About 40 volunteers showed up on a warm winter morning on January 10 to do some care and maintenance on the nine purple orchid and pink trumpet trees on Fountain Avenue between Fountain and Sunset that were planted in March of last year. Mulch was added, branches were pruned, and non-toxic insect-repelling oil was sprayed to the young trees to ensure their healthy growth. The EHNC sponsored this event. Kudos again to Cassandra Pruett and TreePeople for organizing this activity!

 

Anyone who's driven, biked or even walked along Melrose Avenue between Vermont and Normandie avenues has noticed the disturbing deficiency of light along the thoroughfare, which has reportedly been happening since early November 2008. The EHNC is fully aware of this and is in contact with city departments to get the lights on again, of which their non-functioning poses an obvious safety issue.

A year ago, the very same problem arose and a representative of the Los Angeles City Department of Public Works noted the situation at the EHNC's January 2008 meeting. It was attributed to a faulty timer that failed to turn on the lights after daylight savings time went into effect. The situation was corrected and the lights were back on three days later.

A stretch of Normandie Avenue, between Rosewood and Marathon, also does not have any functioning streetlights.

The EHNC has brought this to the attention of several staff people and managers at the Dept. of Public Works and its Bureau of Street Lighting. Our last correspondence came on January 14 when a senior engineering manager at the Bureau of Street Lighting infomred us:

"We checked out the lighting, and discovered that some repairs are needed by [the Dept of Water and Power] on their facilities. We have notified them, and requested the repairs to be made...We will follow up."

But 11 days later, the lights are still not functioning. The EHNC will remain on top of this situation and get the lights back up on Melrose.

From Tuesday, January 27th, to Thursday, January 29th, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will be conducting it's annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. Over those three nights, more than 3,000 volunteers throughout the county will join in counting the number of homeless on our streets, giving us the information we need to prevent and end homelessness by demonstrating our region's need for funding, raising awareness in the community, and directing housing and services toward those people in need.

You can volunteer by signing up at http://www.lahsa.org/hc09/. Counts are taking place all over the city, so you can participate in the area you live by selecting the appropriate region.

To visit the EHNC's Twitter site, visit:

http://twitter.com/easthollywoodnc

To receive updates, click on "Follow."