS.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Odds and ends from around the Valley: You'll find Alex Baum most mornings riding his bike along Chandler Boulevard for five miles before looping back to his Valley Village home for a quick shower and breakfast before heading down to City Hall. He'll make the rounds of council offices doing what he does best - twisting arms and talking plain sense. The retired 79-year-old caterer started this ritual way back in 1982 with then-Mayor Tom Bradley Noun 1. Tom Bradley - United States politician who was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles (1917-1998) Bradley, Thomas Bradley , who finally told Alex to Alex To (Traditional Chinese: 杜德偉; Simplified Chinese: 杜德伟; Pinyin: Dù Déwěi, born stop complaining and do something. So, he did. Alex went out and formed the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Bicycle Advisory Committee with Bradley's blessings and support. Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. later, the city named a bridge after Alex, and the way things are going don't be surprised if there's a freeway named after him someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. , too. A bicycle freeway. Don't laugh. It's already on the drawing boards down at City Hall - the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. Bike Path stretching from the Valley all the way down to Long Beach. Alex Baum's baby. A freeway for bicyclists only, to take to work every day or just travel for recreation and exercise. It's been the dream of this Frenchman who has lived here for 40 years and still can't figure out L.A.'s love affair with the car. ``Twenty years ago, the bicycle was not even being talked about in the transportation plans of this city, but now it's being taken seriously, so I'm feeling pretty good about that,'' Alex said Thursday, returning from his morning ride on L.A.'s official Ride a Bike to Work Day. Being retired, Alex didn't end his ride at work, but City Council members Tom LaBonge Tom LaBonge (b. Los Angeles 1953), member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 4th district. He has served since 2001, taking over the position upon the death of John Ferraro. and Eric Garcetti Eric Garcetti (born 1971) is the son of former Los Angeles county district attorney Gil Garcetti, and was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001. He was reelected in 2005. did - right across the Alex Baum Bicycle Bridge that spans the L.A. River in the Los Feliz area. ``This bridge could only be named after one person, and that's Alex Baum - L.A.'s No. 1 citizen cyclist,'' said LaBonge, biking to work Thursday. LaBonge and other city officials credit Baum with leading the fight for hundreds more bike paths and bike lanes bike lane n → carril m de bicicleta; carril m bici bike lane bike n → piste f cyclable bike lane in the city, and persuading the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to mount bike racks on new city buses. It's all in Baum's game plan for a city in the near future where you can leave the car at home, if you want, and ride a bike to wherever you're going without major hassles. A dream? Nah, it's already happening, he says. ``One lady called me to thank me for saving her $4,000 a year,'' he said. ``She used to need three cars in her family, but she's been able to sell one, and get by with two now. ``She lives two miles from the North Hollywood Metrolink station, and rides her bike there now, leaves it at the bike station there, and takes the subway downtown to work. ``If we can do that for other people who live a few miles from a train station or other mode of transportation, we could easily eliminate thousands of cars from the roads every day for cleaner air and healthier people,'' Baum said. OK, it's safe to go outside again. The Girl Scouts Girl Scouts, recreational and service organization founded (1912) in Savannah, Ga., by Mrs. Juliette Gordon Low (1860–1927). It was originally modeled after the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, organizations created in Great Britain by Sir Robert Baden-Powell during have finished selling their cookies. This year's winner of the Scout who added the most pounds to the Valley's waistline is 12-year-old Kimberly Ruiz of Chatsworth, who sold 1,413 boxes of deadly Thin Mint and Samoa calories. She's a member of the Canoga Park/West Hills troop of the Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , which unleashes almost 10,000 little darlings on Valley streets every year, selling cookies to raise funds for Girl Scout programs. The rap has traditionally been the girl who sells the most cookies is often a girl whose parents sell the cookies at work, but Kim's mom, Anita Ruiz, assured me her daughter sold most of those 1,413 boxes on her own. ``She spent every Friday after school, Saturday and Sunday standing in front of markets and video stores, or going door to door in neighborhoods with a goal of selling 1,000 boxes, and she did it,'' Anita said. ``Last year, she sold 850 boxes, so each year she gets a little better at it,'' she added. Kimberly was one of seven girls who sold more than 1,000 boxes this year. The others are Allison McKinley, 1,350 boxes; Britnee Ryan, 1,228 boxes; Jennifer Pyka, 1,200 boxes; Alyssa Brantly, 1,106 boxes; Kelcey Soderstrom, 1,050 boxes; and Annie Chang, 1,000 boxes. Congratulations, girls, from all of us who enjoyed every sinful bite. And finally, the American Cancer Society American Cancer Society, n.pr established in 1913, this national volunteer-based health organization is committed to the elimination of cancer through prevention and treatment and to diminishing cancer suffering through advocacy, scholarship, research, is sponsoring a Week of Memorial and Tribute all next week at its Discovery Shops. ``It's a way for people to honor someone they love or have lost,'' said Jill Angel, district manager of the shops, which sell quality used merchandise to raise money for cancer research and awareness program. A card with the name of someone you're honoring will be displayed in the stores for every donation up to $24. After that, the society kicks in a gift certificate to spend in the store, too. Every dime goes to research and to cancer-awareness programs, and honoring a loved one this way is a nice reminder to all of us that Memorial Day will be marked May 27. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Bicyclists make their downtown from the corner of Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. and Echo Park Avenue at part of Thursday's Ride a Bike to Work Day. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer |
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